Then the old man seemed to realize that he was losing his dignity, whereupon he stopped dancing, straightened up, threw out his thin chest, and thrust one hand into the bosom of his coat.
“To tell you the truth, my friends,” he said, “I have not been genuinely alarmed at any stage of the affair, for my judgment told me the governor would see fit to interfere before anything really serious happened.”
Dick laughed.
“My dear professor,” he said, “it is not possible you fancy any of us thought you alarmed in the slightest. We knew better than that. You are a man of iron nerves.”
“Hum! haw!” coughed Zenas. “Perhaps not exactly iron-nerved, but I flatter myself that I have unusal acumen and judgment, and therefore I knew the affair would be checked in case the governor had time to act before the mob succeeded in doing any real damage.”
In the street below the soldiers were charging up and down, scattering the crowd. The mob dispersed with great reluctance, for it resembled a pack of hungry wolves that had scented a feast.
The crooked old Turk even dared stand and defy the cavalrymen, but finally the officer in charge chased him off, belaboring him across the back with the flat of his sword.
“You deserve something worse than that, you old wolf!” muttered Dick.
Nadia was greatly relieved.
From the window they watched until the soldiers had quite succeeded in dispersing the mob, and it began to seem that the danger was over.