His mind was easier for having remembered the association with the name, but his curiosity was excited to know whether there was any connection between that and the same word used by the Arab, and he took an early opportunity on the march next day to ask Sergeant Barton to get him the loan of the interpreter for a bit. For the interpreter was a person of consequence, in his own estimation at least, and not to be lightly appropriated by privates.
But tact can do a great deal, and by approaching the question in a judicious manner, his services were secured, and he blandly expressed his readiness to put any questions to the ex-prisoner which Kavanagh might desire, and to translate the answers.
This was the result in one language. To give the Arabic and then the English would involve mere repetition, so I am sure that you will excuse that. Besides I could not do it.
Question. “Do you know the Sheikh Burrachee?”
Answer. “Yes, everybody knows the Sheikh Burrachee.”
Question. “Is he not a foreigner to the Soudan?”
Answer. “It is said so. He is rich, wise, learned, and he is a True Believer. But his features are not those of the Turk or of the Arab.”
Question. “Do you know whether a man of his race, much younger, has joined him lately?”
Answer. “Truly, yes, I have heard something of such an event. Some say his son, others a man made by magic by the sheikh, who is a great magician, and can make ghosts come and go as he commands.”
Question. “Did you ever hear of any—(Kavanagh was regularly bothered to know how to ask after a legal document like a will, and the interpreter could not help him; at last he hit on the word Firman) of any Firman the young man was seeking for?”