Cairo was for several years my abiding place. During that time I met with a number of queer adventures. The queerest of which is the one I am about to relate. Cairo is a pretty good place to meet with adventures, and they are generally somewhat queer. Believing the above statement this tale may not surprise you.

My abiding place was a house situated near Ezbekiyah road, a large, white affair, with a general air of Oriental mystery. The owner was a wizened little Arab who rented it to me at an exhorbitant price, and tried to get more.

The greater part of six hours was occupied in haggling before a compromise was agreed upon, and I got the house, the Arab the

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Editor's Note:
The spelling of "exorbitant" is an archaic usage, and as Clark preferred that usage, I have left it. This is one of several fragments in my possession set in Cairo. All of Clark’s experience with "bustling cities" filled with noise, dark alleys, dangerous quarters, and swarthy folk oozing greed and venality was entirely vicarious in the early 1900s.