The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-22
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NANCY BROWN OF BROOKLYN
 CHAPTER XV

N l.. ~ NANCY BROWN OF BROOKLYN
 CHAPTER XV
 Zaman Khan had seen the girl, too.
 Were it not for your presence, mem-saheb,' he said to her in English, with courtly bow, Il would now attend to this uncouth person and force him to eat stick. A great deal of painful stick
 "Oh-" exclaimed the Algerian truculently - you would, would you?"
 II would - and I shall, some other time. Not now. The little mem-saheb does not like quarrels, Therefore - herew He drew we'll filled purse from his waistshawl and gave the other handful of money. ITO pay for my debts - and for a meal of the best. Let there be tender artichokes cooked in the finest olive oil, a roast Of lamb lovingly garniShed With chestnuts and white grapes, a salad of hearts of palm, platter of fresh figs and the best wine in your cellar
 Then, when Noise Torjeman had gone to talk to the cook, he bowed again to the girl.
 Would the mem-Saheb," he asked, honor us with her pres ence at dinner?'
 She smiled.
 You certainly know how to or der meal" she replied, and you must have quite some pull in the kitchen. All I've been getting to eat here, these last few days, has been tough and ancient goat. I'll be glad to come-and glad to talk English once more. My French isn't so hot and my Arabic isn't even lukewarm."
 She looked at Lincoln.
 "Tell me- she asked the Afghan, too?"
 "He does" replied zaman Khan, before the American could speak. Permit me to introduce him. An" inventing glibly - 'this is Shareef Si Yakoub el-Yezdi."
 She shook hands with both men. I'm Nancy Brown, from America, Brooklyn, to be exact. But don tell on mel"
 It seemed that she was feature writer for famous Chicago neWN- paper syndicate which, after th! outbreak of the world conflict, had sent her to North Africa to cover what the editor-in n-chief, with no irony intended, had called the feminine aspects of the war"
 She smiled.
 "Feminine!' she went on. Can you beat it? Still, I did my best. I cabled all the regulation, sloppy. sob-sister stuff my boss expected and paid me for. But, after a while, I became bored with it, sick with the dishonesty if you get me. I was about to throw up my job go to Lisbon and catch me clipper for home and Brook lyn. Only, I had reckoned without the little yellow men. For there was the attack against Pearl Har- bor. Benny and Adolf joined in. de- clarins war against Uncle-and me in Italian Tripoli at the time"
 She lit a cigaret.
 T decided" she added, Ito get out quickly but quickly! How, though? Algeria was out of the question. So was Egypt and the Italian mainland. But I had be- come pals with an Armenian mer- chant. A crook. Yet a nice old guy. He too, having done an Ital- ian general in the eye over a Per sian rug made in New Jersey, had decided to get out in a hurry. Co., ing south he was, to this place. He told me about it. Mentioned that no European had visited it in many years. Okay - said to my self - it was high time somebody did. And - here I am!"
 Not for a moment did Zaman Khan believe her. Several times, as she spoke, he winked broadly at the American while his lips, noiselessly formed the Arabic word: "DeedWoun - spy"
 gzbtht mt, ,saidsOtS led
 Lincoln, on the other hand, did not doubt her.
 And he began to worry.
 For, though he was convinced that, once he had found the ryk- moot ameeez and killed him, the result would be speedy collapse of the conspiracy, he also knew that one immediate reaction would be a savage anti-European out break on the part of the dervishes and the members of the various secret societies Chiefly in a place like Yebba, far away from police and garrisons.
 So when. dinner over. the Afghan had gone to look after the horses, he decided to warn her
 He reflected that she must have heard about the recent assassina- tion of Admiral Jean Darlan.
 "Yes." she replied to his ques- tion, "tlne news got here. By sig nal drums"
 And the drums keep on talk ing about 1t day and night, Africa is deeply stirred by the murder - and ."
 Did your friend say you were brought up in England?" she in- terrupted.
 "Yes."
 "I would have said New Eng land"
 "A good many new England CTS" he invented rapidly, were in my class at Oxford, But never mind that. l want to warn you"