"By the way," Sir Sidney exclaimed suddenly, "I have a young officer who knows the country well. He has been a resident at Alexandria for years, and, riding about, knows every foot of the country within many miles of it. He has been up to Cairo, was with the Arabs who harassed the French march, was present at the battle of the Pyramids, and at the fighting in Cairo, and knows the position of all the French forts round that city. He was on his way to England when I overhauled the craft he was in, on my way out, and as he speaks Arabic perfectly, to say nothing of French and Italian, I offered him a berth as midshipman and to act as my interpreter. In the latter capacity he was invaluable both in Constantinople and at the siege of Jaffa. He is, moreover, a most gallant young officer, and was second in command of the _Tigress_ when she did such good service in eradicating piracy among the islands, capturing and destroying over a hundred piratical craft."