What was Rick, an American, end up in a Cairo orphanage, the French Foreign Legion and then in a Cairo prison? What happened?

Twelve-year-old Richard Liam O'Connell was furious. 'Wait here' Grandpa says, he thought. 'Wait here and I will be back for you soon'. We're past soon now, Gramps. Francis O'Connell had been gone over a week. After three days, Rick had come to the conclusion that, like his parents, his grandfather was not coming back anytime in the near future. Most boys his age might be frightened being completely alone in a foreign country, but right now, Rick was just plain angry.