in Sudanese style,” added Mr. Rawlison.
Meanwhile Idris and Gebhr still stood there like two white posts and carefully surveyed Stasch and Nell. The moonlight illuminated the faces of the two sand-drivers and made them look as if carved out of bronze. The whites of their eyes looked greenish from beneath their turbans.
“Good-night,” said Mr. Rawlison.
“May Allah protect you by day and by night, effendi!”
At these words they bowed and departed. Saba was evidently not pleased with the two Sudanese, and as they left he sent a deep, thunderous growl after them.
CHAPTER V
For some days following they made no excursions. But to compensate for this, when the first star appeared on Christmas night Mr. Rawlison’s tent was illuminated with hundreds of lights burning on the little Christmas-tree for Nell. The customary fir-tree had been replaced by a salpiglossis plant cut out of a garden in Medinet, but nevertheless Nell found among its branches a quantity of dainties to eat, and a beautiful doll, which her father had bought for her in Cairo. Stasch received from his father the much-longed-for English gun, besides cartridges, hunting paraphernalia, and a riding-saddle.
Nell was beside herself with joy, and Stasch, although imagining that any one owning a real gun should be correspondingly sedate, could not keep away from it, and choosing a moment when everything was quiet around the tent, he walked about on his hands. He was especially clever in performing this feat, which he had often practised at school in Port Said, and he sometimes did it to entertain Nell, who envied him his skill.
Christmas day and the first part of the vacation the children spent inspecting their presents and training Saba. Their new friend proved to be exceedingly intelligent. On the very first day he learned to give his paw, bring handkerchiefs—which, however, he did not return willingly—and he was made to comprehend that it was not the thing for a gentleman’s dog to lick Nell’s face. Nell held her finger up and taught him various things, and by the affirmative wagging of his tail he gave her to understand that he was listening with due attention and was profiting by these good lessons. During the walks in the sandy town square in Medinet, Saba became more famous every hour, but this, like all fame, had a reverse side, for he drew a great crowd of Arab children after him. At first they remained at a distance, but becoming bolder on account of the gentleness of the “monster,” they approached, and at last swarmed around the tent, so that no one could move freely. And as every Arab child sucks a piece of sugar-cane from morning till night, the children are always followed by swarms of flies, which are not only annoying, but dangerous, for they spread the germs of the Egyptian eye-disease. Therefore the servants tried to drive away the children. But Nell not only interfered to protect them, but divided amongst the younger ones sweetmeats, which caused them to adore her and at the same time naturally increased their numbers.
Three days later the general excursions began. Sometimes they traveled on the narrow-gage railroads, of which the English had built many in Medinet-el-Fayoum, sometimes partly on donkeys, and again on camels. It is true they found that the praise bestowed on these animals by Idris was much exaggerated, for not only beans, but people, found it difficult to stay on their backs. Yet after all there was a tiny grain of truth in what he said. The camels really did belong to the riding species, and as they were well fed with maize, they had fat humps, and showed such an inclination to gallop that they had to be held back.
The Sudanese, Idris and Gebhr, notwithstanding the savage glare in their eyes, gained the confidence and approval of the party, especially on account of the zest with which they worked and the great attention they paid to Nell. Gebhr had always a cruel, brutal expression on his face, but Idris, who was not slow to notice every one of the party adored this little person as the apple of his eye, declared over and over again that he would be more careful of her than of himself. Nevertheless, Mr. Rawlison imagined that Idris wanted to get at his pocket by means of Nell, but as he thought that nobody could help loving his dear little only daughter, he was grateful to him and did not spare the bakshish.
In the course of five days the party visited the ruins of Crocodilopolis, which lie near the town. It is there the Egyptians used to pray to their god, Sobek, who had a human body with a crocodile’s head. The next excursion was made to the Hawara pyramid and the ruins of the Labyrinth, and the longest excursion, made on camel-back, was to Karoon Lake. The northern bank of this lake, save for the ruins of some old Egyptian towns, is a wilderness in which not a vestige of life remains; but south of the lake stretches a beautiful, fertile region, the banks being overgrown with heather and canebrake, in which innumerable flocks of pelicans, flamingoes, herons, wild geese, and ducks make their homes. There Stasch found his first opportunity to show what a good aim he could take and what a good shot he was. Whether he used an ordinary gun or his Renommier rifle, his shots were so true that after each one the astonished Idris and the Arab rowers smacked their lips, and each time a bird fell into the water they cried out, “Bismillah and Manalieh!”
The Arabs declared that there were a great many wolves and hyenas on the bank opposite the wilderness, and that if the carcass of a sheep were to be hidden there they would be almost certain of getting a shot. In consequence of what they heard Mr. Tarkowski and Stasch spent two nights in the wilderness near the ruins of Dimeh. But the Bedouins stole the first sheep as soon as the huntsmen had left, and the second only attracted a lame jackal, which Stasch brought down. All further hunting had to be postponed, for it was now time for the two engineers to begin their journey to inspect the water-works being erected at Bahr-Yoosuf, in the vicinity of El-Lahun, to the southeast of Medinet. Mr. Rawlison was only waiting for the arrival of Mrs. Olivier. But, unfortunately, instead of her arrival, they received a letter from the doctor telling them that she was again a victim of erysipelas, due to the bite, and would be unable to leave Port Said for some time. They were in a predicament. It was impossible for them to take the children, old Dinah, the tents, and all the servants with them, because the engineers would be here to-day and there to-morrow, and they might receive an order to go as far as the great Ibrahim Canal. Therefore, after some consideration Mr. Rawlison decided to leave Nell behind in care of Dinah and Stasch, and also of the agent of the Italian Consul and the native “Moodir” or governor. Mr. Rawlison promised Nell, who was very unwilling to part with her father, that whenever feasible he and Mr. Tarkowski would make trips to Medinet when in the vicinity, and that they would invite the children to come to them if there should be anything especially worth seeing.
“We are taking Chamis along with us,” he said, “and we will send him to you if necessary. Dinah must always accompany Nell; but as Nell does what she likes with her, you, Stasch, must look after both of them.”
“You can rest assured,” answered Stasch, “that I shall protect Nell as if she were my own sister. She has Saba, I have the rifle, and now let any one dare harm her.”
“That is not the point!” said Mr. Rawlison. “You can not possibly need Saba and the rifle. Only please see that she does not get too tired, and also that she does not take cold. I have asked the Consul to send for a doctor from Cairo at once should she become ill. We will send Chamis as often as possible to bring us news from you. The Moodir will also visit you. Besides, I hope we shall not be away very long.”
Mr. Tarkowski also cautioned Stasch well. He told him that Nell did not need his protection, for in Medinet, as also in the whole province of El-Fayoum, there were no wild people nor wild animals, and that it would be ridiculous, and unworthy of a boy in his fourteenth year, to imagine such a thing. And so he had only to be careful and attentive, and not to undertake any kind of an expedition on his own account, especially on camels with Nell, for one ride on them tires any one out. But when
