Jack Hildreth on the Nile | Page 7

fellow get sufficient start so that when I got into
the garden I saw him escaping over the wall. I caught him by the foot
and pulled him back. He came with such force that I fell under him; he
drew his knife, but I was too quick for him, and made a swift turn,
which brought the thrust between my arm and side. Then I gave him a
blow on the nose, and tried to hold him by his knife hand. The pain of
his cracked nose redoubled his strength; he wrenched himself free,
made a dash for the wall, mounted it, dropped on the other side, and I
heard him running away for dear life.
Well, it was a pity he had got off, but I was lucky to have escaped his

knife. Consoling myself with this thought, I returned to the house. I
found Ghost Number Two lying where my blow had stretched him. I
disarmed him, and went to the main entrance of the house, where the
brave Selim lay. As he heard me coming he began the Moslem
pilgrim's prayer: "O Allah, protect me from the thrice stoned devil,
deliver me from all evil spirits, and cover the depths of hell from mine
eyes."
"Stop whimpering," I said, "and get up. It is I."
"You? And who are you?" came a voice from beneath the blanket in
which he had muffled himself. "I know who you are. Go from me, for I
am beloved of the Prophet, and you have no power over me."
"Nonsense! Don't you know my voice ? I am the stranger Effendi, who
is your guest."
"No, you are not. You have assumed his voice to deceive. But the
hands of the holy caliphs are outspread to protect me, and in paradise a
million lips move in prayer for my delivery. O Allah, Allah, Allah, let
my sins be so small before Thee that Thou canst not see them, and help
me to overcome the evil spirit whose claws tear at my back."
The man who had boasted himself the greatest hero in the universe was
fairly quivering with terror, till I pulled him out of his blanket, and he
saw it was indeed I, in my own flesh, when he changed his tone.
"Effendi!" he cried, "what a risk you ran! Fortunately, I recognized
your voice instantly. Had I mistaken you for the ghost, your soul would
have gone out of your body like smoke, for I am terrible in my wrath."
"It's a lucky thing you feel thus," I answered, "for you can help me with
the ghost I have captured in my room."
"Effendi, you are jesting. Who could capture a ghost?"
"I am not jesting; he lies yonder; we'll bring him in here."
"Deliver us, O Lord, and bless us with Thy blessing!" he cried,

stretching out his hands as if to ward off danger. "No order from the
khedive, no law and no command could make me go into that place
where the evil spirit lies."
"It isn't a ghost; it's a man."
"Then tell me his name, the name of his father, and his father's father,
and where his tribe abides, or I cannot believe him a man."
"This is sheer nonsense; I knocked him down, and bound him, and in
the next room lies a second man in the same condition," I said
impatiently.
"Then you are lost; they have let themselves appear conquered, only to
destroy you, body and soul, and throw the pieces to the wind."
"Go back to your bed and hide under the blanket. But never say again
you are the most famous hero of your tribe."
So saying I left him in disgust to return to my prisoners, while he, as I
learned later, went to call his master and tell him how he, Selim,
single-handed and alone, had fought and conquered the two men who
were playing ghosts.
I went over to Ghost Number Two and felt his head; it was swollen, but
not broken; his heart beat evenly. I laid my hand on him none too
gently, saying: "He who plays the dead should be dead. Take care I do
not put an end to you. You have escaped this time, but ghosts receive
very little mercy at my hands."
Selim opportunely thrust his head around the door at this moment, and
I beckoned him to me. "You must stay with my other prisoner while I
speak with Murad Nassyr," I said. "I hope I can trust him to you?"
"With full confidence, Effendi," he replied, vauntingly.
"You may rest assured that he is safe. A glance from my eagle eye will
be enough to fill him with terror. But let me get my weapons."

"That is not necessary, for