The Bride of the Nile | Page 7

Father, would think twice before you signed
it.--As to what we Masdakites hope for, our time is not yet come."
"And suppose it were, and that the hanging were yours?"
"I should sell it and add the price to my savings, and go home and buy
some land, and take a pretty wife, and breed camels and horses."
"And next day would come the poorer men who had laid nothing by,
and had made no bargain over hangings and sunsets; and they would
ask for a share of your land, and a camel and a foal each, and you
would not be able ever to see a sunset again but must wander about the
world, and your pretty wife with you to help you share everything with
others.--Let us abide by the old order, my Rustem, and may the Most
High preserve you your good heart, for you have but a foolish and
crotchety head."
The big man bent over his master and gratefully kissed his arm; at this
moment the guide rejoined them, but with a long face for he had
promised more than he could perform. The Mukaukas George had set
out--a quite unheard of event--for an excursion on the river in his barge,
with his son and the ladies of the house just as he was hoping to secure
an audience for the Arab. Orion's return--the steward had
explained--had made the old man quite young again. Haschim must
now wait till the morrow, and he, the guide, would counsel him to pass
the night in the city at an inn kept by one Moschion, where he would be
well cared for.

But the merchant preferred to remain where he was. He did not care
about the delay, more particularly as he wished to consult an Egyptian
physician with regard to an old standing complaint he suffered from,
and there was no more skilful or learned leech in the whole land, the
Egyptian guide assured him, than the famous Philip of Memphis. The
situation here, outside the town, was very pleasant, and from the river's
bank he might observe the comet which had been visible for some
nights past--a portent of evil no doubt. The natives of the city had been
paralysed with terror; that indeed was evident even here in Nesptah's
caravansary, for usually as the evening grew cool, the tables and
benches under the palms were crowded with guests; but who would
care to think of enjoyment in those days of dread?
So he remounted his ass to fetch the physician, while old Haschim,
leaning on the Masdakite's arm, betook himself to a bench by the river.
There he sat gazing thoughtfully at the starry sky, and his companion
dreamed of home and of buying a meadow, even without the price of
the gorgeous hanging, of building a house, and of choosing a pretty
little wife to manage it. Should she be fair or dark? He would rather she
should be fair.
But his castle in the air was shattered at this point, for an object was
approaching across the Nile which attracted his attention, and which he
pointed out to his chief. The stream lay before them like a broad belt of
black and silver brocade. The waxing moon was mirrored in the almost
unruffled surface and where a ripple curled it the tiny crest glittered
like white flame. Bats swooped to and fro in the gloom from the city of
the dead to the river, and flitted above it like shadows blown about by
the wind. A few lateen sails moved like pale, gigantic birds over the
dark waters; but now from the north--and from the city--a larger mass
came towards the palm-grove with bright, gleaming eyes of light.
"A fine boat,--the governor's no doubt," said the merchant, as it slowly
came towards the grove from the middle of the stream. At the same
time the clatter of hoofs became audible from the road behind the inn.
Haschim turned round and was aware of torchbearers running ahead of
a chariot.

"The sick man has come so far by water," said the Arab, "and now, he
is to be driven home.--Strange! this is the second time to-day that I
have met his much-talked-of son!"
The governor's pleasure-barge was nearing the palm-grove. It was a
large and handsome boat, built of cedar-wood and richly gilt, with an
image of John, the patron-saint of the family, for a figure-head. The
nimbus round the head was a crown of lamps, and large lanterns shone
both at the bows and stern of the vessel. The Mukaukas George was
reclining under an awning, his wife Neforis by his side. Opposite to
them sat their son and a tall young girl, at whose feet a child of ten sat
on the ground, leaning