The Bride of the Nile | Page 8

her pretty head against her knees. An older
Greek woman, the child's governess, had a place by the side of a very
tall man, on an ottoman beyond the verge of the awning. This man was
Philip the leech. The cheerful sound of the lute accompanied the barge,
and the performer was the returned wanderer Orion, who touched the
strings with skill and deep feeling.
It was altogether a pleasing scene--a fair picture of a wealthy and
united family. But who was the damsel sitting by Orion's side? He was
devoting his whole attention to her; as he struck the strings with deeper
emphasis his eyes sought hers, and it seemed as though he were playing
for her alone. Nor did she appear unworthy of such homage, for when
the barge ran into the little haven and Haschim could distinguish her
features he was startled by her noble and purely Greek beauty.
A few handsomely-dressed slaves, who must have come with the
vehicle by the road, now went on board the boat to carry their invalid
lord to his chariot; and it then became apparent that the seat in which he
reclined was provided with arms by which it could be lifted and moved.
A burly negro took this at the back, but just as another was stooping to
lift it in front Orion pushed him away and took his place, raised the
couch with his father on it, and carried him across the landing-stage
between the deck and the shore, past Haschim to the chariot. The young
man did the work of bearer with cheerful ease, and looked
affectionately at his father while he shouted to the ladies--for only his
mother and the physician accompanied the invalid after carefully

wrapping him in shawls--to get out of the barge and wait for him. Then
he went forward, lighted by the torches which were carried before
them.
"Poor man!" thought the merchant as he looked after the Mukaukas.
"But to a man who has such a son to carry him the saddest and hardest
lot floats by like a cloud before the wind."
He was now ready to forgive Orion even the rejected flowers; and
when the young girl stepped on shore, the child clinging fondly to her
arm, he confessed to himself that Dame Susannah's little daughter
would find it hard indeed to hold her own by the side of this tall and
royal vision of beauty. What a form was this maiden's, and what
princely bearing; and how sweet and engaging the voice in which she
named some of the constellations to her little companion, and pointed
out the comet which was just rising!
Haschim was sitting in shadow; he could see without being seen, and
note all that took place on the bench, which was lighted by one of the
barge's lanterns. The unexpected entertainment gave him pleasure, for
everything that affected the governor's son roused his sympathy and
interest. The idea of forming an opinion of this remarkable young man
smiled on his fancy, and the sight of the beautiful girl who sat on the
bench yonder warmed his old heart. The child must certainly be Mary,
the governor's granddaughter.
Then the chariot started off, clattering away down the road, and in a
few minutes Orion came back to the rest of the party.
Alas! Poor little heiress of Susannah's wealth! How different was his
demeanor to this beautiful damsel from his treatment of that little thing!
His eyes rested on her face in rapture, his speech failed him now and
again as he addressed her, and what he said must be sometimes grave
and captivating and sometimes witty, for not she alone but the little
maid's governess listened to him eagerly, and when the fair one laughed
it was in particularly sweet, clear tones. There was something so lofty
in her mien that this frank expression of contentment was almost
startling; like a breath of perfume from some gorgeous flower which

seems created to rejoice the eye only. And she, to whom all that Orion
had to say was addressed, listened to him not only with deep attention,
but in a way which showed the merchant that she cared even more for
the speaker than for what he was so eager in expressing. If this maiden
wedded the governor's son, they would indeed be a pair! Taus, the
innkeeper's wife, now came out, a buxom and vigorous Egyptian
woman of middle age, carrying some of the puffs for which she was
famous, and which she had just made with her own hands. She also
served them with milk, grapes and other fruit, her eyes sparkling with
delight and gratified ambition; for the son of the great Mukaukas, the
pride of the city, who in former years had often