The Hawk of Egypt | Page 4

satins of his Eastern raiment he had the
emblem worked in thread or silk or jewels, or painted in soft colours.
It was just a pretty conceit, but in conjunction with one-half of his
lineage and his love for his birds, it had earned him the title of "The
Hawk of Egypt."

And such was the man as he stood in the market-place, having followed
the path which Fate had marked out for him through the twisting lanes
of the bazaar.
CHAPTER II
"_Dog, ounce, bear and bull, Wolf, lion, horse_."
DU BARTAS.
Damaris should not have been strolling by herself in the native quarter.
If you are drab or flat of chest or soul or face, you can saunter your fill
in any bazaar without adventure befalling you; if, however, nature
should have endowed you with the colouring of a desert sunset, if, in
short, you can add a splash of colour to anything so colourful as a
native bazaar, then 'twere wise to do your sauntering under the wing of
a vigilant chaperon, so that the curiosity and interest resultant on your
splash may reach you obliquely and "as through a glass, darkly."
But there was no one to worry the girl at this hour before sunset, so that
little by little and quite unconsciously she moved forward until she
stood outside the doorway.
She stood, outlined against a background of blazing colours, which
served in no way to dim her beauty. Through the yellow-white arch of
the doorway showed a stretch of turquoise-blue sky across which, upon
a string, swung golden onions and scarlet peppercorns, whilst
underneath ruminated a fine, superbly indifferent dromedary.
For a moment Hugh Carden Ali, jogged by Fate, looked straight across
at the beautiful picture, staying his talk with Abdul, who, with the
courtesy of the East, did not turn his head as he stroked the breast and
head of the shahin on his fist.
But Damaris, with envy rampant in her heart, had no eyes for mere man;
she wanted to walk across and get near the coal-black stallion from
Unayza, a district famous for its breed of large, heavy-built horses. He

stood impatiently, with an occasional plunk of a hoof on the sandy
stones, or nuzzled his master's sleeve, or pulled at it with his teeth,
whilst two shaggy dogs of Billi lay stretched out awaiting the signal to
be up and going, perhaps, in a sprint across the desert after the hosseny
or red rascal of a fox which had been trapped and caged for the sole
purpose of hunting.
Ride out with the caged hosseny on a thoroughbred camel or
thoroughbred horse, take with you a couple of greyhounds and a dog or
so from Billi, get right off the tourist track and let the red rascal out,
and see if you don't have some fun before breakfast.
Only get off the tourist track, else you will have all the bazaar camels
and ponies loping along behind you.
The only wild beast this afternoon for sale was a jaguar, black as ink,
smooth as satin, short, heavy, with half-closed green eyes fixed
steadfastly upon a plump white pigeon foolishly strutting just out of
reach of the steel-pointed claws.
"Take her upon thy fist, O Master," said Abdul of Shammar, as he
lengthened the jesses, the short, narrow straps of leather or woven silk
or cotton with which to hold the hawk. "See, she is well reclaimed,
being tame and gentle and altogether amiable. When thrown, she is as a
bullet from a rifle, binding her quarry in high air even as a man holds
his woman to his heart upon the roof-top under the stars. She is full
summed"--and he ran his slender fingers through the new feathers, full
and soft after moulting; "she is keen as the winter wind--behold the
worn and blunted nails; she will not give up, my master, yet will she
come to the lure as quickly, as joyfully as a maid to her lover."
Hugh Carden Ali, the greatest authority after Abdul on the shahin, took
the bird upon his fist, looked at the sunken, piercing eyes which were
partially seeled; ran his hand over the narrow body, short tail and black
back, and a finger over the large beak and deep mouth; held up the ugly
face to the light, examined the flight-feathers and, moving his hand
quickly up and down, caused the bird to flutter its wings--and so give
him a chance of measuring the distance of the wings from the body.

Finding her altogether lovely, he nodded and handed her back to the
delighted falconer of Shammar, just as with a decisive pat the jaguar
landed, its huge paw upon the strutting pigeon, which had forgotten to
keep its distance.
For a moment the