The Way of the Spirit | Page 8

who have power here."
"Go on," said Rupert; "you shall have justice, I promise you--if I can
give it."
"Bey, a detachment of the Egyptian troops mounted upon camels have
swept down upon me and robbed me. They have taken away all my
sheep and most of the dromedaries, and killed three of my people who
strove to protect them. More, they have insulted my women--yes, they,
those dogs of Fellaheen. In the name of Allah, I pray you order that my
property should be restored, or if you cannot do so, write to Cairo on
my behalf, for I am a true man, and the Khedive is my lord and no
other."
"Yet," answered Rupert, "yet, Sheik Ibrahim, I have seen a certain letter
written by you to the impostor, Abdullahi, the Khalifa, in which you
offer him assistance, should he invade Egypt and take the road that runs
past the Sweet Wells."

Ibrahim's face fell. "That letter was forged," he said sullenly.
"Then, friend, how comes it that you know anything about it?" asked
Rupert. "Get you back to your tribe, and be thankful that, now the
Khedive is victorious, his soldiers did not take you as well as your
sheep. Know that you are a man with a mark against his name, and bear
yourself more faithfully, lest this should be your lot"--and with his foot
he touched the grave of the emir across which they talked.
The Sheik made no answer. Going to his dromedary, he climbed into
the saddle, bade the beast rise, and rode off a little way. At a distance of
about forty yards, which doubtless he judged to be out of revolver shot,
he halted and began a furious tirade of abuse.
"Infidel dog!" he shouted, with some added insults directed against
Rupert's forbears; "you who stand there with your defiling foot upon
the grave of the true believer whom you killed, hear me. You refuse me
justice and accuse me of having helped the Khalifa. Be careful lest I
should help him, I who am the Sheik of the Territories of the Sweet
Wells, the road whereby he will come to take Egypt with fifty thousand
dervishes at his back, who will not be fool enough to march down the
river-bank and be shelled by your guns from steam-boats. My tribe is a
strong one, and we live in a mountainous country whence we cannot be
hunted, though your hounds of Fellaheen took us unawares the other
day. Oh! be careful lest I should catch you, white Bey, whose face I
shall not forget. If ever I do, I will pay you back for the affront you put
upon me, a true man. I swear it by my father's head. Yes, then you shall
choose between the faith and death; then you shall acknowledge that
Mahomet is the prophet of Allah, you Cross-worshipping infidel, and
that he whom you name an impostor shall drive you and all your foul
race into the sea."
"You forget yourself, Sheik of the Sweet Wells," answered Rupert
quietly, "and forget also that the future is the gift of God and not
shaped by man. Begone, now! Begone at once, lest I, too, grow angry
and summon my soldiers to take you and throw you in prison where
you deserve to be. Off, and let me see your face no more, you who dare
to threaten your sovereign, for I think that when we meet again it will

be the herald of your death."
Ibrahim sat up upon his camel and opened his mouth to answer, but
there was something in the stern, fateful bearing of the Englishman
which seemed to quiet him. At any rate, he turned the beast and urging
it to a trot, departed swiftly across the desert.
"A very dangerous man," reflected Rupert. "I will report the matter at
once and have him looked after. I wish they had left his sheep and
taken him, as no doubt he knows I said that they ought to do. Somehow,
I don't feel as though I had seen the last of that fellow." Then
dismissing the matter of this rebel sheik from his mind, he continued
his walk and crossed the mountain plateau.
Presently Rupert came to the path by which he intended to descend. It
was a strange one, none other than a perfect waterfall of golden and set
at so steep an angle that the descent of it appeared dangerous, if not
impossible, as would doubtless be the case had that slope been of rock.
Being of sand, however, the feet of the traveller sink into it and so keep
him from slipping. Then, if he is fortunate, for this thing does not
always happen, he may enjoy a curious experience. As he moves