The crowd in the bazaar was excessive, and the bent old figure which
laboured beneath a nondescript burden, wrapped up in a blue cloth,
passed from the noisiness out into the narrow street which ran at
right-angles with the lane of many shops.
Perhaps the old Arab was deaf, perhaps wearied to the point of
exhaustion; but, from whatever cause, he ignored, or was unaware of, the
oncoming _arabeeyeh_, whose driver had lost control of his horse. Even
the shrill scream of the corpulent, white-veiled German lady, who was
one of its passengers, failed to arouse him. Out into the narrow roadway
he staggered, bent almost double.
Graham, accompanied by Mohammed, was some distance away, haggling with a
Greek thief who held the view that a return of three hundred and fifty
per cent. spelled black ruination.
Eileen, finding the air stifling, had walked on in the direction of the
less crowded street above. Thus it happened that she, and the poor old
porter, alone, were in the path of the onward-whirling carriage.
Many women so placed would have stood, frozen with horror, have been
struck down by the frantic animal; some would have had sufficient
presence of mind to gain the only shelter attainable in time--that of a
deep-set doorway. Few would have acted as Eileen acted.
It was under the stimulus of that Celtic impetuosity--that generous
madness which seems to proceed, not from the mind, but from the
heart--that she leapt, not back, but forward.
She never knew exactly what took place, nor how she escaped destruction;
but there was a roaring in her ears, above it rising the Teutonic
screams of the lady in the _arabeeyeh_; there was a confused chorus of
voices, a consciousness of effort; and she found herself, with wildly
beating heart, crouching back into the recess which once had held a
_mastabah_.
From some place invisible, around a bend in the tortuous street, came
sounds of shouting and that of lashing hoofs. The runaway was stopped.
At her feet lay a shapeless bundle wrapped in a blue cloth, and beside
her, leaning back against the whitewashed wall, and breathing with
short, sobbing breaths, was the old porter.
Now, her husband had his arms about her, and Mohammed, with frightened
eyes, hovered in the background. Without undue haste, all the bazaar
gradually was coming upon the scene.
"My darling, are you hurt?"
John Graham's voice shook. He was deathly pale.
Eileen smiled reassuringly.
"Not a bit, dear," she said breathlessly. "But I am afraid the poor old
man is."
"You are quite sure you are not hurt?"
"I was not so much as touched, though honestly I don't know how either
of us escaped. But do see if the old man is injured."
Graham turned to the rescued porter, who now had recovered his
composure.
"Mohammed, ask him if he is hurt," he directed.
Mohammed put the question. A curious group surrounded the party. But the
old man, ignoring all, knelt and bowed his bare head to the dust at
Eileen's feet.
"Oh, John," cried the girl, "ask him to stand up! I feel ashamed to see
such a venerable old man kneeling before me!"
"Tell him it is--nothing," said Graham hastily to Mohammed,
"and--er----"--he fumbled in his pocket--"give him this."
But Mohammed, looking ill at ease, thrust aside the proffered
_bakshîsh_--a novel action which made Graham stare widely.
"He would not take it, Effendi," he whispered. "See, his turban lies
there; he is a _hadj_. He is praying for the eternal happiness of his
preserver, and he is interceding with the Prophet (_Salla--'lláhu
'aleyhi wasellum_), that she may enjoy the delights of Paradise equally
with all true Believers!"
"Very good of him," said Graham, who, finding the danger passed and his
wife safe, was beginning to feel embarrassed. "Thank him, and tell him
that she is greatly indebted!"
He took Eileen's arm, and turned to force a way through the strangely
silent group about. But the aged porter seized the hem of the girl's
white skirt, gently detaining her. As he rose upon his knees, Mohammed,
with marks of unusual deference, handed him his green turban. The old
man, still clutching Eileen's dress, signed that his dirty bundle should
likewise be passed to him. This was done.