THE HIDDEN GIRL
Hour after hour the little boat held its steady course; hour after
hour the distant banks flowed past in changing scenes. Forward on
the narrow deck a girl sat in a lounge chair beneath a striped
awning and gazed out over the water. Squatting in the shade behind
her an old woman stared up out of half-closed eyes with pupils as
keen and bright under their puckered lids as the eyes of a watching
hawk.
No disturbing consciousness of this incessant scrutiny muffled the
serenity of the girl's appearance. Her hands lax in her lap, her
blue eyes quietly intent upon the view, she lay back in her chair
with as much confident unconcern as she might have shown in an opera
box. As a matter of incredulous fact she was feeling incredulously
at ease.
The terrible tension of those days in the palace was over--for the
time, at least. She did not understand this new move, she had been
bewildered ever since that early dawn, on Sunday, when the old woman
and the eunuch had rushed her into the limousine, driven her
swiftly through the empty streets to a landing place on the river
beyond the bridge, and hurried her on board this little boat, an old
_dahabiyeh_ reconstructed and given a new engine.
The Captain had not appeared except for a brief interview in the
vestibule where he had told her that the quarantine was prolonged
and that he was going to try to escape out of Cairo where the
authorities would not be aware, and would first try to smuggle her
out of the city, too. She must do exactly as the old woman indicated
and everything would be all right.
And she had said, "How exciting!" and "What fun!" with lips that
smiled pluckily in apparent acceptance of this flimsy excuse.
She had connected this flight with the pandemonium she had heard in
the palace the night before, and she guessed that in some way her
presence there had become embarrassing for the Turk. Perhaps her
friends had traced her! Perhaps Robert Falconer--for after all it
would only be Robert Falconer's flouted devotion, she thought, that
would interest itself in her. He mistrusted Kerissen; he would
suspect.
So hope rose high in her, and hopeful, too, was this new glimpse of
freedom. Somewhere, soon, she thought confidently, the chance to
escape would come. The old woman could not watch forever. The big
eunuch was occupied with the boat. She could hear him now muttering
angrily to the little brown boy at the engines, while over the sound
of his muttering rose the rhythmic, unconcerned chant of two other
boys marching up and down the narrow passageways of deck outside the
little staterooms with a scrubbing brush under each left foot.
"_Allah Illeh Lessah_," they chanted monotonously, with a scrub of
the brush at each emphasis. "_Allah Illeh Lessah_."
"Allah help _me_," thought Arlee Beecher.
All day Sunday she had sat there in that chair watching the
pyramids, at first so sharp-cut against the cloudless blue, wane
imperceptibly and fade from sight, watching the golden Mokattan
Hills and the pearly tinted Tura range slip softly from the horizon
and all the old landmarks of the Egypt that she knew disappear and
be replaced by strange, new sights. Other pyramids showed like
child's toys upon the horizon; dense groves of palm trees appeared
along the banks, then the banks grew higher and higher and upon
them, silhouetted against the bright blue sky, showed a frieze-like
procession of country folk driving camels or donkeys or bullocks.
All night long they had steamed, a search-light on the bow, and
Arlee had lain in the little stateroom trying to sleep, but
continually aware of the breathing of the old woman huddled outside
against her door, of the soft thudding of bare feet about the deck,
of the pulse of the engine, beating, beating steadily, and of quick,
muffled commands, of reversals, grinding of chains as some
treacherous shallow appeared ahead, then of the onward drive and the
steady rhythmic progress again.
Where were they taking her? South to some haunt where she would be
farther than ever from the civilization which had flowed so
unheedingly past that old palace of darkened windows, south toward
the strange native cities and tiny villages and the grain fields
and the deserts. But it was all better than that stifling palace and
the absence of the Captain gave her a sense of temporary security.
Sunday had been hot and dry, but this Monday was cooler and the
north wind, blowing freshly over the wide Nile, broke the
amber-brown of the water into little waves of sparkling blue edged
with silver ripples. The river was beautiful to her, even in her
sorry plight, and to-day there were little clouds in the sky,
furtive, scuddy little clouds with wind-teased edges, and they cast
soft shadows over the river and over the tender green of the fields
and the flat, mirroring water standing level in the trenches. In the
fields brown men and women were working, and on the river banks the
half-naked figures of _fellaheen_ were ceaselessly bending,
ceaselessly straightening, as they dipped up the water from the
_shadoufs_ to feed the thirsty land. Sometimes in the fields Arlee
saw the red rusty bulk of the old engines, which the Mad Khedive had
tried to install among his people, to do away with this
back-breaking work, now lying useless and ignored. God forbid that
we do otherwise than our fathers, said the people.
Across the water came the monotonous chant of their labor song, and
sometimes the creak and squeak of some inland well-sweep drawn round
and round by some patient camel. She felt herself to be in another
world, as she sat in that boat guarded by that old woman and an
eunuch, a world strange and remote, yet desperately real as it
enmeshed her in its secret motives, its incalculable forces....
As she watched, as the surface of her mind reflected these sights
and was caught in the maze of fresh impressions, the back of that
mind was forever at work on her own terrifying problem. She thought
confidently of escape, not able to plan it but waiting intently upon
opportunity, upon the passing of a boat perhaps, or the moment of
tying to some bank.
There was in her a high spirit of undaunted pluck and an excitement
in adventure, which made her heart quicken instead of flag at the
odds before her. Only the thought of the desperate stakes and the
reality of her hidden fears would often draw the color from her
cheeks and stop an instant the beating of that hurrying heart.... If
those hawk-like eyes were watching then they might see the slim
hands pressed feverishly together before warning self-control turned
them lax again.
So hour after hour the boat went on. On the left now the long
mountain of Gebel-el-Tayr stretched golden and tawny like a lion of
stone basking in the sun. They passed Beni-Hassan, where a Nile
steamer lay staked to the shore, the passengers streaming gaily out
and starting off on donkeys for an excursion to the tombs. If only
it had been a little nearer, close enough to risk a desperate
hail--! But the very sight of it was comforting.
Toward dusk the engine failed. That night the boat lay by the bank,
tied to long stakes which the boys had driven in. The big Nubian sat
at one end, cross-legged, a rifle on his knees. At the stern sat a
brown boy. And so Arlee sank into the tired sleep that claimed her,
and did not wake until the warm sunshine in her tiny window and the
ripple of water against the sides told her that another morning was
at hand and that they were on the move again.
Stepping out on deck for breakfast, she found the boat was sailing.
Two _lanteen_ sails were hoisted; a great one in the bow, a small
one in the stern, and the boat was running swiftly before the north
wind that blew fresher than ever. But the course was variable now as
the river curved and as sand-banks threatened, and Arlee watched the
waters eagerly for a near-passing boat. But when they did draw close
to a _dahabiyeh_ upon whose deck she saw some white-clad loungers,
the Nubian gave a low order to the old woman who rose and gripped
Arlee on the wrist and led her to the stateroom, sitting in silence
opposite her like a squat gargoyle, till the Nubian's voice
permitted them to emerge.
And now they came to a city upon the right bank and the domes and
minarets, the crowded building and high flat roofs pierced Arlee
with a terrible sense of loneliness. And when her eyes caught the
gleam of flags over a building and she saw her own stars and stripes
blowing against this Egyptian sky, the tears could not be fought
back. With wet eyes and working mouth she stood there and looked and
looked. She thought she could endure no more and that her heart was
breaking.
Leaden discouragement was upon her as the boat made in toward the
shore. It did not approach the city landings; it came in south near
a shallow bank, and one of the brown boys jumped overboard and
splashed to the shore while the boat went on. But by and by it
turned in its course and came beating back against the wind till
opposite it was the city; then it tacked in to that same place near
the bank, and there the boy was waving at them. Skillfully the
_dahabiyeh_ was brought about close to the high bank; and ropes
thrown from bow and stern were quickly staked and made fast.
A plank was put over the side and with the eunuch ahead and the old
woman behind Arlee was taken ashore and mounted on one of the camels
the boys had brought, with the old woman behind, gripping her about
the waist. The eunuch, on another camel, held the bridle rope, and
led them at a terrific pace along the river road and then across the
fields, thudding down the narrow, beaten paths, till the lush green
was past and the dry desert lands began.
Ahead of them a low, tawny mass of mountain seemed to shimmer and
waver in the hot sun, and as they drew nearer and nearer the mass
was resolved into many masses broken into small foothills at the
base, through which the Nubian threaded a rapid, circuitous way that
led out on a rolling ground. A wide detour, still at the same urgent
speed which jolted the breath from the girl and made her cling to
the carpeted pummel of the saddle with both hands, led them at last
within sight of palm trees and mud walls.
Arlee had no means of guessing whether these houses were the
outskirts of that city she had glimpsed or whether they were a
separate village. She only saw that they were being taken to the
largest house of the place, which stood a little apart from the
others and was half-surrounded by mud walls. Into this walled-in
court her camel was led and halted and jerkingly it accomplished
its collapsing descent, and Arlee found herself on her feet again,
quite breathless, but very alert.
Her fleet glance saw a number of black-robed figures about a stair;
the next instant a mantle was flung over her head and that
compelling hand upon her wrist urged her swiftly forward, and up a
flight of steps. Within were more steps and then a door. Thrusting
back the mantle she found herself in the sudden twilight of a small,
low-ceiled chamber. There was no other door to it but the one she
heard bolted behind her; there was one window completely covered
with brown _mashrubiyeh_. She flew to it; it looked out over wide
sands, with a glimpse, toward the right, of a mud wall and pigeon
houses. The room was musty and dusty and dirty; but the rugs in it
were beautiful, and a divan was filled with pillows and hung with
embroidered cotton hangings. Other pillows were on the floor about
the walls. A green silk banner embroidered in gold hung upon one of
those walls and a laquered table stood by the divan.
And as Arlee Beecher stood there in that strange, stifling room, the
mutterings of foreign voices, the squeals of the camels, the bray of
a donkey coming through that screened window, a sudden rage came
over her which was too hot to bear. Her heart burned; her hands
clenched; she could have beaten upon those walls with her helpless
fists and screamed at the top of her unavailing lungs. It was a fury
of despair that seized her, a fury that she fought back with every
breath of sanity within her. Then suddenly the air was black. The
room seemed to swim before her eyes and the ground came swaying
dizzily up to meet her, and receive her spent unconsciousness.
* * * * *
Water had been brought; she woke to find herself upon the couch, the
old woman woodenly sopping her head and hands. She smiled weakly
into that strange dark face; it was as unchanged as if it had been
carved from bronze. The business of reviving finished, the old woman
left her a handkerchief damp with a keen scent and went about the
work of unpacking a hamper that she brought in.
Dully, Arlee saw the preparations for a meal advancing. She shook
her head at it; a cup of tea was all that she could touch. A
lethargy had seized her; even the anger of revolt was gone. She
closed her eyes languidly, grateful when the old woman went away,
grateful when the darkness deepened. When it was quite night, she
thought, she would break open the wooden screen and fling herself
through the wood into the sands. She lay there passively waiting;
her heavy eyes closed, and she slept.