LEFT BEHIND.
The sheik spoke a few words to two of his followers, who at once mounted
their horses and rode off.
"They will bring us news if anything happens," he said; "they will go
into Alexandria."
It was late in the evening when they returned.
"You have news?" the sheik said, as they came up to the fire by which he
was sitting. The moon was shining brightly, lighting up the wide expanse
of sand round the grove.
"The Franks have come," one said.
Edgar sprung to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and alarm.
"When did they come?" the sheik asked.
"When we reached the city all was quiet," the man said, "except that
soldiers were working at the fortifications. When we asked why this was,
they said that some Bedouins had come in two hours before with the news
that the sea near Cape Harzet was covered with ships, and that they were
sailing this way. Many did not believe the story, but all the people and
the soldiers were ordered to work on the fortifications, to bring up
shot for the great guns, to carry stones to mend the walls where they
were broken, and to prepare for the defence. The sun was nigh half down
when we saw a great many white dots on the edge of the sea. They were
still some leagues away, when everyone pointed and cried out, 'It is the
enemy!' and worked harder than ever. It was not for two hours that we
were sure that they were ships. When we were so, we went, as you bade
us, to the English merchant's. He was busy directing men, who were going
backwards and forwards to a ship in the harbour. We said to him,
'Master, our sheik has sent us to carry him news should the fleet of the
Franks come here. He told us to come to you if it did so, as you might
wish to send for your son.'
"'It is too late,' he said; 'too late for my son to come to me. I am on
the point of starting now, as you see. Many of the ships have already
put to sea, and the captain has sent to say that he cannot risk his
vessel by staying longer. The French will be here within two or three
hours, and although they will not venture to enter the harbour till
daybreak they could capture all vessels going out. Tell my son that I
regret much that I let him go away for the day, but had no thought that
the enemy would come so soon. Bid him not be uneasy about me, for it
will be dark in an hour, and the French will not be up until two hours
later, and they will have their hands full without trying to catch the
craft that are putting out from here. Here is a letter for him; I was
going to leave it here in case he returned.'
"Five minutes afterwards he took his place in a boat and was rowed off
to the ship. We saw the men getting up the anchor, and then the sails
were spread, and she sailed out of the harbour. Then, not wishing to be
shut up in the town, we went out through the gates and rode to the
mound by the sea-shore that is called Marabout. Then we got off our
horses to see what would happen. It was dark when the Franks' vessels
came along; some of them sailed on towards the harbour, but most of them
anchored and let down their sails, and presently one could see vast
numbers of boats rowing towards the shore."
When the man had finished, Edgar opened the note that was handed to him.
It was written in pencil.
_My dear Edgar,--In face of all probabilities the French fleet is
in sight. They will be here soon after it is dark. The city is in a
state of mad excitement. The captain of the 'Petrel' has just come
in, saying that the French are coming along the coast from the
west, and that I must be on board before it is dark. For some
reasons I regret that you are not with me, but I believe that you
will be quite safe with your Arab friends, and possibly this may be
more to your liking than a long stay in London. Take care of
yourself, lad. God bless you!--Your affectionate father._
Edgar's first thought at hearing the news had been regret that he could
not accompany his father, but this was very speedily succeeded by a
feeling of delight that he would be enabled to witness stirring events.
"Are you glad or sorry?" the sheik asked.
"I am much more glad than sorry," he replied. "My father, no doubt, is
disappointed that I am not returning home with him. I should on no
account have remained behind had it been possible to join him in time.
As it is, it is neither my fault nor his, but, as I think, a stroke of
good fortune. And now, chief, I can accept your kind offer of
hospitality, and hope that if there is any fighting that I shall ride by
the side of Sidi."
The Arab smiled gravely. "That assuredly you shall do. It is, as you
say, no one's fault, but the will of Allah, that has left you in my
charge, and I doubt not that good fortune will befall us thereby. Now,
what think you that is meant by the Franks landing at Marabout instead
of sailing on to attack the port?"
"It means, no doubt, that they are going to assault the city by land.
They probably do not know how weak are the fortifications, and fear that
the fleet might suffer much injury from their guns, and may therefore
prefer to attack from the land side."
"But can they take the city that way?"
"I have no doubt that they can. Their guns could blow in the gates in a
very short time. Moreover, from the high ground near Pompey's Pillar
they could harass the defenders of the wall, or, if they chose, make a
breach in it. The wall is very old, and in many places in a bad state of
repair."
"Could we go into the city and aid in the defence?" the sheik asked.
"There will be no entering from this side, sheik. The French army will
be between us and Alexandria, and, moreover, the guns from their
war-ships will be able to sweep the sands. We might pass round by the
south and enter the city from the other side; but your forty men would
add but little strength to the defence, and would be far more useful as
horsemen when the French begin their advance."
"How long will it take them, think you, to capture the town? Help can
come down from Cairo in a week."
"I think that the French will lose but little time, sheik. So long as
the town holds out, the fleet might be attacked by Nelson, should he
come back this way, while as soon as they have captured the town all
the light-draught vessels would find shelter in the harbour. You may be
sure that they would lose no time in mounting guns from the ships on the
forts, and render themselves perfectly safe from attack. They say that
Bonaparte is in command of the French. He is their ablest general, and
very active and enterprising. I should not be surprised if he captures
the place before sunset to-morrow."
The sheik made no reply. It seemed to him that Edgar's opinion that the
city which had withstood many sieges could be captured in a few hours
was too absurd to need argument.
"There is nothing to be done now," he said; "let us sleep. To-morrow,
before sunrise, we will make a detour round the south side of the city
and approach the eastern gate, and then decide whether to enter the town
or not."
In a few minutes there was silence in the camp, but long before the sun
rose everyone was astir. The women were to be left with the boys and old
men. The preparations were of the simplest character; each of the
thirty-eight men going hung a bag of dates at his saddle-bow, looked to
his firearms, and mounted. As the oasis was situated to the south-west
of the city, they did not strike the old bed of Lake Mareotis until
half-way along what had been its south shore. At present all was silent
in the distant city, and the sheik said shortly, "We will wait till we
see what is going to be done." Presently two or three Arabs were seen
galloping across the cultivated ground. They belonged to the Henedy
tribe, one of the wildest and most savage of the people of the desert.
When they saw the group of horses they made their way towards them. As
the sheik advanced a few paces, one of them leapt from his saddle and
came up to him.
"What has happened, brother?" Ben Ouafy asked.
"Last evening the Franks began to land, and all night they continued to
come ashore. At midnight Koraim, the commander of the town, went out to
see what they were doing, at the head of twenty Mamelukes, and fell upon
a company of their skirmishers, charged them, killed many, and carried
the head of their captain in triumph into the town. At five this morning
our tribe arrived. We rode up near them, and saw that they had neither
horsemen nor cannon. They were divided into three columns, and were
marching towards the town. We dashed in between the columns and cut down
many of their skirmishers, but we were only five hundred, and dared not
attack the column, which opened such a heavy fire that we were forced to
draw off. Our sheik ordered us to ride south to carry the news to
Ramanieb that the Franks had landed. They may have sent the news from
the town, but he thought it best to make sure."
"'Tis well!" the sheik said, and the Arab threw himself into the saddle
again, and with his companions rode south at a gallop. "You see," the
sheik went on to Edgar, "the Franks cannot mean to attack the town. What
could they do without cannon?"
"It would assuredly be a desperate enterprise, sheik, but I think that
they may attempt it, seeing that it is all-important to them to obtain
possession of the port before our fleet can return."
The party remained sitting, with the patience of their race, until the
sheik should give orders for them to mount. Edgar got up several times,
and walked backwards and forwards. He was less accustomed to waiting,
and was burning for action. Just at eight o'clock there came suddenly to
their ears an outburst of firing, the boom of cannon, and the sound of a
crackling roll of musketry.
"The French have lost no time in beginning," he said.
The young Arab nodded. A flush of excitement glowed through the olive
skin, his hand tightly grasped his spear, and his eyes were fixed on the
distant city. Suddenly the sheik raised the vibrating battle-cry of the
Arabs, in which the whole of his followers joined, and then at a wild
gallop they dashed forward, the horses seeming to share in the
excitement of their riders. After maintaining the pace for a couple of
miles they reined in their horses somewhat, and at a canter swept along
the neck that divided in old time the lakes of Aboukir and Mareotis,
slackened down into a walk as they approached the fresh-water canal,
where they stopped for a few minutes to allow their horses to drink, and
then continued at a leisurely pace until they mounted the high ground at
Ramleh. From here they obtained a view of the eastern side of
Alexandria. They could hear the din of battle on the other side of the
town, and could see the great fleet anchored, a mile from shore, some
two miles to the west of the town. The wind, which had been blowing
strongly the night before, and had seriously hindered the work of
disembarkation of the French troops, had now subsided. Some of the
men-of-war were engaging the forts, but at so great a distance that it
was evident that it was a demonstration to distract the attention of the
besieged rather than a serious attack. Four or five ships, under the
shortest sail, were cruising backwards and forwards parallel with the
shore eastward of the town, and occasionally a white puff of smoke burst
out from one or other of them, and a shot was sent in the direction of
scattered bands of horsemen near the shore.
After gazing at the scene in silence for some minutes, the sheik turned
his horse and rode back to a spot near the canal, where the moisture,
permeating through its banks, had given growth to a luxuriant crop of
grass. Here all dismounted and tethered their horses. Four of the Arabs
were appointed to watch over their safety, and the rest reascended the
mound, and squatted down on the sands. Gradually the other parties of
horse gathered there, and the sheiks gravely consulted together. All had
a conviction that Alexandria would hold out until help came from Cairo.
The question of entering the town was discussed. Presently the sound of
cannon ceased, but the rattle of musketry continued unabated.
"Why have the guns ceased firing, think you?" the sheik asked Edgar.
"It is one of two things, sheik. Either the French have got so close up
to the walls that the cannon can no longer be brought to fire upon them,
or they have stormed the walls and the fighting is now in the streets of
the town."
"But there are two walls," the sheik said; "the one known as the Arab
wall, and the inner defences. It is impossible that they can have
carried both."
"It would seem so," Edgar agreed; "but as the musketry is as hot, or
hotter, than ever, it is evident that fighting is going on at close
quarters, and that either the guns cannot be fired, or they have been
captured. You see the walls were in many places weak, and the attempts
that have been made during the past three or four days to repair the
breaches that existed were very incompletely done. I am very much afraid
that it is as I said, and that the French have gained an entrance."
Half an hour later, a number of horsemen, followed by a crowd of people
on foot, poured out from the eastern gate. One of the leading horsemen
drew rein for a moment as he passed the group of Arabs.
"The town is lost," he said; "the Franks have won their way into the
streets, and Koraim has surrendered."
An exclamation of fury broke from the Arabs.
"It will be our turn next," Ben Ouafy said, shaking his spear towards
the city. "This is but the beginning of the work. They may take a city,
but the sands will devour them."
As they knew that the French had no cavalry the Arabs remained quiet;
the stream of fugitives continued to pour past them, men, women, and
children.
"We will return," Ben Ouafy said at last. "We will move south and join
the rest of the tribe, and then see what the government of Cairo are
going to do."
The capture of the town had not been effected without loss. Menou's
column had attacked on the right, Kleber in the centre, Bon had moved
round south of the town. The Arab wall was obstinately defended, Kleber
and Menou were both wounded as they led the grenadiers to the assault;
Bon, however, had met with less resistance, and had captured the inner
wall before the other columns succeeded in doing so. For some time the
battle had raged in the streets, but the captain of a Turkish vessel had
been sent by Napoleon to the governor, pointing out that further
resistance would bring destruction upon the town, while if he yielded,
the French troops, who came as friends to deliver them from the tyranny
of the Mamelukes, would do no harm to anyone. Koraim thereupon
capitulated. He was at once attached to the general staff, and charged
with maintaining order in the town and disarming its inhabitants.
Proclamations were at once sent out through the country, declaring that
the French had come to destroy the Mameluke domination, and that they
were friends of the Sultan of Turkey. Protection was offered to all the
villages that submitted; those that did not do so would be burnt. Seven
hundred Turkish slaves, who had been delivered at the capture of Malta,
and who had been extremely well treated, were at once sent to their
homes in Tripoli, Algiers, Morocco, Syria, Smyrna, and Constantinople,
being provided with ample sums of money to support them on their way.
These measures had an excellent effect. Koraim sent out messengers to
the Arab tribes of the neighbourhood. His influence among them was
great, and their sheiks for the most part went at once into Alexandria,
and agreed to keep the road open from Alexandria to Damanhour, and to
sell and deliver within forty-eight hours 300 horses, 500 dromedaries,
and 1000 camels. They were presented with dresses of honour and money.
By this time the transports had all entered the old port of Alexandria,
and were busy discharging their cargo and the troops they carried, and
in a short time the whole French army was on shore.
Scarce a word was spoken among Ben Ouafy's party on their homeward ride.
The sheik gave his orders on his arrival.
"We will wait for a day or two," he said to Edgar as they dismounted.
"The French have no cavalry, and would not come out here. Let us see
what the other tribes are going to do; we are but a small body."
When, two days later, a messenger arrived from Koraim, the sheik, after
reading the contents of the proclamation, indignantly tore it in pieces.
"Tell Koraim," he said to the messenger, "that hitherto I have regarded
him as an honourable man, now I spit upon him as a traitor. Whatever
others may do, I will fight against the Franks till the last."
As soon as the messenger had departed, he gave orders for the tents to
be struck.
"We must be going, Sidi," he said; "some of the tribes may be taken in
by these promises, and may give aid to the enemy; in that case they
would doubtless obey orders to attack those who refuse to do so. Three
of them can each put four or five hundred spears into the field. We will
move away at once. With fifty men we cannot fight two thousand."
The process of packing-up occupied but a short time. As soon as the
tents were made into bundles the thirty camels were brought in and
loaded. The women and children took their places on the top of the
baggage, and then the men mounted their horses, and the cavalcade
started across the desert.
"Which way do we travel, Sidi?"
"We are not going direct. There are but few wells, and the distances are
long between. Mounted men alone can do the journey without difficulty,
but it is a painful one with women and children, and we never go that
way unless in case of great necessity. We shall travel towards the
south-east, keeping near the edge of the cultivated country until we
reach the Nile, and then follow along the river bank until within a few
miles of Cairo, thence it is three days' journey to the south-west.
There is a well half-way."
After proceeding some ten miles, they perceived a party of Arabs
galloping in the direction of Alexandria. They changed their course,
however, and soon came up with the Ben Ouafy caravan. Two of the sheiks
of the party rode forward and exchanged salutations with the chief.
"Whither are you journeying, Ben Ouafy?"
"I am going south to join my tribe; and you--are you going to
Alexandria?"
"I am going there at once."
"Hast not the news reached you that the Franks have captured it?"
"Truly we have heard so, and a messenger came to us but this morning,
saying that they had come to deliver us from the Turks, and inviting us
to go in thither and see them. Have you not received a message also?"
"I received such a message, indeed, but its words were idle. For the
Turks and their Mamelukes I have no great love. They prey upon the land,
and enrich themselves at our expense; but the Franks would doubtless do
the same, and I would rather be fleeced by those of the true faith than
by kaffirs."
"But they come as our friends."
Ben Ouafy smiled. "Why should they come as our friends, Chief of Oulad
A'Ly; what have we done for them? Why should they cross the sea in their
ships at great expense and much danger, to save those whom they know
not, from the Turks? You might as well expect the lion to come to rescue
a deer attacked by a jackal. He might, it is true, drive it away, but it
would only be that he might himself slay and devour the stag. We have
heard of these Franks, how they have taken Italy and other countries;
and think you, that if they should overpower the Osmanlis and defeat the
Mamelukes, that they will say, 'We have accomplished our purpose, we
have freed you from your oppressors, now we will sail back to France and
leave you to manage your own affairs'?"
"He promises to respect our religion," the sheik said, "to buy horses
and camels from us at fair prices, to give us rich presents, and to
treat us with honour."
"No doubt, no doubt. 'Tis easy to speak soft words when one needs aid,
but such promises are forgotten when the object is attained. To-day he
is the friend of the Arabs, to-morrow he will be their master, and if
we aid these kaffirs against the followers of the Prophet, we shall well
deserve whatever may befall."
"Then you will not go in to the gathering to which he invites us?"
"Assuredly not. Even were it for no other reason, I would wait and see
what comes of the matter. We know not yet that he will conquer the
Mamelukes, and if he fails to do so, assuredly their vengeance will
afterwards fall upon all who have assisted these people."
The sheik cast his eye over Ben Ouafy's cavalcade, as if estimating its
strength. He saw, however, that it contained as many armed men as he had
with him, and if the idea had entered his mind of commencing the
campaign by plundering it, he concluded it must be at once abandoned.
"I have no intention," he said, "of taking part with the Franks against
the government. I am going to sell horses and camels. Frank money is as
good as Turkish, and, moreover, they threaten to attack and destroy
those who refuse to aid them. Your tribe lives far away, though, indeed,
you may abide here at times, and there is nothing of yours that they can
destroy. I have my people to think of, their villages, their flocks and
herds and horses; therefore, I shall go and see this great man, and hear
what he says, and shall, if I can, keep on terms of peace with him. An
army so strong and so fierce that it has captured Alexandria after four
hours' fighting is too formidable for an Arab chief to resist; but,
assuredly, I have no thought of fighting on his side against my
countrymen."
The sheik bowed courteously.
"Every man has his own way of looking at things, and in a matter like
this each must do as seems best to him. Go in peace, and may good
fortune attend you!"
The formal salutation was returned, and the sheiks rejoined their
parties, and each kept on their course as before they met.
"There, my son," Ben Ouafy said to Sidi, "you see how the desire for
gain influences men to evil deeds. In order to sell a few hundred horses
and as many camels, the Oulad A'Ly are going to assist the Franks
against true believers. It is true that they may not be going to fight
for them, but the animals that they sell to them will enable them to
fight, which comes to the same thing. Of course he professes that he is
thinking of saving his villages from destruction, but he must know well
enough that the Franks have other things to think of than to spread over
the country here, and give ample time to the Mamelukes to prepare for
their coming. Moreover, as it is clear that the French have no cavalry,
they could not make excursions, for if they seized all the horses in
Alexandria, these would not suffice to mount a party strong enough to
assail a tribe like the Oulad A'Ly, who can put nigh a thousand horsemen
into the field."
The party travelled without haste. Before arriving on the Nile, Edgar
suggested to the sheik that it would be as well were he to discard his
European dress for an Arab one.
"When we were at Damanhour," he said, "I marked how the people scowled
at me as I rode through the streets; and as no doubt you will ride into
Cairo ere long, it would save trouble were I to be so attired that I
should escape notice."
"It would be a good plan," the sheik agreed. "I daresay Sidi can supply
you with a suit."
"I can purchase what is needed at the next place we come to," Edgar
said, "I have money for any necessity that may arise. Even putting
aside the trouble of being constantly questioned, I should prefer the
Arab dress, for under this baking sun I think it would be a good deal
more comfortable than these English clothes."
Accordingly, at the next town they passed through, Sidi and Edgar went
together to the bazaar, and the latter purchased, after the usual amount
of bargaining, clothes similar to those worn by his friend. The expense
was but small, for the costume of an Arab chief differed but little from
those of his followers, except that his burnoose was of finer cotton,
and his silken sash of brilliant colours, richer and more showy. With
this exception the whole costume was white, and although some of the
Arab sheiks wore coloured burnooses, Edgar chose a white one, as both
his friend and his father wore that colour. He bought two or three
changes of clothes, for he knew that water was often scarce, and that
washing of garments could not be indulged in frequently. That night when
the camp was pitched he donned his new costume, and placed his pistols
in his sash in Arab fashion. Sidi wound his turban for him, and gave him
instructions how the clothes were to be worn. Those he had taken off
were made into a bundle so that they could be resumed if necessary. He
felt rather awkward as with his friend he sallied out from the tent
which they now shared between them.
"You look well, Edgar," the sheik said approvingly, "but you will need
to stain your arms and legs, and it will be better for you to stain your
face and neck also, for you would attract quite as much attention as a
white Arab as you would in your European dress."
"I was thinking so myself, sheik; it will be much pleasanter for me to
be able to pass anywhere without comment."
"You are taller than I thought," the sheik said; "it had not struck me
that you were much taller than Sidi, but I see now that you are as tall
as I am."
"I suppose the flowing garments make one look taller," Edgar said. "I
have often been surprised, when standing near a native who looked to me
a good deal taller than myself, to find that he was really not above my
own height."
"My wife shall make a stain for you as soon as she can get the material.
There will be no difficulty about that, for we often dye our burnooses
brown, especially when we are starting on a long journey."
The sheik's wife and the other women were voluble in their expressions
of satisfaction at the change in Edgar. They had been but little in the
towns, and the comparatively tight-fitting European garments were, in
their eyes, ugly and unbecoming. Seen in the more graceful dress of the
Arabs they recognized for the first time that their guest was a
good-looking young fellow, tall, active, and not ungraceful in figure,
and that he could even compare not unfavourably with Sidi, who was a
favourite with the whole camp. Even the men, impassive as they usually
were, uttered a few words of satisfaction at Edgar having adopted an
Arab costume, and at his appearance in it. On the following day the
sheik, taking his son, Edgar, and two of his followers, left the caravan
and rode on to Cairo, leaving the others to travel by easy stages to
join the rest of the tribe.
"Doubtless we shall find many other sheiks assembled there," he said as
they rode along; "the government is sure to have sent orders already for
all the Bedouin tribes to hold themselves in readiness to gather there
to oppose the advance of the French. The levies of the city and the
neighbourhood will also be called out, not so much perhaps to fight as
to labour at the fortifications. That they will not ask of the Arabs,
for no Arab would work like a fellah. We will fight, but we will leave
it to the peasants to work. The Mamelukes will, however, in the first
place oppose the Franks. I love them not. They are the oppressors of
Egypt, but the lions of the desert are not more courageous. They are
proud of themselves, and believe themselves to be invincible. They will
not believe that the Franks can stand for a moment against them, and you
know that the night that the Franks landed, twenty Mamelukes rode out
against them, killed many, and brought in their heads in triumph. They
would not ask us to charge with them, but would deem it shame to ask for
aid in such an encounter, but they will be willing enough to accept our
help in cutting off the fugitives and in preventing others who may land
from spreading over the country."
"Then you still feel sure that the Mamelukes will defeat the French?"
Edgar said.
"If it be the will of Allah, my son. The Mamelukes are not like the
people who defended Alexandria; they are warriors. We Arabs are brave,
we do not fear death; but when, from time to time, a tribe refuses to
pay its annual tribute, and a band of Mamelukes is sent against them,
truly the sons of the desert cannot withstand them in combat, even when
much more numerous, and are either destroyed or forced to make their
submission. These men regard themselves not as simple soldiers; it is an
army of emirs. Each has his two or three slaves to wait upon him, to
groom his horse and polish his arms. Their dresses are superb; their
arms and trappings are encrusted with gold and gems. Each carries his
wealth on his person, and there are few who cannot show a hundred pieces
of gold, while many can exceed that by ten times. It is true that they
are the oppressors of the people, and that Egypt has been drained of
its wealth for their support, yet we, who suffer from them, cannot but
feel proud of them. Are they not followers of the Prophet? They are men
like those whom the great Sultan Saladin led against the Christian hosts
who strove to capture Syria. We have tales how brave these were, and how
they rode, clad in steel from head to foot; and yet their bones whitened
the sands, and the true believers remained in possession of their lands.
The Mamelukes are men such as those were, and until I see the contrary I
shall not believe that they can be defeated by these Franks."
"I hope that it may be so, sheik, and I doubt in no way their valour;
but it is the guns and the discipline of the French that will, I fear,
decide the conflict."