SAVED.
Hiring a donkey, for he still felt weak, Edgar rode out to the citadel.
He found the town gate open, as Napoleon, to show his contempt for the
population and his perfect confidence that they would not venture to
rise again, had ordered everything to go on as usual. Paying the
donkey-boy when within a short distance of the citadel, he sat down on a
block of stone a little way off the road, and waited for the hour when
the court-martial was to open. From what he had heard in the square he
was afraid that the Arab prisoners would all be among those sentenced to
death, as the general opinion was that a stern lesson was needed in
their case, as they had, with the exception of those dwelling near
Alexandria, proved themselves bitterly hostile to the French.
"I am afraid that I shall have to lie," he said to himself. "I hate
that, and I would not do it for myself, but the lie will hurt no one and
may save Sidi. Anyhow I won't tell more than I can help."
During the two hours that he sat there he made up his mind as to the
story that he should tell. As the hour approached, several French
officers of rank rode into the citadel. He saw a few people go in on
foot, but all were questioned by the sentry at the gate. A few minutes
before ten he went up.
"You cannot pass without an order," the sentry said in French.
"I wish to speak to the officer," Edgar replied in a mixture of French
and Italian. "I am a witness. I have to give evidence at the trial of
one of the scelerats."
The sentry called a non-commissioned officer, who, after speaking a few
words to him; entered the guard-house near the gate, and an officer came
out.
"What do you want to come in for?" he asked.
"I have evidence to give, monsieur, for one who is, I believe, among the
prisoners. He is, like myself, but a lad; but he saved my life from one
of those villains of rioters, and slew him with his own hand, when my
employer, Signor Pancherasi, and two other of his assistants were killed
by them. I would urge this in his favour."
"Well, it is but fair that you should be heard;" and calling a soldier
from the guard-house, he told him to accompany Edgar to the spot where
the court-martial was to be held, and to inform the officer in charge of
the prisoners that the lad desired to give evidence in regard to one of
them.
Thanking the officer, Edgar went up with the soldier into the great
quadrangle. In one corner were a large number of prisoners, guarded by a
line of soldiers with fixed bayonets. Three or four officers were
standing on the steps in front of a large open door. One of them, as
Edgar passed near, called out to his companion:
"Whom have you got there, my man?"
The soldier led Edgar up to the group, saluted, and stood at attention.
"He has come to give evidence for one of the prisoners, general."
"It must needs be pretty strong evidence then," the officer said,
"considering that they were all taken when fighting against us. Well, my
lad, who are you?"
"I do not speak French well, monsieur: Italian is my language. My name
is Giovanni Baptista. I was in the employ of Signor Pancherasi, who sold
goods of our country in the broad street leading up from the square of
El-Esbekieh, where your soldiers beat the Arabs yesterday."
"I recognize the young fellow," one of the officers said. "He rushed
out, half out of his mind with joy, as I rode past at the head of the
column. Well, go on, lad. Tell us what you have got to say."
"Well, monsieur, an Arab boy saved my life when the others were killed.
One had fired at me, and the bullet went through my arm, when the Arab,
who had some of his people with him, sprang forward, and just as the man
was going to rush at me with his scimitar he sprang upon him and stabbed
him between the shoulders. I do not remember much more, for I was
frightened; but there was a quarrel between him and his Arabs and the
others. I think I fainted. When I came to I was alone with the bodies of
my master and comrades, and there I remained in hiding until your troops
came along."
"But why should this Arab have interfered in your behalf?"
"A few days before, sir, I was going with a parcel of my master's goods
through one of the narrow lanes, when I saw two rough men ill-treating
an Arab boy. He seemed to be the son of a sheik, and they were trying to
rob him and he resisted, and seeing that he was a boy like myself, I
shouted at the top of my voice for aid, and ran in with my knife. Then
we fought for a minute, but doubtless it would have gone hard with us,
had not two of your soldiers, who heard me shouting, come running up,
and the men then took to their heels. The young Arab said that his
father would show his gratitude to me for having aided him, but I had
not heard of him again until, hearing our cries, he ran in with some
other Arabs, and, as I have said, saved me from death."
"Let me look at your wound?" the general said. Edgar took off his coat
and showed the blood-stained bandage.
"Well, you can look among the prisoners and see if your friend is here.
If he is, when you see him brought in you must come in and repeat your
story. By the way, how did you understand what this Arab said about his
father?"
"I have been out here some years, monsieur, and can speak a little
Arabic."
"Well, as you have lost your master, and are out of employment, if you
go down to the intendence and say that General Rombaud sent you, and
that you can speak enough French and Arabic to get on with, they will
find you some employment where you can be of use."
"Thank you very much, monsieur," and, bowing, Edgar went off with the
soldier to the group of prisoners.
There were in all about a score of Arabs, and these kept in a body
together. To his great joy, he recognized Sidi among them. His head was
bound up, and he looked weak and exhausted, but, like his companions,
and indeed the great proportion of the prisoners, he maintained an air
of indifference to his position. Thinking it as well that he should not
be recognized, and feeling sure that the guard would permit no
communication to take place with any of the prisoners, Edgar turned away
and went and sat down on some steps between the prisoners and those on
which the officers were standing. In a few minutes they went in by the
door behind them.
Five minutes later a sergeant came out, and calling four men from a
company drawn up near the door, went across to the group of prisoners
and presently returned with six of them. In a few minutes they came out
again. Three of the men, in charge of a single soldier, were marched
away in the direction of the gate; the other three were taken to a door
a short distance away, thrust in, the door was locked after them, and
two soldiers placed there as sentries. The barred windows told their
tale, and Edgar had no doubt that the three men who had entered were
sentenced to death. In the meantime, another party had taken six more
prisoners in. So the matter proceeded for upwards of an hour, five
minutes at the outside sufficing for each batch. At the end of this time
the group of Arabs was reached. Hitherto about half of the men taken had
been suffered to depart, but this time the six Arabs were all taken to
the fatal door.
Edgar did not recognize any of them, and indeed, he knew that the
greater part of the sheik's followers had fallen in the attack on the
French column in the street. Sidi was in the next group, and Edgar rose
to his feet, saying to the soldier who still stood by his side, and who
had heard the conversation with the general, "That is the lad." The man
went with him to the door, told the sentries there that the general's
orders were that the witness was to be allowed to enter, and Edgar
followed the party into a large room. Six French officers were seated at
a table. The president, who was the general who had spoken to him,
looked up:
"Is that the lad?" he asked, pointing to Sidi.
"That is he, monsieur."
"As we have heard your testimony, it is not necessary to take it again."
Sidi had given a sudden start on hearing Edgar's voice. "This young
fellow has testified to us," General Rombaud said to two of the members
of the court-martial, who had not been present on the steps when the
conversation took place, "that this young Arab saved him from murder at
the hands of some of the rabble, by killing the man who was about to
slay him, and that he did this in return for a service this young
Italian had rendered him in succouring him when attacked, some time
before, by two robbers. As he is but a lad, and of course acted under
his father's orders, I think we may make him an exception to the rule.
You can go free, young sir, but let the narrow escape that you have had
be a lesson to you not to venture to mix yourself up in treasonable
risings again. You can take him away with you," he added to Edgar.
Sidi moved away from his companions with an unsteady step. He had made
up his mind that his fate was sealed, and had been prepared to meet it,
and the sudden revulsion of feeling was almost too much for him. He gave
his hand silently to Edgar, and as the latter bowed and murmured his
thanks to the general, they went out together, one of the soldiers
accompanying them. In spite of his Arab stoicism, the tears were running
down Sidi's cheeks as they issued into the open air.
"I am not crying for joy that I am freed, brother," he said, "but with
pleasure at seeing you alive. When we got to the end of that street and
saw, for the first time, that you were not with us, and, looking back,
could see that your horse had fallen, we gave you up for dead, and
bitterly did my father reproach himself for having permitted you to
share in our attack. He is among the dead, brother; I saw him fall. I
had been separated from him by the rush of the French horsemen, but I
saw him fighting desperately, until at last struck down. Then, almost
mad, I struck wildly. I felt a heavy blow on my head, and should have
fallen had not a French soldier seized my arm and dragged me across his
saddle in front of him. I was dimly conscious of being handed over to
the infantry, and placed with some other prisoners. I sank down, and
should have bled to death had not an Arab among them bandaged my head.
The fight was nearly over then, and I was brought up here."
"I can give you good news, Sidi. I went last night with the two men whom
we had left behind, and searched for some hours among the dead for you
and your father, and found him at last. He was insensible, but not dead.
We carried him off, and the other two are with him in a grove six miles
away, and I have every hope that he will recover. He has five or six
wounds, but I do not think that any of them are mortal."
Sidi fairly broke down on hearing the news, and nothing further was said
until they had issued from the gate. The officer was still there who had
spoken to Edgar on entering.
"So you have saved your friend?" he said pleasantly, as Edgar passed.
"He is lucky, for I fancy he will be the only one of the Arabs who will
issue out of here to-day."
"I thank you much, monsieur, for having let me pass," Edgar said
gratefully. "I feared so much that I should not be allowed to enter to
speak for him."
The officer nodded, and the two lads went out. They had gone but a
hundred yards when Sidi said:
"I must sit down for a while, Edgar. I have eaten nothing since
yesterday morning, and I have lost much blood, and all this happiness is
too much for me. Don't think me very childish."
"I don't think you so at all, Sidi. It has been a fearful time, and I
don't wonder that you are upset. Look, there is a quiet spot between
those two huts. Do you sit down there; you can't go on as you are. In
the first place, your dress is covered with blood; and in the next, you
are too weak to walk. I will go into the town. There are plenty of shops
close to the gate, and I will buy a burnoose that will cover you, and a
change of clothes for you to make afterwards. I will get you some food
and a little cordial."
Sidi shook his head.
"Nonsense, man!" Edgar went on. "This is medicine, not wine, and you
must take something of the sort or you won't be fit to travel. I shall
get some fellah's clothes for myself, a basket of food and other things
to take out to your father, and I will hire a couple of donkeys. You are
no more fit to walk six miles than you are to fly, and I feel rather
shaky myself. I sha'n't be away more than half an hour."
After seeing Sidi seated in the place he had indicated, where he would
not be seen by those passing on the road, Edgar at once went in through
the gate. The provisions, and two or three bottles of good wine, were
quickly purchased, but it took him some little time getting the clothes,
for had he not bargained in the usual way, it would have seemed strange.
As it was, the man of whom he purchased them congratulated himself on
having made the best bargain that he had done for many a day. He bought
two Arab suits, and two such as were worn by peasants, and a brown
burnoose for Sidi to put on at once. Then, going out with the
provision-basket and the clothes in a bundle, he went to the gate again,
chose a couple of donkeys from those standing there for hire, and went
along the road for a short distance. Telling the donkey-boy to wait with
the animals until his return, he took the basket and the burnoose, which
had been made up into a separate parcel, and went to the spot where he
had left Sidi, who rose to his feet as he reached him.
"I am better now, and can go on."
"You are not going on until you have made a meal anyhow," Edgar replied;
"and I feel hungry myself, for I have been up a good many hours."
Sidi sat down again. The basket was opened, and Edgar produced some
bread and some cold kabobs (kabobs being small pieces of meat stuck on a
skewer). Sidi eat some bread and fresh fruit, but he shook his head at
the meat.
"I shall do better without it," he said. "Meat is for the strong. My
wound will heal all the faster without it."
He did, however, drink from a tumbler Edgar had brought with him a small
quantity of wine mixed with the water.
"I regard you as my hakim, and take this as medicine because you order
it."
"I feel sure that the Prophet himself would not have forbidden it when
so used. You look better already, and there is a little colour in your
cheek. Now, let us be off. If your father has recovered consciousness,
he must be in great anxiety about you."
"But I want to ask you about yourself?"
"I will tell you when we are mounted. The sooner we are off the better."
He was glad to see that, as they walked towards the donkeys, Sidi
stepped out much more firmly than before. He had put on his burnoose as
soon as Edgar joined him, and this concealed him almost to his feet when
he had mounted.
"We are not pressed for time," Edgar said to the donkey-boy. "Go along
gently and quietly."
The donkey started at the easy trot that distinguishes his species in
Egypt.
"Now, Edgar," Sidi said, as soon as they were in motion, "here have you
been telling me about my father, and I have been telling you about
myself, but not one word as yet have you told as to how you escaped, and
so saved the lives of both of us. Allah has, assuredly, sent you to be
our good genius, to aid us when we are in trouble, and to risk your life
for ours."
"Well, never mind about that now, Sidi. I will tell you all about it;
but it is a good long story."
So saying, he narrated his adventures in detail, from the time when his
horse fell with him to the moment when he entered the room where the
court-martial was being held. He made the story a long one, in order to
prevent his friend from talking, for he saw when he had spoken how great
was his emotion. He made his narrative last until they came within a
quarter of a mile of the village near which the sheik was hidden.
"Now we will get off," he said, "and send the donkeys back."
He paid the amount for which he had bargained for the animals, and
bestowed a tip upon the boy that made him open his eyes with delight.
They turned off from the road at once, made a detour, and came down upon
the clump of trees from the other side. The Arabs had seen them
approaching, and welcomed Sidi with exuberant delight. To his first
question, "How is my father?" they said, "He is better. He is very weak.
He has spoken but once. He looked round, evidently wondering where he
was, and we told him how the young Englishman, his friend, had come to
us, and how we had searched for hours among the dead, and, at last
finding him, had carried him off. Then he said, 'Did you find my son?'
We told him no, and that we had searched so carefully that we felt sure
that he was not among the dead, but that you had gone back to the town
to try and learn something about him. He shook his head a little, and
then closed his eyes. He has not spoken again."
"Doubtless he feels sure, as we could not find you, that you are dead,
Sidi. I have no doubt the sight of you will do him a great deal of good.
I will go forward and let him know that you are here. Do not show
yourself until I call you."
The sheik was lying with his eyes shut. As Edgar approached he opened
them, and the lad saw he was recognized.
"Glad am I to see you conscious again, sheik," he said, bending over
him.
The sheik feebly returned the pressure of his hand.
"May Allah pour his blessings upon you!" he whispered. "I am glad that I
shall lie under the sands of the desert, and not be buried like a dog in
a pit with others."
"I hope that you are not going to die, sheik. You are sorely weak from
loss of blood, and you are wounded in five places, but I think not at
all that any of them are mortal."
"I care not to live," the sheik murmured. "Half my followers are dead. I
mourn not for them; they, like myself, died in doing their duty and in
fighting the Franks--but it is my boy, of whom I was so proud. I ought
not to have taken him with me. Think you that I could wish to live, and
go back to tell his mother that I took him to his death."
"He was not killed, sheik; we assured ourselves of that before we
carried you away, and I found that, with twenty other Arabs and two or
three hundred of the townsmen, he was taken prisoner to the citadel."
A look of pain passed across the sheik's face.
"Your news is not good; it is bad," he said, with more energy than he
had hitherto shown. "It were better had he died in battle than be shot
in cold blood. Think you that they will spare any whom they caught in
arms against them?"
"My news is good, sheik," Edgar said calmly; "had it been otherwise I
would have left you to think that he had died on the field of battle. I
have reason to believe that Sidi has been released, and that you will
soon see him."
For a moment the sheik's eyes expressed incredulity; then the assured
tone and the calm manner of Edgar convinced him that he at least
believed that it was true.
"Are you sure, are you quite sure?" he asked, in tones so low that Edgar
could scarce hear him.
"I am quite sure--I would not buoy you up with false hopes. Sidi is
free. He is not far off now, and will speedily be here, directly he
knows that you are strong enough to see him."
For a minute the sheik's eyes closed, his lips moved, but no sound came
from them, but Edgar knew that he was murmuring thanks to Allah for his
son's preservation. Then he looked up again.
"I am strong enough," he said; "your news has made a man of me again.
Send him here."
Edgar walked away and joined Sidi.
"Be very calm and quiet," he said; "your father is very, very weak. Do
not break down. He knows that you are close by, and is prepared to see
you. Do not, I beg of you, agitate him; do not let him talk, or talk
much yourself; be calm and restful with him."
He turned away and walked to the end of the trees, where he engaged in a
short conversation with the two Arabs. Then he turned again, and went
near enough to catch a sight of the sheik. Sidi was kneeling by his
side, holding his hand to his heart, and a smile of happiness
illuminated the drawn face of the wounded man. Satisfied that all was
going on well, he joined the men.
"In the basket you will find a small cooking-pot," he said. "Pick up
some of the driest sticks that you can find, so as not to make any
smoke. Put some kabobs into the pot with as much water as will just
cover them; then place it over the fire, and let it stew until the meat
is in threads. Strain the broth off. I will give it to him, a sip at a
time."
"We need not be afraid of the smoke," one of the men said. "We went down
to the village to get bread and dates. A man saw that we were Arabs, and
asked us for news of what was going on in Cairo. Some fugitives passed
along yesterday evening, and said that the French were killing all the
Moslems. We told him that it was not as bad as that, but that many had
assuredly been slain. He called down maledictions upon the French, and
seeing that he was a true man we said that we had a wounded comrade
with us, and that he was lying in the grove. He told us that he was the
owner of it, and that we were welcome to use it, but prayed us not to
come to him again; for if the Franks came along in search of fugitives,
and happened to search the grove, and found that he had been supplying a
wounded man with provisions, it might cost him his life. We told him
that he need not fear, for that we would not betray him, but that, at
any rate, we would not come to his shop again."
"Then make the fire immediately, Hassan; the sooner the sheik has a
little nourishment, the better. If he seems strong enough to bear it, I
want to carry him off to the mountains at once. It is quite possible
that the French may be searching the villages round for wounded
fugitives, and I would fain get him up among the hills. Sidi, too, has
an ugly wound in the head, and needs a few days' rest. I think I have
everything that they can want for the next two or three days, and you
have a good supply of fruit. We must find some place among the rocks
sheltered from the sun. When it is dark you must go down to the fountain
and fill up your water-skins there."
An hour later Edgar carried the cup of broth to the sheik.
"Sidi, do you lift your father up a little--a very little. I want him to
take some of this broth. It is all a question of keeping up your
strength now, sheik, and I hope that you will try and drink a little."
"I, too, want to get strong," the sheik said, "I have something to live
for now."
He drank a few mouthfuls, and then motioned to his son to lower his head
down again.
"'Tis strange," he said, "that we three should be together again when it
seemed that none of us would meet on earth."
"It is very pleasant to be together again," Edgar said heartily, "and
it will be more pleasant still when we are able to get about again
together."
There had been but few words exchanged between father and son. To be
restored to each other was sufficient, and the sheik had not even
wondered as to how his son had so unexpectedly arrived. After drinking
the broth he closed his eyes, and in a few minutes it was evident, by
his quiet breathing, that he was asleep.
Edgar moved quietly away, beckoning to Sidi to follow him, and when he
joined him at the edge of the grove, told him of the plan that he
proposed.
"Do you think that he is strong enough?" Sidi asked.
"I do not think that it will do him harm, Sidi; indeed I think that if,
before he goes to sleep, we lay him on that blanket that we brought him
here in, we might carry him without waking him. Of course I should tell
him this evening what we thought of doing. It may be that the French
will make no search for the wounded. I saw proclamations signed by some
of the principal sheiks and ulemas, calling upon the people to be
tranquil, and announcing that Bonaparte had consented to forgive the
past; but you know that did not prevent their trying those prisoners
this morning, and, I doubt not, executing a large number of them.
Therefore, although they may leave the lower class alone, they may seize
any of their leaders they may find, and if they came upon your father,
his wounds would show that he had been engaged in the fighting; and if
they took him to the town many of those who saw him there might denounce
him as the sheik who led his horsemen against one of their columns. Of
course they may not search, but it is as well to be on the safe side,
and it is better to run the slight risk that the journey might do him
than to chance his being captured here."
Sidi heartily agreed.
"Now, Sidi, you may as well get rid of those clothes and put on the
peasant's suit I bought you. I shall do the same; then should we be
caught sight of, at a distance, we should simply be taken for two
fellahs who have gone up into the mountains, either to shoot game or for
some other purpose, while the white clothes would excite suspicion. I am
sorry now that I did not get them for Hassan and Ali, but it is likely
enough that I may be able to buy such things in the village. By the way,
your father said, when we were riding from the Pyramids to the town,
that there were a good many old tombs up in the hills. Of course, for
to-night, it would be enough if we take him a short distance up, then
to-morrow we can search, and if we can find one of those tombs, it will
be a safe place for him to stop in; and being cut in the solid rock, it
would be pleasantly cool. There will be no fear whatever of any French
soldiers coming along and entering there, and we can live quietly until
he is fit to sit a horse. When you have taken off those things that you
have on, you had better tear off a number of long strips for bandages.
We did what we could roughly when we first carried your father off the
field; but we can bandage his wounds carefully now, and yours also must
want looking to badly."
When the sheik woke, after two hours' sleep, he drank some broth. His
voice was louder and clearer, and it was evident that even the small
quantity that he had taken before, and the quiet sleep, had refreshed
him greatly.
"Now, sheik," Edgar said, "Hassan and Ali are going to bandage your
wounds carefully. They say that they are both accustomed to it, and no
doubt they have some experience, for wounds are common enough in your
raids and forays."
Edgar by this time had put on the dark-blue blouse, reaching down below
the knee and girt by a belt at the waist, which forms the main article
of dress of every Egyptian peasant. On his head was a brown cap of rough
wool, of something of the same shape as a fez. These, and a pair of low
Turkish shoes, completed his costume, underneath which he wore the
European one, the trousers being rolled up above the knees, so as not to
show. While the operation of dressing the wounds was going on, he went
down into the village, and finding a shop where they sold such things,
bought similar suits to his own for the two Arabs. When he returned, the
sheik's wounds had been dressed, a blanket rolled up under his head, and
he was looking altogether more comfortable. Edgar now told him his plan
of carrying him off.
"It will be best," he said, "much the best. Though I have said nothing,
I have wondered to-day whether the French would come along, and it has
troubled me; besides, I shall gain strength faster up in the hills. Your
plan is a good one. I think that I shall sleep well in the blanket. Even
if I wake it will not matter; the motion will be easy, and my wounds
have been well bandaged, and I have no fear of their breaking out
again."
In addition to the severe sabre cut on the face, the sheik had another
on the left arm. A third had struck him slantingly on the right side, as
his arm was raised to strike; a musket shot had also made a deep groove
on the hip. When in the village, Edgar had purchased, among other
things, several sticks of kabobs, and when it became dark the two Arabs,
now in their peasant dress, went down and filled the water-skins at the
village well. The sheik drank off the rest of the broth, and was then
carefully lifted and laid down on the blanket, which was still attached
to the spears. The other blanket was then placed under his head, and in
half an hour his son, who was watching him, was glad to see that he was
again asleep. Some more kabobs were put in the pot to stew, and when
ready the broth was poured into a wine-bottle that Edgar had emptied. As
soon as the moon was fairly up they started, as before, the two Arabs
taking the pole at the sheik's head, Edgar those at his feet, where the
weight was comparatively a light one. Sidi would have divided this with
him, but Edgar laughed at the idea.
"I shall be well pleased, Sidi, if you can do the walk without needing
help; the weight is really nothing. If he had been a big fleshy
Englishman it would be a different thing altogether, but you Arabs are
simply bone and muscle, and divided between three the weight is not
worth talking about."
The blankets had been rolled up and placed across the men's shoulders,
the water-skins hung by their straps on either side, and they carried
the baskets, on which were also placed the bundles of clothes, between
them. No stir or movement showed that the sheik was conscious of being
lifted from the ground. After twenty minutes' walking they got beyond
the area of cultivated ground, and were able to head directly for the
hills, and two hours later they were well up among them, and Edgar and
Sidi agreed that there was small chance indeed of any French parties,
especially of cavalry, searching such broken and rugged ground. A spot
was chosen where the ends of the spears could be laid on two flat stones
high enough to keep the bottom of the hammock from touching the ground
between them.
Sidi bent over his father, and, listening to his breathing, saw that he
was sound asleep. His only share of the burden had been a small, shallow
iron pot, in which a little charcoal fire glowed brightly. A small bag
of this, the most common fuel in Egypt, had been bought in the village.
The broth was poured into a tin, which was hung a short distance above
the fire, so that it would warm slowly. Then Edgar and Sidi, who were
both completely worn out, wrapped themselves, one in his burnoose and
the other in a blanket, and lay down; Hassan and Ali, who had by turns
slept during the day, undertaking to keep watch by the side of the
sheik, and to give him the broth as soon as he woke.
Edgar dropped off to sleep instantly; when he awoke the sun had risen.
He saw that Sidi was still asleep. The hammock had been lowered to the
ground, and Ali was holding the cup to the sheik's lips. Edgar saw at
once that he was better, the drawn expression and the ashen shade round
his lips had greatly abated, and his eyes were brighter. Living so
frugal and active a life, the Arab, like the Red Indian, can bear wounds
that would be fatal to a dweller in towns; and as none of the sheik's
wounds were in themselves very serious, and it was loss of blood alone
that had brought him to death's door, the night's rest, the nourishment
that he had taken, and above all, his joy at finding his son living, had
already placed him on the path to recovery.
"I am glad to see you looking much better than you did yesterday," Edgar
said heartily as he came up. "I hope that you have slept well?"
"I have woke but twice, and each time took some of the broth, and
straightway went off to sleep again. I did not feel my move here, and
was indeed surprised on my first waking, when Ali told me that I was
safe up in the hills. See, I can already lift my right hand. I shall not
be your patient long."
"There is no hurry," Edgar replied. "After I have had some breakfast I
shall start out to look for one of those tombs that you told me of.
There we shall have shelter from the heat of the sun and from the
night-dews. There will be no fear of the French lighting upon us; and
indeed I do not think that, now they have Cairo under their feet again,
they will trouble more about the matter. They have other things to think
about; and although Cairo will be quiet for a long time after this, the
French will know that their merciless slaughter of the Mussulmans will
excite the deepest feeling of hatred against them, and that it will be
even less safe than before for small parties to move about.
"Kleber will no doubt start again with his division for Damietta. Desaix
is many days' journey to the south. Probably a force will march to Suez.
I heard it said by some French officers that this would probably be the
next move, and Napoleon will not care to further weaken the garrison of
the city by sending out search parties."
"Is Sidi's wound a bad one?"
"No, it is nothing like so severe as that which you received on the
cheek. It was a downright blow, but his turban saved him. It is a pretty
deep scalp wound extending down to the ear, and he lost a good deal of
blood, but it was anxiety for you and the prospect of death for himself
in the morning that caused it to seem more serious than it was. In three
or four days he will be nearly himself again."
"And you, did you escape unhurt? We deemed you certainly dead."
"No; my horse was shot, and I at the same moment got a bullet through my
arm. Beyond the loss of a little blood it was of no consequence. I ran
into a house close by and sheltered there until the French column came
out, and then went out in some European clothes I found there, and had
no more trouble."