The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-09-11
ONE MIRACLE AND HOW 1T WAS
WORKED.

the rocks in the desert l was weary
with climbing the dry ridge from the
Tombs of the Kings. l sat on the brok-
en- arm of shattered granite Rameses.
NY legs dangled over the side of that
colossal fragment. In front of me vast
colonades stood out clear and distinct
against the hot, white sky. Beyond lay
bare hills; in the distance, to the left,
the muddy Nile, amid green fields,
cleaned like thin silver thread in the
sunlight.
A native, in a single dirty garment, sat
summing himself on q headless sphynx
hard by.
''Arabi?'' asked inquiringly of my
Egyptian friend, which is, being inter
preted, "Are you MussulmanT
He shook his head firmly, and pointed
with many mods to the tiny blue cross
tattooed on his left wrist. "Nusrani,"
he answered with look of much pride.
[ smiled my acquiescence. He was a
Nazarene, a Christian.
In a few minutes time we had fallen
into close talk of Egypt, past and pres
emit; the bad old days; the British occu-
patton; the effect of strong government
on the condition of the fellahin. To the
Christian population of the Nile valley,
of course, the advent of the English has
been social revolution. For ages down
trodden, oppressed, despised, these Cop
tic schismatics at last find themselves
suddenly in the ends of the earth, CO
religionists with the new ruling class in
the country, and able to boast themselves
in many ways over their old Moslem
masters.
"Ah, yes, excellency," my Copt said
slowly when l asked him at last about
the administration of justice under Is
malls rule, 'things were different then,
before the English came, as Allah had
willed it. 1t was stick, stick, stick every
month of the year. No prayers availed;
we were beaten for everything. If fell
lah didn't pay his taxes when crops were
bad, he was dashed till he found them;
if he was a Christian, and offended the
least Moslem official, he was stripped to
the skin, and ruthlessly bastinadoed.
And then, for any INSTRUMENTATION, it
was death outright-hanging or behead-
ing, slash, so, with scemiter." And
my companion brought his hand round
in whirl with swishing force, as if he
were decapitating some unseen criminal
on the bare sand before him.
"The innocent must often have been
punished with the guilty." / remarked,
in my best Arabic, looking vaguely across
at him.
"Ah, yes" he assented, smiling. 80
Allah ordained. But sometimes, even
then, the saints were kind; we got off
unexpectedly. could tell you a strange
story that once happened 10 myself"
His eyes twinkled hard. sit was a curl
Gus adventure" he went on; ''the effen-
di might like, perhaps, to hear it. l was
condemned to death, and all but eXecu-
ted. 1t shows the wonderful ways of
Allah"
These Coptic Christians, indeed,
speaking Arabic as they do, and living
so constantly among Mussulman popu-
traits of thought, besides the mere acct
the Christian God as Allah. Fatalism
has taken as strong hold of their minds
as of Islam itself. "Say on" answered
lightly, drawing cigar from my case.
Then this adventure of NINE" he
said, happened near Assiot, in Ismail's
days, and was bold young man then
too bold for Egypt My father had a
piece of ground by the riverside that was
afterward taken from us by Ismail for
the Daira.
''In our village lived Sheikh, very
hard man; Mussulman, an Arab, a de-
scendant of the Prophet. He was the
greatest Sheikh for miles and miles
around. When he went to town he rode a
white mule. And he had haTem, too !;
three wives of his own. who were beauti-
full as the day-so girls who had seen
them said, for as for us, we saw them
nOt-plump women every one of them,
as the Khedive'S at Cairo. with eyes like
a gazelle's, marked round with hohl, and
their nails stained red every day with
henna. All the world said the Sheikh
was happy man, for he had the finest
dates of the country to eat and servants
and camels to do his bidding.
Now. there was a ghl in our village,
a Nusrani like me, beautiful young
girl, and her name was Laila. Her eyes
were like those of that child there-Zan-
obi-who carries the effendi's water
gourd on her head, and her cheeks were
round and soft as grape after the mum
dalton. | meant to wed her, and she
liked me well. In the evening we sat
and talked together under the whisper
ing palm trees. But when the time drew
near for me to marry her, and | had ar
ranged with her parents, there came a
message from the Sheikh. He had seen
the girl by the river as she went down to
draw water with her face unveiled. and
though she was Nusrani, she fired his
soul and he wished to take her away
from me to put her into his harem.
'When l heard that word 1 tore my
clothes in my rage, and, all Christian
that was, and of no account with the
Moslems, l went up to the Sheikh's
house in very white anger, and l fell
on my face and asked leave to see him.
"The Sheikh sat in his courtyard, in
side his house, and gave audience to all
men, after the fashion of Islam. 1 en-
tered and spoke to him. oh, Sheikh,
l said, boldly, Allah and the Khedive
have prospered you with exceeding great
prosperity. You drink Frank wine every
day of your life, and eat the fat of the
land, and your harem is full of beautiful
women. Now in the village where live
is Nusrani girl, whose name is Laila.
Her eyes are bright toward mine, and /
love her as the thirsty land loves water.
Yet, hear, o Sheikh, word is brought me
now that you wish to take this girl, who
is mine, and come to plead with you
to-day as Nathan the prophet pleaded
with David, the King of the Benz Israel.
If you take away from me my Laila, my
one eve lamb
''But at the word, the Sheikh rose up,
and clinched his fist, and was very angry.
who is this dog, he asked, that he
should dare to dictate to me? Take this
fellow he cried in his anger, and tie
him hand and foot, and fog him as bid
on his naked back, that he may know,
being Christian, an infidel dog, not to
NEEDLE with the domestic affairs of Mos
| lens II were well he were made ac-
quainted with his own vileness by the
instrumentality of hundred lashes.
And go tomorrow and bring Laila to
| ma nrd tn1rn nnrn thnt thi, Cant nj