The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-03-05
A ROMANCE OF CAIRO.


! 1t is more than thirty years ago since
Devil Brereton arrived in Cairo and
found there the fate or fortune of which
this is the only complete or authentic
history. The printed accounts are scrappy
and misrepresent the main facts. / have
collected, 1 think, all the news paper par
agraphs that appeared at the time on the
subject. They are very meager, and l
believe an Alexandrian journal published
in French was fined for mentioning the
subject at all. The best account appeared
in Smyrna newspaper, but the next
weeks issue gave contradiction of the
story, evidently inspired" The whole
business was hushed up by the authori-
ties, and there are one or two incidents in
it so romantic that have found them re-
ceived with incredulity when mentioned
in conversation.
A visit to Egypt was, at the time of
which L am writing, an uncommon thing,
as it was longer and costlier trip than it
1t is now. Brereton was a man of leisure
and money who had. or fancied he had, a
weak lung. He had read 'Eothen" and
the Crescent and the Cross" and palm
Leaves" by Monckton Mines, and he
was drawn to take passage on board a
Z. and Q. steamer bound for Alexandria.
lie was the only passenger for Egypt; the
other travellers were all booked for India.
He reached Cairo on pleasant day in
November, and was driven to Shop
heard's Hotel. He had seen dioramic
picture of its yeranda in Albert Smiths
Eastern entertainment, and a caricature
by Richard Doyle of the newcomer, or
i griffin, in the clutches of Arab drago-
mans and donkey-boys was the last
thing he had seen in a London print
shop. He found both the picture of the
place and the illustration of manner per-
fectly accurate. He had an introduction
to the Consul and to the resident doctor,
and was fortunate in making few con-
genial acquaintance.
The first was Keith Gray, an artist the
other two, Sir David and Lady Brabazon,
were breaking their homeward journey
from India by lingering a couple of
months in Egypt. The four kept to-
gether, had places at table next to each
other, and planned excursions in COM
pany. Lady BrabaZon, a clever and SYM
pathetic woman, obtained Brereton's
confidence early in the day, and discov-
cred that he was in love; in this she was
right. She decided that the course of his
love was not running smoothly, and that
this accounted for his visit to Egypt; in
this she was wrong. Really the girl he
loved loved him in return. The match
was suitable, and there was a chance of
pretty Vera Cathcart coming with her
parents to Egypt if they could make a
rendezvous with certain uncle who held
a legal appointment in the straits settle
ments, and who thought Of wintering i'll
Cairo. One other point about BreretOn
Lady Brabazon discovered-he had no
relations. de was an only son of an
only son. He had no real estate, but
money invested in Government and other
securities. He often called himself "a
III ,,N,., -.
property and settling on his return.
These are all the circumstances that are
necessary to be known in order to ex-
plain the subsequent action or inaction of
the little group of persons who associated
with Brereton in these days at Cairo.
Cairo in the last days of Said Pasha,
and in the early days OF ISmail, was very
different from the Cairo of to-day. The
large European quarter which bears the
name of the first Khedive did not exist.
There was no hon-guarded bridge over
the Nile; the palaces at GeZireh and Gizeh
were not built; and the long avenue OF
lebbek trees that are now the faVorite
afternoon drives of residents were un-
planted. The Muski was an Eastern
bazaar, covered with a roof of mating
and full of shops piled with carpets, brass
work, many-socketed lamps, and tables
! lnlaid with mother-of-pearl; now it is a
vulgar street, dlsflgured by the hideouS
dummies of advertising tailors. The Ez-
bekieh was the most Europeanized quar-
ter, but there was no Enclosed garden,
only an open place shaded by tufts OF
outrageous trees. Napoleon's head
quarters were still standing; and there
was no straight Boulevard Mohammed
Ali, but network of narrow streets with
windows latticed with DlushrebiyehS of
intricate tracery occupying all the space
between Ezbekieh and the citadel The
Shubra Road was the one drive, the Ave
nue. de Boulogne of Cairo, and this
stretched from the railway station to
the disused palace of Mohammed Ali.
1t was then on Sundays and Fri
days the universal resort, and it
is now, though unfrequented and
questionable, place full of
fascination. The lights that CLINT on the
gnarled and twisted sycamore stems, the
thick canopy of leaves overhead, the
fields to the right with their yoke Of buff
faloes, groups of turbaned peasants and
flocks of goats perplex the artist by the
variety of subjects they offer to his pen
Gil. For when he has selected one and
begun the outline of solemn shiekh I'M
der his palm tree, a line of swinging
camelS passes across the scene and lies
down to be unladen, and he finds he has
begun half unconsciously to sketch the
arching necks and heavy trappings
which seem all you want for a fore
ground, until cluster of women, bal
ancing water pitchers on erect heads and
bearing luscious stems of sugar-cane,
occupy the place and give new motive
to the picture. Brereton daily frequented
this road and found pleasure in watching
the figures that travelled along it. But
his interest was not that of a painter.
Grey sketched and was always looking
out for sketches, but Devil sought to
guess the characters of the men who re-
clined languid1y in their carriages and to
discern what manner of women they
were whose faces were half-hidden by
muslin wells and blinded carriage win
dows.
This at least was the state of his mind
one evening as he looked with more Gu
riosity than was quite well-bred into a
carriage that drove slowly past him down
the sycamore avenue. He had seen the
carriage in the same place on six success
sive evenings. Every Sunday and Fri
day for three weeks it had passed him at
the same slow pace close to the same spot.
The carriage was well appointed, with q
coronet and crescent on the panel; the
black horses were carefully groomed.
the syceS. or running footmen, wore Jack
! cts ablaZe with gold and the coachman
was trim in European livery and red feZ.
On a bay horse which Kept pace with the
brougham was a tall, gaunt eunuch
{ who never seemed to keep mis- eyes off the
carriage. Neither did Brereton. Di-
; rectly it entered the avenue it seemed to
possess a peculiar fascination for him II
is impossible to say what first attracted
his attention. There were dozen other
carriages on the road just like this one
but for some mysterious reason this was
the only one he ever saw. If it be urged
that this interest was inconsistent, i'm
proper, even unjustifable, seeing that he
i'll xr,ff y,