The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-09-13
VI.

But our little romance was about 10 be
absorbed in the stormy events of politics.
For some time I had felt that the state Of
Egypt was volcanic. though the little group
of artists and savants who lounged and
smoked In the hotel garden talked of their
own hobbies in serene Inconsistencies of
the forces that were in action outside In
my quality of journalist l gathered infOr-
nation from officials and 1 knew that
Arabi-or rather the movement of which
he was the mouthplece-would have to be
reckoned with. The state of Cairo was be-
coming more and more critical Resident
Europeans were sending their families
home, and at last 1 received hint from
the consul general that all English ladies
had best go to Alexandria, as thence they
could take ship easily In case Of trouble;
and he added that even Alexandria was
not 50 safe as it might be, and recon-
mended everybody who had wives, sisters
or cousins to send them to England l
told Rh9da at once, and she resolved to
do as advised. ] accompanied her to
weird half-hght Of the memorable eGErse,
which was used with great effect by the
ist party and presage ruin TO their cause,
said sad1,.,, farewen to her The steamer was
anxious faces. All those who had my in
terest in Egypt felt it a nervous time. The
wives whose husbands had to remain at
dread looking out behind their courage
Gus smiles.
care Of yourself You have been very good
to me-"
Those three sentences were all she said,
but to me they were:
Infinite riches in a little room.
Not solicitude and thankfulness, but rich
1 returned at once to Cairo. for there
my work lay. 1t was a strange time.
one knew what There were runors Of ali
kinds, and extraordinary revelation of
character. Some men credited with
abject weakness Others. who We're popu-
larly labeled as poor creatures" surprised
most trusted friend whom 1 will call r.,
but to whose position l can not even now
give a clue, had gagged the position of
parties accurately, and to him such credit
as my letters obtained for me is due The
way in which ] CLEANED the information
which made nv fortune as a correspondent
connected itself, however strangely. with
the family history l am telling. Though
T saS persons sons +E Were suspected Of being
revolt were known, there were doubts
about several leading men, and 1t was par
Of the movement had touch with the red
revoluuonists OF the continent These and
many important facts could only he as
certained by getting admission to one of
the secret meetings, and ] learned Dit is
not prudent to say by what channel when
and where the meetings took place. Back
sheesh literally distributed and stln more
certain conditions secured nv promise Of
admission 10 this place of RENDEZVOUS. /
determined at all hazards 10 see the matter
through and find out exactly who were
OF whom | was persuaded were mere pup
pets whose wires were held by ADLER hands
The day came. had undertaken many
with a light heart; but this time / confess
to feeling nervous The sort of work was
new to me. and besides; since had recov-
cred ERnOda. Twin
than IL had been before. The hour when
the conspirators met was 10 o'clock at
by an intricate aig-zag of narrow alleys to
the left of the Muski. / had been warned
to arrive a fun hour before the meeting
time. and the clock of the Franciscan
church struck . I lifted the heavy iron
knOcker and struck once counted ten and
knocked again twice-twO sharp raps. The
most complicated specimen OF that clumsi-
est OF contrivances. an Arab bolt was
withdrawn, and I stood in large court
yard with the pipe OF fountain that did
not spout in the middle. / entered the
salamlik. or mems apartment high.
for holding coffee and cigarettes and two
OF three shabby divans. Ny friend the
man man, whom | had ''gratifed. as Gil Bias
popularity Of the room and to tell me
what TO do. At one end was a sort Of gal
lery, ornamented with gliding and intricate
traceried patterns. but with no door from
behind opening into Il. have seen these
erections often In Turkish houses. and
purpose have core to the conclusion that
they were not Intended to serve any pur-
pose at all. on the present occasion, how
ever, my friend intimated that l was TO
climb up into this post of vantage on a
ladder which was to be removed, and
that then i was 10 lie flat behind the or
namental scroll-work carving, which was
sufficiently deep to conceal me, and from
that hidinR-ploce see and hear what went
on below. The prospect was sufficiently I'M
comfortable but my task had to be carried
through. The shaky ladder brought.
l mounted and lay down. The place was
inches deep In dust and dirt, and at first |
sneezed like the hunchback In the Arab
tress TO put my head on. Cramped and
uneasy, / waited for the longest hour |
had ever passed The time seemed TO
drag as though every minute contained COO
seconds, not sixty. At last my friend (of
course, he was called Mohammed) brought
In a couple OF paraffine lamps. Then |
was conscious OF the presence of several
persons in the room below and heard the
ordinary salutations exchanged. The men
dropped In slowly. never more than one at
time. and at last, 1 suppose all who
were expected arrived. Then followed
long speeches, Interruptions, questions and
replies-in fact, an animated debate. Most
of the speakers talked Arabic which l
knew very irnperfectly, but two or three
employed French. The character of the
speeches differed as much as the language.
Some were full of public spirit and zeal