The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1894-07-14
AN EGYPTIAN REBEL
A Romance in the. Land Of the
Sphinx.

The tents of the Egyptian arm,
arose white as snow, against a sky o
ultramarine-below spread the whit
sand. Heat more intense could not b,
imagined. The air fairly quivere'
with it, and it had upon the eyes tn,
binding effect of the flashing of tn,
mirror in the sun. 1t was not a tim,
of battle.
The little army composed the mill
tary Gordon with which Ismail Pashi
protected the recently established
agricultural districts on the border,
of Abyssihia and the roads for traffic
which in 1865 had not long beer
opened.
The dearth of cotton. caused by tho
civil war of the United States. hac
given Ismail the idea of making Egyp'
a great cOtton-growing country, anC
since then, railways, telegraphs anC
all manner of improvements have beer
introduced.
At the date of the story. great
caravans of camels pore the products
of the fields to the various markets
and no roaring, ~red-eyed steam mon.
ster had yet inraded the land OF
mystery, silence and the sphinx.
Everyone was languid. The officers
resting in their tents, the common
soldiers squatting about at case. A
"A on its way south had paused
to eat and rest until night fell, and
thai great, golden thing, the Don OF
Egypt. should rise to light them on
their way. Each man had said his
prayers, and before praying, since
water was not plentiful, had rubbed
his hands with duStawhich was
counted to his credit just the same, by
the recording angel of his paradise,
who always makes allowances fur
circumstances. Now peace had fallen
upon the hot world, where almost
everybody slumbered.
In his tent, Capt. bin El-Warrakah
was dreaming. His dreams carried
him away from the tents, the soldiers
and all his present Surroundings. lie
was once more in the home of his
Uncle Rizk-ehtertained as n beloved
guest. lie had seen his aunt. who was
Ito LlONilCl SlSltl, CNth "INliDul lllC
face veil. But she, having sent kind
messages to his mother, and given
him a present, had retired To- the pri-
waite rooms of the women. from which,
now and then, came n silvery ripple of
laughter, and words spoken in a voice
hat was the sweetest he had eve
heard.
ITa l-pnu- - u-a that Of htS rnpSin
Fat-Meh. Fat-Meh had been n beau
tiful little girl. lie had always re-
membered Fat-Neh affectionately.
But now he could not ask to see her
any more than if she had been the
daughter of some stranger. lie might
not look upon a woman's face, If
she were his cousin. He bowed to
custom, as the young mar of this coun-
try does. But it came into his mind,
now that little Fat-Meh, who had
been as lear as a sister to him in those
baby years, was yelled and hidden from
him as from a stranger, that even old
established Egyptian customs might be
carried too ar.
He sat and ate the various dishes
which the black slave offered to the
guests. But all the while he thought
of little Fat-Meh, and laid a plan by
which at least to see her.
In Egypt, one is not obliged to sit 1t
table until all the company have fin
ished their meal. Each may rise when
he is satisfied, say: Praise be to Cod
wash his hands in the ever which the
servant holds for him before and after
meals, dry them on the embroidered
towel and retire from the company.
And so, as soon as he dared, Ibin did
this, and saying that he wished once
more to see the garden and pome-
granate trees under which he had
played in childhood, left the room.
Out into the garden he went and,
ticed windows above. began to sing a
little rhyme that children sing when
they play together, beating time with
the palms. What more natural, when
memories of youth returned with the
sight of the garden where, before Fat
Meh had been able to walk alone, he
had led her by her tiny hand-what
HUN holutd lldh NlaN lS ollohlu {
member the rhyme and sing it again?
And while he sang, another voice,
soft and low, took up the strain. Some
one was singing behind the lattice of
the window. He knew it was Fat-Meh.
A little later he saw hat the lattice
was pushed softly open. A yelled face
peeped forth. a hand was extended for
a moment and a rose dropped. Above
the veil he saw great eyes, like stars,
bordered with kohl. Then, as if by
accident, the vail dropped, and he saw
his cousin Fat-Meh's face-the baby
face become a woman's, and beautiful
exceedingly.
1t vanished. The window was closed.
lie picked up the rose and hid it in his
bosom and returned to the house.
Before he left his uncle's abode, how
ever, he had asked some questions and
learned that Fat-Meh was already
promised in marriage and that the
meeting of relatives to settle the ques-
ton of dowry would occur very soon.
1t is not often that a young Egyp-
tian secs n girls face, and this one
glimpse of his cousins face remained
in Ibin's heart as a kiss might in that
of an Englishman. lie was dreaming
of her as a man entered the tent in
haste and a voice called: Captain
my captain and he looked up and saw
a soldier beside him.
Captain" this man said, saluting
him, n boy, who appears to be dying,
asked to be brought to you. Will you
see him?"
lbin sprang to his fee and followed
the man into the open air. There, sup.
ported by two other men. stood a beau
tiful, beardless boy. who lifted his
eyes and looked into Ibin's face im-
ploringly.
Captain" he said, II have some
thing to tell you-something which &c
one must hear. Take me to your tent
take me quickly"
Without a word the captain opened
his arms to receive the fainting form,
and, lifting it, bore it into his tent.
The soldiers did not dare to follow, |
and, seeing they were not wanted, re-
tired.
Softly IS a mother bears her child
H. 1..1 L. 49,