An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids
In the happy days when we were young, no description conveyed to us socomplete an idea of mysterious reality as that of an Oriental city. Weknew it was actually there, but had such vague notions of its ways andlooks! Let any one remember his early impressions as to Bagdad orGrand Cairo, and then say if this was not so. It was probably takenfrom the "Arabian Nights," and the picture produced was one of strange,fantastic, luxurious houses; of women who were either very young andvery beautiful, or else very old and very cunning; but in either stateexercising much more influence in life than women in the East do now;of good-natured, capricious, though sometimes tyrannical monarchs; andof life full of quaint mysteries, quite unintelligible in every phasis,and on that account the more picturesque.And perhaps Grand Cairo has thus filled us with more wonder even thanBagdad. We have been in a certain manner at home at Bagdad, but haveonly visited Grand Cairo occasionally. I know no place which was tome, in early years, so delightfully mysterious as Grand Cairo.But the route to India and Australia has changed all this. Men fromall countries going to the East, now pass through Cairo, and itsstreets and costumes are no longer strange to us. It has become also aresort for invalids, or rather for those who fear that they may becomeinvalids if they remain in a cold climate during the winter months.And thus at Cairo there is always to be found a considerable populationof French, Americans, and of English. Oriental life is brought home tous, dreadfully diluted by western customs, and the delights of the"Arabian Nights" are shorn of half their value. When we have seen athing it is never so magnificent to us as when it was half unknown.It is not much that we deign to learn from these Orientals,--we whoglory in our civilisation. We do not copy their silence or theirabstemiousness, nor that invariable mindfulness of his own personaldignity which always adheres to a Turk or to an Arab. We chatter asmuch at Cairo as elsewhere, and eat as much and drink as much, anddress ourselves generally in the same old ugly costume. But we dousually take upon ourselves to wear red caps, and we do ride ondonkeys.Nor are the visitors from the West to Cairo by any means confined tothe male sex. Ladies are to be seen in the streets quite regardless ofthe Mahommedan custom which presumes a veil to be necessary for anappearance in public; and, to tell the truth, the Mahommedans ingeneral do not appear to be much shocked by their effrontery.A quarter of the town has in this way become inhabited by men wearingcoats and waistcoats, and by women who are without veils; but theEnglish tongue in Egypt finds its centre at Shepheard's Hotel. It ishere that people congregate who are looking out for parties to visitwith them the Upper Nile, and who are generally all smiles andcourtesy; and here also are to be found they who have just returnedfrom this journey, and who are often in a frame of mind towards theircompanions that is much less amiable. From hence, during the winter, acortege proceeds almost daily to the pyramids, or to Memphis, or to thepetrified forest, or to the City of the Sun. And then, again, four orfive times a month the house is filled with young aspirants going outto India, male and female, full of valour and bloom; or with otherscoming home, no longer young, no longer aspiring, but laden withchildren and grievances.The party with whom we are at present concerned is not about to proceedfurther than the Pyramids, and we shall be able to go with them andreturn in one and the same day.It consisted chiefly of an English family, Mr. and Mrs. Damer, theirdaughter, and two young sons;--of these chiefly, because they were thenucleus to which the others had attached themselves as adherents; theyhad originated the journey, and in the whole management of it Mr. Damerretarded himself as the master.The adherents were, firstly, M. Delabordeau, a Frenchman, now residentin Cairo, who had given out that he was in some way concerned in thecanal about to be made between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Indiscussion on this subject he had become acquainted with Mr. Damer; andalthough the latter gentleman, true to English interests, perpetuallydeclared that the canal would never be made, and thus irritated M.Delabordeau not a little--nevertheless, some measure of friendship hadgrown up between them.There was also an American gentleman, Mr. Jefferson Ingram, who wascomprising all countries and all nations in one grand tour, as Americangentlemen so often do. He was young and good-looking, and had madehimself especially agreeable to Mr. Damer, who had declared, more thanonce, that Mr. Ingram was by far the most rational American he had evermet. Mr. Ingram would listen to Mr. Damer by the half-hour as to thevirtue of the British Constitution, and had even sat by almost withpatience when Mr. Damer had expressed a doubt as to the good working ofthe United States' scheme of policy,--which, in an American, was mostwonderful. But some of the sojourners at Shepheard's had observed thatMr. Ingram was in the habit of talking with Miss Damer almost as muchas with her father, and argued from that, that fond as the young manwas of politics, he did sometimes turn his mind to other things also.And then there was Miss Dawkins. Now Miss Dawkins was an importantperson, both as to herself and as to her line of life, and she must bedescribed. She was, in the first place, an unprotected female of aboutthirty years of age. As this is becoming an established profession,setting itself up as it were in opposition to the old world idea thatwomen, like green peas, cannot come to perfection without supporting-sticks, it will be understood at once what were Miss Dawkins'ssentiments. She considered--or at any rate so expressed herself--thatpeas could grow very well without sticks, and could not only grow thusunsupported, but could also make their way about the world without anyincumbrance of sticks whatsoever. She did not intend, she said, torival Ida Pfeiffer, seeing that she was attached in a moderate way tobed and board, and was attached to society in a manner almost more thanmoderate; but she had no idea of being prevented from seeing anythingshe wished to see because she had neither father, nor husband, norbrother available for the purpose of escort. She was a human creature,with arms and legs, she said; and she intended to use them. And thiswas all very well; but nevertheless she had a strong inclination to usethe arms and legs of other people when she could make them serviceable.In person Miss Dawkins was not without attraction. I should exaggerateif I were to say that she was beautiful and elegant; but she was goodlooking, and not usually ill mannered. She was tall, and gifted withfeatures rather sharp and with eyes very bright. Her hair was of thedarkest shade of brown, and was always worn in bandeaux, very neatly.She appeared generally in black, though other circumstances did notlead one to suppose that she was in mourning; and then, no othertravelling costume is so convenient! She always wore a dark broad-brimmed straw hat, as to the ribbons on which she was ratherparticular. She was very neat about her gloves and boots; and thoughit cannot be said that her dress was got up without reference toexpense, there can be no doubt that it was not effected withoutconsiderable outlay,--and more considerable thought.Miss Dawkins--Sabrina Dawkins was her name, but she seldom had friendsabout her intimate enough to use the word Sabrina--was certainly aclever young woman. She could talk on most subjects, if not well, atleast well enough to amuse. If she had not read much, she never showedany lamentable deficiency; she was good-humoured, as a rule, and couldon occasions be very soft and winning. People who had known her longwould sometimes say that she was selfish; but with new acquaintance shewas forbearing and self-denying.With what income Miss Dawkins was blessed no one seemed to know. Shelived like a gentlewoman, as far as outward appearance went, and neverseemed to be in want; but some people would say that she knew very wellhow many sides there were to a shilling, and some enemy had oncedeclared that she was an "old soldier." Such was Miss Dawkins.She also, as well as Mr. Ingram and M. Delabordeau, had laid herselfout to find the weak side of Mr. Damer. Mr. Damer, with all hisfamily, was going up the Nile, and it was known that he had room fortwo in his boat over and above his own family. Miss Dawkins had toldhim that she had not quite made up her mind to undergo so great afatigue, but that, nevertheless, she had a longing of the soul to seesomething of Nubia. To this Mr. Damer had answered nothing but "Oh!"which Miss Dawkins had not found to be encouraging.But she had not on that account despaired. To a married man there arealways two sides, and in this instance there was Mrs. Damer as well asMr. Damer. When Mr. Damer said "Oh!" Miss Dawkins sighed, and said,"Yes, indeed!" then smiled, and betook herself to Mrs. Damer.Now Mrs. Damer was soft-hearted, and also somewhat old-fashioned. Shedid not conceive any violent affection for Miss Dawkins, but she toldher daughter that "the single lady by herself was a very nice youngwoman, and that it was a thousand pities she should have to go about somuch alone like."Miss Damer had turned up her pretty nose, thinking, perhaps, how smallwas the chance that it ever should be her own lot to be an unprotectedfemale. But Miss Dawkins carried her point at any rate as regarded theexpedition to the Pyramids.Miss Damer, I have said, had a pretty nose. I may also say that shehad pretty eyes, mouth, and chin, with other necessary appendages, allpretty. As to the two Master Damers, who were respectively of the agesof fifteen and sixteen, it may be sufficient to say that they wereconspicuous for red caps and for the constancy with which they racedtheir donkeys.And now the donkeys, and the donkey boys, and the dragomans were allstanding at the steps of Shepheard's Hotel. To each donkey there was adonkey-boy, and to each gentleman there was a dragoman, so that agoodly cortege was assembled, and a goodly noise was made. It may herebe remarked, perhaps with some little pride, that not half the noise isgiven in Egypt to persons speaking any other language that is bestowedon those whose vocabulary is English.This lasted for half an hour. Had the party been French the donkeyswould have arrived only fifteen minutes before the appointed time. Andthen out came Damer pere and Damer mere, Damer fille, and Damer fils.Damer mere was leaning on her husband, as was her wont. She was not anunprotected female, and had no desire to make any attempts in thatline. Damer fille was attended sedulously by Mr. Ingram, for whosedemolishment, however, Mr. Damer still brought up, in a loud voice, thefag ends of certain political arguments which he would fain have poureddirect into the ears of his opponent, had not his wife been sopersistent in claiming her privileges. M. Delabordeau should havefollowed with Miss Dawkins, but his French politeness, or else his fearof the unprotected female, taught him to walk on the other side of themistress of the party.Miss Dawkins left the house with an eager young Damer yelling on eachside of her; but nevertheless, though thus neglected by the gentlemenof the party, she was all smiles and prettiness, and looked so sweetlyon Mr. Ingram when that gentleman stayed a moment to help her on to herdonkey, that his heart almost misgave him for leaving her as soon asshe was in her seat.And then they were off. In going from the hotel to the Pyramids ourparty had not to pass through any of the queer old narrow streets ofthe true Cairo--Cairo the Oriental. They all lay behind them as theywent down by the back of the hotel, by the barracks of the Pasha andthe College of the Dervishes, to the village of old Cairo and the banksof the Nile.Here they were kept half an hour while their dragomans made a bargainwith the ferryman, a stately reis, or captain of a boat, who declaredwith much dignity that he could not carry them over for a sum less thansix times the amount to which he was justly entitled; while thedragomans, with great energy on behalf of their masters, offered himonly five times that sum.As far as the reis was concerned, the contest might soon have been atan end, for the man was not without a conscience; and would have beencontent with five times and a half; but then the three dragomansquarrelled among themselves as to which should have the paying of themoney, and the affair became very tedious."What horrid, odious men!" said Miss Dawkins, appealing to Mr. Damer."Do you think they will let us go over at all?""Well, I suppose they will; people do get over generally, I believe.Abdallah! Abdallah! why don't you pay the man? That fellow is alwaysstriving to save half a piastre for me.""I wish he wasn't quite so particular," said Mrs. Damer, who wasalready becoming rather tired; "but I'm sure he's a very honest man intrying to protect us from being robbed.""That he is," said Miss Dawkins. "What a delightful trait of nationalcharacter it is to see these men so faithful to their employers." Andthen at last they got over the ferry, Mr. Ingram having descended amongthe combatants, and settled the matter in dispute by threats andshouts, and an uplifted stick.They crossed the broad Nile exactly at the spot where the nilometer, orriver guage, measures from day to day, and from year to year, theincreasing or decreasing treasures of the stream, and landed at avillage where thousands of eggs are made into chickens by the processof artificial incubation.Mrs. Damer thought that it was very hard upon the maternal hens--thehens which should have been maternal--that they should be thus robbedof the delights of motherhood."So unnatural, you know," said Miss Dawkins; "so opposed to thefostering principles of creation. Don't you think so, Mr. Ingram?"Mr. Ingram said he didn't know. He was again seating Miss Damer on herdonkey, and it must be presumed that he performed this feat clumsily;for Fanny Damer could jump on and off the animal with hardly a fingerto help her, when her brother or her father was her escort; but now,under the hands of Mr. Ingram, this work of mounting was one whichrequired considerable time and care. All which Miss Dawkins observedwith precision."It's all very well talking," said Mr. Damer, bringing up his donkeynearly alongside that of Mr. Ingram, and ignoring his daughter'spresence, just as he would have done that of his dog; "but you mustadmit that political power is more equally distributed in England thanit is in America.""Perhaps it is," said Mr. Ingram; "equally distributed among, we willsay, three dozen families," and he made a feint as though to hold inhis impetuous donkey, using the spur, however, at the same time on theside that was unseen by Mr. Damer. As he did so, Fanny's donkey becameequally impetuous, and the two cantered on in advance of the wholeparty. It was quite in vain that Mr. Damer, at the top of his voice,shouted out something about "three dozen corruptible demagogues." Mr.Ingram found it quite impossible to restrain his donkey so as to listento the sarcasm."I do believe papa would talk politics," said Fanny, "if he were at thetop of Mont Blanc, or under the Falls of Niagara. I do hate politics,Mr. Ingram.""I am sorry for that, very," said Mr. Ingram, almost sadly."Sorry, why? You don't want me to talk politics, do you?""In America we are all politicians, more or less; and, therefore, Isuppose you will hate us all.""Well, I rather think I should," said Fanny; "you would be such bores."But there was something in her eye, as she spoke, which atoned for theharshness of her words."A very nice young man is Mr. Ingram; don't you think so?" said MissDawkins to Mrs. Damer. Mrs. Damer was going along upon her donkey, notaltogether comfortably. She much wished to have her lord andlegitimate protector by her side, but he had left her to the care of adragoman whose English was not intelligible to her, and she was rathercross."Indeed, Miss Dawkins, I don't know who are nice and who are not. Thisnasty donkey stumbles at ever step. There! I know I shall be downdirectly.""You need not be at all afraid of that; they are perfectly safe, Ibelieve, always," said Miss Dawkins, rising in her stirrup, andhandling her reins quite triumphantly. "A very little practice willmake you quite at home.""I don't know what you mean by a very little practice. I have beenhere six weeks. Why did you put me on such a bad donkey as this?" andshe turned to Abdallah, the dragoman."Him berry good donkey, my lady; berry good,--best of all. Call himJack in Cairo. Him go to Pyramid and back, and mind noting.""What does he say, Miss Dawkins?""He says that that donkey is one called Jack. If so I've had himmyself many times, and Jack is a very good donkey.""I wish you had him now with all my heart," said Mrs. Damer. Uponwhich Miss Dawkins offered to change; but those perils of mounting anddismounting were to Mrs. Damer a great deal too severe to admit ofthis."Seven miles of canal to be carried out into the sea, at a minimumdepth of twenty-three feet, and the stone to be fetched from Heavenknows where! All the money in France wouldn't do it." This wasaddressed by Mr. Damer to M. Delabordeau, whom he had caught after theabrupt flight of Mr. Ingram."Den we will borrow a leetle from England," said M. Delabordeau."Precious little, I can tell you. Such stock would not hold its pricein our markets for twenty-four hours. If it were made, the freightswould be too heavy to allow of merchandise passing through. The heavygoods would all go round; and as for passengers and mails, you don'texpect to get them, I suppose, while there is a railroad ready made totheir hand?""Ye vill carry all your ships through vidout any transportation. Thinkof that, my friend.""Pshaw! You are worse than Ingram. Of all the plans I ever heard ofit is the most monstrous, the most impracticable, the most--" But herehe was interrupted by the entreaties of his wife, who had, in absolutedeed and fact, slipped from her donkey, and was now calling lustily forher husband's aid. Whereupon Miss Dawkins allied herself to theFrenchman, and listened with an air of strong conviction to thosearguments which were so weak in the ears of Mr. Damer. M. Delabordeauwas about to ride across the Great Desert to Jerusalem, and it mightperhaps be quite as well to do that with him, as to go up the Nile asfar as the second cataract with the Damers."And so, M. Delabordeau, you intend really to start for Mount Sinai?""Yes, mees; ve intend to make one start on Monday week.""And so on to Jerusalem. You are quite right. It would be a thousandpities to be in these countries, and to return without going over suchground as that. I shall certainly go to Jerusalem myself by thatroute.""Vot, mees! you? Would you not find it too much fatigante?""I care nothing for fatigue, if I like the party I am with,--nothing atall, literally. You will hardly understand me, perhaps, M.Delabordeau; but I do not see any reason why I, as a young woman,should not make any journey that is practicable for a young man.""Ah! dat is great resolution for you, mees.""I mean as far as fatigue is concerned. You are a Frenchman, andbelong to the nation that is at the head of all human civilisation--"M. Delabordeau took off his hat and bowed low, to the peak of hisdonkey saddle. He dearly loved to hear his country praised, as MissDawkins was aware."And I am sure you must agree with me," continued Miss Dawkins, "thatthe time is gone by for women to consider themselves helpless animals,or to be so considered by others.""Mees Dawkins vould never be considered, not in any times at all, to beone helpless animal," said M. Delabordeau civilly."I do not, at any rate, intend to be so regarded," said she. "It suitsme to travel alone; not that I am averse to society; quite thecontrary; if I meet pleasant people I am always ready to join them.But it suits me to travel without any permanent party, and I do not seewhy false shame should prevent my seeing the world as thoroughly asthough I belonged to the other sex. Why should it, M. Delabordeau?"M. Delabordeau declared that he did not see any reason why it should."I am passionately anxious to stand upon Mount Sinai," continued MissDawkins; "to press with my feet the earliest spot in sacred history, ofthe identity of which we are certain; to feel within me the awe-inspiring thrill of that thrice sacred hour!"The Frenchman looked as though he did not quite understand her, but hesaid that it would be magnifique."You have already made up your party I suppose, M. Delabordeau?"M. Delabordeau gave the names of two Frenchmen and one Englishman whowere going with him."Upon my word it is a great temptation to join you," said Miss Dawkins,"only for that horrid Englishman.""Vat, Mr. Stanley?""Oh, I don't mean any disrespect to Mr. Stanley. The horridness Ispeak of does not attach to him personally, but to his stiff,respectable, ungainly, well-behaved, irrational, and uncivilisedcountry. You see I am not very patriotic.""Not quite so much as my friend, Mr. Damer.""Ha! ha! ha! an excellent creature, isn't he? And so they all are,dear creatures. But then they are so backward. They are most anxiousthat I should join them up the Nile, but--," and then Miss Dawkinsshrugged her shoulders gracefully, and, as she flattered herself, likea Frenchwoman. After that they rode on in silence for a few moments."Yes, I must see Mount Sinai," said Miss Dawkins, and then sigheddeeply. M. Delabordeau, notwithstanding that his country does stand atthe head of all human civilisation, was not courteous enough to declarethat if Miss Dawkins would join his party across the desert, nothingwould be wanting to make his beatitude in this world perfect.Their road from the village of the chicken-batching ovens lay up alongthe left bank of the Nile, through an immense grove of lofty palm-trees, looking out from among which our visitors could ever and anonsee the heads of the two great Pyramids;--that is, such of them couldsee it as felt any solicitude in the matter.It is astonishing how such things lose their great charm as men findthemselves in their close neighbourhood. To one living in New York orLondon, how ecstatic is the interest inspired by these huge structures.One feels that no price would be too high to pay for seeing them aslong as time and distance, and the world's inexorable task-work, forbidsuch a visit. How intense would be the delight of climbing over thewondrous handiwork of those wondrous architects so long since dead; howthrilling the awe with which one would penetrate down into theirinterior caves--those caves in which lay buried the bones of ancientkings, whose very names seem to have come to us almost from anotherworld!But all these feelings become strangely dim, their acute edgeswonderfully worn, as the subjects which inspired them are brought nearto us. "Ah! so those are the Pyramids, are they?" says the traveller,when the first glimpse of them is shown to him from the window of arailway carriage. "Dear me; they don't look so very high, do they?For Heaven's sake put the blind down, or we shall be destroyed by thedust." And then the ecstasy and keen delight of the Pyramids hasvanished for ever.Our friends, therefore, who for weeks past had seen from a distance,though they had not yet visited them, did not seem to have any strongfeeling on the subject as they trotted through the grove of palm-trees.Mr. Damer had not yet escaped from his wife, who was still fretful fromthe result of her little accident."It was all the chattering of that Miss Dawkins," said Mrs. Damer."She would not let me attend to what I was doing.""Miss Dawkins is an ass," said her husband."It is a pity she has no one to look after her," said Mrs. Damer. M.Delabordeau was still listening to Miss Dawkins's raptures about MountSinai. "I wonder whether she has got any money," said M. Delabordeauto himself. "It can't be much," he went on thinking, "or she would notbe left in this way by herself." And the result of his thoughts wasthat Miss Dawkins, if undertaken, might probably become more plaguethan profit. As to Miss Dawkins herself, though she was ecstatic aboutMount Sinai--which was not present--she seemed to have forgotten thepoor Pyramids, which were then before her nose.The two lads were riding races along the dusty path, much to thedisgust of their donkey-boys. Their time for enjoyment was to come.There were hampers to be opened; and then the absolute climbing of thePyramids would actually be a delight to them.As for Miss Damer and Mr. Ingram, it was clear that they had forgottenpalm-trees, Pyramids, the Nile, and all Egypt. They had escaped to amuch fairer paradise."Could I bear to live among Republicans?" said Fanny, repeating thelast words of her American lover, and looking down from her donkey tothe ground as she did so. "I hardly know what Republicans are, Mr.Ingram.""Let me teach you," said he."You do talk such nonsense. I declare there is that Miss Dawkinslooking at us as though she had twenty eyes. Could you not teach her,Mr. Ingram?"And so they emerged from the palm-tree grove, through a village crowdedwith dirty, straggling Arab children, on to the cultivated plain,beyond which the Pyramids stood, now full before them; the two largePyramids, a smaller one, and the huge sphynx's head all in a grouptogether."Fanny," said Bob Damer, riding up to her, "mamma wants you; so toddleback.""Mamma wants me! What can she want me for now?" said Fanny, with alook of anything but filial duty in her face."To protect her from Miss Dawkins, I think. She wants you to ride ather side, so that Dawkins mayn't get at her. Now, Mr. Ingram, I'll betyou hall-a-crown I'm at the top of the big Pyramid before you."Poor Fanny! She obeyed, however; doubtless feeling that it would notdo as yet to show too plainly that she preferred Mr. Ingram to hermother. She arrested her donkey, therefore, till Mrs. Damer overtookher; and Mr. Ingram, as he paused for a moment with her while she didso, fell into the hands of Miss Dawkins."I cannot think, Fanny, how you get on so quick," said Mrs. Damer."I'm always last; but then my donkey is such a very nasty one. Lookthere, now; he's always trying to get me off.""We shall soon be at the Pyramids now, mamma.""How on earth I am ever to get back again I cannot think. I am sotired now that I can hardly sit.""You'll be better, mamma, when you get your luncheon and a glass ofwine.""How on earth we are to eat and drink with those nasty Arab peoplearound us, I can't conceive. They tell me we shall be eaten up bythem. But, Fanny, what has Mr. Ingram been saying to you all the day?""What has he been saying, mamma? Oh! I don't know;--a hundred things,I dare say. But he has not been talking to me all the time.""I think he has, Fanny, nearly, since we crossed the river. Oh, dear!oh, dear! this animal does hurt me so! Every time he moves he flingshis head about, and that gives me such a bump." And then Fannycommiserated her mother's sufferings, and in her commiserationcontrived to elude any further questionings as to Mr. Ingram'sconversation."Majestic piles, are they not?" said Miss Dawkins, who, having changedher companion, allowed her mind to revert from Mount Sinai to thePyramids. They were now riding through cultivated ground, with thevast extent of the sands of Libya before them. The two Pyramids werestanding on the margin of the sand, with the head of the recumbentsphynx plainly visible between them. But no idea can be formed of thesize of this immense figure till it is visited much more closely. Thebody is covered with sand, and the head and neck alone stand above thesurface of the ground. They were still two miles distant, and thesphynx as yet was but an obscure mount between the two vast Pyramids."Immense piles!" said Miss Dawkins, repeating her own words."Yes, they are large," said Mr. Ingram, who did not choose to indulgein enthusiasm in the presence of Miss Dawkins."Enormous! What a grand idea!--eh, Mr. Ingram? The human race doesnot create such things as those nowadays!""No, indeed," he answered; "but perhaps we create better things.""Better! You do not mean to say, Mr. Ingram, that you are anutilitarian. I do, in truth, hope better things of you than that.Yes! steam mills are better, no doubt, and mechanics' institutes andpenny newspapers. But is nothing to be valued but what is useful?"And Miss Dawkins, in the height of her enthusiasm, switched her donkeyseverely over the shoulder."I might, perhaps, have said also that we create more beautifulthings," said Mr. Ingram."But we cannot create older things.""No, certainly; we cannot do that.""Nor can we imbue what we do create with the grand associations whichenviron those piles with so intense an interest. Think of the mightydead, Mr. Ingram, and of their great homes when living. Think of thehands which it took to raise those huge blocks--""And of the lives which it cost.""Doubtless. The tyranny and invincible power of the royal architectsadd to the grandeur of the idea. One would not wish to have back thekings of Egypt.""Well, no; they would be neither useful nor beautiful.""Perhaps not; and I do not wish to be picturesque at the expense of myfellow-creatures.""I doubt, even, whether they would be picturesque.""You know what I mean, Mr. Ingram. But the associations of such names,and the presence of the stupendous works with which they are connected,fill the soul with awe. Such, at least, is the effect with mine.""I fear that my tendencies, Miss Dawkins, are more realistic than yourown.""You belong to a young country, Mr. Ingram, and are naturally prone tothink of material life. The necessity of living looms large beforeyou.""Very large, indeed, Miss Dawkins.""Whereas with us, with some of us at least, the material aspect hasgiven place to one in which poetry and enthusiasm prevail. To suchamong us the associations of past times are very dear. Cheops, to me,is more than Napoleon Bonaparte.""That is more than most of your countrymen can say, at any rate, justat present.""I am a woman," continued Miss Dawkins.Mr. Ingram took off his hat in acknowledgment both of the announcementand of the fact."And to us it is not given--not given as yet--to share in the greatdeeds of the present. The envy of your sex has driven us from thepaths which lead to honour. But the deeds of the past are as much oursas yours.""Oh, quite as much.""'Tis to your country that we look for enfranchisement from thisthraldom. Yes, Mr. Ingram, the women of America have that strength ofmind which has been wanting to those of Europe. In the United Stateswoman will at last learn to exercise her proper mission."Mr. Ingram expressed a sincere wish that such might be the case; andthen wondering at the ingenuity with which Miss Dawkins had travelledround from Cheops and his Pyramid to the rights of women in America, hecontrived to fall back, under the pretence of asking after the ailmentsof Mrs. Damer.And now at last they were on the sand, in the absolute desert, makingtheir way up to the very foot of the most northern of the two Pyramids.They were by this time surrounded by a crowd of Arab guides, or Arabsprofessing to be guides, who had already ascertained that Mr. Damer wasthe chief of the party, and were accordingly driving him almost tomadness by the offers of their services, and their assurance that hecould not possibly see the outside or the inside of either structure,or even remain alive upon the ground, unless he at once accepted theiroffers made at their own prices."Get away, will you?" said he. "I don't want any of you, and I won'thave you! If you take hold of me I'll shoot you!" This was said toone specially energetic Arab, who, in his efforts to secure his prey,had caught hold of Mr. Damer by the leg."Yes, yes, I say! Englishmen always take me;--me--me, and then nobreak him leg. Yes--yes--yes;--I go. Master, say yes. Only oneleetle ten shillings!""Abdallah!" shouted Mr. Damer, "why don't you take this man away? Whydon't you make him understand that if all the Pyramids depended on it,I would not give him sixpence!"And then Abdallah, thus invoked, came up, and explained to the man inArabic that he would gain his object more surely if he would behavehimself a little more quietly; a hint which the man took for oneminute, and for one minute only.And then poor Mrs. Damer replied to an application for backsheish bythe gift of a sixpence. Unfortunate woman! The word backsheish means,I believe, a gift; but it has come in Egypt to signify money, and iseternally dinned into the ears of strangers by Arab suppliants. Mrs.Damer ought to have known better, as, during the last six weeks she hadnever shown her face out of Shepheard's Hotel without being pesteredfor backsheish; but she was tired and weak, and foolishly thought torid herself of the man who was annoying her.No sooner had the coin dropped from her hand into that of the Arab,than she was surrounded by a cluster of beggars, who loudly made theirpetitions as though they would, each of them, individually be injuredif treated with less liberality than that first comer. They took holdof her donkey, her bridle, her saddle, her legs, and at last her armsand hands, screaming for backsheish in voices that were neither sweetnor mild.In her dismay she did give away sundry small coins--all, probably, thatshe had about her; but this only made the matter worse. Money wasgoing, and each man, by sufficient energy, might hope to get some ofit. They were very energetic, and so frightened the poor lady that shewould certainly have fallen, had she not been kept on her seat by thepressure around her."Oh, dear! oh, dear! get away," she cried. "I haven't got any more;indeed I haven't. Go away, I tell you! Mr. Damer! oh, Mr. Damer!" andthen, in the excess of her agony, she uttered one loud, long, andcontinuous shriek.Up came Mr. Damer; up came Abdallah; up came M. Delabordeau; up cameMr. Ingram, and at last she was rescued. "You shouldn't go away andleave me to the mercy of these nasty people. As to that Abdallah, heis of no use to anybody.""Why you bodder de good lady, you dem blackguard?" said Abdallah,raising his stick, as though he were going to lay them all low with ablow. "Now you get noting, you tief!"The Arabs for a moment retired to a little distance, like flies drivenfrom a sugar-bowl; but it was easy to see that, like the flies, theywould return at the first vacant moment.And now they had reached the very foot of the Pyramids and proceeded todismount from their donkeys. Their intention was first to ascend tothe top, then to come down to their banquet, and after that topenetrate into the interior. And all this would seem to be easy ofperformance. The Pyramid is undoubtedly high, but it is so constructedas to admit of climbing without difficulty. A lady mounting it wouldundoubtedly need some assistance, but any man possessed of moderateactivity would require no aid at all.But our friends were at once imbued with the tremendous nature of thetask before them. A sheikh of the Arabs came forth, who communicatedwith them through Abdallah. The work could be done, no doubt, he said;but a great many men would be wanted to assist. Each lady must havefour Arabs, and each gentlemen three; and then, seeing that the workwould be peculiarly severe on this special day, each of these numerousArabs must be remunerated by some very large number of piastres.Mr. Damer, who was by no means a close man in his money dealings,opened his eyes with surprise, and mildly expostulated; M. Delabordeau,who was rather a close man in his reckonings, immediately buttoned uphis breeches pocket and declared that he should decline to mount thePyramid at all at that price; and then Mr. Ingram descended to thecombat.The protestations of the men were fearful. They declared, with loudvoices, eager actions, and manifold English oaths, that an attempt wasbeing made to rob them. They had a right to demand the sums which theywere charging, and it was a shame that English gentlemen should comeand take the bread out of their mouths. And so they screeched,gesticulated, and swore, and frightened poor Mrs. Damer almost intofits.But at last it was settled and away they started, the sheikh declaringthat the bargain had been made at so low a rate as to leave him not onepiastre for himself. Each man had an Arab on each side of him, andMiss Dawkins and Miss Damer had each, in addition, one behind. Mrs.Damer was so frightened as altogether to have lost all ambition toascend. She sat below on a fragment of stone, with the three dragomansstanding around her as guards; but even with the three dragomans theattacks on her were so frequent, and as she declared afterwards she wasso bewildered, that she never had time to remember that she had comethere from England to see the Pyramids, and that she was nowimmediately under them.The boys, utterly ignoring their guides, scrambled up quicker than theArabs could follow them. Mr. Damer started off at a pace which soonbrought him to the end of his tether, and from that point was draggedup by the sheer strength of his assistants; thereby accomplishing thewishes of the men, who induce their victims to start as rapidly aspossible, in order that they may soon find themselves helpless fromwant of wind. Mr. Ingram endeavoured to attach himself to Fanny, andshe would have been nothing loth to have him at her right hand insteadof the hideous brown, shrieking, one-eyed Arab who took hold of her.But it was soon found that any such arrangement was impossible. Eachguide felt that if he lost his own peculiar hold he would lose hisprey, and held on, therefore, with invincible tenacity. Miss Dawkinslooked, too, as though she had thought to be attended to by someChristian cavalier, but no Christian cavalier was forthcoming. M.Delabordeau was the wisest, for he took the matter quietly, did as hewas bid, and allowed the guides nearly to carry him to the top of theedifice."Ha! so this is the top of the Pyramid, is it?" said Mr. Damer,bringing out his words one by one, being terribly out of breath. "Verywonderful, very wonderful, indeed!""It is wonderful," said Miss Dawkins, whose breath had not failed herin the least, "very wonderful, indeed! Only think, Mr. Damer, youmight travel on for days and days, till days became months, throughthose interminable sands, and yet you would never come to the end ofthem. Is it not quite stupendous?""Ah, yes, quite,--puff, puff"--said Mr. Damer striving to regain hisbreath.Mr. Damer was now at her disposal; weak and worn with toil and travel,out of breath, and with half his manhood gone; if ever she mightprevail over him so as to procure from his mouth an assent to that Nileproposition, it would be now. And after all, that Nile proposition wasthe best one now before her. She did not quite like the idea ofstarting off across the Great Desert without any lady, and was not surethat she was prepared to be fallen in love with by M. Delabordeau, evenif there should ultimately be any readiness on the part of thatgentleman to perform the role of lover. With Mr. Ingram the matter wasdifferent, nor was she so diffident of her own charms as to think italtogether impossible that she might succeed, in the teeth of thatlittle chit, Fanny Damer. That Mr. Ingram would join the party up theNile she had very little doubt; and then there would be one place leftfor her. She would thus, at any rate, become commingled with a mostrespectable family, who might be of material service to her.Thus actuated she commenced an earnest attack upon Mr. Damer."Stupendous!" she said again, for she was fond of repeating favouritewords. "What a wondrous race must have been those Egyptian kings ofold!""I dare say they were," said Mr. Damer, wiping his brow as he sat upona large loose stone, a fragment lying on the flat top of the Pyramid,one of those stones with which the complete apex was once made, or wasonce about to be made."A magnificent race! so gigantic in their conceptions! Their ideasaltogether overwhelm us poor, insignificant, latter-day mortals. Theybuilt these vast Pyramids; but for us, it is task enough to climb totheir top.""Quite enough," ejaculated Mr. Damer.But Mr. Damer would not always remain weak and out of breath, and itwas absolutely necessary for Miss Dawkins to hurry away from Cheops andhis tomb, to Thebes and Karnac."After seeing this it is impossible for any one with a spark ofimagination to leave Egypt without going farther a-field."Mr. Damer merely wiped his brow and grunted. This Miss Dawkins took asa signal of weakness, and went on with her task perseveringly."For myself, I have resolved to go up, at any rate, as far as Asouanand the first cataract. I had thought of acceding to the wishes of aparty who are going across the Great Desert by Mount Sinai toJerusalem; but the kindness of yourself and Mrs. Damer is so great, andthe prospect of joining in your boat is so pleasurable, that I havemade up my mind to accept your very kind offer."This, it will be acknowledged, was bold on the part of Miss Dawkins;but what will not audacity effect? To use the slang of modernlanguage, cheek carries everything nowadays. And whatever may havebeen Miss Dawkins's deficiencies, in this virtue she was not deficient."I have made up my mind to accept your very kind offer," she said,shining on Mr. Damer with her blandest smile.What was a stout, breathless, perspiring, middle-aged gentleman to dounder such circumstances? Mr. Damer was a man who, in most matters,had his own way. That his wife should have given such an invitationwithout consulting him, was, he knew, quite impossible. She would assoon have thought of asking all those Arab guides to accompany them.Nor was it to be thought of that he should allow himself to bekidnapped into such an arrangement by the impudence of any MissDawkins. But there was, he felt, a difficulty in answering such aproposition from a young lady with a direct negative, especially whilehe was so scant of breath. So he wiped his brow again, and looked ather."But I can only agree to this on one understanding," continued MissDawkins, "and that is, that I am allowed to defray my own full share ofthe expense of the journey."Upon hearing this Mr. Damer thought that he saw his way out of thewood. "Wherever I go, Miss Dawkins, I am always the paymaster myself,"and this he contrived to say with some sternness, palpitating though hestill was; and the sternness which was deficient in his voice heendeavoured to put into his countenance.But he did not know Miss Dawkins. "Oh, Mr. Damer," she said, and asshe spoke her smile became almost blander than it was before; "oh, Mr.Damer, I could not think of suffering you to be so liberal; I couldnot, indeed. But I shall be quite content that you should payeverything, and let me settle with you in one sum afterwards."Mr. Damer's breath was now rather more under his own command. "I amafraid, Miss Dawkins," he said, "that Mrs. Damer's weak state of healthwill not admit of such an arrangement.""What, about the paying?""Not only as to that, but we are a family party, Miss Dawkins; andgreat as would be the benefit of your society to all of us, in Mrs.Damer's present state of health, I am afraid--in short, you would notfind it agreeable.--And therefore--" this he added, seeing that she wasstill about to persevere--"I fear that we must forego the advantage youoffer."And then, looking into his face, Miss Dawkins did perceive that evenher audacity would not prevail."Oh, very well," she said, and moving from the stone on which she hadbeen sitting, she walked off, carrying her head very high, to a cornerof the Pyramid from which she could look forth alone towards the sandsof Libya.In the mean time another little overture was being made on the top ofthe same Pyramid,--an overture which was not received quite in the samespirit. While Mr. Damer was recovering his breath for the sake ofanswering Miss Dawkins, Miss Damer had walked to the further corner ofthe square platform on which they were placed, and there sat herselfdown with her face turned towards Cairo. Perhaps it was not singularthat Mr. Ingram should have followed her.This would have been very well if a dozen Arabs had not also followedthem. But as this was the case, Mr. Ingram had to play his game undersome difficulty. He had no sooner seated himself beside her than theycame and stood directly in front of the seat, shutting out the view,and by no means improving the fragrance of the air around them."And this, then, Miss Damer, will be our last excursion together," hesaid, in his tenderest, softest tone."De good Englishman will gib de poor Arab one little backsheish," saidan Arab, putting out his hand and shaking Mr. Ingram's shoulder."Yes, yes, yes; him gib backsheish," said another."Him berry good man," said a third, putting up his filthy hand, andtouching Mr. Ingram's face."And young lady berry good, too; she give backsheish to poor Arab.""Yes," said a fourth, preparing to take a similar liberty with MissDamer.This was too much for Mr. Ingram. He had already used very positivelanguage in his endeavour to assure his tormentors that they would notget a piastre from him. But this only changed their soft persuasionsinto threats. Upon hearing which, and upon seeing what the manattempted to do in his endeavour to get money from Miss Damer, heraised his stick, and struck first one and then the other as violentlyas he could upon their heads.Any ordinary civilised men would have been stunned by such blows, forthey fell on the bare foreheads of the Arabs; but the objects of theAmerican's wrath merely skulked away; and the others, convinced by theonly arguments which they understood, followed in pursuit of victimswho might be less pugnacious.It is hard for a man to be at once tender and pugnacious--to besentimental, while he is putting forth his physical strength with allthe violence in his power. It is difficult, also, for him to be gentleinstantly after having been in a rage. So he changed his tactics atthe moment, and came to the point at once in a manner befitting hispresent state of mind."Those vile wretches have put me in such a heat," he said, "that Ihardly know what I am saying. But the fact is this, Miss Damer, Icannot leave Cairo without knowing--. You understand what I mean, MissDamer.""Indeed I do not, Mr. Ingram; except that I am afraid you meannonsense.""Yes, you do; you know that I love you. I am sure you must know it.At any rate you know it now.""Mr. Ingram, you should not talk in such a way.""Why should I not? But the truth is, Fanny, I can talk in no otherway. I do love you dearly. Can you love me well enough to go and bemy wife in a country far away from your own?"Before she left the top of the Pyramid Fanny Damer had said that shewould try.Mr. Ingram was now a proud and happy man, and seemed to think the stepsof the Pyramid too small for his elastic energy. But Fanny feared thather troubles were to come. There was papa--that terrible bugbear onall such occasions. What would papa say? She was sure her papa wouldnot allow her to marry and go so far away from her own family andcountry. For herself, she liked the Americans--always had liked them;so she said;--would desire nothing better than to live among them. Butpapa! And Fanny sighed as she felt that all the recognised miseries ofa young lady in love were about to fall upon her.Nevertheless, at her lover's instance, she promised, and declared, intwenty different loving phrases, that nothing on earth should ever makeher false to her love or to her lover."Fanny, where are you? Why are you not ready to come down?" shoutedMr. Damer, not in the best of tempers. He felt that he had almost beenunkind to an unprotected female, and his heart misgave him. And yet itwould have misgiven him more had he allowed himself to be entrapped byMiss Dawkins."I am quite ready, papa," said Fanny, running up to him--for it may beunderstood that there is quite room enough for a young lady to run onthe top of the Pyramid."I am sure I don't know where you have been all the time," said Mr.Damer; "and where are those two boys?"Fanny pointed to the top of the other Pyramid, and there they were,conspicuous with their red caps."And M. Delabordeau?""Oh! he has gone down, I think;--no, he is there with Miss Dawkins."And in truth Miss Dawkins was leaning on his arm most affectionately,as she stooped over and looked down upon the ruins below her."And where is that fellow, Ingram?" said Mr. Damer, looking about him."He is always out of the way when he's wanted."To this Fanny said nothing. Why should she? She was not Mr. Ingram'skeeper.And then they all descended, each again with his proper number of Arabsto hurry and embarrass him; and they found Mr. Damer at the bottom,like a piece of sugar covered with flies. She was heard to declareafterwards that she would not go to the Pyramids again, not if theywere to be given to her for herself, as ornaments for her garden.The picnic lunch among the big stones at the foot of the Pyramid wasnot a very gay affair. Miss Dawkins talked more than any one else,being determined to show that she bore her defeat gallantly. Herconversation, however, was chiefly addressed to M. Delabordeau, and heseemed to think more of his cold chicken and ham than he did of her witand attention.Fanny hardly spoke a word. There was her father before her and shecould not eat, much less talk, as she thought of all that she wouldhave to go through. What would he say to the idea of having anAmerican for a son-in-law?Nor was Mr. Ingram very lively. A young man when he has been justaccepted, never is so. His happiness under the present circumstanceswas, no doubt, intense, but it was of a silent nature.And then the interior of the building had to be visited. To tell thetruth none of the party would have cared to perform this feat had itnot been for the honour of the thing. To have come from Paris, NewYork, or London, to the Pyramids, and then not to have visited the verytomb of Cheops, would have shown on the part of all of them anindifference to subjects of interest which would have been altogetherfatal to their character as travellers. And so a party for theinterior was made up.Miss Damer when she saw the aperture through which it was expected thatshe should descend, at once declared for staying with her mother. MissDawkins, however, was enthusiastic for the journey. "Persons with sovery little command over their nerves might really as well stay athome," she said to Mr. Ingram, who glowered at her dreadfully forexpressing such an opinion about his Fanny.This entrance into the Pyramids is a terrible task, which should beundertaken by no lady. Those who perform it have to creep down, andthen to be dragged up, through infinite dirt, foul smells, and bad air;and when they have done it, they see nothing. But they do earn thegratification of saying that they have been inside a Pyramid."Well, I've done that once," said Mr. Damer, coming out, "and I do notthink that any one will catch me doing it again. I never was in such afilthy place in my life.""Oh, Fanny! I am so glad you did not go; I am sure it is not fit forladies," said poor Mrs. Damer, forgetful of her friend Miss Dawkins."I should have been ashamed of myself," said Miss Dawkins, bristlingup, and throwing back her head as she stood, "if I had allowed anyconsideration to have prevented my visiting such a spot. If it be notimproper for men to go there, how can it be improper for women?""I did not say improper, my dear," said Mrs. Damer, apologetically."And as for the fatigue, what can a woman be worth who is afraid toencounter as much as I have now gone through for the sake of visitingthe last resting-place of such a king as Cheops?" And Miss Dawkins, asshe pronounced the last words, looked round her with disdain upon poorFanny Damer."But I meant the dirt," said Mrs. Damer."Dirt!" ejaculated Miss Dawkins, and then walked away. Why should shenow submit her high tone of feeling to the Damers, or why care longerfor their good opinion? Therefore she scattered contempt around her asshe ejaculated the last word, "dirt."And then the return home! "I know I shall never get there," said Mrs.Damer, looking piteously up into her husband's face."Nonsense, my dear; nonsense; you must get there." Mrs. Damer groaned,and acknowledged in her heart that she must,--either dead or alive."And, Jefferson," said Fanny, whispering--for there had been a momentsince their descent in which she had been instructed to call him by hisChristian name--"never mind talking to me going home. I will ride bymamma. Do you go with papa and put him in good humour; and it he saysanything about the lords and the bishops, don't you contradict him, youknow."What will not a man do for love? Mr. Ingram promised.And in this way they started; the two boys led the van; then came Mr.Damer and Mr. Ingram, unusually and unpatriotically acquiescent as toEngland's aristocratic propensities; then Miss Dawkins riding, alas!alone; after her, M. Delabordeau, also alone,--the ungallant Frenchman!And the rear was brought up by Mrs. Damer and her daughter, flanked oneach side by a dragoman, with a third dragoman behind them.And in this order they went back to Cairo, riding their donkeys, andcrossing the ferry solemnly, and, for the most part, silently. Mr.Ingram did talk, as he had an important object in view,--that ofputting Mr. Damer into a good humour.In this he succeeded so well that by the time they had remounted, aftercrossing the Nile, Mr. Damer opened his heart to his companion on thesubject that was troubling him, and told him all about Miss Dawkins."I don't see why we should have a companion that we don't like foreight or ten weeks, merely because it seems rude to refuse a lady.""Indeed, I agree with you," said Mr. Ingram; "I should call it weak-minded to give way in such a case.""My daughter does not like her at all," continued Mr. Damer."Nor would she be a nice companion for Miss Damer; not according to myway of thinking," said Mr. Ingram."And as to my having asked her, or Mrs. Damer having asked her! Why,God bless my soul, it is pure invention on the woman's part!""Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Mr. Ingram; "I must say she plays her game well;but then she is an old soldier, and has the benefit of experience."What would Miss Dawkins have said had she known that Mr. Ingram calledher an old soldier?"I don't like the kind of thing at all," said Mr. Damer, who was veryserious upon the subject. "You see the position in which I am placed.I am forced to be very rude, or--""I don't call it rude at all.""Disobliging, then; or else I must have all my comfort invaded andpleasure destroyed by, by, by--" And Mr. Damer paused, being at a lossfor an appropriate name for Miss Dawkins."By an unprotected female," suggested Mr. Ingram."Yes, just so. I am as fond of pleasant company as anybody; but then Ilike to choose it myself.""So do I," said Mr. Ingram, thinking of his own choice."Now, Ingram, if you would join us, we should be delighted.""Upon my word, sir, the offer is too flattering," said Ingram,hesitatingly; for he felt that he could not undertake such a journeyuntil Mr. Damer knew on what terms he stood with Fanny."You are a terrible democrat," said Mr. Damer, laughing; "but then, onthat matter, you know, we could agree to differ.""Exactly so," said Mr. Ingram, who had not collected his thoughts ormade up his mind as to what he had better say and do, on the spur ofthe moment."Well, what do you say to it?" said Mr. Damer, encouragingly. ButIngram paused before he answered."For Heaven's sake, my dear fellow, don't have the slightest hesitationin refusing, if you don't like the plan.""The fact is, Mr. Damer, I should like it too well.""Like it too well?""Yes, sir, and I may as well tell you now as later. I had intendedthis evening to have asked for your permission to address yourdaughter.""God bless my soul!" said Mr. Damer, looking as though a totally newidea had now been opened to him."And under these circumstances, I will now wait and see whether or noyou will renew your offer.""God bless my soul!" said Mr. Damer, again. It often does strike anold gentleman as very odd that any man should fall in love with hisdaughter, whom he has not ceased to look upon as a child. The case isgenerally quite different with mothers. They seem to think that everyyoung man must fall in love with their girls."And have you said anything to Fanny about this?" asked Mr. Damer."Yes, sir, I have her permission to speak to you.""God bless my soul!" said Mr. Damer; and by this time they had arrivedat Shepheard's Hotel."Oh, mamma," said Fanny, as soon as she found herself alone with hermother that evening, "I have something that I must tell you.""Oh, Fanny, don't tell me anything to-night, for I am a great deal tootired to listen.""But oh, mamma, pray;--you must listen to this; indeed you must." AndFanny knelt down at her mother's knee, and looked beseechingly up intoher face."What is it, Fanny? You know that all my bones are sore, and I am sotired that I am almost dead.""Mamma, Mr. Ingram has--""Has what, my dear? has he done anything wrong?""No, mamma: but he has;--he has proposed to me." And Fanny, burstinginto tears, hid her face in her mother's lap.And thus the story was told on both sides of the house. On the nextday, as a matter of course, all the difficulties and dangers of such amarriage as that which was now projected were insisted on by bothfather and mother. It was improper; it would cause a severing of thefamily not to be thought of; it would be an alliance of a dangerousnature, and not at all calculated to insure happiness; and, in short,it was impossible. On that day, therefore, they all went to bed veryunhappy. But on the next day, as was also a matter of course, seeingthat there were no pecuniary difficulties, the mother and father weretalked over, and Mr. Ingram was accepted as a son-in-law. It needhardly be said that the offer of a place in Mr. Damer's boat was againmade, and that on this occasion it was accepted without hesitation.There was an American Protestant clergyman resident in Cairo, withwhom, among other persons, Miss Dawkins had become acquainted. Uponthis gentleman or upon his wife Miss Dawkins called a few days afterthe journey to the Pyramid, and finding him in his study, thusperformed her duty to her neighbour, -"You know your countryman Mr. Ingram, I think?" said she."Oh, yes; very intimately.""If you have any regard for him, Mr. Burton," such was the gentleman'sname, "I think you should put him on his guard.""On his guard against what?" said Mr. Burton with a serious air, forthere was something serious in the threat of impending misfortune asconveyed by Miss Dawkins."Why," said she, "those Damers, I fear, are dangerous people.""Do you mean that they will borrow money of him?""Oh, no; not that, exactly; but they are clearly setting their cap athim.""Setting their cap at him?""Yes; there is a daughter, you know; a little chit of a thing; and Ifear Mr. Ingram may be caught before he knows where he is. It would besuch a pity, you know. He is going up the river with them, I hear.That, in his place, is very foolish. They asked me, but I positivelyrefused."Mr. Burton remarked that "In such a matter as that Mr. Ingram would beperfectly able to take care of himself.""Well, perhaps so; but seeing what was going on, I thought it my dutyto tell you." And so Miss Dawkins took her leave.Mr. Ingram did go up the Nile with the Damers, as did an old friend ofthe Damers who arrived from England. And a very pleasant trip they hadof it. And, as far as the present historian knows, the two lovers wereshortly afterwards married in England.Poor Miss Dawkins was left in Cairo for some time on her beam ends.But she was one of those who are not easily vanquished. After aninterval of ten days she made acquaintance with an Irish family--havingutterly failed in moving the hard heart of M. Delabordeau--and withthese she proceeded to Constantinople. They consisted of two brothersand a sister, and were, therefore, very convenient for matrimonialpurposes. But nevertheless, when I last heard of Miss Dawkins, she wasstill an unprotected female.
THE END.* * * * * * * * * * * *
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