CHAPTER I.
MAKING A FRIEND.
Two lads were standing in one of the bastions of a fort looking over thesea. There were neither guards nor sentinels there. The guns stood ontheir carriages, looking clean and ready for action, but this was notthe result of care and attention, but simply because in so dry a climateiron rusts but little. A close examination would have shown that thewooden carriages on which they stood were so cracked and warped by heatthat they would have fallen to pieces at the first discharge of the gunsthey upheld. Piles of cannon-balls stood between the guns, half-coveredwith the drifting sand, which formed slopes half-way up the walls of therange of barracks behind, and filled up the rooms on the lower floor.Behind rose the city of Alexandria, with its minarets and mosques, itspalaces and its low mud-built huts. Seaward lay a fleet of noble shipswith their long lines of port-holes, their lofty masts, and network ofrigging.
"What do you think of it, Sidi?"
"It is wonderful!" his companion replied. "How huge they are, what linesof cannon, what great masts, as tall and as straight as palm-trees!Truly you Franks know many things of which we in the desert areignorant. Think you that they could batter these forts to pieces?"
The other laughed as he looked round. "One of them could do that now,Sidi, seeing that there is scarce a gun on the rampart that could befired in return; but were all in good order, and with Britishartillerists, the whole fleet would stand but a poor chance againstthem, for while their shot would do but little injury to these solidwalls, these cannon would drill the ships through and through, and ifthey did not sheer off, would sink them."
"But why British artillerists, brother, why not our own people?"
"Because you have no properly trained gunners. You know how strongAlgiers was, and yet it was attacked with success, twice by the French,twice by ourselves, and once by us and the Dutch; but it is a rule thata strongly defended fort cannot be attacked successfully by ships. Ifthese forts were in proper condition and well manned, I don't think thateven Nelson would attack them, though he might land somewhere along thecoast, attack and capture the town from the land side, and then carrythe batteries. Successful as he has been at sea, he has had someexperience as to the difficulty of taking forts. He was beaten off atTeneriffe, and although he did succeed in getting the Danes to surrenderat Copenhagen, it's well known now that his ships really got the worstof the fight, and that if the Danes had held on, he must have drawn offwith the loss of many of his vessels."
"I know nothing of these things, brother, nor where the towns you nameare, nor who are the Danes; but it seems to me that those great shipswith all their guns would be terrible assailants. As you say, theseforts are not fit for fighting; but this is because no foes have evercome against us by sea for so many years. What could an enemy do if theylanded?"
"The Mamelukes are grand horsemen, Sidi, but horsemen alone cannot win abattle; there are the artillery and infantry to be counted with, and itis with these that battles are won in our days, though I say not thatcavalry do not bear their share, but alone they are nothing. Oneinfantry square, if it be steady, can repulse a host of them; but youmay ere long see the matter put to proof, for I hear that the officerswho came on shore this morning asked if aught had been heard of theFrench fleet, which had, they say, sailed from Toulon to conquer Egypt.It is for this that the English fleet has come here."
"Their bones will whiten the plains should they attempt it," the othersaid scornfully. "But why should they want to interfere with us, and whyshould you care to prevent them doing so if they are strong enough?"
"Because, in the first place, we are at war with them, and would preventthem gaining any advantage. In the second place, because Egypt is a stepon the way to India. There we are fighting with one of the great nativeprinces, who has, they say, been promised help by the French, who aremost jealous of us, since we have destroyed their influence there, anddeprived them of their chance of becoming masters of a large portion ofthe country."
The conversation had been carried on in Arabic. The speakers were ofabout the same age, but Edgar Blagrove was half a head taller than hisArab friend. His father was a merchant settled in Alexandria, whereEdgar had been born sixteen years before, and except that he had spentsome two years and a half at school in England, he had never been out ofEgypt. Brought up in a polyglot household, where the nurses were Frenchor Italian, the grooms Arab, the gardeners Egyptians drawn from thefellah class, and the clerks and others engaged in his father's businessfor the most part Turks, Edgar had from childhood spoken all theselanguages with equal facility. He had never learned them, but they hadcome to him naturally as his English had done. His mother, never anenergetic woman, had felt the heat of the climate much, and had neverbeen, or declared she had never been--which came to the samething--capable of taking any exercise, and, save for a drive in hercarriage in the cool of the evening, seldom left the house.
Edgar had, from the first, been left greatly to his own devices. Hisfather was a busy man, and, as long as the boy was well and strong, wascontent that he should spend his time as he chose, insisting only on histaking lessons for two hours a day from the Italian governess, whotaught his twin sisters, who were some eighteen months younger thanhimself; after that he was free to wander about the house or to go intothe streets, provided that one of the grooms, either Hammed or Abdul,accompanied him. When at thirteen he was sent to England to stay with anuncle and to go through a couple of years' schooling, he entered a worldso wholly unlike that in which he himself had been brought up, that fora time he seemed completely out of his element.
His father had an excellent library, and during the heat of the day theboy had got through a great deal of reading, and was vastly betteracquainted with standard English writers than his cousins orschool-fellows, but of ordinary school work he was absolutely ignorant,and at first he was much laughed at for his deficiencies in Latin andGreek. The latter he never attempted, but his knowledge of Italianhelped him so greatly with his Latin that in a very few months he wentthrough class after class, until he was fully up to the level of otherboys of his age. His uncle lived in the suburbs of London, and he wentwith his cousins to St. Paul's. At that time prize-fighting was thenational sport, and his father had, when he sent him over, particularlyrequested his uncle to obtain a good teacher for him.
"Whether Edgar will stay out here for good, Tom, I cannot say, butwhether he does or not, I should like him to be able to box well. InEngland every gentleman in our day learns to use his fists, while outhere it is of very great advantage that a man should be able to do so.We have a mixed population here, and a very shady one. Maltese, Greeks,Italians, and French, and these probably the very scum of the variousseaports of the Mediterranean, therefore to be able to hit quick andstraight from the shoulder may well save a man's life. Of course he isyoung yet, but if he goes regularly for an hour two or three times aweek to one of the light-weight men, I have no doubt that when hereturns he will be able to astonish any of these street ruffians who mayinterfere with him.
"Even if he is never called upon to use his fists, it will do him agreat deal of good, for boxing gives a quickness and readiness not onlyof hands, but of thought, that is of great service; and moreover, theexercise improves the figure, and is, in that respect, I think, fullyequal to fencing. Please put this matter in hand as soon as he arrives.As to his studies, I own that I care very little; the boy speakshalf-a-dozen languages, any one of which is vastly more useful to aresident here than Latin and Greek together. Naturally he will learnLatin. Of course his Italian will facilitate this, and it is part of agentleman's education to be able to understand a quotation or turn aphrase in it. Still, it is not for this that I send him to England, butto become an English boy, and that your Bob and Arthur and hisschool-fellows will teach him."
Edgar was quite as much surprised at his cousins and school-fellows asthey were with him. The fact that he could talk half-a-dozen languageswas to them amazing, while not less astonishing to him was theirignorance
of the affairs of Europe except, indeed, of the FrenchRevolution--their vagueness in geography, and the absolute blank oftheir minds as to Egypt. It was not until three months after his arrivalthat he had his first fight, and the instructions he had received duringthat time sufficed to enable him to win so easy a victory, that it wassome months before he had again occasion to use his fists in earnest.This time it was in the streets. He was returning home with his cousins,when a pert young clerk thought it a good joke to twitch off his cap andthrow it into a shop, and was astounded when, before the cap had reachedthe floor, he himself was prostrate on the pavement.
He was no coward, however, and leapt up, furious, to punish this boy offourteen, but in spite of his superior strength and weight, he was nomatch for Edgar, whose quickness on his legs enabled him to avoid hisrushes, while he planted his blows so quickly and heavily that in tenminutes the clerk was unable to see out of his eyes, and had to be ledaway amid the jeers of the crowd. This success increased Edgar's ardourto perfect himself in the art. If he could so easily defeat an Englishlad of seventeen, he felt sure that after another year's teaching heneed not fear an attack by the greatest ruffian in Alexandria. Hisuncle had taken advice on the subject, and, desirous of carrying out hisbrother's instructions to the fullest, changed his master every sixmonths; so that during the two years and a half that he was in EnglandEdgar had learned all that the five most skilled light-weight pugilistsin England could teach him.
"Yes, he is going in for it thoroughly," his uncle would say to hisfriends. "Of course, I shall have my own boys taught in another three orfour years, for I think that every gentleman should be able to defendhimself if assaulted by a street ruffian; but in his case he has tolearn when quite young or not at all, and I think that it will be veryuseful to him, as all these foreign fellows draw their knives on theleast occasion."
When Edgar returned to Alexandria, nine months before the time when heand Sidi were watching Nelson's fleet, his father was well pleased withthe change that had taken place in him. He had been tall for his agebefore he left, now he had not only grown considerably, but had widenedout. He was still far from being what may be called a squarely-builtboy, but he was of a fair width across the shoulders, and was a pictureof health and activity. The muscles of his arms, shoulders, and loinswere as tough as steel, his complexion was fresh and clear, and he hadscarce an ounce of superfluous flesh upon him.
"Save for your complexion, Edgar, you might well pass as a young Bedouinif you were to wrap yourself up in their garb. I see you have profitedwell by your teachers' instructions. Your uncle wrote to me a year agothat you had administered a sound thrashing to a fellow seventeen yearsold who had meddled with you, and as, no doubt, you have improved inskill and strength since that time, I should think that you need have nofear of holding your own should you get into trouble with any of thesestreet ruffians."
"I should hope so, father; at any rate I should not mind trying. I knowthat I could hold my own pretty fairly with young Jackson. They call himthe 'Bantam'. He is the champion light-weight now, though he does notfight above nine stone, so there is not much difference between us inweight."
"Good! and how about your school work?"
"Oh, I did pretty well, father! I was good in Latin, but I was nowherein figures."
"Not grown quarrelsome, I hope, on the strength of your fighting,Edgar?"
"No, sir, I hope not. I never had a fight at school except the one I hadthree months after I got there, and I only had that one row you speak ofwith a clerk. I don't think it would be fair, you see, to get into rowswith fellows who have no idea how thoroughly I have been taught."
His father nodded.
"Quite right, Edgar. My ideas are that a man who can box well is muchless likely to get into quarrels than one who cannot. He knows what hecan do, and that, if forced to use his skill, he is able to render agood account of himself, and therefore he can afford to put up withmore, than one who is doubtful as to whether he is likely to come wellout of a fight if he begins one."
Edgar found on his arrival at Alexandria that his mother and sisterswere about to leave for England. Mrs. Blagrove had become seriouslyindisposed, the result, as she maintained, of the climate, but which wasfar more due to her indolent habits, for she never took any exercisewhatever. Her general health was greatly impaired, and the two Italiandoctors who attended her--there being no English medical men residentthere--had most strongly advised that she should return home. They hadfrankly told Mr. Blagrove that a colder climate was absolutely necessaryto her, not only because it would brace her up and act as a tonic, butbecause she would probably there be induced to take a certain amount ofexercise. The two girls were to accompany her, in order that theyshould, like Edgar, enjoy the advantage of going to an English schooland mixing with English girls of their own age. They, too, had both feltthe heat during the preceding summer, and Mr. Blagrove felt that a stayof two or three years in England would be an immense advantage to them.
Mrs. Blagrove was to stay with her father, a clergyman in the west ofEngland, for a few months, when her husband intended himself to go overfor a time. The war had much reduced business, the activity of theFrench privateers rendered communication irregular and precarious, therates both for freight and insurance were very high, the number ofvessels entering the port were but a tithe of those that frequented itbefore the outbreak of the war, and as no small part of Mr. Blagrove'sbusiness consisted in supplying vessels with such stores as they needed,his operations were so restricted that he felt he could, without anygreat loss, leave the management of his affairs in the hands of hischief assistant, a German, who had been with him for twenty years, andin whom he placed the greatest reliance.
Edgar would be there to assist generally, and his father thought that itwould even benefit him to be placed for a time in a responsibleposition. It was, of course, a great disappointment to Edgar to findthat his mother and the girls were on the point of returning. Theirdeparture, indeed, had been decided upon somewhat suddenly owing to astrongly-armed English privateer, commanded by an old acquaintance ofMr. Blagrove, coming into port. She had been cruising for some time, andhad sent home a number of prizes, and was now returning herself toEngland for another refit and to fill up her crew again. As she was avery fast vessel, and the captain said that he intended to make straighthome and to avoid all doubtful sail, Mr. Blagrove at once accepted theoffer he made to take his wife and daughters back to England,immediately he heard that his friend was looking for a passage for them.Accordingly for the next week there was much packing and confusion. Atthe end of that time the three ladies, after a tearful adieu, sailed forEngland, and things settled down again.
Edgar felt the absence of his sisters keenly. There were but a handfulof English traders in the city, and none of these had boys who were nearenough to his own age to be companions. However, it had the effect ofenabling him, without interruption, to settle down steadily to work withhis father, and to make himself acquainted with the details of thebusiness. This he did so industriously that Mr. Blagrove said more thanonce: "You are getting on so well, Edgar, that I shall be able to gohome for my holiday with the comfortable conviction that in yours andMuller's hands matters will go on very well here, especially as businessis so slack."
It was about three months after his return that Edgar had an opportunityof finding the advantage of his skill in boxing. He had, on the dayafter he came back, had a sack of sawdust hung up in his room, and everymorning he used to pummel this for half an hour before taking his bath,and again before going to bed, so that he kept his muscles in a state oftraining. Moreover, this exercise had the advantage that it enabled himto stand the heat of the climate much better than he would otherwisehave done, and to save him from any of that feeling of lassitude anddepression so usual among Englishmen working in hot climates. He wasreturning one day from a ride; dusk had fallen, and when just beyond thelimits of the town he heard shouts and cries, and saw a scuffle going onin the road. Cantering on, he leapt from his hor
se, dropped the reins onits neck, and ran forward.
Two of the lowest class Maltese or Greeks were dragging a young Arabalong, holding his hands to prevent him getting at his knife, andbeating him about the head with their disengaged hands. It was evidentthat he was not one of the dwellers in the city, but an Arab of thedesert. His horse stood near, and he had apparently been dragged fromit.
"What is the matter? what are you beating him for?" he asked in Italian.
"This Arab dog pushed against us with his horse, and when we cursed him,struck at us."
"Well, if he did, you have punished him enough; but perhaps his story isa different one."
"Go your way, boy," one exclaimed with a Greek oath, "or we will throwyou into that fountain, as we are going to do him."
"You will, eh? Unloose that lad at once or it will be worse for you."
The man uttered a shout of rage. "Hold this young Arab wolf's otherhand, Giaccamo, so that he cannot use his knife. I will settle thisboy;" and his companion seized the lad's other wrist.
He rushed at Edgar, waving his arms in windmill fashion, thinking tostrike him down without the least difficulty, but he was astounded atbeing met with a terrific blow on the nose, which nigh threw him offhis balance, and this was followed an instant later by another on thepoint of his chin, which hurled him back, half-stunned, to the ground,with a vague impression in his mind that his head was broken intofragments. Before he even thought of rising, Edgar sprang at hiscompanion, who, releasing the Arab boy's hands, grasped his knife, butbefore he could draw it, a blow, given with all Edgar's strength and theimpetus of his bound forward, stretched him also on the ground, hisknife flying from his hand.
The Arab boy had drawn his knife also, but Edgar exclaimed to him in hisown language, "No, no, pick up the other knife, and then stand over him,but don't stab him." Then he turned to his first assailant, who wasrising to his feet, still confused and bewildered. He had instinctivelydrawn his knife.
"Drop your knife, drop it!" Edgar cried. But with an oath the man sprangat him. His eyes, however, were full of tears, his ears sung, and hishead buzzed, partly from the blow on the jaw, partly from the force withwhich he had come in contact with the ground. Edward lightly sprungaside and avoided the cut aimed at him, and then delivered a blow withall his force just in front of the ear, and the man dropped again as ifshot. In a moment Edgar had wrenched the knife from his hand, then heturned to the young Arab.
"That is enough," he said; "they have both got more than they wanted;they are harmless now, we have their two knives."
The Arab, who was panting from his exertions, and who had evidentlyrestrained himself with difficulty from plunging his knife into hisfallen assailant, turned round towards him.
"Who are you, brother, whose blows fell men like strokes of lightning?"
"My name is Edgar Blagrove. I am the son of a merchant, whose place ofbusiness is in the great square. Who are you, and how did this businessbegin?"
"My name is Sidi Ben Ouafy. I am the son of a chief. My father's tribelive in the oasis ten miles east of the old lake. I was riding from thetown when these two men, for whom there was, as you see, plenty of roomin the road, staggered suddenly against me, whether with evil intent ormerely to enjoy the pleasure of seeing me rolling in the dust, I knownot. They nearly unseated me from the suddenness of the attack, and as Irecovered I certainly struck at them with my whip. One seized me by thefoot and threw me off my horse, and then, as you saw, they fell upon me,beat me, and were dragging me to the fountain to throw me in when youcame up. Had they not heard your horse coming along they would, Ibelieve, have killed me. Henceforth you are my brother; my horses andall that I have are yours, and every sword of our tribe would leap fromits scabbard in your defence were it needed. To-morrow I will ride inagain, and my father himself will assuredly come with me. I cannot speakof my gratitude now, my head is still dizzy with the blows they gave me;even yet I cannot understand how it was that these two men have thusfallen before you, and you with no weapon in your hands. Are they dead?"
"Not they," Edgar said scornfully; "they are wondering what has happenedto them, and fear to move, not knowing that their own knives might notbe driven into their hearts did they venture to rise. Well, good-bye,Sidi; I will see you off first; and I should advise you, when you rideinto the town again, to bring your pistols with you. Like enough thesescoundrels will try to get revenge for this defeat."
"I will do so. I know not why I did not carry them to-day. I will notonly bring them, but two of my tribesmen shall ride with me. Butmethinks that you will be in greater danger than I shall, brother."
"I shall be on the look-out, and will, for a time, carry pistols withme; but I do not often go out after dark, and have no occasion ever toenter the streets where rogues of this sort live. As to an open attack,I have no fear of it; but I have no doubt that either of thosescoundrels would plant a knife between my shoulders if they had a chanceto do so."
Both the lads mounted their horses, and after a few words of farewellrode off in different directions. Not until the sound of the horses'hoofs died away did the two figures in the road move, then they sat up.
"What has happened, Zeno?"
"I know not, save that my head is ringing. I feel as if my jaws werebroken, and my nose is so swelled that it seems as big as my head."
"And I can scarcely see from my eyes," the other said. "Cospetto, neverbefore have I been thus handled!"
"We will kill him!" the other said furiously.
"That of course; I know not who he was, but we shall doubtless find out.I can hardly believe even now that it was with his hand that he struckus--it was done so quickly. He was there--then I struck at him,when--paff!--and it seemed to me that the air was full of stars; then,paff again! my jaws cracked, I fell backwards, there was a crash, andthe world seemed to have come to an end. And you, Giaccamo, what did hedo to you?"
"It was like that, except that I only had one blow, and there was anend of it. I was drawing my knife when it came--how, I know not. Myknife flew from my hand--there was a flash of fire from my eyes, and Iwas on the ground, and thought it best to lie there, lest that accursedyoung Arab should take it into his head to sheathe my knife in my body.The next time we will give the young fellow no chance to try thosestrange tricks upon us."
"You are right, Giaccamo; I would sooner fight against even Thomasso,who is the best knife-player in Alexandria, than face that fellow again.Who can he be, I wonder?"
Edgar rode home, and after seeing his horse taken into the stable, wentinto the house.
"I have found my boxing of use, father."
"How is that, Edgar?"
The lad told him what had happened.
"You were quite right to strike, my boy," his father went on when he hadheard the story; "'tis likely enough that those ruffians would havekilled the lad. There are fellows here who would do murder for the sakeof a few copper coins; and, doubtless, those men thought that the youngchief would have some trinkets about him that would pay them for theirtrouble. I am sorry that you did not let the Arab put his knife intothem; it would have been a good riddance, for the town abounds withrascals of that kind--the scum of the Mediterranean, men who have madetheir native towns too hot to hold them, and have committed crimesuntold. As it is, you will have to be careful; fellows of this kind arenot of a forgiving nature, and will be patient enough to wait for theirrevenge, but sooner or later they will attempt to take it."
"It was so dark, father, that they can scarcely have seen my face."
"Perhaps not, but no doubt they were able to make out your figure, andthere are very few better-class young Europeans here. You will have tobe on your guard, lad; you had better always carry pistols with you.Clever as you may be with your fists, if you were attacked byhalf-a-dozen fellows with knives, you would stand but little chance withthem. Don't be out after dusk; in daylight you are fairly safe. At anyrate, you would be, if you avoid the rookeries, where the lower class ofEuropean inhabitants live. I have a
brace of short-barrelled pistolsup-stairs I will give you. I carried them at one time when things werevery unsettled here. You have made two bitter enemies, but, on the otherhand, you have made a friend who may be useful. These Arabs, when theyonce form a friendship, are as true as steel, and in the event of anyfanatical troubles here, you would find a sure refuge among them. Thelad's father, Aboo Ben Ouafy, I know a little of, as he has madepurchases of me. His tribe is not a large one, but he himself is a finefellow. As the lad told you, their head-quarters are in an oasis someeight or ten miles, I believe, east of the old site of Lake Mareotis.They, of course, like all those people, are frequently absent on huntingor plundering expeditions."
The next day Sidi and his father, followed by half a dozen tribesmen,halted in front of Mr. Blagrove's place of business, and the two formerdismounted and entered. The Bedouin chief saluted the merchant gravely,while Sidi went up to Edgar, who was sitting at a table, for he nowworked for some hours a day in his father's office, and who rose at thelad's approach, and held out his hand in English fashion.
"You are none the worse for our scrimmage last night, Sidi?" he saidheartily.
"No harm was done," Sidi replied gravely. "I am glad of what happened,for it has given me a friend, a brother."
"I am glad too," Edgar replied, "for I too am happy to have gained afriend."
In the meantime his father was saying to Mr. Blagrove, "I have come,effendi, to thank you and your son for the assistance he rendered to myboy yesterday. I have no doubt that he saved his life, and that at theperil of his own. It is wonderful what my son tells me, that, with hishands alone he beat to the ground the two men who had attacked him,though they were armed with knives. I know not how it could be done, butsince it was done 'tis plain that he must possess skill unknown to us.Sidi has called him brother, and henceforth I shall regard him as a son,and my tribe will be his should he need their services. I doubt not thatthe attack was made in order to gain the horse my son rode, which is oneof famous breed, and would sell at high price at Cairo or any other ofthe large towns. I feel sure that they would have killed him in orderthat they might carry the horse away without search being made for it,for before we found that Sidi had been slain the horse would have been ahundred miles away."
"I know that your tribe is famous for having some of the best Arabianblood in the country, sheik, and I think it probable that you are right.The fellows may have seen your son ride into the town and determined towaylay him on his return."
"Your son did wrong not to kill them," the Arab said, "he will be indanger from them. I have called not only to thank him, but to ask him tocome and bide with us for a time; he will assuredly be in danger here.Were I governor of the town I would chop off the heads of all thosepeople who breed disorders and are a curse to it. 'Tis well that Frankslike yourself should settle among us, and should trade with us, buyingour goods and selling to us those of Europe, but these thieves andcut-throats, these ruffians who neither trade nor work, but live byill-doing, should be rooted out."
"I should be glad for my son to stay with you for a short time, sheik. Ishare your opinion that these men will try to avenge themselves, and itwere well that he should be away for a time. Doubtless they will watchnarrowly to see if they can find the young fellow who interfered withthem, but if they meet with no one like him they may well think that hehas left the town."
"It is well!" the Arab said. "I am going now to the governor to lay acomplaint against these men. My son will go with me to tell him whatthey are like; the son of a sheik is not to be assaulted by townruffians with impunity. We may be kept some time, but when we have donewe will return hither. Will your son be ready to ride with us?"
"Certainly, sheik; it will not take him five minutes to make hispreparations."
"He will not need a horse," the sheik said; "I have brought one with mefor him."
Edgar had listened with delight to this conversation (which was inArabic, which his father spoke fluently). The idea of going to stay fora time in an Arab encampment was exciting indeed, for he had alreadybegun to find the life monotonous after the two years spent at schooland in the lively companionship of his cousins.
"It were well that you should come out and see your horse," the sheiksaid to him, "and make friends with him while we are away, for he is notaccustomed to Europeans, and might give you trouble were you to mounthim at once."
Edgar and his father both went out. One of the Arabs was standing atthe horse's head, rubbing its nose and talking to it as if it had been ahuman being.
"That is the horse," the sheik said gravely. "Only to one, whom I regardas a son, would I part with him. On his back you may scoff at pursuit byany foes, for outside my encampment there is not a horse in Egypt whichit could not distance. Now it is yours to do with as you like, save tosell it, for I would not that his blood should run in any veins savethose of the horses of my tribe."
"This is, indeed, a princely gift, sheik," the merchant said warmly."'Tis a noble horse, and one that a king might ride. My son is indeedindebted to you, and will value it beyond all price."
Edgar was warm in his expressions of gratitude and admiration, although,indeed, he was unable to appreciate at its full value the points of theanimal. It was a gray, and, to English eyes, would have looked light andwanting in bone, and fit rather for a lady's use than for a man's, withits slender limbs and small head; but one accustomed to Arab horses, asMr. Blagrove was, could see at once that it was of the purest strain andhighest breeding.
"Come with me," the sheik said to Edgar. "At present, you see, he is notaccustomed to your white face, but he will soon come to love you, andanswer to your call."
The horse, indeed, had laid back his ears, distended his dilatednostrils, and stepped back a foot or two; but as the sheik approached itgave a little whinny of pleasure, and, advancing, laid its muzzleagainst his cheek.
"This is your new master, Beauty," he said, as he stroked its glossyneck. "He will keep you well, and you will be as one of his children,and you must be a good friend and servant to him."
Edgar now stroked the animal. A quiver as of fear ran through it as hetouched it, but as he continued, this died away; and as Edgar spokequietly to it in Arabic, it was not long before it responded to hiscaresses, and after taking a good look at him with its soft liquid eyes,it put its head on his shoulder.
"You are friends now," the sheik said, with a tone of pleasure. "It isto few, even of my tribesmen, whom he would give such a greeting. Herecognizes you already as his friend. Give him a handful of sweetmeats,and the bargain will be sealed."
The merchant at once sent one of the native boys out to buy a bag ofsweetmeats. The sheik waited until he saw the horse taking these out ofEdgar's hands and munching them contentedly, then, leaving one of histribesmen in charge of the horse, he mounted, and rode off with his sonand the rest of his followers. Edgar stood for some time talking to thehorse, and then, leaving it to the native, went into the house to makehis preparations for the journey.
"You have, indeed, done well for yourself, Edgar," his father said as hecame in. "'Tis in every way fortunate. The Turks love us little, andthough they put up with us, as they need the goods that we sell, stillthere may at any moment be a fanatical rising, and it is well, indeed,to have made friends with one of the desert tribes, among whom you canfind a safe refuge. You little know the value of the horse he has givenyou. The breed is a famous one, and the sheik has been offered afabulous sum for one of his steeds, but nothing could tempt him to partwith one. An Arab prizes a valuable horse beyond all his earthlypossessions, and, save under the pressure of the direst want, nothingcould persuade him to part with it. In presenting it to you, therefore,the chief has shown his friendship in the most striking mannerpossible, and that he regards you, as he says, as one of his family."