The Last Egyptian

sive, as if baffled in its desire to penetrate beneath the river's lurid surface. For the Ni

ter from the heat beneath a straggling tree or a straw mat elevated on stalks of ripe sugar-cane. The boats of the fishermen lay in little coves, where the sails

0} of absolute repulsion upon his swarthy face. The engineer, also an Arab, lay stretched upon the deck half asleep, but with both ears alert to catch any sound that might denote the fact that the straining, rickety engine was failing to perform its full

e in April, he is either attached to some exploration party engaged in excavations

r to tropical climes, if we judged by his sun-browned skin and the quiet resignation to existing conditions with which he puffed his black briar and relaxe

ears, who spoke Arabic fluently and could even cipher those hieroglyphics of the dead ages which abound throughout modern Egypt. Hassan, Abdallah and Ali knew this well, for they had accompanied Winston Bey on former expeditions, and heard him translate the ugly signs graven upon the ugly stones into excellent Arabic. It was all very wonderful in its way, but quite useless and impractical, if their o

st bank, were the low mountains of Gebel Abu Fedah. At the south, where the rocks ended abruptly, lay a small grove of palms. Between the palms and the mountains was th

avelers. Winston sat up and knocked the ashes from his pipe, making

iver was no sign of vegetation, but only a hardened clay surface. The desert sands had drifted in in places. Even under the palms it la

he little dahabeah puffed noisily up to the bank and deposited the Englishman upon the hard clay. Then

h all his energy, the transition from the deck of the dahabeah to this oven-like at

ad erred in judgment, and the only way to manage an Arab is to make him believe you know what you a

n, doggedly, until he came to the oblong shadow cast by the first palm, a

r under the sand, and there was no habitation near enough for a donkey's bray or a camel's harsh growl to

rest, turning slightly this way and that to catch in his face the faint breath of the breeze that passed between the mountains and the Nile. At the best he was d

uriosity. After a minute he arose in a leisurely fashion and walked over to the spot of white, which on nearer approach proved to be a soiled cotton tunic or b

ed the form viciously; but now it neither stirred nor made a sound. Instead, a narrow slit appeared be

cile, that you dare to disturb my slu

made Winston

et up!" he commanded,

d the man sat up, crossing his bare legs bene

e so often presented in the picture-writing upon the walls of ancient temples. His forehead was high, his chin square, his eyes large and soft, his cheeks full, his mouth wide and sensual, his nose short and rounded. His jaws protruded slightly and his hair was smooth and fine. In color the tint of his{15} skin was not darker t

shman, looking

are a

oken in his mother tong

eturned in purest English, "then I am no Copt; but if you mean that I am an Eg

usual; but none that he knew expressed himself with the same ease and confidence indicated in this

in his voice-"I am speaking with a des

Ahtka-Rā, of true royal blood, who ruled the second Rameses as cl

seemed

liteness, "that I have never befo

scriptions on the old temples and tombs. You can read a little-yes; but that little puzzles and confuses you. Your most learned scholars-your Mariettes and Petri

em?" asked Wi

dropped

you first studied the language of the ancient Egyptians, so that when you deciphered the

n!" said he, sternly. "Who knows th

his head with an humble expression. "Who am I, the

self with his helmet and

man who ruled the Great Rameses-

ess ruled through the weak Rameses, under whom he bore the titles of High Priest of āmen, Lord of the Harvests and Chief Treasurer. All of the kingdom he controlled and managed, sending Rameses to wars to keep him occupied, and then, when the king returned, setting him to build temples and palaces, and to erect monu

scrutinizing the man before him with a puzzled express

e him and let the grains slip between his

said he, "reigned si

," corrected Winst

nemy. But Meremptah discovered the secret at last, and at once killed Ahtka-Rā, who was very old and unable to oppose him longer. And after that the treasure cities of Pithom and

who are striving to unravel the mystery of ancient Egyptian history this information will be invaluable. Let me share your knowledge, and tell me what you require in exchange for your secret. You are poor

tinued{19} playing with the sand. Yet over

was twice kicked and called a dog. Now I am the Engli

like to kick the fellow again.

. "The burnous might mean an Arab. It is

the apology. His unreadable countenance was stil

acted a cigarette case from his pocket, ope

had yet shown. Very deliberately he bowed, touched his forehead and then his heart

light to his own cigarette first; then to that of Kāra. Another touch of the forehead and breast and the native

d taken his third whiff; then, the ceremonial bein

past, by the modern Egyptians themselves. Your traditions, handed down through many generations, give to you a secret knowledge of where the important papyri and tablets are deposited. If

d flicked the ash from his cig

knew how to earn it? I have not smoked a cigarette before in months-not since Tadros the dragoman came to Al Fedah in the winter. I am barefoot, because I fear to wear out my sandals unti

ns of his lot or resents his condition, however{21} l

" he

e thing to be Kāra, the lineal descendant of the great Ahtka-Rā, in the days when Egypt's power i

n the village?

of huts behind the mountain, i

om do yo

mother, H

A

e heard

an Princess Hatatcha who set fashiona

cast a half fearful glance around, at

he said, sinking hi

. Lord Roane especially divorced his wife{22} that he might marry the beautiful Egyptian; and then she refused to wed with him. There were scandals in plenty before Hatatcha disappeared from London, which she did a

eep breath, s

r," he murmured. "She was

stared

an to say-

still in league with the devils and would destroy us both if she came to hate us. Her daughter, who was my mother, was the child of that same Lord Roan

if she still lives,"

as thirty-five when I was born, and that is twenty-three years ago. Fifty-eight is not an advanced age, yet{23} Hatatcha was a withered hag

taught you to

o I speak the ancient Egyptian language, which you call the Coptic, and I read correctly the hieroglyphics

r mother?" a

arem of an Arab in Cairo, so that she passed out of o

Englishman, with a sneer, "that your

ed who my father might be; it was unimportant. From her I drew the blood of the great Ahtka-Rā, who lives again in me. Robbed of your hollow ceremonial of marriage, you people of Europe can boast no true descent s

which were all too familiar to his ears, reflected deeply on the

ur knowledge of your ancestry and the life and work

es

sed to you how it is th

and I believe it. Hatatc

money that enabled her to amaze all Eng

not

wealth

lau

nt we have each one ragged garment. But the outside of man matters little, sa

u would prefer a h

who teaches me philosophy

ishman r

in the field

e holds, I would even now be king of Egypt. The certainty that t

cha earn mo

ing and night, muttering

do you liv

the question, and consi

e they will give him a good premium on it at the museum in Cairo. Once, years ago, the sheik threatened Hatatcha unless she confessed where she had found these coins; but my grandmother cal

es she ke

ay like one dead, I searched everywhere for treasure an

thing beside

y Tadros, the dragoman, to exch

ame of th

m they disappeared. I do no

e palms moved as the sun drew nearer to the horizon. Now the patc

thinking intently. Kāra was plac

ican, Davis, the explorers among the ancient ruins of Egypt had been on the qui vive to unearth some farther record of antiquity to startle and interest th

field, and it was because of a rumor that ancient coins and jewels had come from the Sheik of Al-Kusiyeh that he had resolved

that he was now on the trail of an important discovery was quite clear to him. How best to master the delicate condit

er's story, it is easy to guess the remainder. The coins of Darius Hystaspes date about five hundred years before Christ, so that they would not account for Hatatcha's ample knowledge of a period two thousand years earlier. But mark me, Kāra, the tomb from which your grandmother extracted such treasure must of necessity contain much else-not such things as the old woman could dispose of without suspicion, but records and relics which in my hands would be invaluable, and for which I would glad

l," answered the

it with graceful composure, and ros

bu Fedah, and with the grateful shade the breeze had

nd his tall figure, Kāra

thee, my bro

Then he watched the Egyptian stalk proudly away over the hot sands, his figure erect, his step slow a

nd Abdallah; "for I have aroused the rascal's cupidity, and he will so

sed abruptly and stood motionless, st

muttered. Then he added, with sudden fierceness: "Tw

nd and continued on h