as of no consequence. I ran
into a house close by and sheltered there until the French column came
out, and then went out in some European clothes I found there, and had
no more trouble."

CHAPTER VIII.

AN EGYPTIAN TOMB.

While the Arabs were preparing breakfast, Edgar searched for a spot
where the sheik could lie in shelter during the mid-day heat; for, hot
as it was on the desert sands, the heat was fully as great on the bare
rocks of the hills. After some search he found a spot where two ledges
of rock ran parallel to each other, with a passage of some six feet
between them, on each side of which they rose perpendicularly some
twelve feet in height. The fissures ran nearly north and south, and
therefore, except for an hour at noon, the bottom was entirely in shade.

It was within half a mile of the spot where they encamped for the night;
and returning, the sheik was carried there at once, and was laid on the
blanket. The spears were found to be long enough to reach across at the
top. The blanket that had formed the hammock being unrolled, it formed a
sort of awning that could, when the sun was high, be moved a little one
way or the other, so as to keep him in the shade. Learning from the
sheik in which direction the tombs that he had spoken of were situated,
Edgar started with Hassan, and after half an hour's walking came upon
them. They were, for the most part, square-cut holes in the face of the
perpendicular rock. Some of them were only flanked by pilasters cut in
the stone; others had more ornate designs. All had originally been
closed by great stone slabs. These had long since been moved or broken
up by treasure-seekers. The plan of most of them was similar--a short
passage, terminated by a chamber of from ten to twenty feet square.
Vestiges of the paintings that originally covered the walls could still
be seen. Choosing one of the larger tombs, Edgar aided Hassan to remove
fragments of stones that projected above the dust and sand, which lay
six inches deep over the floor. Well satisfied, he returned to the
sheik.

"We have found a good place," he said. "The air was quite cool in there,
and the sand will make a much more comfortable bed than this bare rock."

The sheik made no reply, but lay looking at him with an expression that
puzzled him, and he was about to turn to Sidi to ask whether his father
was worse, when the latter said, "While you have been away my son has
been telling me all that y