en he could have had men to row
him about. In time, however, when he had mastered the initial
difficulties of the art, he took to the exercise, and they often spent
the whole day in the boat, either coasting along Aboukir Bay, or, more
often, shooting on the lakes.

The arrival of the British fleet had created quite an excitement in
Alexandria, and the news they brought, that a large French fleet had
left Toulon, carrying many thousands of troops, destined, it was
believed, to operate in Egypt, had caused an intense feeling of dismay
among the British merchants settled there, and a corresponding
exultation among the French.

"Will the French fleet be stronger than this?" Sidi asked, as he and
Edgar leant on the parapet and looked at the long line of British ships.

"There may be more of them--very likely there are," Edgar said
carelessly; "but that makes no matter, we are sure to thrash them. In
the first place, we always do so somehow; and in the next, as our fleet
is commanded by one of the best admirals we have, there is no fear of
their being beaten. The only fear is that the fleet mayn't fall in with
the French until they have landed their troops."

"The troops could not stand against our Mamelukes," Sidi said
scornfully. "They would soon drive them into the sea."

"I am not so sure of that," Edgar said. "No doubt the Mamelukes are
splendid horsemen. I suppose they are as good as any in the world; but
horsemen cannot win a battle alone. The French infantry are very fine,
and I doubt whether any number of horsemen could break their squares.
Then their artillery is immensely superior to that of the Egyptians;
that will give them a very great advantage."

"But if your fleet meets theirs and beats it, how could they ever get
back again?"

"I expect they mean to stay here and hold the country," Edgar said. "I
don't know what good it would do to them; still I suppose they think it
would, or they would not take the trouble to come over. But if they
should take the country, it would be very bad for men like my father,
for they would be sure to put all the English in prison, and it would be
the ruin of their business."

"Would they put you in prison?"

"I don't know; I expect so. They would hold all the English as
prisoners."

"You would come out to us. You will be quite safe there. If their
soldiers came, they would never catch us; we could move about anywhere,
we know all the places where water is to be found