one of his
sons.

ISMAIL

In 1863 (after the short reign of Ibrahim, five years of Abbas, and
eight of Said), Ismail, Mehemet's grandson, ascended the throne. He had
received his education in Paris.

[Illustration: GARDEN-HOUSE AT CHOUBRA, SHOWING PART OF THE LAKE NEAR
CAIRO

From a photograph by Sebah, Cairo]

Much has been written about this man. The opening, in 1869, of the Suez
Canal turned the eyes of the entire civilized world upon Egypt. The
writers swooped down upon the ancient country in a flock, and the canal,
the land, and its ruler were described again and again. The ruler was
remarkable. Ismail was short (one speaks of him in the past tense,
although he is not dead), with very broad shoulders; his hands were
singularly thick; his ears also were thick, and oddly placed; his feet
were small, and he always wore finically fine French shoes. There was
nothing of the Arab in his face, and little of the Turk. One of his
eyelids had a natural droop, and vexed diplomatists have left it upon
record that he had the power of causing the other to droop also, thus
making it possible for him to study the faces of his antagonists at his
leisure, he, meanwhile, presenting to them in return a blind mask. The
mask, however, was amiable; it was adorned almost constantly with a
smile. The man must have had marked powers of fascination. At the
present day, when some of the secrets of his reign are known--though by
no means all--it is easy to paint him in the darkest colors; but during
the time of his power his great schemes dazzled the world, and people
liked him--it is impossible to doubt the testimony of so many pens;
European and American visitors always left his presence pleased.

There are in Cairo black stories of cruelty connected with his name.
These for the most part are unwritten; they are told in the native cafes
and in the bazaars. It does not appear that he loved cruelty for its own
sake, as some of the Roman emperors loved it; but if any one rebelled
against his power or his pleasure, that person was sacrificed without
scruple. In some cases it took the form of a disappearance in the night,
without a sound or a trace left behind. This is the sort of thing we
associate with the old despotic ages. But 1869 is not a remote date,
and at that time the present Emperor of Austria, the late Emperor
Frederick (then Crown-Prince of Prussia), the Empress Eugenie, Prince
Oscar of Sweden, Prince Louis of Hesse, the P