s with courtesy. But they
do not talk about him as they talked about Ismail; he excites no
curiosity. This is partly owing to his position, his opinions and
actions having naturally small importance while an English army is
taking charge of his realm; but it is also owing, in a measure, to the
character of the man himself. One often sees him driving. On Sunday
afternoons his carriage in semi-state leads the procession along the
Gezireh Avenue. First appear the outriders, six mounted soldiers; four
brilliantly dressed saises follow, rushing along with their wands high
in the air; then comes the open carriage, with the dark-eyed, melancholy
Khedive on the back seat, returning mechanically the many salutations
offered by strangers and by his own people. Behind his carriage are four
more of the flying runners; then the remainder of the mounted escort,
two and two. At a little distance follows the brougham of the
Vice-reine; according to Oriental etiquette, she never appears in public
beside her husband. Her brougham is preceded and followed by saises, but
there is no mounted escort. The Vice-reine is pretty, intelligent, and
accomplished; in addition, she is brave. Several years ago, when the
cholera was raging in Cairo, and the Khedive, almost alone among the
upper classes, remained there in order to do what he could for the
suffering people, his wife also refused to flee. She stayed in the
plague-stricken town until the pestilence had disappeared, exerting her
influence to persuade the frightened women of the lower classes to
follow her example regarding sanitary precautions. Tufik is accused of
being always undecided; he was not undecided upon this occasion at
least. It is probable that some of his moments of indecision have been
caused by real hesitations. And this brings us to Arabi.

Arabi (he is probably indifferent to the musical sound of his name) was
the leader of the military revolt which broke out in Egypt in 1881--a
revolt with which all the world is familiar, because it was followed by
the bombardment of Alexandria by the English fleet. Arabi had studied at
El Azhar; he knew the Koran by heart. To the native population he seemed
a wonderful orator; he excited their enthusiasm; he roused their
courage; he almost made them patriotic. The story of Arabi is
interesting; there were many intrigues mixed with the revolt, and a
dramatic element throughout. But these slight impressions--the idle
notes merely of one win