of scarabs that are being foisted on
visitors to the Nile and sold as real scarabs. I have scarabs for
sale"--(he was interrupted at this point by applause and hand-clapping,
as the "Corks" were eager for the fray and wanted to get into the game).

"Laydies en genteelmen, ef you plaze; I am glad to see you are
interested in my goods, and I will now show them to you. I am an
honest man, and so was my father before me. Father and son, we have
sold scarabs to the crowned heads of Europe and to the nobility and
gentry of England, Scotland and _Ireland_--think of that, Mr. Bayne! I
would not cheat you; I am too proud to do that, and if I told you a lie
my father would turn in his grave! There were twenty-six dynasties of
Pharaohs, and each one of them had scarabs of his own pattern. I have
many examples of the oldest and best, some of them having but one eye."

Assured in this wholesale and convincing fashion, the "Corks" fell to
and made many purchases from Gooley, who told them that his uncle,
Hajie Hassan, was a professional excavator and had lately made an
important find in some graves at Thebes, and that every one of his
scarabs had been taken by this uncle from the coffins. (By the way, at
Thebes they dig mummies with scarabs attached about as we dig our
potatoes, and of course the big bugs are the most valuable and
expensive.) The prevailing average price was one hundred _piastres_
each, but he was very concise and particular about his prices, and for
some he charged a few _piastres_ less, for others a trifle more, as he
said he knew their exact value and asked only the rate that the Museum,
the crowned heads and the savants were anxious to pay for them. Some
of the "Corks" openly scoffed at this line of talk and threw the gaff
into him without mercy. This hurt the great man's feelings, and he
jumped up and told them that he was rarely asked for a guarantee, but
since suspicion had been cast upon him in an unfair way, he would clear
himself by giving each purchaser a written guarantee. Whereupon he
pulled out a book like a cheque-book and filled out the details, signed
it, and handed each purchaser a "guarantee." This had a tendency to
restore confidence and he made some more sales; but it was getting late
and we adjourned to the steamer.

[Illustration: THE SPHINX--THE GRAND OLD GIRL OF ALL SCULPTURE. THE
SUN'S KISS WAS THE ONLY ONE SHE EVER HAD. THE QUEEN OF POST-CARDS, TO
WHICH THE PYRAMID BEHIND H