as at
the windows on that side of the car sat two English officers, who
obstructed her view.

But she had scarcely told this to Stas, when he turned to the officers
with a very grave mien and, touching his hat with his finger, said:

"Gentlemen, could you kindly make room for this little Miss who wishes
to look at the camels?"

Both officers accepted the suggestion with the same gravity, and one of
them not only surrendered his place to the curious Miss but lifted her
and placed her in a seat near the window.

And Stas began his lecture:

"This is the ancient land of Goshen, which Pharaoh gave to Joseph for
his brother Israelites. At one time in far antiquity a canal of fresh
water ran here so that this new one is but a reconstruction of the old.
But later it fell into ruin and the country became a desert. Now the
soil again is fertile."

"How does the gentleman know this?" asked one of the officers.

"At my age, we know such things," answered Stas; "and besides, not long
ago Professor Sterling gave us a lecture on Wadi Tumilat."

Though Stas spoke English quite fluently, his slightly different accent
attracted the attention of the other officer, who asked:

"Is the little gentleman an Englishman?"

"Miss Nell, whose father entrusted her to my care on this journey, is
little. I am not an Englishman but a Pole and the son of an engineer at
the Canal."

The officer, hearing the answer of the pert boy, smiled and said:

"I esteem the Poles. I belong to a regiment of cavalry, which during
the times of Napoleon several times fought with the Polish Uhlans, and
that tradition until the present day forms its glory and honor."* [*
Those regiments of English cavalry which during the times of Napoleon
met the Polish cavalry actually pride themselves with that fact at the
present time, and every officer speaking of his regiment never fails to
say, "We fought with the Poles." See Chevrillon, "Aux Indes."]

"I am pleased to form your acquaintance," answered Stas.

The conversation easily proceeded farther, for the officers were
evidently amused. It appeared that both were also riding from Port Said
to Cairo to see the British minister plenipotentiary and to receive
final instructions for a long journey which soon awaited them. The
younger one was an army surgeon, while the one who spoke to Stas,
Captain Glenn, had an order from his government to proceed from Cairo,
via Suez, to Mombasa and assume the government of th