ant,
"they may stop here. But I, and the leader of the caravan, and some of
my men will only take some refreshment, and then you must guide us to
the governor; I have to speak with him. It is growing late..."

"That does not matter," said the Egyptian. "The Mukaukas prefers to
see strangers after sundown on such a scorching day. If you have any
dealings with him I am the very man for you. You have only to make
play with a gold piece and I can obtain you an audience at once through
Sebek, the house-steward he is my cousin. While you are resting here
I will ride on to the governor's palace and bring you word as to how
matters stand."

CHAPTER II.

The caravansary into which Haschim and his following now turned off
stood on a plot of rising ground surrounded by palm-trees. Before the
destruction of the heathen sanctuaries it had been a temple of Imhotep,
the Egyptian Esculapius, the beneficient god of healing, who had had
his places of special worship even in the city of the dead. It was half
relined, half buried in desert sand when an enterprising inn-keeper had
bought the elegant structure with the adjacent grove for a very moderate
sum. Since then it had passed to various owners, a large wooden building
for the accommodation of travellers had been added to the massive
edifice, and among the palm-trees, which extended as far as the
ill-repaired quay, stables were erected and plots of ground fenced in
for beasts of all kinds. The whole place looked like a cattle-fair, and
indeed it was a great resort of the butchers and horse-dealers of the
town, who came there to purchase. The palm-grove, being one of the
few remaining close to the city, also served the Memphites as a
pleasure-ground where they could "sniff fresh air" and treat themselves
in a pleasant shade. 'Tables and seats had been set out close to the
river, and there were boats on hire in mine host's little creek; and
those who took their pleasure in coming thither by water were glad to
put in and refresh themselves under the palms of Nesptah.

Two rows of houses had formerly divided this rendezvous for the sober
and the reckless from the highroad, but they had long since been pulled
down and laid level with the ground by successive landlords. Even now
some hundreds of laborers might be seen, in spite of the scorching heat,
toiling under Arab overseers to demolish a vast ruin of the date of the
Ptolemies and transporting the huge blocks of limestone and m