to get away to a civilised place like Cairo, at all events, if
not to England. For though he did not know that the British Government
had taken up the Egyptian quarrel, and that war had actually been waged
between them and the Soudanese in the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, he
knew that an officer of the late expedition would be looked upon with
suspicion, if not treated as an open enemy.

Neither was he sure how his uncle would bear the disappointment if he
found out that he had been in the ranks of his enemies--the Egyptians.
Though he need not have worried himself about that, for the Sheikh
Burrachee would only have thought it the method which Destiny had taken
to bring him to him.

As Forsyth's mind grew sounder his body kept pace with it, and he was
able at last to mount a horse and take short rides; and it amused him to
saunter about the bazaar occasionally, though it was not a very
extensive or grand one; indeed, the poet who wrote "Man wants but little
here below," would have been pleased to see how completely an Arab, as a
rule, verifies his theory.

One day he, (Harry, not the poet) was puzzled by some round balls of a
frothy appearance, which he could not make out; could it possibly be
soap? What sale could there be for such an article? The shopman might
just as well have offered straps and stay-laces to the population around
him. But it did not smell like soap, either; indeed, the odour was
extremely unpleasant.

"That is not an object worthy of your attention," said the owner of the
shop, who sat on a cushion in the midst of his goods. "I have a
preparation for the hair which is infallible for restoring it if it
falls off from age or sickness, for example, and which is as agreeable
to the nose as beneficial to the scalp. Those balls of mutton fat are
only fit for the poor who can afford no better."

"Oh, it is for the hair, then," observed Harry; "and what makes it look
all frothy like that?"

"It is prepared by chewing, and women are employed for the purpose; they
cheat me sometimes, and swallow a portion. But deign to come up, oh
illustrious one, and partake of a cup of coffee or a glass of sherbet
and a chibouque, and allow me the unparalleled and illustrious honour of
showing you my poor goods."

Harry consented, not that he wanted to purchase anything, but because
something about the man's face struck him as familiar, and he was
anxious to remember where and under what circumstances he h