diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/65617-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/65617-0.txt | 5581 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 5581 deletions
diff --git a/old/65617-0.txt b/old/65617-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f8c6fe8..0000000 --- a/old/65617-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5581 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume III (of 3), -by James Grant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume III (of 3) - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: June 14, 2021 [eBook #65617] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Al Haines - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER OF ABERFELDIE, VOLUME -III (OF 3) *** - - - - - - - THE MASTER OF ABERFELDIE - - - - BY - - JAMES GRANT - - AUTHOR OF - "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE CAMERONIANS," - "THE SCOTTISH CAVALIER," - ETC., ETC. - - - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. III. - - - - LONDON: - HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, - 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. - 1884. - - _All rights reserved._ - - - - - Contents - - Chapter - - I. Suspicion - II. At Tel-el-Kebir - III. At Grand Cairo - IV. The Telegram - V. Dead and Buried in the Sand - VI. A Skirmish in the Desert - VII. Hurdell Hall - VIII. Sir Harry - IX. The Cub-hunting - X. Allan's Adventure - XI. Among the Dwellers in Tents - XII. Kismet - XIII. The Last of Sir Paget - XIV. The Young Widow - XV. In the Desert - XVI. Eastward Ho! - XVII. At Ismailia - XVIII. Clouds and Sunshine - - - - -THE MASTER OF ABERFELDIE. - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SUSPICION. - -Many a wife, mother, and maid watched the progress of our troops from -point to point in Egypt, from the bombardment of Alexandria, with the -subsequent landing, up to the last telegram which announced that the -army had begun its auspicious night march from Kassassin towards -Tel-el-Kebir, but none could do so with more anxiety than had Olive -Raymond and Eveline. - -To them and to how many loving hearts at home were the next telegrams -fraught with terror and anxiety! - -Olive was free to rush to the newspapers as soon as they arrived. -But not so Eveline, for so suspicious of her secret interest in one -who was far away had Sir Paget become, that he absolutely kept them -out of her sight as much as possible; and she had a terror in her -heart that Evan Cameron might be killed in action, and, for a time, -all unknown to her. - -Great was her craving for intelligence. She could not, like a man, -go to clubs or newspaper offices, when the latest telegrams--often -false ones--were posted up; and often nightly she went to bed with -the agonising yet unasked question on her lips, 'Oh, what has -happened to-day in Egypt?--what is happening _now_?' and she had to -scan the morning papers, if at all, surreptitiously, eagerly, and -feverishly, for what she did not want to see. - -How would she have suffered the old Peninsula war time, when news and -battle lists appeared in the weekly and bi-weekly journals more than -a month, yea, sometimes two months, after victories were won (we had -no defeats in those long-service days), and after the grass was green -above the graves of our gallant dead--the men that knew how to die, -but never turn their heel before a foe--when our regiments fought for -the historic glory of their number, as steadily as for king and -country! - -Sir Paget knew the source of his young wife's anxiety, and watched -her grimly. - -'How dull my life is with _him_, kind though he tries to be,' thought -the girl; 'we have not a thought, feeling, or inspiration in common. -When with Evan, it seemed all inspiration, and thoughts came and went -so fast. He always brought bright ones to me.' - -He was her first and only love--the love that leads a girl to see -only ideal perfection in the object so beloved. Their passion had -been like the diva in of a mid-summer night, and now they were to -meet never more--never more! - -She recalled the words of the song he was wont to sing to air of -'Rousseau's Dream'-- - - 'See the moon o'er cloudless Jura - Shining in the loch below; - See the distant mountain towering - Like a pyramid of snow. - - 'Scenes of grandeur, scenes of childhood, - Scenes so dear to love and me! - When we roam by bower or wild wood, - All is lovelier when with _thee_! - -And, as she touched the piano, his voice seemed to come to her ear -again. - -'Eveline!' she would murmur, dreamily, 'he called me Eveline--his -own--yes, I can hear his voice plainly now--plainly I heard it at -Dundargue, and on that last evening at Maviswood.' - -Then her eye would fall on her wedding-ring, and a kind of shiver -passed over her. - -She strove to read, but that was almost impossible; her mind wandered -from the story, or sometimes certain passages struck her painfully. -In a novel ('Out of Court') one ran thus:--'she married him; she -ceased to love him, and she died, which, on the whole, was a better -fortune than generally befalls the women who make this -_irretrievable_ stumble on the threshold of life.' - -'Oh! would I but die too; but I am too young, and too strong!' she -thought bitterly. 'Our hearts choose for us, in spite of us, and I -chose Evan.' - -Bound though she was to a husband beyond her years, uncongenial, and, -in some points, unappreciative, she could respect him, but she could -never love him; that was impossible. Her love was far away, where -the shadows of the Pyramids fell on the sands of Ghizeh, and the -pipes of the Black Watch sent up their wild war-notes in the desert -of Goshen. - -She had still the companionship of Olive, who, with her aunt, Lady -Aberfeldie, was lingering at Southsea. - -'Take care, Eveline,' said the former, warningly, 'lest this useless -and hopeless regret for Cameron becomes too apparent to Sir Paget.' - -'I cannot help it, however wrong and sinful it may be,' she replied. -'I do my best. I let myself love him from the first moment I met -him, and knew that he loved me--loved me well--before the secret -escaped him. Many have admired me, but,' she added, simply and -sweetly, 'no one ever spoke to me before as Evan spoke, and I gave -him all the love of my heart; but to cherish it is, I grant you, -hopeless now.' - -'Hopeless as mine; for now Allan, I fear, loathes me, if he thinks of -me at all,' said Olive. - -'I am very tired, Olive,' observed the other girl, 'of trying to -compel duty to triumph over sorrow.' - -In her soft hazel eyes there was the expression of one who was always -looking far away at some horizon unseen by others. Sir Paget was not -so dull or so slow as not to perceive all this, and to draw his own -deductions therefrom. A change had decidedly come over him since he -detected her emotion on the day the Black Watch marched, and he had -become captious, fractious, jealous, and inclined to be sneering, -while watchful of every expression in her face. - -In the library one day she was looking at a terrestrial globe on a -tall and handsome stand. She saw that, as the crow flies, the -distance was two thousand five hundred miles at least to where the -Black Watch were face to face with the swarthy followers of Arabi; -and, stooping, she pressed her lips to Egypt in general. - -'_He_ is there--I here! On the globe, how short the distance seems!' - -'What _are_ you about, Lady Puddicombe?' said a voice, sharply, -behind her--the voice of Sir Paget, who was jerking his bald head -forward most alarmingly. 'Kissing a globe!--what tomfoolery--what -strange fancy is this?' - -'I was only examining it,' she faltered. - -'Only examining it!' he snarled; 'very, closely apparently, and in -what quarter did your geographical studies lie? Why, your lips were -absolutely upon it.' - -'A giddiness came over me,' replied Eveline, ashamed alike of her -sudden emotion and enforced duplicity. - -He eyed her viciously, and his eyes glittered dangerously. - -'At luncheon this afternoon you were more dull and _distraite_ even -than I have seen you before,' said he, peering at her through his -gold _pince-nez_. 'Now, pray, what was the meaning of that? What -ails you--what oppresses you?' - -'It is very wrong. I cannot help it,' urged the girl, desperately. - -'Like all the rest of the world, you were thinking of--I suppose, -Egypt?' - -'I was, Sir Paget.' - -'D--n Egypt, and everyone there!' exclaimed the baronet, coarsely and -savagely. 'What is Egypt to you, madam, in particular?' - -'My brother----' - -'Your brother--bosh, madam, bosh! Don't think to hoodwink me. A -young married lady should always make herself agreeable, especially -to her husband; it is one of the first principles of good-breeding -and of wifely quality.' - -Eveline coloured with pain and keen annoyance at what these remarks -implied; but Sir Paget in his anger was not disposed to content -himself with them alone. - -'Kissing a globe, indeed! To my mind it is evident that you think -less of your brother than of your brother's friend--that fellow -Cameron,' he exclaimed, giving full swing to his jealousy. 'He -comes, I believe, of a decent stock enough; but that should not have -encouraged him to act like the other adventurer Holcroft with your -cousin, and dare to raise his eyes to you.' - -'A decent stock--an adventurer!' repeated Eveline; and then, as she -thought of Evan Cameron's long line of warlike and heroic ancestors, -as compared with the peculiar line of the Puddicombes, she laughed -bitterly, while Sir Paget eyed her questioningly, and said, - -'It is fortunate you were separated. Well, I suppose you won't die -of a broken heart, and all that sort of thing, like the girls we see -on the stage and read about in novels.' - -Roused at last by these coarse taunts, Eveline said, - -'Sir Paget, I thought you were ignorant of the ways and meannesses of -the fashionable world; don't, please, adopt those of sneering and -being jealous--if, indeed, that world is ever jealous, or can love -enough to be so.' - -And, turning away, she took refuge in a gush of tears, inspired by -intense mortification, while Olive caressed and strove to soothe her. - -'An absurd old man!' exclaimed Olive, angrily--'a widower, too, who -began life by loving and marrying another--how dare he treat you -thus?' - -'Oh, Olive, how shall I ever pass all the long years before I die, -and with _him_, not Evan?' - -'My darling--hush--this will never do,' urged Olive, who became -alarmed by the chance of some new _esclandre_. - -'I don't understand all this, Lady Aberfeldie,' said Sir Paget, -greatly ruffled, when he saw that handsome and always serenely calm -matron; 'your daughter is an enigma to me,' he added, ashamed to -acknowledge what he suspected and she perfectly knew. 'I sometimes -surprise her in tears, and, if I ask the cause, she pleads a passage -in a novel, or that her music made her sad. Stuff and nonsense! I -should like to see the book or hear the music that would wring tears -from me.' - -'Try change of scene,' said Lady Aberfeldie. - -Daily Eveline's hazel eyes seemed to become larger and brighter, -while her face grew paler, and all the delicate rose-leaf colour and -complexion faded out of it. The lines of her young features, if -sorrowful, were very sweet, and her eyes, if somewhat sad, seemed -calm in expression now. Yet the girl had ever before her the last -_haunting_ look that Evan gave her as he marched past, amid the wild -hurly-burly of the dense crowd that surged around the departing Black -Watch--the long, silent, and indescribable look of those who gaze -their last upon the silent dead; for dead she was to him! - -At times, when quite alone, she would linger on her knees, in prayer -for his safety, and that his days should be ever happy--often with -her open Bible before her, but without looking at it, like many -honest folks, as if to have it there would work a spell. - -Her life, as yet, was one of constant dread--the effort to hide her -anxiety and sorrow, with her recent love for another, under a hollow -smile. She feared even to sleep, lest in a dream the name of Evan -might escape her. - -She would get over all this nonsense in time, her mother thought; for -in time people get over everything. - -Sir Paget thought he would take that lady's advice, and try change of -scene; and conceiving, not unwisely, that she would be infinitely -better away from the military associations of Portsmouth--the -incessant arrival and departure of crowded transports, the marching -in and out, the bugling, drumming, and drilling daily and hourly of -'those infernal soldiers' on the grassy common between Puddicombe -Villa and Southsea Castle, he resolved to take her abruptly to his -house in London, though the season was long since over, the town and -the parks empty--not that the latter fact would affect Eveline in the -least. - -'He is taking me to London, Olive dear, away from you,' said she, -sadly; for with Olive alone could she commune in secret. - -'He is wise. London will not be associated with Evan Cameron. You -cannot think so much there as here by the seashore.' - -'I shall think of him, anywhere and everywhere.' - -'Change of scene, faces, places, and people will do much. Try, dear, -to forget.' - -But poor Eveline only looked yearningly, and kissed the soft cheeks -of her handsome cousin, with much caressing and many tears. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -AT TEL-EL-KEBIR. - -A letter from Allan Graham to Lady Aberfeldie proved, by its -introduction, a very bitter one to Olive, and the source of many -tears. - - -'Belbeis, September. - -'My DEAREST MOTHER, - -'But for Evan Cameron of Ours saving my life at the risk of his own -in action two days ago, I had not been alive to write you this -letter--the first I have had time to attempt since we landed. - -'Poor Evan! - -'Whatever the mysterious influence was that that scoundrel Holcroft -possessed over Olive is ended now, as I saw him fall into the sea, -where he was drowned like a dog. I could not help him or save him, -even had I been disposed to do so. Strange it is that a blackleg, a -sharper, and worse, for such he became, should have been preferred by -her at Dundargue to me, the companion and playmate of her -childhood--her cousin, her affianced husband under her father's will, -absurd in its tenor though that document be; and now, neither -verbally nor in writing, shall I ever refer to her again. My -pride--if I ever had any--has indeed been humbled in the dust, and by -her! - -'After quitting our camp on the evening before last, we moved to the -sandhills above Kassassin, where we piled arms, and the men lay upon -the sand or sat in groups, all chatting gaily and hopefully of the -coming conflict at Tel-el-Kebir. - -'Carslogie, who was always in wild spirits, was busy spouting -Shakespeare-- - - "Thus far into the bowels of the land - Have we marched on without impediment,--" - -and so forth, and I overheard some of our men remarking that he "was -surely _fey_," when word was passed to stand to our arms, unpile, and -advance at one in the morning. - -'Never before, perhaps, did fourteen thousand men get under arms so -quietly, so softly. The orders were now issued in whispers, and, -noiselessly as an army of phantoms, we moved off, our footfalls -muffled by the soft sand. No moon was visible, but we had a clear, -starlit Egyptian sky overhead. No man was permitted to speak or -smoke, and our brown helmets, red serges, and dark kilts seemed to -blend with the gloom. - -'If the silence of that weird, solemn, and impressive time were -broken, it was by the occasional rumble of an artillery wheel or of a -commissariat waggon, the clatter of a rammer or a steel scabbard -against a stirrup-iron, as we advanced through the gloom, expecting -every moment to hear the explosion of a musket or a shrill shout from -the scattered Bedouin horsemen, who were alleged to be scouting in -the vicinity--men belonging to the band of the Sheikh Zeid-el-Ourdeb. - -'Dear mother, our Highland Brigade led the advance--thank God for the -honour!--with the Indian contingent under Sir Hugh Macpherson, having -the veteran Albany Highlanders as our support. - -'Ever and anon there were brief halts to enable the regiments to -maintain touch on the flanks. - -'I cannot describe the order of our advance as yet, nor would you -understand it if I did so. - -'A silence that seemed something awful reigned over the vast plain, -and none save the initiated could have imagined that, formed in a -species of semi-circle, fourteen thousand men were approaching the -enemy's earthworks, ready to dash at them like hounds at the deer -when the leash is slipped. - -'Arabi's lines consisted of solid entrenchments, bound together with -wattles, four miles in extent from flank to flank, heavily armed with -cannon, and having ditches about nine feet deep. - -'The 74th Highlanders were next the canal, opposed to the most -formidable part of these works, where many of their dead are lying on -their faces shoulder to shoulder, shot down in the act of charging; -next them were the Cameron, the Gordon Highlanders, and then -ourselves, the Black Watch, each company with its piper in the rear, -ready to strike up the onset when the time came. - -'Every heart was swelling proudly and wildly then, with the grand -conviction that every heart at home in Britain--and dearer still -among our native hills--would exult in our triumph, for a triumph it -was sure to be. - -'Silently, swiftly, and noiselessly we swept forward to the attack. -No word was spoken, no command given save in a whisper, and not a -shot was fired, as, with fixed bayonets, we came within three hundred -yards of the Egyptian batteries, and even then the soldiers of Arabi -seemed unaware of our presence. - -'Suddenly an alarm was given, and a terrific fire--a literal garland -of flame--flashed along the bulwarks, a storm of lead went whistling -over our helmets, and the air seemed laden with the pinging and -whizzing of bullets, while cannon boomed hoarsely, and the roaring -rockets screamed high in the air. - -'The pipes struck up along the Highland line, a wild cheer burst from -every man, and we advanced with a furious and headlong rush, flinging -ourselves into the ditches and climbing up the scarp; all weariness -after the toilsome night-march was gone; sore feet and thirst were -alike forgotten. - -'And now for the first time the voices of the officers were heard: -"Come on, Camerons--this way, the Gordons--forward, the Black Watch!" -The marines and the Irish regiments were on the right, and bravely -they went at the trenches, too; but the _first_ within them were the -Highlanders, and the first of these was young Donald Cameron, of the -Camerons, who, as he leaped in with bayonet fixed, was shot through -the head just as we carried the first line of works. - -'The dim light of the early morning enabled the enemy now to direct -their fire; for a minute or two we drew breath, poured in some heavy -file-firing, and again dashed on, while one portion of our forces -that had passed between the redoubts now opened a flank fusilade, -which proved too much for the Egyptians, who--all save their wretched -gunners, who were chained to the cannon--fled wildly across the open, -where our fire mowed them down in hundreds, while they rent the air -with cries of, "Ya Allah! ya mobarek!" (O God! O Blessed!) - -'Then it was that our brigadier rode up and said to the 79th, "Well -done, the Cameron men! Will not Scotland be proud of this day's -work!" - -'So much for our share of it. - -'On the other flank of the works, the Horse Artillery were pouring in -shell, till the Royal Irish carried them at the bayonet's point, -after a regular hand-to-hand fight, in which Major Hart shot an -Egyptian leader, who endeavoured to wrest away his revolver. - -'Our troops swept over the batteries on every hand, and the enemy -fled as rapidly and hopelessly as those on the other side of the -Canal had fled before the Highlanders, whose costume and fury alike -terrified them. Arabi, we are told, informed his people that "the -Scottish soldiers were only old women;" but now they dub us demons. - -'To hear our pipes send up their pæan of victory over the battered -and corpse-strewn trenches of Tel-el-Kebir, was to feel for a time -that exultation of the soul which is said to be worth a long life of -dull and sluggish quiet. - -'The Egyptians did not present the least appearance of order, but -fled, a demoralised rabble, at the top of their speed, flinging away -everything that might impede their flight, and pursued by our cavalry -and Horse Artillery, who mowed them down like sheep. - -'As one battery swept past the flank of the Black Watch, the gunners -brandished their swords and shouted 'Scotland for ever!' and then we -knew them to belong to the new division of Scottish Artillery. - -'To hear that cry in such a time of supreme triumph was to make one -feel what those must have felt, who heard it raised by the Greys at -Waterloo and by the Albany Highlanders at Kotah. - -'The total casualties of the Highland Brigade are two hundred and -twenty of all ranks. - -'One of the first we lost was poor Carslogie, the life of the mess. -He was shot by a wounded Egyptian, to whom he had just given a -mouthful from his water-bottle, and I blew out the miscreant's brains. - -'We have also to sorrow for our noble Serjeant-Major, John M'Neill, -whose tall and soldier-like figure was long a feature at the head of -the column. He cut down several Egyptians with his claymore, but -fell at last, pierced by three wounds. He was, we know, the sole -support of a widowed mother, to whom he was tenderly attached. - -'The fight was fought and won in the good old British fashion, with -the cold steel; the breech-loader has not yet rendered the bayonet -obsolete. - -'The Guards and Highlanders made themselves at home among the tents -and spoils of the Egyptians; but our soldiers, flushed with glory and -fresh from conquest, no more spoke of the Gordons, the Ross-shire -Buffs, or the Black Watch, but of Donald Cameron of the Camerons--the -young hero from the Braes of Angus, who was the first in Tel-el-Kebir! - -'Who could say what heroic blood was in his veins, for his name was -old as the hills, when the Camerons were known as the children of the -Follower of Ovi. - -'I had some narrow escapes. A ball carried away the pommel of my -dirk. I had a bayonet thrust through my kilt, and two shells -exploded near me, covering me with sand; but I had a closer shave -than that. In the rush as I led on my company, two powerful -Egyptians in white uniforms, with scarlet tarbooshes, seemed to -devote their energies to killing me, as an officer or prominent -leader. Both attacked me with their fixed bayonets. By a circular -parry of my claymore, I turned one of them aside, and ran the man -through--or near--the heart. He screamed and grappled me by the -throat, dragged me down amid the blood-soaked sand. So savage and -powerful was his death-grip that had he failed to strangle me, I must -have perished under the bayonet of the other, whom Cameron cut down, -through tarboosh and bone to the chin, and then released me. A third -who came up he pistolled, and I hope Evan will get a clasp to his -V.C. for this. - -'The papers will, of course, tell you all the rest--how we captured -the standing camp and immense stores of provisions and plunder; how -the victorious troops advanced with tremendous cheers across it to -the railway station, where soon after Sir Garnet came up; and how -Drury Lowe with his cavalry cut across the enemy's line of flight, -killing and capturing on every hand. - -'I know how my father, with his great love of the old Black Watch, -will appreciate the story of our glory at Tel-el-Kebir; but the -aspect of the place was awful after the firing ceased and the sun -came up in his morning splendour--a sight never to forget, though I -have seen some terrible work in India. - -'The dead lay about in scores and hundreds, many disembowelled by -shot or shell; some with brains oozing out; others with their heads -literally blown off; and some were scorched to death by their -clothing becoming ignited by the flame of an exploded shell. There -were wounds of every kind--by the bayonet, the rifle-butt, and sword; -and many of the maimed were seen to cast aside their tarboosh and -bury their head in the sand for coolness, while the cries for water -were simply agonising. - -'I found the third Egyptian from whom Cameron's pistol had saved me. -He was dying. "Turn my head towards Mecca," I heard him say faintly -to a comrade who lay near him. The fellah did so, and the poor -wretch passed away in peace. I saw some who died making signs of the -cross, but these, of course, were Coptic Christians. - -'Two ill omens, it is said, occurred before the conflict to chill the -ardour of the Egyptians. In the fight of Kassassin a man was shot -through the heart by a rifle ball, which pierced a copy of the Koran -that he carried there as a charm, and took a part of it into his -body. The other was the crescent of the new moon, which encircled a -star and sank with it below the horizon just before the attack, and -this, being emblematic of the crescent and star, was deemed ominous -of defeat and destruction. - -'Arabi has fled towards Belbeis, pursued by Drury Lowe. - -'The canal is filled with dead and dying men and horses, yet our men -are fain to fill their water-bottles from it.' - -This letter concluded with kindest regards and wishes to everyone he -knew and loved, by name--Olive Raymond alone excepted; and keenly and -with tears she resented the omission. - -In hot haste Lady Aberfeldie wrote to Allan, explaining the story of -Hawke Holcroft's surreptitious visits, his fancied power over Olive, -and the abstraction of the unlucky diamonds; but owing to various -circumstances--the fortune of war included--the letter was a -considerable time of reaching him to whom it was addressed, and some -stirring events occurred in the meantime, before he could reply to it. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -AT GRAND CAIRO. - -The Black Watch had barely buried their dead at Tel-el-Kebir before -they were sent by railway to Zag-a-zig; a breakdown occurred on the -line, and the regiment slept for the night on the slope of the -railway embankment. On reaching Zag-a-zig, more fighting was -expected; but the Egyptians did not show face, so the Highlanders -were marched to Belbeis, from whence Allan despatched the preceding -letter. - -Belbeis is now a little town, about forty miles from Grand Cairo, -situated on the borders of the desert, famous in the Crusade of the -twelfth century as the first place captured by the Saracens, and held -by them as a fortified magazine for supplies, and to this day it has -a trade in corn. In the same century it made a vigorous resistance -to Amurath of Jerusalem, and in more modern times it was occupied by -the French army to keep open the communication between Cairo and the -coast. Here a junction takes place of the canals derived from -different parts of the Nile. - -It had been reached by our cavalry on the evening of the day -Tel-el-Kebir was captured, and after a slight skirmish was taken -possession of by Drury Lowe. - -The Black Watch was eight days at Belbeis, during which they had -scarcely any other food than hard biscuits and a small supply of -tinned meat, with muddy water from the canal to wash them down with; -and as the knapsacks did not come in from Tel-el-Kebir for five days, -neither officer nor private could have any change, but slept in the -kilt without blanket or other covering, while nearly driven mad by -mosquitoes, sand-flies, and other plagues of Egypt. - -Arabi and Toulba Pasha had been taken prisoners, and nothing was -spoken of now but the advance on Grand Cairo. - -Meantime the surrender of the Egyptian position at Kafr Dowar took -place. On its frowning batteries white flags in token of peace were -everywhere displayed, and our troops entered without resistance. The -terrible lesson taught the enemy at Tel-el-Kebir was not likely to be -soon forgotten. Moreover, the firing of the Egyptian infantry was -always rather defective, their Remington rifles being sighted much -too high for short distances; thus, at the long range, their firing -was always better than at close quarters. - -From Belbeis General Lowe pushed on towards the capital, keeping on -the borders of the desert. At every village he passed through, the -swarthy population came pouring forth waving white flags and -declaring themselves faithful to the Khedive, while masses of flying -fugitives, on seeing our cavalry overtaking them, threw down their -rifles and made signs of submission. - -Galloping on without drawing rein, our cavalry entered Grand Cairo, -after a forced march of fifty miles in thirty hours in heavy marching -order, and by that act practically ended the war, and our troops had -no adversaries now but the savage and plunder-loving Bedouins, who -hovered and hung upon their skirts intent upon rapine and murder, as -Allan Graham and some others ere long found to their cost. - -The advance to Cairo was headed by the Bengal Horse, led in person by -Sir Hugh Macpherson, though General Lowe was in command of the whole. - -On the 22nd of the month the Black Watch left Belbeis for Grand -Cairo, where the corps arrived in the evening, when the last rays of -the setting sun tinted with the hue of blood and saffron the water of -the Nile as it wound past the islets near El Ghizeh--flushed and red, -as on the evening when, in long ages past, according to Mohammedan -legends, Joseph sank Jacob's marble coffin in the stream; and it was -with no ordinary emotion of admiration and interest that Allan and -his comrades beheld the capital of Egypt basking in the sun ere he -went down beyond the hills. - -'Skirted by groves and gardens,' says a writer, 'its light airy -structures seem to be based upon a mass of verdure; long lines of -buildings, white, glittering, and infinitely varied in form, rise -beyond each other, and the palace and citadel, cresting a steep -projection of the Mokattam ridge, conduct the eye to the vast rocky -barrier which protects "the victorious city" from the blasts of the -desert.' - -Streets of lofty and latticed houses abounding in carved balconies -and florid arcades; the mosques, with delicate domes and airy -minarets, covered with tracery and arabesques; the houses of beys and -grandees; the fortified abodes of the stern old Mamelukes, now those -of Egyptian nobles, recalling in their architecture the Moorish -glories of the Alhambra and the Alcazar of Cordova--a perpetual dream -of the Arabian Nights. - -Even with night the bustle in its streets did not cease; the -coffee-houses and hotels were filled with light, and, in the warm -atmosphere, teemed with outdoor life, for there all who are afoot -have lanterns, and there were the tellers of Arabian tales, the -Nubian singer with his mandolin, and the Egyptian magician performing -such tricks as one might think the devil alone could do; and now once -again, as in the days of General Hutchison, the walls and towers of -'the Queen of Cities'--El Kahira of the fatalistic caliphs--re-echoed -to the British drum and the Scottish warpipe, as the Highlanders -defiled round it to their camp, where the tents were pitched outside -the walls. - -The soldiers were not allowed to enter the city, except on duty or -with a pass, and, as a general rule, the latter was chiefly given to -sergeants. This plan did not, of course, apply to officers, thus -Allan, Evan Cameron, and some others lost no time in making their way -to an European hotel, where something better than the repasts they -had partaken of at Belbeis and elsewhere could be procured, and -where, amid a somewhat polyglot society, consisting of Greeks and -Egyptians, Hungarians and Cypriotes, they supped at an open window on -a balcony overlooking a street abounding with bazaars, and lanterns -swinging to and fro, crowded by people and innumerable vendors of -street goods--turbaned or tarbooshed--the water-seller tinkling his -dishes and quoting the Koran; the sellers of melons, of cresses and -lily roots, of flowers of henna, wherewith to dye the nails of -copper-coloured damsels; little donkeys ambling everywhere, and now -and then a huge camel swaying along; and more than once the -procession of a harem returning from the evening bath--the women -enveloped in black garments and veils, with masks of white linen. - -Amid the scenes of warfare the organ of wonder becomes blunted -considerably, and thus after a time Allan, soothed by the fumes of a -fragrant havannah, and weary, perhaps, with the events of a long -day--the entraining and detraining of the regiment, its baggage and -stores, and so forth--fell sound asleep in his chair, oblivious of -the clatter of voices in the large room of the hotel, and the many -sounds in the street below; while Cameron, re-entering the room, -idled over an album of views of Grand Cairo and its vicinity. - -Allan's short sleep was a restless one, for there came before him a -vivid recollection or vision of Hawke Holcroft, and his pale face, -with its last expression of horror and despair, as the waves closed -over it and sucked him down. - -A little cry that escaped him made Cameron look his way, and he saw a -man, in the dim light without, regarding Allan with a fixed and -hostile expression. He was clad somewhat like a European, but wore a -tarboosh, with a blue tassel, and had a voluminous beard; and his -eyes seemed savage and sinister in expression. - -It is said that there is some mysterious and magnetic force in a long -and fixed stare or gaze; and there is, it is also said, 'within us -some vigilant quality that is only exercised when every other faculty -is at rest, that permits all ordinary sounds to pass unheeded while -we sleep, but that instinctively sounds the alarm when anything -unusual or fraught with danger is at hand.' - -Be all that as it may, Allan suddenly awoke, and started up, and the -watcher as suddenly vanished, but not before his pale and sinister -face had been seen by the wakener. - -Cameron sprang out on the balcony. There was no one there, save his -comrade, and it was evident that the lurker must have passed into the -hotel by some other window. - -'A dream,' muttered Allan, looking rather confused, 'a dream of that -wretch Holcroft. Why should his face haunt me? I did not kill -him--he drowned himself; and I need have no more remorse for that -affair than for pistoling the fellow who shot poor Carslogie.' - -'Whether the cause of your dream or not,' said Cameron, who was too -genuine a Highlander to be without a considerable spice of -superstition in his nature, 'a fellow lurked beside you whose look I -little liked.' - -'What was his appearance?' - -'Difficult to describe in the dim light, but the gleam of his eyes -was sinister. Some disbanded Egyptian turned thief, most likely. -But he bolted the moment I approached, and you awoke.' - -'All this is a strange coincidence,' said Allan, as he lit another -cigar; and they turned their steps towards the camp without the -walls. 'But I am not much given to dreaming, and our work has been -too hard for some time past for indulgence in long naps, yet I had a -strange and creeping sense of some evil presence near me, with a pain -that was strange and intolerable.' - -But Allan had not seen the last of the man with the tarboosh. - -Before returning from history to our narrative and the adventures of -our friends, it is impossible to omit reference to the impression -made on the population of Alexandria by the warlike aspect and -stately bearing of the Black Watch and other Highland regiments at -the review, in the great square before the Abdin Palace, the official -residence of the Khedive, whom our forces had now restored to place -and power. - -To see our eighteen thousand troops go past, the palace was crowded, -not only at every window, but on its flat roof, and the Viceroy's -wife, who had shared all his perils, was there with her children, and -the closely-veiled ladies of the harem. The streets were lined by -multitudes of curious but stolid Egyptians, not more inclined to hiss -than cheer, feeling no sense of shame for their recent defeats and -humiliation, but only one of quiet amusement and desire to behold a -spectacle that did not cost them a piastre. - -After the blue jackets, the Guards, and others had passed, the brass -bands stopped, and then were heard the pipes and drums, as, led by -its one-armed general, the Highland Brigade, every company steady and -straight as a wall, the ranks well 'locked-up,' every officer and man -looking stately and graceful in his waving tartan, came on at a -swinging pace, amid mutterings of _Scozzezi diaboli nudi_. - -Their general, Sir Archibald Alison, in honour of the occasion, wore -a sprig of his native heather in his helmet. The idea had got -abroad, said the _Times_, 'that the Highlanders, who bore the brunt -of the fighting, who were the first in the trenches, and who suffered -most severely, had been rather ungenerously ignored in official -despatches. At all events, the crowd seemed disposed to grant -unofficial honours, for the second cheer of the day was accorded to -the Black Watch, easily distinguished by their red plumes, and led by -Colonel Macpherson, also sporting the heather,' and exciting more -interest even than our brown-clad Punjabees or the Belooches, in -their black and red uniforms, tall and strapping fellows though they -were; and with them came the heroes of Candahar, the Seaforth -Highlanders, wearing Mackenzie tartan, covered with medals, and -marching past as old Scottish soldiers can. - -Then it was that the _Times_ reporter heard an Italian say, '_Poveri -Egiziani_! If you had only seen them before, instead of _after_!' - -The Black Watch were halted for a minute or two, prior to marching -back to camp, when suddenly Cameron said to Allan, in a loud whisper, - -'Look--there is the fellow I saw on the hotel balcony.' - -Allan turned, and amid a crowd of Egyptians, Italians, and jabbering -and gesticulating _bheesties_ and _syces_ (water-carriers and -grass-cutters), belonging to our Indian contingent, he saw a man with -a fair beard and a pallid face regarding him steadily with keen eyes -and knitted brow; but, the moment he turned towards him, the stranger -shrank back amid the crowd, and disappeared. - -'Hawke Holcroft, by heaven,' exclaimed Cameron. - -'Impossible! He is dead,' replied Allan, feeling curiously -uncomfortable nevertheless. - -'I would I were as sure of a thousand guineas,' said Cameron. - -'One reads of such things only in romances--yet the eyes and beard -were the colour of those of Holcroft.' - -'Truth is always strange--"stranger than fiction," as Byron tells us.' - -'Stranger, indeed, should this prove the case. But, if alive, how -comes he here, and why does he seem to dog me?' - -'I regarded him at first vacantly, then with indistinct recognition, -and anon with certainty, though the beard and red tarboosh disguise -him so much!' - -Allan Graham knew not what to think. If the man referred to was -actually Holcroft, by what miracle was he then in Grand Cairo, and -how was he rescued from the sea? Strange it was, indeed, that if the -lurker at the hotel was he, Allan should dream of him at the moment -of his appearance in the balcony. - -'There is always a skeleton in every fellow's cupboard, and Hawke -Holcroft was the skeleton in mine, poor devil!' said Allan. - -'You are still disposed to think and speak of him in the past tense?' -observed Cameron, whose mind was made up as to his identity. - -'I cannot do otherwise, but the moment the parade is dismissed we -shall make inquiries at the hotel.' - -They did so, but in vain. No person of that name or appearance was -known there. - -Instead of being put into the comfortable barracks of Kasr-el-Nil in -the city, the Highland Brigade was kept in camp while October and -November crept on, and this time was not entirely a peaceable one; -for in the former month the Bedouins, who were greatly puzzled with -their garb, and conceived them to be the English soldiers' wives all -camped in one quarter, thought to make a dash there, and secure a few -'moon faces' to embellish their tents in the desert. - -A body of them belonging to the band or tribe of Zeid-el-Ourdeh, the -sheikh of Jebel Dimeshk, a mountain range that lies north-eastward of -Grand Cairo, came swooping down upon the Highland lines with this -view, and a result which very much bewildered them, for the Scottish -forces turned out with rifles and fixed bayonets, and in a very few -minutes more than forty amorous Bedouins bit their native dust. - -On several other occasions the spiteful natives amused themselves by -firing at a distance among the tents at random, and one evening a -bullet whistled through Allan's tent within an inch of his head, thus -necessitating some severe patrol duty. - -It was while encamped here that he received Lady Aberfeldie's letter -explaining the apparently false position in which the villainy of -Holcroft--combined with his spite, avarice, and -desperation--contrived to place Olive Raymond. - -'Look here, Evan,' said Allan, to his _fidus_ Achates, in a grumbling -tone, 'read this letter from the mater. I don't know what to think -of this strange story; but, without some other proofs, if she thinks -we are going to kiss again with tears as the poet has it, she is very -much mistaken. The mater says that Olive's own unruly heart has -perhaps made a shipwreck of her life, whatever that may mean. Poor -girl, what a fool she was not to confide more completely in me!' - -In his tone tenderness was blended with bitterness and regret. - -From this little speech Cameron was hopeful that all would come right -in the end; but a short time was given them to think or talk over the -matter, as both were hurriedly sent with a detachment consisting of -about half-a-company--Allan, of course, in command--to a place called -Matarieh, near Heliopolis, to take part there in a demonstration -against the prowling Bedouins among the mountain ranges that overlook -the desert traversed by the disused railway that ran from Cairo -towards the plain of Muggreh. - -And for this place, which lies some miles north-east of Cairo, they -marched accordingly, taking with them provisions, ammunition, and -tents, for the modern village was a small one, situated among the -ruins of the ancient town, which was deserted far back as the days of -Strabo, and is now to be traced only in extensive mounds of earth and -a noble obelisk nearly seventy feet in height; and there disasters -occurred which Allan Graham was fated never to forget. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE TELEGRAM. - -'By Jingo, there is old Pudd's carriage at the door, and his wife in -it--a deuced fine girl, a stunning girl indeed!' - -'Queer time this, to bring her up to London, when there is not a soul -in town.' - -'Perhaps that is the very reason he has done so.' - -'I'll invite old Pudd down to the cub-hunting, and, if he brings her -with him, won't I improve the shining hour!' - -The speakers were two very _blasé_ but good-looking young men, who -were lounging in the bay window of the otherwise empty room of a -stately club-house overlooking Pall Mall, then lonely, dusty, rather -sun-baked, and the chief figures in which were the sentinels of the -Guards at the War-Office and Marlborough House, and who, with no -small interest, had seen Sir Paget Puddicombe's open carriage drop -him at the door, where he waved his hand to Eveline as she drove away -to shop or go round the park. - -Now, Sir Harry Hurdell, a sporting baronet, well known on the turf -and at Tattersall's, and his chief chum, Mr. Pyke Poole, a famous -hand at billiards, more skilled with the cue than any marker in -London, were not Sir Paget's style of men, for both were horsey, -fast, given to gambling and loose living, but both were anxious to -stand in the good graces of one who, as they phrased it, 'was -proprietor of such a devilish handsome girl.' - -They had not seen him since his marriage, on which both complimented -and congratulated him in such well-chosen terms that he felt quite -flattered, and his heart warmed to them. - -It flashed upon him that by the society of other young men it was -possible to neutralise--if he did nothing more--the recollection of -Evan Cameron in the mind of Eveline, and thus it was that he said, - -'We are quite alone in town, but will you dine with us to-day?' - -'With pleasure--delighted--charmed to be introduced to Lady -Puddicombe,' said Sir Harry, with a swift glance at his friend Poole. - -'Sharp eight, then. I daresay our chef will not fail us.' - -'All right.' - -'Good-morning,' and away he went. - -The friends looked at each other, each with an eye half closed, and -then laughed heartily. - -'I'll have him down at the Hall for the cub-hunting,' said Sir Harry, -'and have other sport than that. She'll soon get tired of her -fogie--is bound to do so. What young girl could tolerate such an old -pump, and why shouldn't I go in and win at a canter?' - -'Hawke Holcroft knew her people, didn't he?' - -'Yes--before he came a cropper altogether. When last I heard of him -he was actually a visitor at their place, Aberfeldie, wherever that -may be.' - -Eveline heard with total indifference that they were to have guests -that evening, and with all his admiration of her Sir Paget thought, - -'What a fool I was to marry her, knowing or suspecting what I -did--that she loved that fellow--loved him first (me she never loved -at all) and last, and loves him now, no doubt. They say no woman -ever forgets her first love, simply because he was her first. -Pleasant for me!' - -Like the hero of a recent novel, 'he could not forget that his wife -had loved another man better than she ever loved or even pretended to -love him. It was her _candour_ he felt most keenly. Had she been -willing to play the hypocrite, to pretend a little, he would have -been much better pleased.' - -She loved Evan still; but it was with a love purified of every -sensuous thought, of every earthly hope. - -To Sir Paget the story of how Allan's life had been saved at -Tel-el-Kebir by Cameron was a source of profound irritation, -annoyance, and mortification, as he knew but too well how the event -must enhance the latter in the estimation of Eveline, in whose heart -gratitude and admiration for high courage would now be added to love. -He would rather have heard that the two friends had been shot down -together. - -With all her secret love for Evan, she was too wise and modest to -desire ever to be face to face with him again. She felt that they -had parted in the belvidere at Maviswood never to meet again; that -henceforward he was as if dead to her; but it was a delicious -privilege to hear of him and of his bravery, and that her dear -brother owed his life to Evan's courage and Evan's sword. - -She felt that a change had come over the tenor of Sir Paget's ways of -late, more especially since the episode of Tel-el-Kebir. - -Not a day--scarcely an hour--passed over her head in which she was -not made to feel keenly the utter want of sympathy that existed -between herself and the man to whom she had been married by her -parents--sold by them--as in the bitterness of her heart she thought -it. - -He said sharp things to her, and made bitter asides when Egypt or the -war there was casually mentioned, as, of course, it constantly was; -he shot many a poisoned arrow; but Eveline never blushed, though she -felt a calm, cold scorn at the cruelty and injustice of such conduct. - -So here were a couple bound together by the strongest of all the -legal ties, yet utterly unsuited to each other by age, thought, and -habits; yet most punctilious was poor Eveline in the performance of -every wifely duty she owed her captious old man; but a sickly dread -of coming sorrow pervaded the girl's mind every morning she quitted -her pillow, and it came sharply and surely at last. - -To dare to look at a newspaper was sufficient to worry him. - -'So, so,' he would say; 'thus it is--is it? Egypt and the Black -Watch. D--n the Black Watch, I say! Where is the affection that you -as a good woman----' - -'I am only a girl,' she urged, piteously. - -'As a good woman, say I, should feel for her husband after marriage, -even if she felt none of it for him before that little ceremony--for -little and trivial doubtless it may appear to you, madam--and your -regard for me should be all the deeper and more lasting that no vain -protestations preceded it.' - -Eveline made no response, but resumed her occupation of gazing -listlessly from the back window of the drawing-room into one of those -dull and flowerless London gardens which a writer has truly described -as looking 'like a burial place without any graves;' so Sir Paget -returned to the charge. - -'It is said, when love fails to beget love, it often engenders -hatred. Is it so, madam?' - -'Not in our case, I hope,' said Eveline, wearily, as she sighed, and -her slender foot in its satin shoe began to tap the carpet with -nervous impatience. 'Why did you marry me--buy me from papa?' she -asked, with a tone and bearing a little unusual in her, she was ever -so gentle and meek. - -'I married you because I admired your beauty, and believed in the -love that would come after marriage--the love that is grounded not on -childish fancy, but on tried friendship and esteem.' - -'Then you believed in too much,' said Eveline, driven desperate. - -'Too much?' he repeated, changing colour, and jerking his head -forward. - -'Yes, Sir Paget.' - -'Indeed! I asked you to be my wife in full assurance that I should -never find my confidence in you misplaced.' - -'You asked mamma rather, and your confidence has not been misplaced.' - -Then she paused and coloured deeply for the first time, as she -recalled that painful and passionate interview in the belvidere at -Maviswood, and Evan Cameron's farewell glance; two episodes that -seemed to have happened years ago. - -Thus had a life of jealousy and 'nagging' begun for poor Eveline--a -life that was ere long to become almost insupportable--for the most -trivial matter was liable to misconstruction, or to excite suspicion. - -If her eye followed a soldier in the street, which, as the daughter -of a line of soldiers, was in her not unnatural; if she ventured to -speak of the news of the day, or glance at a public journal, he -watched her; it was 'Egypt again!' that she was thinking about; and, -sooth to say, in that suspicion he was not far wrong. - -Punctually a few minutes before eight, Sir Harry Hurdell and his -friend Mr. Pyke Poole were ushered into the drawing-room, and she -received them with as much sweetness, ease, and grace as if no gloomy -conversation had preceded their appearance, and she and Sir Paget -billed and cooed from hour to hour. - -Fresh from the clever hands of Clairette her toilet was perfection, -and her appearance excited the admiration of her husband's friends, -who were both connoisseurs of female beauty, and disposed to be all -the more appreciative that the husband was, as they thought, 'such a -devil of a fogie.' - -'I mean to have Sir Paget down at my place for a little cub-hunting,' -said Sir Harry, glancing in a mirror at his accurately-parted fair -hair and pointed moustache; 'and, if so, I hope you will accompany -him. My sister Lucretia will make you most welcome, Lady Puddicombe.' - -Ere Eveline could respond, Sir Paget warmly accepted for both, again -believing much in change of scene and change of society. - -'I can mount you to perfection, Sir Paget, or you may send down your -own horses,' said Sir Harry, his eyes wandering in secret admiration -over the fair face, the soft, hazel eyes, and delicate contour of -Eveline's head, neck, and little white ears. - -Sir Paget thought he would prefer his own. Strange horses had often -tricks that might prove troublesome to a cavalier of his years and -proportions, and it was carried that the first week of October was to -find him and Lady Puddicombe at Hurdell Hall. But Sir Paget could -little foresee the terrible and startling events to which the -apparently simple acceptance of a hospitable invitation was to lead. - -'You have just come from the club, I presume?' said Sir Paget to his -brother baronet. - -'Yes; just waited to see the last telegrams in the reading-room.' - -'Anything fresh from Egypt?' lisped Mr. Poole, with his glass wedged -in his eye. - -'Only a single telegram, which, by the way, must interest you. Lady -Puddicombe,' said Sir Harry, with a most serious inflection of his -Voice. - -'Me--how?' faltered Eveline, feeling herself grow paler, if possible, -than she really was. - -'It refers to your brother.' - -'My brother!' - -She was pale to her quivering lips now. - -'Yes; it states that an officer of the Black Watch had been killed in -action with the Bedouins, and was buried in the sand of the desert by -his friend, the Master of Aberfeldie.' - -'And the officer's name?' said Sir Paget, icily. - -'Was Evan Cameron.' - -'Cameron!' repeated the dry lips of Eveline, who suddenly felt as one -in a dreadful dream. - -Dead and buried; buried in the sand of the Egyptian desert! Did she -hear aright--was this happening to herself or to some one else? She -made an effort to speak, but her tongue had lost its power. - -'Eveline,' she heard her husband say, 'your wits have gone -wool-gathering.' - -'I beg your pardon, Sir Paget. What is it?' she asked, faintly. - -'_Sir_! Can't you call me Paget?' said he; and the two guests -exchanged glances as much as to say, - -'What is up now?' - -At that moment the dinner-gong sounded, and giddily and mechanically -she took the proffered arm of Sir Harry. - -Never while life lasted would Eveline forget the grotesque horror of -that little dinner, with the solemn servants in attendance, and all -its splendid yet, to her, sickening details and talk, the references -to marriages and races--hurdle, steeple, and others--on the _tapis_, -of flirtations and gossip--how terrible, how ghastly they all sounded -to her, who felt as if in a mist, out of which their voices seemed to -come hollowly, and from a vast distance, and she was compelled to -listen with one face--a dead face--coming out of that mist before her! - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -DEAD AND BURIED IN THE SAND. - -How she acquitted herself as hostess, how she got through that -dinner, with its many _entrées_ and courses, from the soup to the -fruit, she never knew. It passed like a phantasmagoria--a dreadful -dream--but it was over at last; and, as one in a dream, while Sir -Harry held open the door for her, she passed from the table, not to -the drawing-room, as he naturally thought, and where he meant -speedily to join her, but swiftly to rush to her dressing-closet, to -tear off her ornaments, and fling herself despairingly upon a couch. - -She recalled her strong but daily presentiment that something was -about to happen, though now the war in Egypt was virtually over, and -that terrible something had happened at last. - -Could the telegram have been a mistake? Improbable and impossible! -Though brief, it seemed too distinct in its grim details. - -She felt as if suffocating with grief, and her brain reeled at the -feeble prospect of concealing it from the already exasperated Sir -Paget. - -She recalled Evan's words when he parted with her at Maviswood, and -how prophetic they seemed now, - -'I am going far away, my darling, and shall never see you again. -That I may find a grave in Egypt is the kindest wish you can have for -me.' - -And now he had found that grave, and he was buried by the hands of -her brother Allan, not on the sunny slope of a dear highland hill, or -in the grassy glen where his forefathers lay in Stratherroch, within -sound of the waves of Lochiel, where the summer breezes and the -summer birds would be about his tomb, and the clouds and shadows of a -Scottish sky flit over it, but in the desolate sand of cruel and -barren Egypt! - -There had been no solemn ceremony by his grave; he had not even a -coffin, perhaps, but was buried, as she had read of others being -buried, in a blanket only, and there to lie in the wilderness, -traversed by the antelope and jackal, till the last trumpet sounded. - -She remembered his song at Dundargue. Could it be that the manly and -bright young face, the love-lit eyes, were dulled by death now, and -that his fresh gay voice was hushed for ever? - -'Dead!' wailed the girl in her heart. 'Oh, God, that he might be -raised up as Lazarus was, even though we should never, never cross -each other's paths again. My love--oh, my love!' she murmured, in a -hushed voice, as if the walls might hear her. - -'Only to the dead,' says the author of 'Mount Royal,' 'to the utterly -lost and gone, is given this supreme passion--love sublimated to -despair. From the living there is always something kept back, -something saved and garnered for an after-gift, some reserve in the -mind or heart of the giver; but to the dead, love gives all--with a -wild self-abandonment which knows no restraint or measure.' - -She had felt at first a dull, vague, sensation which became an acute -pang when certainty came upon her; but she dared not as yet shed a -tear. - -Henceforward, as before, she had a part to act--that of indifference. -If possible, there must be no pallid face shown, no haggard eyes; no -tell-tale sighs must betray the agony of heart--the great sorrow that -consumed her for the loss of her dead love; and wonderingly she -looked at her white and already worn countenance in her mirror. - -Oh, that Allan were returned! from him she would know all. Allan -knew the secret of her heart, sympathised with it, and would relate -everything; but she could not divest herself of an awful and haunting -fancy that this tragedy--beyond the chances of military life--was her -fault; and that in the recklessness and despair of his heart, Evan -Cameron had risked his life too rashly and lost it. - -When this conviction came upon her, tears streamed down her -cheeks--hot salt tears--which she made no effort to restrain; and on -suddenly discovering her thus--after the departure of his guests, Sir -Harry Hurdell and Mr. Poole--Sir Paget felt his soul stung with -jealous fury. - -He regarded her sternly rather than lovingly, and puffed out his -chest with what he deemed an air of offended dignity. Yet he -attempted to take her hand. - -'Do not touch me,' said Eveline, imploringly; 'at least not -just--just now.' - -'Upon my word, madam! Do you understand what your romantic pity for -this--this person implies?' he asked, grimly, while polishing his -bald head with his handkerchief till it shone like a billiard ball. - -'He has no father or mother--no sister to weep for him--none but -myself to sorrow for him.' - -'Well?' - -'And he died like a gentleman, upholding the honour of Queen and -country, and the name of Cameron,' said Eveline, a little defiantly. - -'Bosh! I suppose he was paid for all that? But enough of this. May -I ask, have you no home interests and home ties like other married -women?' - -Eveline made no reply; so, with a violent jerk of his head, Sir Paget -spoke again. - -'Listen to me, Lady Puddicombe.' - -'I am doing so.' - -'To me you seem like one of those oddities or evil spirits one reads -of only in novels.' - -'How?' - -'Having had a romance in your life, or fancying you had one, and -believing you have married the wrong man, and all that sort of stuff, -you like to live and brood on a memory. Is it so, Lady Puddicombe? -Answer me--did you actually love this fellow Cameron?' - -'Yes,' she replied, wincing, as he laid his coarse hand rather -roughly on her delicate shoulder. - -'Indeed. And you love him still?' - -'He is dead--he is dead--and perhaps it is a sin to brood over the -past.' - -'An infernal futility, at all events. All this is pleasant for me, -madam,' said he, applying himself to polishing his pate again. - -A wiser man might have partly ignored the affair, in the hope that it -must in time pass away; but her unmistakable emotion of grief for -Cameron's death proved somewhat beyond the patience of Sir Paget, who -recurred to it warmly. - -'His demise, if untimely, is very natural; to face death and meet it -was the trade he chose, and for which the country paid him, and well, -too, as we shall find by next year's income-tax. What more would you -have? Others quite as good as he--better perhaps--have fallen in -this grotesque war, which, the Ministry tell us, is no war at all, -though it will be deuced expensive work to us who have to stump-up -for it,' he continued, waving his hand as he had done when addressing -the same words to his constituents at Slough-cum-Sloggit. 'Moreover, -madam, we can only die once, which is just as well. Who is it that -likens the race of man to leaves on the trees?' - -'But the leaves fall in autumn, not as he has done--my--my----' - -'Love?' he suggested, with a gloomy sneer. - -'No,' replied Eveline, quivering with anger. - -'What then, madam?' - -'My dear friend--my brother's comrade, and the saver of his life at -Tel-el-Kebir.' - -For some days the matter was not referred to; Sir Paget sulked a good -deal, and dined often with his friend Hurdell at the club, while -Eveline, in her dumb grief, felt like some piece of strange machinery -that must go through the evolutions for which it was framed. - -To Sir Paget she was an enraging enigma. Dead or alive, what was -this Highland fellow now to her? But 'who,' asks a writer, 'in -middle age, when the sordid cares of every-day life are paramount, -can comprehend the young heart's passionate mystery--the love which, -like some bright tropical flower, buds and blooms in a single -day--the love which is more than fancy!' - -But a fresh impetus was given to Sir Paget's jealous anger, and a -keen edge put upon it, when a letter addressed to 'Lady Puddicombe' -arrived one morning from Messrs. Horning and Tailzie, W.S., -Edinburgh, anent 'the will of the late Evan Cameron, Esq., of -Stratherroch,' informing her that by that document, he had bequeathed -his estate of that name to her and her heirs, whom, failing, to those -of his brother Duncan. The letter then proceeded to detail the -encumbrances on the estate, which was rapidly freeing itself; that -besides so much arable land there was fine grouse-shooting, extending -to about eight thousand acres, yielding in favourable seasons about -nine hundred brace of birds, besides black-game, snipe, ducks, and -plover; that there was excellent trout-fishing in the river Erroch. -It then described the mansion-house, stables, kennels, and so forth, -and wound up by asking for 'her ladyship's instructions.' - -There was a postscript, saying that 'the late Stratherroch seems to -have been a prime favourite with the crofters on the estate, and they -all deplore his untimely end, even with tears.' - -'Oh, what does it all mean?' sighed Eveline, in utter anguish and -bewilderment. The 'late'--how horrid--how awful did that single word -look, when she recalled the yearning eyes, the farewell glance of -Evan Cameron, as he marched past her on the departing day. - -Transported with anger, Sir Paget snatched the letter from her hand, -and, adjusting his gold _pince-nez_ on his nose, focussed the lines -and glared at them; and after he had read he tossed it from him. - -'An insult, by Jove, Lady Puddicombe--a deliberate insult!' - -'Sir Paget,' began Eveline, but paused; she knew not what to urge or -say, though she knew but too well all the bequest implied. - -'Who wants his dirty acres of Highland bog and rock? Not I--the -presumptuous fellow!' - -'Presumptuous!' repeated Eveline, with a bitter smile, as she thought -of the antecedents of the baronet of Slough-cum-Sloggit. 'Cameron's -descent is as old as the hills; his ancestors have hunted with James -V., and in battle were the comrades of Montrose and Dundee.' - -'What the devil is all this to me--or to _you_, for the matter of -that?' snarled Sir Paget, puffing out his chest. 'I am at liberty to -reject this bequest on my own part.' - -'But not on mine,' replied Eveline, quietly yet firmly. - -'The deuce--you will accept it?' - -'Why should not I--if I do injustice to none?' - -'And degrade yourself in the eyes of the world!' - -'How, Sir Paget?' - -'What was this man to you? every man will naturally inquire.' - -'None can know that he was ever even a friend to me,' said Eveline, -with difficulty restraining her tears. - -'It must be rejected, I say!' - -'But the estate is not left to you, Sir Paget.' - -'Estate!' said he, scornfully. 'A few acres of bog and heather, and -a mansion that probably keeps out neither wind nor weather.' - -So no action was taken in the matter for a time, and the letter of -Messrs. Horning and Tailzie, W.S., remained unanswered, much to the -surprise of these gentlemen (who deemed themselves persons of no -small importance), and was to remain so until the return from -cub-hunting at Hurdell Hall. - -Sir Paget was sorely ruffled by this new event, and felt himself at -liberty to sneer vulgarly at Eveline's former lover, and at her -shattered fidelity to any vows she made by her marriage with himself; -whereas the poor girl had never made one. - -She felt that--as a wedded wife--she must stand alone in her secret -grief, and beyond the pale of human succour or sympathy, and the -sweet words of 'Auld Robin Gray' occurred to her: - - 'I daurna think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin.' - - -Times there were when she dreamt of Evan vividly, and that he was -with her again. 'Why should it be a miracle that the dead come -back?' asks an author; 'the wonder is that they do not. How can one -go away who loves you and never return, nor speak, nor send any -message--that is the miracle; not that the heavens should bend down -and the gates of Paradise roll back and those who have left us -return.' At such times he seemed near to her, and his voice was in -her ears--more near to her than he had ever been. He loved her, but -he was gone--gone, and the grey day was stealing slowly in! - -Olive, she thought, she must see Olive; doubtless Allan must have -written home to her, and his letters might contain some details of -this catastrophe that she would learn nowhere else, so she contrived -a visit to Puddicombe Villa at Southsea on their way to Hurdell Hall. -But she gained nothing by this. - -Lady Aberfeldie had heard of the late event in Egypt, and saw in a -moment how it had affected her daughter. - -'She is a very sensitive girl, Sir Paget,' said she, deprecatingly, -in reply to a somewhat stinging remark of his; 'and thus you see the -sudden death of this young man, so recently our guest at Dundargue, -and so long her brother's tried friend and comrade, and one to whose -courage that brother and all of us owe so much, has--not unnaturally, -I think--greatly shocked her.' - -'Shocked her rather too much, apparently,' jerked out Sir Paget, with -a grimace. 'Who could have supposed that so brief an -acquaintance--shall we call it an acquaintance?--could have produced -an impression so deep.' - -Lady Aberfeldie bridled up a little and crested her handsome head; -for, like Sir Paget, she had her own thoughts on the subject. - -'Well, he is gone now,' said she, after a pause. - -'And a devilish good thing, too,' added Sir Paget, roughly. - -She made no rejoinder, conceiving that the less that was said on the -matter the better. - -Eveline found Olive in a very crushed state. - -Allan had never written to her, and, as yet, even his mother's letter -of explanation had not been replied to. Perhaps he did not believe -in it. He had left her abruptly and passionately and with a sore -heart. Many such hearts are caught by others on the rebound, for the -void in them is more easily filled up, and often requires to be so. - -'Oh, heaven,' she thought, 'if such should be the case with -Allan--not in Egypt, for that was very unlikely, but at Gibraltar or -Malta, where English ladies were to be met with.' - -'Even if married, I fear you would never win the Dunmow Flitch,' Lady -Aberfeldie had said to her angrily on one occasion. - -'My unfortunate money has been the cause of all this,' replied Olive. -'It excited the cunning and cupidity of that unfortunate man, -Holcroft, and has led to the saddest misconceptions and -misconstructions from the first between dear Allan and myself,' she -added, in tears. - -'Most true.' - -Olive knew that the doubtful position in which she had been placed -with reference to Allan had, as she thought, been fully explained -away in writing by his mother, and his father too; but from Allan -there came no letter to herself. - -What did his silence mean? Even anger were better than nothing. - -'My unfortunate money,' she repeated: 'my golden chains have proved a -curse to us both. He has ceased to love me now, and, loving him as I -do, what can my life be to me? And how shall I live on through all -the months and years of it without him? What if we never meet again! -He may fall in this war as his friend Cameron fell--oh, my love--not -you--not you--not _that_.' - -And the luckless girl wept bitterly. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A SKIRMISH IN THE DESERT. - -Buried in the sand! - -Yes--it was all true--too true; the gay, handsome, and usually -light-hearted Laird of Stratherroch, one of the most popular fellows -in the Black Watch--he who had won the V.C. in battle with his good -claymore--he whom Eveline had known in the heyday of his life, when -the world seemed so fresh and fair to both, whom she had last seen as -a despairing and broken-hearted lover, was gone--struck down by a -bullet of some nameless Egyptian savage, buried in the desert, and -she would never see him more, though the poignancy of his farewell -would haunt her for many a day. - -And thus it all came to pass. - -A band of Bedouins had been hovering in the vicinity of Matarieh, -plundering and looting. These Allan, after a consultation with -Cameron, resolved to make a demonstration against, and with -Farquharson, his sergeant, and thirty picked men, in light marching -order, they quitted the village, and about an hour before sunrise -took their way towards the desert. - -The light of the coming day shone along the latter, a sandy waste, -overlooked by Jebel Mokattam, a chain of rocks abrupt and barren that -extends from Cairo to the cataracts. They are generally flat, with -beetling summits, while below, on the face which fronts the Nile, -they are furrowed as if water-worn by the rain of ages. - -On the other flank, towards Jebel Dimeshk, rises a ridge of -sand-hills that follows in the same direction at an equal distance, -all the windings and sinuosities of that which lines the eastern bank. - -Between lay the winding line of the disused railway. In front the -horizon seemed foggy or dusty, and along the desert the sun shone for -a time, as he rose, like a red ball, shorn of his rays. - -In rear the party left behind the village of Matarieh, with the -clumps of palm-trees, beyond which, with the tall obelisk and the -ruins of several sphinxes, rose the great mounds of earth that mark -the site of Heliopolis, 'the City of the Sun,' the inhabitants of -which worshipped a bull called Mnevis, with the same ceremonies as -the Apis of Memphis, and where Apollo had an oracle. - -Over the same ground where in 1800 a battle was fought between the -French and Turks, in which the latter were defeated with the loss of -eight thousand men and all their cannon and baggage, Allan's little -band marched merrily on towards the desert in hope to 'polish off' a -few of the Bedouins before returning to quarters. - -They were well supplied with ammunition; each man had a day's rations -in his haversack, and his water-bottle filled with the red sandy -fluid of the Nile. In Exodus we are told that the Egyptians loathed -to drink the waters of that river, and, as Cameron said, 'the men of -the Black Watch were much of the same mind.' - -Now, in making a reconnaissance, Allan Graham was a trained soldier -enough to know that cover from view is important, as it enables -troops, whatever their strength, to form for action; thus he hoped to -utilise the railway bank, or, if not that, some of the sandy -undulations around it. - -As the first object in reconnoitring is to get observation, with his -sergeant, who was a sharp fellow, he went at some distance in front -of his men, field-glass in hand, and looked sharply about him. - -He continued to move in a north-easterly direction for nearly ten -miles till mid-day, but saw nothing of Bedouins, and then, halting -amid a clump of palms, threw out some sentinels towards the front, -piled arms, and the Highlanders in their kilts and red serges threw -themselves on the grass and prepared to make a meal of what they had -brought with them, washed down by Nile water. - -There he remained till noon was long past, and he began to think of -falling back on Matarieh. - -Even under the shadow of the palms they were tormented by gnats and -sandflies. - -'We are in the land of the "Arabian Nights"--the land of giants, -fairies, and genii, and all that sort of thing,' said Cameron, as he -lit a cigar; 'but, if a little picturesque, Allan, the discomforts -are abominably real.' - -'Surely water is lying yonder, sir,' said Sergeant Farquharson, 'and -we might get our water-bottles filled.' - -All looked eagerly in the direction indicated, towards the base of -the Jebel Dimeshk range. The sun was clear, bright, and powerful -now. Amid the silent waste of sand a long, narrow lake seemed at no -great distance. - -'If water it is,' exclaimed Cameron, 'there are certainly men moving -through it.' - -'The Bedouins, by Jove!' cried Allan. 'Down, down,' he shouted to -his sentinels, 'lie down, under cover if you can.' - -They lay down flat, and Allan, adopting the same position, turned his -field-glass towards the mirage, for such it was--that beautiful -optical illusion produced by the sun's rays reflected from the heated -sand, and which raises before the eye of the thirsty wayfarer the -tantalising but perfect representation of distant lakes or pleasing -sheets of water. - -About eighty Bedouin horse were moving slowly from the direction of -the Jebel Dimeskh range towards the line of the railway. Whatever -their object was, from a description given to Allan, he was certain -they were those of whom he was in search, and that their object was -to turn up in the vicinity of Matarieh after sunset, intent on -plunder, as everywhere these lawless sons of the desert were taking -advantage of the confusion of affairs in Egypt. - -Some were armed with long muskets of antique form, but by far the -greater number had Remington rifles--flung away by Arabi's fugitive -soldiers--slung over their backs, or at their saddles, weapons that -had superseded the javelin, the bow, and in many instances the spear. -They were clad in barracans of dark brown wool, with floating -burnouses, many of them spotlessly white; and as they seemed to be -making slowly, for shelter doubtless, towards the clump of palms -occupied by Allan's party, which was yet beyond their range of -vision, he drew the whole off and took post behind the bank of the -abandoned railway, a movement which was fortunately quite unseen by -the foe. - -Formation against cavalry would be useless, as these wild horsemen -have no idea of tactics; and, to deceive them as to his force, Allan -formed his men in extended order, three paces apart, each man lying -on his face, close under the line of the embankment. - -Allan knew from experience how fire from a steep slope becomes -plunging; thus he congratulated himself that the slope for his -musketry was one that was parallel to the trajectory of the rifles. - -By a single word he could, if necessary, form his men in a rallying -square on the crest of the line. As the Bedouins came riding -forward, in a disorderly group, at an easy, ambling pace, Allan, by -means of his field-glass, was certain that in their leader he -recognised the Arab, Zeid-el-Ourdeh, whom he had succoured after his -wounds at Kassassin, and sent to the hospital at Ismailia. - -He was wearing the same robes with wide sleeves, and the richly -embroidered girdle he wore when found near the camp. - -'Steady and still, men,' cried Allan, 'and we'll play old gooseberry -with these beggars, as we have done everywhere else.' - -They were about five hundred paces distant, a range for which the -rifles were sighted, when suddenly a Bedouin uttered a shrill cry of -alarm, and all began to unsling their firearms. His eye had detected -a clay-coloured helmet with its red hackle on the left side. - -Ere they could fire a shot, the Highlanders from their cover poured -in a deadly fire, and more than twenty men and horses went down in -confused heaps; the latter, in the agony of their wounds and terror, -kicking and lashing wildly out with their hoofs, raising clouds of -sand, while braining the skulls and breaking the limbs of the fallen -riders, whether dead or wounded; then shrieks and groans, cries and -curses loaded the air, as all who were untouched or able to keep -their saddles, after firing, half at random, a ragged volley, wheeled -round their light chargers and went off with the speed of the wind. - -'Cease firing!' cried Allan Graham; 'we have taught these fellows a -lesson severe enough for the day, and I don't think they will venture -near Matarieh again.' - -In that, however, he was mistaken, as he afterwards found to his cost. - -'And now,' he added, as he crossed the line of railway, sword in -hand, 'to give water to the wounded, succour any we can, smash all -their weapons, and leave them to fate or their returning friends.' - -He, with most of his party, approached the place where the victims of -the fusilade lay, and, so far as blood, wounds, and agony went, they -presented a very dreadful scene, and yet a trifling one when compared -with that witnessed so lately in the trenches of Tel-el-Kebir. - -Many were shot outright; others, severely wounded, lay wallowing and -choking in their blood, and they regarded the victors with a firm, -scowling, and defiant expression in their long, thin, tawny faces, -and black, bright, glittering eyes, that made them look, as Allan -said, like dying eagles. - -But, before anything could be done for the survivors, the fatal -episode of the day took place. - -A little way apart from the group of death and agony, lay a Bedouin, -who, though untouched, was partly under his horse, from which he -freed himself, and then Cameron advanced to take him prisoner. He -was an athletic and gigantic fellow, all bone and sinew, lithe as a -serpent, and active as the antelope of his native deserts. - -Drawing a long pistol from his girdle, he levelled it at Cameron, but -it snapped, on which he flung it furiously at the head of the latter, -who ducked, and escaped it. - -Several Highlanders now rushed forward, as he had drawn a large and -heavy Damascus sabre, but they paused with their hands on their locks -when Cameron cried, - -'Stand back, my lads, and leave him to me!' And in a moment both -their blades were flashing in the setting sun, for Cameron fell upon -him claymore in hand. - -'May your head be covered by a whirlwind of fire!' hissed the Bedouin -in Arabic, through his clenched teeth, while he hewed away without -the least intention of surrendering. The hood of his red and white -striped burnous had fallen back, and his whole head and face, with -flashing eyes and gleaming teeth, were displayed to view. - -Cameron was a skilful swordsman, but so was the Bedouin, who was his -superior in height and muscular power. Their blades struck red -sparks from each other. Cameron forgot to draw his long dirk: but he -had 'Sir Garnet's' ugly jack-knife in his left hand, for parrying -purposes. How the combat would have terminated, it is difficult to -say, but a vile Bedouin, who lay wounded close by, armed with a long, -straight sword, with the last effort of expiring nature, writhed -himself up from the sand, ran poor Cameron through the body from -behind, and fell back dead. - -With a hollow groan, Cameron fell backward across him, and was about -to receive a finishing stroke from his antagonist, when the latter -was shot through the head by Sergeant Farquharson. - -This catastrophe rather cooled Allan's humane ideas of succouring the -wounded. Very few of the Highlanders had been touched, and these but -slightly. However, it seemed as if Cameron was dying. He was -speechless, and his mouth at times was filled with blood. It was -impossible then to ascertain the exact nature of his wounds, or what -part of the body was injured. Allan, full of tenderness, anxiety, -and the deepest commiseration, formed a pad of his handkerchief, and, -using his sash as a bandage, endeavoured, so far as in him lay, to -stop the bleeding, while a litter was improvised by a couple of -rifles, with a blanket stretched over them; and the party began to -fall back on Matarieh, but often had to halt, for the agony of -Cameron was great, and Allan began to despair of getting him conveyed -in life to Matarieh, which, as we have said, was nearly ten miles -distant, while, to enhance their difficulties, a troop of nearly a -hundred Bedouins were visible, pouring down a rocky gorge of the -Jebel Mokattam range; so nothing was left to Allan but to continue -his retreat, which they seemed slow or disinclined to follow up. - -Yet their presence was fraught with danger, especially after the sun, -with its usual rapidity in these regions, went down like a red, fiery -ball, and the lurid haze exhaled from the flat desert on which the -darkness fell. - -The stars were coming out in the blue zenith; the dew was already -beginning to fall; long and dark shadows lay across the plain, but -the line of the railway was a sure guide back to Matarieh and the -vicinity of Heliopolis. - -Every step of his bearers elicited a moan of pain from Cameron, and -these went to the heart of his friend as if they had been the -utterances of a brother, while now and then the sufferer muttered his -thanks to the soldiers for their care and kindness, and his regret -for the trouble he gave them after a day of toil, and his fears that -he was retarding their retreat and thereby involving them in danger. -Of his own pain or peril he never uttered a word. - -Constellations new to him and his comrades were in the sky now--a -vast blue dome that stretched far, far away, all bright with glorious -stars. - -At last it was absolutely necessary to halt for a time, for all -thought the sufferer was dying, and the Highlanders said that if the -Bedouins came on again they would form square round him; and soon it -became too evident that Evan Cameron was lying 'on the bleak neutral -ground between life and death.' - -Accustomed though they were to suffering and slaughter, the -Highlanders stood around him leaning on their muskets, full of -commiseration, and looking attentively at the pale face of the dying -officer and back to the desert where they had last seen the enemy -hovering; and more than one wished that the Bedouins would only come -on again. - -'Has no man among us here any water?' asked Allan, for by this time -the tin bottles of the detachment were empty. - -A man who was in the act of taking the stopper out of his, paused -instantly. - -'Captain Graham, here is mine,' said he; 'there are only a drop or -two left, but if it was my blood I'd give it for Evan Cameron,' he -added, emphatically, with that familiarity which is peculiar to the -Highlander, and has no rudeness in it. - -'Donald, thank you,' said Allan. - -'My mother bides nigh the braes of Stratherroch, and I am not likely -to forget that to-night,' said the soldier, with a break in his voice. - -Raising Cameron's head gently, Allan put Donald's water-bottle to his -lips, and he drank thirstily of the fetid and odious water it -contained, 'the Nile soup,' as our men called it. - -Refreshed even by it for a few minutes, Evan Cameron spoke to Allan, -but in whispers, and, as they seemed to be meant for the ear of the -latter alone, the soldiers with one accord drew back a little way. - -'I knew from the first that I should never pull through--nor do I -wish to do so, Allan,' said he, speaking at long intervals and with a -husky effort. - -'We have faced death together in many ways, but I wish your case had -been mine, Evan, even if it is to be a fatal one.' - -'Don't say that, Allan, dear fellow,' replied Evan, with that -strange, far-off expression of eye which belongs alone to a -fast-ebbing life--an expression which Allan could see even in the -starlight as he stooped close over the sufferer, 'my sight is failing -me, yet I can in fancy see Eveline--oh! so distinctly, Allan--and I -seem to hear her voice--you don't mind me saying this now, lying, as -I am here, face to face with God--the voice that seemed to whisper to -my heart.' - -Allan could only press the clammy hand that never again would grasp -the broad claymore. Evan spoke again, but still more brokenly, - -'I am not jealous now of my married rival; I only sorrow for the lost -future of Eveline; married to an old man whom she may respect but -never love, and with whom she cannot have a sympathy in common.' - -'You are talking too much, Evan.' - -'And thinking of her rather than my prayers. When I am lying here in -my long and peaceful sleep, far from my father's grave in bonnie -Stratherroch, she will live all the years of a young life, and, in -the time to come, will--of course, forget me.' - -His voice was almost gone now, yet his eyes dilated when Allan said, -with sorrowful emphasis, - -'Evan, she will never forget you.' - -'Nearer me--come nearer, Allan; I--I want you to tell her--tell -her----' - -What he was to tell Allan never heard, as the voice of Cameron -ceased; a change, perceptible in the clear starlight, was passing -over his face; a dew was gathering on his forehead, and dark shadows -under his eyes. - -'He's gone, sir,' said Sergeant Farquharson, lifting his helmet for a -moment in mute reverence. 'Well, Captain Graham, the golden gates -have never closed upon a better officer or a braver man! Poor Evan -Cameron,' he added, stooping over the body and looking at it -earnestly. - -Allan cast a long and sad glance at it too; then he laid a hand on -the heart; it might be only syncope--no, it did not seem to be that. - -The profile of his face in its stillness looked like a classic cameo -cut in high relief. His fair, almost golden, hair, clipped close -with military precision, retained still its crispy ripple. The brown -moustache shading the short upper lip had been somewhat untrimmed of -late; but he looked so life-like that Allan almost shuddered as he -spread the blanket over him and covered him up--for he felt that in -that wretched substitute for a shroud lay one whom he knew his -sister--married albeit as she was to another--loved better than life! - -It was hard to think of so young and gallant a life being cut short -thus by the inexorable scissors of Fate; but he was gone to the 'Land -of the leal,' where there can be no sorrow nor thought of sordid -things. - -'We cannot leave him lying here thus; neither can we carry him off; -while there is a chance of these Bedouin devils coming on again. -Besides, there are always jackals about,' said Allan, as he took -possession of Evan's claymore, dirk, and ring. 'Scoop a hole--a -temporary grave in the sand--and cover him up, till we can return by -daylight, and bring him into quarters for proper interment.' - -The soldiers, with their hands, bayonets, and rifle-butts, hollowed a -trench some three feet deep, and therein, rolled in a blanket, they -reverently deposited the yet warm form of Cameron, and covered it up -with sand. - -Allan maintained a grim silence, and, though his heart was full of -genuine grief, the remarks of his soldiers pleased him. - -'Those who have lived with us and died as he has done will never be -forgotten in the regiment, sir,' said Sergeant Farquharson. - -'Mourn for the mourner, I have heard my mother say in Gaelic, and not -for the dead, as they are at rest and we in tears,' said Donald, as -he hooked-on his water-bottle. - -'He has none to mourn for him now but one, and she is far away,' -remarked Allan, with a swelling in his throat. 'And now fall in, -lads.' - -The Highlanders marched on their way back to Matarieh in silence, -impressed by the recent episode; for, if gallant and reckless fellows -in battle, they were thoughtful and full of sorrow for the brave -young officer they had lost. - -A shot or two, fired apparently at random in the distance, sparkling -out redly amid the obscurity, showed that the Bedouins were following -them up, and must have passed over the very place where Cameron lay. - -The silence of the starry night was upon the world then--upon the -ridgy summits of Jebel Mokattam, and darkness now enfolded the desert -where Evan Cameron lay in such awful loneliness, without even the -grim companionship of the dead--the last Cameron of the old fighting -line of Stratherroch. - -Two days after, with an ambulance waggon, Sergeant Farquharson, and -some of his men, Allan went along the line of the old railway from -Matarieh to the place where they had left the body--a place marked in -their memory by the presence of two large stones and some shrubs near -the embankment--but of these they could find no trace, though they -searched for hours, believing they might have passed them or -miscalculated the distance. - -Nothing was to be seen about the real or supposed spot but sand, -smooth and drifted sand everywhere. Thus Allan could but come to the -sorrowful conclusion that some species of sand-storm must have swept -from the desert south-eastward between the mountain ranges, and -buried every trace of the hastily-made grave. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -HURDELL HALL. - -'Welcome to Hurdell Hall! My sister Lucretia--Lady Puddicombe and -Sir Paget, Lucretia--Sir Paget, our mutual friend Poole, you know.' - -Thus did Sir Harry Hurdell introduce Eveline and Sir Paget, with much -_empressement_ and effusiveness, to his home in Hampshire, when the -carriage duly deposited them, with Mademoiselle Clairette, Sir -Paget's valet, and 'no end' of trunks and boxes in a van, at the -porte cochère. - -Situated in the northern district of the shire, where the woods are -chiefly hazel, birch, alder, and willow, where flocks of deer scour -the coppice, Hurdell Hall is a fine example of the old Tudor -architecture, and, as Eveline saw it for the first time with the rays -of the evening sun casting dashes of golden light upon its ogee -gables, mullioned bay-windows, its long gravelled approach, and -stately terrace, she thought what a charming picture it would make, -with its background of oaks, which in Hampshire seldom rise into -lofty stems, but have branches that are usually twisted into -picturesque outlines. - -Below the terrace lay a kind of pool, in which a couple of swans were -floating lazily, each with one leg tucked up under a wing, and where -the snow-white water-lilies gleamed in the sunshine. - -Nor was the inside of the Hall--which was to be associated with -events never to be forgotten by Eveline--any way inferior to the -outside. There were stately apartments furnished with every modern -luxury in the way of upholstery, and others where the furniture spoke -of an old, old past, and of generations of Hurdells who had long -since been gathered together in the old family vault; panelled -corridors adorned with busts of Roman emperors and gods; stuffed -tropical birds and horns of gigantic size; cabinets, swords, daggers, -helmets, and armour; and where portraits were hung of knights and -dames in brilliant colours; one of Sir Harry, who accompanied the -Royal Bluebeard to the field of cloth of gold; another who had been -the comrade of Sir Horace of Tilbury in many a field in Flanders; and -the Hurdells of later times in powdered wigs, toupees, and long -stomachers. - -There was also a charming little Gothic private chapel, which had now -a luxurious divan around it, as the present Sir Harry, not being much -addicted to devotions, had turned it into a billiard-room, and a most -commodious and excellent one it was, as the niches were tall enough -to hold cues and the basin of the font was admirably calculated to -hold the balls. - -Sir Harry was rather handsome, but _blasé_ in aspect and bearing; -there was an indolent and rather lascivious expression in his eyes, -the light colour of which it is difficult to define; he had a -transparent nostril and short upper lip, with long tawny moustache, -and a face which, though difficult to say why, was not a pleasing one. - -His sister Lucretia, his senior by several years, was somewhat his -counterpart in appearance, and, nearer her fortieth than her -thirtieth year, was still very handsome, but handsome in a faded way; -and she received the young wife of old Sir Paget with considerable -effusiveness, kissing her on both cheeks _à la Francaise_; though -Eveline, fair, soft, and timid even in friendship, felt oppressed -rather than soothed or pleased by the society of this somewhat -_blasé_ and disappointed woman of the world, with her cold, steely -eyes, ashy-tinted hair, thin lips, and caressing manner; and Eveline -soon discovered she was vain, shallow, selfish, and not unaddicted to -white lies when they suited her purpose. - -Perhaps the creature she cared most for in this world, after herself -and her brother, was a little, wheezy 'King Charles,' with a blue -ribbon and silver bell adorning its neck. - -While the gentlemen were smoking and idling in the billiard-room--the -same place where Philip of Spain, _en route_ from Southampton to -marry Mary, had made his devotions--she entertained Eveline with -afternoon tea in a charming little room dark with oak-panelling, with -rare old oak furniture, and hangings of ancient tapestry that -testified to the industry of white-handed Hurdells in generations -past. - -Something of _ennui_, at least, in the young face of her new -acquaintance did not fail to catch the attention of the sharp -Lucretia, who knew from the first that Eveline's marriage had been an -ill-assorted one; yet, she said, after a pause, - -'You long to join the gentlemen, I think; they are not far off--only -at the end of the corridor.' - -'Pardon me, I am more pleased to be with you.' - -'Thanks, dear; but I fear that you and Sir Paget are a pair of -regular love-birds, and must go through a systematic amount of -billing and cooing every day.' - -Eveline smiled faintly, but made no response. Did Miss Hurdell mean -this as a sneer? she thought; it seemed so. - -'Dear Sir Paget!' said Miss Hurdell again, a little irrelevantly. 'I -thought love-matches were out of fashion now.' - -'She _is_ mocking me,' thought Eveline, yet the rather aristocratic -face of Lucretia was as inscrutable as her manner was suave to -sweetness. - -'All who know Sir Paget respect him--he is a thoroughly good man,' -said Eveline, feeling the necessity of saying something. - -'"Women always like wicked fellows," says Lefanu, in one of his -novels. It is contrast; but it has been my experience that they do.' - -'No right-minded woman would endorse this opinion of our sex, I am -assured.' - -Miss Hurdell laughed at Eveline's gravity, and refilled their cups of -dragon-blue china. - -'I always hated the idea of being married,' said she. - -'Why?' asked Eveline. - -'Because it would make life--I thought--so tame.' - -'How odd!' - -'Ah, no doubt you think so. I didn't care about being engaged and -all that sort of thing; but no, I never would have married.' - -Sooth to say, she had never had an offer, or been engaged, in her -life. - -'It is so nice to be a _fiancée_--the object of daily attention.' - -'Then you must have been engaged to know all this, Miss Hurdell.' - -'Like yourself, dear, of course--but call me Lucretia. A girl has -more freedom when engaged than before it; though the envy of her -female friends, she can be more natural with her gentlemen friends, -and may say many a merry and rantipole thing she dared not have said -before. Goldsmith was right when he makes Dr. Primrose declare that -courtship is generally a happier state than marriage. To me it seems -to turn the butterfly into a caterpillar.' - -Eveline knew what to think of these novel views, but she sighed as -she thought of what her own existence was now. - -'To me,' resumed the fair Lucretia, 'it always seemed as if, when the -wedding-ring was slipped on my slender finger, I should have nothing -left to live for; that my existence would belong wholly to another -person.' - -Eveline set down her tea-cup and looked at the speaker with something -of mute wonder. In society she had met with many strange persons, -but none who had such odd views as the mature chatelaine of Hurdell -Hall. - -'But you would have your husband to live for,' she urged gently, but -certainly not thinking of her _own_. - -'A very commonplace style of living, I should think.' - -'Not if one marries for love,' said Eveline softly. - -'As you married' (old was on her lips) 'as you married dear Sir -Paget.' - -Eveline felt her colour rise, yet she only said, 'But--but to marry -with any doubt in one's heart would be deception.' - -'Well,' said Miss Hurdell, raising her eyebrows, 'if a woman may not -deceive her own husband whom has she a right to deceive?' - -This was a new view of the matter to poor Eveline, who began to have -rather a horror of her hostess. - -'There goes the dressing-bell, dear--we dine at eight,' said -Lucretia, rising; 'let me conduct you to your room.' - -Once there, Eveline was free to give full vent to her own thoughts. -She would never see that lonely grave in the desert where Evan -Cameron lay; but to her mind it was sacred, as of old was the place -whereon the angel of the Lord alighted. - -'Oh for some news--news of how it all came about! If Allan would -only write to me--or to Olive; he surely will tell her. This is more -than I can bear!' and interlacing her slender white fingers--a way -she had contracted now when alone--she pressed them with palms -outward, against her throbbing forehead, as if she meant to break -them. - -Alas! she was to learn too soon tidings of another dire calamity, and -_why_ Allan was unable to write to any one. - -There was no trace of all this deep emotion in her soft face when she -descended to the drawing-room, with a velvet dress of that blue which -so suited her pale complexion, cut square at the neck, and having -elbow sleeves with lace, and rich mosaics set in gold clasping her -white neck, and exquisitely rounded arms that were so white and taper. - -There could be no two opinions about her rare beauty, and Sir Harry -Hurdell and his fast friend--fast in more ways than one--both -acknowledged it at a glance, as their sharp and critical eyes took in -every detail of her witching face, her rounded girlish cheek, her -sweetly curved mouth, with its short upper lip, her nose and delicate -nostrils. - -Sir Harry Hurdell was very sceptical of the purity of all women. He -would not have believed in that of his own mother had she been alive; -so he was perhaps to be pardoned for deeming that Lady Puddicombe -'was just like the rest,' whatever that might mean. - -He was intensely gratified and glad that the girl was so young and -lovely, and that her husband was so old and so common-place: thus he -resolved, in his own phraseology, 'to enter stakes for the filly--to -make his innings if he could, or the devil was in it!' - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -SIR HARRY. - -There was an air of lassitude, of settled melancholy, and at times of -abstraction, apparent about Eveline, which she could not always -successfully conceal, that did not fail to impress and surprise the -baronet of Hurdell Hall and his sister, and the latter observed her -narrowly when they were together in the drawing-room. - -'I have heard that you sing beautifully, Lady Puddicombe,' said she, -opening the piano. - -'I used to sing--a little,' replied Eveline. - -'Used to sing! Why drop so charming an accomplishment?' - -'I have had thoughts of late that make me sad.' - -'We must cure you of all that. What style of music do you love most?' - -'I love all music that is beautiful.' - -'And songs?' - -'That are melancholy.' - -'Then sing me some favourite thing before the gentlemen join -us--there is a dear, do.' - -Thus urged, and fearing to appear ungracious, Eveline seated herself -before the instrument--a grand and very stately one it was, and began -to sing in a voice that became tender, passionate, and beautiful, -touching; even the somewhat arid heart of her listener--by two of the -verses especially:-- - - 'Perchance, if we had never met, - I had been spared this mad regret, - This endless striving to forget, - For ever and for ever! - - . . . . . . - - Ah me, I cannot bear the pain, - Of never seeing thee again, - I cling to thee with might and main, - For ever and for ever!' - - -She felt as if she were singing to Evan, who, perhaps, in spirit was -hovering near her; for Eveline was beginning at times to have strange -fancies now. There were tears in her voice as she sang, and there -were tears in her eyes too; but she paused abruptly as the gentlemen -came in from the dining-room, and the eyes of Sir Paget were fixed -inquiringly and reprovingly upon her. Her voice seemed to pass away, -nor could any entreaties of Sir Harry and his sister make her -conclude the song--a well-known one. - -'Hah--thereby hangs a tale!' thought the fair Lucretia, as Sir Harry -conducted Eveline back to her chair, and took a seat by her side. - -No idle or constitutionally dissipated man can withstand the -temptation of attempting to fascinate a pretty woman, and, if -possible, of eclipsing another man, and to eclipse one like old Sir -Paget would seem no very difficult task; so, while talking quietly -with Eveline on the last play, the last news, or any current subject, -Sir Harry was thinking to himself, while admiring the contour of her -head, her rich brown hair, long eyelashes, and lovely little hands, - -'By Jove, if old Pudd would only go off the hooks, anyhow! She can't -care a straw for him, don't you know, with his old bald pate that he -is always jerking forward like a hen when she has laid an egg. She -was in love with some fellow who has gone to Egypt--so Holcroft told -me--been engaged to him perhaps; but her mother was set upon her -marrying old Pudd's coin, and among them all they talked her into it, -no doubt. Poor little girl, I must try to console her.' - -Lucretia Hurdell, who at times affected girlish airs, now brought -that piece of drawing-room foolery, her 'Confession Book,' upon the -_tapis_. - -'You must positively write me yours, dear Lady Puddicombe,' said she. - -'Or permit me to write there for you,' suggested Sir Harry. 'Now to -begin--"Were you ever in love?"' - -'The idea of asking a married woman that,' exclaimed Miss Hurdell. - -'If so, how often?' continued her brother. - -'I would say "never," according to the novelist's idea of it,' -replied Eveline, with an air of annoyance. - -'Don't know what that idea is,' said Sir Henry, eyeing her askance -and admiringly. - -'I should rather say I have been in love, but never mean to be so -again.' - -Eveline shivered as she said this, for while conversing apparently -with Mr. Pyke Poole the cold eyes of Sir Paget were upon her again. - -She felt the rashness of her speech. It was offensive to him, and -was not without some point in the mind of Sir Harry. - -The cub-hunting was not to begin for a few days yet, and meanwhile -the master of the house followed her about pretty persistently, so -that she had, ere long, a restless feeling about it. When departing -on a riding-party he anticipated Sir Paget by swinging her into the -saddle, adjusting her skirts and reins, leaving Pike Poole to do that -office for Miss Hurdell, to whom, in return for pleasant quarters, he -usually devoted himself, while she, with all her alleged indifference -to matrimony, was not indisposed to receive his attentions. - -There was something in the occasional gaze of Sir Harry that puzzled -the innocent Eveline and made her feel restless under it, especially -when he hung over her at the piano, as he constantly did; and now she -played more than she cared for, to avoid conversation and have -freedom to indulge in her own sad thoughts. - -'Surely you must be tired of standing there so long, Sir Harry,' she -said once, with surprise. - -'Tired of what--listening to you or gazing on you?' he replied, -lowering his voice for her ear alone; 'either were impossible.' - -If he had been addressing a barmaid he could scarcely have made a -more pointed remark; but so full was Eveline of thoughts too deep for -words--thoughts of the untimely fate of one who loved her so -dearly--to whose fate or past existence she dared not refer, and for -whom she dared not wear even a black ribbon--that she did not -perceive the admiration she was exciting in the breast of Sir Harry -and in the quiet purity of her own heart that such sentiments as his -could exist, never occurred to her. - -He ventured on one occasion to say something very pointed about the -beauty of her hands as she idled over the piano keys. - -'As there are other ladies in the room, I cannot compliment you on -your discrimination, Sir Harry,' she replied, coldly. 'But what do -you mean by saying such things to me?' she added. - -She began at last to perceive that there was a meaning in his voice. -She felt offended, and wished the cub-hunting would begin, that the -visit of herself and Sir Paget to Hurdell Hall might come the sooner -to an end. - -'If I could only achieve a good long and quiet walk and talk with -her,' grumbled Sir Harry to himself; 'but in this cursed place we are -always interrupted--can't attempt to make my innings or be with her -alone. Lucretia, Poole, or some one else always turns up, and -she--herself--never gives a fellow the chance wanted.' - -Though innately wicked in heart and rejoicing that the poor girl had -made--or been compelled by others to make--an ill-assorted marriage, -something of pity for her began to mingle with his nefarious ideas -and hopes, and that pity was as much akin to love as his _blasé_ soul -could feel. - -'It is a regular case of Beauty and the Beast, this marriage of old -Pudd's,' thought he. - -Finding her promenading on the terrace alone one evening overlooking -the pool where the swans swam among the snow-white water-lilies, he -hastened to join her. - -'I don't think you have seen our conservatories,' he said. 'Permit -me to show you them.' - -'Thanks, I do so love flowers.' - -They entered the long glazed avenues of potted plants and rich -exotics, where rustic sofas with luxurious cushions were placed under -the feathery foliage of acacias, and after idling a little, admiring -flowers that were of great beauty and the perfection of professional -gardening, Sir Harry brought her a tiny bouquet of beautiful and -sweetly-scented violets, which, thoughtlessly, she placed in the -bosom of her dress. - -His eyes gleamed as he saw her do this. He said, - -'So charmed to see the place assigned to my gift.' - -'Why?' - -'When I know what the flower imports in the language of flowers.' - -'What does the violet import?' asked Eveline, shortly. - -'Is it possible you do not know?' - -'I do not.' - -'It means eternal love and constancy.' - -'Indeed,' responded Eveline, with a tone of indifference. She felt -inclined to detach the bouquet from her dress, and restore it to the -giver or deposit it on one of the iron shelves, but as that might -have implied that she understood too much, she simply quitted the -conservatory and went once more upon the terrace. - -'The air is chilly here after the hot atmosphere of the -conservatories,' said Sir Harry, greatly encouraged by the acceptance -of his flowers; 'and that Shetland shawl is only an apology for a -wrap over your head, though you look charming in it--permit me,' he -added, as he drew it closer round her. - -Their eyes met as he did so, and she read an expression in his -downward gaze that made her pale cheek crimson, and then grow pale -again; and to avoid anything more she re-entered the house. - -'It is because I am married to an old man that he dares to treat me -thus, and so thinks little of me,' she began to reflect--'an old man -whose eyes are ever full of angry reproach about poor Evan, who never -wronged him, even in thought. Oh, how hateful, how loathsome my life -is! If luxurious it is duplicity, all!' - -She actually began to think she would go away somewhere--where her -father and husband would never find her--change her name and be a -governess or something of that kind. The idea of suicide or anything -so dreadful, in all her sorrow, bitterness, and humiliation of -spirit, never occurred to her for a moment. She only hoped that God -would direct her, pardon her for these rebellious feelings against -fate, and let her live her own way and then die. - -Why did she not run away before her absurd marriage? she thought now, -and before her young life was so utterly wrecked by it? But she -forgot how, under the motherly care and authority of Lady Aberfeldie, -she had always been in a certain constraint and awe, and how her own -sudden jealousy of Evan Cameron had helped to bring that catastrophe -about. - -But this growing admiration on the part of Sir Harry Hurdell was a -new experience in life to her. - -She was justly incensed by it, and knew that he was presuming upon -her youth, her husband's age, and the too apparent aspect of an -ill-assorted marriage. Their visit must be cut short at all risks; -but what excuse was she to make to Sir Paget; for, with her knowledge -of his jealousy of one who was dead, how was she to enlighten him on -the subject of Sir Harry, whose manner proved to her somewhat -obnoxious. - -The truth was that he was so much in the use and wont of having -'sherry-glass flirtations' at railway buffets, and so forth, that he -was quite incapable of showing his admiration or regard in a subtle -or pleasing, respectful or cavalier way, and even his own grooms -might have been better hands at it than he, the lord of that grand -old ancestral home. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE CUB-HUNTING. - -The gong for breakfast sounded betimes at Hurdell Hall on the morning -of the first day's cub-hunting, as an early hour is always most -favourable for scent, and, as several guests were invited, an ample -meal was spread in the great dining-room, the several bay windows of -which overlooked the terrace and stately chase that spread far away -beyond it. - -Sir Harry and his sister were the first who appeared, and the latter -looked round for the morning papers, but could see none. - -Now, though the 'fair Lucretia,' as her friends frequently called -her, cared nothing about the war in Egypt, she liked to read about -the movements of 'the upper ten thousand'--their births, marriages, -deaths, and so forth--to all of which she addressed herself first, as -a City man does to the money article. - -'Where are the papers, Harry?' she asked. - -'I have ordered the butler to take them all away,' said he. - -'Even the _Morning Post_?' - -'Yes; even the _Post_.' - -'Why?' - -'Look here. I do not wish Lady Puddicombe to see _this_,' he -replied, taking a newspaper from his pocket, and indicating a -paragraph--another brief telegram from Egypt--which ran thus: - -'The detachment of the Black Watch which was sent to Matarieh to make -a demonstration against the Bedouins of Zeid-el-Ourdeh has been -ordered back to head-quarters, and seems to have lost its other -officer--a very distinguished one--Captain Allan Graham, the Hon. the -Master of Aberfeldie, who is supposed to have fallen into some of the -same butcherly hands amid which Professor Palmer and his companions -perished.' - -'Good heavens! _her_ brother!' exclaimed Miss Hurdell, actually -changing colour. - -'Yes; and it must be kept from her--to-day, at least,' said Sir -Harry, concealing the fatal newspaper. - -'Taken by the Bedouins--but she must learn it some time.' - -'Well, I don't want her to learn it just now, poor girl, at all -events. I can't make a mull of the arrangements for the day, and I -don't want her to learn it here, if possible.' - -'Why not here?' - -'Certainly not from me.' - -'Why not from _you_?' - -'I hate to be imparter of evil news.' - -'Oho,' said Miss Hurdell, elevating her eyebrows; 'sets the wind in -that quarter?' - -'What do you mean, Lucretia?' - -'Well, that she is not the first married lady you have taken a tender -interest in.' - -'Lucretia!' exclaimed the baronet, in a tone of angry expostulation, -as some of their gentlemen guests came noisily in, in Russell cords, -top boots, and spurs, some in pink and some in black coats. - - -At that moment elsewhere were others who were more deeply and -terribly interested in the startling tidings from Matarieh, flashed -by the same electric wire. - -Lord Aberfeldie was leisurely opening the _Times_, which Mr. -Tappleton had duly cut and aired for him, with the other morning -papers. His eyes ran rapidly over the columns for the last, news -from Egypt, which seemed very tame now, as all the fighting and -excitement were over; so Lady Aberfeldie was not watching him, as she -used to do, with anxiety, and neither was Olive, who was already deep -in the pages of the _Queen_, when an exclamation that escaped him -made them both start. - -'What is the matter?' cried Lady Aberfeldie. 'You look ill, dear.' - -'Uncle, what do you see?' added Olive. 'Is anything wrong -with--with----' - -'Allan--yes.' - -He was pale with a strange grey pallor, totally unlike his usually -sunburned and healthy tint, and he looked dazed as his face sank -forward on his breast. - -'Our poor boy--our poor boy!' - -'God help us, Aberfeldie! What is it?' - -Olive snatched up the paper, and, after reading the paragraph we have -copied, reeled into a chair. And now a great horror fell upon all -the three, the mother's memory flashing back to the baby-boy that had -crowed and smiled upon her knee, and whose first tottering efforts to -cross the nursery floor she remembered yet. - -Lord Aberfeldie, after recovering a little from the shock, -telegraphed to the War-Office for further information, but could -obtain none. They read the fatal paragraph again and again, till -every word of it seemed to be burned into their brains, and could but -indulge in endless surmises, and hope against hope; for had not the -public prints been teeming with the harrowing details of the capture -of Professor Palmer, Captain Gill, and Lieutenant Charrington, and of -them being pitilessly slaughtered by the Bedouins of the Aligal tribe? - -As Olive recalled all this, her blood grew cold with apprehension. -The paragraph, though a terrible one, was frightfully vague. He was -'supposed to have fallen' into the hands of the Bedouins. At all -events, his party had come into Grand Cairo _without him!_ - -She, like Lady Aberfeldie, could not realise it for a time. -Alternately she sat like one stunned, and then walked up and down the -room with her slender fingers interlaced tightly and clasped upon her -head, as if she would thereby still the trouble that throbbed in her -brain and repress her heavy sorrow. - -In memory and imagination how often did she rehearse her angry -parting scene with poor Allan and the last time she saw him--the -forcible embrace of Hawke Holcroft; the latter's mocking love-making; -the horror and loathing with which his touch inspired her; and -Allan's terrible glance as he flung away and left her--left her for -ever, as it seemed now. - -Allan taken captive; he was sure to be slain like those of whom she -had read so much lately. He was gone from her, and never more--never -again could she show her repentant love for him, or make up for the -omissions and follies of the past by days of tenderness in the time -to come. - -All was over now! - -Profound was the speechless grief of his parents, and she was past -attempting to console them. - -'Oh, Olive darling, don't look so strange!' said Ruby Logan, who had -come on a visit to them at Puddicombe Villa. - -The tears were running down Ruby's cheeks, while those of Olive were -strangely dry, as if her fount of tears was frozen as yet. - -Of Evan Cameron, if they thought at all amid this home calamity, they -knew the worst--that he was dead and buried like so many of his -brother-soldiers who fell at Tel-el-Kebir; but of Allan they had yet -the worst to know, if aught was ever known at all, which was -extremely improbable. - -So the long day passed on and night came, and Olive stood at the open -window looking out at the waters of Spithead, the cold air from the -sea blowing upon her face. She was in a kind of waking trance rather -than deliberate thought, and strange figures like a phantasmagoria -seemed to evolve themselves out of the darkness. - -But to return to the hunting breakfast at Hurdell Hall. - -All unconscious that a fresh sorrow would fill her tender heart ere -long, Eveline came down in a charming morning-dress, looking pure and -pale as a young arum lily, and was at once the cynosure of many -admiring eyes; for, in addition to Sir Harry, Sir Paget, and Mr. -Poole, there were seven or eight others present, all in high spirits -and eager for the sport. Not that Sir Paget affected field sports -much, but he thought that it became his position to do so, and more -especially as he was the husband of so young a wife, to display a -certain amount of juvenility. - -All present were ruddy-featured country gentlemen of various ages, -and while discussing an ample and genuine hunting-breakfast, though -some who were connected with the farming interest spoke of the -weather and the turnip-fly, of the Devonshire breed and short-horns, -of mangold-wurzel and the rotation of crops, matters about which, -sooth to say, Sir Paget and Mr. Poole knew no more than they did -about the philosophy of the Infinite, the conversation chiefly ran on -the matter in hand that day--the disadvantage of having the dogs' -collars too tightly buckled, of coupling a young hound with an old -one, and so forth. - -'A very bad plan,' said Sir Harry, 'as the older dogs always vent -their spite on the younger by biting and rolling over them.' - -'Because the pulling on both sides is not even,' said the Squire of -Furzydowns, a noted old sportsman, 'and, if a pair of dogs so coupled -come across a donkey, there is sure to be a row, for, when a bullock -will look round in stupid wonder, a donkey is apt to fly at hounds -with tooth and hoof.' - -'A glorious morning this for the scent,' said Sir Harry; 'a dry -autumn one. And now let us be off. The advantage of hunting early -is that cubs or foxes, after a late supper or early breakfast, are -seldom in a condition to run long, and get blown, as we all know.' - -To Sir Paget, who had neither heart nor interest in sport, and was -rapidly discussing the weather in all its probabilities, as to -whether there would be a change or continuance of its present aspect -and condition, Sir Harry said, - -'Puddicombe, are you still determined to ride that bay horse with the -white star?' - -'Yes,' replied Sir Paget, with just the slightest _soupçon_ of -bravado. - -'Remember, I have warned you that he is rather a vicious brute, and -apt to shy his fences.' - -'Please, do not ride him, Sir Paget,' urged Eveline, in a whisper; -'do not, for my sake.' - -'I should rather think of my own, if I do it for anyone's sake at -all,' he snarled. He could not forgive her the general pallor and -sadness of her face. Death, it is said, hallows the dead anew to the -living. So it would be with the memory of Evan Cameron in the mind -of Eveline, thought Sir Paget bitterly, nor was he far wrong. And, -no doubt, it was rather hard upon him to know that his wife's -thoughts were all of another; but how innocently! - -'As regards the bay horse,' he added, 'I will take my chance.' - -He was loth to appear unable to do anything, and always deemed such -advice as the present an imputation on his age or capability; thus, -he did many a thing he would not have done had Eveline been twenty -years older. - -After a few words aside with Sir Harry, Eveline turned again to her -husband, who had now left the table, and was finally adjusting his -tan-coloured boot-tops. - -'Do not ride the horse,' said she, entreatingly. 'From what I hear, -he is beyond you.' - -'Is he?' snarled Sir Paget, who was in one of his worst humours this -morning. 'But let me tell you, Lady Puddicombe, that I know -something about the choice of a horse, if I don't about the choice of -a wife!' - -Eveline shrank back at this rude speech, and thought that, sooth to -say, he knew little how to choose either. - -'Well--ride the horse, if you will,' said she, resignedly. - -'I shall!' he replied, sharply. - -Lucretia detected that something was wrong, and, raising her voice in -reply to something the Squire of Furzydown had said, she exclaimed, -laughingly, - -'Ah, yes, the country is indeed glorious; for here you can have eggs -to breakfast that are laid while your hair is being dressed, and -flowers on the table fresh with the morning dew on them--yet, I love -London most, after all, especially in the season. And now,' she -added, 'shall my Charlie have its nicey, nicey breakfast of cream?' - -And she emptied a silver jug of the latter into a china bowl for her -wheezy spaniel. - -'What's up with old Sir Peter Teazle?' whispered her brother. - -'That is more than I can tell you, Harry.' - -The two ladies came forth to the door to see the gentlemen mount and -depart. - -Sir Paget got into his saddle with some difficulty, as the bay hunter -swayed round and round, laid its ears back, and looked askance at -him, with red and bloodshot eyes. - -Eveline knew not of her brother's calamity, and neither did Sir -Paget, for none had spoken of Egypt or Egyptian news, and no one at -Hurdell Hall was particularly interested in the Black Watch, herself -excepted; but she felt a mysterious and unaccountable prevision of -coming evil, and once more drew near to offer her pretty hand to Sir -Paget, doing so with affected playfulness, as the eyes of others were -admiringly upon her; but he, giving full rein to his thoughts about -that dead Cameron, whom she had loved and he hated, stooped from his -saddle, and said to her, with a bland smile meant also for other eyes, - -'I have read, Lady Puddicombe, that "nothing exalts a man so much in -a woman's mind as his dying. Look at the affection of widows as -compared with that of wives." Ah, you are sorrowful, no doubt; but -sorrow takes a long while to kill anyone.' - -She knew well what he meant. Her pale cheek crimsoned, and she -turned without a word, deeming it both absurd and cruel that he -should thus be retrospectively jealous. - -The hunters rode merrily off, all in high spirits, save Sir Paget, -who jerked away with his head and was disposed to sulk, for the visit -to Hurdell Hall had wrought no change on Eveline; thus he did not, -like his companions, enjoy the delightful sense of rest and peace in -the cool morning ride to covert. - -The country was silent; ploughmen and shepherds were, as yet, -scarcely abroad; and the full-fed cattle lay couched on the damp -grass that glistened with dew, and from amid which their breaths rose -like silvery steam, and ere long the pack was in sight--Grasper, -Pilot, Holdfast, Catch, and all the rest of them-- - - 'With tails high mounted, ears hung low, and throats - With a whole gamut filled, of heavenly notes' - ---at least in the estimation of the huntsmen. - -Ere long the pack was put into the covert, and stirrup leathers were -tightened and readjusted in hot haste, but with the hunting, the -whipping of unbroken hounds that took to running after sheep, the -gallops over a few fields to get up an appetite for an early luncheon -at the Squire of Furzydown's, the 'chopping' of cubs, our story has -nothing to do, save in so far as one episode of the day is concerned. - -Sir Paget in his heart wished 'the whole affair at Jericho,' or in a -warmer latitude. To him it was no amusement to set out without time -for shaving, to breakfast at an untimeous hour and before he could -get up an appetite, and to ride through the morning mist, with icy -feet and grasping reins sodden with dew, with the certainty of an -attack of rheumatism, when he should have been cosily nestling in -bed; and in addition to all these, having a terrible conflict ever -and anon with the bay hunter. Sir Harry thought him 'a silly old -fogie, who _would_ go cub-hunting to show the world how juvenile he -was,' and he was now beginning to console himself with the prospect -of a luxurious luncheon at Furzydown and the long, lazy afternoon he -would enjoy there before riding leisurely back in the evening to -dinner at Hurdell Hall, when Sir Harry would be sure to sing them the -old Coplow hunt song-- - - 'Talk of horses and hounds - And the system of kennel, - Give me Leicestershire nags - And the hounds of old Menyell!' - - -To Eveline the long day after the early breakfast passed very slowly -at the Hall. She was in no anxiety for Sir Paget's speedy return, -especially after the cloudy manner of his departure, but there were -no other lady visitors there just then, and she and Lucretia Hurdell -had not a thought, sympathy, or topic in common, and she sighed in -utter weariness of spirit as the October day drew to a close, and the -brown and purple shadows of evening began to fall. - -She thought how many such empty days as this were before her, as -autumn passed into winter, winter into spring, and the joyless -summer--joyless at least to her--would come again. Every morning -with its hopelessness, every noon with its listlessness, every -evening seeming more blank than the one that preceded it. Would she -ever more feel bright and merry as at Dundargue, and regain her sweet -and playful habits of caressing affection? - -And for whom? - -She stood in one of the many beautiful Tudor bay windows overlooking -the terrace and chase, idly and full of her own thoughts, and -curiously enough, to her, the rustle of the ivy on the painted panes, -of leaves as they fell from the trees, the stillness of the evening -hour, and the cawing of the rooks in the old belfry of the house -seemed ominous of coming evil. - -Dusk had come on, the trees were taking strange shapes against the -sunset sky, a bat circled noiselessly before her, and the silver -crescent of the moon came out above a coppice. - -A few of these trivial things were, by after events, fixed in her -memory, and associated with that calm and almost sultry October -evening--the lurid brightness of the sun as he set beyond the black -stems of the trees of the chase, the perfume of roses from a majolica -jardinière in the bay window, and the angry hum of a great bee -entangled among the lace of the curtains. - -Suddenly she became aware that a group of men, some on horseback and -some on foot, was slowly approaching the house by the avenue. Amid -this group were four carrying a burden--a man apparently--on a door, -or some such improvised litter. - -Then appeared a groom leading a horse by the bridle--the bay hunter -with a white star on his forehead! - -A gasping cry escaped her; her poor, torn heart leaped, and then -seemed to cease beating, with the dreadful certainty that -something--a new calamity--had happened. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -ALLAN'S ADVENTURE. - -Evil tidings travel fast in these our days of electricity, and true -it was that the unfortunate Allan Graham had fallen into the hands of -the Bedouins, but nothing more was known. - -He had disappeared from Matarieh! - -When his detachment marched into headquarters, Sergeant Farquharson -reported that the Master of Aberfeldie had left the village for a -ramble in the vicinity one evening, so far as could be known, and had -not returned. After a careful search by the Highlanders at a certain -spot, a cigar-case which had been given to him by Cameron of -Stratherroch had been found, and in the immediate vicinity the soil -bore the impression of foot and hoof marks, as if a struggle of some -kind had taken place. If killed he had not been killed there, as his -body could not be found. - -Beyond these meagre and unsatisfactory details nothing more was -known, save that the Bedouins, intent on plunder and outrage, had -been daily hovering about in the vicinity of the mounds and ruins of -Heliopolis. - -Allan had felt very lonely after the loss of his friend Cameron, all -the more lonely and full of tender interest for the general -circumstances of his life and fate, and thus--as the sergeant -reported--he had rambled from the village where his men were -cantoned, a little way into the vicinity to smoke and to ponder over -the past and future. - -After Cameron's catastrophe he felt himself more disposed to think of -Olive, and to think kindly and tenderly, and of his mother's -explanatory letter concerning the extraordinary conduct of Holcroft -and Olive's love and grief; for we are told that 'among all the many -kinds of first love, that which begins in childish companionship is -the strongest and most enduring; when passion comes to unite its -force to long affection, love is at its spring tide,' and in childish -affection had the love of Allan Graham and Olive Raymond begun. - -He lay stretched on a patch of grass, where two or three banana-trees -grew near a ruined wall. The setting sun shed its red light far -along the desert that stretched to the land of Goshen, with its -luxuriant plains--yea, to the far horizon--and Allan, a thoughtful -and a well-read man, as he looked around him, reflected, as he often -did, how strange was the land where just then his duty led him--how -strange that the Egyptians were there, without a tradition of a -parent stock or of another land; that it was only known that a few -generations after the Deluge they had become a great nation. In the -words of Apollonius Rhodius: - - 'Oldest of mortals they who peopled earth, - Ere yet in heaven the sacred signs had birth. - . . . . . . . . - Ere men the lunar wanderings learned to read, - Ere yet the heroes of Deucalion's blood - Pelasgia purpled with a glorious brood; - The fertile plains of Egypt flourished then, - Productive cradle of the first of men.' - -Allan thought as he manipulated and lit another cigar, that the -Egyptians of Arabi Pasha must be of different and inferior stuff from -those to whom the poet of the Argonauts referred. - -And there, but a little way off, lay Heliopolis and Matarieh, two -places of great and solemn memories--Heliopolis, where Herodotus -sought the wisest men in Egypt; where Strabo says they pointed out -the house of Plato, where he then resided; where Potiphar lived, who -bought Joseph from the patriarch; and Matarieh, a spot where the -Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and the Holy Child Jesus tarried, -including a well under a withered sycamore in which--according to the -legendaries--the Holy Mother washed her Divine Infant's linen; a spot -the turbanned Mussulmans still view with respect; and thereby was the -piper of Allan's company playing 'The Evening Retreat,' and from the -distance, over the flat ground, came the sound of his pipes, as he -played 'The Birks of Aberfeldie.' - -Perhaps it was that his reflections were not of a very lively nature, -or that he was wearied by a long reconnaissance that morning in the -direction of El Khan-Kah, but he, perilously for himself, dropped -insensibly asleep, all unaware that a party of Bedouin horsemen, with -hoofs muffled in the soft sand, had formed a kind of semi-circle -round him, cutting off all chance of escape. - -He could not have been asleep more than five minutes when the little -prick of a lance which drew blood roughly roused him. He started to -his feet and found himself confronted, surrounded indeed, by some -twenty dusky sons of the desert, with hawk-like features, eyes that -gleamed, and teeth that glistened exultantly. - -The adjective had rather an unpleasant sound just then, so Allan said, - -'And if not ransomed?' - -The Bedouin slapped the butt of his Remington rifle and grinned, -showing all his pearly teeth, with fierce signification. - -'Who is your leader?' asked Allan, after a pause. - -'That you will discover when you see him.' - -'I trust he will spare my life, at all events.' - -'What does your life, or the lives of all the accursed Franks in the -world, matter?' exclaimed another Bedouin; 'may you all perish by the -hand of God by drowning, as Pharaoh and his host perished, or by His -causing the earth to open and swallow you up, as, the Koran tells us, -happened to Korah!' - -Whether a rumour had reached them of the sharp manner in which -Colonel Warren overtook and punished the Arabian assassins of -Professor Palmer and his companions in misfortune, Allan knew not. -One fact was evident, that they were resolved to lose no time in -carrying him off to their tents among the sandy recesses of Jebel -Dimeshk. - -They ambled on their way so fast, keeping him at a species of run, -that he was on the point of sinking, and besought them to spare him a -little; so, at the command of their leader, they halted for a little -time in the starlight, and, weary and worn with toil and many -emotions, he threw himself on the ground to rest. - -He closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to think over his new and -calamitous position, and the chances of achieving an escape from it. -If money was required--unless the sum demanded proved too -enormous--he could produce a ransom, and he turned uneasily on his -sandy couch as he thought over all his chances of success. - -How like a horrible dream--a nightmare it all appeared--as those -terrible hours spent in the vault at Dundargue had done. - -What would be thought of his disappearance by the regiment, and at -home, and memory flashed back to his soldierly father and tender -mother--for, with all her aristocratic pride, tender she had ever -been to him--so his first thoughts were of her. 'In the man whose -childhood has known caresses there is always a fibre of memory that -can be touched to gentle issues;' so--a captain now, and in such -savage hands--his first ideas were of his mother's grief, rather than -of poor, repentant Olive. - -He might be butchered in the desert, and never heard of again, for -his life was at the mercy and caprice of the most lawless people in -the world. - -His disappearance as a mystery would soon become public property at -home. There would, he knew, be all manner of newspaper paragraphs, -suggestions, and surmises for a few weeks, and then, when these -ceased, his story and his fate would be as much forgotten as last -year's snow. - -Again his captors began their march towards the mountains; and times -there were, as he struggled forward to keep pace with them, when, in -fierce revolt against the whole situation and its dreadful -uncertainties, he felt as if his heart would burst, and a kind of -agonised hopelessness crept into it. - -The Bedouins conveyed him some five and twenty miles or more into the -mountains, till they reached a kind of oasis, where their tents, -which were very numerous, stood. Day was on the point of breaking, -and Allan was utterly worn out. However keen excitement may be, -Nature will demand her due, so he slept on a dirty Bedouin -_barracan_, and ere he did so, so great was the mental and bodily -toil he had undergone, that he felt a kind of pleasure as drowsiness -came upon him--a happiness to find oblivion--oblivion for a time -even. To forget was a species of joy. And so he slept, despite -those plagues of Egypt, the gnats, mosquitoes, and sand-flies. - -In the morning he was informed that the chief of the tribe, who would -be the arbiter of his fate, was as yet absent; and that, if he made -the slightest attempt to escape, he would be shot down without mercy. - -'God is great,' added his informant, who, like most Mussulmans, -interlarded his conversation with pious allusions and quotations from -the Koran; 'and whatever He has decreed will and must come to pass.' - -For breakfast they brought him a few dates soaked in melted butter, a -little sweet milk and curds. So simple are the habits of the -Bedouins that one can subsist for a whole day on such a repast, and -deem himself happy and luxurious if he can add a small quantity of -corn-flour or a little ball of rice. Meat being usually reserved for -the greatest festivals, they rarely kill a kid, save for a marriage -or a funeral, though some tribes eat the flesh of the gazelle and the -desert cow. - -A couple of days on such food, with rough usage and toil--for they -compelled him to groom their horses--a toil degrading to a man of -spirit, rendered Allan somewhat faint. - -He learned incidentally that there was another Frank a prisoner in -their hands, who no doubt, like himself, was anxiously awaiting the -return of the Bedouin chief. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -AMONG THE DWELLERS IN TENTS. - -With waking each morning Allan's miserable thoughts returned, and, -undeterred by the threat of being shot if he attempted to escape, he -thought of nothing else, and closely inspected the Bedouin camp and -its vicinity with that view, despite the warning of the principal -Bedouin, whose name he ascertained to be Abdallah, or 'the servant of -God,' who repeatedly told him that he hoped 'the English would have -their faces confounded,' the exclamation of the Angel Gabriel when he -threw a handful of gravel against the foe at the battle of Bedr. - -As the Bedouins never reside in towns or occupy houses, they live in -encampments, pitching their tents wherever they can find pasturage -for their horses and camels, changing the site of their abode as -often as the support of their cattle or the vicinity of a more -powerful and hostile tribe may compel them. Sometimes they sow a -little Indian corn, and return to reap it when grown. The milk of -their cattle and a few esculents found in the desert are their chief -food. - -All are trained to the use of arms, and are skilled in horsemanship, -and Allan could perceive that the care of the flocks and herds was -committed mostly to the women, while the youth of the tribe--all -fellows spare of form, light of limb, and active as their native -gazelles--were in their saddles scouring round the camp, and -practising the use of the javelin, the spear, and the Remington -rifle, with which many in Lower Egypt were now armed, as they had -been flung away in thousands by the fugitive soldiers of Arabi. - -The innate love of freedom which is fostered by the facilities for a -nomadic life, and the desert-locomotion which his horses and camels -afford him, impart to the Bedouin a dignified and haughty bearing, -which contrasts powerfully with the servility and pusillanimity of -the rustic sons of Egypt. - -Unchanged from unknown generations, they are the same as when Volney -wrote of them--'Pacific in their camp, they are everywhere else in a -habitual state of war. The husbandmen whom they pillage hate them; -the travellers whom they despoil speak ill of them; and the Turks, -who dread them, endeavour to divide and corrupt them.' - -Their wandering life affords more freedom to their women than usually -falls to the lot of Moslem females, and the wild desert, where they -always dwell, becomes in many cases the actual scene of those keen -and passionate love adventures which are depicted in the tales and -poems of the Arabians. - -If Allan would escape from these Bedouins, he would require to have -all his wits about him, and not risk the slightest mistake. - -'The child of the desert, reared in continual wandering, possesses in -the fullest degree the activity of _sense_,' says a writer. 'His -spirit is all abroad in his perceptive organs; he is voluble and -sagacious, quick, passionate, and sympathetic, but by no means -intellectual. Quickness of perception and strength of imagination -are mental characteristics of the Bedouin, and superstition, the -child of ignorance, is nowhere more powerful than among the wanderers -of the desert.' - -But in what direction was Allan to bend his steps, if he contrived to -elude his captors? He might only wander into the barren desert--a -sea of sand--there to perish of hunger and thirst, or be overtaken to -suffer a cruel death. - -Reflection showed him that it would be better to temporise--to await -the return of the sheikh, and endeavour to treat about a ransom. - -Beyond the encampment of rude tents, which they carry with them from -wadi to wadi--the male portion employing their horses and camels in -the transport from one oasis to another--Allan could see the desert, -traversed by the camel-route to Suez by Regum-el-Khel, spreading far -away to the north-east, the horizon enveloped in fog in the morning -and evening, for the season was moist now. - -Near the camp was the tomb of a santon, or holy man, surmounted by a -little white dome, and shaded by date-trees. - -Had the camp been pitched on higher ground, instead of in a green -hollow, Allan might have known his precise whereabouts, as he would -have seen in the distance to the south Mount Mokattam, crowned by the -citadel of Cairo, with the many minarets of the great capital at its -base. - -On the third day, a commotion was caused by the arrival of the -sheikh, who rode in, accompanied by an escort, all well armed and -mounted. Allan was at once brought before him, full of natural -anxiety to learn his fate, and great was his satisfaction to discover -in him Zeid-el-Ourdeh, the Bedouin whom he had found wounded and -bleeding near the camp of the Black Watch, and whom he had succoured -and sent rearward to the hospital at Ismailia. - -The recognition was mutual. He sprang from his horse, tossed the -bridle to an attendant, and welcomed Allan to his tents, adding, - -'I called you my brother when, after Kassassin, I thought the hand of -death was upon me; and you are not the less my brother now that you -have eaten bread and salt with my people.' - -He had quite recovered from his sword-wound apparently, and as he -moved about in his long, flowing dress, with the ends of his -shawl-turban floating over his shoulders, his bearing and aspect were -stately and graceful. - -Allan, encouraged to find that his personal safety was now so far -secured, ventured to speak of his liberty; but Zeid shook his head, -while a glitter, suggestive, not of cruelty, but unmistakably of -greed and avarice, came into his eyes; and he informed his prisoner -that he would have to accompany the tribe further into the desert, to -another oasis, where the grass was green. - -His heart sank on hearing this. - -Whether Zeid-el-Ourdeh meant to retain him as a species of hostage, -in the hope of a ransom, or in the absurd idea of attaching him to -his own fortunes, as useful from his knowledge of arms and European -tactics, Allan could not divine. Anyway, his life for the present -was safe in his hands, though Zeid's power might fail to protect him -from other Bedouins, or the exasperated fellaheen of Arabi Pasha. - -Zeid gave him back his claymore, which Allan greatly valued, as it -was a family heirloom--an old Ferrara blade, which his father and -grandfather had worn in the Black Watch long before him. - -Zeid's own sword was a very remarkable one, which he had found in the -sand near the Red Sea. It was long, straight, and double-edged, with -a cross-guard of the middle ages, and had evidently been the trusty -blade of some pious crusader, who had lost it, with his life perhaps, -on the way to Jerusalem; and, like the sword of the Cid, it was -inscribed, _Ave Maria gratia plena dominus tecum_. - -'You look half-starved!' said Zeid, as he regarded Allan's face. - -'I am wholly starved. I have had only some dates and milk for three -days,' replied Allan, who, with some satisfaction, heard him order a -kid to be killed, that they might have a repast together, and then he -ordered the other Frankish prisoner to be brought before him. - -'Holcroft!' exclaimed Allan, in a breathless voice, and scarcely able -to believe his senses, when one, who seemed undoubtedly that -obnoxious personage, was dragged before the sheikh with a sullen and -defiant air scarcely suited to the situation. His European surtout -and trousers were discoloured, tattered, and torn; he had on a -scarlet tarboosh, and wore his fair beard at some length now. - -'Holcroft!' exclaimed Allan again, 'you here? Here in Egypt--what -miracle is this?' - -'Your words express more surprise than pleasure,' replied Holcroft, -while Zeid-el-Ourdeh looked from one to the other in some surprise at -their evident sudden recognition. 'Ah,' he continued, with a -malevolent grimace, 'you thought I was drowned, no doubt, and feeding -the fishes in the Solent!' - -'You are reserved for a drier and more deserved death, I presume,' -said Allan. - -'Sneer as you may over me and my misfortunes----' - -'Misfortunes, you miscreant! But how in the name of wonder----' - -'If you care to know how I come to be here, in the same unpleasant -and unsavoury hands with yourself--a gunboat picked me up off -Southsea, for I am a strong swimmer, but, for all that, was too -exhausted to be sent ashore. I was put into the sick-bay and brought -on here, all the way to Ismailia, and then turned adrift to live by -my wits. I made my way to Cairo, and was fain to become -billiard-marker at the hotel where I saw you, and once again at the -review before the Abdin palace. The 196hotels, and cafes too, tired -of me. I was setting out on foot to overtake some of your invalids -en route to Ismailia when these infernal Bedouins nabbed me, and I am -here.' - -'And now that you are here, may I inquire what you mean to do with -your precious self?' - -'Take office under the Khedive's government. There will be no end of -nice pickings for Europeans now that the shindy is over.' - -'Office--as what?' - -'Oh, anything--I am not particular--Inspector-General of Harems would -suit me to a hair--down to the ground, in fact.' - -'Bantering villain! And how about those diamonds you stole from Miss -Raymond--a luckless heirloom in our family, always bringing evil to -the holder or wearer?' - -'Well, they have brought no evil to me yet,' replied Holcroft, with a -defiant grin--a dogged one too; 'I have them safe here,' he added, -slapping his breast pocket, 'and don't mean to part with them. They -are quite a fortune to me.' - -And he had the folly, the madness, in mere bravado, to show them for -a moment. - -'Keep these, fellow--they are certain to bring you ill-luck in some -way.' - -Allan was nearer the truth than he thought, as the sharp eyes of the -sheikh saw the flash of the stones, and the spirit of acquisition was -instantly kindled in his breast. - -'Well,' thought Allan, 'this unexpected meeting is a strange -coincidence; but, as Miss Braddon says, "life is made up of curious -coincidences."' - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -KISMET. - -Allan was aware that the sheikh had seen the jewels, though for a -moment only, that were in Holcroft's possession. He knew that greed -and the _Lex Talionis_, or law of retaliation, are distinctive marks -of the Bedouin character; but he also knew that their regard for -hospitality is not a less remarkable characteristic, and that even an -enemy is secure if he can obtain refuge in a tent. - -Ali Bey (otherwise known as Don Pedro de la Badia) relates that when -a Bedouin heard that his wife had given food to his mortal foe, who -had sought charity at his tent, not knowing who or what he was, -observed, 'I should probably have slain my enemy had I found him -here; but I should not have spared my wife had she neglected the -sacred laws of hospitality.' - -But Allan felt doubtful how the sheikh might be disposed to respect -these laws in the case of one like Holcroft, who had not fled to his -tents for succour, but been brought there a captive, and had -comported himself in a dogged and defiant way. - -'And you had actually sunk to being a billiard-marker?' said Allan. - -'For a time--yes; nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal. When -taking stock of my affairs I found them shady--very; my assets -falling far short of my liabilities. Thus I was forced to play out -the only card left me, and put the screw upon your wealthy cousin, -Miss Raymond. Sorry I can't give you a copy of that remarkable photo -of Olive and myself, of which, no doubt, you all know now.' - -'All,' replied Allan, amazed that the man could exult in his utter -and degrading villainy. To him it seemed almost incredible that one -who was by birth a gentleman, the son of a gallant old officer, and -bad been the associate of gentlemen, could fall so low as Holcroft -had done, and be so callous and shameless. - -'Oh, for a glass of bitter or Burton and a good cigar!' said -Holcroft; 'and, by the way, as you seem to speak his lingo, will you -ask this old nigger in the striped counterpane why he keeps me here, -and what he means to do with me.' - -Allan inquired this of Zeid in Arabic; but to him it seemed that -Hawke Holcroft totally failed to comprehend or to take it in that he -was in any peril at all. As an Englishman he thought that no 'dashed -foreigner' dared meddle with or molest him, yet these Bedouins had -him at their mercy sure enough; and to judge of matters or chances by -the standard of Regent Street and Piccadilly, would hardly do under -the summits of the Jebel Dimeshk. - -Remarking the tarboosh worn by Holcroft, and using Allan as an -interpreter, the sheikh asked, - -'Are you a Mussulman?' - -'No,' replied Holcroft, with a laugh. - -'A Christian, then?' - -'No,' was the strange response. - -'You must believe either in the Prophet or Christ?' - -'I believe in neither.' - -'Unhappy wretch!' exclaimed the sheikh, with astonishment in his tone. - -'Men may believe in both, yet follow neither.' - -'So do the devils believe--and like devils tremble' said the Bedouin. - -'Well, I do not.' - -'Do you feel no trust in God?' - -'None!' was the blunt and defiant reply. - -'Why?' - -'He has always left me to myself.' - -Allan sighed at this hopeless response, while the blasphemy of it -filled the Bedouin--who, whatever his shortcomings in the way of -_meum_ and _tuum_ were, was pious in his way--with horror and -indignation. After a pause, he said, - -'Look at his eyes--they are grey; and does not the Koran say that on -the last day "we shall gather the wicked together having grey eyes." - -The twentieth chapter certainly has that curious remark, for with the -Arabs--a black-eyed race--to have grey eyes is the mark of an enemy -or a person to be avoided. - -'You knew this man in Frangistan!' said Zeid. - -'Too well,' replied Allan. - -'Then he has wronged thee?' was the sharp question and suspicion of -the Bedouin. - -'Deeply; he tried to kill me, indeed.' - -'Yet he lives?' - -'Yes.' - -'Why is this?' - -'I thought he was dead--drowned,' replied Allan, evasively. - -'Take this sword and smite off his head. The blade is sharp enough.' - -Allan shook his head and drew back. - -'You Franks are fools!' said Zeid, while the miserable Holcroft, -though he knew not a word of what passed, guessed the terrible import -of it, and glanced imploringly at Allan. - -'Do you think,' said Zeid, after a pause, 'that his neck is turned to -ivory, as the Koran tells us that of Moses was, when he was about to -be beheaded for slaying an Egyptian?' - -'The Koran--always that weary Koran!' thought Allan, impatiently. - -'Will you tell him,' said Holcroft, 'that, if he expects a ransom -from me, I have neither a friend nor a farthing in the world.' - -Allan did so. - -'Liar! may God burn thee!' exclaimed Zeid, as he thought of the -diamonds, and, acting in obedience to a sign from him, Abdallah, -unknown to Holcroft, was stealing behind him, armed with a heavy and -deeply curved Damascus sabre of the keenest edge. - -There was a flash in the sunshine as the blade was swept round by a -swift back-handed stroke, and the head of the miserable Hawke -Holcroft rolled along the ground, as his body fell prostrate on it in -a heap, with the red blood welling out from every vein and artery of -the neck. - -'He has met his _kismet_,' said Zeid, complacently. - -At this sudden catastrophe, Allan turned away horrified--utterly -appalled. He had seen men wounded in every way, and mutilated too by -shot and shell, but had never seen aught like this--and in cold -blood, too! - -'He believed neither in the Prophet nor in Christ,' said Zeid, -complacently; 'now that he is in hell, that cemetery for lost souls, -he may learn the truth.' - -And, torn from the pocket of the wretched creature's tattered -surtout, the fatal diamonds were placed in the hands of -Zeid-el-Ourdeh. - -Allan, as he saw them sparkling in the sunshine, thought of all he -heard his father say of them, and marvelled to whom they would bring -evil next. If to the sheikh, he was fated never to know. - -It was some time before he recovered the shock this scene gave him, -but it rendered his desire to be gone--to be free--irrepressible; yet -he dreaded just then to approach the subject with Zeid. Whether it -was the excitement of a blood-shedding or acquisition of the -diamonds, or both together, Zeid was in high good humour, and about -noon gave Allan a dinner unusually sumptuous in his own tent. - -Upon a tray of tinned copper were placed saucers of pickles, salad, -and salt, with thin cakes of bread, and in the centre a dish of rice, -highly seasoned with spice and saffron. Neither forks nor spoons -were there, and he had to use his fingers. Thus it made him shiver -to see the sheikh plunge his copper-coloured digits into the dish one -moment and thrust them half-way down his open throat the next. - -He always clapped his hands when he wanted any attendance. - -A cotton towel surrounded the tray on the ground, on which they -occasionally wiped their hands; then pipes of tobacco followed, and -the sheikh became sociable, as he reclined back against a saddle over -which some shawls and a barracan were spread, and Allan began to cast -about in his own mind how to approach the subject of his departure. - -He gathered courage from the knowledge that, after eating bread and -salt together, or even salt alone, in the East, produces mutual -obligations of friendship. - -The sheikh was a man of great piety, after his own fashion. He said -his prayers five times daily, the first time being between daybreak -and sunrise, turning towards Mecca, and five times daily he washed -his hands. He was a firm believer in magic, and that there existed -somewhere in Upper Egypt, Ishmonie, or the Petrified City--so called -on account of the great number of statues, representing men, women, -children, and animals, with which its silent streets abound--all of -which he believed to have been once animated creatures, miraculously -changed into stone by a whisper of the prophet, in all the various -attitudes of standing, sitting, or falling, but none of which are -ever visible save to true believers. - -He also firmly believed in the miraculous egg laid by a hen after -Tel-el-Kebir, on which was inscribed the words--'Arabi has lost the -battle because he mutilated the corpses of the enemy. Allah has -punished him, but He will give victory to him in the end, if he will -keep the commands in the future.' - -'Hah!' said he, after a long pull at his chibouque, 'at Tel-el-Kebir -your bare-legged men came on as hell will come at the last day.' - -'How is that?' - -'As the Koran tells us, with seventy thousand halters, each dragged -by seventy thousand angels--a power nothing can withstand.' - -'Accursed as you unbelievers are,' said he, after a pause, 'God seems -to give you a wondrous power, even as he gave Solomon the gift of -miracles in a degree greater than anyone before him; the animals and -the vegetables obeyed him, and he was carried by the winds of heaven -above the stars therein, and his power over the genii was by a seal -ring, of which one part was brass and the other iron, and upon it was -graven the great name of God. Yes, though unbelievers, you are swift -in action as the pigeons of Aleppo; not like the Osmanli, who would -catch hares in waggons,' he added, with reference to the proverbial -slowness of the Turks. - -'Sheikh,' said Allan, in his most persuasive manner, 'you know that I -befriended you when in sore peril.' - -'Yes, as my brother would have done,' said Zeid, his expressive face -lighting up and his black eyes sparkling under the hood of his -burnous, as he pointed with his left hand to his right shoulder, -which had been slashed by the long sword of one of our Life-Guardsmen. - -'Well, in memory of that you will allow me to depart home freely to -my people?' - -'Why? Are you not comfortable enough here? Is not one place that -God has made as good as another? And who and what are your people? -With all their skill and power, they are but wretched unbelievers, -who go to battle with their legs bare, accompanied by bags of devils, -that squall and groan, like those who strove to defame Solomon.' - -'Do be just, sheikh!' urged Allan. - -'I shall--is not justice the sister of piety?' - -'You will allow me to go, then?' - -'I have not said so. Why leave the desert and go back to cities, -where men become intoxicated with the pleasures of this life, and -forget that which is to come?' - -Allan sighed. By this time he was weary of the sheikh and his -stilted conversation. - -Beginning with the inevitable aphorism, 'There is only one God and -Mohammed is his Prophet,' the sheikh, after a pause, continued thus -between long whiffs of his cherry-stick pipe: 'Stay with us and pray -with us five times a day, each time turning to the Kebbah; eat not in -the daytime during the whole feast of Ramadan, make the pilgrimage to -Mecca, give alms to the widow and the orphan. These are the sources -from which all goodness springs. Stay with us and do all these -things. Become my brother indeed--a son of the desert. Why go back -among the accursed Franks? You know how to use the sword, the spear, -and the rifle. Stay with us; we shall give you a rich pelisse, a -good blood mare, and a Bedouin girl, beautiful, good, and virtuous.' - -This programme scarcely suited the views of the Master of Aberfeldie, -but the situation was such a grave one that he dared not laugh at it. - -'But you need not go to Mecca,' said the sheikh, as an after-thought. - -'Why?' - -'God is everywhere--why seek Him at Mecca, when we have Him here in -the desert?' - -Allan pled hard, and spoke of bribes and ransom, but apparently in -vain, and he began to get sorely perplexed by the prospect before -him, especially if the tribe took their departure--of which there was -every prospect--in search of 'pastures new' further from Grand Cairo, -and towards the plain of Muggreh. - -He was obliged to dissemble his disgust and mortification, and could -only hope of finding an opportunity of 'making,' as he thought, 'a -clean bolt of it.' - -A few uneventful days passed, and during these he could not help -being struck with the simplicity of the domestic life and manners of -the Sheikh Zeid-el-Ourdeh and his family. - -Though the commander of more than six hundred horse, he did not -disdain to saddle and bridle his own steed or to give him his barley -and chopped straw. - -In his humble tent his wife made the coffee, kneaded the dough, and -cooked all the victuals, though a kind of princess in the desert and -among her people. His daughters and kinswomen attended to the linen, -and, closely veiled, went to the wells or springs for water, with -classic-looking pitchers of brown ware balanced on their -gracefully-carried heads--in ways, manners, and ideas all unchanged -from those described by Homer, or as we find them in the history of -Abraham and in Genesis. - -It was while a prisoner thus with Zeid, that Allan heard the strange -story promulgated by Arabi, that all Egyptians who fell fighting for -the faith would come back to earth as spirits mounted on snow-white -horses and armed with miraculous swords to completely exterminate the -British--an idea evidently borrowed from the Koran, which ascribes -Mohamed's victory at Bedr to his having as allies three thousand -spirits led by the angel Gabriel mounted on his horse Haizum. - -On this subject the Paris _Temps_ recorded that an Arab servant -belonging to their correspondent asked the latter whether he had seen -any of the returned spirits from Kassassin in recent encounters, and, -on being answered in the negative, declared that the correspondent -could not see them because he was _not_ an Englishman. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE LAST OF SIR PAGET. - -And now to glance homeward at more civilised scenes--to the -catastrophe at Hurdell Hall. - -The terrible tidings were soon made known to Eveline that Sir Paget, -on the homeward ride from Furzydown, had been suddenly seized by an -unaccountable fit of irritation, and, in defiance of all advice and -entreaty, though a bad horseman, had lashed and spurred the bay -hunter--a vicious brute--while needlessly rushing it at a high fence, -and been thrown with terrible violence. - -In short, his neck was broken, and he had died on the spot without -pain. A door had been procured from an adjoining barnyard, and on -this humble bier the body had been brought to the Hall. - -As one in a dreadful dream Eveline listened to all this, and the -awful shadow of something--_something_, as yet unthought of and -unconceived, fell blackly and bleakly across the dark horizon of her -life, as she saw the body borne past her--the body she shrank from -touching--borne past her indoors; and a darker shadow would yet fall, -when she learned the news from Egypt. - -Weakened by all she had undergone hitherto, and overcome by the -sudden horror of the present event, Eveline could scarcely stand. - -'You cannot go up the staircase to bed,' said Lucretia Hurdell, -kindly. - -'Oh--yes; yes, I can,' replied Eveline, with dry lips. - -But she sank in a heap on the Persian carpet. - -'Lift her up, Harry,' said his sister. - -Harry was only too ready, and raised her at once in his strong arms. - -'Oh, please to put me down,' said Eveline, imploringly; 'don't touch -me--I can walk.' - -'Nonsense, dear Lady Puddicombe--you must permit me,' he urged. - -And holding the helpless girl close to him--so close as to preclude -all attempted resistance on her part--he bore her steadily upstairs, -and past the room where _it_ lay, covered with a sheet, and straight -to a new apartment prepared for her, followed by his sister and -Clairette. - -The fast, horsey baronet's breath mingled with hers, but -unconsciously for her, poor girl! Her soft face reclined on his -shoulder, and he saw just then, more than ever, how fair and -delicate--how very lovely she was; and he began to develop--or scheme -out--some very ambitious plans of his own. - -Hurdell Hall and the Hurdell estates were rather deeply dipped, and -thus 'Old Pudd's money, even if encumbered by such a lovely bride, -would be very acceptable when the time came.' - -So thought Sir Harry, with the man--but a few hours dead--lying stark -and stiff within a few yards of him. - -Fortunately for Eveline, 'Nature's innocent opium, fatigue'--with her -it was fatigue of mind--procured her some sleep; thus she was -supposed to be the better able for what she would be compelled to -hear on the morrow, as a telegram had arrived from Lady -Aberfeldie--addressed to her--a document that, as Sir Harry said, -'proved a regular floorer, by Jove!' - -In the morning, he said, - -'She must not be told, as yet, of what yesterday's paper -contained--the mysterious disappearance of her brother, to whom she -seems most tenderly attached.' - -'But how about the telegram from Southsea?' asked Lucretia. 'No -doubt it refers to that event. Indeed, we do not know what it -contains, good or bad news. It must be given to her; we have no -right to conceal or keep it back, and may commit mischief by doing -so.' - -Sir Harry tugged his straw-coloured moustache with an air of -perplexity, and said, while busy with coffee and game-pie, - -'By all means, then; if Lady Puddicombe is to know about her -brother--which, I fear, will cut her up more than poor old -Puddicombe's catastrophe--there is no one who can break the news to -her better than you, Lucretia.' - -'How?' - -'You are such a precious cool hand, don't you know.' - -Miss Hurdell looked as if this was not very flattering, but quitted -the luxurious breakfast-table, saying, - -'Poor thing, she is not fit to hear any more bad news; she has such a -worn-out look already.' - -The telegram _did_ refer to Allan--a most unwise mode of breaking -such terrible intelligence--but Lady Aberfeldie never doubted that -her daughter must have seen the public prints. - -Eveline uttered a low wail, and fainted. A cry of terror escaped -Clairette, who drew away the pillows from under her mistress's head, -opened the collar of her laced night-dress, to let the air play -freely about her delicate neck and white bosom, while she bathed her -temples freely with Rimmel and Eau-de-Cologne; and Miss Hurdell, -whose nature was somewhat hard, and who had never seen anyone faint -before, looked on with some fear and suspicion, as animation slowly -came back to the lovely face, with gasping sobs on the lips and heavy -respirations, which made her bosom heave and fall. - -George Eliot says, with truth, 'It is a wonderful moment the first -time we stand by one who has fainted, and witness the fresh birth of -consciousness spreading itself over the blank features like the -rising sunlight on the Alpine summits that lay ghastly and dead under -the leaden twilight. A slight shudder, and the frost-bound eyes -recover their liquid light, for an instant they show the inward -semi-consciousness of an infant, then with a little start they open -wider, and begin to look, the present is visible, but only as a -strange writing, and the interpreter memory is not yet there.' - -The dull mental agony that comes after acute anguish or a great -shock, proved too much for Eveline now, and she became prostrate, -seriously ill in the hands of her new friends, and Clairette wrote -instantly to Olive Raymond. - -Eveline at times burst into passionate sobs, then she would lie very -still with her long lashes closed and the tears oozing from under -them, slowly down her pale cheeks, though her slender throat would be -agitated by those after-sobs that seem so uncontrollable. Other -times she would lie perfectly still, lost in deep thought, as she -pictured all the past and tender love her manly brother had ever -borne her, and how gently he pitied her, when he discovered her love -for the lost Evan Cameron. - -'The devil!' said Sir Harry to himself, as he smoked a cigar on the -terrace under her windows, and looked up there from time to time and -twirled his long fair moustache; 'who could have imagined all this! -She must have loved that old fellow after all.' - -'In the light of a father, perhaps,' suggested Mr. Pyke Poole. - -'Of course--you are right; how else could she have looked upon him. -Her sorrow must be for her brother.' - -'Perhaps both.' - -'Who the devil are all those cads crossing the park?' exclaimed Sir -Harry, with sudden anger, perhaps at his friend's mild suggestion. - -'The coroner's inquest.' - -The latter was 'a thundering bore' to Sir Harry, who was provoked to -see 'a parcel of louts in half bullet hats' gaping about the Hall. -However, the matter was soon over, permission was given for the -interment, and, after unlimited brandies-and-sodas in the butler's -premises, they all departed in high good-humour with themselves. - -Lord Aberfeldie came to attend the funeral, and brought with him -Olive to remain with Eveline. Lady Aberfeldie did not think the -Hurdells 'good form,' so she remained, as yet, at Southsea. - -Eveline's father and cousin were shocked by the expression of her -face. Intense mental pain seemed written on her brow; and her eyes, -if sunk and inflamed, seemed to have gathered much of intensity. - -The stipulated number of days allowed by custom to elapse between the -day of death and that of interment were over, and the funeral too; -Lord Aberfeldie, Sir Harry, Mr. Pyke Poole, and many others in scarfs -and hatbands of wonderful length had departed with the remains for -Slough-cum-Sloggit by train, and some of their carriages were now -returning through the sunshiny park, where the soft rain was falling, -and, as the clouds were breaking up, bright gleams of radiance danced -along the sward. - -Unused to death and unsympathetic, Lucretia Hurdell felt intense -relief. - -The great Tudor hall, with all its window blinds down and shrouded in -silence and gloom, had seemed to her for all these days like one -large sepulchre, though an odour of hothouse flowers was everywhere -as the gardener brought all his treasures--hyacinths, waxen camelias, -gardenia, faint Dijon roses, and so forth--to decorate the corridor, -the death-chamber, and the coffin, while, unconscious of all the -mischief he had wrought, the bay hunter enjoyed his corn and beans as -usual. - -So the coffin was laid in 'the family vault,' where lay the first -baronet of the House of Puddicombe and the first wife of Sir Paget. - -'I shall never lie there,' thought Eveline, with a shudder, when her -father, before returning to Southsea, gave her the final details. - -Poor Sir Paget was gone, but no one seemed sad about it, and everyone -seemed to grow bright now that he was gone finally. Sunshine and air -came freely into the house through the open windows now, and the -nameless hush that for days had pervaded the vicinity of the dead was -no longer necessary. The decorous sadness that was acted, even in -the servants' hall, imposed by the presence of death--especially the -death of a very rich man--was no longer required. The butler might -whistle as he cleaned the plate, the housemaids might laugh freely -now, and Mademoiselle Clairette indulge in a merry little French -chauson unchecked by that rigid matron in black moire, the -housekeeper. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE YOUNG WIDOW. - -So one of the closing scenes of a sudden tragedy had been acted in -that fine old English manor-house, standing amid its richly-wooded -chase, the undulating sward of which was of such a brilliant emerald -that it reminded those who saw it that Hurdell Hall stood in the most -fertile part of Hampshire. - -When Sir Harry invited Sir Paget to visit him and join him in the -fatal--as it eventually proved--cub-hunting, his object had been a -nefarious one, but quite adapted to the tone of a _blasé_ man about -town like himself, the hope of engaging the beautiful young wife of -his elderly club friend in a very decided case of flirtation--so -ignorant was he of Eveline's character, and how her ill-assorted -marriage was brought about. - -Now he hoped by a more honourable course to secure both her purse and -person. - -By will, however, it was soon known that Sir Paget, to prevent a -younger successor enjoying any of his pelf through her, had stripped -her of everything but what he had been compelled to settle upon her -for life. - -However, Sir Harry thought she was every way a most desirable widow -to win, but her sorrow and sadness were a sore worry to Lucretia. - -'Don't weep, dear,' she would say, in that hard, sharp tone peculiar -to some selfish women. 'It is the worst possible thing for one's -eyes in every way.' - -And, sooth to say, Miss Hurdell's cold, steely orbs did not seem even -to have been much afflicted with the weakness of weeping. - -'Ah--we all have our trials, dear Lady Puddicombe,' she resumed, -after a pause. 'Do try to bear this patiently, and believe it all -for--all for----' - -'All for what?' - -'Well--the best.' - -'The best--how, Miss Hurdell?' - -'Well--he was so old and you so young, don't you see,' replied this -very matter-of-fact person. - -Free--for whom and to what extent? Eveline never viewed the -dispensation of Providence thus; but till Olive came with her -soothing presence, every night amid the darkness of her room, the -pent-up tempest in her bosom--the tempest of unavailing -regrets--would burst forth with loud whispers and sobs till sleep -came, as it always did, at last. - -Before Olive arrived, Lucretia was ever by the bed-side of her 'sweet -Eveline,' sitting for hours together, putting Eau-de-Cologne on her -handkerchiefs and Rimmel on her temples, arranging her pillow or her -footstool if she left her couch for a chair, telling her stories of -foreign life at Naples, Homburg, and Monaco, and so forth, for she -believed that Eveline had been left with a splendid jointure, and a -Scottish estate by a former lover; while Sir Harry lounged about -impatiently in the stables and kennels, with his briar-root, and -thinking 'when will all this end? And _how_ can she go on as she -does about that old pump?' - -But a little time before Eveline had been unconscious of any special -blessedness in her life; _now_--with regard to the fate of her -brother and Evan Cameron--it seemed as if the restoration of the -past, even while encumbered with captious, fretful, and jealous old -Sir Paget, would be worth years of happiness. - -'Oh, my brother--my brother Allan? Were there not wicked people -enough in the world to be taken, that you must be reft from us?' - -And these words found a terrible echo in the heart of Olive. More -weary and empty than ever did life look to both, these girls. -Everyone seemed to have some one to love them--some object in life to -engross them--but neither of them had any now. - -'If I could only die--if I could only die!' Eveline would murmur, as -she tossed her sweet face and dishevelled hair on her pillow, and -thought of that grave in the desert, and betrayed a frame of mind -beyond the conception of mundane Lucretia Hurdell. - -And her mind would go back to the old days with all their brightness -at Dundargue and in Mayfair, before Sir Paget came into the family -picture, and when pleasure seemed all her thought and occupation, and -care quite beyond her province! - -And the girl lay there thinking--thinking--it was impossible for her -not to think and surmise. But for this sudden accident, how long -might Sir Paget have lived at his years: and how long would he have -tormented her about Evan? - -As if to infer that she desired his death, how often had he said in -the bitterness of his heart, before the news of Cameron's fall in -action came, that 'he would cheat her yet, and live as long as she -could do!' - -She was free now, and not past her girlhood; and, if in life, Evan -would be loving her still. But she thrust that natural thought -aside; why brood over it now, when Evan was no more, for somehow -there seemed in it a species of treason to her dead husband--little -as she had loved him--now that he too was in his grave. - -If this was her mode of viewing Evan Cameron, how little chance had -Sir Harry Hurdell of affecting her heart! - -Now that Sir Paget was gone, Eveline repented that his last thoughts -of her as a wife had been bitter, and tried to think of him as a -friend who had been kind at one time, a husband whose settlements had -been generous, and would have been greater but for the jealousy that -made him alter his will. - -She now recalled with something like an emotion of pleasure, or -certainly of satisfaction, that though she did not love, she had ever -respected him, though his references to Evan Cameron had always made -her wince and shiver. - -'Poor man!' she exclaimed; 'and his soul went out into the night--in -a moment--without time for a prayer or supplication to God!' - -'So did the souls of our brave fellows at Tel-el-Kebir and -elsewhere,' replied Olive, who had rather more metal in her -composition than the softer Eveline. - -Olive knew enough of life and of human nature to feel certain that -her cousin was too young to relinquish all the hopes and fears, the -many vague and brilliant dreams of girlhood. Another would come, but -_who_? - -Time would show that. - -'She'll get over all this nonsense by-and-by, poor little thing,' -said Sir Harry to his chum, Pyke Poole, as they knocked the balls -about in the billiard-room, trying canons and so forth for practice. -'She is, by Jove, the best groomed woman in the whole stud of our -acquaintances--perfect in all her points. I'll go in for her, if I -can--but it is too soon to begin the running yet. Girls' fancies -are, however, easily drawn from one object to another.' - -'And I don't think she could have fancied old Pudd much,' said Poole, -as he mixed himself a glass of brandy-and-soda. 'I've seen many a -rough spill in the field, but never such a devil of a cropper as he -came!' - -'You know I might do worse than marry such a sweet girl, Pyke?' - -'You might, by Jingo!' replied Mr. Poole, with a knowing wink, and -thinking--'Why should not he himself enter stakes for such a prize?' - -'Puddicombe's settlements are splendid, I hear, but pass away if she -dies without an heir. No chance of _that_, I think; and then some -soft-headed Scotch fellow--if there is such a thing in the world--who -loved her, has left her a place in the Highlands, where one could -knock over the grouse and blackcock every year. We'll get married -before the Derby. She'll have had plenty of time to air her grief -and her weeds--Jay's "unutterable woe," no doubt--for old Pudd by -that time. I've a heavy bet upon Dasher, and I'll have her in the -grand stand on Cup Day, with my jockey's colours somewhere about her -dress. She'll look, as she always does, a stunner!' - -Poole could not help laughing as his friend ran on thus, in perfect -confidence, and stroked his long yellow moustache. Though rather a -bit of a reprobate, Sir Harry looked every inch a gentleman, a -long-limbed sanguine blond, alternately blunt and overbearing; -resolute and indolent, with the general air of a man who has seen -everything that was to be seen--done everything that was to be done, -and 'had found nothing in it.' - -'To speak to her for a space would never do. I'll take my time,' he -resumed; 'none but a fool meets trouble half-way.' - -She would learn to love him in time--hang it all, how could she -resist! This comfortable impression made him feel quite easy on the -subject, and by degrees the satisfaction that always accompanies a -weak mind took possession of him. - -Olive never doubted that when Eveline got over the death, not of Sir -Paget, but of Evan Cameron, she would marry again. She was too young -to treasure a morbid grief; but Olive would not like to have seen her -Lady of Hurdell Hall, for, with all a woman's sharp instincts, she -had indefinable doubts about Sir Harry. - -After Olive joined her, the two girls were never weary of comparing -their hopeless notes and sorrows, and of searching the public prints. -Eveline could do so freely and unchidden now for any further meagre -tidings that might come of the lost one. - -An unexpected and startling event--to be detailed in its place--did -happen, and was duly recorded, but was unnoticed by them; and those -who did see it, cared not to speak or write of it, while others were -unaware of the deep and vital interest it possessed for them both. - -'Dear Olive, but for you coming to me I think I might have lost my -life--my reason--certainly my peace of mind--everything!' exclaimed -the affectionate and effusive Eveline, wreathing her soft white arms -round her cousin's neck, and nestling her face therein. - -The first day she was 'downstairs' was quite an event at Hurdell -Hall, so great was the fuss made of her by the baronet and his sister. - -In her dressing-room she had been fully attired in her crape dress by -Clairette, who might as well have dressed a lav-figure for all the -apparent power of volition there was in Eveline. Again and again she -had tried to bathe her cheeks into some colour, to smooth her hair, -and went with slow reluctant steps to the drawing-room at last; and -there the extreme depth of her mourning, her girlish face and figure, -and her pure whiteness of complexion--the soft white of the arum -lily--made her delicate beauty seem more striking than ever. - -Sir Harry was beside himself with pleasure, and when he rejoined the -ladies in the drawing-room after dinner, and after all the champagne -he had imbibed at table, his attention and extreme effusiveness were -such that Eveline was compelled at last to say, coldly, - -'Sir Harry, I wish you would go away and leave me--leave me to my own -thoughts.' - -He urged his extreme joy at seeing her again after her long seclusion. - -Eveline had now a horror of Hurdell Hall. It was associated in her -mind with three dire calamities--Evan's death--though she had first -heard of that from Sir Harry in London; Sir Paget's terrible -catastrophe, and, collaterally with it, the strange disappearance of -her darling brother. - -She must get away, without delay, she thought, as the atmosphere of -the place seemed to oppress her. So, in a few days, arrangements -were complete for her departure to join her parents, who were still -at Southsea. - -Well, that was not a thousand miles from Hurdell Hall, thought Sir -Harry; and it was too soon to venture on the subject of love or -marriage yet; but a time would come, and a jolly one he doubted not -it would be. - -But, ere that time came, some very unforseen events had come to pass -with reference to Eveline. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -IN THE DESERT. - -Allan had heard of Private Thomas Keith, of the 72nd Highlanders, -who, after being taken prisoner in Egypt in 1807, rose to the rank of -Aga of the Mamelukes and Governor of Medina; but the prospects of -promotion in the desert, held out to him by Zeid, did not prove very -attractive; and here we may mention that the name of Zeid is of great -antiquity, for it was that of the adopted son of Mohammed, whom he -placed on the Black Stone of the Caaba, and to whom he gave a wife -named Zinab. - -Zeid's wife had already suggested that Allan should have his head -shaved, and that a turban or tarboosh should be substituted for his -tropical helmet, with its red 42nd hackle; so he began to think that -something must be done to put an end to this life of idleness and -annoyance. - -At times he thought he would affect to fall into the views of -Zeid-el-Ourdeh; get the blood mare and put a burnous over his -regimental jacket and kilt, and--leaving the 'Bedouin girl' out of -the category--take an opportunity of trying the speed of the said -mare, and escaping. - -But the time for departing further into the desert drew near, and no -mare was given him; he had, however, the offer of a camel, but that -would not do at all. - -He thought of the distress his disappearance must cause his -family--if deemed dead, their sorrow; and ere long the deletion of -his name from the army list, and from his position in what he deemed -a family regiment, and the whole complication of the situation -maddened him. - -In that Bedouin band were hundreds of dusky robbers with whom he had -not eaten the mystic bread and salt of the East, and who owed him -neither favour nor protection; and thus the grotesque views and -oppressive friendship of Zeid might fail to secure his life at their -hands. - -He knew that they would think no more of killing him than of killing -a kid, and he recalled with sufficient disgust the swift catastrophe -of the wretched Holcroft. - -When rambling on the skirts of the black tented camp, under close -surveillance, however, Allan observed that the tomb of the Santon had -a remarkably broad and peculiar cornice round its dome, that it was -curved upward like the rim of a billycock hat, and that a vine -tendril of considerable strength had ascended, in the lapse of years, -from the base to the summit of the dome; and thus he conceived, if he -could ascend thereinto unseen, he might lie _en perdue_, till the -tribe departed, and then he should be safe. - -The day before the tents were to be struck, Zeid ordered some food to -be procured by his huntsmen, who--though the food of the tribe was -generally farinaceous--succeeded in capturing some of these gazelles -that live in the open plain, where they browse upon the saline and -pungent herbage. - -Fully experienced in the haunts and habits of these animals, Abdallah -and others concealed themselves in a hollow dug out of the sand and -carefully covered over with brambles, and there they captured their -prey by means of a rude network attached to stakes--the former being -slightly concealed in the sand, and raised by means of a rope pulled -when a number of the herd has ventured within its precincts. Thus -twenty or thirty of these beautiful creatures, with their bright -hazel eyes, spiral horns, and slender limbs were taken at a time. - -The gun was used only when other means failed, as ammunition is too -costly for ordinary occasions in obtaining the supplies of food. -Allan, while hovering about the huntsmen, effected a final -reconnaisance of the Santon's tomb, and resolved to make the attempt -that very night. - -When sudden darkness fell as usual, instantly after sunset, and no -moon as yet had risen, while Zeid and his family were busy with their -final ablutions and prayers, Allan--his bold heart beating wildly the -while--crept softly out of the tent, under the uplifted canvas wall -thereof, and crawling flatly on his hands and knees, with the blade -of his drawn sword in his teeth, began to leave the hated encampment -behind him. - -It was a time of keen and poignant excitement. Every moment he -expected to hear an outcry announcing that he was missed from his -place, or seen even amid the gloom and obscurity, by the keen eye of -some practised son of the desert. - -Fortunately all were at their prayers or engaged in preparations for -departure on the morrow, and, as the distance increased between -himself and the dark camp, his spirit began to rise, and he thought -to himself, why had he not made this attempt before? But, sooth to -say, it would have been impossible, as he was less watched latterly -than he had been at first. - -Even at the distance of half-a-mile he did not assume an erect -attitude, lest his figure might be seen between the sky and horizon, -but continued to creep steadily on, till at last he ventured to rise -from the ground, and strode swiftly towards the tomb of the Santon, -which was about two miles from the camp. - -The stars were coming out now, and a sigh of relief escaped him as he -reached it--a sigh that ended in an exclamation of dismay as a tall -Bedouin, who seemed to spring from the ground, so sudden was his -appearance, stood face to face with him, and in a moment he -recognised Abdallah, the second in command under Zeid! - -He perceived Allan's sword in his hand, and, knowing that he was -escaping, drew a pistol from his girdle--a pistol the explosion of -which would have proved most disastrous, but by one trenchant stroke -Allan hewed the Arab's left hand off by the wrist, and hand and -pistol fell on the sand together. - -Muttering a terrible malediction, the Bedouin, wrapping the bleeding -stump in the folds of his burnous, furiously assailed Allan with his -formidable sabre, shouting, as he did so, something to this purpose:-- - -'Unbelieving wretch, you shall go from hence to hell, where your -hands will be chained to your neck, and you will be compelled to -oppose your face to the flames.' - -'Oho!' thought Allan, 'the Koran again!' - -If he had time or means to give an alarm, all would be over. - -It was a life for a life now, and both men fought desperately; both -were expert swordsmen, and both were filled with blackest fury--the -Bedouin by the agony of his wound, and Allan by the peril which -menaced him. - -After pausing to draw breath for a moment, Abdallah came rushing on -with blind rage; Allan warded a cut, and, closing in, caught his -sword-hand by the wrist and held it with an iron grasp; then, -adroitly dropping the basket hilt of the claymore from his right -hand, he caught the shortened blade and plunged it, dagger fashion, -into the breast of the Arab, who fell at his feet and expired. - -Inspired by an instant thought, he dragged the dead body away, and -the hand and pistol also, to some distance from the vicinity of the -tomb, and, returning, proceeded stealthily and speedily, if worn, -breathless, and feeling rather sick by his recent work, to climb by -the branches of the vine up the wall of the circular edifice, and -over its heavily curved cornice, behind which he crouched down flat, -and there he lay for hours, exposed to a shower of rain, the fall of -which he hailed with thankfulness, as it would obliterate any traces -of blood in his vicinity, and also his footmarks from the bruised -branches of the vine which he had used as a ladder. - -He knew that, if retaken now, the discovery of Abdallah's fate would -seal his own; so, if found, nothing was left him but to die sword in -hand. - -Each respiration came heavily, as he lay there listening for every -passing sound, and wondering how he had achieved the first chapter of -his escape, and all the bloody and necessary work so well. - -Strange it was that his hand should avenge the miserable Holcroft; -but he did not think of that till afterwards; nor did he think of the -too baleful effect the wet and damp of the Egyptian night might have -upon his own health. - -At length the rain ceased, and the blue dome of heaven appeared in -all its wondrous beauty--for wondrous indeed it is by the shores of -the Nile, though this was in the first season of the Egyptian year, -when the weather is generally moist. - -But the sky is so cloudless, and the brightness of the moon so -intense, that the natives, when sleeping in the open air, as they -often do, cover their eyes, as the effect of the moon's rays upon the -sight is more dangerous and violent than that of the sun. - -No sleep, however, visited the eyes of Allan that night; he remained -without desire to close them, preternaturally, acutely, and painfully -awake, and watchful as a lynx. - -It was all as Allan anticipated. Day had scarcely dawned, and the -striking of the tents begun, ere he was conscious that his absence -was discovered, and more than a hundred swiftly-mounted horsemen, -with cries and shouts, darted from the camp in every direction around -it in search, and, if afoot, he must inevitably have been overtaken; -but, concealed where he was, he lay in safety, though his heart -throbbed so violently that he seemed to hear its pulsations, as he -heard the Bedouins, at full speed, pass and repass the Santon's tomb, -with guns and rifles unslung, intent on his recapture and destruction. - -He clenched the hilt of his claymore. If traced to where he lay--if -discovered--he could but sell his life, and dearly did he resolve to -do so! - -He heard their voices, their surmises, their suggestions, and their -threats; and lucky it was for him that the rain and subsequently the -heavy dew, of the past night had obliterated the traces of his -footsteps near the tomb and on the tendrils of the vine, also the -traces of the blood of Abdallah, the discovery of whose body was -greeted by yells of rage that pierced the air; but the rain and the -dew were ere long to have a baleful effect on Allan in the time to -come. - -At last the riders seemed to give up the search as hopeless, and by -twos and threes came slowly back to camp, with horses weary and -bridles loose. After mid-day, the tents were finally struck, stowed -away, with all household utensils, on the backs of camels and horses, -and the whole tribe of Zeid-el-Ourdeh took its departure in a -north-easterly direction, towards the great desert, through which -lies the route taken by Bonaparte in 1799, and, before evening fell, -the last of them, like black specks, were alone visible, and ere long -they quite disappeared from view. - -Now Allan, worn and weary, after a day without food or drink, slept -for a time, and the moon, clear, bright, and refulgent, was high in -the heavens when he prepared to descend from his lurking place. - -He looked keenly, anxiously, and carefully round him, as it was -possible that some of the Bedouins might return to their late -camping-ground for some object of their own; and, moreover, others -were to be avoided quite as much as they. - -No living thing was visible, and the most awful silence seemed to -reign around him. - -Allan descended from his perch, stiff, benumbed, and well-nigh -powerless, to begin his lonely and perilous journey; but whither? - -Ignorant of the country and of the way to pursue, he knew not that -the canal which leads from Belbeis to Grand Cairo lay on his left; -and after toiling on without adventure for a few days and nights, -subsisting on dates, wild-beans, and lotus-roots, with a little water -from an occasional spring, he found himself, weary, worn, and faint, -with pains in his head and loins, and shivering in his limbs--the -forerunners of a deadly illness--crossing what is the camel-route to -Suez, as he penetrated into another portion of the desert. - -He saw occasionally vultures, storks, and pelicans; and now and then -a herd of beautiful antelopes swept past him; but--as he thanked -heaven--no Bedouins. More than once he came upon nitre springing up -in the sandy waste, like crystallised fruit. At times these spots -seemed as if overgrown by moss and coated with hoar frost--hoar frost -under a fervid Egyptian sun; and according to the quantity of the -nitre, their fantastic shapes were either a dazzling white, or more -or less tinted by the yellow hue of the sand. - -More than once in his fitful slumbers by night under the baleful dew, -there came before him in a dream the agony of his lurking on the -summit of the tomb in momentary dread of discovery, and then he was -again closing in combat hand-in-hand with Abdallah, the aspect of -whose dark face, with gleaming eyes and glistening teeth, curiously -blended with an idea of Holcroft, came vividly before him; and then, -when just in the act of plunging in his shortened sword-blade, he -would awake with a nervous start to find himself still in solitude -with quiet stars looking down upon him. - -At last when about to sink he saw before him the well-known fringes -of greenery and foliage that indicate the line of a canal, and it -proved to be a portion of that of Moses, and a cry of joy escaped him -when he heard the whistle of a locomotive and saw the welcome smoke -of a train running westward. - -How much the sound and sight we deem alike so hideous spoke to his -heart of home, of ease, of peace, safety, and civilisation. In -short, he soon discovered that he was midway between Kassassin and -Mahsameh and by a liberal promise of backsheesh to an Egyptian -labourer whom he met, and whose assistance he solicited, he reached a -railway station and obtained all the succour he needed from the -European officials there. - -By them he was placed in a train for Ismailia, and ere long he saw -once more those places which were familiar to him as having passed -them with the troops--Ramses, Tel-el-Mahuta, and El-Magfar, where the -Black Watch had encamped, and where he had befriended Zeid-el-Ourdeh; -and ere long he could recognise, when he had left the sea of sand -behind him, the white-walled houses of Ismailia against the deep blue -of the sky, and the tall forest of masts, those of our transports and -warships in the adjoining lake of Timsah. - -He had no recollection of more, or even of reaching the railway -station. His heart beat wildly, his head swam round him, and a -darkness seemed to envelop him. He had fainted. - -On partially recovering he found himself in bed, but he knew not -where, and dimly seen, as in a glass, he thought he saw Evan Cameron -bending over him--Evan looking pale and wan as when he buried him in -the sand. - -'Oh, God,' sighed Allan, as he closed his eyes to shut the vision -out, 'is this madness or delirium that has come upon me?' - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -EASTWARD HO! - -Lady Aberfeldie was a Scottish Episcopalian of the first class; one -whose boast it was that she always distinguished Christmas and Easter -by mince-pies and cheesecakes; and who rather looked down on English -Ritualists and Tractarians as 'second chop;' and who never saw a -Michaelmas without its goose; but she forgot the Michaelmas of this -year, and with good reason too. - -The sudden arrival in the hospital at Ismailia of Captain Graham, the -missing officer of the Black Watch, who had been carried off by -Bedouins at Matarieh, and who was supposed to have shared the -terrible fate of Professor Palmer and his companions, was duly -'wired' home, like many other items of Egyptian news, and caused no -small excitement among the inmates of Puddicombe Villa, Southsea. -The telegram added that he was without a wound, but was supposed to -be dying of enteric fever, the result of all he had undergone when in -the desert. - -'Dying!' exclaimed his mother, pale as a lily; 'oh, it cannot be.' - -And Olive looked the picture of mute misery. - -Lord Aberfeldie telegraphed to the chief of the medical staff at -Ismailia for distinct intelligence, and the reply--waited for with -intense anxiety--came in its usual orange-tinted envelope. - -'Not dying yet, but recovery very improbable.' - -Lord Aberfeldie, with the promptitude of an old soldier, and full of -affection and anxiety, wished to start at once for Egypt, and alone; -but the three ladies of his family insisted on going also, so he -yielded to their tears, entreaties, and importunities--especially -those of Olive, whose misery was very great; and he had much sympathy -with a young and loving heart. 'Let no one decry the suffering of -the young because they are young,' says a writer; as we grow older we -get used to pain, both mental and bodily. - -Olive passed the hours, previous to departure, pretty much as we do -those which precede a funeral; everything was done as a duty, -dressing, undressing, sitting down to meals, and so forth--seeming to -have no interest in anything, as if for the time, life and all its -interests was over and done with. - -'Oh, Eveline,' she exclaimed, 'what advantages men have over us in -this world.' - -'Of course they have,' replied her cousin, 'but to what do you refer -in the present instance?' - -'Now, if we were men, we could start for Egypt alone; as it is, we -can only go with your papa.' - -'If you were a man, Olive, you would not think of going at all.' - -'Indeed--why?' - -'Little goose! If a man, would you be engaged to Allan? Are you -going to become an advocate for women's "rights"--whatever they may -be?' - -'No--but it is tiresome to have to run in the grooves of life that -men lay down for us. Poor creatures, we are only in their eyes the -weaker vessels after all.' - -'But weaker vessels they make a great fuss with; but how we chatter! -Oh, heavens, if Allan's peril--dear, dear Allan--should be so great!' - -Olive shivered at this exclamation, as she alternated--like all girls -of a delicate and nervous organization--between high spirits at the -prospect of going eastward and the awful dread of what tidings might -await her there. - -'Going to the East--actually to Egypt! Darling papa, how shall we -ever be able to thank you?' exclaimed Eveline, as in her energy she -locked her slender fingers so tightly together that the great diamond -in one of her rings--a gift of Sir Paget--was cutting into her -delicate skin, and yet she felt it not. - -And great was the disgust of Sir Harry Hurdell, when eventually he -heard of this sudden disposition to travel, the precise object of -which he failed quite to understand. - -Apart from anxiety about her brother, Eveline had another thought, -and she kept repeating to herself, - -'I shall see the land where Evan died--the land that holds his grave! -It is a pilgrimage of love--but one that is without deceit to him.' - -'Him,' meant Sir Paget, or 'Old Pudd,' as Sir Harry called him. - -Allan might die ere they arrived, or after they did so. In either -case, the famous will of Olive's father would be as only so much -waste paper, so far as the Aberfeldie family was concerned; but at -this time of trial no one thought of that feature in the terrible -contingency. - -Their whole idea was to see him; to be with him; to know the best or -worst; to nurse him well, and to bring him home with them to the soft -breezes of the Sidlaw Hills, and his native place, Dundargue. - -So Tappleton and Mademoiselle Clairette received their orders; -packing was proceeded with; the Continental Bradshaw consulted, and -all arrangements made for a speedy departure for Egypt, _viâ_ Paris; -by rail then to Marseilles; thence by steamer, Messageries Imperiales -Company, to Alexandria, when the train could be taken for Suez. - -The night before their departure Olive was so excited that she could -not go to bed, but sat listening to the booming of the waves as they -rolled on the stormy bluffs of Southsea Castle, while all the past -returned upon her, and when she had last seen the face of Allan. - -As she was heard moving about in her room, Clairette was sent to -inquire for her. - -'I have a dreadful head-ache,' said Olive. - -'Mon Dieu, mademoiselle, why are you not in bed, instead of shivering -there in your night-dress, at an open window, too! This will never -do; let me coil up your hair and cover you up.' - -'Dear little Clairette, I shall be good and go to bed--yes, to bed.' - -Clairette, who knew all about it, kissed her lady's hand; but Olive -pressed her lips to the cheek of the French girl, who, in the -impulsiveness of her nature, burst into tears, and then, instead of -leaving her mistress to repose, had a long gossip with her about -Allan, for whose safety she said she gave up a prayer every night. - -Appliances for travel are so great and ample now that a few hours -after soon saw the whole party on board the Marseilles steamer, and -traversing the Mediterranean. - -Many officers were in the saloon making their way to join the various -regiments, and to these Eveline--so young a widow--was an object of -no small interest. She seemed to have ripened into the bloom of -early womanhood, though all her girlish manner remained with its -softness and grace. - -Her figure had become more rounded and developed; her step was firm, -though elastic as ever; and she carried her head with an air of -stateliness that was somewhat belied by the occasional sadness of her -expression and lassitude of demeanour. - -To her and to Olive, ever-recurring was the thought, when fairly off -the coast of Egypt, how strange it was from the steamer's poop to -look upon those places of which they had read so much of late in the -newspapers--Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, and so forth--all 'household -words' at home now. - -At the first-named place they saw ample traces of the terrible -bombardment, with the details of which they were more familiar than -with those of its marble palaces and porphyry temples of the times of -old; or of the golden coffin of its young hero, who emulated being a -god; of its streets, two thousand feet in width; and its Pharos, -whose mirrors of polished steel reflected from afar the galleys of -Cleopatra. - -Suez, with its mosques and caravansaries, its houses of sun-bricks, -amid, or rather bordering on, a desert of rock, slightly covered with -sand, and where trees, gardens, and meadows are almost entirely -unknown, was soon left behind as the train bore them on by Shalouffe, -Geneffe, Faid, Serapium, and Nefishe, to Ismailia, so named after -Ismail Pasha, and which deems itself the most aristocratic or -respectable place upon the canal, as the Khedive erected a palace for -himself at the east end of it, and the houses have all a substantial -appearance, with neat and trim gardens; and the appearance of its -harbour reminded Lord Aberfeldie of that of Balaclava in the time of -the Crimean war; and still the Lake of Timsah was crowded with -vessels of all sorts and sizes. - -Despite the deep and keen interest of the matter nearest their -hearts--the object which had brought them so far from home--it was -impossible for Olive and Eveline not to be occasionally drawn from -their own thoughts, and impressed by the novelty of the new sights, -scenes, and certain memories of the land they looked on, for the -crossing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel took place -somewhere near where Ismailia stands, and certain it is that, at no -great distance therefrom, it was at El-Khantara-el-Khazneh, the -Virgin Mother and the Holy Child passed when Joseph arose by night -'and departed into Egypt.' - -The wide lake looked now like a land-locked harbour crowded with -shipping. Great steamers, magnificent 'troopers,' all painted white, -colossal men-of-war lay like leviathans there, while gunboats, -launches, and steam-tugs were for ever shooting to and fro. - -In the streets invalid soldiers of every kind, in tattered _karkee_ -uniforms or red serges, Guardsmen, Highlanders, Dragoons, Artillery, -and Rifles, were creeping about, some propped on sticks and crutches, -awaiting their transmission home; and there, too, might be seen, -occasionally, stalwart Bedouins, dirty Jews, and sable negroes, -howling Dervishes, and many breeds of Arabs, Italians, and Frenchmen; -the Turk, with his smart scarlet fez; the Egyptian, with tarboosh and -a turban twisted round it; and in some instances Moors, with -embroidered jackets, white turban, crimson sash, and trousered to the -knee, with yellow shoes, a scimitar and antique gun of enormous -length; and though last, not least, the English Jack-tar, rollicking -about and eyeing curiously the closely-veiled women. - -The novelty of these sights and scenes in the minds of Olive and -Eveline became merged at last, especially when they saw our wounded -redcoats and bluejackets, in absorption about Allan, who, dead or -alive, was then in that place, Ismailia. - -And, in dread of the tidings that might await her, Olive already -began to pray and wrestle, as it were, with anticipated despair and -dread of how Allan, if in life, might receive her. Until now this -idea had never occurred to her. - -'Oh, my lost love--my lost love!' she whispered to herself; 'what -shall I say or do to convince you that I love you, and you only? If -gone--oh, my God!--no, no, _no_--but if gone, I cannot call you back -to me--and I cannot go to you. In another hour we shall know -all--all!' - -Aware, as an old Crimean campaigner, that shocking scenes might meet -their eyes in the vicinity of a military hospital, Lord Aberfeldie -took the three ladies of his party to the chief hotel, and then, with -a heart full of the liveliest anxiety, set forth to make inquiries -about Allan, to whom we shall now return. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -AT ISMAILIA. - -The putrid water he had drunk on many occasions, the stone-fruit on -which he had been compelled to feed, the damp sand on which he had -lain under the night dews--the watching, fatigue, and depression of -spirits he had undergone--had served to prostrate Allan now, and even -his magnificent constitution failed to resist such a combination of -evils. - -At times he was in a burning fever; at others in cold, shivering -fits, as if his limbs would go to pieces. These were succeeded by -feeble listlessness and indifference to all around him, and then he -seemed as if about to die. - -He first became quite conscious of where he was on being roused from -a species of waking dose by voices near him. - -'Captain,' said an Irish Fusilier, one of Sir Garnet's own, 'I want -ten shillings from you.' - -'For what purpose?' asked the officer, sharply. - -'To bury my brother.' - -'Bury your brother, d--n it! I gave you ten shillings for that -purpose two days ago.' - -'To bury his leg that was, your honour.' - -'Well!' - -'And now I want another ten shillings to bury the rest of him.' - -'Have you a non-commissioned officer with you?' - -'Yes, sir--Sergeant Carey,' - -'Well, you and Sergeant Carey had better be off, or I'll make the -place too hot for you. As for your brother, you can bury him for -nothing beside the tent-pegs outside.' - -Every other morning some poor fellow was reported as dead in the -wards, and they were buried in a little strip of ground near the -canal, a tent-peg, with a label fluttering from it, alone indicated, -in the meantime, the name and rank of the deceased. - -As Allan glanced around him, he saw cheeks that were pale, eyes that -were sunk, and forms emaciated by wounds, loss of blood, and fever -like his own of the worst enteric form. - -A somewhat oppressive odour of hot soup and poultices seemed to -pervade the wards of the hastily improvised hospital, where, though -wounds were dressed on Lister's antiseptic system, with a care and -minuteness never before seen on a large scale in war, yet it was -reported, and with justice, in the public prints, that through the -meanness, economy, and incapacity of the Government, or the -Government officials, 'the enormous hospital at Ismailia was opened -without drugs, instruments, provisions, or stores, and was unable to -supply the front with any medical essentials, and that there was also -an extraordinary lack of hospital attendants. Officers who lay in -the wards tell stories which are ludicrous though painful, of neglect -and want of common food. All acknowledged themselves grateful for -the kindness, sympathy, and skill of the doctors. The fault was not -theirs; but _red-tape_ finished what incompetence began.' - -As Allan looked around him, a familiar figure in the undress uniform -of the Black Watch caught his eye--it was that of an officer -conversing in a low voice with one of the staff-surgeons, and he gave -a nervous start as he muttered and closed his eyes. - -'It is a chance likeness, and the world is full of chance likenesses.' - -He looked again; the figure--the man was still there, and he could -see his full face now, with its light brown moustache and head of -close-clipped golden hair. - -'Great heavens, it is a day-dream of Evan Cameron!' said Allan to -himself in a whisper. - -The blood in his veins seemed to congeal or to circulate like water -that was icy cold. He had heard that we cannot look upon the -supernatural and live, and so Allan believed that his hour had come. - -Feeling that it might be only a powerful but optical illusion, he -continued to gaze at the figure with incredulity and awful dread. - -'Cameron!' - -The name escaped him, while a strange sensation crept over Allan, and -his voice as he spoke sounded thick in his own ears. - -But it was no optical illusion--no disembodied spirit he saw, as he -thought he had done before, but his friend and comrade still in the -body, but pale now and barely convalescent after the dreadful wound -he had received. - -He grasped the hand of Allan, and laughed at the mingled expression -of blank amazement and dismay he read there, emotions which were -gradually replaced by those of satisfaction and delight. - -'I was supposed to be dead and buried in the sand, like Lieutenant -O'Brien in "Peter Simple," but, unlike Lieutenant O'Brien, I was not -discovered by a pretty girl treading on my nose,' said Cameron, -laughing, and in reply to some inarticulate words of Allan, on the -side of whose bed he seated himself. - -'Tell me--tell me about it,' said Allan, huskily. - -'You could scarcely have left me ere I began to recover from the -syncope--for a syncope it was--only you and Sergeant Farquharson were -not doctors enough to discover that it was so. A sense of -suffocation made me struggle up and throw off my blanket and the -covering of light sand in which you had so kindly tucked me; and as -the blanket fell from my face the dew refreshed me, and I perceived -in a moment the fatal mistake into which you had all fallen. Dark -though it was, the detachment was still in sight, and I could hear -your voices; I tried to call out, but lacked the power to do so, and -a horror fell upon me, with insensibility after a time, and, when I -recovered, I found a group of mounted Bedouins gazing at me in stupid -wonder to see a living man half buried in the sand.' - -'But how was it that we totally failed to find all trace of the spot -where we interred you?' - -'How strange the question sounds as you frame it,' said Cameron, -smiling. 'A sandstorm came on, and must have obliterated the -landmarks.' - -'We heard shots as we fell back.' - -'The Bedouins fired at something--I know not what. They proved to -belong to a friendly tribe--Bedouins of that kind who become petty -merchants wandering over the country, trading in such goods as they -can easily transport from place to place, and fortunate--most -fortunate--was it for me that I fell just then into the hands of men -so peacefully disposed.' - -'And your wound?' - -'Is healing fast, thank Heaven! They carefully redressed it, put me -in a camel litter, and conveyed me to Abu Zabel on the canal, from -whence I was sent, with others here, by boat to Ismailia on -sick-leave for home. I heard of your having been carried off at -Matarieh; some of our fellows who are in the wards told me so; but I -was powerless to attempt your discovery in any way--too feeble almost -to think, but the idea of your peril and too probably helpless -butchery cut me to the heart.' - -'Any news from home?' - -'Home?' repeated Cameron. - -'I mean of my people.' - -'None, Allan, how should I hear of them?' - -'True,' said Allan, wearily and sadly, and in the miserable weakness -of his body, as a paroxysm of shivering came over him, almost -doubting the evidence of his own senses. - -Hawke Holcroft had turned up in the camp of Zeid-el-Ourdeh--that was -startling enough in all conscience; but that Evan Cameron, whom he -and Sergeant Farquharson had so regretfully buried in the sandy -grave--the grave of which no trace could be found--should be alive, -well, and chatting with him there, and manipulating a cigar, -outheroded fiction! - -The wonderful reappearance of the supposed dead Cameron was the -intelligence in the papers which Olive Raymond and Eveline did not -see. - -Little could Cameron imagine that Eveline was so near to him as she -was then! - -Often had he dreamt of her face--not when he longed to do so, but -when visions of it came upon him unbidden while he lay asleep on the -deck of the transport, in the bivouacs in the desert, amid the wards -of the hospital at Ismailia and elsewhere, and it always came before -him with a sweetness, a loving expression, and a strange spiritual -charm impossible to define or describe. - -After the mutual revelations of the two friends, the intermittent -fever of Allan seemed to become more deadly, and by the time that -Lord Aberfeldie arrived at the hospital he almost failed to recognise -his son, so much had the latter sunk; for, the temporary excitement -consequent to the meeting with Cameron having subsided, Allan's -health seemed visibly to retrograde, and each fit of shivering -rendered him weaker than the last. - -A staff-surgeon had prepared Allan for the visit of his father, who -was manifestly shocked when he saw how prostrate he was, and, as they -pressed each other's hands, Lord Aberfeldie perceived how thin, bony, -and wasted those of his son had become. - -'My poor boy,' he exclaimed; 'how is this I find you?' - -'Not dying, father, but very near it, I fear,' replied Allan, with a -sickly smile. - -Lord Aberfeldie gazed lovingly and sadly into his son's wasted face, -and thought of all his mother, his sister, and Olive would feel on -seeing him thus, and in such a squalid place. - -Amid the suffering and misery they were enduring, Lord Aberfeldie -thought it strange to hear many expressing regret that the war was -over so soon, and 'Arabi snuffed out.' - -The realisation of Sir Garnet Wolseley's confident prediction that -all would be ended by the 16th of September, put an abrupt and speedy -end to all chances of promotion and glory, and now everyone thought -only of going home as fast as possible. - -In the huge improvised military hospital much existed, as in every -such place, that proved rather repugnant to the ideas of a fastidious -man, so Lord Aberfeldie resolved upon having Allan removed to another -place--a hotel or villa--whither, when the surgeon would permit it, -he would have him conveyed by soldiers in a dhooley; and, full of -this purpose, he rejoined the ladies, who awaited his return with the -keenest anxiety. - -His hopes of Allan's recovery proved balm to their hearts, though he -spoke more confidently of it than his own observations warranted. - -At the story of Cameron, Eveline sprang from her seat, while a little -gasping cry escaped her, and Lord Aberfeldie was rather sorry to see -her mother's face darken. - -'Evan Cameron--Evan Cameron alive!' exclaimed Lady Aberfeldie, -incredulously. - -'Alive, and well! Old Stratherroch, his father, used to say that the -men of the Black Watch were deuced hard to kill, and, by Jove! he was -right. For the old man's sake, I am glad that God has spared the -boy!' - -Unable to realise the situation, poor Eveline felt stupefied! - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -CLOUDS AND SUNSHINE. - -Olive heard all her uncle had to relate of the condition in which he -found Allan, and, stealing away, she assumed her hat and sunshade, -and, accompanied by Clairette, undeterred by any risks she might run -in a strange place, issued into the somewhat European-looking streets -of Ismailia, over which she could see the great palace of the Khedive -looming in the distance, about two miles off; and obtaining the -guidance of a passing soldier--a Seaforth Highlander--she bent her -steps direct to the military hospital. - -In the depth of her love, in the keenness of her anxiety--her -remorse, too, for all she had, in some sense unwittingly, made Allan -endure--she cast the idea of strict propriety and the amenities of -society to the winds, and, following the generous impulses of her own -heart, resolved to see Allan, if she could, without delay. - -She passed the temporary burying-ground, with its rows of labelled -tent-pegs, without a shudder, as she knew not what lay there; anon -past wards where lay patients suffering from sunstroke and -ophthalmia, as she could see by the sufferers wearing blue-veils and -dark glasses, till she was ushered into a species of office, where a -staff-surgeon in undress uniform greeted her with some surprise and -_empressement_. - -He had not seen an English girl--especially one of Olive's style and -beauty--for a considerable time past, perhaps, and he looked with -genuine interest on Olive, her half-opened mouth, her soft, earnest -eyes, her trembling lips, and the tears that clung to her long lashes. - -Shyly she asked if it were possible to see Captain Graham, of the -Black Watch, who was a patient. - -He smiled, and shook his head. - -'Do permit me, sir,' she asked, with half-clasped hands and her eyes -full of entreaty. - -'Do be reasonable, Miss--Raymond,' said he, glancing at her card, -which an orderly had given him. 'Your presence would but excite him -too much. It will be folly on your part to undo all our precautions -simply from a mere desire, however natural, to speak with or see -Captain Graham.' - -'Oh, sir, if you knew all!' - -'All that can be done for him is being done. Besides, there is -danger in being near him.' - -'Danger!' - -'To you.' - -'I care not. Why?' - -'Enteric fever takes a typhoid form at times.' - -'Fear not for me--I am his cousin--his promised wife!' urged Olive, -piteously. - -'Come with me, then, but softly; this way,' said the surgeon, and, -taking her hand, he led her across a corridor, where hospital -orderlies, men of the Army Hospital Corps, nurses, and others were -hovering, and where Olive narrowly escaped the shock of seeing a -fever-stricken and attenuated corpse carried out, and into a plain, -white-washed room, where on a camp-bed--one of those brought from -Arabi's camp--Allan lay asleep. - -Olive, in obedience to a mute sign from the doctor, made no nearer -approach, or attempt to touch or wake him, but she restrained her -heavy sobs with difficulty, for the sight of how wan and worn, -hollow-cheeked and pale he was, and how every way wasted, wrung her -loving heart to the core. - -Kneeling down by his bedside, she lightly touched with her lips his -thin white hand that lay upon the coverlit, a mute action which, in -one so charming as she looked, stirred even the heart of the -staff-surgeon, and then she stole softly away. - -'Is there any hope?' she asked, in a choking voice. - -As the doctor did not speak, she looked in his face and seemed to see -her answer there. - -'He cannot recover, you fear?' said she. - -'I fear not, Miss Raymond,' said the doctor, in a low voice. - -She leant for a moment against the table, and felt giddy. - -Then, bowing to the staff-surgeon, she drew her veil close over her -face, took the arm of Clairette to steady her footsteps, and quitted -the sad place in a tumult of grief and horror. - -Night came on--the hot Egyptian night--and Allan as he tossed -restlessly on his pillow, all unconscious of who had visited him, as -he looked wearily round his bare and strange-like apartment by the -subdued light of a shaded lamp, pondered doubtfully whether it had -been a dream or a reality that he had that forenoon spoken with and -seen his father, Lord Aberfeldie, and, in the weakness and confusion -of his mind, he was somewhat inclined to think the whole thing was -the effect of fevered fancy. - -Ere long Olive was to have him all to herself! - - -In a beautiful little villa near the Lake of Timsah--one built for -the famous Toulba Pasha, the friend of Arabi--in view of all the -fleet that lay anchored there, Allan, after a little time, found -himself in a luxurious apartment, furnished in European style, yet -fitted up and decorated in the Egyptian manner, with gaily-painted -arabesques. - -The windows opened upon an arcaded verandah, the slender pillars of -which were rose-coloured marble, with quaint capitals of purest -alabaster, from which sprung horse-shoe arches elaborately carved and -inscribed with verses from the Koran. - -Palm-trees, feathery-branched bananas, and arched rows of -orange-trees shaded the lovely garden walks, all mosaic with polished -pebbles; and there, amid the rose-trees and beds of tulip bordered by -myrtle, a white marble fountain spouted, the very plash of its -ceaselessly falling water seeming to cool the heated air; and, in -view of all this, Allan Graham lay on his couch in the care of his -mother and sister, but more often with Olive alone, for she had -constituted herself by right his nurse, and ere long Eveline found a -sufficient occupation for herself. How, the reader may guess. - -As for Allan and Olive, their reconciliation came speedily about, as -such things never take long in real life if they are to take place at -all; and the few minutes that followed are not very describable, as -they remained, hand clasped in hand, in silence but with a happiness -and content that were inexpressible,--'one of those rare periods in -life when we forget our mortality and believe that heaven has begun -for us.' - -At first Allan, fearful of some infectious nature in his ailment, had -implored Olive to leave him. - -'Go--go, Olive!' he exclaimed, faintly; 'do not come near me.' - -'You dislike me so--so much?' said Olive, more faintly still. - -'Oh, no, oh, no--not that, not that, when I now know all.' - -'Why then, Allan?' - -'Because all the doctors tell me that there is something typhoid in -this Egyptian enteric fever, and if it were to affect you----' - -'Allan!' she exclaimed, reproachfully; and, pressing her lips to his, -added, 'if you die, let me die too.' - -'Olive!' - -'Do you doubt me now?' - -'Oh, no--oh, no, my darling; but do leave me.' - -'Why?' - -'Because this sick-room is no place for you.' - -But Olive in the depth of her love was resolute, and kept her place -as a watcher by his pillow, and day after day, with only short -intervals of rest, was she there unvaryingly; and as she bent over -Allan's sick-bed she felt how true it is that 'all the forces of our -nature rush towards the channels of pity, of patience, and of love, -and sweep down the choking drift of our quarrels, our debates, our -would-be wisdom, and our clamorous, selfish desires.' - -Allan's life was for a time hovering in the balance, and Olive, as -she sat by his pillow looking out on the Lake of Timsah, recalled the -pleasant days of their childhood at Dundargue, where they had plaited -rushes beside the trouting stream, and he had garlanded her hair with -scarlet poppies and yellow cowslips, and he used to call her his -little queen and wifie, while the great clouds cast their flying -shadows over the green Sidlaw hills and the bonnie Carse of Gowrie. - - 'Days gone beyond recall, save in memory!' - - -But, when she feared he might be going out from her sight for ever, -her heart crew cold and seemed to die within her. - -She watched him when he lay motionless and asleep, when his irregular -breathing stirred his sunburned throat and broad chest, when the -perspiration of fever rolled in globules over his forehead, and when -the cold shivering of the ague followed, till by watching and -confinement her cheek grew pale as Allan's. - -There was always a profound and oppressive stillness about the house -and room. She heard no sound but his breathing and the ticking of a -French clock upon a console table. - -Her hand it was that was ever ready to give the compounded drinks the -doctor ordered, and when ere long he became convalescent, to her joy, -she accompanied him in his drives around Ismailia, to Nefische and -Serapium, and along the banks of the Great Bitter Lake, where the -lofty white Indian 'troopers' could be seen under steam, and boats -like those that are to be seen on the Nile at Cairo in -hundreds--elegant barques with long sail-yards and fantastic canvas -that fly with wonderful velocity, and are so ingeniously carved and -painted, fitted up with carpeted cabins, and deck awnings of -brilliant colours as a protection from the heat. - -So the days stole on, and, as Allan's fever seemed to pass away, he -and Olive became supremely happy--she all the more so that she had -been his chief nurse. 'Nothing,' says a writer, 'tones down a young -girl's passion into apparent friendship like nursing the man she -loves in illness. Of course it is there, ready to break out with the -old strength hereafter; but for the time the sense of utter weakness -on his side, of protection on hers--the perfect unquestioned -familiarity, the constant companionship--have done away with all the -old reserve, and doubt, and mystery which to unsophisticated young -women is the very food of love.' - -We have said that while all this was in progress Eveline had found an -occupation for herself. - -It was very natural that Evan Cameron should call at the villa by the -Lake of Timsah to inquire for his friend and comrade, and it was also -natural that he should meet, incidentally, Lady Puddicombe, which -event came to pass on the very day that Lord and Lady Aberfeldie had -taken the train to Grand Cairo, to be present at the St. Andrew -Festival, held by the Highland Brigade in the magnificent restaurant -in the Ezeb Keyah Gardens. - -Evan was suddenly ushered in upon her by old Mr. Tappleton, the -butler, who had charge of the household at Ismailia, and whose -rubicund face became quite radiant when he saw the familiar uniform -of the Black Watch. - -A little cap of snowy white lace rested on her soft brown hair; all -the rich beauty promised but a short time ago had been amply -fulfilled, amid the sorrow she had endured, or in the dignity of her -girlish widowhood. - -A film seemed to pass over Evan's handsome eyes; a tremulous -sensation, hitherto unknown, seemed to thrill over his nerves, and he -was for a moment more full of emotion than herself; but he did not, -as she expected, hasten to take her in his arms. - -'Lady Puddicombe!' he exclaimed, while playing irresolutely with the -red hackle in his tropical helmet. - -'I am not the wife of Sir Paget now,' said Eveline, sweetly and -simply. - -'What then?' - -'His widow. Is it possible you did not know?' - -'He is--dead then!' - -'Yes, Evan--killed by a fall from a horse. I am in weeds, don't you -see?' - -And, if a tearless, a very peerless little widow she looked. - -Then a half-stifled cry escaped her as she fell upon his breast, and -her white hands groped feebly, as one might do in the dark, about his -shoulders, as her arms sought to go round his neck. In her crape -dress she seemed to appeal to him and to his tenderness, more -eloquently than she had ever done in the past time, and he gazed into -her delicate face, as he took it caressingly between his hands, with -a growing intensity that showed how he had hungered for the sight of -it. - -The first strong tide of emotion swept over that parted pair, meeting -now so differently from how they had ever expected to meet again. - -In the intensity of her joy, Eveline had closed her eyes, as if the -light of day had proved too much for them; then their long lashes -began to quiver, the lids unclosed, and the dear eyes were again -turned wonderingly, searchingly, and lovingly on Evan Cameron's face. - -She was _free_. - -His pulses quickened at the thought. He had never ceased to love -her--never ceased to wish she should be his. Sir Paget was -dead--dead as Julius Cæsar--and he, Evan Cameron, had been in -possession of a treasure without knowing it--the free and unfettered -love of Eveline! - -'Dead fires are difficult to re-light,' said she, waggishly, while -twirling the ends of his moustache with her fairy fingers. - -'But, Eveline, with me the fire was never dead--as I loved you with a -love that partook of adoration in the dear past days at Dundargue, so -I love you still!' - -'My poor, dear Evan!' cooed the girl. - -'Yes--poor indeed--without you.' - -So true it was that 'the thing we look forward to,' as George Eliot -says, 'often comes to pass; but never precisely as we have imagined -it to ourselves.' - -Could Eveline ever have looked forward to this when at Hurdell -Hall--to see Evan Cameron in life again, and feel his tender kisses -on her lips and eyes? - -Evan had loved Eveline as a maiden; he had trained himself to suffer, -endure, and think of her as a wife; but now he thanked God that he -had not to think of her as a mother--the mother of a wretched little -Puddicombe! - -Lady Aberfeldie, who had fresh views concerning her daughter, was -somewhat irate when--on her return from the city of the Caliphs and -Khedives--the latter, with perfect deliberation, informed her that -Evan Cameron had been at the villa to see Allan, and had paid her a -long visit. - -'He spoke of his old fancy for you, no doubt?' said Lady Aberfeldie, -rather freezingly. - -'He did, mamma,' was the candid reply. - -'He had not the hardihood to ask you to marry him?' - -'Mamma!' - -'Already--I mean.' - -'Of course not.' - -'But I suppose he will presume to do so in time?' - -'I have no doubt of it, dearest mamma,' replied Eveline, attempting -to kiss her; but my Lady Aberfeldie was in no fit of effusion, and -coldly tendered her cheek. 'Was not his escape miraculous, mamma?' - -'I admit that it was; and now----' - -'Just learn this, dearest mamma; I married a short time ago to please -you, and, now that God in His goodness has spared and restored Evan -to me, I shall marry next to please myself.' - -'It is very strange how some girls get it into their head that there -is a special virtue in a man because he is poor.' - -'Evan isn't poor now,' replied Eveline, stoutly. 'Stratherroch is -nearly free, and, if it were not, I have enough for two.' - -'Your jointure dies with you,' said Lady Aberfeldie, sourly. - -'Dear Evan will never think of that, mamma; and long before _that_ -day comes every acre, every tuft of heather in Stratherroch will be -disencumbered and free.' - -'You have schemed out the whole programme. But as your father's -daughter, and the widow of Sir Paget Puddicombe, Baronet, you are -entitled to look higher.' - -'I don't want to do so, mamma,' said Eveline, coyly and laughingly; -'you see, it is only a case of "heaping up riches, and ye know not -who shall gather them."' - -Eveline was in a kind of triumphant and defiant mood, such as her -mother had never seen her in before, for she added, - -'The whirligig of time brings curious things to pass, so Lady -Puddicombe will be Mrs. Cameron of Stratherroch after all.' - -So the days stole on pleasantly by the Lake of Timsah. Allan grew -well rapidly, and, now that she was free and under better auspices, -Evan Cameron daily discovered in Eveline some new trait of character -that rendered her more worthy of his love and esteem--or indicative -that those qualities of passion and tenderness that first excited his -interest in her had ripened under all she had undergone--the sorrow -and separation that had tried and purified their mutual love, as gold -is tried by fire. - -We have said that the reconciliation of Allan and Olive came about, -and rapidly, too. - -'Only love me, Allan,' whispered the girl, as she nestled her sweet -face in his neck; 'only love me as you did in the old days at -Dundargue, and I shall be so happy. Without your love I could not -live.' - -'By your strange actions you destroyed my faith in you, darling--and -yet I loved you still. Oh, think over it all, and consider if you -did not try me sorely, for there was a powerful appearance of -deception that was unworthy of us both.' - -Her beautiful eyes were moist with tears; her hands stole into his, -and he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, while a -torrent of thankfulness and joy overwhelmed her heart. - -'And so that wretched photo was the key to your apparently -inexplicable conduct?' - -'Yes,' replied Olive, weeping, while Allan kissed away her tears. - -'Why did you not confide freely in me?' - -'I was too terrified--too mortified to do so, and you were so proud, -so suspicious of me. I writhed in secret under the imputation that -that man had it in his power to cast upon me with the tampered -miniature. I was weak, foolish, Allan, and every act of mine seemed -to be a mistake and misplaced; but now----' - -'All is over, and all forgotten.' - -'Thank heaven for its goodness, Allan. You never wrote to me after -that parting at Southsea. Save in your letter to your mother after -Tel-el-Kebir, you never once referred to me, and then only in terms -of scorn and invective. Oh, Allan, Allan, all that was very hard to -bear.' - -But Allan found ample means of consoling her now. - -'How happy I am,' said Lady Aberfeldie, as she nestled both their -heads together on her motherly breast; 'ever since you two were -little children, how I prayed for this; I reared and taught you to -this end, and God has seen fit in His goodness to accomplish it.' - -And now, having brought our 'heroes and heroines,' to use the old -novelist's phraseology, to this point, need we follow them into the -region of wedding-bells, wedding-cakes, favours, rice, and old -slippers? - -We think not. - - - -THE END. - - - -LONDON: PRINTED BY DUNCAN MACDONALD, BLENHEIM HOUSE. - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER OF ABERFELDIE, VOLUME III -(OF 3) *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |