Strange as it may seem, all the circumstances attending it being taken into consideration, that voyage up the Nile was one of the most enjoyable I have ever undertaken. It is true the weather was somewhat warmer than was altogether agreeable; but if you visit Egypt at midsummer you must be prepared for a little discomfort in that respect. From the moment of rising until it was time to retire at night our time was spent under the awning on deck, reading, conversing, and watching the scenery on either bank, and on my part in putting the finishing touches to the picture I had commenced the afternoon we left Cairo.
When it was completed to my satisfaction, which was on the seventh day of our voyage, and that upon which we expected to reach Luxor, I showed it to Pharos. He examined it carefully, and it was some time before he offered an opinion upon it.
“I will pay you the compliment of saying I consider it a striking example of your art,” he said, when he did speak. “At the same time, I must confess it puzzles me. I do not understand whence you drew your inspiration. There are things in this picture, important details in the dress and architecture, that I feel convinced have never been seen by this century. How, therefore, you could have known them passes my comprehension.”
“I have already told you that that picture represents what I saw in my vision,” I answered.
“You still believe that you saw a vision then?” he asked, with a return to his old sneering habit, as he picked the monkey up and began to stroke his ears.
“I shall always do so,” I answered. “Nothing will ever shake my belief in that.”
At this moment the Fr?ulein Valerie joined us, whereupon Pharos handed her the picture and asked for her opinion upon it. She examined it carefully, while I waited with some anxiety for her criticism.
“It is very clever,” she said, still looking at it, “and beautifully painted; but, if you will let me say so, I do not know that I altogether like it. There is something about it that I do not understand. And see, you have given the central figure Monsieur Pharos’s face.”
She looked up at me as if to inquire the reason of this likeness, after which we both glanced at Pharos, who was seated before us, wrapped as usual in his heavy rug, with the monkey, Pehtes, peering out from his invariable hiding-place beneath his master’s coat. For the moment I did not know what answer to return. To have told her in the broad light of day, with the prosaic mud-banks of the Nile on either hand, and the Egyptian sailors washing paint-work at the farther end of the deck, that in my vision I had been convinced that Pharos and Ptahmes were one and the same person, would have been too absurd. Pharos, however, relieved me of the necessity of saying anything by replying for me.
“Mr. Forrester has done me great honour, my dear,” he said gaily, “in choosing my features for the central figure. I had no idea that my unfortunate person was capable of such dramatic effect. — If at any time, Forrester, you should desire to dispose of that picture, I shall be delighted to take it off your hands.”
“You may have it now,” I answered. “If you think it worthy of your acceptance, I will gladly give it you. To tell the truth, I myself, like the Fr?ulein here, am a little afraid of it, though why I should be, seeing that it is my own work, Heaven only knows.”
“As you say, Heaven only knows,” returned Pharos solemnly, and then making the excuse that he would put the picture in a place of safety, he left us and went to his cabin, Pehtes hopping along the deck behind him.
For some time after he had left us the Fr?ulein and I sat silent. The afternoon was breathless, and even our progress through the water raised no breeze. We were passing the town of Keneh at the time, a miserable collection of buildings of the usual Nile type, and famous only as being a rallying place for Mecca pilgrims, and for the Kulal and Ballas (water-bottles), which bear its name.
While her eyes were fixed upon it I was permitted an opportunity of studying my companion’s countenance. I noted the proud poise of her head, and the luxuriance of the hair coiled so gracefully above it. She was a queen among women, as I had so often told myself; one whom any man might be proud to love, and then I added, as another thought struck me, one for whom the man she loved might willingly lay down his life. That I loved her with a sincerity and devotion greater than I had ever felt for any other human being, I was fully aware by this time. If the truth must be told, I believe I had loved her from the moment I first saw her face. But was it possible that she could love me?
“I have noticed that you are very thoughtful to-day, Fr?ulein,” I said, as the steamer dropped the town behind her and continued her journey up stream in a somewhat more westerly direction.
“Have I not good reason to be?” she answered. “You must remember I have made this journey before.”
“But why should that produce such an effect upon you?” I asked. “To me it is a pleasure that has not yet begun to pall, and as you will, I am sure, admit, Pharos has proved a most thoughtful and charming host.”
I said this with intention, for I wanted to see what reply she would make.
“I have not noticed his behaviour,” she answered wearily. “It is always the same to me. But I do know this, that after each visit to the place for which we are now bound, great trouble has resulted for some one. Heaven grant that it may not be so on this occasion!”
“I do not see what trouble can result,” I said. “Pharos is simply going to replace the mummy in the tomb from which it was taken, and after that I presume we shall return to Cairo, and probably to Europe.”
“And then?”
“After that ——”
But I could get no further. The knowledge that in all likelihood as soon as we reached Europe I should have to bid her good-bye and return to London was too much for me, and for this reason I came within an ace of blurting out the words that were in my heart. Fortunately, however, I was able to summon up my presence of mind in time to avert such a catastrophe, otherwise I can not say what the result would have been. Had I revealed my love to her and asked her to be my wife, and she had refused me, our position, boxed up together as we were on board the steamer, and with no immediate prospect of release, would have been uncomfortable in the extreme. So I crammed the words back into my heart and waited for another and more favourable opportunity.
The sun was sinking behind the Arabian hills, in a wealth of gold and crimson colouring, as we obtained our first glimpse of the mighty ruins we had come so far to see. Out of a dark green sea of palms to the left, rose the giant pylons of the Temple of Ammon at Karnak. A few minutes later Luxor itself was visible, and within a quarter of an hour our destination was reached, and the steamer was at a standstill.
We had scarcely come to an anchor before the vessel was surrounded by small boats, the occupants of which clambered aboard, despite the efforts of the officers and crew to prevent them. As usual they brought with them spurious relics of every possible sort and description, not one of which, however, our party could be induced to buy. The Fr?ulein Valerie and I were still protesting, when Pharos emerged from his cabin and approached us. Never shall I forget the change that came over the scene. From the expressions upon the rascals’ faces I gathered that he was well known to them, at any rate within five seconds of his appearance not one of our previous persecutors remained aboard the vessel.
“They seem to know you.” I said to Pharos, with a laugh, as the last of the gang took a header from the rail into the water.
“They do,” he answered grimly. “I think I can safely promise you that after this not a man in Luxor will willingly set foot upon this vessel. Would you care to try the experiment?”
“Very much,” I said, and taking an Egyptian pound piece from my pocket I stepped to the side and invited the rabble to come aboard and claim it. But the respect they entertained for Pharos was evidently greater than their love of gold; at any rate not a man seemed inclined to venture.
“A fair test,” said Pharos. “You may rest assured that unless you throw it over to them your money will remain in your own pocket. But see, some one of importance is coming off to us. I am expecting a messenger, and in all probability it is he.”
A somewhat better boat than those clustered around us was putting off from the bank, and seated in her was an Arab, clad in white burnouse and wearing a black turban upon his head.
“Yes, it is he,” said Pharos, as with a few strokes of their oars the boatmen brought their craft alongside.
Before I could inquire who the person might be whom he was expecting, the man I have just described had reached the deck, and, after looking about him, approached the spot where Pharos was standing. Accustomed as I was to the deference shown by the Arabs toward their superiors, I was far from expecting the exhibition of servility I now beheld. So overpowered was the new-comer by the reverence he felt for Pharos that he could scarcely stand upright.
“I expected thee, Salem Awad,” said Pharos, in Arabic. “What tidings dost thou bring?”
“I come to tell thee,” the man replied, “that he whom thou didst order to be here has heard of thy coming, and will await thee at the place of which thou hast spoken.”
“It is well,” continued Pharos. “Has all of which I wrote to thee been prepared?”
“All has been prepared and awaits thy coming.”
“Return then and tell him who sent thee to me that I will be with him before he sleeps to-night.”
The man bowed once more and made his way to his boat, in which he departed for the bank.
When he had gone, Pharos turned to me.
“We are expected,” he said, “and, as you heard him say, preparations have been made to enable us to carry out the work we have come to do. After all his journeying Ptahmes has at last returned to the city of his birth and death. It is a strange thought, is it not? Look about you, Mr. Forrester, and see the mightiest ruins the world has known. Yonder is the Temple of Luxor, away to the north you can see the remains of the Temple of Ammon at K............