must feel it
very much more. I think they will go on faster after they have left
Ramanieh. They will have the Nile by their side, and will have no want
of water. The sand is firmer, too, and moreover they will be able to
obtain what they require from the boats."

On the evening of the 12th the French arrived at a village near
Chebreisse. At sunrise the next morning a battle began between the
flotilla and some Egyptian gun-boats that had come down from Cairo,
together with some batteries that had been established on the banks. The
Mamelukes sallied out from Chebreisse and charged down with such ardour
that it seemed as if they were about to hurl themselves on the French
infantry. When within a short distance, however, they suddenly stopped
their horses, checking them almost instantaneously, then they discharged
their carbines, and retired as rapidly as they had come. This they
repeated several times, but the shells of the French batteries played
havoc among them.

Never before had the Mamelukes encountered a shell-fire, and the
destruction wrought by these novel missiles bursting among them caused
them to retire at full speed, leaving three or four hundred dead behind
them, and abandoning some of the guns they had placed in position before
Chebreisse. A large Arab force had been drawn up in front of the town
when the Mamelukes charged, in readiness to follow the latter as soon
as they had broken the French ranks. This was the first opportunity that
Edgar had had of seeing any considerable body of this famous cavalry,
and he acknowledged that nothing could be more superb than their
appearance. The splendour of their dress, the beauty of their horses,
and magnificence of their arms and trappings excited his admiration to
the highest.

"Now you will see," the sheik said exultingly, "how they will gallop
over the Franks!"

Edgar said nothing, but sat watching the splendid array as they swept
down upon the French line. Each of the French divisions was formed up in
square, with the artillery and dismounted cavalry in the intervals. The
volleys of musketry that received the charging Mamelukes was sufficient
to quell the ardour of the boldest horsemen in the world. In vain,
before drawing off, they circled round and round the French formation,
seeking for some weak spot upon which they could hurl themselves, and
when at length they drew off, the French soldiers ran out from their
ranks to plunder the fallen.

In silence t