l
pick out another man to accompany us, and two horses for ourselves.
There are two that would suit us well, for they are both sound and fast,
though but poor animals to look at, and no one will cast an eye of envy
upon them."

"That is just what we want, Sidi."

In less than an hour they were galloping across the plain. The journey
of 110 miles was accomplished in two days, and the party, without
entering the town, encamped on some waste ground outside the walls. Here
were many small huts belonging to the poorest class of the population,
together with many small shelter tents of black cloth erected by parties
of wandering Arabs like themselves. They had, on the previous night,
changed their attire, and had nothing to distinguish them from the
poorer classes of Arabs, who, having given up the desert life, earned a
precarious existence in the towns. The two men with them looked with
disdain at their surroundings, and Edgar felt obliged to warn them.

"You must remember," he said, "that the lion couches before he springs,
and crawls and conceals himself until he is within reach of his prey, so
is it needful also for us to bear ourselves humbly. We are come to see
what the French are doing; how they comport themselves, and what is the
feeling among the population. We are as spies who come to examine a
country before it is attacked, and to carry out our object we must bear
ourselves so that suspicion may not fall upon us. If you are questioned,
remember that we are four men ready to act as guards to a caravan or on
any such service that may present itself."

Leaving the two men to look after the horses, Edgar and Sidi entered the
city. The scene was intensely interesting, Cairo being vastly more
oriental in its appearance than Alexandria. The narrow streets were
crowded; strict orders had been issued against plundering, Napoleon
being anxious to win the good-will of the population, and merchandise of
all sorts was displayed in the shops. Each trade had its special bazaar,
the gold and silversmiths, the dealers in silks, in carpets, richly
embroidered garments, tobacco, long pipes with jewelled mouthpieces,
narghiles with their long twisted stems; workers in iron, vendors of the
yellow shoes used by the women in walking, the dainty gold-embroidered
velvet slippers for indoors, or the pointed upturned shoes of the men,
had each its own bazaars scattered throughout the streets.

Women, in their long dark blue garments, an