ng that they
could urge nothing against them. On the Friday afternoon the sheik and
Sidi both rode down to Alexandria with him. The former returned that
evening to his camp, one of his followers taking Edgar's horse, which
they promised to keep for him until his return, as he assured them that
it would be next to impossible to get a passage for it to England, and
that even could he do so it might die during the voyage, and moreover
that it would be useless to him in London. Sidi slept at the house, and
accompanied him on board on the following morning.

The Italian craft was a brig of about a hundred and fifty tons burden,
but as Edgar was the only passenger the accommodation was ample. A few
minutes after he stepped on board the crew began to get up the anchor,
and as soon as this was done, Mr. Muller and Sidi said good-bye and
returned to shore. Edgar had, on coming on board, spoken a few words to
the captain, who was glad to find that his passenger spoke Italian
fluently. The wind was very light, and the brig made but little
progress, and five days after sailing was still a hundred miles south of
the Italian coast. Edgar, however, greatly enjoyed the time. He was in
no particular hurry, and the comparatively cool air and the fresh green
of the sea was delightful to him after the dry heat and sandy waste of
Egypt.

On the sixth day a vessel-of-war was seen in the west. The captain felt
no uneasiness; coming from Alexandria, a French vessel would regard him
as a friend, while a British ship would certainly not interfere with an
Italian trader, for the court of Naples was most friendly, and a portion
at least of the British fleet were off the town. The ship-of-war was
bringing up the breeze with her, and came along fast, and ere long the
captain was able to declare that she was British. As she approached they
found that she was the _Tigre_, an eighty-gun ship captured some time
before from the French. When she came near she fired a gun across the
bows of the brig, which at once lowered her sails. The man-of-war was
thrown up into the wind as she approached, and a voice shouted in
French, "What ship is that, and where from?"

"He wants to know your name and where from," Edgar translated, and the
captain shouted back, "the _Annetta_, bound from Alexandria to Naples."

"Send a boat alongside with your captain," was the order from the
_Tigre_.

"Shall I go with you, captain, to translate," Edgar volunteered.

The cap