, true-hearted a gentleman as ever
breathed."

"Hah, yes!" said the doctor, sighing. "Don't talk about it, old fellow.
It makes me miserable every night as it is."

"Miserable? Yes, for if ever friend was like a brother poor old Harry
was. He had only one fault in him, and that was his blind faith and
belief in poor Gordon."

"Fault?"

"No, no, not fault. You know what I mean; but it is so pitiful to think
of. Only the other day we gave him that dinner on his appointment to
his regiment in the Egyptian army, and he is off to Cairo. Then the
next thing is that he goes on the expedition to join Gordon up the
country."

"And the next news," said the doctor sadly, "is that he and all with him
have been massacred, fighting in poor Gordon's defence."

"Horrible! Horrible!" said Landon passionately. "So bright, so brave a
lad, with, in the ordinary course, a good manly career of fifty years
before him."

"Think there is any possibility of his having escaped after all?" said
the doctor, after a pause.

"Not a bit, poor lad. I was red-hot to go up the country somehow or
other last year when I was about to investigate those buried tombs of
the Ra Sa dynasty. I wanted to give up the search for those mummies and
the stores of old incised inscriptions."

"Yes, and you applied for permission," said the doctor.

"Like an idiot," said Landon angrily, "instead of keeping my own counsel
and going without saying a word. I might have found poor old Hal a
prisoner, or a slave, or something. But what did the authorities say?"

"That they were quite convinced that there were no survivors of the last
expedition, and that they must debar your proceeding up the country."

"Debar!" cried Landon, with a peculiar laugh. "Splendid word for it.
Bar, indeed! Yes, and they politely bundled me out of the country just
when I was on the scent of some of the most wonderful discoveries ever
made, connected with the ancient Egyptian civilisation."

"You must wait a few years, and when the country is settled try again."

"I was willing to give up further researches then, but they wouldn't let
me go in search of poor Harry."

"Their belief was that the attempt would be fatal."

"But they did not know; I was the best judge of that. See what a
knowledge I have of the people and their language. I believe I could
have gone anywhere."

"That was young Frank's belief."

"Yes, but that was different. The boy did not know what h