s hand, he seized the professor's and shook at
that for a few moments, before rushing at his master's, to pump that
wildly up and down before dashing to the door, flinging it open, and
yelling--
"Here! hi! cook! Mary! everyone! He isn't dead after all. Hooray!
hooray! hoo--"
From a tremendous emphasis and sonorous roar over the first hurrah, Sam
made a rapid diminuendo to the first syllable of the last, which trailed
off and would have died away but for Frank, who, touched by the man's
show of devotion, finished it heartily, and led off with another cheer,
in which the others joined, the shouts having an accompaniment in the
pattering of feet upon the floor-cloth of the hall.
Sam's fit of exaltation was over, and he stood shamefaced and troubled,
wiping his damp hands upon the white napkin.
"I beg your pardon, sir," he said humbly. "You see, I knowed Mr Harry
so well. He was always such a gentleman to me, and it was such an upset
when he died that--that now he's come to life again, sir, it seemed like
making a man forget himself, sir, and--"
"Show that he felt a genuine attachment to our very dear friend,
Samuel," said the doctor quietly. "Thank you. My friends thank you
too, for we know it was all perfectly sincere."
"Hah!" said the professor, as the door closed. "I always liked your
Sam, though as a bit of a linguist I must say that sometimes his use of
the Queen's English does rather jar upon my feelings."
"But his heart's in the right place," said Frank warmly.
"And a good heart too. But as we were saying when he burst into the
room, Britons never shall be slaves, and I'm going back to Egypt after
all to file off those chains."
"That's right," said the doctor warmly, "and just what I knew you would
say. You are a man, Fred, who has found out things that have puzzled a
good many--"
"Better ones," said the professor modestly. "Well, I have."
"And you've made out many an Egyptian hieroglyphic in your time."
"Yes, and I hope to find out more," said the professor.
"And will," cried Frank.
"But," said the doctor, "you are forbidden to go up the country--by the
English and Egyptian authorities; and the Soudan is in the power of a
savage and cruel impostor, who vows death to the white. How are you
going up there to use those files?"
"Hah!" said the professor gravely; "whenever I have a difficult problem
to solve I always put on my old red fez and have a thorough good think,
and
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