b sheick, "pretty Franks! Franks do not
speak Arabic, nor wear the Nizam dress! Ye are men of Ibrahim Pasha's;
Egyptians, arrant Cairoites (Misseri) are ye all, every one of ye;" and
he and all his followers laughed at us scornfully, for we certainly did
look very like Egyptians. "We are Franks, I tell you!" again exclaimed
Fathallah: "Ibrahim Pasha, indeed! who is he, I should like to know? we
are Franks; and Franks like to see everything. We are going to see the
monastery of St. Sabba; we are not Egyptians; what care we for
Egyptians? we are English, Franks, every one of us, and we only desire
to see the monastery of St. Sabba; that is what we are, O Arab, son of
an Arab (Arab beni Arab). We are no less than this, and no more; we are
Franks, as you are Arabs."

Upon this there ensued a consultation between this son of an Arab and
the other sons of Arabs, and in process of time the worthy gentlemen,
knowing that it was impossible for us to escape, agreed to take us to
the monastery of St. Sabba, which was not far off, and there to hear
what we had to say in our defence.

The sheick waved his arm aloft as a signal to his men to raise the
muzzle of their guns, and we were allowed to proceed; some of the Arabs
walking unconcernedly before us, and the others skipping like goats from
rock to rock above us, and on the other side of the valley. They were
ten times as numerous as we were, and we should have had no chance with
them even on fair ground; but here we were completely at their mercy. We
were escorted in this manner the rest of the way, and in half an hour's
time we found ourselves standing before the great square tower of the
monastery of St. Sabba. The battlements were lined with Arabs, who had
taken possession of this strong place, and after a short parley and a
clanging of arms within, a small iron door was opened in the wall: we
dismounted and passed in; our horses, one by one, were pushed through
after us. So there we were in the monastery of St Sabba sure enough; but
under different circumstances from what we expected when we set out that
morning from Jerusalem.

Fathallah had, however, convinced the sheick of the Arabs that we really
were Franks, and not followers of Ibrahim Pasha, and before long we not
only were relieved from all fear, but became great friends with the
noble and illustrious Abou Somebody, who had taken possession of St.
Sabba and the defiles leading to it.

This monastery, which is a ve