f at this fresh instance of his
protector's watchfulness filled him with a sense of security that he
had not yet felt, and he blessed the man who was so kindly disposed
towards him.
The rest of the journey passed uneventfully, and, as the train
pulled up at its destination and Helmar and his guards alighted on
the platform, he was glad to leave the stuffy, heated atmosphere of
the place in which he had had such an exciting time.
Abdu and he marched from the station side by side. The difference
between them was that Abdu's hands still remained bound, while he
was allowed to walk unfettered. His guards hailed a conveyance, and
the four were immediately taken to the prison.
This precaution was necessary, as Helmar soon discovered, for as
they passed along the thoroughfares he saw that the whole city was
in a ferment. The streets were thronged with a shouting cosmopolitan
mob even at that early hour of the morning. Armed rebels were
parading the streets, jostling and hustling any with whom they came
into contact. There was not the slightest doubt that his white face
would have served as a red rag to a bull in that mixed assembly, and
he would never have reached his destination alive.
He remarked on this to his guards, and his surmise was at once
confirmed.
"Your life would not be worth a minute's purchase exposed to view,"
replied the man he addressed. "For that matter, even natives have to
be most careful, the place is almost in a state of riot. Egypt
cannot last like this, we shall eat ourselves up."
Abdu was furtively watching the seething thoroughfare from the
window, and, as the man finished speaking, he endeavoured to attract
some one's attention outside by holding up his bound hands. The
instant he did so, the guard flung himself upon him and forced him
down; but it was too late, the mischief was done. With a cry, two or
three of the crowd elbowed their way, at a run, towards the hack.
Helmar glanced with apprehension at his guards, and noted the fear
expressed in their faces, while Abdu was grinning with the most
intense malice.
The driver evidently saw danger threatening his vehicle and whipped
his horses up, but apparently some signal had been passed along the
road, for the number of pursuers was momentarily increasing to a
howling crowd.
What the issue would have been it is doubtful to say, but just at
that moment they reached the citadel, parts of which were being used
as prison cells, and, w
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