incerely envied it in him.

Christmas Eve and the first day of the holidays were passed by the
children partly in church services, partly in inspecting the gifts they
had received, and in training Saba. The new friend appeared to possess
intelligence beyond all expectations. On the very first day he learned
to give his paw, retrieve handkerchiefs, which, however, he would not
surrender without some resistance, and he understood that cleaning
Nell's face with his tongue was an act unworthy of a gentlemanly dog.
Nell, holding her fingers at her little nose, gave him various
instructions, while he, concurring with motions of his tail, gave her
in this manner to understand that he heard with becoming attention and
took her lessons to heart. During their strolls over the sandy city
square the fame of Saba in Medinet grew with each hour and, even as all
fame, began to have its disagreeable side, for it drew a whole swarm of
Arabian children. In the beginning they kept at a distance; afterwards,
however, emboldened by the gentleness of the "monster," they approached
more and more closely, and in the end sat around the tent so that no
one could move about with any freedom. Besides, as every Arabian child
sucks sugar-cane from morning to night, the children always attract
after them legions of flies, which besides being loathsome are noxious,
for they spread the Egyptian infection of inflammation of the eyes. For
this reason the servants attempted to disperse the children, but Nell
stood in their defense and, what is more, distributed among the
youngest "helou," that is, sweetmeats, which gained for her their great
love but also increased their number.

After three days the joint excursions began; partly on the narrow-gauge
railways of which the English had built quite a number in Medinet
el-Fayum, partly on donkeys, and sometimes on camels. It appeared that
in the praises bestowed on those animals by Idris there was indeed a
great deal of exaggeration, for not merely kidney-beans but even people
could not easily keep on the saddles; but there was also some truth.
The camels in reality belonged to the variety known as "hegin," that
is, for carrying passengers, and were fed with good durra (the local or
Syrian maize) so that the humps were fat and they appeared so willing
to speed that it was necessary to check them. The Sudanese, Idris and
Gebhr, gained, notwithstanding the wild glitter of their eyes, the
confidence and hearts