of the company, and this through their great
willingness to serve and their extraordinary care over Nell. Gebhr
always had a cruel and a trifle bestial expression of face, but Idris,
quickly perceiving that that little personage was the eye in the head
of the whole company, declared at every opportunity that he cared more
for her than for his own soul. Mr. Rawlinson conjectured indeed, that,
through Nell, Idris wanted to reach his pocket, but believing at the
same time that there was not in the world a person who could not but
love his only child, he was grateful to him and did not stint himself
in giving "bakshish."

In the course of five days the party visited the near by ruins of the
ancient city of Crocodilopolis, where at one time the Egyptians
worshipped a deity called Sobk, which had a human form with the head of
a crocodile. Afterwards an excursion was made to the Hanar pyramids and
the remains of the Labyrinth. The longest trip was on camel-back to
Lake Karun. Its northern shore was a stark desert, on which there were
ruins of former Egyptian cities, but no trace of life. On the other
hand, on the southern shore stretched a fertile country, magnificent,
with shores overgrown by heather and reeds and teeming with pelicans,
flamingoes, herons, wild geese, and ducks. Only here did Stas find an
opportunity for displaying his marksmanship. The shooting from a common
rifle as well as from the short rifle was so extraordinary that after
every shot could be heard the astonished smacking of the lips of Idris
and the Arabian rowers, and the falling of the birds into the water was
accompanied by exclamations of "Bismillah" and "Mashallah."

The Arabians assured them that on the opposite desert-shore were many
wolves and hyenas, and that by tossing amid the sand dunes the carcass
of a sheep one might get within shooting range. In consequence of these
assurances Pan Tarkowski and Stas passed two nights on the desert near
the ruins of Dima. But the first sheep was stolen by Bedouins as soon
as the hunters left it; while the second lured only a lame jackal,
which Stas brought down. Further hunting had to be postponed as the
time had arrived for both engineers to inspect the works conducted at
Bahr Yusuf near El-Lahun, southeast from Medinet.

Mr. Rawlinson waited only for the arrival of Madame Olivier.
Unfortunately, in place of her, came a letter from the physician
informing them that the former erysipelas in the face had