the same; and that, although his papers on Egyptian discoveries had
always been accepted, it was quite another thing when he came to write
on general subjects.

"We had a hard time of it, but we were very happy, nevertheless. Then
came the time when my health began to give way. I had a terrible cough,
and the doctor said that I must have a change to a warmer climate. We
were very poor then--so poor that we had only a few shillings left, and
lived in one room. Your father saw an advertisement for a man to go out
to the branch of a London firm, at Alexandria. Without saying a word to
me, he went and obtained it, thanks to his knowledge of Arabic.

"He was getting on well in the firm, when the bombardment of Alexandria
took place. The offices and stores of his employers were burned; and,
as it would take many months before they could be rebuilt, the
employees were ordered home; but any who chose to stay were permitted
to do so, and received three months' pay. Your father saw that there
would be many chances, when the country settled down, and so took a
post under a contractor of meat for the army.

"We moved to Cairo. Shortly after our arrival there he was, as he
thought, fortunate in obtaining the appointment of an interpreter with
Hicks Pasha. I did not try to dissuade him. Everyone supposed that the
Egyptian troops would easily defeat the Dervishes. There was some
danger, of course; but it seemed to me, as it did to him, that this
opening would lead to better things; and that, when the rebellion was
put down, he would be able to obtain some good civil appointment, in
the Soudan. It was not the thought of his pay, as interpreter, that
weighed in the slightest with either of us. I was anxious, above all
things, that he should be restored to a position where he could
associate with gentlemen, as one of themselves, and could again take
his real name."

Gregory started, as he read this. He had never had an idea that the
name he bore was not rightly his own, and even the statement of his
grandfather's name had not struck him as affecting himself.

"Your father had an honourable pride in his name, which was an old one;
and when he took the post at Alexandria, which was little above that of
an ordinary office messenger, he did not care that he should be
recognized, or that one of his name should be known to be occupying
such a station. He did not change his name, he simply dropped the
surname. His full name was Gregory Hil