as like the wall of a house,
but the view from the top was worth while, and might have been enjoyed
but for the thought of getting down again; especially as old Job (my
new guide) persisted in telling me about several people who had been
killed, bouncing all the way to the bottom. I did pretty well all the
tourist stunts in Egypt. I rode a donkey when my feet touched the
ground on either side, also mounted a camel that lifted me to a dizzy
height. I gazed into the imperturbable face of the Sphinx and wandered
among the numerous pyramids of Sakkara. I visited the tombs of the
Mamelukes and feasted on the beauty of the mosques (having my feet shod
with the provided sandals so that my infidel dust might not defame the
hallowed floor). I also viewed the citadel; but the place of most
charm was the streets of old Cairo. I was never tired of elbowing my
way through the bazaars and it was worth it to buy something you didn't
want for the sake of being waited on by "Abraham in the flesh." Here
was the Arabian Nights in very reality, and all the romance and lure of
a thousand dreams. The smell was a bit overpowering, but bearable if
you surrounded yourself with the smell of your favorite tobacco.

[1] Australian native weapon.

CHAPTER XI

"NIPPER"

On the sheep and cattle station of Wyaga in southwestern Queensland
there is a shepherd's hut about fifty miles from the homestead.

One night my father was camping in this hut, and before lying down had
piled a lot of dry dung on the fire outside so that the smoke would
drive away the mosquitoes. Somewhere about midnight he woke with the
sense of some human being near him. Then he was startled to see the
fire scattered before his eyes, but never found sight nor sound of
anything living.

Many months later he again visited the hut. This time it was occupied
by old Mullins, the shepherd. Again about midnight he was roused, this
time by the whining of the sheep-dog "Nipper." Every hair on the dog
was bristling, but he made no attempt to attack whatever it was he saw.
Suddenly the fire was again scattered. The old shepherd said that this
happened about once a month, and that on one occasion he had seen a
woman kick the fire apart and then disappear.

To the railway-station at Goondiwindi came Mullins one day in December,
1914, and bought tickets to Brisbane for himself and Nipper. The
regulations of the Queensland government railways will not allow dogs
t