Part 33 (1/2)

Later on, for political and religious reasons, his mummy was disentombed, taken up the river to the western desert and placed in his mother's splendid tomb in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. It was in these same hills that Michael believed the King to have concealed his treasure.

The treasure was Michael's practical objective. To others the idea might seem absurd and unpractical; to him it was quite possible and practical.

He could not have been more businesslike in his marching and halts if he had been a general taking his troops across the desert to relieve a beleaguered city. It was a part of his nature to be practical about the unpractical. The words of his old friend in el-Azhar often came back to him as his camel bore him through a spell of light, or as he listened to the thundering silence of the Arabian desert. He recalled his counsel, to journey undoubtingly, to follow in the steps of a ”child of G.o.d,” who would lead him to the treasure which no eyes had seen for countless centuries.

So far no child of G.o.d had crossed his path. From dawn until dusk he had seen nothing living or moving but one pale lizard, almost colourless as the rocks from which it had come; it had scurried across his path, the sole inhabitant of the untrodden sands, alarmed at the invasion of its kingdom.

These thoughts were pa.s.sing through his mind as his camel bore him nearer and nearer to the cavalcade which was coming towards him. The unexpected sight of travellers had raised a whirlwind of new doubts in his brain and called up undesired visions before his eyes. For the last three days nothing had disturbed the divine calm of his desert surroundings. He had contentedly become a part of his camel; its somnolent tread had lulled his senses like the gentle movement of an ocean steamer on the high seas.

As the two cavalcades drew nearer to each other, Abdul pressed forward to his master's side. His long sight, well used to desert distances, had clearly discerned what to Michael was still indistinct, blurred by the sun.

”One lady in party, Effendi.”

Michael showed surprise. It was an extremely unlikely place to meet a lady on camel-back; there were no tourists in that part of the desert, so far back from the Nile; it was not a likely place to meet an European pleasure-party. Michael knew that Abdul had meant an European lady when he spoke of ”one lady” being in the party; he would not have mentioned the fact if it had been only a Bedouin Arab woman moving her home to some more desirable spot. Perhaps it was some excavation-party. A number of European women, he knew, were now engaged on archaeological work in Egypt.

As the distance shortened, he began to count the number of the camels.

It was not a large equipment.

Quite suddenly the two leading camels of the approaching party strode forward, almost at a gallop, the curious gallop of fast-travelling desert camels. The next minute a clear voice called out:

”Hallo, good morning! Have you used Pears' Soap?”

Michael's heart stopped beating. It was Millicent's voice. For the sake of appearances he returned her greeting gaily, although his heart was filled with anger.

”No,” he cried back. ”But I've used desert sand, which the Prophet said does as well.”

Millicent had tricked him, cheated him. She had discovered his plans; she had laid hers very cleverly so as to meet him on the most desolate part of his journey. A vision of Margaret's anger, had she seen her riding towards him, rose before his eyes. The tone of Michael's voice expressed something of his feelings; it made Millicent all the more daring.

”I arranged a surprise for you--wasn't I clever?”

”It is certainly a surprise,” Michael said. ”Where are you going?”

”Whither thou goest, I will go,” she said laughingly. ”Where do you suppose I am going?”

”This is absurd, Millicent!” Michael lowered his voice.

”Why absurd? The desert's big enough for us both, isn't it?”

”I should have thought it sufficiently big to have made our meeting unnecessary.”

”Now, Mike, don't be an ungracious pig! Here I am and here I mean to stay. I won't bother you, so just be nice.”

The mules and camels of both parties had met. The men had joined forces and much talking was going on amongst the natives.

”Have you come alone?” Michael asked.

”My dragoman is with me.”

”Of course,” Mike said. ”I know that. But are you by yourself, without any other European?”

”Quite,” Millicent said. ”I didn't want anyone. Ha.s.san's a reliable dragoman. I came to meet you.”

”Do you think it was nice of you?”