Part 21 (2/2)

Let them wait--let the world wait as long as thou art happy. Verily thou art pale and thin------” Upon which unfortunate remark Jill turned like the spitfire she had lately become.

”Seeing that you are allowed four wives, Hahmed, there is no reason to bemoan your fate; this is not Europe, where once married you are for ever tied to the one girl, who, a bud in her youth, may as time pa.s.ses turn to one of those dreadful cabbage-roses, which go purple and fat with age. I'm sorry,” she continued, as she held out both her hands, ”you simply must not notice me these days. I think I am bewitched--I have even sent my darling old Ameena away because her deformity suddenly irritated me, and I told Mustapha I would have him thrown as breakfast to the cheetahs if he dared to make himself seen, and he believed it, and no shampoo will _ever_ get the sand out of his hair.”

”But he _shall_ be thrown to the cheetahs if it would please thee, beloved!”

And the uncalculating cruelty in the man's voice sent the red to the girl's white face, and moving over to him made her lean down and kiss him upon the mouth.

And then she seated herself upon the ground and made tea, laughing like a child when to please her the Arab drank it protestingly.

”By Allah! it is a poison which you drink in Europe, and yet you would go and drink it in a crowded city.”

”Are we going, Hahmed, oh Hahmed, _are_ we?” whispered Jill, half afraid to break the spell by the raising of her voice.

”But of course, beloved--hast thou not expressed the wish--though surely it were better to go to thine own dwelling, for it will go hard with thee to keep thy face covered and remain undiscovered to thy many friends, who doubtless will be seeking the solace of Egypt's winter sun; for the time is not yet at hand when I will permit thee to make thyself known to them.”

But Jill was ready to accept anything as long as her craving could be satisfied, and Hahmed, longing to satisfy her craving, looked with eyes of love upon the sweetness of her face aglow with antic.i.p.ation, so that both were well content.

And an hour pa.s.sed in which they ate and drank, and Jill balanced pieces of sweet bread upon the noses of two great hounds, who, scenting their master from afar, had broken bounds and raced to him, leaping the breakfast table to Jill's infinite delight, whilst their groom lay upon the ground out of sight antic.i.p.ating the thras.h.i.+ng his carelessness merited him, but from which he was spared by reason of his mistress'

sweetness.

”And so, Light of Heaven, I must leave thee, for there is much to prepare if we would start at once, for it is difficult to secure the strict privacy due to my wife in these times when the world is overrun by the tourist ants who should by right be underground.

”And my heart inclineth to hours spent with thee, O! Flower of the Desert, hours spent at thy feet in the heat of the day whilst thou slumberest, hours upon the roof of thy dwelling, watching the day prepare herself for the coming of her lover, the night; and yet must I leave thee when my being is overwhelmed with love of thee, thou wind of caprice! Would that I could tell the meaning of my gentleness towards thee, I, Hahmed, who, like a love-sick youth, sleeps the night without the silken curtain of thy door and dare not enter in unto thee.”

And his hands suddenly gripped the girl by her shoulders and pulled her towards him, at which roughness she smiled, as women do when so treated, and rested her sweet-scented head above his heart.

”Ah, Hahmed! Who knows if thou are not over timorous even for a love-sick youth,” she sighed. ”And _must_ thou go when my heart inclineth to hours spent with _thee_? And yet at night the stars come out so 'tis said, and can be seen from the roof of my dwelling; and when the wind sweeps over chill across the sands the fire throws shadows in my room of roses, where the love bird with little wings hovers above my couch suspended by a little silken cord.”

And the man bent her back towards him so that the ribbon of her bodice snapped and the beauty of her lay under his hands, and she stretched both arms outwards and whispered so that only he could hear, ”Kiss me, Hahmed, oh my heart's desire! Kiss me, for I am faint with love of thee.”

And even as he bent downwards to her she fell unconscious at his feet, whereupon he raised her in his arms and looked into the white face, speaking so that only she might hear.

”And the love bird shall fly down to thy couch this night, Delight of my Heart, and the shadows upon thy sweet face shall deepen ere the dawn,” and he kissed the closed eyes and the red mouth and the white throat and the shadow of a collar-bone which showed above the roundness of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and then he laid her upon the cus.h.i.+ons on the ground, and, clapping his hands, gave her into the care of her handmaidens.

[1]Evil Spirit.

CHAPTER x.x.xVIII

An hour and more had pa.s.sed before Jack Wetherbourne suddenly awoke, and stretching his arms above his head apostrophised the full moon s.h.i.+ning down upon the Great Pyramid in the shadows of which he was sitting.

”What the d.i.c.kens Lady Moon brought me to this place of all places to-night,” he said lazily, as he struck a match and lit a cigarette.

”Let's hope my s.h.i.+p of the desert hasn't upstreamed for Cairo all on her own, else I see myself here until the advent of the next Cook's party. Decent of the camel wallah to let me take the apple of his commercial eye into the desert unaccompanied.” He stretched and settled himself more comfortably, continuing to talk aloud. ”What a night--what a country--wish I'd brought Mary with me--ideal spot for a heart-to-heart talk. I might have shaken her out of her 'eyedyfix,' as old Gruntham calls it. Silly idea that she won't get married until Jill has been found--why! what! who in heaven's name are coming down the pyramid? Well, I'm blessed! two native wallahs been breaking the rules, and I had no idea they were perched up there above my head.”

Safe in the protecting shadows he watched Hahmed and Jill descend.

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