<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <br/><span class="cheaderfont">AN EVENTFUL NIGHT.</span></SPAN></h2>
<p>An Australian team bound for England always has
a good time on board the steamer, and the eleven
of which Edgar was a member was no exception to
the rule. At Melbourne and Adelaide they were
joined by the members of the team hailing from
Victoria and South Australia.</p>
<p>On arriving at Colombo they went ashore to play
a match against a team selected from the leading
local cricketers. Being out of practice they did not
play up to their usual form, and the Colombo team
nearly defeated them, and were much elated in consequence.</p>
<p>At this time the mail steamers did not pass
through the Suez Canal at night-time, and the <em>Cuzco</em>
anchored off Ismailia. A run ashore to pass away
the time was only natural, and Edgar, accompanied
by Will Brown and other members of the team,
made up a party. This night ashore at Ismailia<span class="pagenum">[215]</span>
was destined to effect a change in Edgar’s future
life.</p>
<p>The population of Ismailia is a mixture of different
nationalities, some of them being of a rather desperate
and fierce nature. An Egyptian wedding-party
passed through one of the streets; it was a curious
sight to unaccustomed eyes. The men, swathed in
long white garments, with turbans on their heads,
and sandals on their feet, carried long poles, at the
ends of which lanterns were fixed. Their brown
arms and faces shone in the reflected light, and
offered a strong contrast to the colour of their
garments. Fierce eyes gleamed from under dark,
bushy eyebrows, and as the men marched, uttering
a wild chant in peculiar tones, the effect was somewhat
weird. The bridegroom, who was being escorted
to his bride, was a tall, powerful young fellow, of a
better caste than his friends.</p>
<p>All went well until the procession approached the
bride’s house, when a party of young fellows from
the <em>Cuzco</em>, who had been revelling not wisely but too
well, barred the road. It was a foolhardy thing to
do. To stop such a procession was exceedingly
dangerous, and could only be construed as an insult
by the natives, who are not slow to avenge any slight
put upon them.</p>
<p>Edgar and those with him saw the danger, and
shouted to the obstructionists to move out of the
way. It was, however, too late, and the warning
would probably not have been heeded in any case.<span class="pagenum">[216]</span>
Seeing how matters stood, the Egyptians grew
furious. Knives flashed in the light, and a rush was
made at the foolish young fellows, who so recklessly
hindered the procession.</p>
<p>‘Come on,’ shouted Edgar, ‘or there will be
murder done!’</p>
<p>He rushed forward, followed by his companions,
but they found it impossible to render much assistance,
owing to the confusion. Edgar became separated
from the others, and was drawing back from the
crowd, when he heard a cry for help, followed by a
woman’s shriek.</p>
<p>Rushing in the direction of the sound, he saw a
girl of about eighteen struggling in the grasp of a
powerful Egyptian. He recognised her as Miss
Muriel Wylde, a passenger on the <em>Cuzco</em>, with whom
he had had pleasant chats on deck. In a moment
Edgar had the ruffian by the throat, and forced him
to loose his hold. No sooner, however, was the girl
free, than another man seized her and attempted to
carry her off. She struggled violently, and shouted
again for help. Edgar had his work cut out with
the man he first tackled. He was unarmed, and
had to rely upon his fists. The furious Egyptian
rushed upon him with an uplifted knife in his hand.
Edgar did not flinch, but caught the fellow by the
wrist, and the knife flew from his grasp. Then,
with his left fist, he dealt the man a savage blow
between the eyes that well-nigh stunned him.</p>
<p>Turning to see what had become of Miss Wylde,<span class="pagenum">[217]</span>
Edgar saw that she had fainted, and her captor was
hurrying away with her. Edgar gave chase, and
quickly came up with him. The Egyptian dropped
his burden, and turned on Edgar, aiming a terrific
blow at him with his knife. Edgar sprang backwards,
and the man over-reached himself. Before
he recovered, Edgar had him on the ground, and
stunned him by knocking his head on the hard
road.</p>
<p>He then sprang to his feet, and went to the
assistance of Miss Wylde, who had luckily been
thrown on the soft sand by the side of the road, and
found she had recovered from her faint.</p>
<p>‘Can you walk?’ said Edgar; ‘are you much
hurt?’</p>
<p>She was trembling and alarmed, and could hardly
answer him.</p>
<p>‘We must make our way to the quay,’ he said,
‘and get a boat back to the ship as quickly as
possible. These fellows are frantic at being interfered
with, and are in a dangerous state. Lean on
me, and try and walk.’</p>
<p>She put her hand on his shoulder, and Edgar
supported her by placing his arm round her waist.</p>
<p>They had not gone many yards before Edgar
heard loud shouting behind them. It was evident
some of the Egyptians were coming that way, and
they must be avoided if possible. A few paces
straight ahead Edgar saw a high wall, and what
looked like a doorway. He lifted his companion off<span class="pagenum">[218]</span>
her feet, and ran as fast as he could towards the
archway.</p>
<p>On reaching it he knocked loudly. The door was
opened by an old native woman, who peered curiously
into his face.</p>
<p>Without saying a word Edgar stepped inside, and
closed the door behind him.</p>
<p>‘What do you here?’ asked the old woman, in
broken English. ‘Are you from the ship?’</p>
<p>‘Yes,’ said Edgar, not knowing what else to say,
or what excuse to give for his conduct.</p>
<p>The old woman’s eyes gleamed, and her wrinkled,
parchment-like skin seemed to crumple up and
almost crack. Her mouth expanded in what she
no doubt meant for a smile, but Edgar thought it a
diabolical grin, and Muriel Wylde shrank back.</p>
<p>‘Money—gold!’ said the woman hoarsely, her
skinny hands extended like a couple of claws. ‘Gold,
and you shall hear your fortune. The oldest Egyptian
in Ismailia can speak truth.’</p>
<p>Edgar felt relieved; had the old woman guessed
they were fugitives she might not have been so
friendly. He looked at his companion, and said:</p>
<p>‘We shall be glad to hear our fortunes from you,
mother. That is what we came for,’ and he took a
sovereign out of his pocket.</p>
<p>The old Egyptian’s eyes fastened upon it, and her
hand was stretched out.</p>
<p>‘Give me your hand,’ she said to Miss Wylde.</p>
<p>The girl put out her open hand reluctantly, and<span class="pagenum">[219]</span>
the Egyptian gazed at it so attentively that she
appeared to have forgotten the coin.</p>
<p>‘You have been in trouble, and he has saved you,’
croaked the woman.</p>
<p>The girl started, and the Egyptian smiled at this
corroborative evidence. She had hazarded a guess
at the situation, and hit the mark.</p>
<p>She then proceeded to give an account of what
would follow this adventure, and caused Muriel
Wylde to blush, and wish she was safely on board
again.</p>
<p>Edgar’s future was soon told, in the usual strain.
He was the hero of the story, and would be rewarded
in due time by the hand of the lady he had
rescued.</p>
<p>Edgar gave the fortune-teller the sovereign, and
asked her to direct them to the quay. She cautiously
opened the door, and peered out into the darkness,
listening attentively. She beckoned them to step
out, and then pointed in the direction in which they
should go.</p>
<p>They walked for some distance, and then reached
the part of the town where the cafés were still open,
and men and women were drinking coffee, seated
round tables under the verandas and trees.</p>
<p>They sat down at one of the tables and rested,
refreshing themselves with some excellent coffee.</p>
<p>‘We must hurry back to the ship,’ said Edgar.
‘Your party may have returned, and if so your
mother will be very anxious.’</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[220]</span></p>
<p>She was eager to go, and they rose from the table.
As they walked away a tall Egyptian followed them.
It was one of the men Edgar had knocked down.
They were not out of danger yet.</p>
<p>A long avenue led down to the quay, where the
boats were generally waiting to sail or row passengers
back to the ship.</p>
<p>The Egyptian followed them, keeping within the
shadow of the trees, his bare feet making no sound.</p>
<p>Muriel Wylde was still weak from the effect of the
shock she had received, and Edgar had to support
her. He seemed nothing loath to do so, and his
companion felt a sense of pleasurable security with
his strong arm round her waist.</p>
<p>On reaching the quay Edgar called out to a boatman,
who came slowly towards them in his tiny craft.</p>
<p>He explained that he wanted to be taken to the
<em>Cuzco</em>, and the boatman agreed.</p>
<p>Edgar handed his companion down into the boat,
and as she stepped on to the seat she looked up and
gave a cry of alarm. Behind Edgar stood the tall
Egyptian, who had crept stealthily up, and was about
to stab Edgar in the back. At her cry Edgar looked
round, and, seeing no other way of escape, he sprang
into the water. The Egyptian sprang after him, and
grasped Edgar by the arm. A terrible struggle
then took place, and in the water the Egyptian
proved the more powerful.</p>
<p>The man in the boat made no movement until
Muriel Wylde seized a round pole, and tried to hit<span class="pagenum">[221]</span>
Edgar’s assailant on the head. The boatman then
took the part of his countryman, and attempted to
seize the pole and wrench it out of Muriel’s hands.
The girl, however, was now thoroughly roused.
Edgar had rescued her, and she must do the same
for him, for he was in deadly peril. The Egyptian
dragged Edgar down and got his head under the
water, with the evident intention of drowning him.</p>
<p>A struggle commenced in the boat, but by a lucky
stroke Muriel managed to hit the boatman in the
chest, and he fell overboard. The Egyptian was not
far from the boat, and Muriel, raising the pole,
brought it down heavily on his head, causing him to
loose his hold of Edgar.</p>
<p>Half suffocated, Edgar came to the surface, and
struck out feebly for the boat.</p>
<p>Muriel leaned over the side and grasped him by
the arm. Pulling with all her strength, she managed
to give him sufficient assistance to help him to
scramble into the boat.</p>
<p>The two Egyptians in the water were on either
side of the boat, and were trying to upset it, and
Muriel kept them from clambering in by hitting at
them with the pole.</p>
<p>Edgar was well-nigh exhausted, but he managed
to set the sail, and, as the breeze was blowing from
the shore, the boat soon made headway and left the
Egyptians behind. Finding pursuit hopeless, they
swam ashore, and stood there gesticulating furiously.</p>
<p>Muriel, turning round to look at Edgar, saw he<span class="pagenum">[222]</span>
was unconscious. She was accustomed to sailing-boats,
and, having placed her jacket under Edgar’s
head, she steered with one hand and guided the sail
with the other. The boat sped along in the direction
of the <em>Cuzco</em>, whose lights were seen shining in
the distance.</p>
<p>Muriel Wylde sat watching Edgar, and when she
thought over their night’s adventures, she was thankful
they had escaped with life. Edgar was a handsome
young fellow, and Muriel Wylde felt her heart beat
fast as she looked at him. They had been good
friends on board during the voyage, and Edgar’s
mates had chaffed him about ‘pretty Miss Wylde.’
Her mother had noticed her daughter’s partiality for
Edgar’s society, and did not discourage it, as she had
taken a fancy to the young fellow.</p>
<p>Before they reached the steamer, Muriel Wylde
left the stern of the boat for a moment to attend to
Edgar. As she bent over him, he opened his eyes
and looked into her face, which was very near to his
own. Their eyes met, and they suddenly felt that
something had been revealed to each of them.</p>
<p>Edgar took Muriel Wylde’s hands, and drew her
towards him. She did not resist, and when he kissed
her she was not surprised or startled. It seemed a
fitting climax to the dangers they had passed
through.</p>
<p>So lost were they in each other, although neither
spoke, they did not notice they were close to the
<em>Cuzco</em>. A loud ‘Ahoy!’ from the deck roused them,<span class="pagenum">[223]</span>
and in a few minutes they were alongside the steamer,
and friendly hands were assisting them up the gangway.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />