TO CAIRO AGAIN

It was some time before Naoum joined his protÉgÉ. George finished his meal and waited impatiently for his coming, but an hour passed without any sign. At last he heard again, outside in the hall, a bustle and noise similar to that which had occurred at Arabi's arrival, and he knew that at last the rebel chief was taking his departure.

After a while the noise died away and Naoum appeared. His face was calm, but George noticed a something in his look that seemed foreign to it, and a presentiment that he was about to hear bad news took possession of him. As Naoum came forward, our hero greeted him anxiously.

"Well, what news? Nothing bad, I hope?"

Naoum turned his eyes away, and the strange look deepened on his face. George was quick to notice it.

"Yes, there is, I see it in your face. Tell me, I don't mind; it can't be worse than death, and I have already faced that often."

"Arabi is a strange man," replied Naoum, as though thinking aloud. "He appears to have no will of his own. This man Arden has him under his thumb. Death," he went on, turning his strong face towards his companion, "would be a blessing to that which I am afraid will be your lot, unless——"

"Unless what?" eagerly demanded Helmar.

"Unless we can prevent it," replied Naoum slowly.

"What is this dreadful fate you anticipate?" asked George with a sinking heart, as his friend's ominous words fell on his ears.

"After you had gone I endeavoured to draw from him what he intended doing with you. I felt convinced that some plans were revolving in his mind, and I wished, for our guidance, to discover them. In this conviction I am certain I was right. He assured me that he had no intention of having you executed, but he hung so persistently on the fact that you possessed information of the plans of the British Commander, that I knew he intended to force you to speak. Your enemy Arden has done his work well, for, with all the persuasion in my power, I could not move this foolish man in his belief. I fear that he intends to have you 'interrogated' at Cairo."

"Tortured, do you mean?" asked George in dismay.

"Yes, that is what it means, I fear. The barbarity of these inhuman creatures is frightful, and they carry out the rites of the Inquisition to the full extent of its cruelty. However," he went on, his face clearing a little, "although I tried to dissuade him, I was not altogether unprepared for this development, and you can rely on me not to lose a point in your favour. We must outwit these men somehow."

Naoum relapsed into thoughtful silence; his face was heavy with anxiety; George could almost hear the throbbings of his own heart, the silence seemed so profound, and it was with a sense of relief that he heard his companion again talking in his slow, measured tones.

"The sign by which you will know your friends in Cairo is the word 'Amman!' Your answer to it will be, 'Allah is good!' To which the friend will reply, 'And ever watchful!' To any one coming to you in this way you can give any message, or follow any instructions he or she may give. You can trust me that never for one moment will our watchfulness be relaxed, and, in times of your greatest danger, help will be near."

George repeated the sign so as to be sure he had made no mistake, then, infinitely relieved, he asked—

"And when do I start for my new prison?"

"To-night. You will go by train. Arabi will have gone before you. He also leaves to-night. I shall go and discover what news my men have brought in."

He turned, as he spoke, and left the room.

So after all he was to be the victim of Arden's cruel machinations, thought George, when he found himself alone. In spite of all Naoum's power he was unable to stay the hand of this ruthless enemy. Torture! The word was one of terrible significance; death was child's play compared with it. Pondering for a few moments on Arden's treacheries, his thoughts going back to the little petty theft at Constantinople, he tried to account for it all, but only came to the conclusion that it was inherent wickedness and villainy. George had outwitted and defied him at Port Said. To a man of Mark's cruel and villainous disposition this was sufficient, and he had made up his mind to leave no stone unturned to humble and ruin his former friend. Well, time would show if he were to succeed.

As these thoughts passed through Helmar's mind, a grim, set look of determination came into the young man's handsome face, that boded ill for the success of his enemy's plans.

The sun had set, and night had closed in when Naoum again came to George to notify him that the guard awaited to take him to Cairo.

"The little wretch Abdu is to be in charge of you, Helmar," said he, after informing him of the presence of the guard. "How this comes to be arranged, I do not know, but there is evidently some purpose in it. Be prepared for anything, and do not forget what I have told you; above all, do not let anything your guard can say to you rouse you to anger—it is a favourite way of obtaining an excuse for getting rid of prisoners. And now, good-bye!"

George bade his kind host and protector good-bye, and with a haughty appearance of indifference, he accompanied Abdu and two soldiers to the station. If he had had any idea that he was to travel comfortably he was quickly undeceived, for the train, which was waiting, consisted of nothing but goods wagons; into one of these he was unceremoniously hustled and the doors firmly bolted. One source of comfort to him, at this treatment, was the fact that Abdu and his two guards had to travel in the same compartment.

The moment the doors were closed his hands and feet were securely bound.

"What is this for?" asked George, as in obedience to the little wretch's orders he submitted to the indignity.

"In order that you cannot play any more tricks upon us," replied Abdu in French. "I haven't forgotten what you did on the way to Damanhour—we have not that fool Belbeis with us now—heh!"

Helmar objected, and refused to allow the guards to bind his feet. Immediately Abdu's eyes flashed, and he drew a long, keen blade from his belt.

"Would you?" he cried between his teeth; "this knife is sharp, so——" And he pricked George's hands.

Feeling the uselessness of resistance, George allowed the little black wretch to secure his feet, and as it was complete, stooped to sit down. With a fiendish look on his face, the Egyptian raised his foot and gave him a vicious kick in the chest. Losing his balance, Helmar fell heavily to the floor, striking his head with great force against the side of the van.

Blind with fury at such inhuman treatment, George struggled to release his hands from the rope which held them, but his efforts were useless and only roused the soldiers to merriment. Suddenly, as if believing that his prisoner was succeeding in freeing himself, Abdu leaped upon him, and flourishing his long knife, pricked him several times in the body with it; with a brutal laugh he then kicked him again and rejoined his companions at the other end of the car.

Helmar now understood the reason this brute was sent in charge of him, and he knew that his journey was to be one of insufferable agony. Oh, for one moment of freedom again! If it cost him his life he would exterminate the hound.

After his last onslaught, Abdu left him alone for a while, and Helmar's anger began to cool down. He thought of Naoum's words, and realized how truly he had spoken. No, he must remain quiet, and then even Abdu could not be barbarous enough to murder him. It was one thing to come to such a determination and another to carry it out; alternately he was a prey to violent thoughts of revenge and the calmness of philosophy. In the latter intervals he wondered how long the train would take to reach its destination, he had not been in it half-an-hour, and yet it seemed to him an eternity.

The guards were talking in low tones; every now and then Helmar caught a word of Arabic, but they had taken the precaution to seat themselves so far from him that he could not hear what they talked about. The misery of his uncomfortable position and surroundings gave him little desire to interest himself with them.

About an hour after they had started, Abdu left his companions and came and sat beside him. Helmar knew this was the prelude to some fiendish cruelty, but what he did not know. He was not long left in doubt.

The train was bumping terrifically, the metals over which it was running being very uneven. For a few moments Abdu watched the motion of a piece of iron chain, hanging through a ring in the side of the car, then, having evolved some plan, he turned to his prisoner with a leer on his face.

"You see this," he said, tapping the place where Helmar had struck him in the face; "Abdu hasn't forgotten, but he is kind and forgives easily. You are a prisoner, and must be made comfortable."

As he said this he sprang up, and going over to where the chain was hanging, took it from its place, and coiling it up into a knot, returned to George's side. The chain was made of large iron links, with several sharp, square swivels in it, and these Abdu so placed that they projected from the rest. Having arranged it to his fancy, he seized his prisoner's hair, and raising his head by it, placed the bunch of chain beneath it, and then, with brutal force, pushed him back on to the sharp, rusty iron.

"You must have a pillow," he laughed, as he saw George wince with pain.

The moment Abdu had released his head, Helmar raised it from the cruel iron and moved himself away, but the Egyptian was ready in a moment; the knife flashed, and George felt its keen point prick through his clothes.

"Ah! you would refuse my kindness, would you? This must not be," and he pushed the chain again beneath the prisoner's head. "So, if you move again the knife will go farther in next time."

George now found himself compelled to remain with the chain under his head. Strain as he would, to keep from resting upon it, the motion and jolting of the train made it pummel the back of his skull, until he felt that he should soon go mad. Once or twice, in desperation, he moved, but the wretch was as good as his word, and the point of his knife was dug into his legs and arms until his clothes were covered with blood.

After half-an-hour of this Abdu seemed to have had enough of the pastime, and with a sneering laugh removed the chain, and then returned to his companions at the end of the car.

Helmar all this time had not uttered one word. Notwithstanding the agony he had endured, and the pain of the wounds Abdu had inflicted upon him, he had not allowed a single sound to escape him, but it was with a sigh of intense relief that he saw the little monster rejoin his friends.

The guards, for a time, now seemed to ignore the presence of their prisoner and spoke in louder tones. Possibly Abdu was not aware that his prisoner could speak Arabic, for they conversed quite freely, and George distinctly heard every word they said. Abdu was the man his attention was mainly fixed upon.

"No, no," he was saying, "the officer Arden has been fooled by this Naoum. Arabi would have killed him at once but for the money-man Naoum. I tell you he is his friend, and we will have no power to harm him."

"But Arden is powerful, and while Naoum is away, will be able to do as he likes," replied one of the men, in a tone of conviction.

"You are a fool, and cannot see before your nose," cried Abdu, irritably. "Arabi dare not quarrel with Naoum; the other is only powerful in favour, he does not wield the hold over our master. No, Arden will work his end, but not through his master, it will be in the way he ordered the prison to be fired."

Helmar listened to every word they were talking of him.

"So it was Arden that had the prison set alight," thought he; "evidently he would stop at nothing. Would his influence extend to Cairo?"

"Who says that Arden had the prison burnt?" said one of the men. "More likely that you did it, Abdu, because the Christian dog struck you."

All three laughed, and George shuddered as he realized what it meant to be in the power of such creatures.

"Whoever did it, it was good," said Abdu; "the dogs must die, or the true believers will be driven from their own land. I would that I were allowed, yonder dog should never leave this train alive, and his body should rot on the plains, and feed the vultures."

"You are a great man, Abdu," said one of his companions, sneeringly, "and very brave. Go and cut yonder dog's ropes and see how you will fare! Allah! but he would eat you, knife and all!"

Abdu was stung to the quick, and retorted hotly—

"Have a care; I have dealt with him before, and if he hurt me it was because I was not aware; but I am here in front of you, and by the Prophet's beard, I fear you not," and he showed his glittering white teeth.

Helmar was in hopes that they would start to fight amongst themselves, and he felt convinced that if they did so, they would not bother any more about troubling him.

"Allah! but you think because you are the son of a great man that I fear to speak," retorted the other. "Shoo! I fear you so little that I spit in your face!"

The man suited the action to the word, and immediately sprang to his feet. Abdu promptly followed suit, as did the third man. The little officer's eyes were blazing with rage, and he rushed, with upraised knife, on the man who had insulted him. Instantly the two men locked, and a struggle to the death ensued. Their knives gleamed and flashed in the dim light of the car as each tried to bury his weapon in his opponent's vitals.

So interested was Helmar in what was going on that he forgot his pain and the torture to which he had been subjected, and laughed and cheered Abdu's assailant on with an enthusiasm that astonished even himself.

The third man of his guard seemed in some magic way to have disappeared, but George had not thought about him, so busily occupied was he with the combatants. To and fro they swayed; now Abdu seemed to be getting the best of it, and now the other appeared to be forcing the little man back. It was most exciting, and George struggled to a sitting posture, the better to follow their movements.

Suddenly a whispered tone reached his ear; some one close beside him uttered the word "Amman!"