It was a happy thought that we could all begin that very night to do something for the Egyptian children. Hugh and Lucy said so, and we all felt it.
[CHAPTER VII.]
HELIOPOLIS, AND OTHER SIGHTS AND SCENES.
T he next morning we set off for Heliopolis.
Heliopolis, or the "City of the Sun," is the same which is called "On" in the Bible. Joseph's wife came from On, where her father was a man of wealth and importance.
The ride from Cairo to Heliopolis is delightful. We went across the edge of the desert, and on our way were struck by a solitary dome marking a tomb. This is the tomb of Saladin's brother, Malek Adhel, to whom Richard Cœur de Lion wished to marry his sister Matilda.
Beyond this our road lay through green fields and shady avenues of acacias. The air was filled with a delicious perfume and with the humming of the wild bees. We saw Arabs, with bare legs and turbaned heads, tilling the ground, oxen treading out the corn, long strings of camels and asses bringing home provender.
It was, indeed, a living Bible picture.
ARAB SITTING IN FRONT OF HIS TENT.