Brow-bound with burning gold.”
Max wondered whether the stranger spoke truly, and almost was inclined to doubt, for he was at that age when the laughing black eyes of a girl fascinate and lure, sometimes to ruin.
Anyway, he was thankful for having been saved from the Arabs.
He saw that night how much his father was respected, but he saw that which made his heart sad. His father was bowed down with grief.
And no wonder. He had loved his wife with a passion as strong as his love of life.
When they had left New York with Max, a boy of only eight summers of life, all had seemed roseate.
Leaving Max at a school in England, Mrs. Gordon accompanied her husband to Egypt; but at the end of three years the malarious climate had rendered it impossible for her to live there, and she returned to England to be near Max.
For seven years the husband had only been able to spend three months in the year with the wife he so loved.
Then came the time when once more the mother of Max was ready to brave the treacherous climate of Egypt.
How the husband had looked forward to that time, and with what pleasure had he refurnished his house. Everything to please her was obtained.