CONTENTS

PAGE
[Chapter I.] Where the Desert Meets the Nile[9]
[Chapter II.] Hatatcha[30]
[Chapter III.] The Dragoman[39]
[Chapter IV.] The Treasure of Ahtka-Rā[52]
[Chapter V.] A Roll of Papyrus[63]
[Chapter VI.] Kāra Bathes in the Nile[71]
[Chapter VII.] A Step Toward the Goal[83]
[Chapter VIII.] His Grandmother’s Mummy[95]
[Chapter IX.] Aneth[104]
[Chapter X.] Lord Cromer’s Reception[112]
[Chapter XI.] Setting the Snares[122]
[Chapter XII.] Nephthys[132]
[Chapter XIII.] The Talisman of Ahtka-Rā[142]
[Chapter XIV.] Rogues Ancient and Modern[150]
[Chapter XV.] Winston Bey is Indignant[156]
[Chapter XVI.] Kāra Threatens[177]
[Chapter XVII.] Aneth Surrenders[187]
[Chapter XVIII.] Finding a Way[194]
[Chapter XIX.] The Abduction[217]
[Chapter XX.] The Sheik Agrees[226]
[Chapter XXI.] Lotus Eaters and Crocodiles[237]
[Chapter XXII.] The Dragoman’s Inspiration[247]
[Chapter XXIII.] Mother and Daughter[251]
[Chapter XXIV.] The Sheik Demurs[256]
[Chapter XXV.] The Bronze Bolts[266]
[Chapter XXVI.] The Dragoman Wins[283]

ILLUSTRATIONS

OPPOSITE
PAGE
[“Allahu akbar!” he said; “the stranger is welcome to all that I possess”][3]
[They went at a moderate pace, and bore the blistering rays of the sun as none but natives of Egypt can][50]
[He thrust his hand into the jar of rubies again, and took all that his fingers could clutch][62]
[In the evening he crossed the great bridge of Isma’il Pasha to the island of Gizireh][84]
[She smiled at herself, then laughed—shyly at first, now with genuine delight][136]
[Following a moment’s horrified silence, the viscount sprang up with an oath][154]
[“You shall not keep that promise!” declared the woman][192]
[Consinor fell with a moan at her feet, drenching the hard earth with a stream of blood][282]

The Last Egyptian

CHAPTER I.
WHERE THE DESERT MEETS THE NILE.

The sun fell hot upon the bosom of the Nile and clung there, vibrant, hesitating, yet aggressive, as if baffled in its desire to penetrate beneath the river’s lurid surface. For the Nile defies the sun, and relegates him to his own broad domain, wherein his power is undisputed.

On either side the broad stream humanity shrank from Ra’s seething disc. The shaduf workers had abandoned their skin-covered buckets and bamboo poles to seek shelter from the heat beneath a straggling tree or a straw mat elevated on stalks of ripe sugar-cane. The boats of the fishermen lay in little coves, where the sails were spread as awnings to shade their crews. The fellaheen laborers had all retired to their clay huts to sleep through this fiercest period of the afternoon heat.