The prince Halim here continues the narrative: ‘I was awakened when the first light of the rising sun was visible over the edge of the desert beyond the Abbasiyeh palace. They told me that a man had brought a message which had to be delivered at once. I descended to the courtyard and found Rames; but so covered with dust was he that I could hardly recognise him. After the greeting he whispered in my ear: “God is just! Your nephew lies dead in his bath at Benha.” You may imagine the shock this news gave me. But was this mameluke to be trusted? Might it not be a ruse of Abbas to trap me with a word or gesture, which would have been my undoing? “God’s will be done,” I said, and ordered Rames to return at once to Benha and let no one know that I had knowledge of the crime.
RETURN OF THE HOLY CARPET
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‘No time was to be lost in apprising my brother Said, as he was to have sailed that very day from Alexandria, and, unless Rames had lied, our country was now without a ruler. The lad El Hami was at Damietta on his way to Syria, and if that child were made Viceroy, Egypt and all of us would be at the tender mercies of Elfy Bey and the Ulema. The English had lately set up a telegraph office in Cairo; but how could I word this message so as to be only understood by my brother? The following at last suggested itself, and Said would not have been a son of his father had he misunderstood the meaning: “The house thou seekest in Cairo is empty. The door stands open. Walk in.” Said understood.
‘He told me later that my message was only just in time, for he was about to start for the steamer. He decided promptly to leave for Cairo instead, and he and his bodyguard were on the road before the steamer had disappeared beyond the horizon. They reached Damanhur that evening, and at an early hour next morning, when he arrived at Benha, he was informed that Abbas and his court had just left to return to Cairo. He questioned some of the notabilities of the town, only to hear with what pomp the Viceroy had set out on his journey. What was my brother to make of all this? Was this telegram a trap? or had he perhaps misunderstood its meaning? The palace was deserted, so he and his followers rested there till the following day, and then continued their journey to Cairo.
‘I spent an anxious morning at Shubra,’ continued Halim Pasha, ‘but imagine my astonishment when a runner in my employ arrived from Kalioub to inform me that Abbas had passed through that village, and would in all probability arrive at Shubra towards five o’clock that very afternoon. “That damned mameluke must have lied,” said I to myself, and I had to make preparations, as the custom is, to welcome the Viceroy, or (should he not wish to break his journey) to greet him at the door of my palace. I had hardly put on my court dress when two messengers were announced, and they informed me that they had been sent ahead by His Highness, my nephew, to beg me not to stay his journey, as he was in great haste to reach his palace at Abbasiyeh that evening. In one of these messengers I recognised Rames, who hung back while the other spoke. He drooped his head and closed his eyes—was this a sign? And what could be the interpretation?
‘Towards midnight of the following day Said and his guard arrived. We had to hide the latter as well as we could in the stables and outhouses, for it was a dangerous business. Some trusty servants whom I had sent into Cairo reported on the crowds of people who had gathered to witness the Viceroy’s progress through the city, and declared that His Highness bowed in acknowledgment of the ovations he received. Our anxiety increased with each fresh report. My mother, however, did not share our misgivings. “Rames has not lied,” she said; “I watched him carefully, and his actions told me clearly that Abbas was dead.”
‘We spent the following day here awaiting some report which might help to clear up the mystery. Towards evening some servants of mine brought in the astrologer, Soliman, whom they had picked up more dead than alive on the road from Benha. I told them to feed the old blackguard, and when he had somewhat recovered I questioned him. He wished to tell me what the stars had revealed, but I soon was satisfied in my mind that Rames had not lied. There was still time to take action before the young prince El Hami could have reached Cairo from Damietta, and we could not anyhow have kept Said and his thirty retainers here without exciting suspicion. I sent word at once to the Commandant of the Citadel to open the gate at midnight and admit the ruler of Egypt.