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diff --git a/old/grgwk10.txt b/old/grgwk10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0f80fc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/grgwk10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1119 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext George Walker At Suez, by Anthony Trollope +#24 in our series by Anthony Trollope + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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A scorching sun is always overhead; and one is domiciled +in a huge cavernous hotel, which seems to have been made purposely +destitute of all the comforts of civilised life. Nevertheless, in +looking back upon the week of my life which I spent there I always +enjoy a certain sort of triumph;--or rather, upon one day of that +week, which lends a sort of halo not only to my sojourn at Suez, but +to the whole period of my residence in Egypt. + +I am free to confess that I am not a great man, and that, at any +rate in the earlier part of my career, I had a hankering after the +homage which is paid to greatness. I would fain have been a popular +orator, feeding myself on the incense tendered to me by thousands; +or failing that, a man born to power, whom those around him were +compelled to respect, and perhaps to fear. I am not ashamed to +acknowledge this, and I believe that most of my neighbours in Friday +Street would own as much were they as candid and open-hearted as +myself. + +It is now some time since I was recommended to pass the first four +months of the year in Cairo because I had a sore-throat. The doctor +may have been right, but I shall never divest myself of the idea +that my partners wished to be rid of me while they made certain +changes in the management of the firm. They would not otherwise +have shown such interest every time I blew my nose or relieved my +huskiness by a slight cough;--they would not have been so intimate +with that surgeon from St. Bartholomew's who dined with them twice +at the Albion; nor would they have gone to work directly that my +back was turned, and have done those very things which they could +not have done had I remained at home. Be that as it may, I was +frightened and went to Cairo, and while there I made a trip to Suez +for a week. + +I was not happy at Cairo, for I knew nobody there, and the people at +the hotel were, as I thought, uncivil. It seemed to me as though I +were allowed to go in and out merely by sufferance; and yet I paid +my bill regularly every week. The house was full of company, but +the company was made up of parties of twos and threes, and they all +seemed to have their own friends. I did make attempts to overcome +that terrible British exclusiveness, that noli me tangere with which +an Englishman arms himself; and in which he thinks it necessary to +envelop his wife; but it was in vain, and I found myself sitting +down to breakfast and dinner, day after day, as much alone as I +should do if I called for a chop at a separate table in the +Cathedral Coffee-house. And yet at breakfast and dinner I made one +of an assemblage of thirty or forty people. That I thought dull. + +But as I stood one morning on the steps before the hotel, bethinking +myself that my throat was as well as ever I remembered it to be, I +was suddenly slapped on the back. Never in my life did I feel a +more pleasant sensation, or turn round with more unaffected delight +to return a friend's greeting. It was as though a cup of water had +been handed to me in the desert. I knew that a cargo of passengers +for Australia had reached Cairo that morning, and were to be passed +on to Suez as soon as the railway would take them, and did not +therefore expect that the greeting had come from any sojourner in +Egypt. I should perhaps have explained that the even tenor of our +life at the hotel was disturbed some four times a month by a flight +through Cairo of a flock of travellers, who like locusts eat up all +that there was eatable at the Inn for the day. They sat down at the +same tables with us, never mixing with us, having their separate +interests and hopes, and being often, as I thought, somewhat loud +and almost selfish in the expression of them. These flocks +consisted of passengers passing and repassing by the overland route +to and from India and Australia; and had I nothing else to tell, I +should delight to describe all that I watched of their habits and +manners--the outward bound being so different in their traits from +their brethren on their return. But I have to tell of my own +triumph at Suez, and must therefore hasten on to say that on turning +round quickly with my outstretched hand, I found it clasped by John +Robinson. + +"Well, Robinson, is this you?" "Holloa, Walker, what are you doing +here?" That of course was the style of greeting. Elsewhere I +should not have cared much to meet John Robinson, for he was a man +who had never done well in the world. He had been in business and +connected with a fairly good house in Sise Lane, but he had married +early, and things had not exactly gone well with him. I don't think +the house broke, but he did; and so he was driven to take himself +and five children off to Australia. Elsewhere I should not have +cared to come across him, but I was positively glad to be slapped on +the back by anybody on that landing-place in front of Shepheard's +Hotel at Cairo. + +I soon learned that Robinson with his wife and children, and indeed +with all the rest of the Australian cargo, were to be passed on to +Suez that afternoon, and after a while I agreed to accompany their +party. I had made up my mind, on coming out from England, that I +would see all the wonders of Egypt, and hitherto I had seen nothing. +I did ride on one day some fifteen miles on a donkey to see the +petrified forest; but the guide, who called himself a dragoman, took +me wrong or cheated me in some way. We rode half the day over a +stony, sandy plain, seeing nothing, with a terrible wind that filled +my mouth with grit, and at last the dragoman got off. "Dere," said +he, picking up a small bit of stone, "Dis is de forest made of +stone. Carry that home." Then we turned round and rode back to +Cairo. My chief observation as to the country was this--that +whichever way we went, the wind blew into our teeth. The day's work +cost me five-and-twenty shillings, and since that I had not as yet +made any other expedition. I was therefore glad of an opportunity +of going to Suez, and of making the journey in company with an +acquaintance. + +At that time the railway was open, as far as I remember, nearly half +the way from Cairo to Suez. It did not run four or five times a +day, as railways do in other countries, but four or five times a +month. In fact, it only carried passengers on the arrival of these +flocks passing between England and her Eastern possessions. There +were trains passing backwards and forwards constantly, as I +perceived in walking to and from the station; but, as I learned, +they carried nothing but the labourers working on the line, and the +water sent into the Desert for their use. It struck me forcibly at +the time that I should not have liked to have money in that +investment. + +Well; I went with Robinson to Suez. The journey, like everything +else in Egypt, was sandy, hot, and unpleasant. The railway +carriages were pretty fair, and we had room enough; but even in them +the dust was a great nuisance. We travelled about ten miles an +hour, and stopped about an hour at every ten miles. This was +tedious, but we had cigars with us and a trifle of brandy and water; +and in this manner the railway journey wore itself away. In the +middle of the night, however, we were moved from the railway +carriages into omnibuses, as they were called, and then I was not +comfortable. These omnibuses were wooden boxes, placed each upon a +pair of wheels, and supposed to be capable of carrying six +passengers. I was thrust into one with Robinson, his wife and five +children, and immediately began to repent of my good-nature in +accompanying them. To each vehicle were attached four horses or +mules, and I must acknowledge that as on the railway they went as +slow as possible, so now in these conveyances, dragged through the +sand, they went as fast as the beasts could be made to gallop. I +remember the Fox Tally-ho coach on the Birmingham road when Boyce +drove it, but as regards pace the Fox Tally-ho was nothing to these +machines in Egypt. On the first going off I was jolted right on to +Mrs. R. and her infant; and for a long time that lady thought that +the child had been squeezed out of its proper shape; but at last we +arrived at Suez, and the baby seemed to me to be all right when it +was handed down into the boat at Suez. + +The Robinsons were allowed time to breakfast at that cavernous +hotel--which looked to me like a scheme to save the expense of the +passengers' meal on board the ship--and then they were off. I shook +hands with him heartily as I parted with him at the quay, and wished +him well through all his troubles. A man who takes a wife and five +young children out into a colony, and that with his pockets but +indifferently lined, certainly has his troubles before him. So he +has at home, no doubt; but, judging for myself, I should always +prefer sticking to the old ship as long as there is a bag of +biscuits in the locker. Poor Robinson! I have never heard a word +of him or his since that day, and sincerely trust that the baby was +none the worse for the little accident in the box. + +And now I had the prospect of a week before me at Suez, and the +Robinsons had not been gone half an hour before I began to feel that +I should have been better off even at Cairo. I secured a bedroom at +the hotel--I might have secured sixty bedrooms had I wanted them-- +and then went out and stood at the front door, or gate. It is a +large house, built round a quadrangle, looking with one front +towards the head of the Red Sea, and with the other into and on a +sandy, dead-looking, open square. There I stood for ten minutes, +and finding that it was too hot to go forth, returned to the long +cavernous room in which we had breakfasted. In that long cavernous +room I was destined to eat all my meals for the next six days. Now +at Cairo I could, at any rate, see my fellow-creatures at their +food. So I lit a cigar, and began to wonder whether I could survive +the week. It was now clear to me that I had done a very rash thing +in coming to Suez with the Robinsons. + +Somebody about the place had asked me my name, and I had told it +plainly--George Walker. I never was ashamed of my name yet, and +never had cause to be. I believe at this day it will go as far in +Friday Street as any other. A man may be popular, or he may not. +That depends mostly on circumstances which are in themselves +trifling. But the value of his name depends on the way in which he +is known at his bank. I have never dealt in tea spoons or gravy +spoons, but my name will go as far as another name. "George +Walker," I answered, therefore, in a tone of some little authority, +to the man who asked me, and who sat inside the gate of the hotel in +an old dressing-gown and slippers. + +That was a melancholy day with me, and twenty times before dinner +did I wish myself back at Cairo. I had been travelling all night, +and therefore hoped that I might get through some little time in +sleeping, but the mosquitoes attacked me the moment I laid myself +down. In other places mosquitoes torment you only at night, but at +Suez they buzz around you, without ceasing, at all hours. A +scorching sun was blazing overhead, and absolutely forbade me to +leave the house. I stood for a while in the verandah, looking down +at the few small vessels which were moored to the quay, but there +was no life in them; not a sail was set, not a boatman or a sailor +was to be seen, and the very water looked as though it were hot. I +could fancy the glare of the sun was cracking the paint on the +gunwales of the boats. I was the only visitor in the house, and +during all the long hours of the morning it seemed as though the +servants had deserted it. + +I dined at four; not that I chose that hour, but because no choice +was given to me. At the hotels in Egypt one has to dine at an hour +fixed by the landlord, and no entreaties will suffice to obtain a +meal at any other. So at four I dined, and after dinner was again +reduced to despair. + +I was sitting in the cavernous chamber almost mad at the prospect of +the week before me, when I heard a noise as of various feet in the +passage leading from the quadrangle. Was it possible that other +human beings were coming into the hotel--Christian human beings at +whom I could look, whose voices I could hear, whose words I could +understand, and with whom I might possibly associate? I did not +move, however, for I was still hot, and I knew that my chances might +be better if I did not show myself over eager for companionship at +the first moment. The door, however, was soon opened, and I saw +that at least in one respect I was destined to be disappointed. The +strangers who were entering the room were not Christians--if I might +judge by the nature of the garments in which they were clothed. + +The door had been opened by the man in an old dressing-gown and +slippers, whom I had seen sitting inside the gate. He was the Arab +porter of the hotel, and as he marshalled the new visitors into the +room, I heard him pronounce some sound similar to my own name, and +perceived that he pointed me out to the most prominent person of +those who then entered the apartment. This was a stout, portly man, +dressed from head to foot in Eastern costume of the brightest +colours. He wore, not only the red fez cap which everybody wears-- +even I had accustomed myself to a fez cap--but a turban round it, of +which the voluminous folds were snowy white. His face was fat, but +not the less grave, and the lower part of it was enveloped in a +magnificent beard, which projected round it on all sides, and +touched his breast as he walked. It was a grand grizzled beard, and +I acknowledged at a moment that it added a singular dignity to the +appearance of the stranger. His flowing robe was of bright colours, +and the under garment which fitted close round his breast, and then +descended, becoming beneath his sash a pair of the loosest +pantaloons--I might, perhaps, better describe them as bags--was a +rich tawny silk. These loose pantaloons were tied close round his +legs, above the ankle, and over a pair of scrupulously white +stockings, and on his feet he wore a pair of yellow slippers. It +was manifest to me at a glance that the Arab gentleman was got up in +his best raiment, and that no expense had been spared on his suit. + +And here I cannot but make a remark on the personal bearing of these +Arabs. Whether they be Arabs or Turks, or Copts, it is always the +same. They are a mean, false, cowardly race, I believe. They will +bear blows, and respect the man who gives them. Fear goes further +with them than love, and between man and man they understand nothing +of forbearance. He who does not exact from them all that he can +exact is simply a fool in their estimation, to the extent of that +which he loses. In all this, they are immeasurably inferior to us +who have had Christian teaching. But in one thing they beat us. +They always know how to maintain their personal dignity. + +Look at my friend and partner Judkins, as he stands with his hands +in his trousers pockets at the door of our house in Friday Street. +What can be meaner than his appearance? He is a stumpy, short, +podgy man; but then so also was my Arab friend at Suez. Judkins is +always dressed from head to foot in a decent black cloth suit; his +coat is ever a dress coat, and is neither old nor shabby. On his +head he carries a shining new silk hat, such as fashion in our +metropolis demands. Judkins is rather a dandy than otherwise, +piquing himself somewhat on his apparel. And yet how mean is his +appearance, as compared with the appearance of that Arab;--how mean +also is his gait, how ignoble his step! Judkins could buy that Arab +out four times over, and hardly feel the loss; and yet were they to +enter a room together, Judkins would know and acknowledge by his +look that he was the inferior personage. Not the less, should a +personal quarrel arise between them, would Judkins punch the Arab's +head; ay, and reduce him to utter ignominy at his feet. + +Judkins would break his heart in despair rather than not return a +blow; whereas the Arab would put up with any indignity of that sort. +Nevertheless Judkins is altogether deficient in personal dignity. I +often thought, as the hours hung in Egypt, whether it might not be +practicable to introduce an oriental costume in Friday Street. + +At this moment, as the Arab gentleman entered the cavernous coffee- +room, I felt that I was greatly the inferior personage. He was +followed by four or five others, dressed somewhat as himself; though +by no means in such magnificent colours, and by one gentleman in a +coat and trousers. The gentleman in the coat and trousers came +last, and I could see that he was one of the least of the number. +As for myself, I felt almost overawed by the dignity of the stout +party in the turban, and seeing that he came directly across the +room to the place where I was seated, I got upon my legs and made +him some sign of Christian obeisance. + +I am a little man, and not podgy, as is Judkins, and I flatter +myself that I showed more deportment, at any rate, than he would +have exhibited. + +I made, as I have said, some Christian obeisance. I bobbed my head, +that is, rubbing my hands together the while, and expressed an +opinion that it was a fine day. But if I was civil, as I hope I +was, the Arab was much more so. He advanced till he was about six +paces from me, then placed his right hand open upon his silken +breast,- and inclining forward with his whole body, made to me a bow +which Judkins never could accomplish. The turban and the flowing +robe might be possible in Friday Street, but of what avail would be +the outer garments and mere symbols, if the inner sentiment of +personal dignity were wanting? I have often since tried it when +alone, but I could never accomplish anything like that bow. The +Arab with the flowing robe bowed, and the other Arabs all bowed +also; and after that the Christian gentleman with the coat and +trousers made a leg. I made a leg also, rubbing my hands again, and +added to my former remarks that it was rather hot. + +"Dat berry true," said the porter in the dirty dressing-gown, who +stood by. I could see at a glance that the manner of that porter +towards me was greatly altered, and I began to feel comforted in my +wretchedness. Perhaps a Christian from Friday Street, with plenty +of money in his pockets, would stand in higher esteem at Suez than +at Cairo. If so, that alone would go far to atone for the apparent +wretchedness of the place. At Cairo I had not received that +attention which had certainly been due to me as the second partner +in the flourishing Manchester house of Grimes, Walker, and Judkins. + +But now, as my friend with the beard again bowed to me, I felt that +this deficiency was to be made up. It was clear, however, that this +new acquaintance, though I liked the manner of it, would be attended +with considerable inconvenience, for the Arab gentleman commenced an +address to me in French. It has always been to me a source of +sorrow that my parents did not teach me the French language, and +this deficiency on my part has given rise to an incredible amount of +supercilious overbearing pretension on the part of Judkins--who +after all can hardly do more than translate a correspondent's +letter. I do not believe that he could have understood that Arab's +oration, but at any rate I did not. He went on to the end, however, +speaking for some three or four minutes, and then again he bowed. +If I could only have learned that bow, I might still have been +greater than Judkins with all his French. + +"I am very sorry," said I, "but I don't exactly follow the French +language when it is spoken." + +"Ah! no French!" said the Arab in very broken English, "dat is one +sorrow." How is it that these fellows learn all languages under the +sun? I afterwards found that this man could talk Italian, and +Turkish, and Armenian fluently, and say a few words in German, as he +could also in English. I could not ask for my dinner in any other +language than English, if it were to save me from starvation. Then +he called to the Christian gentleman in the pantaloons, and, as far +as I could understand, made over to him the duty of interpreting +between us. There seemed, however, to be one difficulty in the way +of this being carried on with efficiency. The Christian gentleman +could not speak English himself. He knew of it perhaps something +more than did the Arab, but by no means enough to enable us to have +a fluent conversation. + +And had the interpreter--who turned out to be an Italian from +Trieste, attached to the Austrian Consulate at Alexandria--had the +interpreter spoken English with the greatest ease, I should have had +considerable difficulty in understanding and digesting in all its +bearings, the proposition made to me. But before I proceed to the +proposition, I must describe a ceremony which took place previous to +its discussion. I had hardly observed, when first the procession +entered the room, that one of my friend's followers--my friend's +name, as I learned afterwards, was Mahmoud al Ackbar, and I will +therefore call him Mahmoud--that one of Mahmoud's followers bore in +his arms a bundle of long sticks, and that another carried an iron +pot and a tray. Such was the case, and these two followers came +forward to perform their services, while I, having been literally +pressed down on to the sofa by Mahmoud, watched them in their +progress. Mahmoud also sat down, and not a word was spoken while +the ceremony went on. The man with the sticks first placed on the +ground two little pans--one at my feet, and then one at the feet of +his master. After that he loosed an ornamented bag which he carried +round his neck, and producing from it tobacco, proceeded to fill two +pipes. This he did with the utmost gravity, and apparently with +very peculiar care. The pipes had been already fixed at one end of +the stick, and to the other end the man had fastened two large +yellow balls. These, as I afterwards perceived, were mouth-pieces +made of amber. Then he lit the pipes, drawing up the difficult +smoke by long painful suckings at the mouthpiece, and then, when the +work had become apparently easy, he handed one pipe to me, and the +other to his master. The bowls he had first placed in the little +pans on the ground. + +During all this time no word was spoken, and I was left altogether +in the dark as to the cause which had produced this extraordinary +courtesy. There was a stationary sofa--they called it there a +divan--which was fixed into the corner of the room, and on one side +of the angle sat Mahmoud al Ackbar, with his feet tucked under him, +while I sat on the other. The remainder of the party stood around, +and I felt so little master of the occasion, that I did not know +whether it would become me to bid them be seated. I was not master +of the entertainment. They were not my pipes. Nor was it my +coffee, which I saw one of the followers preparing in a distant part +of the room. And, indeed, I was much confused as to the management +of the stick and amber mouth-piece with which I had been presented. +With a cigar I am as much at home as any man in the City. I can +nibble off the end of it, and smoke it to the last ash, when I am +three parts asleep. But I had never before been invited to regale +myself with such an instrument as this. What was I to do with that +huge yellow ball? So I watched my new friend closely. + +It had manifestly been a part of his urbanity not to commence till I +had done so, but seeing my difficulty he at last raised the ball to +his mouth and sucked at it. I looked at him and envied the gravity +of his countenance, and the dignity of his demeanour. I sucked +also, but I made a sputtering noise, and must confess that I did not +enjoy it. The smoke curled gracefully from his mouth and nostrils +as he sat there in mute composure. I was mute as regarded speech, +but I coughed as the smoke came from me in convulsive puffs. And +then the attendant brought us coffee in little tin cups--black +coffee, without sugar and full of grit, of which the berries had +been only bruised, not ground. I took the cup and swallowed the +mixture, for I could not refuse, but I wish that I might have asked +for some milk and sugar. Nevertheless there was something very +pleasing in the whole ceremony, and at last I began to find myself +more at home with my pipe. + +When Mahmoud had exhausted his tobacco, and perceived that I also +had ceased to puff forth smoke, he spoke in Italian to the +interpreter, and the interpreter forthwith proceeded to explain to +me the purport of this visit. This was done with much difficulty, +for the interpreter's stock of English was very scanty--but after +awhile I understood, or thought I understood, as follows:- At some +previous period of my existence I had done some deed which had given +infinite satisfaction to Mahmoud al Ackbar. Whether, however, I had +done it myself, or whether my father had done it, was not quite +clear to me. My father, then some time deceased, had been a +wharfinger at Liverpool, and it was quite possible that Mahmoud +might have found himself at that port. Mahmoud had heard of my +arrival in Egypt, and had been given to understand that I was coming +to Suez--to carry myself away in the ship, as the interpreter +phrased it. This I could not understand, but I let it pass. Having +heard these agreeable tidings--and Mahmoud, sitting in the corner, +bowed low to me as this was said--he had prepared for my acceptance +a slight refection for the morrow, hoping that I would not carry +myself away in the ship till this had been eaten. On this subject I +soon made him quite at ease, and he then proceeded to explain that +as there was a point of interest at Suez, Mahmoud was anxious that I +should partake of the refection somewhat in the guise of a picnic, +at the Well of Moses, over in Asia, on the other side of the head of +the Red Sea. Mahmoud would provide a boat to take across the party +in the morning, and camels on which we would return after sunset. +Or else we would go and return on camels, or go on camels and return +in the boat. Indeed any arrangement would be made that I preferred. +If I was afraid of the heat, and disliked the open boat, I could be +carried round in a litter. The provisions had already been sent +over to the Well of Moses in the anticipation that I would not +refuse this little request. + +I did not refuse it. Nothing could have been more agreeable to me +than this plan of seeing something of the sights and wonders of this +land,--and of this seeing them in good company. I had not heard of +the Well of Moses before, but now that I learned that it was in +Asia,--in another quarter of the globe, to be reached by a transit +of the Red Sea, to be returned from by a journey on camels' backs,-- +I burned with anxiety to visit its waters. What a story would this +be for Judkins! This was, no doubt, the point at which the +Israelites had passed. Of those waters had they drunk. I almost +felt that I had already found one of Pharaoh's chariot wheels. I +readily gave my assent, and then, with much ceremony and many low +salaams, Mahmoud and his attendant left me. "I am very glad that I +came to Suez," said I to myself. + +I did not sleep much that night, for the mosquitoes of Suez are very +persevering; but I was saved from the agonising despair which these +animals so frequently produce, by my agreeable thoughts as to +Mahmoud al Ackbar. I will put it to any of my readers who have +travelled, whether it is not a painful thing to find one's-self +regarded among strangers without any kindness or ceremonious +courtesy. I had on this account been wretched at Cairo, but all +this was to be made up to me at Suez. Nothing could be more +pleasant than the whole conduct of Mahmoud al Ackbar, and I +determined to take full advantage of it, not caring overmuch what +might be the nature of those previous favours to which he had +alluded. That was his look-out, and if he was satisfied, why should +not I be so also? + +On the following morning I was dressed at six, and, looking out of +my bed-room, I saw the boat in which we were to be wafted into Asia +being brought up to the quay close under my window. It had been +arranged that we should start early, so as to avoid the mid-day sun, +breakfast in the boat,--Mahmoud in this way engaged to provide me +with two refections,--take our rest at noon in a pavilion which had +been built close upon the well of the patriarch, and then eat our +dinner, and return riding upon camels in the cool of the evening. +Nothing could sound more pleasant than such a plan; and knowing as I +did that the hampers of provisions had already been sent over, I did +not doubt that the table arrangements would be excellent. Even now, +standing at my window, I could see a basket laden with long-necked +bottles going into the boat, and became aware that we should not +depend altogether for our morning repast on that gritty coffee which +my friend Mahmoud's followers prepared. + +I had promised to be ready at six, and having carefully completed my +toilet, and put a clean collar and comb into my pocket ready for +dinner, I descended to the great gateway and walked slowly round to +the quay. As I passed out, the porter greeted me with a low +obeisance, and walking on, I felt that I stepped the ground with a +sort of dignity of which I had before been ignorant. It is not, as +a rule, the man who gives grace and honour to the position, but the +position which confers the grace and honour upon the man. I have +often envied the solemn gravity and grand demeanour of the Lord +Chancellor, as I have seen him on the bench; but I almost think that +even Judkins would look grave and dignified under such a wig. +Mahmoud al Ackbar had called upon me and done me honour, and I felt +myself personally capable of sustaining before the people of Suez +the honour which he had done me. + +As I walked forth with a proud step from beneath the portal, I +perceived, looking down from the square along the street, that there +was already some commotion in the town. I saw the flowing robes of +many Arabs, with their backs turned towards me, and I thought that I +observed the identical gown and turban of my friend Mahmoud on the +back and head of a stout short man, who was hurrying round a corner +in the distance. I felt sure that it was Mahmoud. Some of his +servants had failed in their preparations, I said to myself, as I +made my way round to the water's edge. This was only another +testimony how anxious he was to do me honour. + +I stood for a while on the edge of the quay looking into the boat, +and admiring the comfortable cushions which were luxuriously +arranged around the seats. The men who were at work did not know +me, and I was unnoticed, but I should soon take my place upon the +softest of those cushions. I walked slowly backwards and forwards +on the quay, listening to a hum of voices that came to me from a +distance. There was clearly something stirring in the town, and I +felt certain that all the movement and all those distant voices were +connected in some way with my expedition to the Well of Moses. At +last there came a lad upon the walk dressed in Frank costume, and I +asked him what was in the wind. He was a clerk attached to an +English warehouse, and he told me that there had been an arrival +from Cairo. + +He knew no more than that, but he had heard that the omnibuses had +just come in. Could it be possible that Mahmoud al Ackbar had heard +of another old acquaintance, and had gone to welcome him also? + +At first my ideas on the subject were altogether pleasant. I by no +means wished to monopolise the delights of all those cushions, nor +would it be to me a cause of sorrow that there should be some one to +share with me the conversational powers of that interpreter. Should +another guest be found, he might also be an Englishman, and I might +thus form an acquaintance which would be desirable. Thinking of +these things, I walked the quay for some minutes in a happy state of +mind; but by degrees I became impatient, and by degrees also +disturbed in my spirit. I observed that one of the Arab boatmen +walked round from the vessel to the front of the hotel, and that on +his return he looked at me--as I thought, not with courteous eyes. +Then also I saw, or rather heard, some one in the verandah of the +hotel above me, and was conscious that I was being viewed from +thence. I walked and walked, and nobody came to me, and I perceived +by my watch that it was seven o'clock. The noise, too, had come +nearer and nearer, and I was now aware that wheels had been drawn up +before the front door of the hotel, and that many voices were +speaking there. It might be that Mahmoud should wait for some other +friend, but why did he not send some one to inform me? And then, as +I made a sudden turn at the end of the quay, I caught sight of the +retreating legs of the Austrian interpreter, and I became aware that +he had been sent down, and had gone away, afraid to speak to me. +"What can I do?" said I to myself, "I can but keep my ground." I +owned that I feared to go round to the front of the hotel. So I +still walked slowly up and down the length of the quay, and began to +whistle to show that I was not uneasy. The Arab sailors looked at +me uncomfortably, and from time to time some one peered at me round +the corner. It was now fully half-past seven, and the sun was +becoming hot in the heavens. Why did we not hasten to place +ourselves beneath the awning in that boat. + +I had just made up my mind that I would go round to the front and +penetrate this mystery, when, on turning, I saw approaching to me a +man dressed at any rate like an English gentleman. As he came near +to me, he raised his hat, and accosted me in our own language. "Mr. +George Walker, I believe?" said he. + +"Yes," said I, with some little attempt at a high demeanour, -"of +the firm of Grimes, Walker, and Judkins, Friday Street, London." + +"A most respectable house, I am sure," said he. "I am afraid there +has been a little mistake here." + +"No mistake as to the respectability of that house," said I. I felt +that I was again alone in the world, and that it was necessary that +I should support myself. Mahmoud al Ackbar had separated himself +from me for ever. Of that I had no longer a doubt. + +"Oh, none at all," said he. "But about this little expedition over +the water;" and he pointed contemptuously to the boat. "There has +been a mistake about that, Mr. Walker; I happen to be the English +Vice-Consul here." + +I took off my hat and bowed. It was the first time I had ever been +addressed civilly by any English consular authority. + +"And they have made me get out of bed to come down here and explain +all this to you." + +"All what?" said I. + +"You are a man of the world, I know, and I'll just tell it you +plainly. My old friend, Mahmoud al Ackbar, has mistaken you for Sir +George Walker, the new Lieutenant-Governor of Pegu. Sir George +Walker is here now; he has come this morning; and Mahmoud is ashamed +to face you after what has occurred. If you won't object to +withdraw with me into the hotel, I'll explain it all." + +I felt as though a thunderbolt had fallen; and I must say, that even +up to this day I think that the Consul might have been a little less +abrupt. "We can get in here," said he, evidently in a hurry, and +pointing to a small door which opened out from one corner of the +house to the quay. What could I do but follow him? I did follow +him, and in a few words learned the remainder of the story. When he +had once withdrawn me from the public walk he seemed but little +anxious about the rest, and soon left me again alone. The facts, as +far as I could learn them, were simply these. + +Sir George Walker, who was now going out to Pegu as Governor, had +been in India before, commanding an army there. I had never heard +of him before, and had made no attempt to pass myself off as his +relative. Nobody could have been more innocent than I was--or have +received worse usage. I have as much right to the name as he has. +Well; when he was in India before, he had taken the city of Begum +after a terrible siege--Begum, I think the Consul called it; and +Mahmoud had been there, having been, it seems, a great man at Begum, +and Sir George had spared him and his money; and in this way the +whole thing had come to pass. There was no further explanation than +that. The rest of it was all transparent. Mahmoud, having heard my +name from the porter, had hurried down to invite me to his party. +So far so good. But why had he been afraid to face me in the +morning? And, seeing that the fault had all been his, why had he +not asked me to join the expedition? Sir George and I may, after +all, be cousins. But, coward as he was, he had been afraid of me. +When they found that I was on the quay, they had been afraid of me, +not knowing how to get rid of me. I wish that I had kept the quay +all day, and stared them down one by one as they entered the boat. +But I was down in the mouth, and when the Consul left me, I crept +wearily back to my bedroom. + +And the Consul did leave me almost immediately. A faint hope had, +at one time, come upon me that he would have asked me to breakfast. +Had he done so, I should have felt it as a full compensation for all +that I had suffered. I am not an exacting man, but I own that I +like civility. In Friday Street I can command it, and in Friday +Street for the rest of my life will I remain. From this Consul I +received no civility. As soon as he had got me out of the way and +spoken the few words which he had to say, he again raised his hat +and left me. I also again raised mine, and then crept up to my bed- +room. + +From my window, standing a little behind the white curtain, I could +see the whole embarkation. There was Mahmoud al Ackbar, looking +indeed a little hot, but still going through his work with all that +excellence of deportment which had graced him on the preceding +evening. Had his foot slipped, and had he fallen backwards into +that shallow water, my spirit would, I confess, have been relieved. +But, on the contrary, everything went well with him. There was the +real Sir George, my namesake and perhaps my cousin, as fresh as +paint, cool from the bath which he had been taking while I had been +walking on that terrace. How is it that these governors and +commanders-in-chief go through such a deal of work without fagging? +It was not yet two hours since he was jolting about in that omnibus- +box, and there he had been all night. I could not have gone off to +the Well of Moses immediately on my arrival. It's the dignity of +the position that does it. I have long known that the head of a +firm must never count on a mere clerk to get through as much work as +he could do himself. It's the interest in the matter that supports +the man. + +They went, and Sir George, as I was well assured, had never heard a +word about me. Had he done so, is it probable that he would have +requested my attendance? + +But Mahmoud and his followers no doubt kept their own counsel as to +that little mistake. There they went, and the gentle rippling +breeze filled their sail pleasantly, as the boat moved away into the +bay. I felt no spite against any of them but Mahmoud. Why had he +avoided me with such cowardice? I could still see them when the +morning tchibouk was handed to Sir George; and, though I wished him +no harm, I did envy him as he lay there reclining luxuriously upon +the cushions. + +A more wretched day than that I never spent in my life. As I went +in and out, the porter at the gate absolutely scoffed at me. Once I +made up my mind to complain within the house. But what could I have +said of the dirty Arab? They would have told me that it was his +religion, or a national observance, or meant for a courtesy. What +can a man do, in a strange country, when he is told that a native +spits in his face by way of civility? I bore it, I bore it--like a +man; and sighed for the comforts of Friday Street. + +As to one matter, I made up my mind on that day, and I fully carried +out my purpose on the next: I would go across to the Well of Moses +in a boat. I would visit the coasts of Asia. And I would ride back +into Africa on a camel. Though I did it alone, I would have my +day's pleasuring. I had money in my pocket, and, though it might +cost me 20 pounds, I would see all that my namesake had seen. It +did cost me the best part of 20 pounds; and as for the pleasuring, I +cannot say much for it. + +I went to bed early that night, having concluded my bargain for the +morrow with a rapacious Arab who spoke English. I went to bed early +in order to escape the returning party, and was again on the quay at +six the next morning. On this occasion, I stepped boldly into the +boat the very moment that I came along the shore. There is nothing +in the world like paying for what you use. I saw myself to the +bottle of brandy and the cold meat, and acknowledged that a cigar +out of my own case would suit me better than that long stick. The +long stick might do very well for a Governor of Pegu, but would be +highly inconvenient in Friday Street. + +Well, I am not going to give an account of my day's journey here, +though perhaps I may do so some day. I did go to the Well of Moses- +-if a small dirty pool of salt water, lying high above the sands, +can be called a well; I did eat my dinner in the miserable ruined +cottage which they graced by the name of a pavilion; and, alas for +my poor bones! I did ride home upon a camel. If Sir George did so +early, and started for Pegu the next morning--and I was informed +such was the fact--he must have been made of iron. I laid in bed +the whole day suffering greviously; but I was told that on such a +journey I should have slakened my throat with oranges, and not with +brandy. + +I survived those four terrible days which remained to me at Suez, +and after another month was once again in Friday Street. I suffered +greatly on the occasion; but it is some consolation to me to reflect +that I smoked a pipe of peace with Mahmoud al Ackbar; that I saw the +hero of Begum while journeying out to new triumphs at Pegu; that I +sailed into Asia in my own yacht--hired for the occasion; and that I +rode back into Africa on a camel. Nor can Judkins, with all his +ill-nature, rob me of these remembrances. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext George Walker At Suez, by Anthony Trollope + diff --git a/old/grgwk10.zip b/old/grgwk10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0848ab --- /dev/null +++ b/old/grgwk10.zip |