At Aboukir and Acre | Page 9

Arabic, which his father spoke fluently). The idea of going to stay for a
time in an Arab encampment was exciting indeed, for he had already
begun to find the life monotonous after the two years spent at school
and in the lively companionship of his cousins.
"It were well that you should come out and see your horse," the sheik
said to him, "and make friends with him while we are away, for he is
not accustomed to Europeans, and might give you trouble were you to
mount him at once."

Edgar and his father both went out. One of the Arabs was standing at
the horse's head, rubbing its nose and talking to it as if it had been a
human being.
"That is the horse," the sheik said gravely. "Only to one, whom I regard
as a son, would I part with him. On his back you may scoff at pursuit
by any foes, for outside my encampment there is not a horse in Egypt
which it could not distance. Now it is yours to do with as you like, save
to sell it, for I would not that his blood should run in any veins save
those of the horses of my tribe."
"This is, indeed, a princely gift, sheik," the merchant said warmly. "'Tis
a noble horse, and one that a king might ride. My son is indeed
indebted to you, and will value it beyond all price."
Edgar was warm in his expressions of gratitude and admiration,
although, indeed, he was unable to appreciate at its full value the points
of the animal. It was a gray, and, to English eyes, would have looked
light and wanting in bone, and fit rather for a lady's use than for a man's,
with its slender limbs and small head; but one accustomed to Arab
horses, as Mr. Blagrove was, could see at once that it was of the purest
strain and highest breeding.
"Come with me," the sheik said to Edgar. "At present, you see, he is not
accustomed to your white face, but he will soon come to love you, and
answer to your call."
The horse, indeed, had laid back his ears, distended his dilated nostrils,
and stepped back a foot or two; but as the sheik approached it gave a
little whinny of pleasure, and, advancing, laid its muzzle against his
cheek.
"This is your new master, Beauty," he said, as he stroked its glossy
neck. "He will keep you well, and you will be as one of his children,
and you must be a good friend and servant to him."
Edgar now stroked the animal. A quiver as of fear ran through it as he
touched it, but as he continued, this died away; and as Edgar spoke

quietly to it in Arabic, it was not long before it responded to his
caresses, and after taking a good look at him with its soft liquid eyes, it
put its head on his shoulder.
"You are friends now," the sheik said, with a tone of pleasure. "It is to
few, even of my tribesmen, whom he would give such a greeting. He
recognizes you already as his friend. Give him a handful of sweetmeats,
and the bargain will be sealed."
The merchant at once sent one of the native boys out to buy a bag of
sweetmeats. The sheik waited until he saw the horse taking these out of
Edgar's hands and munching them contentedly, then, leaving one of his
tribesmen in charge of the horse, he mounted, and rode off with his son
and the rest of his followers. Edgar stood for some time talking to the
horse, and then, leaving it to the native, went into the house to make his
preparations for the journey.
"You have, indeed, done well for yourself, Edgar," his father said as he
came in. "'Tis in every way fortunate. The Turks love us little, and
though they put up with us, as they need the goods that we sell, still
there may at any moment be a fanatical rising, and it is well, indeed, to
have made friends with one of the desert tribes, among whom you can
find a safe refuge. You little know the value of the horse he has given
you. The breed is a famous one, and the sheik has been offered a
fabulous sum for one of his steeds, but nothing could tempt him to part
with one. An Arab prizes a valuable horse beyond all his earthly
possessions, and, save under the pressure of the direst want, nothing
could persuade him to part with it. In presenting it to you, therefore, the
chief has shown his friendship in the most striking manner possible,
and that he regards you, as he says,