|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 4
Just the inevitable ending of a very commonplace, sordid little story
which had taught the youth one of life's bitterest lessons.
One of a multitude of guests at Hurdley Castle, he had met a woman,
beautiful but predatory, whose looks were taking on an autumnal tint,
and whose banking account had shrivelled under the frost of
extravagance.
His utter indifference to her wiles and her beauty had culminated in a
degrading scene of anger on her part, when, forgetting her breeding,
her birth and her nationality, she had first of all twitted him and
then openly laughed at his mixed parentage.
He had stood without uttering a word, white to the lips during her
tirade.
"Do you think that any white woman would marry you--a _half-caste_?"
had cried the woman, whose bills were coming in in shoals.
"Yes, many," he had quietly answered as he bent to pick up her torn,
handkerchief. "Am I not a rich man?"
He had returned to Egypt upon a visit to the Flat Oasis where dwelt his
parents, who, though noting the indescribable hurt in the eyes of their
firstborn, yet asked no question, for in Egypt a youth is his own
master and ofttimes married at the age of fourteen; how much more,
therefore, is he a man at over twenty years?
He had visited his own house in the Oasis of Khargegh, with the purpose
of putting his stables in order and his falconers through a stiff
catechism, and had finally set out to see something of the world.
Not in a desire to cover his hurt, for he was as stoical as any
high-bred Arab; and, Mohammedan from belief as well as early training,
did not kick against what he looked upon as the commands of Allah.
As for women--well! The sweet, docile woman of his father's race
interested him not at all, so that he refused to listen to any hint
anent the desirability of his taking a wife and establishing the
succession of the House 'an Mahabbha, which is the eldest branch of the
House el-Umbar; and racial distinction barred him from the virile,
lovely women of his mother's race.
He had his horses, his hawks, his hunting cheetahs, his dogs; one great
treasure which he prized and one little conceit.
The treasure had been found in the ruins of the Temple Deir-el-Bahari.
An ornament of gold set with precious stones. Its shape was that of
the Hawk, which had stood as the symbol of the North in the glorious
days of Ancient Egypt. The wings were of emeralds tipped with rubies;
gold were the claws and gold the Symbol of Life they held; the body and
tail were a mass of precious stones; and the eye of some jet-black
stone, unknown to the present century.
As an ornament it was of great value; as an antiquity found in the
Shrine of Anubis, the God of Death, its value could not even be guessed
at; and how it had come into the possession of Hugh Garden Ali will
never be known, though of a truth, unlimited wealth works wonders.
And upon his horses' saddle-cloths, his falcons' hoods, his hounds'
coats, and the fine linen and satins of his Eastern raiment he had the
emblem worked in thread or silk or jewels, or painted in soft colours.
It was just a pretty conceit, but in conjunction with one-half of his
lineage and his love for his birds, it had earned him the title of "The
Hawk of Egypt."
And such was the man as he stood in the market-place, having followed
the path which Fate had marked out for him through the twisting lanes
of the bazaar.
CHAPTER II
"_Dog, ounce, bear and bull,
Wolf, lion, horse_."
DU BARTAS.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|