[Pg 55]
"What are you doing, Pinsent?"
"I'm going to move you to a tent for better air, to hasten your recovery," I said.
He only sighed and wearily closed his eyes.
Then the procession started. When Miss Ottley saw her father being carried out, she was so surprised that she stood dumb. Turning round a little later I saw that she and her friends were conversing17 amiably18. Arrived at the tents, I fixed19 the patient comfortably, then arranged the furniture in both apartments; the outer, of course, was to be Miss Ottley's room.
When all was done, I dismissed the fellaheen to other tasks and walked up to Ottley's cot. "Sir Robert," said I.
His eyes opened and he looked at me.
"You know that your friend, Dr. Belleville, has come?"
"Yes—we have had a chat."
"So. Well, I now propose to turn the case over to him. Your recovery should be rapid. You are already practically convalescent."
"You are leaving me?"
"You no longer need my services."
"How can I ever repay you, Pinsent, for your extreme kindness to me?"
"What?"
"Ah!" said I, "I forgot." I then told him of[Pg 56] my experiment with the sarcophagus, and the perfume. He listened with the most passionate22 attention. Finally he said:
"You are not certain the sarcophagus does contain the body, though?"
"Not certain, Sir Robert."
"Yet you told me, if I remember aright, that, that——"
"You were dying," I interrupted. "I had to arouse you. But, after all, I feel sure your desire will be gratified. I have no sort of doubt but that a body lies in the coffin."
"Nor I," said he. "The papyrus23 speaks of an essential oil the mere24 scent20 of which arrests decay. Ptahmes alone knew the secret of its preparation. But the sarcophagus must be guarded, Pinsent."
"I'll fix a watch," I said, and held out my hand. "Good-bye, sir."
"You are returning to your camp?"
"Yes."
"Then au revoir, Pinsent. I shall send for you as soon as I am well enough to investigate the coffin."
"Thank you."
But he continued to hold my hand and looked me in the eyes earnestly. "Be careful of yourself," he murmured.
"Careful," I repeated, puzzled.
"Ay," he murmured still lower, "you have [Pg 57]incurred25 the curse unwittingly—but still you have incurred it."
"What curse?"
"The curse which Ptahmes directed against all desecrators of his tomb."
I thought he raved26, and felt his pulse. But it was steady as a rock. "Come, come," I said with a smile. "I shall be thinking you a superstitious27 man, Sir Robert, presently."
"Do you believe in God?" he asked.
"Then are you not superstitious, too? But there, I have warned you. I'll say no more. Good-bye. Kindly29 send my daughter to me."
I found Miss Ottley and the two Englishmen at the door of the outer tent. "Sir Robert wants you, Miss Ottley," I observed, and passed on. I had hardly gone a dozen yards, however, when I found I had a companion on either side of me.
Dr. Belleville immediately opened fire. "You have been taking time by the forelock, Dr. Pinsent," he said softly. "I should hardly have moved the patient for a day or two. He is very weak."
"My name is Frankfort Weldon—Captain Weldon," said the handsome soldier—introducing himself. "I think you have annoyed Miss Ottley, Dr. Pinsent. Seems to me you should have consulted her before acting30, at least."
I glanced from one to the other and shrugged31 my shoulders. "The thing is done," said I. [Pg 58]"Gentlemen, good-day." My long legs left them quickly in the rear. There seemed no good reason to waste time in explaining myself to them. They would soon enough find out the reasonableness of my actions for themselves, if possessed32 of ordinary human curiosity. But a second later I stopped and turned. "Dr. Belleville," I shouted, "I shall fix a watch at the temple. Ottley wishes it maintained. Miss Ottley will tell you why."
I found the fellaheen collected in a group near the old store house. They eyed me approaching with open sullenness33. I chose two among their number and directed them to stand guard before the pylon for four hours. The two I had picked moved off obediently enough, but they were stopped almost on instant by their leader, a big ruffian with a scarred, black face and wild, fiercely scowling34 eyes. Sir Robert Ottley's dragoman hurried to my side. "Softly, Excellency, or there will be trouble," he muttered. "Let me speak to them. Yazouk is a chief—he will not be commanded. His term of service does not start till to-morrow. He is angry."
"Silence, you," I responded in the same tone. "There is but one way to crush a nigger mutiny."
I stepped smilingly forward, looking into Yazouk's eyes. The black giant—he stood six feet four in his bare feet and was a splendid physical specimen—put his hand on the knife in his belt. But before he could guess at my intention he was sprawling35 on the sand. He uttered the yell of an[Pg 59] angry wild beast and, springing up, rushed at me with bare blade. I stepped aside and kicked him in the stomach. He collapsed36, howling dismally37. I marched up to the rest, who were all handling their knives, and showed them my revolver. Two minutes later they were all disarmed38 and I was a walking arsenal39. I turned to the dragoman. "I am going away, Mehemet—to my own camp. But so that you will have no trouble with this scum, I shall take their chief with me. I need a servant."
Mehemet bowed to the very ground. "Your Excellency knows best," he muttered reverently40.
Yazouk went. He returned with the ass saddled and bridled41 before I was half through a cigarette. I mounted forthwith and started towards my long-deserted camp. "Come, Yazouk!" I called out carelessly, and I took good care not to look back. There is no means surer of making an African obey you than to act as if you are certain he has no alternative. Perhaps Yazouk hesitated for a moment, torn with fear and hate, but he followed me. Soon I heard the patter of his footsteps on the sand. Then I said to myself, "Now, if this man is to remain with me and be my servant I must make him fear me as he would the plague. But how?" I solved the riddle42 at the end of five miles. I must show him that I despised him [Pg 60]utterly. So I stopped. He stopped. Twenty paces separated us. "Yazouk," I said, "come here!"
He approached, eyeing me like a wolf. "From this day for a month, Yazouk, you shall be my slave," I observed calmly. "If you prove a good slave I shall pay you when the term ends at the rate of fifty piasters a day. If you offend me by so much as winking43 an eyelash I shall not only pay you nothing, but I shall ask Poseidon to transform you into a hyena44. Will you like that?"
Yazouk did not remark on my dreadful threat, but there was murder in his eyes. I smiled at him, and, always looking him full in the face, I took one by one the knives I had taken from his fellows, from my belt and cast them on the sand at his feet. "It is not fit for a lord to carry such trash when he has a slave," I said. "Pick up those knives."
Yazouk obeyed me. When he stood upright again there was a great doubt in his eyes. I thought to myself, it would be quite easy for this ruffian to murder me at any time in my sleep, and already I am a wreck45 for want of sleep. I threw my revolver on the sand. "Carry that, too!" I commanded loftily—and spurred my ass on. Probably a volume might be written on the state of Yazouk's mind as he trudged46 along behind me to my camp—a whole compendium47 of psychology48. But I cannot write it, because I never once glanced at him, and, therefore, I can only guess at the turmoil49 of his thoughts. But the event justified50 my expectations. I was so mortally wearied when I reached[Pg 61] my camp that I had no heart left even to discover whether my precious manuscripts had been disturbed by some chance wayfarer51 of the wilderness52. It sufficed me that my tent was standing53 and that it contained a cot. I cast myself down, without even troubling to remove my boots, and I slept like the dead for sixteen solid hours. When I awoke it was high noon. A steaming bowl of coffee stood upon my table and a mess of baked rice and fish. Beside the plate lay my revolver, and every one of the knives I had given Yazouk to carry. Yazouk himself stood at the flap of the tent, a monstrous54, stolid55 sentinel. When I arose he bent56 almost double. I swept the armoury into a drawer and attacked my breakfast with the relish57 of a famished58 man. Then I set to work with the energy of a giant refreshed; and with short intervals59 for meals, sleep and exercise, I toiled60 at my book thereafter till it was roughly finished. So twenty days sped by. Throughout Yazouk waited upon me like the slave of Aladdin's lamp. I had not a fault to find with him. Indeed, he was a perfect jewel of a servant, and he stood in such abject61 terror of my every movement, nod or smile or frown, that I could have wished to retain his services for ever. But that was not to be. On the twenty-first morning he accidentally dropped a cup and broke it. I heard the smash and looked up. It was to see Yazouk flying like a panic-stricken deer into the desert. I shouted to recall him, but he only sped the faster.
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1
ace
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| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
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consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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3
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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4
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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10
autocrat
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| n.独裁者；专横的人 | |
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11
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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13
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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14
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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15
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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pylon
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| n.高压电线架，桥塔 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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18
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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20
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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21
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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22
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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23
papyrus
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| n.古以纸草制成之纸 | |
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24
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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27
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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28
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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29
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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30
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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31
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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32
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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33
sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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34
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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35
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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36
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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38
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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39
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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40
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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41
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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42
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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43
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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44
hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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45
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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46
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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47
compendium
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| n.简要，概略 | |
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48
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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49
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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50
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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51
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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52
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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55
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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56
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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57
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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58
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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59
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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60
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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