The Snake, The Crocodile, And The Dog Part 12

"I have found a tomb, honored Sitt," he whispered. "Will you come, before the others find it and claim a share of the baksheesh?"

I looked around. Emerson must have taken the visitors into the pyramid,- they were nowhere in sight. Daoud was directing a group of workers who were investigating the tombs next to the causeway that led from the pyramid to the river. "Where is it?" I asked

"Not far, honored Sitt. Near the Tomb of the Geese" He was referring to one of the most famous tombs of Meidum, from which had come the lovely painting now in the Cairo Museum. It was located in the mastaba field almost due north of the pyramid A crew under Abdullah was at work in the area, searching for other tomb entrances, this man must be part of that crew. His surrept.i.tious manner and look of suppressed excitement suggested that he had come on something remarkable enough to merit a sizable reward. Naturally he did not want to share it with the others

Antic.i.p.ation thrilled through my limbs as I pictured marvels equaling the geese, or even the life-sized painted statues of a n.o.ble couple that had been found in another mastaba in the same cemetery. Rising, I gestured to him to lead on.

The guttural chanting of Daoud's crew gradually faded as we scrambled over the fallen rocks and rough ground at the base of the pyramid. We were close to the northeast corner of the structure when my guide stopped. He held out his hand. "Sitt," he began.

"No," I said in Arabic. "No baksheesh until you have shown me the tomb."

He took a step toward me, smiling as sweetly as a shy maiden.

Then I heard a sound like the sharp crack of a whip. A rolling rumble of falling stone followed, as a rain of rocks and pebbles struck the ground behind me. My guide took to his heels. I could hardly blame him. Looking up in some annoyance, I saw a round, alarmed face peering down from the top of the slope, which was almost fifty feet above me at that point.

"Ach, Himmel, Frau Professor- verzeiben Sie, bitte! I did not see you. Are you damaged? Are you fainting with fear?" I did not see you. Are you damaged? Are you fainting with fear?"

He came scrambling down the slope as he spoke, waving his arms to keep his balance, and starting another miniature avalanche.

"Neither," I replied. "No thanks to you, Herr Schmidt. What the dev------ That is, what were you shooting at? For pity's sake, put your revolver away before you drill a hole through me or yourself."

Coloring, the young man returned his weapon to its holster. "It was eine eine Gazelle Gazelle- a . . . How do you call it?"

"Nonsense. It could not have been a gazelle, they are timid creatures who would not venture so close to humans. You tried to shoot some poor villager's goat, Herr Schmidt. Luckily for you, you missed it, the world's finest marksman could not hit such a distant target with a pistol."

My lecture was interrupted by Emerson, who came rus.h.i.+ng toward us demanding to know who had shot at what and why. My explanation did nothing to relieve his tender anxiety,- turning to his German colleague, who had been close on his heels, he burst into a storm of complaint

"Sie baben recbt, Herr Professor," Schmidt murmured submissively Schmidt murmured submissively "Ich bin tin vollendetes Rindvieb." "Ich bin tin vollendetes Rindvieb."

"You are making a great fuss about nothing, Emerson," I said. "The bullet came nowhere near me."

"In short, no harm was done or intended," said Professor Eberfelt, coming to the defense of his colleague.

"Except that my guide was frightened away," I added. "Let us see if we can find him and rea.s.sure him. He had found a new tomb which he was about to show me."

But neither the guide nor the tomb he had mentioned was to be found, though we searched for some time "Perhaps he will return tomorrow, once he has got over his fright," I said at last "He was young, and appeared to be very timid."

Our visitors did not linger, the boat they had hired awaited them, and they meant to return to Cairo that night. Watching the donkeys disappear into the darkening shadows of the east, Emerson stroked his chin, as was his habit when deep in thought.

"I think we have done enough here, Peabody," he said "The Luxor-Cairo train stops at Rikka in the morning. Shall we be on it?"

I could see no reason why not.

My first act upon reaching the hotel was to request the safragi to run a nice hot bath for me As I luxuriated in the scented water Emerson looked through the letters and messages that had arrived in our absence and reported their contents to me, with appropriate comments "Will we dine with Lady Wallingford and her daughter? No, we will not. Captain and Mrs. Richardson look forward to the pleasure of our company at their soiree . . . They will look in vain. Mr. Vincey hopes we will do him the honor of lunching with him on Thursday . . It is an honor he has not earned. The Solicitor General . . Aha! A grain of wheat among all this chaff! A letter from Chalfont."

"Open it," I called. A ripping sound told me he had already done so. The epistle was a sort of round-robin, begun by Evelyn and added to by the others. Evelyn's and Walter's contributions were short, intended only to rea.s.sure us that all was well with them and their charges. Nefret's brief message was something of a disappointment to me, it sounded like a duty note from a child to a relation she does not much like. I reminded myself that I ought not to have expected anything else. She had been taught to read and write English by her father, but she had not had much occasion to practice that skill. It would be some time before she learned to express herself gracefully and at length.

Ramses's contribution made up for any deficiency in the latter quality at least. I could see why he had asked to be the last to write, for his comments were, to say the least, more candid than those of his aunt.

"Rose does not like it here. She does not say that, but her mouth always looks as if she has been eating pickled onions. I think the difficulty is that she does not get on with Ellis. Ellis is Aunt Evelyn's new maid. She came from the gutter, like the others."

Emerson stopped to laugh, and I exclaimed, "Good heavens, where does that child pick up such language? Out of the goodness of her heart Evelyn employs unfortunate young women whose lives have not been what they ought, but- "

"The description gains in pungency what it lacks in propriety," said Emerson. "He goes on: "Rose says she does not hold this against Ellis. I certainly would not, though I am not precisely certain what the term implies. But I do not get on with Ellis either. She is always following Nefret trying to get her to change her clothing and curl her hair.

"Wilkins [our former butler, now employed by Evelyn and Walter] has not been well since we arrived. He seems very nervous. The least little thing makes him start. When I let the lion out of its cage yesterday ..."

My body lost its purchase on the surface of the tub and my head went under water. When I emerged, sputtering and choking, I found that Emerson had continued reading.

". . . no danger, since as you know I had been acquainted with the lion since it was a cub and had taken pains to renew the acquaintance whenever possible. Uncle Walter was not nervous but his remarks were pejorative in the extreme and he set me an additional ten pages of Caesar to construe. He added that he was sorry I was too old to spank. He has agreed to build a larger cage for the lion."

I will spare my Reader Ramses's detailed descriptions of the health and habits of the other servants (I had not been aware of the cook's fondness for gin, nor, I imagine, had Evelyn) He saved HER for last.

"She has improved in health and spirits since we came here, I believe, though in my opinion [As I later discovered, Ramses had scratched the last three words out, but Emerson read them anyhow] she spends too much time at her studies. I have come round to your view that mens Sana in corpore sano is a good rule, and have adopted it myself. Toward that end I determined to take up the sport of archery. It is a sport in which young ladies are encouraged to partic.i.p.ate. Aunt Evelyn agreed with me and Uncle Walter, who can be obliging when he chooses, set up the b.u.t.ts for us. I discovered that Nefret is already acquainted with that sport. She has agreed to instruct me. In return I am teaching her to ride and to fence."

"He doesn't know how to fence," I exclaimed indignantly.

"Er," said Emerson.

I decided not to pursue the subject. I had suspected Emerson was taking fencing lessons on the sly, but he never likes admitting he needs instruction in anything, and his original motive for taking up this sport was not to his credit, for it arose out of jealousy of an individual concerning whom he had not the slightest cause to feel that emotion. I had to admit his skill had proved useful on several occasions thereafter, though. Apparently he had allowed Ramses to be instructed as well. He knew I would not have approved, the idea of Ramses's wielding a long, flexible, sharp instrument made my blood run cold.

Two more paragraphs described Nefret's activities in far more detail than they merited. After Emerson had finished he remarked, in tones fatuous with parental pride, "How well he writes. Quite literary, upon my word."

"It sounds as if things are going well," I replied. "Hand me that towel, Emerson, will you please?"

Emerson handed me the towel. He then returned to the sitting room to peruse the remainder of the post.

"Well, where next?" Emerson inquired, as we sat down to dinner that evening. "Luxor or Amarna?"

"Have you eliminated Meidum?"

"No, not at all. But I feel we ought to look at the other possibilities before we make a decision."

"Very well."

"What is your preference?"

"It is a matter of complete indifference to me."

Emerson peered at me over the top of the ornate menu the waiter had handed him. "Are you annoyed about something, Peabody? Ramses's letter, perhaps? You have scarcely spoken to me since I read it."

"What possible cause for annoyance could I have?"

"I can think of none." He waited for a moment. When I did not respond he shrugged-one of those irritating masculine shrugs that dismisses a woman's behavior as incomprehensible and/or irrelevant- and resumed the discussion. "I suggest we go direct to Luxor, then. I am rather impatient to rid myself of certain objects as promptly as I can."

"That makes sense," I agreed. "Have you any ideas as to where we might- er- discover them?"

We discussed alternatives while we ate. It was still early when we finished, and I suggested a stroll along the Muski.

"We are not going out this evening," Emerson replied. "I have something else in mind I hope will please you."