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.
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