THE GAY BARTENDER

Chapter ninety five

quarters that would be our home for the next four months The boat had four cabins, two on either side of a narrow passageway.There was also a bathroom,with water laid on. At the end of the passage a door opened into the saloon, which was semicircular,following the shape of the stern. It was well lighted by eight windows and had a long curved divan along the wall. Brussels' carpets covered the floor;the paneling was white with gold trim, giving a light, airy feel-ing. Window curtains of scarlet, a handsome dining table, and several mirrors in gold frames completed the furnish-ings.

With the ardor of ladies equipping a new house, we dis-cussed what else we should need. There were cupboards and shelves in plenty, and we had books to fill the shelves; I had brought a large box of father's books on Egyptian antiqui-ties,and I hoped to purchase more. But we should also need a piano. I am totally without musical ability, but I dearly love to hear music, and Evelyn played and sang beautifully.

I asked Reis Hassan when he would be ready to depart; and here I received my first check. The boat had just re-turned from a trip. The crew needed time to rest and visit their families; certain mysterious overhaulings needed to be done on the vessel itself. We finally settled on a date a week hence, but there was something in Hassan's bland black eyes that made me wonder....

Nothing went as I had planned it. Finding a suitable piano took an unreasonable amount of time. I wanted new curtains for the saloon; their shade clashed horribly with my crimson evening frock. As Evelyn pointed out, we were in no hurry; yet I had a feeling that she was even more anxious than I to be on our way. Every evening when we entered the dining room I felt her shrink. Sooner or later it was more than probable that she should encounter an acquaintance, and I could understand why she shrank from that.

Our days were not wasted; there is a great deal to see and do in Cairo. The bazaars were a source of constant amuse-ment; the procession of people passing through the narrow swetmcnts.There are no real shops,only tiny cupboan open al the front,with a stone platform or mastaba,o which the merchants sit cross-legged,awaiting customers. could not resist the rugs, and bought several for our drawin rmom on the Philae-soft,glowing beauties from Persia an Syria. I tried to buy some trinkets for Evelyn;she wouk only accept a pair of little velvet slippers.

We visited the bazaars and the mosques and the Citadel and then planned excursions somewhat farther afield. O course I was anxious to see the remains of the ancient civili zation,but I little realized what was in store for me that day when we paid our first visit to Gizeh.

Everyone goes to see the pyramids. Since the Nile bridge was built,they are within an easy hour-and-a-half drive from the hotel. We left early in the morning so that we should have time to explore fully.

I had seen engravings of the Great Pyramid and read ex-

tensively about it; I thought I was prepared for the sight. But

I was not. It was so much grander than I had imagined! The

massive bulk bursts suddenly on one's sight as one mounts

the steep slope leading up to the rocky platform. It fills the

sky.And the color! No black-and-white engraving can possi

bly prepare one for the color of Egyptian limestone, mellow

gold in the sunlight against a heavenly-blue vault.

stand is

The vast plateau on which the three pyramids

honeycombed with tombspits,fallen mounds of masony

crumbling smaller pyramids.From the midst ofsandy hol-

buried in the

low projects the head of the Sphinx, a

ever-encroaching sand,but wearing its body on

more majesty its im-

perfect features than any other sculpture made bypyramids,

We made our way to the greatest of man.

the tomb of Khufu. It loomed the three as we

up like a mountain

approached.The seeming irregularities of its were now

sides sæen to be huge bleced, eudib one higher than a man's head; sad Evelyn wondered audibly how one was supposed to mount these giant stairs.

“And in long skirts,” she mourned.

"Never mind,” I said. “We shall manage.”

And we did,with the help of six Arabs-three apiece. One on either side and one pushing from behind,we were lified easily from block to block, and soon stood on the summit.Evelyn was a trifle pale, but I scarcely heeded her distress or gave her courage its due; I was too absorbed in the magnificent view.The platform atop the pyramid is about thirty feet square, with blocks of the stripped-off upper tiers remaining to make comfortable seats. I seated myself and stared till my eyes swam-with strain,I thought then; but perhaps there was another reason.

On the east,the undulating yellow Mokattam hills formed a frame for a picture whose nearer charms included the vivid green strip of cultivated land next to the river, and, in the distance, shining like the towers of fairyland, the domes and minarets of Cairo. To the west and south the desert stretched away in a haze of gold. Along the horizon were other man-made shapes-the tiny pyramid points of Abusir and Sak-karah and Dahshoor.

I gazed till I could gaze no more; and was aroused from a reverie that had lasted far too long by Evelyn plucking at my sleeve.

“May we not descend?” she begged. “I believe I am get-ting sunburned.”

Her nose was certainly turning pink, despite the protection of her broad-brimmed hat.Remorsefully I consented, and we were lowered down by our cheerful guides. Evelyn de-clined to enter the pyramid with me, having heard stories of its foul atmosphere. She knew better than to try to dissuade me. I left her with some ladies who had also refused the treat, and, hitching up my skirts, followed the gentlemen of the party into the depths.

It was a horrid place-stifling air, debris crunching un-

Elizabeth Peters

30

derfol, the dark barely disturbed by the fickering candie

g rivense of the passage to the Queens chamber, whic s so low that one must walk bent over at the waist, to Is zandous ascent of the Grand Gallery,that magnifce high-ceilinged slope up which one must crawl in semidart nes,relying on the sinewy arms of the Egyptians to preve a tamble back down the stone-lined slope. There were bal as well.But in the end I stood in the King's Chamber, liner with somber black basalt, and containing only the massive black coffin into which Khufu was laid to rest some fow thousand ycars ago; and with the perspiration rolling dow my frame,and every breath an effort, I felt the most over. powering sense of satisfaction I had felt since childhood-when William, my brother, dared me to climb the apple tre in the garden, and I, perched on the highest bough,watched him tumble out of a lower one. He broke his arm.

When I finally joined her outside,Evelyn's face was a sight to behold. I raked my fingers through my disheveled hair and remarked, “It was perfectly splendid, Evelyn. If you would like to go, I would be happy to see it again. .. .”

“No,” Evelyn said. “Not under any circumstances.”

We had been in Cairo for a week by then, and I really had hopes of getting underway within another fortnight. I had been to Boulaq several times,assisting Reis Hassan-bully ing him, as Evelyn quaintly put it. In recent days I had nol been able to find him on the boat, although once I saw futter of striped petticoat that looked like his disappear ove the stern as I approached.

After Gizeh,Hassan was left in peace. I had a new inter est-but to call it an interest is to understate my sentiments. I admired,I desired-I lusted after pyramids! We went back Gizeh I visited the Second and Third pyramids there.We went to Sakkarah to see the step Pyramid There are other pyramids at Sakkarah. Being built of rubble within a facing