DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0316
298 A THOUSAND MILES UP THE NILE.
figures; two in the center of the composition and two at
the extremities. The two center ones, which seemed to
be back to back, probably represented gods; the outer ones,
worshipers.
All at once it flashed upon the painter that he had seen
this kind of a group many a time before—and generally
over a doorway.
Feeling sure now that he was on the brink of a discovery
he came back, fetched away Salame and Mehemet Ali, and,
without saying a syllable to any one, set to work with
these two to scrape away the sand at the spot where the
crack widened.
Meanwhile, the luncheon-bell having rung thrice, wo
concluded that the painter had rambled off somewhere into
the desert, and so sat down without him. Toward the
close of the meal, however, came a penciled note, the con-
tents of which ran as follows:
" Pray come immediately—I have found the entrance to
a tomb. Please send some sandwiches. A. M'O------."
To follow the messenger at once to the scene of action
was the general impulse. In less than ten minutes we were
there, asking breathless questions, peeping in through the
fast-widening aperture and helping to clear away the sand.
All that Sunday afternoon, heedless of 23ossible sun-
stroke, unconscious of fatigue, we toiled upon our hands
and knees, as for bare life, under the burning sun. We had
all the crew up, working like tigers. Every one helped;
even the dragoman and the two maids. More than once,
when we paused for a moment's breathing-space, we said
to each other: ''If those at home could see us what would
they say?"
And now, more than ever, we felt the need of in^flo-
inents. With a spade or two and a wheelbarrow we could
have done wonders ; but with only one small fire-shovel,
a birch broom, a couple of charcoal baskets, and about
twenty pairs of hands, we were poor indeed. What was
wanted in means, however, was made up in method.
Some scraped away the sand ; some gathered it into
baskets; some carried the baskets to the edge of the cliff
and emptied them into the river. The idle man dis-
figures; two in the center of the composition and two at
the extremities. The two center ones, which seemed to
be back to back, probably represented gods; the outer ones,
worshipers.
All at once it flashed upon the painter that he had seen
this kind of a group many a time before—and generally
over a doorway.
Feeling sure now that he was on the brink of a discovery
he came back, fetched away Salame and Mehemet Ali, and,
without saying a syllable to any one, set to work with
these two to scrape away the sand at the spot where the
crack widened.
Meanwhile, the luncheon-bell having rung thrice, wo
concluded that the painter had rambled off somewhere into
the desert, and so sat down without him. Toward the
close of the meal, however, came a penciled note, the con-
tents of which ran as follows:
" Pray come immediately—I have found the entrance to
a tomb. Please send some sandwiches. A. M'O------."
To follow the messenger at once to the scene of action
was the general impulse. In less than ten minutes we were
there, asking breathless questions, peeping in through the
fast-widening aperture and helping to clear away the sand.
All that Sunday afternoon, heedless of 23ossible sun-
stroke, unconscious of fatigue, we toiled upon our hands
and knees, as for bare life, under the burning sun. We had
all the crew up, working like tigers. Every one helped;
even the dragoman and the two maids. More than once,
when we paused for a moment's breathing-space, we said
to each other: ''If those at home could see us what would
they say?"
And now, more than ever, we felt the need of in^flo-
inents. With a spade or two and a wheelbarrow we could
have done wonders ; but with only one small fire-shovel,
a birch broom, a couple of charcoal baskets, and about
twenty pairs of hands, we were poor indeed. What was
wanted in means, however, was made up in method.
Some scraped away the sand ; some gathered it into
baskets; some carried the baskets to the edge of the cliff
and emptied them into the river. The idle man dis-