Page:Eothen, or, Traces of travel brought home from the East by Kinglake, Alexander William.djvu/90

 as being near Suez: that Napoleon, profanely brave, thrust his arm into the cave, containing the coveted gold, and that instantly his flesh became palsied, but the youthful hero (for she said he was great in his generation) was not to be thus daunted; he fell back characteristically upon his brazen resources, and ordered up his artillery; but man could not strive with demons, and Napoleon was foiled. In years after came Ibrahim Pasha, with heavy guns, and wicked spells to-boot, but the infernal guardians of the treasure were too strong for him. It was after this that Lady Hester passed by the spot, and she described, with animated gesture, the force and energy with which the divining twig had suddenly leaped in her hands; she ordered excavations, and no demons opposed her enterprise; the vast chest in which the treasure had been deposited was at length discovered, but lo! and behold, it was full of pebbles! She said, however, that the times were approaching, in which the hidden treasures of the earth would become available to those who had true knowledge.

Speaking of Ibrahim Pasha, Lady Hester said, that he was a bold, bad man, and was possessed of some of those common and wicked magical arts upon which she looked down with so much contempt; she said, for instance, that Ibrahim's life was charmed against balls and steel, and that after a battle, he loosened the folds of his shawl, and shook out the bullets like dust.

It seems that the St. Simonians once made overtures to Lady Hester; she told me that the Pere Enfantin (the chief of the sect) had sent her a service of plate, but that she had declined to receive it; she delivered a prediction as to the probability of the St. Simonians finding the "mystic mother," and this she did in a way which would amuse you; unfortunately, I am not at liberty to mention this part of the woman's prophecies; why, I cannot tell, but so it is, that she bound me to eternal secrecy.

Lady Hester told me, that since her residence at Djoun, she had been attacked by a terrible illness, which rendered her for a long time perfectly helpless; all her attendants fled, and left her to perish. Whilst she lay thus alone, and quite unable to rise, robbers came, and carried away her property;* she told me,