Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/30

16 Khedive, and felt strong enough, he would undoubtedly have been shot. But in such cases the character of the act is generally judged by its success, and as Arabi Bey had the army at his back, instead of being executed, he was now Minister of War and virtual dictator of Egypt. I was interested to see a man who had acted such a part, and who might be destined either to supreme power or to death, and observed him closely. He is a man of large physique, with a face that is not at all intellectual, but heavy, except his eye, which looks as though it might flash fire if he were once aroused. But his manner was very quiet, and his few words when I conversed with him through an interpreter, were such as might be uttered by any patriotic man. He said he had come out that evening, though not well, to do honor to the memory of a man who had freed his country from a foreign yoke, perhaps thinking in himself that what Washington had done for America, he might do for Egypt.

Besides the Americans present, there were a number of Europeans, whose titles and decorations showed that they were men of high position. Of these, the most distinguished was M. de Lesseps, who, in spite of his advanced age, is still full of life and energy, and has all the ardor and the hopefulness of youth.

After an hour of pleasant conversation, the company adjourned to the large dining-room, which had been decorated with flags, in which those of America and Egypt were everywhere conspicuous. The tables were loaded with flowers. During the whole evening the band of the Khedive, which was stationed under the windows, played American airs. The Consul-General presided, having on his right Mr. William Walter Phelps, our Minister to Vienna, who had arrived that day on his way up the Nile, and next to him Mahmoud Pacha, the Prime Minister of the