the glory of Egypt.




CHAPTER XXVIII

"_He made the pillars thereof of silver, the
bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of
purple, the midst thereof being paved with
love . . ._"

SONG OF SOLOMON.


Accustomed to the flowing robes of the Arab, it is not as difficult as
it might be imagined to break a desert-trained horse to side-saddle;
but the mare, Pi-Kay, spoilt and sensitive, behaved like a very demon
whilst the _sayis_ exchanged the _ma'araka_, which is the native pad
without stirrups, for the lady's saddle. She was not really bad, not
she! She was simply a spoilt beauty and inclined to show off, so that
every time her big, beautiful eye caught the sheen of the girl's satin
cloak, she backed and reared and plunged, but more out of mischief than
wickedness. For many days she had been ridden alternately astride and
side by the _sayis_, who loved her better than his wife and almost as
much as his son; ridden from the Tents of Purple and Gold--and not
over-willingly did she go--to the Gate of To-morrow at sunset, to be
taken back at a tearing gallop to the Tents, without restraining or
guiding hand upon the reins, at sunrise.