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"The horse is good, he will travel fast," he went on, with a glance of admiration at the animal. For a moment Helmar was thrown off his guard. "Yes, and it will take Arabi all his time to catch him, if we should come across him." "Then you go to Kafr Dowar," said the man, with a grin.
He laughed a little. "No," said he, "this is the beginning of a wedding in Kafr Kennâ. The bridegroom and his friends come over from some other village where they live, to show off a bit of fantasia to the bride and her friends. They carry her back with them after the marriage. We wait a while and see how they ride."
"Your orders are not very explicit, Helmar," said he, "and probably convey but little to you. Of course, I dare say you know that after yesterday's engagement Arabi has retreated to Kafr Dowar. It is believed he has some thousands gathered under his banner, but we want to be sure. We are going out to gather all information possible, in which work you will be of great assistance to me."
The camp was gradually left behind in the distance, and long ere night set in, Alexandria, with its domes and spires, was lost in the haze of the evening, and the bare, level, open country surrounded them on all sides. Their road lay in the direction of Kafr Dowar, distant about twenty miles to the south-east.
He pointed out the manner in which it was done to Helmar, who marvelled at the simplicity of it all, and wondered how it was he had never thought to try it before. For some miles the journey was quite uneventful, and Captain Forsyth began to think that the Arabs had really retired beyond Kafr Dowar, even perhaps to Damanhour. "There doesn't seem to be a sign of the enemy anywhere," said he.
As George passed along with his guide they eyed him with much disfavour, without moving from their particular position of ease, and if looks could kill, he would never have reached the officer's hut alive. "What place is this?" he asked, more interested in his surroundings than in his fate. "Is it Kafr Dowar?" The man shook his head and refused to answer. Not yet satisfied, George tried again.
Then the Kafr merchant comes to look at the goods, and having estimated them in his own way, he puts down as much gold as he thinks the goods are worth, leaving both the gold and the goods, and then withdraws.
"I'm going to divide the party, Helmar," he said, "and I want you to ride with me. We will travel on the west side of the railway, and shall probably meet stray Arabs in that direction, from whom we can obtain information. It will be imperative to keep a sharp look-out." "Yes," replied Helmar, "so far we do not know if Arabi has left Kafr Dowar or not.
Seeing Osterberg in close conversation with his friend, he looked from one to the other, as if for explanation. Osterberg, understanding the look, promptly spoke up. "Helmar is a very old friend of mine, sir. We came to this country together in fact, we left the University for that purpose. I remember him being captured near Kafr Dowar; he was on patrol with an officer of the Engineers."
This was all that we saw of the wedding at Kafr Kennâ just a vivid, mysterious flash of human figures, drawn together by the primal impulse and longing of our common nature, garbed and ordered by the social customs which make different lands and ages seem strange to each other, and moving across the narrow stage of Time into the dimness of that Arab village, where Jesus and His mother and His disciples were guests at a wedding long ago.
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