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could see Sennia jumping around like a cricket, and Gargery trying to hold on to her. After we had gone a short distance Emerson forgot his pique and began looking for old acquaintances in the crowd. Since he is acquainted with practically every beggar, thief, and merchant in Cairo, he found a good many of them, and his stentorian greetings were answered in kind. "Salaam aleikhum, Father of Curses! Marhaba!" Our procession made its way through the city, across the bridge, and along the road to Giza toward the house we had taken for the past several seasons. Comfortable in the knowledge that our devoted friends would have everything in order for our arrival, I breathed deeply of the dry, warm air and with greedy eyes took in the sights and sounds that were so dear and familiar. Not even the dust kicked up by the hooves of horses and donkeys could spoil my pleasure. I was back in Egypt, the home of my heart. What thrilling discoveries awaited me that season! I felt certain the tombs of ancient Giza held undiscovered treasures. And with any luck, we might run across a gang of tomb robbers or even a murderer. Another group of friends awaited us in the courtyard of the house. Sennia was immediately gathered up by Kadija, Daoud's wife, who had been too shy to come to the railroad station. We had all learned to admire this very large, very dignified woman, who had the dark brown skin of her Nubian mother. She and Nefret were especially close; as soon as Kadija had given Sennia a hearty hug, she passed the child on to the others who were waiting to greet her and turned to Nefret. "You are blooming like a flower, Nur Misur," she murmured, as they embraced. "Is it happiness or some other cause that puts the light in your eyes?" I had wondered myself. They had been married for eight months-not that I was counting-and one might have supposed that by this time . . . Naturally I would never have ventured to ask directly, so you may believe I awaited Nefret's response with considerable interest. Unfortunately at that moment Fatima came bustling up to inform me that she had prepared a feast of all our favorite dishes and that the food would be cold if we did not come at once. I asked for a little time to remove the dust of travel, a request which was granted. Our rooms were in perfect order, as I had expected. "She has put rose petals in the wash water again," Emerson said resignedly. Though it would have been difficult to fault Fatima's arrangements, there were always a few household matters to be attended to before we could begin work. The house had not the charm of others we had inhabited-I still regretted the loss of our residence in Luxor, which I had had built to my own specifications-but it was comfortable and commodious, with numerous balconies and a flat roof which we used as an open-air sitting room. We were in the habit of taking tea there whenever the weather was fine, enjoying the views of the city and the Giza pyramids and watching the sun go down in a blaze of fiery color. However, certain members of the family did not find the house commodious enough. Nefret had already spoken to me about her and Ramses taking up residence on our dahabeeyah, which we kept moored at the tourist dock near the house. I could think of no reasonable objection to the scheme; over the years the boat had served as living quarters for various members of the family, and although it had become somewhat cramped for all of us it was roomy enough for two-especially if the two were close. So when Nefret raised the subject again-the first morning after our arrival-I assured her I would do everything I could to facilitate the move. Emerson was the biggest stumbling block. He always objects to "wasting time" on household chores. When I first met him he was living quite comfortably, by his standards, in an empty tomb chapel, and it took me quite some time (and a lot of argument) to overcome his preference for tents over houses and a splash in the Nile over a