They greet me with shouts
of joy, and wish me a long life. I will endeavor to reward them.
Poor, bleeding Egypt, shall progress under my rule. I will endeavor
to bring prosperity and happiness to those who have suffered so
much. This I swear, by Allah! I will raise this poor land up out of
the dust. Yes, I swear it, by Allah!"
CHAPTER XV
THE TENT.
PEACE and tranquillity prevail at last.--For the present, at least,
the people enjoy blessings to which they have long been. strangers,
and it is to the new viceroy and his beneficent rule that they owe
these blessings. He has signalized the beginning of his rule by
compelling the lawless horde of Delis, called by Courschid his body-
guard, to return to the interior of Africa. He has also brought back
into subjection the Armenians and Albanians, who, carried away by
the war-fury, had, for a period, laughed at all order and
discipline. Though mild and gentle toward the devoted and obedient,
Mohammed is severe and cruel to the disobedient and defiant.
Many heads have fallen in these first days of his rule. The head of
many a wild soldier, who paid for his mutinous or riotous behavior
with his life, adorns the wall of the citadel, a warning to the
enemies of law and order.
This warning is not lost on the other soldiers, and on the secret
adherents of the Mamelukes; it teaches them to conform to
circumstances and bow their heads in submission.
Pages:
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637