Climbing The Great Pyramid.*

fellows who help you up and down , nor are they to ask for any , on pain of the bastinado in case any complaint is made against them . This being considered satisfactory by all parties concerned , you are seized under the arms by two of the Bedawees , while the third gives you a gentle poke in the small of the back from time to time . Once started on this novel ascent , it is quite impossible to abandon it before it is completed to the letter . You may repent and

grow dizzy ancl short-winded , but the strong grip on your arms brings you to your feet again , ancl you are swung up from one terrace to another , hurried to the right and to the left by a zigzag trail that has evidently been searching for low steps and crevices in the stones , and found them in many cases . Each stone is about the height-of a table ; it is four hundred and sixty perpendicular feet to the top of the pyramidand you are permitted to rest three times on

, the way up . At first the Bedawee touches your right arm , and asks you if you would like to rest . You scorn the idea , and leap like a chamois from rock to rock , to show him how very far you are from feeling fatigued . He praises your powers of endurance , feels your muscles , and says your legs are splendid . You realise that they must befor you have evidentlastonished him with

, y your sfcnsngth and agility . By-and-bye he insists upon your resting for a moment only . You rest for his sake as much as your own , for you are a little out of breath , ancl fear that he , that all three of the attendants , must feel fatigued . At this moment a small boy makes his appearance with a jug of brackish water in his hand . He climbs like a cat , and is so little that his head is lost below the edge of each stair as he climbs toward you . That boy

follows you to the top , and pours water over your head and hands , and gives you a drink at the slightest provocation , ancl all for a half-dozen sous . He is getting his muscles in training for the ascents he hopes to make in years to come , for he is born under the pyramid , and he will die under it , some day , unless he happens to breathe his last at the top of it .

Before you are quite ready to start afresh , the Bedawees clutch you , and you go bounding from step to step , sometimes finding foothold for yourself , but oftener dangling in mid-air , with the fellow behind clinging to you instead of lending his aid . When you propose a second rest you are put off with the promise of one a little farther up , and you nearly perish before you come to the spot . There is no pride of muscle , no ambition , no wind left in you now ! You sink into a corner of the rock and shut your eyesfor you have

, caught a glimpse of the sandy sea that is all aglow in the fierce sunshine ; and away down at the foot of the pyramid there are multitudes of black objects creeping about like ants , and you know these are men ancl women , and then you feel as if you could never get to the top of Cheops , and if you did , you know you could never get to the bottom again , unless you were to tumble head foremost down all those frightful stairs ; and you grow faintand call on

, the water-boy , ancl find life a good deal of a bore . You don't look down after that . You hum fragments of . that unforgetable song , with its highly moral refrain , "Excelsoir , " ancl begin to perspire profusely , ancl to feel as if you would probably lay your bones on the top stair and give up the ghost on the spot . Resignation , or despair , you hardly know which , has completely cowed you . When you rest the third time one of the Bedawees kindly chafes your

legs , straightens out the kinks in your muscles , and says pleasant things to you about the remainder of the journey . He points you to the top , which , sure enough , is only a little farther up , - and you begin to wonder if it will be large enough to stand on , or if you will have to straddle it , aud perhaps roll clown on the other side . It is large enough to build a house on I I ached for a shelter of some sort while I was up there , and having looked over all the world of sand , with the blue Nile flowing through it between sho res of emerald , and fields of corn , and groves of palm , I was glad to slide down into the narrow shadow under the highest step , and there rest .