20 THE HORSE OF WAR. 



lay down to sleep with the other members of the 

 family. She was the playmate of the children ; on 

 her the cruel, the savage Bedouin lavished the one 

 tender feeling of his heart. He treasured up in his 

 mind her pedigree as carefully as his own ; he com- 

 posed songs in honour of his beloved steed ; his friend, 

 his companion, his ally. He sang to her of the 

 gazelles which they had hunted down, and of the battles 

 which they had fought together ; for the Arab horse 

 was essentially a beast of war. When the signal was 

 given for the charge, when the rider loudly yelling, 

 couched his spear, she snorted and panted and 

 bounded in the air. With tail raised and spreading 

 to the wind, with neck beautifully arched, mane flap- 

 ping, red nostrils dilating, and glaring eyes, she rushed 

 like an arrow into the midst of the mele'e. Though 

 covered with wounds she would never turn restive or 

 try to escape, but if her master was compelled to take 

 to flight she would carry him till she dropped down 

 dead. 



It is quite possible that when the mounted army 

 appeared in the river plain the inhabitants were para- 

 lysed with fright, and believed them to be fabulous 

 animals, winged men. Be that as it may, the conquest 

 was speedy and complete ; the imperial Memphis was 

 taken ; Egypt was enslaved ; the king, and his family 

 and court, were compelled to seek a new home across 

 the sandy seas. 



On the south side of the Nubian desert was the 

 laud of Ethiopia, the modern Soudan, which had been 

 conquered by the Egyptians, and which they used as 

 an emporium in their caravan trade with Central 

 Africa and the shores of the Red Sea. But it could 

 be reached only by means of a journey which is not 



