Minnie, either consciously or unconsciously, while at the same time remaining constant to that vision of the past, we must bear this difference in mind. Nothing is so accommodating as an ideal love, and nothing is so winning in its ways. It suits a selfish person to a T. It comes when invoked; and when it is de trop, it stays patiently away, ready to return, at call, with unabated affection. It is never piqued through jealousy, nor estranged by neglect. It never wounds by a bitter word; never aggravates or provokes contempt by exhibitions of selfishness or littleness; never, by being unsympathetic or contradictory, causes a heart to ache until it has grown too callous to ache any longer! An ideal love was never known to nag!

Now, in the case of a man or a woman with a real, present love, making him or her-self as charming as possible (as people under such circumstances usually do), the ideal love does not come in the least in the way. The ideal love is everything that is delightful,-so is the real; but the real has the advantage of being real-of being there, on the spot, with a heart veritably throbbing in sympathy to that of its lover; and so the ideal-which, as we have already said, is always accommodating and patient, and none the less tender at the next re-union for being set aside for awhile-does not in any way interfere. It is a sort of Platonic friend. It is only when real lovers begin to quarrel that the ideal comes unbidden on the stage. And then, we must confess, it has a decided tendency to blow up the coals. Have you been piqued, neglected, aggravated, nagged, till you are out of all patienee with Mr. Reality, or Miss, or Mrs. Reality (as the case may be)? then it is that the ideal comes wheedling and coaxing-sitting down in the warmest corner of your heart, and say ing, "Suffer me to comfort you;

never were you yet teazed, or annoyed, or neglected by me! Am I not very, very much more after your heart than that unsympathetic, unsuitable love which you have chosen to take for yourself."

Now Ernest and Minnie were on their best behaviour towards each other. Probably each of them had a worse side than that which they were then shewing; but of course it was hidden away far out of sight. Indeed, there could be nothing to bring it into sight when everything was happy around them, and everything going smoothly. So charming, indeed, were they to each other all the while, that Minnie bid fair to become very soon a rival ideal to that other one-the more so, since she possessed that necessary qualification of perfect idealism - she never could be really his. And in like manner, there was every danger that in days to come Ernest would be the ideal whose image would come wheedling in, whenever Minnie and her husband had been having a tiff, and when she was out of patience with her fate.

Long and late did the two couples sit on the deck of the "Cleopatra" that starry night, as the vessel glided down the stream again towards Cairo. How lovely was the moon rising! The river was perfectly unruffled, and every star was reflected in its glassy surface. Then, as the moon came up, and showed its beauteous disc there also, the reflected trunks of the palm-trees along the banks seemed to cross it, one by one, in a long procession, as the ship sped on and passed them. And as she rose still higher in the heavens, the shadows of their leafy crowns seemed in like manner to cross that bright reflection, and each frond was thrown out in bold relief by the silvery light.

The sailors were in the bow singing. This was not their Sunday; if it had been, they would have been as quiet as mice; but the Moslem

Then a more lively strain was preluded by the tinkle of the tamborine, and the soft drumming of the tarabouka-an earthenware jar, bottomed with a tightly-stretched skin probably that of the sheep, with which, according to ancient custom, they had been feasted by Ernest on the homeward voyage from Assouan a few days before.

Ernest felt sad enough at the thought that this "beautiful night" was the last he was to pass on board the "Cleopatra ;" and that on the morrow he was to bid farewell to the simple-minded but warm-hearted crew, who had been his daily companions for so long.

"If it were not for the pleasure of going back to England in your company, Minnie, and for the happy thoughts of to-day's event, I should have been low and dejected indeed! Leaving this vessel is like leaving a happy home; but how much the happier will the recollection of it be from the thought hereafter of these last days, which were worth all the rest beside!"

miniscences will you speak to your friends in England (or in Ireland) with the greatest zest-the temples, or the pigeons, or the

"Turtle-doves ?" suggested Ernest, pointing with a laugh to the engaged couple on the oppositebench. "How happy they look!"

"May they always be as happy in each other as they are now !" said Minnie, with fervour.

And Ernest said "Amen!"

"If honeymoons could only last. for ever!" reflected Minnie, sadly, as her thoughts sped back over theyears of her own married life, the prevailing sensation of which had been a something between constraint and reserve, varied occasionally with little spasmodic fits of tenderness,. which would be succeeded, ever and. anon, by boredom and vexationOh, if honeymoons could but last. for ever!"

And yet why should they not? The secret of their felicity is the almost energetic endeavouring displayed by each, to appear as charming as possible in the eyes of the other. For worlds neither would hurt the other's feelings to the extent of the scratch of a thorn! It is when the first freshness wears off, and at the same time life's crosses begin to display themselves, and are not borne with that patience which they were purposely intended to exercise-when irritation begets irritation - when extern annoyances cause those who were once so careful and tender of each other's feelings to turn upon each other savagely, and, in place of holding back the thorn, to use it as a weapon of offence, and drive it in, viciously, up to the neck,-it is then that loving hearts have reason to sigh with pain, and long for those dear departed days of the "Lune de miel."

In every tale there is sure to be some one or more chapters which some readers will skip; and the skipping will have reference to the reader's particular tastes and antipathies. Some will skip the chapter on religions; some, our recent disquisition on loves, real and ideal; while a good many who think mere descriptions very dull things, will hastily skim through this one when we tell them that it is nothing more or less than an extract from Minnie's journal, respecting the manner in which those days were spent which intervened between the return of the "Cleopatra" to Cairo and the sailing of the steamer from Alexandria. In the journal no soft or sentimental digressions are to be found -all is plain matter-of-fact. Our fair chronicler writes that the excitement of the first afternoon was a donkey-ride to witness the performances of the Dancing Dervishes, who have a college at old Cairo, the ride to which is pleasantly shaded by sycamine and palm-trees and acacias. Entering a small doorway, you pass through a cool courtyard, where the Dervishes, in every variety of costume, some very picturesque, are quietly enjoying their pipes and coffee. (Mem: How eternally Orientals seems to be enjoying their pipes and coffee! Apparently there is no time of the day at which they may not be found thus indulging!) From the courtyard, the visitors proceed into the Dervishes' small circular mosque, which is partly adorned with old rusty armour, and contains an Arabesque recess in which sit the dignitaries of the Order. Above this recess are some gratings, behind which are seen what appear to be female heads. Are these ladies in the Dervish persuasion? and if so, do they abstain from dancing? The spectators seat themselves

around the wall, opposite to the recess. By-and-bye enters the college. The chief Don is a fine, imposinglooking man, under fifty, with a handsome, black-bearded face. Two other priests, older than him, one of them with a snowy beard, seem to be his inferiors in the Order. Among the rest are six or eight fellows who are going to twirl, dressed in various - coloured jackets (like those of "boys in buttons"), and white petticoats made very full, in order that, while twirling, they may make a "cheese-cake" of the most approved description. On their heads they wear a conical felt covering like a flower-pot reversed.

Some of these wear long skirtslikewise long hair. These, by their subsequent dimensions, prove to be the real " March hares"-quite mad. Others wear the ordinary "knickerbocker costume," so common in the East.

The performance-one ought, correctly speaking, to term it the service-commences by the "howlers" kneeling in a circle, all a squat, as if they were preparing to play "Hunt the Slipper," and monotonously chanting "Al-lah! Al-lah!" Presently the circle rises to its feet; and a dirty Dervish sings a wild chant. Then all begin to chant-" La il Allah, il Allah!" (God is great!) swaying their bodies backwards and forwards the while. Then enter a procession of twirlers; regular teetotums. Stepping into the circle, two at a time, they spin round for twenty minutes without a break. Now the weird music of the pipes and tumtums, which all this time have been playing low, waxes louder and louder, "the ring" bows more and more frantically, with heads to the very ground. The chant ceases; and in its stead, commences a chorus of steam-engines-a gigantic pant

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ing, emitted from some twenty throats, a Haugh haugh! Haugh haugh!" quite beyond the guttural powers of any score of men who were not Dervishes. At last, as might have been expected, one or two fall down in fits. One plucky fellow rises and sets to work again; but the other is too far gone; blood streams from his mouth, and he is carried out. The climax having now been reached, the performances shortly conclude; the minor Dons are embraced by the great Don; then a few who remain behind receive the embraces of the three in turn; each, as he is embraced, taking his place next the previous one, and becoming in turn an embracer, so that the last man finds a formidable number of pairs of shoulders over which he must project his head. For this is the osculatory process: the embracer takes the embracee by the shoulders, just as if he were about to administer to him a good shaking. The other then does ditto. Then looking over each other's alternate shoulders, they kiss at air, and the salute is over. The not very dissimilar ceremony is to be seen after a mass in the Vesper Chapel at St. Peter's in Rome: only that the ecclesiastical dignitaries in the sacred city, when going through this ceremony-the "kiss of peace"-do not always comport themselves as gravely and demurely as the Dervishes during this operation. For the Dervishes are such enthusiasts that they perform their ritualism with all their hearts. Perhaps the fat canons of St. Peter's are more men of the world, and look upon forms which tradition forces them to go through as mere amiable absurdities. Yet even so, if the thing must be done, the devout demeanour of the Egyptian Dervishes is deserving of the greatest respect.

On leaving the mosque, the spectators of these peculiar rites behold the high priest, who within

had appeared to be clothed with so much superior sanctity, seated amongst the rest with his everlasting pipe. And, marvel of marvels! the man who had been taken out as if dead, with bleeding mouth and ears, was also smoking amongst them, as placidly as if the painful occurrence were with him an everyday one? The daily scene in the principal street of Cairo is such as a European could scarce imagine, save in a masquerade. The street is thronged with a busy multitude, passing to and fro-and lined with lazy smokers, or more eager-looking purchasers at the stall-like shops. And every sitting group, every single passer-by, is a picture.

Here one sees the costume of the merchants-a long robe of some gaycoloured cloth, over a skirt of striped silk, both reaching to the feet, the skirt confined at the waist by a rich scarf; the head-dress a becoming turban. Here, again, is the Turkish costume: the loose Mameluke trousers, with embroidered jacket and waistcoat, all of the same colour: violet, or green, or crimson, or blue, or dark brown. Here, again, the gay scarf surrounds the waist, and sometimes the embossed silver heads of a brace of pistols peep out from beneath it. Now the head-dress is the "tarboosh" or fez; covered, sometimes, by the kofeir, a striped scarf, gracefully hanging over the shoulders, and bound round the temples by a chaplet of brown wool, tied at intervals with gay-coloured sks. Again, an Albanian soldier passes by, with rich green jacket, and full kilt (or fustanelli) of white calico; a waist-sash, short white Mameluke trousers, and long boots. An officer on horseback darts past, preceded by a forerunner, shouting, "Ouah! Guarda !" The gold embroidery of the horse's trappings flashes in the sunlight, as he passes from the shade of the awnings, which ever and anon hang across the street from house to house. These fore

runners, or "running footmen" are most requisite in the Egyptian towns. So noiseless are the sandy streets, that it is impossible to hear hoofs or vehicles behind one. On first arriving in Egypt, the traveller will be taken by surprise. A shouting nigger dashes past him in the street, with his "Ouah Guarda !" While the newcomer is wondering whether this individual has just effected his escape from a lunatic asylum, the problem is solved by the sudden apparition of a carriage-pole, which nearly knocks down the astonished European. Occasionally, too, you are conscious of some great moving mass behind you, shading from you lights and sun. You look round, and find that you are almost under the feet of a burdened camel.

But the most unwonted sight of all is that afforded by the appearance of the Cairene ladies. They are not allowed to show their faces. Nay--not even their figures: and so they go about in a "balloon" of black silk, covering them from head to foot. Pink or salmon-coloured dresses, and draperies of white mus lin or lawn, just peep out from beneath these sombre masses: anddark gazelle-like eyes peer at you from behind the yatchmuc, a sort of long-tailed mask which descends pennon-like from the eyes to the knees. Women of the middle class go about in white balloons, and look like by - gone individuals, who, finding their graves a little cold, have just stepped out into the sun to warm themselves. Young men of a nervous temperament would scarcely fancy meeting one of these sylphides "by moonlight alone !"

In addition to all the gay-looking personages afore-mentioned, there are to be seen in the Cairo streets, the "common people" or "Fellaheen," and the water-carriers, who, clad in the Vandyke-brown garb of nature (and a waistband), lay the dust continually by squirting out water from great skins which they carry under

their arms. These, with their less gaudy hues, serve to tone the brighter colours of the costumes and the shop wares around them.

To go through the costumes of the commonalty would be an endless task, so infinite are they in their variety. The black groom with white shirt or frock, its loose sleeves tied together behind to be out of the way men in blue cotton robes with crimson turbans-men in black robes with white turbans, some showing their descent from the prophet Mahomet, by wearing a turban of bright green. The poorest, again, clad in brown sackcloth and a skull-cap, or anything else they can get to wear. These are some of the most usual attire. And now for the bazaars.

The

One is somewhat disappointed by the insignificant entry, from a narrow street, to these noted emporiums. The bazaars are a collection of little dens, with open fronts and a counter, behind which the owner squats crosslegged, and on which, as well as on the shelves behind, he displays his wares. At the first at which one passes there is a show of amber beads, and mouthpieces for pipes. Oriental pipe, or chibouque be it remembered, is close on five feet long, and these mouthpieces of amber are as large as knife-handlesnice soft things to be applied to your mouth; not to be put into it. They range in price from five shillings to fifty guineas, the more expensive ones being set in brilliants. In the same stall would be seen pretty little bright-coloured bags, embroidered with gold, which would be found, on opening, to contain what is vulgarly termed a "rack comb." Scented bracelets made of roseleaf paste, badly gilt; and diminutive bottles of otto of roses at fabulous prices,-articles such as these form the chief stock in trade of the ven lors of amber.

The amount of bargaining which you have to go through in the bazaars if you are unwilling to be