And then the pair of us jumping
out of bed in that wretched chamber, went through the mockery of
Washing and packing which always takes place on such occasions; a
mockery indeed of washing, for there was but one basin between us!
And a mockery also of packing, for I left my hair-brushes behind me!
Cairo was avenged in that I had declined to avail myself of the
privileges of free citizenship which had been offered to me in that
barber's shop. And then, while we were in our agony, pulling at the
straps of our portmanteaus and swearing at the faithlessness of the
boots, up came the clerk of the hotel - the great man from behind the
bar - and scolded us prodigiously for our delay. "Called! We had
been called an hour ago!" Which statement, however, was decidedly
untrue, as we remarked, not with extreme patience. "We should
certainly be late," he said; "it would take us five minutes to reach
the train, and the cars would be off in four." Nobody who has not
experienced them can understand the agonies of such moments - of such
moments as regards traveling in general; but none who have not been
at Cairo can understand the extreme agony produced by the threat of
a prolonged sojourn in that city. At last we were out of the house,
rushing through the mud, slush, and half-melted snow, along the
wooden track to the railway, laden with bags and coats, and deafened
by that melancholy, wailing sound, as though of a huge polar she-
bear in the pangs of travail upon an iceberg, which proceeds from an
American railway-engine before it commences its work. How we
slipped and stumbled, and splashed and swore, rushing along in the
dark night, with buttons loose, and our clothes half on! And how
pitilessly we were treated! We gained our cars, and even succeeded
in bringing with us our luggage; but we did not do so with the
sympathy, but amid the derision of the by-standers. And then the
seats were all full, and we found that there was a lower depth even
in the terrible deep of a railway train in a Western State. There
was a second-class carriage, prepared, I presume, for those who
esteemed themselves too dirty for association with the aristocracy
of Cairo; and into this we flung ourselves. Even this was a joy to
us, for we were being carried away from Eden. We had acknowledged
ourselves to be no fitting colleagues for Mark Tapley, and would
have been glad to escape from Cairo even had we worked our way out
of the place as assistant stokers to the engine-driver. Poor Cairo!
unfortunate Cairo! "It is about played out!" said its citizen to
me. But in truth the play was commenced a little too soon. Those
players have played out; but another set will yet have their
innings, and make a score that shall perhaps be talked of far and
wide in the Western World.
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