It was in the West, however, that the sky loured the most. That was but a shorn and truncated Caliphate which Aly enjoyed, so long as his authority was scorned in Syria. A mortal combat with Muâvia loomed in that direction. But, before resuming the thread of the Syrian story, it is necessary first to turn to Egypt and relate what was being enacted there. [Sidenote: Mohammed ibn Abu Hodzeifa usurps Egypt. Shawwâl, A.H. XXXV. April, A.D. 656.] When the band of conspirators set out from Egypt to attack Othmân, we have seen that Mohammed son of Abu Hodzeifa thereupon ousted Abu Sarh, Othmân’s lieutenant, and usurped the government. This man’s father had been killed at Yemâma, and Othmân, adopting the orphan, had brought him up kindly. Mortified at the refusal of the Caliph to give him a command until he should have proved his capacity in the field, Mohammed joined the insurgent faction, and gained great influence in Egypt by an affected piety and by the vehement denunciation of his former guardian. On the murder of Othmân he succeeded in holding the government of Egypt for several months. [Sidenote: Flies to Syria and is killed.]But he quickly paid the penalty of his ingratitude. On the approach of the new governor, sent by Aly, he fled to Syria, and there lost his life.[522] [Sidenote: Cays appointed governor of Egypt. Safar, A.H. XXXVI. August, A.D. 656.] The follower whom Aly selected for the heavy task of governing Egypt was Cays, a citizen of Medîna, son of that Sád ibn Obâda who, it may be remembered, was the rival of Abu Bekr for the Caliphate. Of approved sagacity, strength, and judgment, he was a loyal follower of Aly. He declined to take an army with him, saying that the Caliph had more need of soldiers than he; and preferred instead to be supported by seven ‘Companions’ of the Prophet, whom he took along with him. He was well received by the Egyptians at large, who swore allegiance to him in behalf of Aly. But a strong faction, as before observed, found shelter in the district of Kharanba, and loudly demanded satisfaction for the death of Othmân. Cays wisely left these alone for the present, waiving even the demand for tithe. In other respects he held Egypt firmly in his grasp. [Sidenote: Is supplanted by Muâvia’s machinations.]