When the gum candy was all eaten Girzilla found some bread--cakes baked in the sun, not in an oven--and some fruit, but what kind it was Max did not know. He ate heartily and felt refreshed. But he was thirsty. Girzilla knew that, and produced a bottle of the most delicious sherbet he had ever tasted. When the repast was finished Girzilla told Max that he must stay there until she came for him. “Am I to be here alone?” “Certainly. I must go and provide a means of escape for thee.” “Tell me first why you have done all this for me.” “I have my reasons.” “And will you not tell me?” “I heard thee speak to him who is not----” “You mean my father?” “Yes.” “When?” “When thou didst tell him that thou wouldst like to eat salt with the sons of Emin Bey.” “And are you interested?” “I have Mameluke blood in my veins. Find the descendant of Emin and he will restore Egypt to its greatness--I have said it, and the prophet hath spoken.” “And will you help me?” “If I can. I--had--another--reason----” Girzilla hesitated, paused between her words, looked confused, and really blushed. “And that was----” asked Max. “Why should I not tell thee? I will save thee, even though I lose thee. I will prevent thy enemies taking thee, even if thou spurned me ever after. Oh! how shall I say it? Thou art the handsomest man I ever saw, and--I--love--thee.” Before Max could recover from his astonishment she had fled. Her secret had been revealed, and, modest maiden as she was, she felt she could not meet the eyes of the youth to whom she had confessed her love. CHAPTER VI. WAS IT AN ECHO? When Madcap Max felt that he was a prisoner, and that self-interest, at least, for a time, rendered it inadvisable to attempt to escape, he began to look about his strange abode. Girzilla was more than ever a puzzle to him. She was refined and educated--of that there could be no doubt. She had said she had several names, but only one had she given him. What did the word mean? It had some special significance--of that he was sure. Was it Arabic or Nubian? Was it of the ancient language of the Pharoahs, or the almost as ancient Syrian? How did she overhear his conversation about the Mamelukes? “I begin to think she is a fairy,” said Max, his head growing dizzy with puzzling over the matter. “How long am I to remain here?” There was no one to answer the question, so it had to remain still in the realm of doubt. “Where am I?” That query he could answer with a positiveness that could not be controverted. He was in a tomb. At first the thought nearly drove him mad, but he got accustomed to the idea. After eating and drinking there, much of the superstitious fear had left him. “Where shall I sleep?” he asked himself, “for I am tired and exhausted. The sand man has been about a long time,” he laughed; “yes, sand in my eyes, up my nostrils, down my throat, in my ears--the sand man has done his work this time. What was that?”