And very, very far away in the desert I heard and felt the shock of its fall--the fall of forty centuries under the Egyptian stars." His eyes grew dreamy; a slight glow had stained his face.
"Did you ever halt suddenly in the Northern forests, listening, as though a distant voice had hailed you?
Then you understand why that far, dull sound from the dark horizon brought me to my feet, bewildered, listening, as though my own name had been spoken.
"I heard the wind in the tents and the stir of camels; I heard the reeds whispering on Sais Lake and the yap-yap of a shivering jackal; and always, always, the hushed echo in my ears of my own name called across the star-lit waste.
"At dawn I had forgotten.

An Arab told me that a pillar had fallen; it was all the same to me, to him, to the others, too.

The sun came out hot.

I like heat.

My men sprawled in the tents; some watered, some went up to the town to gossip in the bazaar.