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Suffering from ill health, George Walker has been recuperating for several months in Egypt. Bored and lonely in Cairo, he yearns to visit Suez and the Red Sea and so attaches himself to the party of a remote acquaintance travelling there. Upon arrival George realises he is as dissatisfied here as he was in Cairo. He begins to regret his decision until the mysterious Mahmoud al Ackbar appears, wishing to repay a favour and promising an elaborate trip to the Well of Moses. Touching on themes of pride and mistaken identity, this is a short and entertaining story from Anthony Trollope.

Anthony Trollope (1815 – 1882) was a Victorian writer and author of 47 novels. He also wrote an autobiography, short stories and plays, travel articles, reviews and lectures. A prolific writer, he made no secret of the fact that money was his motivation for writing – an admission which raised eyebrows among his literary contemporaries at the time. The amount of works Trollope authored are testament to his belief in hard work. His first successful novel was The Warden followed by its sequel, Barchester Towers. The Chronicles of Barsetshire are perhaps his most well-known series of novels, though many of his works have been adapted for TV and radio, starring many familiar faces such as Alan Rickman, David Tennant, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander. Alongside his literary career, Trollope also worked for some time for the Post Office and is credited with the introduction of the iconic post box to Britain. A memorial to Anthony Trollope was unveiled in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1993.