An Egyptian romance of the present time, full of the charm of the land of the Nile and dramatic in plot and setting. The book is a most creditable romance vibrant with human nature and the mystery and fascination of the East. A young Englishman, with an abundant fortune and a passion for Egyptology, visits the village of Al-Kusiyeh because of the rumor that ancient arms and jewels had come from the Sheik. There he meets Kara, the lineal descendant of the great Athka-Ra and grandson of Princess Hatatcha, who, at seventeen, captivated London and Lord Roane, who divorced his wife for her sake, but whom she refused to marry. Their daughter was Kara's mother. Lord Roan's grand-daughter was the one unselfish, honest love of his life, and he and his dissolute son are given government positions in Cairo, where the Englishman and Kara both meet, and wish to marry the grand-daughter. Jealousy, treachery, plot and counterplot are thrown against a background of ancient custom and belief. It is a story of a vendetta, in which an Egyptian prince-to avenge the wrong of his grandmother-pits himself against the love of an Englishman for the possession of the woman who is by blood his cousin.