Cairo merchants knew what was coming. Stores and offices were shut down tight, giving the city a quiet, sabbatical appearance. But it was an unnatural quiet. Soon ugly crowds began to gather in the streets.
By noon thousands of Egyptians were swarming across the Nile bridges and down the streets that spoked into the Midan el-Ismailia. Around the British Embassy raucous voices chanted "Down with England, down with the conqueror," "Evacuation of British troops or bloodshed." Sweaty, swaying bodies surged across the square toward the Embassy, where tin-helmeted Egyptian police barred the way with billies. The rioters turned back toward...
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