His voice was a background drone to her now: it was impossible to take her eyes from Adam.

"It was sort of a background drone," Mr. Berman says.

Now, more than an hour into the trip, it had become nothing more than a steady background drone.

The steady background drone of cicadas and frogs had ceased abruptly.

Two were arguing, their voices a constant background drone.

With a metallic click, the background drone of the P.A. disappeared.

"Right here, Gworn," he said, his voice quiet against the background drone.

He could barely hear her over the background drone.

But the hassle, like the constant background drone of a mosquito, is the price one pays as a woman traveling alone in Egypt.

They paused once to listen but all they could hear was the background drone of dripping water and tiny scurrying feet.