It's a long shot, but "Egyptians" may have been sort-of-backwards slang for gypsies. Gypsies = gypos = Egyptians. I can vaguely remember hearing my father refer to gypsies as "gypos", he hailed from Melbourne. Don't know how it fits in the story though.

Australia has regional variations of slang; terms understood in Melbourne, Victoria were unknown in Tamworth, northern New South Wales, where I grew up.

leeneia, what's the name of the story you are reading?

Cheers
JennieG