River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-02-14

feeble, less able to Etear up, till it seemed
as though they cousa no longer struggle
on. AT last the m@ating broke. Ahmed
raised bis blood-sE.t eyes, seized Mus
tapha's arm, and r9ainted. There, not
hundred yards awag, was the oasis, its
trees and bushes. pntlined against the
sky.
Poor Mastapha YVES so spent that his
father had to drag him across the short
dividing space. e Was small oasis,and
not very fertile; IFS well was shallow and
scanty, but no ise cooled sherbet ever
seemed more dslseiouse than did lis
brakish waters to.ths: parched tongues of
the exhausted mesa
All day and al right they lay under
the sha9ow of tho cssctuses and the aca-
cia-trces rousins only to drink, and
falling asleep ag@in Immediately. Shade,
and sleep, and watet seemed the only
things ~ the werlE worth having just
then.
The second dag they slept less, out ii
was ncaeiy a week 0efore they could be
said to i,e wide aweke again. Such pair
of scare. crows az tstey looked Ahmed
was altaost naked The robbers had
taken part of HE clothes, and the desert
thorns tl,e rest. rIlaggard, wild, blacken-
ed by the sun, teey gazed at each other
with horror; eac!t thought, "Do / look
like that" and .each tried to hide from
the otatr his ovA dlBmay.
They could sever tell aftcrward how
long they rentaiped at the oasis II
seemed years, tut | do not suppose it
could have bee@ more than weeks. All
day long they$ioeked wistfully toward
the horizon, in Ehepes of a caravan, but
the caravan Issyer came. Slowly the
dates dwindled: in the bag! slowly the
precious water diminished in the we'll;
little longer Gnd starvation would be
upon them T0ev scarcely spoke to each
other those last days, but sat each by
himself in aofs of dull despair AT
night, when they fell asleep, they dream
ed of food and asolSe in the morning Ia
feel themselves hungry 1t was terriblcl
Then came : morning when they rose
to find the hard desert outline, which they
knew SO we'll, vanished and gone, and in
its stead a smooth, shining lake fringed
with trees and. dotted with teathefy, fairy
islands. So naar it seemed, and so real
that it was as sho'lgh they heard the rip
pie of the wattr and the rusting of the
wind in tbs tree boughs. Mustapha
stared as though his eyes WOULD burst
from his headS then gave a wild cry and
was rushing = Az, but his father held
him fast.
''Stay my sGnli Stay Mustapha it 5
no lake, it is ~ device of Satan. What
you behold Is The mirage spread by devils
for u;sn's destruction"
Let me 60" shrieked Mustapha, strug-
Cling and writing.
Bur even as he strove, the soft water
outlines shifted and trembled the lake
rose in the air melted and sailed off into
curling mists; the trees, the whole
fair picture, Dissolved, and the well-rc
memsered sands and black rocks took
its place. With cry of horror, Mus
tapha slid through his fathers arms to
the earth, hid his face, and cried like a
child.
Mex morning. only one date was left
in tie bag. Ahmed put it in his sens
hand with nournful look
Eat, my son, he said; eat and then
we will die, Allah il Allah"
A long silence followed; there seened
nothing more to say.
Suddenly, from afar off, came to their
ears The tinklc of a bell
Mnstapha raisted his head.
h it the mirage again, my father"
be asked. '%F0r it seems to me that |
hear the bell from the neck of Solimin,
our camel"
eagerly they listened Again the hell
tink{cd and, looking through the bushes
they saw, floating toward them, as it
seemed, the form of a gigantic camel.
Scundless and still, it moved rapidly
along. Behind, but much further away,
othef forms could be seen, still dim and
indistinct, yelled by the mist of driving
sand.
Suddenly Mustapha gave start
"My father" he cried, in an excited
Whisper, il is Soimin | do not mistake,
What other camel ever resemblcd Soil
men2 Do you not see his lofty hump
his arched neck! Does not the bell tinklc
as with the voice Of homer"
Then, half raising himself, he gave,
with all the power of his voice, the well
knoAvn call.
SDlmin--for it was indeed paused
rs me sound caught his ears, an d snufied
the Nind. Again came the call he wheel
ed, plunged, threw his rider, dashed for
watsi, broke through the bushes, and in n
secand was on his knees before his old
master.
e'IEp, up, my father there is no time 10
loo&1!" cried Mustapha, grown stronger in
a moment. "Up, up. for the robbers arc
close upon est
Ia fact, wild cries and clouds of dust
showed thaE the foe had taken the alarm
antE were hGrrying on. But already All
med and Mustapha were mounted, and
SoAmin, like as hip at full sail was speed
ms away with them, And where was
tho. camel could overtal1e him, even
wlr$n he was loaded double? Fast and
swift his long, swinging trot bore them
ons4ard, and before two hours were gone,
.alr.traces Of the pursuers had disappear
edEDehind them, and they were free to
turl their course toward the brown tents
where rest. and food, and welcome had
W. ted so long for their coming, and
whsre, after little time, their hardships
ana sufferings seemed to them only like a
has dream.
Ia fer Sblimin, he hardly could be
msSre tenderly treated or beloved than be-
fol;a this adventure but ii the freshest
w,ster,--the prickliest furze, IF bowls OF
sossr milk, If triple necklace of shells,
- # brushing and grooming, -ifsoft pats
from childish fingers, and sweet names
In armnred in his ears by girlish voices
caa make camel happy, then is Solimin
the happiest of heries. Solimin no longer,
hosgeyer. His name is changed to "Thc
Blessed, p in memory of the day, whe'I
life stately ship, he came over the
drtert sea, and bore his starving masters
Il, home, and life, and liberty Susan
Cl;1ttdge In st. Nicholas.
Now Good is DOae.
aOu know the touching lyric of Long
fellow, which he has called "The Arrow