The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-09-16
THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE.
A Story Told In a syrian Mona,

a Story Told In a Syrian Monastery,
Sunrise over Jerusalem; the dark
nmparts of the citadel, with their blue
frocked Turkish sentries, looking stern
Fdown upon the network of narrow,
dusty streets and tall, fat-roofed, for
tress-like houses; the huge round dome
Of the Mosque of Omar looming like a
thunder cloud over the deep fosse-like
Valley OF Jehoshaphat; Mount ,Oliyet.
topped by the gray wall Of the Russian
convent. standing boldly out against
the bright eastern sky; thesHiu OF Sco-
pus, farther to the north, still green
and beautiful as when Titus and his de-
saoylng legions encamped there eigh-
ieen centuries ago; and four horsemen,
nwhite turbans and soiled linen lack
cts, issuing from the deep shadowy
acnway OF the Jaffa Gate. q
II say. Jack, hadn't you better
eaange your mind after allP'' says one
amy English comrades, looking anx-
nuslTat his friend pale face and heavy
sves ITS a whole days ride to Jaffa
md you wsre repretty bad last night, you
NOV. ~ =. Are you quite sure you can
I don't know if 1 cam" replies the
Invalid. with dogged JohnEBine con-
preston OF his firm lips, "but { know 4,
viii. anyhowp' sssas
native guide, Ibrahim( (AbrshauX
s%ueeal, shakes his gray Head mean
asly, but says nothing, andaawaK Ha3
- Ssas a&@ -
I Onward. ever onward Apssts wave
Ier wave of dark, ridgy$ upland-past
aaaerng vineyards that line both
ades Of the road for hundreds of yards
y sgelner, tantalizing my comrades with
g SIGHT of magnificent grapes, which
~ sail far too unripe to be eaten
ast TIE rocky gorge of Aba G Josh, With
~ ~ quaint little robber-viilage perehed |
ne vulture's nest halfway up a
.uwning cliff-till at length the hills
y ~ ielt behind and we look down upon
~ ~ peautiful Plain of Sharon, where,
vt ~ 50 many centuries of Moslem neg
~ NV sna misrule, the standing corn still
:. ..acnes ! to the saddle-bow of a horseman
y ne rides through it.
!. Outwe have seen too much of Pales-
sI;. sLs Q Judge it by the sample-show"
p;a; paisn it offers to holiday tourists.
.ag lung beneath these telegraph wires,
d,s. s snis broad post-road, one might
= S'ai. OF civilization; but divergence
single mile from the track will
A. ss me laden camel plodding through
~; ~ SAND, the yelled woman bearing her
sasr M !, on her head from the well, the
as.s ssa.ciad Fellah'' tending his black
ssnsn ssnsn goats, the gaunt, ferce-eyeds
M SIula "a rushing at full-gallop along the
s.a., sma OF precipice, with his striped |
Sr.a se streaming in the wind, and his
! s;ea-ioot lance of cane in his hand,
,ms; sne days when Abraham was still
hIa.g hng saeikh on the Chaldean steppes.
sI;.s ;ssslne has no present-eyerything
e,srr,!t YOU HOOK uponis of the past. Ruins
M. ;J ;;.;sJMnere-the ruins of CanaaniteJ
SSos Ss' = ol Roman aqueducts, of @Byzan-
sS sI oonvents, of Arab villages; splep-
tmh nonuments half-buried in sand.
IA nd ss'a q ancient kings filed with dirt
aoe,r aooish, spots of worldwide re-
= Nh ~ senanted by filthy savages-such +,
Ball. enaracteristic features of the /,
y Land! - -
III , s,.s 'oo' they must inevitably be
ion a1 shan Weil-constituted administra-f
'pe "a MAI u replace the organized brigand- ,
nsra, sae Turk. The present system
lbe cy : scale of graduated robbery. ,
Cora. .ana Ylzier takes toll from the /,
al ..Or-ti ..s -tieneral, the Governor-Gen- ,
Se;, sAes AZ the Pashas, the Pashas fleece !
q nson, nsao,alterns, the subalterns plunder /
IT,, opie; and, considering that the
ssegsro,o n,e oordened not merely with the |
A w;th ;aen1 impost of ten per cent, ii
q hun bsn countless other exactions for !
1sns OF the local officials, it is I