Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-28
THE MOUSE'S RANSOM.


precarious living by renting that much
enduring beast, an Egyptian donkey, from
his owner having liberty, for the ConsiG-
Grafton of about pence per diem, TO exer-
else the devoted animals legs and back TO
his (Salih's) hearts content, SO long as
those Indispensable portions OF the animal
should not be seriously damaged. Though
the first part of the contract was not al
ways carried out with scrupulous exacti-
tude, the latter certainly was; and on days
when d Peninsular * Oriental company 5
steamer, with good cargo of passengers,
was delayed an hour or two longer than
usual, owing 10 distractions in the canal
the donkey in question was persuaded, by
screams, curses, and thwacks, to proceed
from the quay to the hotel and back, with
the rapidity of flash of lightning, an al
most incalculable number of times. As
these, the principal objects Of interest in
SueZ. are about four miles apart, it will
be perceived that the unwillingly indus
triOus animal earned his provender (suCh
as il was tOlerably well. In accordance
with the usual custom of the genus
donkey boy. the Ass WAS dignifed with the
name Of European celebrity, and an
swered TO the title of Gen. Booth" On
lucky days Salih managed to extract con
siderable sums from contiding passengers
fresh from England, whom he persuaded
TO take an airing on Gen. Booth. The
General was naturally vivaCious, and pos
seSSed of good stride. valuable quality
il the frequent donkey races which passen-
gers. tired of many days on ships deck,
were wont 10 indulge in on landing Be
sides. he was not particularly wicked, as
is often the case with these much pro
vok ID beasts; he WAS never known to stop
sud ienly, rs though shot dead, just when
at ais highest speed, or to turn summer
set in the middle of a crowded street
accomplishments possessed by but too
many of his brethren. "Oh. no as Salih
was wont to assure passengers in broken
English. Gen. Booth always pious."
Now Salih lived in little hut. in one of
the back streets of SueZ. in company with
his mother and two or three small broth
erS and sisters. His father was dead, and
the widow had little to live on but the
earnings of her son. She herself was
almost completely blind from that opthal-
mia which is one of the plaques of
Egypt. and could do little but plait
rush mats and small baskets. She
had never been able to afford to send Salih
to school; so that young gentleman re
mained in ignorance, not however hlissful.
He possessed the natural quickness of the
Arab, and secretly regretted his inability
tO read, write, and Use those strange marks
by which the clerks at the quay found out
all about the numbers and quantities of
articles He had also "A hankcring to be
"muaddab," lie, knowing in poetry and
rhetoric, disputstiOns regarding whi h he
often overheard in the Suk, OF market
place of Suez, when lettering there in the
cosl of the evening after sunset, the time
when Arabs sit out i'll the street and dis
course of things in general As time went
on his yearning after knowledge increased.
and he, one day when unusually flush OF
cash, bought an old kuran, at the mys-
terious characters of which he would gaze
with admiration and aStOnishment for
hours together, whenever the moon was
bright enough He was too poor to indulge
in oil for reading purposes. If he could but
afford few lessons in reading! Alas,
there was no one among his own class who
knew more than himself, and how could
he find the time and the money for school;
He would sometimes, when driving his
donkey TO and fro, loiter for minute OF
1
was a school Inside sQuatted the little
scholars on the floor, each with his book,
his reed pen. and his small bottle of thick
ink The master sat cross-legged at the
top OF the room, with las it seemed to Salihl
mighty array of books around him
Texts from the Kuran ornamented the
walls, texts written in every variety of
Arabic caligraphy, that most artistic effort
of scribes Saliph's eyes fingered long
ingly on those wonderful and sacred
curves on which local religious art had
expended all its powers. Could he but
learn to write like that! And then to
listen to the boys reading each his ap-
pointed task, in such an easy fluent man
ner, as though the book were inside him,
not outside: familiar part of himself,
not a something foreign and mysterious,
And the noble sound, too, of the ancient
and holy words, so different 10 his Arabic,
Then he would stir up his donkey, and go
on his way signing.
When the great steamers landed their
many passengers, and these lOunged
about the streets OF by the canal, many of
them, he saw, carried books in their pock-
cts, and took them out to read for amuse-
ment when they had nothing else
to do. A gentleman in specta-
cles was one day thrown from
ten. Booths back, owing to the
>napping of the girths when that quadru
ped was just entering the courtyard Of
the hotel at full speed. Out of the pockets
Of the rider flew two books and a newspa-
per; and the books had green and red
bindings, and pretty paintings on their
uutsides while the newspaper was full of
pictures of men and women, and towns
and ships. Wonderful to think that such
beautiful things were made among the
lngliZ, only to amuse them! Yes it must
he the knowledge they possessed
hat made them rich and powerful:
- powerful that he had heard il said that
great sultans were among their servants,
All, knowledge was a fine thing. but how
to get ity Ii lived in books locked up Sc
curely from all who had not the key, the
art of reading with understanding.
Now, one evening, when the moon was
high and bright, Salih sat in his mothers
hut with the kuran in his hand, looking
wistfully at the long lines of well-Ordered
letters grouped into each page, just like
the soldiers who sometimes exercised on
the sands outside the town His mother
md the other children were asleep, and he
was in sole possession of the little outer
room. He had been meditating sadly on
the apparent impossibility OF obtaining an
education, and had fallen into a kind Of
doze, when his attention Sas aroused by
the proceedings of two mice which were
perambulating the floor inspecting every
square inch in search of some minute par
ticle Of edible matter, no very easy thing
discover in that poverty stricken abode
There was a kind of impudence about
I these mice, which he had never observed
in others of their species, and which fasci-
mated him in spite of the mournful
thoughts which held possession of his
mind. They marched round him (for he re
mained motiOnless) and shifted at the hem
Of his dirty garment, as though deSirous
Of making his acquaintance. 1t happened
that close by his side lay a small brass ba-
sin, commonly used for some domestic
purpose. Watching his opportunity, he
overturned this basin SO quickly and clev-
erly, that one of the mice was caught be-
meath it, imprisoned In the brazep trap.