The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1886-07-15
THE MOUsEls RANSOM.

earned a precarious living BY renting
! that much enduring beast, an Egyptian
donkey, from his owner, having liber-5
", for the conside ration of about two
pence per diem to exercise the devoted
animal s legs and back to his (Salih's)
hearts content, SO long as those lndis..
pensable portions Of the animal should
not be seriously damag ed. Though the;
first part Of the contract was not always
carried out with scrupulous exactitude,
the latter certainly was; and on days
when a Peninsular & Oriental Compa-
ny's steamer, with q good cargo Of pas
sengers, was delayed an hour or two
longer than usual, owing to obstruc-
! lions in the canal, the donkey in ques-
ton was persuaded, by screams. curses
and thwacks, to proceed from the quay:
TO the hotel and back, with the rapidity
of lightning, an almost incalculable
number Of times. AS those, the prin-
goipal objects Of interest in Suez, are
about four miles apart, it will be per-
ceiyed that the: unwillingly indus
$trious animal earned lis provender
(such as it was) tolerably well. In ac-
cordance with the usual custom OF the
genus donkey boy, the ass was digni-
! fed with the name of an European
celebrity, and answered to the name of
General Booth. z On lucky daysSalih
Managed to extract considerable sums:
+ from iron c,onfiding passengers fresh from
England, whom hespersuaded to take
an airing on General Booth. The Gen.
:eral was naturally vivaeious, and pos.
sessed Of q good stride, valuable
quality in the frequent donkey races
which passengers tired Of many days
on ships deck were won't to indulge
in on landing. Besides, he was not
/: particularly wicked, as is often the case
with these much provoked beasts; lie
was never known to stop suddenly, as
though shot dead, just when on his.
highest speed, or to turn summerset
! in the middle of a crowded street
accomplishments possessed by but too
many Of his brethren. ooh no, as
Salih was wont to assure passengers in
broken English, General Booth al
ways pious. IS L, s:.:.st s.
{ Now Salih lived in little hut, in one
Of the back streets of Suez, in compa-
ny with his mother and two OF three
small brothers 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.
I blind from that ophthalmia which is
one Of the plaques Of Egypt, and could
do little but plat rush-mats and small
baskets. She had never been able to
afford to send Salih to school; so that
young gentleman remained in Eigno-
rance. not however blissful. He pos
sessed the natural quickness of the
Arab, and secretly regretted his ina
.bility to read, write, and use those.
strange marks by which the clerks at
the quay found out all about the num-.
bers and quantities Of articles. He:had
also . hankering to be .smuaddab.''' i.
e., knowing in poetry and rhetoric, dis:
I putations regarding which he often
overheard in the Suk, or market place
Of Suez, when lettering there in the.
cool Of the evening after sunset, the
Z time when Arabs sit out in the street
and discourse 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 Koran, at the mysterious
characters Of which he. would gaze:
with admiration and astonishmcnt 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 a few lessons in
reading! Alas! there's was no one
among his own class who knew moro
than himself, and how could lie find
the time and the money for schoolp
{ He would sometimes, when driving his
4, donkey to and fro, loiter for minute:
z or two at the corner of the street where
3 there was 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 Gas it seemed to Salih) a mighty
array Of books around him. Texts
h from the Koran ornamented the walls.
texts written in every variety Of Arabic.
caligraphy. that most artistic effort Of
scribes. salih's eyes fingered longing
SSly on those. wonderful and sacred
I curves, on which local religious art had
expended all its powers. Could he but
learn to write like thatl And then to
4 hear tho boys reading each his appoint
ed task, in such an easy, fluent man
4 ner,s as though the book were inside
him, not outside; q familiar part Of him
y sell, not q something foreign and smys-
terious! And the noble sound, too. Of
the; ancientsand holy words, so different
from his Arabicl Then he would stir
up his donkey, and go on his way sigh
ing. Ssi Va.
When the great steamers landed their
many passengers, and these lounged
about the streets or by. the canal.
many Of them he saw. carried books in
their pockets, and took them out to
read: for amusement when they had
nothing else to do. A gentleman ia
spectaeles was one day thrown. from
General Booths back, owing to- the
swapping Of the girths when that quad.
ruped was just entering the courtyard
Of the hotel at full speed; Out Of the
pockets Of the rider flew two Books and