, 1886-10-07
"%NoRNING LIGHT.n
A Romantic Incident of Africa's burning
M DCsnrts. -

three head of Arabian horses, whose
bright, pure blood has come down from
the days OF the Prophet. The group con-
sisted Of the mare Morning Light" once
the favorite of the sultan of Darfoor. and
two Of her children.
Around this mare, the swift courser OF
the East, and the beloved OF a sultan.
clusters the memories Of a desert romance.
When. in the spring OF 1874, Ismai
Pasha. khedive of Egypt, moved hi
trained and disciplined battalions agains
the wild hordes of the despotic ruler o
Darfoor. he had in his service, holding 6
colonel's commission, Dudley Allerton.
Though a bronzed and decorated soldier,
Allerton was still in the early prime OF
life. A South C~arolinian, young, gallant
and ardent. he was one of the earliest vol
unteers beneath the Palmetto flag, and
when the surrender came. he was paroled
as colonel of his regiment.
Leaving his native soil, he sought for
eign climes. After wandering over Europe
and the Orient for several years, he sought
service in the army of the khedive, where
his brilliant record made him most well
come.
AS the leader of a regiment of daring
but disciplined riders, he led the van in
the advance on Darfoor. The followers of
the wild African sultan fought with the
reckless brilliant, but Irregular valor
of the desert. The trained %legions of the
khcdive steadily moved forward, brushing
aside with steady courage the desert
swarms in their path. One night there
came a wild rush over the sands. Aller-
ton pickets were swept away like chat,
and the cleaning scimeters and yataghans
of the black Arabs of the Soudan were at
work in the camp. But the wild yalor of
the desert had dashed against a rock.
Shattered and decimated the Arabs were
driven back. A headlong pursui. fol
lowed.
During the chase in the darkness, Al
lerton became separated from his COM
mand. The morning light found him
alone in the desert, while there appeared
in plain sight the tents of an Arab camp.
He was soon perceived and in the pur-
suit which followed, his weary steed was
o overtaken, and the Egyptian Colo
mel was a prisoner in Arab hands. Taken
to the enemy's camp he found there other
captives. Mr.. Dalton was a New York
merchant travelling in the east. He was
accompanied BY his daughter, a girl of
twenty, and a retinue of Egyptian ser
wants The party had been captured a
few days before by a sweeping raid, and
and were now being taken to Tindelly,
the residence of the Sultan, and seat of
his despotic power. Mr.. Dalton had
been desperately wounded in the melee
attending the capture, and was now at
the point Of death. The predatory band
moved on toward the interior, and as they
sighted the mountains of Marrah, Mr..
Dalton died.
The prisoners were allowed to ride and
converse together, and Colonel Allerton
and Clara Dalton knew each other well by
this time. Allerton had determined that
the girl should never reach the Sultan's
capitol, where a fate worse than death
awaited her. On the night of Mr.. Dali
tons death, there came into the camp a
party Of the sultan own immediate re-
%tainers. With them was Morning Light
the eastern rulers %favorite mare. She
wa swift as the wind, enduring as the
camel and as gentle as the gazelle of the
mountains of Marrah. With the cautious
daring of the border soldier, Allerton
laid his plans. and the second night from
the coming of the mare, he and Miss Dal-
ton were speeding northward over the
desert sands, with the pursuit streaming
behind them. Miss Dalton was mounted
upon Morning Light while Allerton
bestrode his own steed. Full five days
ride lay between them and safety.
All day the flight was urged, and the
pursuit followed. Had Allerton's horse
been ia any way equal to the mare, the
pursuers had been speedily distanced, As
it was, when the sun was at noontide, the
Arabs were drawing rapidly nearer. The
mare was fresh and eager, while Allerton's
steed was fast failing. Another hour aud
Miss Dalton would again be in the clutch
of the Eastern sultan.
Nearer and nearer drew the white
b%urnouses of the Arabs. Suddenly Aller.
ton drew rein, hating the mare also as he
did so. Abandoning his exhausted horse
he sprang upon Morning Light" in
front of Miss Dalton, and the gallant mare
with her double burden was off like the
wind. In an hour time the pursueis
were no longer in sight, and on the fifth
day Allerton and the girl he had saved
entered the Egyptian lines.
Miss Dalton embarked for New York,
taking Morning Light with her. Allcr-
ton, after the great and decisive victory of
the Egyptian forces of 1874, resigned his
commission, and in New York a brilliant
wedding occurred. \ year ago Col. Aller-
ton ard his family went to a new home on
the Pacific Coast. Morning Light, "
left in New York until her master and
mistress were settled in their new home,
is now again with them. and the glorious
mare of the East will pass her declining
years beneath a Western sun. fondly