Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-11-23


had been slung to his belt. had not strength
to address this grisly specter, though Ali did
not give me time to do so. I saw him raise
his carbine to his shoulder, and the report
rang through the air, repeated a hundred
times by the echo in the ravine. But the
specter did not stir; he seemed only to devour
his repast more greedily than before.
Fire again, Ali! Fire for our hves!" A
second bullet whistled through the air. I
snatched the carbine from his hand. I took
aim-once-twice-thric each time as
if fascinated I advanced several PAGES, as I
saw that my bullets met no resistance, but
went through empty air. Finally, beside
myself with terror, flung my carbine to
the earth, drew my saber, and springing on
the first shelf of the table rock where the old
man was still seated devouring his hideous
-when-ohl my friends-oh Heaven!
shall never forget the horror of that mo-
ment-the old man slowly turned his head,
his beard stained with blood, and fixed on
me his cavernous, deep set eyes, whose orbits
CLEANED like Goals of fire."
Here De Thon, who seemed to live over
again this frightful episode Of his life, leaned
forward on the stone pillar. He went
through the whole scene His hands were
clenched, the veins in his neck swollen to
bursting, while the pale moonlight of the
tropics seemed to magnify his figure and
gestures. In the silence of the desert his
voice, half stifed with emotion, made us
shudder. The terrible vision seemed actually
to pass before our eyes.
s'Then, my friends" he continued 'sa
nameless terror froze my blood. could not
meet this Internal gaze, and I started down
the slope at full speed. Springing over
Of cfo
Jagged points of rock, while my faithful and
terrified companion followed me, invoking
Allah in breathless, incoherent phrases How
long this flight continued before we came to
our senses l cannot tell. Only the faint light
of the rapidly sinking sun showed us the in
extricable labyrinth through which we were
wandering. A burning thirst consumed me,
which | could only try to quench with a few
handfuls of melting snow, mixed with earth
When l recovered myself little, con-
cluded that l had been the victim of an hal
lucination induced by fatigue and by the
hunger and thirst which had tortured me for
so many hours, and the horror of feeling
that we had lost our way. But then, why
should my faithful Ali have had the same
fear, and why should it have manifested
itself by exactly the same visonss l made
up my mind that whatever happened, or
whatever visions might cross my path, that
would not betray my perception of them
by word or sign.
Our route now seemel every moment to
become more dreary, gloomy and monoto-
nous; we were utterly worn out; we went
along like automatons, stumbling through the
last gorges which separated us from the
plain below, and from safety. Suddenly we
found ourselves in tine bottom of small ex-
tlnct crater, and | saw advancing toward us
troop of horsemen. They were riding at
full gallop, wheeling abruptly to avoid tho
points of rock, and sweeping in circle
round and round the edge of the crater
Their horses, white with foam, bounded over
the heaps of basalt; thousands of fiery
sparks flew from their hoofs, and each
cavalier carried a long, slender lance,
which was aimed at me. This must be an
Authorization, since Ali sees nothing, said
to myself, when suddenly at one of the in
Vulnerable charges of my enemies, Ali drew
his saber and flung himself in front of me to
cover my body from the lance Doubt was
no longer possible. The faithful fellow had
been watching these horsemen, but like
myself, he had determined to say nothing;
but his devotion had overpowered his will.
''Save yourself, my masterl Death to the
Kourdes! Seize your poniard or we are lost"
blood red mist passed before my eyes, /
bounded forward and struck wildly with my
dagger. tried to defend myself, but felt a
sharp, cold steel pierce my side, and as dark
ness came on l found myself stretched, ex-
hausted and bleeding, on the plain, with a
deep wound in my side. Who dealt this
wounds Could have done it myself in my
efforts at self-defense-or was it the ven
ooek i
But one thing is certain-while this scar
throbs in my flesh, swear by the Heaven
that looks down on us tonight, that never,
never more will I attempt to set foot on the
accursed mountain.-George Kohn in Detroit
Free Press