Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-09-21
THE SENTENCE kzHENED,
From Romance.


Ahmanzade Meh I'D. the sirdar
of the auxiliary lf Of Tunisi,
was known on acco on the rig.
orous discipline tlAf IL exercised
over his soldiers. II Is not the
enemy you mast fsaz - me-, he
would often rsnars NE young
soldiers, who came lsscrease the
ranks. Thus his ar. eas IN army
OF heroes, who b - q, the
battlefield, but who trembled in
the presence of their leader.
The first campaign in which they
fought was at Albania, in the battle
against the rebel Greeks, and on
that occasion Mehemed's men
proved themselves afficient. 1t
happened that Mehemed one day
ordered eight soldiers to remain in
ambush at the "five fountains" of
Arta, at which point the Greeks
were likely to open their attack.
They were to stop any one who
should try to pass by, and they were
strictly cautioned not to dismount
or fall asleep. The soldiers execut-
ed with exactness all their instruc-
tions.
A vehicle which attempted, to-
ward midnight, to cross the line un.
observed, was discovered and stop
ped. The man who had charge of
the oxen which drew it ran away,
abandoning his wagon. On this
wagon was barrel. 1t was easy to
ascertain what the barrel contained, i,
even without dismountlng, and
without falling asleep. You only
had to open the bunghole to smell
the pleasant odor of liquor escaping
from it. And it must have been an
excellent liquor, compounded large
ly of figs and dry raisins. The
Giaurri (Christians) undoubtedly
knew what was good.
The soldiers had not been for
hidden, if they seized liquor, to
drink it. And really they did not
drink directly from the barrel; they
merely sunk bulrushes in it, through
which they slipped the sweet and in
toxicating liquid. VAST not HARM
less to sip with such thin rushes?
One could scarcely call that drink
ing! But justly does the Prophet
remark that wine is a deceitful bev-
erage, in which the devil has had
his hand, since this drink brings
men to every evil.
First, the soldiers asked each
other why they should sit in their
hard saddles, when the grass made
such a soft bed on the ground. And
if they lay there for only a short
while, nobody would know it; they
could tie the horses to the wagon,
and these certainly could tell no
tales. After they had dismounted,
the internal drink persuaded them
that it was useless task for eight
men to remain on guard; four would
suffice, and the rest could sleep.
To the four men who were to keep
awake, the waiting for their turn
seemed too long, and they agreed
that two might sleep, while the
other two remained true to the or
ders.
Maruf and Sefer were the two
designated to watch for the rest.
"Do you know" " said Sefer to his
friend, edo you know that one man
is of the same value in this case as
two? 1t viii do just as well if only
one of us watches. Do you not a.
gree?"
Maruf assented.
81 propose" continued Sefer,
''that we play game of chess; the
loser will have to watch, and the
winner may sleep!"
Maruf accepted the conditions.
The two Bedouins prepared the
ground in front of where they stood,
and with their spears they traced a
square, dividing it into sixty-four
smaller squares. Then they SUBJ
stituted for the regular pawns the
fruits of the woods. The wild pears
became kings, the apples queens,
the castles were represented by
acorns, the bishops by rose-hips, the
knights by nuts and the pawns by
berries. The men thus provided,
the game began by the light of the
campfire.
At first, Sefer held the advantage,
but that inebriating daink overcame