Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-07-13
TBy H. RIDER HACCARD. |
(vI. ooNrINUED)


"Who is he-who-must be-obeyed?' l
asked, cuuously.
The old man glanced at the bearers. and
then answered, with little smile that
somehow sent my blood to my heart.
Surely, my stranger son, thou wilt
learn soon enough, if it be her pleasure to
see thee at all in the flesh"
I'm the fesh2' / answered. "What
may my father wish to convey
But the old man only laughed dread
full laugh, and made no reply.
"What is the name of my fathers PEG
ple?" asked.
1.-The name Of my people is Amahag-
ger" (the People of the Rocks.
And if son might ask, what is the
name of my father?"
"My name is Blllali.'
And whittier go we, my father?
That shalt thou see;" and at a sign
from him the bearers started forward at
run till they reached the litter in which
Job was reposing with one leg hanging
over the side) Apparently, however, he
he could not make much of Job, for pres
emily saw his bearers trot forward TO
Leo's litter.
And after that, as nothing fresh accur-
red, yielded to the pleasant swaying
motion of the litter. and went to sleep
again l was dreadfully tired. When |
Z hat iNr
through rocky defile of lava forma-
ton with PERCEPTIONS sides, in which grew
many beautiful trees and Towering shrubs.
Presently this defle took a turn, and a
lovely sight unfolded itself TO my eyes.
Before us was vast cup of green, from
four to six miles in extent, shaped like a
Roman amphitheater. The sides of this
great cup were rocky, and clothed with
bush, but the center was Of the richest
meadow.land, studded with single trees of
magnificent growth. and watered by mean.
derng streams. On this rich plain giazed
herds of goats and cattle, but | saw no
sheep. At first could not imagine what
this strange spot could be, but presently it
flashed upon me that 1t must represent the
crater of some long. extinct volcano, which
had afterward been lake, and was ulti-
mately drained IN some unexplained way.
And here may state that from my sub
seuuent experience of this and a much
larger but otherwise similar spot that !
shall have occasion to describe by and by,
l have every reason to believe that this
conclusion was correct What puzzled
me, however, was that, although there
were people moving about herding the
goats and cattle, saw no signs of any
human habitation. Where did they all
live? | wondered. My curiosity was des-
tined soon TO be gratifed. Turning to
the left the string Of filters followed the
cliffy sides of the crater for distance of
about half mile or perhaps a little less,
and then halted. Seeing the old gentle.
man, my adopted father" Billali, emerge
from his litter, did the same, and so did
Leo and Job. The first thing saw was
our wretched Arab companion, Mahomed,
lying exhausted on the ground. 1t ap-
peared that he had not been provided with
a litter, bat had been forced to run the
entire distance, and, as he was already
quite worn out when we started, his con
dition now was of great prostration.
On looking round we discovered that
the place where we had halted was a plat
eor,,o ,,,horo tI,o o,,,;ro coptocte ~ ,lo ,,,L l.
boat, even down to the oars and sail.
Round the cave stood groups of the men
who had escorted US, and other men of
similar stamp. They were all tall and all
handsome, though they varied in their
degree of darkness of skim some being as
dark as Mahomed and some as yellow as
a Chinese. They were naked, except
for the leopard skin round the waist, and
each of them carried huge spear.
There were also some women among |
them, who, instead Of the leopard skin |
wore tanned hide of small red buck, |
something like the oribe, only rather
darker in color. These woman were, as a
class, exceedingly good looking, with
large dark eyes, well cut features, and a
thick bush Of curling hair-not crisped
like a negro's-and ranging from black to
chestnut in hue, with all shades of inter
mediate color. Some, but very few Of
them, wore yellowish linen garment,
such as have described as worn by Bill
lali, but this, as we afterward discovered,
was mark of rank rather than an attempt
at clothing. For the rest, their appear
ance was not quite so terrifying as that of
The men, and they sometimes, though
rarely, smiled. AS soon as we had
llighted they gathered round us, and ex.
amined us with curiosity. but without ex-
element. Leo's tall, athletic form and
clear-cut Grecian face, however, evidently
excited their attention, and then he polite
q lifted his hat to them and showed his