The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-17

hands are as poison In the adders tonguel''
cried Abram ben Alden, coming forward so
that now caught sight Of him. There WINS
diabolical fire in his black eyes, and his
face bore an insolent leer of triumph. The
look of him put all my fear to flight, and
In its place kindled sudden and savage
desire to be revenged.
THAT man." l said, pointing in scorn
and anger at him and forgetting the fate
that was SO imminent; ''that man has be-
trayed me. He has brought you here to
plunder. Is 1t not sof'
Perhaps IL was the unexpected audacity
Of my mien and question that made them
answer so promptly and frankly but in
stantly dozen of them called out, 1T Is so. .
II have taken this viper to my breast" /
cried, land he has stung me. 1t is a base
thing that stings the hand that helps it.
BY your love of vengeance. I charge you to
leave him To me. Let It be seen this day
how treachery and ingratitude can be re-
quilted. We two have eaten salt together.
took him in, giving him Of my best, and
now he clamors for my life. 1t is his il he
can take 1t. You will grant the prayer of
forsaken stranger that no hand but his
enemys be raised against him. trust to
your honor to see justice between man and
man."
All this while the Arabs were swarminQ
upon deck and pushing and crushing and
craning TO see me and catch my words.
Their looks encouraged me- 1.-THE ship Is
yours,n1 went on, still more boldly. II
yield 1t without murmur; only let me put
my life against the life Of this son Of a
"Why do we waste timefn demanded
Abram ben Alden savagely. LET his in
fldel throat feel the edge OF believers
sword. Who is he that he should handy
words with usf OF with his head, to the
sharks with his carcass, and let us to the
spoilp'
Abram ben Aden." said the man whom
took to be leader HE has yielded the
ship to us. He is ready to put his life upon
thy blade point II thou will grant him a
like privilege in return. A fair bargain, by
the memory of Sikandar-el- -Rumi Many a
time hast thou boasted Of thy skill with
the sword; thou lowest revenge as well as
any man. Here Is thy opportunity to
show thou possesscst one and canst take
the other. What think yer" addressing
his comrades. "Is'it not as 1 saye"
ut is as thou sayest," came quickly In
chorus from the twoscore eager men.
Judging 1t best to take prompt advantage
OF this change Of sentiment in my favor,
strobe forward, and before he could raise
finger to prevent me caught Abram ben
Alden firmly by the beard.
Last night we ate salt together" said.
ut was the vow Of friendship. Today l
spit in thy vile face. 1t is the vow of eter-
nal enmity." and suiting the action to the
word spat full In his face. 1t is the great
est affront you can offer an Arab, or in
dIed to any man Of the Moslem faith.
'"rhon shalt rue itfn he shouted, stamp
ing with rage, while he wiped his face
"By the holy prophet, thou shalt rue i'll
Mark me, son of an infidel dog, my sword
will slake its thirst in thy blood. will
hew thee in pieces. will scatter thee to
the winds, so that no man can gather the
fragments"
In an instant was back, with my sword
drawn ready for the attack.
Thou hast there the sword gave thee,u
said. Grown thy baseness and scatter
me.n
"Thou art foolp' he Missed. 'There are
better things than letting the blood out of
thy foul Christian body. will take re-
venge for this defllement; yea, revenge that
will not SO much as leave thy name among
men, but not now"
'Hear how a coward can speak," said
to the crowd. But give us room. Either
he takes his revenge now, or take mine.n
YEA, leave them roomlr rose On all sides,
and the mass pushed back, making va
cant space in the middle On the one side
stood Abram ben Alden, his lean dark face
like fiend's, and his fingers nervously
clutching the handle of his sword On the
other was I, motionless, deadly white, i am
sure, but with fixed determination to
die or have vengeance. I was perfectly
calm, probably because the hazard was SO
desperate. The gaze of all those allen eyes
was as nothing; as nothing, too, was the
chance of being killed. Thought and pur-
pose and feeling were concentrated on the
man opposite.
Imade movement forward, and Abram
ben Alden tried to squeeze back, saying it
was of more consequence to secure the
booty then to turn aside to put toad out
of existence. But the circular human wall
was solid, and he could not get away. As
he struggled ignominiously advanced and
struck him on the cheek with the fiat of
my sword.
''If there be aught else can do to affront
thee" l said, name it."
He glared madly as l stepped back a
little; then, thinking to rush in and end the
encounter at blow, he sprang upon me
with the headlong ferocity of tiger. But