The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-12-05

| Jackals, ne yelled, viii turn away
gorged from your corpses," but 1t was
his figurative eastern way of putting It.
! Then Dalrympe swore he would full
fill his promise to Ethel.
To obtain the permission OF the briga-
dier for his project was out of the ques-
tion, so he consulted with no one, not
even Col. Townsend. With the aid of a
sub adar he was soon dressed a la
Ghazi, and he borrowed the tulwar of a
dead tribesman who was lying, among
| plenty of his kin, on front of the zereba.
This, with a couple of revolvers con-
cealed beneath his flowing robes, con-
stituted the whole of his appliances,
and indeed of his plan also, as he had
resolved that IL he could not save Cam
eron he would endeavor to get near
him and give him the means of avoid
ing crucifxion.
The mountain village to which the
| tribesmen had retreated was distant
some four miles. The road approach
ing the place was fairly free from OBJ
stacles, but 1t twisted and turned in all
| directions as 1t climbed up the side of a
precipitous gorge, finally reaching a
plateau about 200 feet above the level
of the small stream that dashed along
beneath. The moon was trying to strug-
| gle through a great cloud bank, but
gave light enough to show the way and
to distinguish objects close at hand.
| Nearing the village-as no semblance
of guard was kept-he passed several
scattered groups clustered round fires
| or huddled among bundles of fodder
Many Of the men were groaning and
their women bandaging their wounds.
Dalrymple shufiled painfully along,
finding the native sandals difficult to
walk in, and he came upon Cameron
suddenly. The Hon. Bob was seated on
the ground, with his hands apparently
tied behind his back, and resting
against low mud hut, inside and in
front of which were some twenty Of the
tribesmen-a few smoking round fire,
the others asleep. Dalrymple walked
straight up to him, and growled "Sug!
That is the Persian for all that we
mean when we call man a dog-and
more. The action was natural in a
tribesman and evoked no comment; in
Dalrymple's case it was a fine piece of
art. He squatted on the ground close
to the prisoner and whispered.
STEADY, Bob, I've come to help you"
Cameron had nerves of steel, but the
words tried them to their utmost ten
sion. When he could trust his voice he
only said:
Thanks, old chap. It's no use. My
left ankle is sprained so 1 can't walk
yard, even If it were any good. Get
back safely and give my love to Ethel.
AS for you, God bless you"
At that moment a horse neighed
loudly at some distance and Dalrymple,
in second, had formed his plan. He
whispered again: Can you manage to
stand straight up when you hear
horse coming this way?"
"Yes," said Cameron.
Every well, be ready in five minutes"
Thenhe rose, growled another Persian
oath, expectorated again at the pris-
oner, and left the circle of light cast by
the fire. He had little difficulty in find
ing the animal that had given voice.
He was tied up in a rough shed and
seemed to be a strong beast. Ethel
said afterward that he was the best
pony she ever laid eyes upon, but she
was prejudiced in his favor. His sad
die and headgear were hanging close at
hand, and Dalrymple lost no time in
getting him ready, although the queer
Afghan bride troubled him a little at
first. Then he led him out and mounted
him, but at the same moment a fellow
sprang out from the rear of the shed
and wanted to know in the name of the
prophet why a cursed thief was moving
off with his masters ghora. There was
no time for long discourse, so Dalrym-
pie gave him the weightiest reason at
command by hitting him such crack
with the tulwar on his shaven crown
that, like Bret Harte's orator
"He smiled kind of sickly smile and
curled up on the floor
And the subsequent proceedings inter-
ested him no more"
Then the fun commenced. He rode up
to the hut at a canter, found Cameron
standing, swung him crossways on the
saddle in front of him, and started for
home.
The excitement on that hillside dur
ing the next ten minutes was some
thing remarkable. Jezoils were fired,
tom-toms beaten, gongs banged, and
not few Martini bullets whistled past
them as they galloped down the path
way. Cameron and Dalrymple weighed
twenty-three stone between them, but
the little horse would have run away
with two more like them. There were
no other animals handy, to all appear
ances, so pursuit was out of the ques-
ton after the first 100 yards, and in
less than half an hour Cameron was in
the hands of the doctors, Dalrymple
was drinking some hot whisky and
water with the brigadier, and the Ka-
bull was being groomed by about six
men, while If he had not been wise
little beast he could have burst himself
with gram. Next morning the village
was shelled, and when the moullah was
hit with a shrapnell the tribesmen
gave in and promised to be good
All this happened six years ago. Since
then l have seen fat youngster held
on to the back of a still fatter Kabuli
pony, and the name Of the youngster
was Robert Dalrymple Cameron
Utica Press.