The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-08-03
A LIFE FOR A LIFE.


but had volunteered as one of his aids
de-camp. Well, we were shut up i'm that
death trap city of Khartum surrounded
upon every side by the forces of the mahdi
-myriads of fanatical Sudanese Arabs fol-
lowing that high priest of bloodshed We
English were but mere handful of men;
the auxiliary forces were wretchedly small
Our only hope was aid from Egypt, and,
as the whole world knows, that never
came Poor Gordon was allowed to fall a
victim to the mahdi's sword, and most of
the garrison were slain. With the excep-
ton of Slatin Bey, who became Mussul-
man, L think, l was the only European
who got out of the doomed city with my
life That did so is due To Ibrahim."
Here an Arab boy, who had just handed
Grimshaw some mail, hearing his name
mentioned, looked up and smiled, showing
a row of teeth exceptionally even and
white.
"a few days after we entered Khar-
tum," continued Grimshaw, II was pa
| trolling the town under General Gordon s
orders, when we came across great rab-
| BILE of boys hallooing and shouting at n
deafening rate. / sent an Egyptian soldier
| the young fuzzy wuzzies' Gt is so that
Private Atkins of her majesty's troops de-
dominates the Sudanese) were having fun
with one of their number was then as
now, intensely interested in native man
ners and customs. Hating my men, l en-
tered the boisterous Gordon of boys to de-
termine the reason of their tumult
1.-THE little rascals were teasing one Of
their number Teasing, indeed, in this
case is too mild word. They were beating
and stoning the lad, who lay bruised and
half blinded in the gutter His turban was
off, and his already scant clothing had been
torn to shreds. l sprang into the middle
Of the mob and demanded the cause of such
brutal treatment. At first they affected not
| to understand my Arabic and went on
beating their victim, but when had sound.
| ly cuffed one or two and summoned my
| interpreter to my aid succeeded in max
ing them answer.
He is the renegade's son, said ring
leader - Hassan, the renegade's son.
| Stone him in the name of the prophet
"Then / understood. The poor boy s
| father had taken service with Gordon,
| leaving his offspring to suffer all the cru
elites which the Khartum children, egged
| on by their elders, were sure to inflict upon
| him lost no time i'm calling up few
men and sending that pack of youthful
| fanatics to the right about. They went
away, vowing dire vengeance on the rene
| gades brat, and i raised my protege from
| the dust. He had tainted from pain and
| loss of blood but one of our surgeons soon
brought him to. When he opened his eyes
and saw me, he smiled like "A little coffee
| colored angel and wanted there and then to
| give me his best salaam. OF course made
| him lie down again, but he blurtCd out his
| gratitude for preservation so vigorously
| that he came near fainting again.
Next day his father, Hassan, one of
| Gordon's servants, came to sec him. The
| two had long talk, and finally lIassan
| announced that, for his sons sake, he had
| decided to leave the general and go back
| to his cobbler's stall in the bazaar. 1bra-
| him-for the lad whom L had helped 10
rescue was the same one now sitting be-
| fore you-soon recovered, thanks To his ma
| tive, tough constitution. He left my hut,
absolutely refusing to touch any of the
| money which offered him.
"'Protector of the poor, he said in his
| quaint, grandiloquent eastern way, you
have saved your servants life. Did not
the mouse once repay the lion that had
been his benefactorl Lo, am the mouse,
effendi, and you are the lionl Perhaps
some day l may repay you. Salaam,
friendp Then he backed out of my hut,
and / saw him not for many days.
zone evening, while hurrying through
| the bazaar on my way to General Gordon s
| quarters, boy sprang out of a cobblcr $
stall and handed me tiny bundle-slip-
| ping away into the darkness before had
10, 10 than rannOniza him
| Ibrahim, son of Hassan. / carried the
bundle to the general, and together we un.
| did its fastenings Have you ever deci-
| phered an oriental object letter. mean n
letter which is not written upon paper, but
of which the sense Is conveyed by Objects
| flowers and the like. The bundle handed
me by Ibrahim was just such n communi-
cation. 1t contained queer collection of
articles. They were N piece of broken
knife blade, scrap of green cloth, two
| flowers (marigolds, think) with only the
heads remaining, brick from the walls,
and, lastly, an iron affair, which ut once
recognized as the point of one of those
| sticks with which camels are urged onward.
General Gordon lost no time in I'M
ravcling the mystery of this missive. The
green cloth, he said means the mahdi,
because his sacred flag is green. The knife
blade stands for sword, and the dccapi-
| tatcd flowers mean that our heads arc GO
| ing To he cut Off. The brick, / take 1t,
hints of trcachcry inside the walls. The
camel spike advises you to fly from khar-
tum Immediately. Where did you get
| this
"Whcn l told him the source of my in
| formation, he was inclined to pooh pooh
| Ibrahim's letter 1t Is a boys fear and
| fancy, he said We shall be relieved in n
| few weeks
"But the mahdis men formed an i'm
penctrable circle around the town. circle
| that grew ever narrower and narrower.
| Day after day we scanned the desert hori.
ron for some sign of the expected relief,
but without avail. Day after day the i'm.
preston grew stronger upon each and all
| of us that we were doomed.
During an early morning walk Ibra-
| him accostcd me rs suddenly as he had
| done before Fly, cfrcndi' he whispered.
'The city is betrayed. My father and 9TH
err Mussulmans have decided TO let the
| mahdi within the gates. Disguise yourself
and fly before it is too latep
II shook my head, for duty kept mo In
Khartum, and Ibrahim retrcatcd with
tears I'm those big, honest eyes of his.
"The very next night this warning was
fulfilled. IL would he idle, my friend, 20
tell you over again all the horrors OF the
capture, or rather betrayal, Of Khartum.
The mahdi's soldiers were like fiends In
carnate. Spent with fatigue and slender
| far,, we could not stand before them. Cor
don, poor fellow, was slain, and a remnant
Of us was driven, fighting for lie, from
hut TO hut across the city. Finally, with
empty revolver and broken sword, found
myself In the stairway OF rude minaret