The Opelousas courier., 1896-09-05


Suddenly an. Arab boy came around
the corner, and. with a salaam of the
deepest, handed some mail to Grim
shaw. Then he squatted down on the
veranda boards, with his great black
eyes fixed on my companions face
waiting for further orders.
"Your boy, captainF" I asked.
eyes" replied G%rimshaw, "but a
good deal more than that. I should be
buried in the SoudM now if it were
not for Ibraham yonder."
"Tell me about it please asked,
rather eagerly; for this small Arab in
the clear, white tunic, and brilliant
turban interested me nightly.
Grimshaw settled himself back in
the bungalow chair and began.
"You know, of course" be said,
THAT I was in Khartoum with Gordon.
I did not regularly belong to the gen.
eral's forces. but l had volunteered as
one of his aides-de. camp. Well, we
were shut up in that death trap city OF
khartoum, surrounded upon every
side by the forces of the Mahdi-
myriads of fanatical Soudanese Arabs
following that high priest of blood
shed. We English were but a 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 we're slain. With the excep-
tion OF Slatin Bey, who became q Mus
sulmsn, l think, I was the only Euro
pean who got out of the doomed city
with my life. That I did so is due to
lbraham.
Here the Arab boy--hearing his
name northumberland up and
smiled, showing a row of teeth excep-
tiunally even and white.
ga few days after we entered Khar-
toum," continued Grimshaw, 81 was
pstrolling the town undo General
Gordon's orders, when we came across
a great rabble of boys, hallooing and
shouting at a ~deafening rate. / sent
an Egyptian soldier to discover the
cause, and he reported that the young
'fuzzy-wuzzies' lit Is so that Private
Atkins of Her Majesty's troops de-
dominates the Soudanese) were 'hav-
ing fun with one of their number. /
was then, as now, intensely interested
in native manners and customs. Halt
ing my men, I entered the b]oisterous
Gordon of boys to determine the rea-
son of their tumult.
"The little rascals we're teasing one
of their number. Teasing indeed,
in this case, is too mild a word. They
were beating and stoning the lad, who
lay bruised and half blinded in the
gutter. His turban vas off, and his
already scant clothing had been torn
to shreds. I 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 I had soundly cuffed one or two
and summoned my interpreter to my
aid, I succeeded in making them an
".Ite is the renegade's son." said q
ringleader-'Hassan, the ranegade's
son. Stone him in the name of the
prophet
"Then I understood. The poor
boys father had taken service with
Gordon, leaving his offspring to suffer
all the cruelties which the Khartoum
children, egged on by their elders,
we're sure to infict upon him. l lost
no time in calling up a few men and
sending that pack of youthful fanatics
to the right about. They went away,
vowing dire vengeance on the ''rene-
gade's brat and I raised my protege
from the dust. He had tainted from
pain and loss of blood, but one of our
surgeonsS2on brought him to. When
ne opened bis eyes and saw me he
smiled l5Sy a little codtee-colored
angel and wanted there and then to
give me his b st salaam. Of course I
made him lie down again, but he
olurted out his gratitude for preserva-
ton SO vigorously that he came near
fainting again.
Next day his father, Hassan. one
of Gordon's servants, came to see him.
The two had q long talk, and finally
Eassan announced that, for his sons
sake be had decided to leave the
general and 60 back to his cobbler's
stall in tbs bazaar. Ibrahim- for the
lad whom I had helped to rescue was
the same one now sitting before you
soon recovered, thanks to his native,
tough constitution. He left my hut,
absolutely refusing to touch any Of
the money which I offered him.
"'Protector of the poor be said in
his quaint, grandlloquent eastern way,
you have saved your servants life.
Did not the mouse once repay the lion
that had been his benefactor? Lo! I
am the mouse effendi; and you are the
lion. Perhaps some day l may repay
you. Salaam friendl' Then he backed
out Of my hut. and l saw him not for
many days. u,
"One evening, ekhile hurrying
through the bazaar on my way to
General Gordon's quarters, a boy
out of a cobbler's stall and
handed me a tiny bundle-slipping
away into the darkness before l had
time to do more than recognize him as
Ibraham, son of Hassan. 1 carried !!
the bundle to the general, and together
undid its fsstenings. Have you
ever deciphered an oriental object
I mean a letter which IS not
written upon paper, but Of which the
sense is conveyed by objects--howers
and the like. The bundle handed me !!