Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-07-16

the bazaar on my way TO Gen. Gordon
quarters, a boy sprang out of a cob
blers stall and handed me tiny bun
dle-slipping away into the darkness
before | had time TO do more than rec
ognize him as Ibrahim, son Of Hassan
| carried the bundle to the General
and together we undid its fastenings
Have you ever deciphered an Orienta
object letter: | mean q letter which
is not written upon paper but Of whicl
the sense is conveyed by Objects-hOw
ers and the like The bundle handed
me by lbrahim was just such a cOmmu.
nicatiOn. 1t contained a queer cOlleC-
tiOn Of articles, They We're. 4 piece
of broken knife blade, a scrap Of green
cloth, two flowers (marigOlds, l think
with only the heads remaining, brick
from the walls. and, lastly, an iron af,
fair, which at once recognized as the
| point of one of those sticks with which
camels are urged onward.
Gen. Gordon lost no time in unrav.
cling the mystery of this missive. The
]
because his sacred flag is green. The
knife blade stands for a sword, and the
decapitated flower means that our
heads are going to be cut off. The
brick, take it, hints of treachery in
side the walls The camel-spike ad-
vises you to fly from KhartOum imme-
diately. Where did you get thisT
When l told him the source of my
information he was inclined to pooh
pooh lbrahim's letter. 1T is boys fear
and fancy he said. We shall be re-
lleved in few weeks
But the Mahdi's men formed an
impenetrable circle around the town
a circle that grew narrower and mar
rover. Day after day we scanned the
desert horizon for some sign Of the ex-
pected relief, but without avail. Day
after cay the impression grew stronger
upon each and all of us that we were
doomed.
During an early morning walk Ibra-
him accosted me as suddenly as he had
done before. Fly effendi, he whisper
ed. The city is betrayed My father
and other Mussulmans have decided to
let the Mahdi within the gates. Dis
guise yourself and fly before 1t is too
laten
Il shook my head, for duty kept me
in khartoum; and Ibrahim retreated
with tears in those big, honest eyes of
his.
III.
THE very next night his warning
was fulfilled. 1t would be idle, my
friend, to tell you over again all the
horrors of the capture, or rather be-
trayal, of khartOum. The Mahdi's sol
1ierS were like tiends incarnate. Spent
with fatigue and slender fare we could
not stand before them. Gordon, poor
fellow, was slain, and remnant of us
was driven, fighting for life, from hut
to hut across the city. Finally, with
empty revolver and broken sword,
found myself in the stairway of rude
waiting for the death which |
felt would be inevitable. 1t is all very
well to meet death boldly on the field
IF battle, with comrades and friends
around one, but to sit down in n dark
and count the minutes until
is coming might make the braveSt man
in the world feel uncomfortable. All
around | heard the hideOuS sounds of
slaughter and watched through tiny
loop-hole in the wall the red flames
across the sky (for II was mid
night, and starleSs midnight TO boob.
A sick feeling stole over me. To re-
main cooped up thus seemed intolera
BILE. | had just resolved to rush into
the thick of the Soudanese and sell nv
life as dearly as possible when foot
fall on the stairs below arrested me.
ut was the sound of naked foot.
and as | peered, every sense on the
alert, into the half-light by the minaret
doorway, vaguely distinguished a
dark form and two shining eyes. Was
It one of the MahdiS in search of hu-
man prey? gripped my broken sword
tighter and prepared for action.
Efendt" whispered a voice. is II
you, protector of the poor"
The voice was that OF lbrahim. son
of Hassan. My heart gave a leap for
gladness and answered him that II
was, indeed. myself.
1T is good hn exclaimed. MY
lord. have come TO save You. Hasten
down and don these garments which I
have brought you. They belong to the
old blind priest who lodged with NV
father He died last night. but nobody
knows Of 1t yet. You can pass as the
old priest and escape, Make haste. 81.
hib, make haste"
81 saw the chance and seized IL. BE.
fore you could have repeated the pro.
verbal Jack Robinson many times 7
had pulled those baggy Mohammedan
clothes over my soiled and bloodstaiped
uniform \ turhau took tho ,,lo.,., q