Evening star., 1896-07-18

Hef Tor second in my embrace Wnlie Sne
Kissed ME, utterng fervent word OF
thanks. and afterward assisted her into the
saddle. Then q moment later. with WINS
pered Allah iselemeck"' size sped away.
with her unbound hair flying behind her,
and was instantly lost in the darkness.
On realizing that she was gone, l was
seized with regret. bat feeling that at least
l had saved her from horrible doom. 1
returned to my little she'd and, wrapping
myself in my burnouse, slept soundly until
the sun had risen high in the heavens.
Opening my eyes | at once remembered
khadidjas quaint souvenir. and on examin-
ing 1t, was astonshed to find both diverse
and reverse of the roughly fashioned disk
covered with an inscription in English.
crudely engraved or rather scratched, ap
parently with the point of knife Investi-
eating it closely, l was enabled, after some
difficulty. to read the following surprising
words:
This record l leave for the person into
whose hands it may fall for I am starving
Whosoever reads this let him hasten to
Iemnou. in the Zelas desert two days from
the well of Ell Amema. and from the Bab-
el-Oued pace twenty steps westward out
side the city wall, and under the second
bastion let him dig. There will he be re-
warded. John Edward Chatteris, held cap
tive in the Kasbah of Rorku by order Of
the Sultan Oth7nan. Sunday. June 13, lS43'
Chatteris. Instantly is occurred to me
that a celebrated English explorer, archae-
ologist ard fellow of the Royal Geograph-
cal Society OF that name. had years ago
d
complete mystery. This. then, was a mes
sage inscribed with apparent difficulty
within the impregnable citadel of the war
rior sultan Of Borku. whose little mountain
Kingdom was situate JAW miles south of
Mourzeuk. between the TibeStI mountains
and Lake Tsad: secret that for half
century had been in the keeping of Arabs
" no could not decipher 1t.
What might not be buried at the SPOT in
dlcated by this curious relic of the great
traveller? My curiosity was excited to the
Utmost Impatient to Investigate the truth
tut compelled, nevertheless, to remain 81
lent until such time as | could escape from
my undesirable companions, concealed the
DISK IN my gandoura and rose to join Alb
dul-Melik at his morning meal.
khadidja's S escape caused the old outlaw
intense chasrin, and his anger knew no
bounds, but luckily suspicion fell upon
me, and. having remained with them dur
ing two whole moons succeeded one day,
When we We're near the town of Rhat in
eVadlng them and getting away. As quick
iy as possible returned to In Salah S5here
exhibited the metal disk with it's strange
inscription to Capt ChaHdioux who became
at once Interested in it, announcing his in
tentfon TO accompany me next day to in
vestigate the truth of the engraved record
With an escort of twenty spahis, all we'll
mounted and armed, We rode out of In Sa-
lah at dawn. and for nine days continued
our journey across the desert due eastward
first taking the caravan route to Tarz Quill
beyond the French boundary. and continu-
ing through the rocky region of the Ibe-
haouen and across the Djedid Oasis until
one evening. at the maghrfb hour the high
white walls and three tall mnarets of the
cesert city OF Zernnou came within view.
IL was unsafe to take the Spahis nearer
therefore we returned and bivouacked until
darkness set in Then, dressed in the haick
and burnouse Of the Arab of the plain
Chandioux with myself and three spaais
carrying spades concealed beneath our
flowing drapery. approached the town and
crept under the shadow Of the walls until
we reached the Bab-el-Oued. or principal
gate. Guarded by strong watch towers on
either side. the gate was closed, and silently
We crept anxious and GREATNESS, on over
the sand westward until we had counted
twenty PAGES and reached the second bas-
ton.
Then, after glancing eagerly around to
reassure ourselves that we were not OBJ
served, we all five commenced to dig be-
meath the wall Discovery, we knew would
nean death. The sand was loose hut fIlI
of stones. and for some time we worked
without result Indeed, began to fear that
some one had already been able to decipher
the record and obeyed Its injunctons when
suddenly the spade of one Of the spahis
struck something hard, and he uttered an
ejaculation. With one accord we worked
with a WILL and within ten minutes were
unearthing object Of extraordinary
shape. At first it puzzled US considerably.
hut at length. when We had cleared the
earth sufficiently to remove It, we made a
cursory examination and discovered IT was
a KIND OF stool with a semi-circular seat
supported by SIX short columns Of twisted
gold in imitation Of serpents, the seat itself
being of gold inlad with many precious
stones. while the feet consisted Of six great
yellow topazs. beautifully cut and highly
polished, held in the serpents' mouths. The
gold had become dimmed by long contact
with the earth, but the gems as we rubbed
on the sand that chung to them cleaned
and sparkled in the tapers' ftful rays
The stool. or throne. was SO heavy that
1t was with difficulty two men dragged n
out of the trench, and breathIess with any
1ety we all lent willing hand to carry n
over the five miles of open desert to where
the men were awaiting us. Our arrival
was greeted with cheers, but quickly the
strange relic was wrapped In saddle-baRs
ana secured upon the back of q snare
morse. and we set out on the first stage of
our return journey, reaching In Salah in
safety ten days later, and learning with
satisfaction on our arrival that Abdul
Melik had, during our absence been killed
In skirmish with the spahis in the Alag
gar.
Not until had brought the jeweled seat
to England and exhibited 1t before a meet
Ing OF the Royal Geographical Society was
aware OF Its real antiquarian value. From
the letters sent home by the intrepid DR..
Chatterfs. and still preserved in the ar
chives of the society, 1t appeared that dur
Ing 1889 Salman. the great Sheikh of Au-
jila, assembled formidable following. and
having proclaimed himself Sultan Of T1nis.
led an expedition through the country, ex.
tcrting money from the people by reason
of horrible tortures and fearful barbaritfes.