Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-02
IN THE GULcH.0E 5EHOSAPHAT
A Love Epi.od. Which Ended in Tragedy.
By OF wARxAH.
Copyright. 1897. by cs w.rman.,

Copyright. 1897, by Cy warman.)
Written for The Eyenng@Star.a
Down in the gulch of Jehosaphat ct can't
be called Valley, across from solomon's
stables, over against the! Mount of Olives.
not far from the garden of Gethsemane
and hard by the tomb of Absalom, there
is an unwalled well whose waters are clear
and cool. II we save the well of the Vir-
gin, little below, and the pool of Sloan,
still farther down the canyon, near the
wretched hovd where the lepers live, this
is the only water worth mentioning in the
entire Sulch. To this well the natives fare
with water pots, pals and pigskins, in
which they bear away the water for drink
ing and cooking purposes. These natives
seldom battle.
About this well young tourists like to
finger and look upon the 1.-THE Mahometan
Ea1dens, who give out shy, sidelong
glances from their big brown eyes and spill
water over their naked feet
From this well, the Arabs say, the
demons. or genii, slaves Of King Solomon's
seal, used to carry water for Solomon's
hundreds Of wives and horses, who fiirted
and fretted on the hill above. But these
are no demons who come to the well for
water To-Day. They are real, live maidens.
unveiled, but modest
There was one among them willowy
woman of eighteen or twenty summers,
whose soulful eyes were almost irresistible
only caught glimpses of them as they
members of our party. but have not for
gotten the little that did see.
Inc first time we saw her fresh young
frenchman had the nerve to walk up to
and when she refused he jollied her under
the chin. Instantly her whole mien
changed. The big eyes contracted, the
Brow lowered. the full lips parted. and
a serpent about to strike. 1t was as if
dark cloud had come between us and tile
sun. 1t was not pretty picture, If
Frenchman did make it.
Three or four officers of her majesty's
navy who had come up from the Mediter-
ranean squadron to see the sights, the
Frenchman referred to, and the writer,
made up the party that had gone down the
gulch that morning
The outraged woman seemed to take in
the whole company at one sweep of her
beautiful eyes.
Lieut.. Blank, fine young Englishman,
six feet, and handsome, happened to be
standing near the well, and when she had
glanced over the party, manifestly to see
II they were all alike her eyes rested APP
pealingly upon the young officers face.
OF course she did not keep them there
long enough to melt the blue i'm his, but
she certainly slowed down. and stopped
just for the faintest infinitesimal fraction
of second, and then pulled out again.
1 thought 1 saw the faintest flush suf-
fuse the ruddy, cold bath cheek of the lieu
tenant. = tH
AS the girl started to leave, her feet Slip
ped from the wet rock upon which she had
been standing, the water jar toppled as
though about to tumble from her head,
she lost her balance and swayed toward
the well. eo 'aI
No doubt the excitement through which
she had passed had ratified her nerves, for
one of these orientsls, when not excited.
can almost do handspring with water
jar on her head without splitting enough
water to wet Jubilee stamp.
AS the woman felt herself going she put
out a foot, quickly instinctively, to save
herself. but the well was Just where she
was falling, and she put her foot in 1t.
With wonderful agility the English officer
wound long, strong arm about the wo-
well. He did not appear5to take advantage
of her misfortune, but the woman being be-
tween him and the danger, he very natural
ly had to draw her toward him. For an in
slant the girls face went white, and then,
as the handsome officer strained her to his
breast, (mind, the well was on the other
side of herr for the smallest fraction of
moment the hot blood leaped to her cheek,
seeing which, the gallant Mr.. Blank put
her from him gently, bowling and blushing
also
Immediately his fellow officers gave him
hands. as heartily il he had been an
American prize fighter starring IN new
drama; the Frenchman shrugged; while
Mozen, the thin-nosed dragoman. beat his
boomers with his dirty feZ and roared with
laughter
In the excitement incident to the woman's
slip and rescue nearly all of the water had
been spilled The maiden looked at the
water pot stopped to pick 1t up, paused and
pressed hand to her forehead as though
u rf-l,, L.
the pot filled it and gave it to the girl
Again those soulful eyes wandered to his,
rested moment and turned away.
Now, the guide, having left off laughing,
began talking loud and earnestly to the
girl, and 1t was plain to us that he was
talking about the rescue. She glanced from
the speaker to the officer. stepped forward
and gave him her hand, but with her eyes
on the ground.
He took it in both his hands, pressed 1t,
and she withdrew it and started away.
Now the guide roared in Arabic, gesticu-
lated in French and the woman, stopped.
She wore troubled look as she faced the
young officer, unclasped her necklace Of
silver coin-her entire fortune, as we
learned later-and held it out to the man
who had saved her from the well.
Did you tell her to give it me?' demand
ed the officer.
.'Oui, misseur! Yesh. I tell it to her
that she shall pay you for her life, an she
say it is all she have, an give 1t. 1t Is
worth SOmetllnR, ne duuGU, HOI UelilS
able to understand how a man could bring
himself to refuse good baksheesh.
Two or three long strides brought the
lieutenant within reach of the Arab, and
the next moment that fllustrious liar was
rubbing the back of his head that had
whacked up against the tomb of Absalom,
for the Englishman had knocked him down.
Walking back to the bewildered woman,
and smiling, the young officer clasped the
necklace about her throat. Up went the
eyes instantly, for the third time within
ten minutes, and it seemed to me that they
fingered longer than they had done before.
When she got them back again she set
them on the road that wound away up be-
hind the stables. On the brow of Moriah
she paused, turned about. and with her
hands upon her lips, Trilby-like, smiled
sweetly down into the gulch of Jehosaphat.
No doubt this maiden was much dis
turbed over her romantic encounter with
the young officer. She had probably never
been so near to a living, moving being who
wore trousers These torientals pine for
European husbands, as our heiresses pant
for counts and things, though their pining
is rarely ever appeased. She had heard
strong minded, shortAhaired missionary wo-
man say that Englishmen allowed their
wives to eat at the first table, and travel
up to London by the same train in which
their husbands rode, though not in the
same carriage. of course. The few men
who married In France were even more