Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-02-01

which they failed to get at least a por- sion was an enormous ruby. worn as a royal arnlie6 They told the king that he should give them that ruby so they eould present it to Queen Victoria, and that on receipt thereof she would be so pleased that nothing would serve her but complete annihilation of King John 8 Egyptian enemies. For some un- known reason, however, the king re- mained obdRrate, and that is why he still possesses tho ruby.
 In 1885 the star of the Englishmen began 10 wane The Egyptian govern- ment luade up its mind that there could be no peace with Abyssinia until the two Englishnen were out of the coun- try. So an expedition was sent out aft CT them under Osman Paaha, the best officer in the khodive's army. Strangely enough, he managed to capture them, and they were carried to Cairo. Here they were treated with extreme consid- eration, and afteF the bare formality of a trial sentence of banishment was imposed. Major Barlow had no fancy for leaving country that had flowed with milk and honey. so. by forging number of letbers, by continuing his policy of intrigue, he gained permission to take quantity of gunpowder with him, travel east and exchange it for ivory. He then bribed an Egyptian off, oial, shipped tons of gunpowder into Abyesinia, was detected. fed, and dnal- ly succeeded i8 making his way back to the nation that had made him power. Retribution finally overlook him, how ever, for tho rod of iron with which he ruled King Johns army produced 8 mu- tiny, and Barlow was killed by the very men ha had trained in arms
 Houghton accepted his sentence and took passage on 0 vessel bound f7r Franco He was not content, however, to refrain from evil even on an ocean voyage, and so he very shrewdly made overtures 10 tho captain of the vessel to become q pirate, assuring him that within two months he would make him immensely wealthy. It so happenl1 ], however, that the captain was Q rather clever and thoroughly honest man. h. stead Of joining in with Hoaghton's schemes he landed him on the coast of France at tho very first opportunity.
 So tTIh1ng & lnisadventure as this did not daant aopghton in the least He ma3o his way to Paris and posed without delay IS the accredited repre- eent&sise ef tae King of Abyssinia. He had considerable money. which, with the 8etlin nesS egg, gave him ample capltai f0f the tlBlo being. His life was one oe almost oriental luxury. Social hoiaais of aii sorts were his All classes heneTed him and did all possible to make life pleasant. Thon he became en. tanglcd in an alliance with notorious woman. and series of orgies began, beside which the greatest exoesses of th8 Moulin Rouge are as child play.
 At last. however, tho French police arrested HCughton, and he was sent to prison fer two months. h tho fall of 1888 he made his way to England and there began the career of swindling that hes ended in q prison. From time Go time he was connected with very ahadY transactions but always man. aged to avoid arrest until short time since, when he tried to blaokmail 8 London broker, was arrested. tried and sentenced to IS months at Wormwood Scrubs prison, London place of putt ishment for criminals of the more de- graded type.
 There at the present moment is the man who once held the fate of aation in the hollow of his hand, breaking stone for the good of England s roads - Washington Post.