Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-01-05

which they failed to get at least a nor. tion was an enormous ruby, worn as a royal armlet They told the king that he should give them that ruby so they could present 1t to Queen Victoria. and that on receipt thereof she would be SO pleased that nothing would serve her but complete annihilation of King Johns Egyptian enemies. For some ur- known reason, however, the king re- mained obdurate, and that is why he still possesses the ruby.
 In 1885 the star of the Englishmen began to wane. The Egyptian govern ment made up it's mind that there could be no peace with Abyssinia until the two Englishlnen were out of the coun- try. So an expedition was sent out aft CT them under Osman Paaha, the best officer in the khediye's army. Strangely enough, he managed to capture them, and they were carried to Cairo. Here they were treated with extreme consid- eration, and after the bare formality of trial a sentence of banishment was imposed. Major Barlow had no fancy for leaving a country that had flowed with milk and honey, so, by forging a number of letters, by continuing his policy of intrigue, he gained permission to take a quantity of gunpowder with him. travel east and exchange it for ivory. He then bribed an Egyptian off ciai, shipped tons of gunpowder into Abys2issi'g, was detected fled, and final ly succeeded in 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 mu- ] tiny, and Barlow was killed by the very men he had trained in arms.
 Houghton accepted his sentence and took passage on vessel bound for France. He WAS not content, however, to refrain from evil even on an ocean voyage, and so he very shrewdly made oyertures to the captain of the vessel to become pirate, assuring him that within two months he would make him immensely wealthy. It so happen ], however, that the captain was rather clever and thoroughly 1onest man. h. ob0oN OA JO1EiiLS III 6llH S schemes he landed him on the coast of France at the very first opportunity.
 So trihing d misadyenture as this did not daunt Houghton in the least. He made his way to Paris and posed without delay as the accredited repre- sentative of the King of Abyssinia He had considerable money, which, with the Berlin nest egg, gave him ample capital for the time being His life was one of almost oriental luxury. Social honers of all sorts were his All classes honored him aud did all possible to make life pleasant. Then he became en- tangled in an alliance with notorious woman. and series of orgies began, beside which the greatest exeesses of the Moulin Rouge are as ehild's play.
 At last. however, the French police arrested Houghton, and he was sent to prison for two months In the fall of 1888 he made his way to England and there began the career of swindling that has ended ill a prison. From time to time he wa3 connected with very shady transactions, but always man. aged to avoid arrest until a short time since, when he tried to blackmail 8 London broker, was arrested, tried and sentenced to IS months at Wormwood Sorubbs prison, London place of pun ishment for criminals of the more de- graded type.
 There at the present moment is the man who once held the fate of nation in the hollow of his hand, breaking stone for the good of England roads. -- Washington Post.