The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-06

HO~--N
was unfathomable.
AS he faced me in closing the door I de-
| tected in his keen eyes a strange exultant
look, and was seized by q sudden desire to
| ascend once again to the light of day. True,
| l could have crushed the life out of him
/ as easily as ] could crush a viper beneath
| my heel, while in my sash was still my
keen jambiyah, that curved knife which
| score of times had tasted the life blood of
mine enemies. Yet he had not harmed me,
and to kill ones host is forbidden by our
| Koran. Therefore l stayed my hand.
AS we retraced our steps he poured upon
| me nauseating adulation. declaring me to
| be the most valiant freebooter in the great
| Smiles of which the Arab tongue is capable,
a fact which in itself filled me with in
creased suspicion. Suddenly, as we reached
| the chamber where flowed the cooling
| spring, the truth became instantly plain AS
| he opened the door two officers OF the
! French in linen garments and white
helmets who had been APPARENTLY lying in
wait pounced upon me, utterlnS loud cries
| of triumph
The old white-bearded recuse-may Allah
| burn his vitals with the fire unquenchable-
| had betrayed me. n had held me and sent
world to the infidels to come and capture
| their prize.
But in an instant I. upon whose head
| price set, drew my blade and defended
| myself slashing vigorously right and LETT,
1 succeeding at last in escaping down the
dark winding passage we had just traVerSed.
! Forward, l dashed through room after
| ROOM upsettng some of the tables in my
| mad rush, for behind me were the Whlte-
faced officers with drawn swords, deterrn-
| lned to take me alive or uedu w ell hHeW
| how desperate they were, and IN That IN,
| slant believed myself lost Yet determined
to sell my life dearly it iashed across my
| mind that rather than suffer the lgnomlny
| of being taken in chains to Algiers, the IN
| fidel city and there tried by the tribunal,
| as others had been, would cast myself to
| the fathomless pit.
I sprang towards the small door, but at
| first could not open it, In a few seconds the
| had gained the spot, but 1 had already
! gained the door and thrown it open Then,
| just as they put out their hands 10 selze
me I swung aside lifted by knife ana struck
my evil-faced betrayer full to the heart
! With piercing shrek he fell forward
over the threshold, and his lifeless BODY
| the same instant l gave a bound, and with
a cry of defiance, leaped headlong down
| into the darkness after him.
felt myself rushing through air, the wind
| whistling in my ears as deep down wen, Went
Each second seemed an hour, until OF
! sudden a blow on the back knocked me
| insensible and / found myself an instant
| At that moment it occurred to me that be-
! cause of this carpet of the DUST OF ages
| deadening the sound OF alI tn1ss t t,ra1iu
| arisen that it was unfathomable. L rose, put
sank again to the knees in the dry SOFT du ls5
| which, stirred by my fall now halt-chokeu
| me Far above looking distant ike star
/ saw the light of a torch My lphdel puTo
suers were peering into the IeaIsoi aS pi' or
| in chagrin that l had eVaded tneln ny , an,
| however was hot and foul ana Knew
! that IN save nv life I must be moving:
! therefore with both hands outstretched
| eroned about amazed to discover the great
extent of this natural cleft In the EARTH ear H.
| formed undoubtedly by some earthquake III
once / Stumbled, and bending, felt at my
\ feet the still warm body of my petrayeII
may Eblis rend him drew my ia Jat nhnsSth
! from his breast and replaced It in IT'S sneatn,
| Then tearing from his body the sllken
| gauze which formed his girdle, L fashlo1 once
! from 1t a torch, igniting 1t after some on
| fic1Iltv with nv steel. Around me was only
| an appalling darkness, and reared 10 test
the extent of the place by shouuhgc Iest my
| ioiled in a straight line, fiounderlng at every
| step in the, dust until the CLEFT narf99Weu
and became tunnei7ke WIN aiond de5u to dis dis
| cover that the rock had apparently peen
| worn smooth and hollow either by WaIet-
| course, now dry, or by the tramp u Ai'H'
Besides, the air had become distinctly
| fresher, and this fact renewed couras 20
| die like fox in trap but nope was re-
! awakened within me, and there might
| after ALL I thought, be some outlet.
| OF a sudden, however, my eyes were
| startled at beholding a colossal female fg-
ure seated on a kind of stool, with features
| so hideous and repulsive that L drew PACK
| with an Involuntary cry 1t was a score
| times as high as myself, and as / 4eIu my
was of some white mi-transparent stone
| the like of which / had never before wit
messed. The robes were colored scarlet and
|
| crudely tinted to resemble life.
One hand was outs+~"' 'ed. on the prov
| was a chaplet OF M9Ale- IN magnl nee ~,
| pearls and on the colossal fingers, each as
| thick as my own wrist, were massive golden
rings which sparkled with emeralds ana
tenance was indeed that of high-priestesss
| Of Eblis l had entered the Silent Kingdom;
| Amazed, held my breath and gazed
| about me- Around the sides of the cavern
| were ranged many other smaller female
figures seated, like the central one, the face
of each bearing hideous rep .1li GIN TN
/ fore the great central colossus was a small
| triangular stone altar, upon Whlch was
| some object. l crossed and, glancng at
! it, found to my dismay that it was beau
| tiful and very ancient Illuminated manu-
| script of our holy Koran. But through II
| had been thrust poignard. now red with
rust, and it had been torn, slashed ana
| otherwise defled. Then it dawned upon me;
This noisome place into d W tbat oroi naf
accursed sect who worshiped Eblis as their
| god.
everywhere that for ages no foot of man
| had entered that silent chamber me DUST
of centuries lay smooth and untrodden
| Again | passed beneath the ponderous
| feet of the gigantic statue. when suddenly
my eyes were attracted by an inscription
in Kufc, the ancient writings OF the mara
| bouts, traced in geometrlcal design upon
| the hem of the idols garments
My torch had burned dim, so lit another,
| and by its Pickering rays succeeded In de-
! ciphering the following words:
| s'Io! am Azour, wife of Eblis and the
| Queen of all things beneath the earth. 10
| me, all bow for / hold its riches In the
hollow of my hand"
| | glanced up quickly, and there far above,
| I distinguished that in the idols open palm
| there lay some object which the tickle flame
| of my torch could not reveal. But, con-
| sumed by curiosity, / at once resolved to
| Chamber up and ascertain what riches lay
! there With extreme difficulty, and holding
! my f1ambeau in my left hand, managed
| at length to reach the platform formed by
| the knees of the figure, and then scrambled
up the breast and along the outstretched
| arm On mounting the latter | was dis
mayed to discover that the object for which
| / had toiled neither gold, silver, nor
! gems, but merely brown and moldy parch-
! ment scroll. Standing at last upon the open
| hand ] bent and picked it up, but next in
| slant / recognized that my find was of
priceless value. Ere l had read three lines
Of the beautifully-formed but sadly-faded
| Arabic characters / knew that this scroll
! was none other than the long-sought manu-
script of the Fatassi, the mysterious
| phantom book.
| Ages ago it had evidently fallen into the
| hands of the accused worshppers of Eblis,
! and they had placed it there because 1t was
! a key to the enormous wealth of buried
! treasure.
| With my find beneath my burnouse I at
| once descended, eager to discover some
| means of escape from that weird and
| of a pagan past In frantic haste / sought
! means of exit from that temple where so
| many rites. hideous and horrible. had been
| practised. but not until many hours had
| elapsed did / succeed in finding a narrow
| burrow which, leading as it did out into