Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-18

high tah"urette with marble top. The
sultan Nestments Were Gorgeous frock
coat of yellow watercd silk. a black vest
with gold chain fcstooned across. a white
underShirt Of muslin, flowing skirts and
trousers of white gauZe, and patent lea her
pumps. \ high feZ OF some c,lorcd ma
terlal served as an unGerstudy for "A snow
white turhan which was wound about il
later on. feeling oppressed by the heat OF
TINS heaodreSs. he took il or and disclosed
Il small white feZ beneath which h.. y.,ra
during the rest Of the conference
The room was evidently the ROYAL din
ing room n large table was in the middle
ana TINS was set with a varied collection Of
ancient caStorS and vases. such as would
be especially admired and treasured in
some "backwoOdS" district AT home, Two
sides of the room were open, but translu-
cent Stra" screens Kept out the glare. Be
mind US. standing in the doorway and
crowding into every recess and corner 81
The room. We're the Moro retainers. armed
to the teeth. Taking into ConsFaaratg,,,
the American feminine element II was ,,,,,,
OF the Strangest assemblies that had eyer
been gathered together in the PhiIjnpfp..
Islands. or, perhaps, anywhere.
Making the Treaty.
y bed which stood in one corner of-iba
large room had quite a sumptuous anpaar-
ance, and | was afterward told that il WAS
underneath this article of furniture that
the sultan kept his treasure boards. being
a mSerly person. The sultan is a voupp
man with dark, pockmarked face and \
very slender mustache His heavy fa:, tlI,a,s
dld not express much character and when
ne Spok" his voice was soft and rather
plalnuVe. 1t was not difficult to accent ;h.,
fact that mamma ruled the roost
captain Smiley produced a typewrirtau
copy of the articles and the Moro secretary
one written in Arabic. and the conference
commenced Wine was poured from hot
u INTO niue blue glasses the size of a
Jhimble. and these We're passed around.
Those who had the temerity to taste. Of il
after the two doses Of chocolate reportai
tEat the flavor was that of water seasoned
with rusty nails.
The result Of the conference. is noyy a
matter Of official record. over the discus
sion of one Of the articles the sultan lin
gtred ali the time that We We're there: IL
provided that he should always ny The
American flag. Several years ago the sui
tan took a journey to Mecca. This was
The event Of his life. on his voyage. on
trary 10 his agreement with the Spaniaris
he flew his OWE flag. Nothing had hap
ptned to him. He felt that II would b. in
compatible with his royal dignity af.er
making the journey once in this indep-ud-
cnt fashion, to appear again with the Am, r
lean flag hOisted above him.
only once in many years" said the in
terpreter he makes a Journey like this.
and while he is willing To fly the American
nag at all other times, he would like to nv
his Own flag then. If he did il once in
safety. why not again?"
This WIS the burden Of all their talk for
several hours while We sat silently learning
something Of people whose every idea
Was strange to us, and Yet for whom We
were to be forever responsible before Cod
and the world. | wondered how this little
TWO penny sultan. with an exaggerated idea
OF his own Importance. would feel and act
II he had an idea of the VastneSs and power
OF the great country whose emisSary WAS
SO patiently dealing with him in his sqEalid
capital of MaYbun. There had been moth
ing in his narrow existence by which com
parsons could be made. bat England Is a
great word in the east and some one had
told him that we We're greater even than that,
so he knew that he must yield all that
asked: there was something infinitely pa
thetic in the way in which he chung 10 the
last shadow Of his sovereignty. and in deal
ing with him General Bates was uniformly
kind and courteous.
ANNA NORTHEAD BENJAMIN.