The true northerner., 1899-08-16
A Mystery of the Desert
BY Neville Cain
IN URING my soiourn in Egypt"

ah from his burnt black beard, Il be-
fcame interested in the horse; and, de-
csirous of possessing an Arabian of high
equality, sought guidance of our local
tconsul as to the best way of going about
lobtaining one. He gave me letter to
"a certain camel and horse breeder of
(renown, located near Samana, a Bed
ouin sheik, Hassam Moakbar by name.
IThe sheik, he informed me, had reason
sto feel under obligations to him, which
would insure me a pleasant reception.
IL took with me only a small escort-the
consul's letter, in the Arabian tongue,
lbeing a sort of passport and atfordng
lme immunity from the toll gathering
customary among the desert tribes. Ar
irving at the encampment at twilight,
a scene of great beauty burst upon me.
The stars were beginning TO blaze forth
with unusual size and brflhaney
through the wonderfully rare atmos-
phere. Threads of smoke rose perpen-
dicularly from fires which sparlded
among the long, low, wide tents, where
preparations for the evening meal were
going on.
'Negro slaves were roasting coffee,
which gave forth perfume only 'Araby
the Blest' could yield. Round about
parties Of Arabs were exercising the
horses-such creatures!-with names
flowing like the tresses of Princess
Badroulbadour.
"Sheik Hassam, a man of noble APP
pearance, met me, andlafter reading the
letter, at once relaxed the stern dig
nifty of his countenance, and the supper
being now ready, bade me partake OF
the same tray with himself. The meal
consisted of a kids flesh roasted deli
cately with certain condiments, of the
nature of eau de cologne, and washed
down with mares milk. a noble cup of
coffee, however, atoned for the singu-
larity of this rcpast, and lighting
cheroots Of a strong, sweet flavor, we
strolled among the horses, much of
whose beauty and fine points were OBJ
servablc i'm the moonlight, for that lumi-
nary had now risen above the horizon.
For reasons of his own, the sheik GER
tainly did his best to get me what !
wanted. and out of 80, every one OF
which seemed 10 possess some different
charm, ] chose one, and regretted that
l had not chosen all the others. | was
loath TO leave so romantic a spot, and,
though duty called, fingered some days,
the guest of the sheik, who seemed
equally unwilling To have me go, and
Piled me with rare tobacco and still
rarer legends, dusky happenings of
desert Land, which had come within his
ken, and revealed to few. | began to
feel as if | had chewed the lotus buds,
and did not care greatly whether ! re-
turned 10 my native land or not.
"One evening Chat before tn" day SCI
for my departure) while strolling and
smoking, as usual, in the moonlight, at
some distance from the encampment,
our footsteps, whether by accident or
the sheik's design, were directed to-
ward a dark ridge of rocks which crest
ed a great rise of sand on the horizon
and shone jagged against the rising
moon.
""That forbidding pile, said Sheik
Uassam, with wave of his long arm,
causing a meteoric effect with the glow
ing end of his cheroot, formed once
the center of an oasis, discovered by
myself and tribe while seeking an un-
frequented portion of the desert for the
purpose of establishing ourselves for
the favorable pursuit of our business.
"'This oasis seemed the portal of
paradise when, in the splendor of the
noontide, we halted, after days of travel
beneath a copper sky, before its wav-
ing palms and luXuriant shade, among
which gurgled hidden springs of water,
blessed water, and the songs of birds
echoed among the foliage.
"'"Allah be praised! We shall pros
per here!" 1 cried aloud, and bade
them set up the tents, which were not
few, and dig cistern, which was filled
from the springs amid the groves. The
heat diminished not, but rather inten-
sified from day to day, so that the outer
springs became dry, and we had to force
our way inward (for the oasis was wide
and of densest growth) to obtain sup
plies of water.
Here and there we encountered
beaten paths, which struck us as being
rather singular, as we had seen no liv-
ing thing save. birds. Possibly, we ar
gued, they were made by the jackals,
which howled about in the daytime and
went there for water after dark, al
though on one occasion / could have
sworn that vague imprint in the sandy
pathway was that of beast of prey.
"T kept a sharp lookout and
sentinels ever on watch about the
horses, camels and goats tethered
a short distance from the camp beneath
leafy sheds. Nothing of note trans
pired for some days, except slight adj
ditional proofs from time to time that
some living creature inhabited the
place. The heat seemed to increase