Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-10-15

I. tered. Here was the chance he had
long waited for to gain his eni.
How many soldiers have you of your
own" he asked the merchant.
Five hundred" the trader answer
ed.
! That is WE'LL said tie caliph. Il
will send two thousand horseme1, but
one thousand shall go as merchants.
| wearing their arlnor Under their tu-
mics. We will see whether this robber
| shall always defy the authority of the
| successor of the Prophe-.
| 1t was a cunningly devised plan, and
| Caliph Haroun smiled in his shining
! black beard to think how he should eu-
trap young Abon and Glis steed.
Little thought had AIbon El Mahr OF
the caliph's plot against him when he
rode out with his thousand warriors
that night to swoop down upon the
| strong force accompanied it, but the
| prize was too tempting 20 be passed by
without a struggle.
| What tramnling ard shouting there
was when the midnight raid of the
of the traders! They seemed to spring
| up from the earth by hundreds, and the
trampling Of their stcads and the
shouts of the warriors made pande-
monium. But after the first surprise
the desert raiders found themselves
| more than matched in the stont guards
men OF the caliph.
Fierce was the conflict under the
shining stars. Abon FL Mahr and his
peerless steed seemed to be everywhere
in the fight, and his voice cheercd on
his men. But vain was the struggle
| against oyerpowering odds, and in the
end the Bedouins were forced to retire,
and, wounded and oyerborne by NUM-
bers, Abon Ell Mahr himself and his
matchless steed were captured by the
conquering foe.
Great was the rejoicing in the camp
when it was known that the boy chief
OF the desert and his famous horse
were captives. Fiercely gloated the
turbaned leader Of the caliph's soldiers
over the helpless Abon.
Right glad will (e the commander
of the Faithful to behold thse, robber,"
he cried. Better that thou hadst ia
ken his proffer of gold and jewels and
Indian shawls, for now the matchless
steed Of the desert is his without pay
ment, and thou, in the caliph's dun
geons, shall waste thy life away"
The young Arabs right arm had been
severed by a Damascus blade; his
wounds were grieyous and many, and
he was bound like a malefactor. but
, he answered never a word to his enc
my's taunt, only in his dark eyes there
CLEANED proud defiance.
The victors pitched their tents that
night upon the battlefield and the tired
warriors sought repose. Bound hand
and foot, and guarded by sentinel,
dark Abon lay. Tethered to a stake
nearby was peerless Lalla, the pride OF
the desert.
| In the dark watches Of the nigh. the
! sentinel fell asleep. and Abon, wrest-
ling with pain and unrest, heard the
low neigh of the disconsolate stced
without. The sound touched the neari
of the chief. and, bound and almost
helpless as he was, he rolled over al1I
over on the ground and through the
opening outside the tent, 20 where
| White Lalla was tethe-ed. The eteed
greeted his master with neigh of joy,
and, bending his proud neck, he laid
his muzzle against young Abon's neck
20, my brave, my beautiful" whis-
pered Abon to his steel at is not or
dained that thou shalt FEED in the sta
bles of the Commander Of the Faithful
Thou wouldst pine within a city's dark
walls, for the desert las always been
thy home. Now, bark thee, peerless
Lalla, l will cut with ms teeth the rope
that holds thee, then with the speed o.
| lightning thou mrst away to where
the white tents of my people cluster be-
| meath the desert palms Do this and
the heart of Abon Ell Mahr will fear
neither captivity nor DEATH"
And the Arab steed whinned and
paved the ground with his shining hoof,
as if to say that he understood his mas
ter's speech.
| Then did Abon set to work to gnaw
with his teeth the stout rope that held
his faithful steed. Patiently he labored
for an hour, at the end OF wni,h time
Lalla stood free. But tho horse did Tot
| spring away; instead. he smeilad the
bonds that bound his master and
seemed to realize tae wr3ng.