The Holly chieftain., 1900-08-31

W ~ = = y
his eyes that might have vssuelyi
alarmed Adrienne had she seen 1t, but
she did not
When the servant appeared she
said quietly:
See Major Rayburn to the door.
Mahomed." And the native servant,
bowling low, held the door open for the
"Excellency." ~
Rayburn turned away with bow.
almost as low as Mahomed'S. At the
door he turned for moment
rGood-hy." he, said in the same
hoarse tones Whatever may happen
after this. you will have the satisfac-
ton Of knowing you have driven me
to it,"
Adrienne made no answer, merely
bowling slightly as she made gesture
with her hand to Mahomed, indicating
that he was to 90. ss ~
But when the door had closed on the
figures Of the two men she remained
standing where she was, her hand
resting on the little inlaid table before
her. an expression of strange fear and
apprehension creeping slowly over her
beautiful face.
He cannot harm him--he cannot!".
she murmured, as II trying to convince
herself Of the truth OF the words.
Then sudden CULVER ran through her,
and she covered her face with her
hands. II cannot hide the truth from
T.
CHAPTER vi.
A march In the desert. A march
over that waste of painless. yellow
sand, under burning, torrid sun,
with a sky above of quivering, paipi-
tating. passionate, blazing heat; with
burning, sand-blistered feet. blood
shot, sandfilled eyes, clothes soaked
to wet pulp with perspiration, limbs
that almost refused to drag their
weary weight over the way.
1t was Paul Cleland's f1rst experience
of the desert. Most OF the long line of
human beings, creeping like black
snake across the white waste, had been
there before. some of them for many
years. during preceding campaigns, but
Cleland had no experience of the Sou
dan. and he suffered In proportion, as
all newcomers do.
Still. he was tough and strong, and
had all Scotchman's dogged endur-
ance: he would never own himself
beaten where others did not
They were marching from Berber to
Atbara. and had as yet heard nothing
Of the enemy.
Cleland had already found his serv-
Ices required. One or two of the new
recruits among the British had been
attacked by such diseases as only the
desert knows. These he had treated,
to his own immense satisfaction, sue
cessfully. It was good to know that
he was necessary factor to the we'll
being OF the army.
Coming out of binding sandstorm
one day they halted at ruined vii
lage. destroyed by the Mahdis cruel
decree, and remained there overnight
Cleland found a ruined hut, in which
he established himself, with his two
native boys" to keep guard. He was
dead tired. and, making himself as
comfortable as he could, he rolled him
self In his rug and was soon fast
asleep, though the far-off screams of
jackets prowling in the outskirts of
the camp. sometimes mingled with the
hoarse laugh of the hyena, might have
kept him awake under other circum-
stances.
Suddenly, however, he was awak-
ened. and that effectually. Something
was moving in the hut
He started up in bed and looked
around. The moon-a desert moon,
white and clear almost as daylight
was shining into the tent. BY its
light he could see his two boys"
asleep on the sun-baked turf that
formed the floor in far corner of the
hut.
He saw something else, though-a
smooth, round, dark head and two
glaring eyes, looking like balls of
fire, fixed on his face.
He could not tell what the animal
was at that distance. 1t might be a
jacket, panther, or-most terrible of
ala hyena, watching its opportunity
for spring. But, whatever 1t was,
Cleland had no doubt about one thing
his only safety lay in perfect self
possession at this awful moment.
He was usually cool and self-pos-
sessed enough; but there are not
many men who can wake up at the
dead OF night, to find a bloodthirsty
beast Of prey within a few feet NJ