The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-06-27


Through Esrcely hostile region, occu-
i pied by Arabs with whom no sort Of
peace had ever been made, the most
/ savage as well as the most predatory
of the wandering tribes.
We must ride as hard and as fast as
we can and as silently were the only
words he exchanged with Rake as he
! loosened his gray to hand gallon.
The 1rst five and twenty miles pass
ed without interruption, and the horses
laid well and warmly to their. work.
Ihey halted to rest and bait the beasts
IN rocky hollow. s5.t... <
DO you ever think of him, sir?'' said
Rake softly, with a lingering love in
| his voice as he stroked the grays and
tethered them. - r. = II =.
"Of whom ?'' .- ~. -
"Of the King, sir. II he's alive, he's
| getting rare old horse now" ---
'1Think of him! 1 wish 1 did not.
Rake" - =
"Wouldn't you like to see him again,
STRIP + - ',>t.- S..
what folly to ask! You Know
Eyes, sir; know" said Rake slowly.
And / know-leastways l picked it
out Of an old paper-that your elder
brother died, sir, like the old lord, and
Mr.: Berk's got the title"
To his bitter disappointment, Cecips
face showed no change, no wonder.
: Il have heard that" he said calmly
as calmly as though the news had no
bearing on his fortunes, but was some
strangers history.
well, sir, but he amt the lord"
pleaded Rake passionately 'He won't
never be while you're living, sir!"
"Oh, yes, he is. l am dead, you
know"
But he won't, STRIP reiterated Rake,
You're Lord Royallieu, if ever there
was Lord Royalleu and if ever there
will be one"
You mistake. An outlaw has no civ
il rights and can claim none"
The man looked very wistfully at
MIN; all these years through he had
never learned why his master was
thus "dead'' in Africa, and he had too
loyal love and faith ever to ask, or
ever to doubt but that Cecil was the
Wronged and not the wrongdoer.
"You amt outlaw, sir" he NUT
tered. "You could take the title if YOU
would"
"Oh, no! I left England under a
| criminal charge. I should have to dis
prove that before could inherit"
Rake cr17cEo1 1,;+4o, oo4l,. :.,L. l
tered words as he heard. "You could
disprove it, sir, of course, right and
away, if you chose"
mo, or should not have come here
Let us leave the subject. 1t was Set
tied long ago. My brother is Lord
Royallieu. I would not disturb him if
l had the power, and have not it,
They were before long in saddle
again and off, the country growing
wilder at each stride the horses took.
1T is all alive with Arabs for the
next ten leagues said Cecil, as he
settled himself in his saddle. "They
have come northward and been sweep
ing the country like locust swarm,
and we shall blunder on some of them
sooner or later. If they cut me down,
don't wait, but slash my saber tasche
loose and ride off with it:''
''All right, SIR" said Rake obedi-
emily; but he thought to himself,
leave you alone with them demons :?
Hang me if willp'
And away they went once more in
speed and in silence, the darkness of
full night closing in on them, the skies
being black with the heavy drift of ris-
ing stormclouds. They had reached
the center of the plain when the sound
they had long looked for rang on their
ears, piercing the heavy, breathless
stiffness of the night 1t was the AL
lah-il-Allah of their foes, the warcry
of the Moslem. Out. of the gloom
whether from long pursuit or some
near hiding place they could not tell
there broke suddenly upon them the
fury of an Arab onslaught. How they
were attacked, how they resisted, how
they struck, how they were encompass
ed, how they thrust back those who
were hurled on them in the black night,
with the north sea wind like ice upon
their faces and the loose African soil
drifting up in clouds Of sand around
them, they could never have told, nor
how they cut their way through the
foe whose very face they scarce could
see and plunged away into the shad-
ows across the desolation of the plain,
pursued whether by one or by a thou
sand they could not guess, for the gal
lop was noiseless on the powdered soil,
and the Arab yell of baf1ed passion
and slaughterous lust was half drown
ed in the rising of the windstorm.
The first faint streak Of dawn grew
gray in the east when Cecil felt his
charger stagger and sway beneath him
and halt, worn out and quivering in ev-
cry sinew with fatigue. He threw
himself off the animal in time to save
himself from falling with it as it reel
ed and sank to the ground.
+ "Massena cannot stir another yard"
he said. do you think they follow US
6