Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-11-05

Tor the caravan never waits.
How glorious it was as it passed
away across the desert! The horses
and dromedaries with trappings of
crimson and mountings of brass that
flung back the sunlight; the plod-
ding daniels, burdened with merchan-
disc; <the white burnouses of some
princes retinue, starred with points
of glittering steel, dashing among
the press of filters and vans, of
mules and asses, and the struggling
horde. OF Vehders. and mendica1its.
There was the train from Bulak and
the company from Cairo; there rode
the dervishes. that had come up from
van; splendid with scarlet and green
and gold, i In the midst of all, sur
rounded by moving sea of bright
-hued awnings, but towering far
above Them ,4moyed the litter that the
sultan at Stamboul had sent with
presents for; the. prophets shrine.
And. ever above that moving mass
rose the voices of thousands, eontinu-
ally crying: Labhayk-'Allah
--abbayk!"' Farther and farther
away they went. The colors faded
into the blue of, the desert horizon,
the cry became a murmur-''L La bbayk
-Labbayk-here am I.
aLabbaylA-here am I. The mist
drifted away, once more. Allahumma
here am I-alone!
The desert was vast and, empty. I
alone in the midst of it under the
lowering wing of the shadow. I
turned my head to the right; there
were specks in the distance; they
were iackals. Overhead there were
specks in the sky-they were vu1-
lures.
Then Fear came and sat beside me
on the sand, and whispered that the
jackals and the vultures would gath
er nearer, that the fever would burn
and the thirst torment, that nv
tongue would thicken and my blood
turn to fire, and / would cry to
Azrael to strike, lest the jackals and
the vultures forgot to wait.
.. But ! was martyr. What a com
fort there is in pride. AS truly was
l a martyr as if I fell in battle
for Islam, and all the benefits that
could come to those who marched
about the Kaabah or listened to the
sermon an sArafat-escape from the
demons and a speedy entrance into
Paradise-would be mine.
For an hour I comforted nv soul
with these reflections; then I buried
my face in the folds of my shroud
and fear whispered: 81 am here"
Allah! It is a frightful thing to
lie alone, weak and helpless as a
babe, in the middle of the desert, be-
tween the burning of the fever and
the chill of the shadow, and to know
that the specks in the distance come
nearer and nearer.
l lifted my voice, weak as a babes.
in that solitude, and cried in despair:
'Iabbayl!" and an answering cry
came from the distance: "Labbayk!"
Alhamdu lila! l was not deserted.
Some one came swiftly across the sand
of the desert, alone and on foot.
could see by the light lisam that
covered her mouth that it was a won-
head away when | knew that it was
the hated daughter of the Wahhabis.
She kneeled at my side. raising my
head to her knee. l heard the gurgle
of water in the goat skin zemzimiyah
that she carried.
Drink" she commanded. I, being
too weak to contend, drank; then she
made shade over me from the sun
and pillowed my head in her lap, Groom
ing mountain song until slept. But
before [ slept L knew that Fear had
gone away.
When 1T was night again the woman
reused me to put between my lips a
sweet strong cordial that gave me
strength. With her arm still under me
staggered to my feet, and thus we set
out, guided by star that hung high
IN the west.
All night we journeyed. { was like
me walking in sleep, or like child
unwillingly, crying with
WEAKNESS and anger that she would
not let me lie down on the sand. NY
Shroud was around me still, and it
brailed on the sand. but I needed not.
far away now was the trail of the car
AVIAN, like scar on the bosom of the
desert, and our own track pitiful,
Navering line that bent to the west.
L cursed the woman that she would
not let me alone, but my weak rebel
ION was as nothing to her will, so |
stumbled on and the daughter of the
Wa hhS his held mo IN +iIl - 49,. 4 49,.