Smyrna times., 1902-11-19

found myself lying among bushes and
blocks OF stone. l was weak and
dazed, and it seemed as if my head
would split open with the pain. No
doubt 1t was a full hour before I
craWied out and staggered toward the
lights of the city. had been conveyed
distance of almost mile from the
cemetery, and daylight came as | sat
down on the steps of a house to hold
my aching head in my hands and try
to reason out the situation. l heard
the voice of native saying that l had
been assaulted. A crowd gathered:
some one brought a doctor. and pres
entity L recovers0 sufficiently to give
the name of my hotel and ask that
carriage be called. l had received a
smart rap, but bad scalp wound was
the only result. After two DAYS in bed
was all right. l had not told nv
story, and the landlord, the doctor and
others simply looked upon it as a case
of assault while l was prowling about
the streets at midnight. The fact that
l had been robbed down to the last
coin was corroborative evidence, and
received many words of caution about
American recklessness. did not give
up my story until / was able to visit
the chief of police in person. When
told him what had happened, he
laughed and said:
"Ah, you foreigners-you must al
ways have a story to account for
everything. but in this case, why need
you tell one? There is no wife to be
deceived"
'"Then you don't believe what l say?"
l asked.
"You went wandering about the
streets at night. You may have had
love adventure. You followed it up too
sharply, and the result was a broken
head. Perhaps the woman was a de-
coy. You are old enough to know what
these things may lead to-"
"But am no fool. tell you l was
struck down in the tomb of Ayun Mu-
sa, and it must have taken two men to
carry me away. What were they do
ing in that place? Why did they as
sault me? If l had been assaulted
elsewhere or in any other manner,
there is no reason why / should not
say So"
'WellY answered the chief.
"Well, why not have the vault
searched?"
"FOr what reasonT
ITO discover who is lurking there, of
course"
"But why should l care who is Turk
ing there?"
Don't you care anything about
catching criminals in this part of the
worldY'
1--WE catch hundreds, but we do not
look for them in the cities of the dead.
l wish you good morning, sir"
The official took it that l was either
a fool or a liar, and / was mad about
it. However, as l could do nothing
without him, had about decided to
let the matter drop when l ran across
an American from Chicago. When
told him the yarn, he offered to accom-
pany me to the tomb Aiming our
selves and taking candles, we set out
for the cemetery. 1t will still be re-
membered in Alexandria what we dis
covered there. There was man asleep
on the floor who proved to be a noto-
rious and much wanted robber, and
that sarcophagus was full to the brim
Of spoils. He had robbed pedestrians,
houses, stores and even churches, and
most Of the stuff was right there. My
watch, pin, ring and $500 in cash were
only a small bit of the plunder. That
tomb was his hiding place and his home,
and he had depended upon superstition
to keep intruders away. We marched
him out as a prisoner and gave him up
to the authorities. was at first in
clined to rub it in on the chief Of po-
lice. He twigged the fact and with
very sober countenance turned on me
with
Eyes, you were telling me straight
story, as it appears, and you have made
capture for which ! thank you, but
don't get too fresh over it. Under the
laws Of Egypt l can have you sent to
prison for ten years for entering a
vault of the dead without official per-
mission. Do you see?"
l saw and had nothing more to say.