The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-09-04

II MOTOCfD LOT SllIIilS lL'l'
-O-I dent Let them merely be
lll9I ll9Ill captured by the tribesmen
who are In revolt against
the Sultan, and If they live 10 tell the
story, publishers viii be eager enough
10 buy IL. They are fairly certain OF
receiving courteous treatment. They
may be chopped 10 pieces as an ex-
ample Of what the followers Of the
prophet can do TO dog Of an un-
believer, but until that moment arrives
they will live as well as their captOrs-
which, II not up TO western standards,
Is better than not living at all. This Is
suggested by the story told by Mr..
Harris. the correspondent OF the Lon
don Times. who speaks from expert
ence. His capture and retention by
the tribesmen constituted almost an
international incldcnt-as his captOrs
desired-and his release after three un-
! comfortable weeks was the result only
) OF much skilled diplomacy on the part
! of the British foreign office.
Mr.. Harris is an old hand in the East
! He has lived in Morocco many years
and knows everybody there that is
worth knowing. He has lived with
! the Arabs Of the Yemen. and escaped
| from their desire to kill Christians by,
so TO say, the skin Of his teeth. But
his capture shows that he has not yet
fully fathOmed the guile Of the Oren-
tai. The troops OF the Sultan had just
burned village, and Mr.. Harris went
out to see what had been done. He
was unarmed, and was accompanied
only by his Moorish groom. Out on the
plain he was shot at and "A retreat
was ordered. when his movement was
stopped by the approach Of two tribes
men, whom he knew who advanced
with conventional signs of fricndliness.
They wanted TO know what the Sultan
intended doing, and asked him to come
10 the chief so that he might get
messages to carry to his majesty.
Under promises Of safe conduct he
went, and was promptly pounccd upon
ana captured by retainers OF Raisuli,
the chief.
Ralsuli, according 10 his story, Is n
handsome young man. mild in manner
and courteous in address. Mr.. Harris
had known him well in Tangicr before
he took to the hills. He received the
Englfshman warmly and told him that
no harm would come TO him as long rs
the Sultan made no attack. If this
happened he would sOrrowfully be
compelled To kill him. Perhaps he
would kill him anyway, for by what
better means could he cmbarrass his
enemy than by killing a prominent
Christian, and an Englishman at that?
This was all said in the presence of
some 2000 tribcsmcn, most of whom
were nourishing their knives ana
hangers in n most threatening manner.
In the meantime, everything possible
would he done for the comfort of the
prisoner.
They put him in jail. II was very
small, very dark and very dirty room.
When the prisoners eyes became ac-
customed TO the darkness. he saw on
the floor the hcadlcSs trunk of a man.
That was a cheerful beginning. and
Mr.. Harris's feelings were not quietcd
by the remarks made by some men
who little later came in TO remove
the corpse. The intimation was that
soon there would be another in the
same room, and of n giaour. For nine
days he was kept in this room. He
got in quantity, all he wanted To eat,
except once, when for thrtysi hours
there was food for no one and. save
for Il few kicks and slaps with slippers.
he was not msused. He was not
allowed To change his clothes or To
wash his face. Every evening ut sun
down he was taken out To have n con-
versation with Raisuli who kept assur-
ing him that possibly, but not prob
ably, his life would be spared. Once.
rs an earnest OF this. he was taken
down to n gully 60 see the mutilatcd
body of Moorish soldier. who had
been captured. and jokingly assured
him that n few days might see him in
the same condition.
At the end Of nine days, on n hot.
moQnlcss night he was put on n mules
back and taken up into the mountains,
where he was the captive of a tribe
friendly to him. There he remained
for twelve days, I'm great luxury. rs
compared with what he had endured
at the hands of Raisuli. He became,
in a sense. one of the tribc,-shaycd
his head and adopted their customs
generally. 1t was very pleasant
vacation. and would have been thor
oughly enjoyed had not there been the
very uncomfortable feeling that should
the negotiations fall through he would
be put out of the way with small cerc-
mony. In the end he got his release.
although IL almost led to bloodshcd
among the tribeSmen, and with great
ceremony was conducted into Tangier
Thus ended the adventure. which
merely shows that the Balkans have
not a monopoly on the exciting Incl
dents of the modern world.
4 NIGHT IN A KINGS TOME.