The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-05-01


headforemost IN the sands. Then, to
my CONSERVATION, with a queer snort
OF rage, the camel made a little circle.
and with his head thrown up like an
ostrich pursued by a hunter he bump
ed along at a rapid pace over the trail
in the direction Of the caravan.
I'm vain / shouted, in vain l Shrek
ed all the Arab coaxings and impreca.
tlons that knew Then, quite exhaust
ed l sQuatted in the sands, alone, pant
ing, enraged and desolate, watching
my mount fade to a specll on the hori-
zon. / grew resigned however, feeling
that within three or four hours at
most my comrades would be returning
for me.
| shall never forget the first sick
ening sense of loneliness that OPP
pressed me there in the great desert,
apparently abandoned of heaven and
earth. had no food and only a little
water. l knew that 1t was days and
days by camel journey from any
succoring hand, ana that I was now
completely at the mercy of the norma
die bands of robbers which invest the
rocky ravines, and would, moreover,
be beset by the jackals and vultures
the moment l showed signs Of faint
ing under the scourging sun. The
strain grew maddening. For a long
time l bore it; and then, no longer
able to fight with the demon of ST.
lence, and haunted more than ever
now by the presence Of human and ami
NAL skeletons half buried in the drift
ing sands, l arose and plodded on. But
little did l dream that there was yet
a more dreaded enemy than vultures,
leopards, or even the predatory rob-
bers soon to encompass me.
"The first warning that had of its
terrible approach was the soft OBJ
scuration of the sun, which stood so
straight overhead that it cast my
form in circling shadow about me
just to the tips of my toes. A sort of
silken mist floated before the coppery
Sky. Then this thin cloudiness seemed
to descend, the wind arose, and the
sirocco grew heavier and more OPP
pressive. I bowed my head, pressing
forward with increasing difficulty now.
Up from the limitless southwest the
dreaded scourge was closing down
upon me. My God!' l mummured at
last, losing courage at the sound Of
my own voice, 1T is a simoon!'
"The wind was rising in a gale. l
heard the roar of the sand blast from
afar. These gusts of hot, white atoms
grew sharper and fercer now; and if
| bod worn a King Arthur coat of
mail, / scarcely think it would have
been proof against that volley of dead
ly dust 1t penetrated my clothing till
felt the layer of it chatting the flesh
at every movement My nostrils were
clogged so that breathing became more
labored and painful. My ears were
stuffed up so that it deadened the in
creasing whistle and roar; and though
my eye were almost closed, the aw-
full volley seemed to penetrate1T lfre
very lids. Then l finally succh rea
falling to my knees, and at lasme adj,
upon my face, covering my he'll; lin,
the ample folds of my burnouse. mol
For long time l lay there in the
thick, drifting mounds, the monoto-
nous shrek of the simeon lulling me
RI clOon IN w
pose but one filled with frightful
nightmares and monitions of evil.
Once in a while the shrill cry of a
lost jackal or a desert bird broke the
abhorrent spell, but the sound brought
no cheer. After what seemed to be a
dangerously long time, awoke, recov-
| ering from this sort of daze rather
than sleep, and looked vaguely about
me. Shaking the sand from my bur
mouse, / took my watch. 1t had stopped
the dust having penetrated it anC
clogged its delicate machinery. stood
up, and brushing the sand from my
eyes, peered over the trackless plain
Nothing but a dead grim waste o
wilderness; but, thank Heaven, Thu
storm was coating. l vaguely remem
bered the direction of my course, al
though the trail was now wholly OBJ
liberated, and started bravely on. Blu
so chafed and faint was l that sool
found all effort torture, and at las
sank in my tracks with a moan.
For a long time l lay in a sort o
stupor Then I heard a voice. 1t wa
more human than any l had heard i
the loneliness Of tie desert, althoug
it was a moan of anguish rather tha
a call of rescue. l rose and turne