Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-02-19
ON THE ROAD
TO MECCAH
BY EDGAR n. BACON

lOlu as we sat under the tama-
rind tree in the garden of Josef
Wali-el-Din, the dealer in girls at
ShiraZ:
1t was after the fast of Ramazan,
that makes all men weak and thin,
and the suns heat at midsummer
was like fire to waste the substance
of a mans body. That is why the
sand of the desert was red as blood
TO my eyes and my head swayed from
side to side as / rode.
Sheyck Sulyman, my neighbor,
prated night and day of Utaiba rob
bers-a plague to him-and l knew
that he feared for the safety Of the
pearls that were hidden in the folds
of his turban; yes, l knew that his
daughter had been the price of them;
yet he broke off his lamentations to
recite the prayers when we halted.
When l bowed | could not remember
2 prayer, and the sound of the peo-
pie and the beasts was afar off.
Also. when the rest had completed
their prayers, / forgot 10 raise my
head from my mat.
At last some one took me by the
shoulders, shaking me till / awoke.
/ heard a woman's voice in saluta-
ton: Mailman" tried to answer:
"As'salem alaylum." but my tongue
was too thick for speech, and my viii
was weak.
Then an arm as strong and gentle
as my mothers lifted me- Slowly !
opened my eyes, though AZ first |
distinguished nothing but the motion
of all about me, but at last ] under
stood that the host was astir and
passing by.
Ny mare stood near, and the WON.
an helped me 70 mount but, as ]
turned to bless her, ] saw that she
was daughter Of the Wahhabis
whom my soul lcathes; so my heart
was hardened against her
Fleet as an antelope she ran to-
wards the company Of her own peo-
pie. and lost sight Of her; neverthe-
less, I could not forget, my heart be-
INC sore because I had been helped
by one Of that tribe.
The night was not dark. This
/ Syrian moon Is a softer daylight, and
| saw that / was among a party Of
Alexandrian pilgrims. hail, and
dervishes from the Upper Nile. But
4 the fever had hold Of me again, and
I the things that moved around me
4 faded / rode like a drunken man,
with my hands buried in the shaggy
hair Of my horse. for the hot wind on
my cheek was famed by the wing Of
Azrael. the Angel of Death.
They were lifting me from my
mare. Who? | knew nothing at all,
cared for nothing except that they
had destroyed my rest in the valley
Of lines, and that the spreading
wings Of Azrael darkened the sky
where the dawn should have been.
Then the stupor hoated away for
a little while. as a mist is blown, GO
ing and returning, drifting, always
drifting.
II seemed that there are two OF
me. one that looked down upon the
other and pitied. / saw how they
poured upon the wasted body Of that
\ other the drops Of precious oil and
,vrapped IL in the shroud that !, like
/ all pilgrims 10 Meceah, had provided
before setting out. II had been
sprinkled with holy water from the
prophet's well of Zemzem, against
that day
They laid me IN the sand. cover
ing NV limbs with the shroud and
reciting a prayer from the Koran.
\ Then | was left alone with Azrael'
l for the caravan never waits.
The desert was vast and empty. !
alone in the midst OF il under the
lowering wing Of the shadow.
turned my head TO the right there
were specks in the distance; they
were iackals. Overhead there were
specks in the sky-they were vul-
lures.
Then Fear came and sat beside me
an the sand. and whispered that the
'iackals and the vultures would gath
or nearer. that the fever would burn,
and the thirst AtiAhthts ''t''N -
tongue would thicken and my blood
turn 10 fire. and I would cry 10
Azrael to strike, lest the iackals and
the vultures forgot 70 wait.
But | was a martyr. What com
fort there is in pride. As truly was
III a martyr as II I fen in battle
for Islam. and all the. benefits that
could come to those who marched
about the Kaabah or listened to the
sermon an Arafat-escape from the
demons and a speedy entrance into
Paradise-would be mine.
For an hour I comforted my soul
with these reflections; then ! buried
nv face in the folds Of my shroud
and fear whispered; Il am here
Allah, II is a frightful thing to
lie alone. weak and helpless as
babe in the middle Of the desert, be-
.,yeen the burning Of the fever and
-. -l,;l ~ the shadow and 20 know