The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-03-18


my mount fade to speck on the hori-
zon. | grew resigned. however, feeling
that within three or four hours at
most my comrades would be returning
for me-
l shall never forget the first sick
ening sense of loneliness that op-
pressed me there in the great desert,
apparently abandoned of heaven and
earth. had no food and only little
water. | knew that it was days and
days by camel journey from any
succoring hand, ana that l was now
completely at the mercy of the noma-
die bands CT robbers which invest the
rocky ravines, and would, moreover,
be beset by the jackals and vultures
the moment | showed signs of faint
ing under the scourging sun. The
strain grew maddening. For a long
time 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, arose and plodded on. But
Il
more dreaded enemy than vultures,
leopards, or even the predatory rob-
bers soon to encompass me.
"The first warning that l had Of its
terrible approach was the soft OBJ
scuration of the sun, which stood so
straight overhead that 1t cast my
form in a circling shadow about me
just to the tips of my toes. A sort of
silken mist fioated before the coppery
sky. Then this thin cloudiness seemed
to descend, the wind arose, and the
sirocco grew heavier and more op-
pressive. 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.
heard the roar of the sand blast from
afar. These gusts of hot, white atoms
grew sharper and fiercer now; and II
l hod worn King Arthur coat of
mail, l scarcely think it would have
been proof against that volley of dead
ly dust. 1t penetrated my clothing till
l felt the layer Of it chafing 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 penetrate the
very lids. Then l finally succumbed,
falling to my knees, and at last prone
upon my face, covering my head with
the ample folds of my burnouse.
"For long time l lay there in the
thick, drifting mounds, the monoto-
nous shrek Of the simeon lulling me
to sleep. 1t was not refreshing re-
pose, but one filled with frightful
nightmares and monitions of evil.
Once in a while the shrill cry of
lost jackal or a desert bird broke the
abhorrent spell, but the sound brought
no cheer. After what seemed to be
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 and
clogged its delicate machinery. | stood
up, and brushing the sand from my
eyes, peered over the trackless plain.
Nothing but q dead grim waste of
whiteness; but, thank Heaven, the
storm was abating. / vaguely remem-
bered the direction Of my course, al
though the trail was now wholly OBJ
liberated, and started bravely on. But
SO chafed and faint was that / soon
found all effort torture, and at last
sank in my tracks with moan.
For long time / lay in a sort of
stupor. Then ! heard a voice. 1t was
more human than any l had heard in
the loneliness of the desert, although
1t was a moan of anguish rather than
call of rescue. l rose and turned
sharply in the direction of the sound,
and soon perceived a kneeling, sway
ing figure at some distance. The
thought of a human being, let him
prove whatever he might be- made my
poor heart leap. | came closer, and
was amazed to discover that the sway
ing figure was that of half naked
and more than half-blind slave boy.
There was a moveless shape half
buried in the drifting mound before
him. l uncovered it, amazed to find
that 1t was Nubian sheik lying upon
his face, quite dead.
when the slave realized the pres
ence of another human being, he fell
groveling at my feet as If had been
an angel come from heaven. His mouth
and tongue were swollen with fever,
and | pressed the canteen to his lips,
but he could not drink. He was chat
tering wildly in a language did not un-
derstand, raving, and more than half de-
mented. The sheik had been robbed OF
everything worth carrying away, the
scoundrels leaving him only his bur-
mousse and small skin of water, which
was already fiat and dried into chip.
The poor traveller must have died from
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