The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-05-10
there was no light in the tent. Stin
men were there who talked In the dark

ness.
Good" said q yoice-it was that Of
one of the brethren. but which he could
not tell. for even to those who knew
them best they seemed to be the same.
Good. Then 1t is settled. Tomorrow
at the hour arranged you bring the
princess to the place agreed upon, dis
guised as you have said. In payment
for this service / hand you the luck OF
Hassan, which you coyet. Take it,
here 1t is, and swear to do your part,
since otherwise it will bring no luck
to you, for will kill you the first time
we neet-yes, and the other also"
II swear 1t by Allah and his prophet"
sTt IL enough. See that you keep the
oath. And now away. 1t Is not safe
that you should tarry here"
Then came the sound Of a man leav-
ing the tent. Passing round it eau
tiously, he halted and, opening his
hand, looked at its contents to make
sure that no trick had been played
upon him In the darkness. Mesrour
screwed his head round to look also.
In so doing his foot struck stone and
instantly Abdullah glanced down to see
a dead or drunken man lying almost
at his feet. With a swift movement,
he hid the Jewel and started to walk
away. Then, bethinking that it would
be well to make sure that this fellow
was dead or sleeping, he turned and
thrice kicked the PROSTATE Mesrour
upon the back, and with all his
strength.
IT thought / saw him move" Abdul. /
lab muttered after the third kick. 1T
is best to make sure" and he drew his
knife.
Now, had not terror paralyzed him
Mesrour would have cried out, but for /
tunately for himself before he found
his voice Abdullah had buried the knife
three inches deep in his fat thigh.
With IN effort, Mesrour bore this also.
knowing that IL he showed signs Of
life the next stroke would be in his
heart. Then, satisfied that this fellow.
whoever he might be, was either a
corpse or insensible, Abdullah drew out
the knife, wiped it on his victims robe
and departed.
Not long afterward Mesrour depart
ed also toward the sultan's house, bel
lowing with rage and pain and vowinx
vengeance.
That very night Abdullah was seiz-
ed and put to the question. In his suf-
fering he confessed that he had been
to the tent Of the brethren and received
from one Of them the jewel which was
found upon him as bride to bring
the princess to certain garden out
side the camp. But he named the
NH
asked which Of the brethren it was
who bribed him he said he did not
know, as their voices were alike and
their tent was in darkness. Moreover,
that he believed there was only one
man in it-at least he heard or saw no
other. He added that he was sum-
moned to tie tent by an Arab man
whom he had never seen before, but
who told him that If he wished for
what he most desired and good fortune
ne was to be there at a certain hour
after sunset. Then he tainted and was
put back In prison till the morning by
the command of Saladin.
When the morning came Abdullah
ments with doom at the end of them,
having made shift to strangle himself
with his robe. Thus died Abdullah. as
faithful as he could be in such sore
straits, since he had betrayed neither
Masouda nor his son. both of whom
were in the plot. and said that only
one of the brethren was present in the
tent, whereas he knew we'll that the
two OF them were there and which of
these spoke and gave him the jewel
Very early that morning the breth-
rem, who were lying wakeful heard
sounds without their tent and, looking
out, saw that it was surrounded by
mamelukes.
'"The plot Is discovered" said God
win to Wulf quietly, but with despair
in his face.
"Shall we fght?' asked Wulf as they
threw on their mail. But Goodwin an
swered:
may; it would serve us nothing to
kill few brave men,"
Then an officer entered the tent and
commanded them to give up their
swords and to follow him to Saladin
against them both; nor would he say
any more. So they went as prisoners
and after waiting awhile were ushered
into a large room Of the house where
Saladin lodged. which was arranged
as a court, with a dais at one end
Before this they were stood, till pres
emily the sultan entered through the
farther door and with him certain Of
his emirs and secretaries. Also Rosa
mund, who looked very pale, was
brought there. and in attendance on
her Masouda, calm faced as ever.
The brethren bowed to them, but
Saladin, whose eyes were full of rage,
/ took no notice of their salutation. For
moment there was silence. then Sal
adm babe secretary read the charge,
which was brief 1t was that they had
conspired to steal away the Princess
of Baalbec.
where is the evidence against us?'
asked Goodwin boldly. The sultan is
just and convicts no man save on tes-
timony."
Again Saladin motioned to the secre-
tary. who read the words that had
been taken down from the lips Of the
captain Abdullah. They demanded to
be allowed to examine the captain Alb
dullah and learned that he was al
ready dead. Then the eunuch Mesrour