The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-02-07

round their bodies; the food they had
to eat consisted chiefly of dates. The
men were armed, for the most part,
with spears and Shields though there
We're old guns among them. One would
certainly not think the tribe or the en-
campment worthy Of the notice of his
tory save for the fact that right in
the middle of the camp there were
sitting, without any protection Of
white cotton tent, the two English
men whose remarks on the mirage you
, have just heard. They were prisoners
Of war, whose lives were spared when
the Egyptians were all speared. Why
|. they were not massacred with the
rest has never been found out. Per
haps it will remain a secret forever.
They were pretty ragged by this
time, having been prisoners and on the
tramp for six months. Their coats
hung upon their shoulders in long
strips, which they would have torn
|, off but for ! the protection afforded
against the sun; the legs of their trous-
ers had been mostly torn off in strips
! in order to provide bindings for their
feet, from which the boots had either
dropped or had been taken off. To
walk barefooted in the African sands
lis fei English feet very nearly the
same thing as to walk upon ten mil
lions of Sharp pointed needles all red
hot. Even the eleven thousand British
virgins of Aachen had only one pin
+ for the whole lot to dance upon. But
suppose they had been ordered to
dance upon ten millions of pins apiece!
Their flannel shirts were in strips; as
for watches, revolvers, glasses, water
bottles, belts, and everything else,
these had long since been taken from
them Of all their kit they preserved
Eo1ly their helmets, which, as bound
in common gratitude, had in return
preserved their. owners lives against
sunstroke Their hair had grown long
and matted, like the black ringlets
of their captors; their faces were COW
cred with thick boards, and six
months wanderings in the desert on a
diet principally composed CT dates and
brackish' water had taken the super
f1uous fat from their fingers, sharpened
their features, given their eyes a
peculiar brightness and eagerness un-
known in countries of civilization,
where the human eye is apt to swell
with fainess, and doubtless added ten
years to their lives should they ever
get home.
The scene before them, apart from
the mirage, was a landscape of low
hills and rolling ground; everywhere
was gray sand, with, for vegetation.
tufts of dead desert grass. The two
Englishmen sat side by side in silence.
There was nothing to say. When
man has been made a tramp, without
aim or object, for six long months,
during which he has had no news of
the. outer world, and has been all the
time hungry and thirsty. he is not
inclined to talk. Tonight the two men
were so. tired with the days march
that. they sat without speaking word,
until one of their captors brought them
supper, consisting of some bread and
dates with a draught of water.
tom" saids one of them, sis the
finest beverage at the club compar-
able with a good pull of warmish
water in such place as this and after
such a days march?"
Tom was at the very moment tax
ing that pull.
q: When they had eaten their supper
ssthey Ebegan;to talk.
''Tonf,y, said the first, resuming the
,f. inh
: !. my epfnion remains the same. We
: hftye back somewhere near the
place Swlsras we started"
.gs ToIn, -sthat if you
should happe ensta Be wrong, our goose
is coaked. Nff6e1lf the least doubt, and
!; : ;tYezshau Ys eth hepstarEe*in this Internal
{ desert SCI oFEsfba E f afptufeft gain, when we
shall most Certainly be stuck"
"Yes,-but 1 am, sure that Lam not
mistaken. l remember the outline of
those hills the very first day we were
brought in, when we expected to be
killed every instant
"It may happen any minute as it is.
These fellows are not in a hurry, be-
cause we are always in their hands
AS for me- very we'll remember the
funk I was in, but I forgot the hills"
!; 'T6m, tits the same place" the other
man repeated, earnestly. 81 am sure
it is. We are within q few hours of
the Egyptian fort. 1 believe they
have come back here in the hopes of
meeting other tribes and getting up
another massacre, if the Egyptians can
be lured outside their walls. Tom
he lowered his voice to q whisper,
though not one could understand what
they Were saying-''within half days
march is freedom, if you want to win
it. Do you understand that?"
SIT is not dark saying, old man. AS
for my wanting to win it, he replied
you're a soldier. Take the command,
and tell me what to do. I will obey
if it leads-to death, McLauct-lin. on
the bare chance OF getting out of
this"
We will wait until they are ali
asleep. They have left eff setting Il
watch. Thep we will quietly sip
away and make fer the coast. l am
sure we are near it. l can smell the
sea; though it is only TIE Red Sea. II
we ere sHcky we shall sight the fort
and the ships"
-';:And%suppose we take the wrong
turn. and go north. instead of south:'
in that case. Tom, we shall travel
round the Whole world, twenty-five
thousand miles, or th2rcabouts. before
wp5gpt 10 the fort At twenty miles
a day it is only twelve hundred days.
or four years, allowing Us to rest on
sSupdays.'
81 should give up trying for the fort
and strike Off northwest, where Lon
don is-and Katherine" said Tom, with
Il curious catch in his voice.
"I've got katherine, too said the
man called NcLauchIin. I'D go north
west with you, old man. Oh. Tom
be laid his hand on the others shoulder
ITO be free again. TO go home and
tell them We are not dead after ALL