Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-08
We have

10 lose! "nat else can happen!
leave the bodies here. 1t would be awful
Ali she sighed. there is no horror |
to equal mine l have the blood of three |
men on my soul.
She suffered him to lead her away. He |
tried to console her by throwing all the |
responsibility on the Italian; but he |
felt that this palsied woman scarce lis |
tened to his words. He was almost glad |
to leave her alone with her mOurnful |
thoughts In active work he could find |
distraction from the sad influences of
this fatal treasure hunt There were |
still many things he did not comprehend; |
but he resolutelv dismissed all self COM
lnuning Perhaps. when the first parox-
ys1n of woe had exhausted itself, Mrs |
HaXton might explain: meanwhile, he |
must endeavor to hide the chief features |
of the tragedy ere Irene arrived.
When he moved Alfieri's body in order |
to examine his clothing. he saw that the |
man coat was torn at the breast the |
cloth having caught a Jagged rock as
its wearer fell from the saddle. Through |
this rent a pocketbook and some papers |
had slipped out. They were resting on
little sand drift at the base of the rock |
that had caused the damage. The pocket
book was open. Some of the sand had
entered its compartments. And in one
of them were the papyrus leaves found
in the tomb of Demetriades' the Greek,
whose mortal eyes were the last that had |
gazed on the treasure of Sheba.
In truth, here was one of the world 5 |
dramas with its scenes divided by two
thousand years; yet the parched desert
was content to wait there placldly, IN |
sure and certain knowledge that the cur
tain would rise again on that grim play, |
~, Gov no
tween the acts How little changed was
the stage! But what of the actors? Did
the modern troupe differ so greatly from
the two-thousand-ye ar-old cast,-the mer-
chant in ivory and skins who quilted
his quiet business at Alexandria to seek
adventure and gold, the Romans who
went to kill and plumber an inoffensive
people, the Nubians who waylaid them,
and left their bones to bleach? Assuredly,
looking at the dead bodies stretched in a
row at his feet, Royson deemed mankind
as Interchangeable as the desert.
A T two O'Clock, when the stars and a
new moon were dimly lighting the
circle of hills an Arab vedette reported the
approach of a large kafila from the west.
Soon the Jingle of acCOutermentS and
the cries of camels who scented the oasis
heralded the arrival of the main body.
When Dick lifted weary Irene from the
saddle he made no pretense of shyness,
but kissed her heartily.
Yet Dicks tidings caused grave faces
in the small circle round the camp fire.
Fenshawe, as responsible leader of the
expedition, felt the weight of this added
burden of death. There was no gain
saying the fact that he had been dragged
into an unlawful enterprise. He was in
Italian territory against the will of the
authorities. Though he and those under
his control were guiltless of actual wrong
doing it was exceedingly unfortunate
that Altieri had not lived to make dis
position. The treasure seekers must now
depend on the testimony of the wounded
Hadcndowas, four of whom had sur
rendered voluntarily; for the one great
principle which the East has learned
from the West is that Europeans usually
show humanity to a disabled foe. Alb
dullah too assured the millionaire that
the Italian officer who accompanied AL
fieri from Massawa warned the latter
against any act of violence and would
have restrained him from undertaking an
apparently useless search if the instruc-
tons received from Rome had not di-
rected that every assistance was to be