Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15

and she watched the sand tor hours but II
was drier than ever The shadow broadened
again, and crept up the rock quickly as the
afternoon passed.
1t was long time since she had heard any
sound from the cave. She went to the
trance and listened; but all was quite still
Perhaps the traveller had fallen asleep from
exhaustion, too tired even to drag himself out
into the air when he could work no longer;
so she sat down in the entrance and waited.
An hour passed. Perhaps he was dead! At
the mere inward suggestion Baraka sprang to
her feet, and her heart beat frantically, and
stood still an instant, and then beat again
if it would burst and she could hardly breathe.
She steadied herself against the rock. and then
went in to know the truth, feeling her way.
and inst actively shading her eyes MANY
people do IN the dark.
breath of cool air made her open them. and
to her amazement there was light before her.
She forward on the smooth sand, and
stumbled on heap of earth and stones, Just
as she saw the sky through an irregular open
ing on the level of her face Scarcely believing
her senses, she thrust out her hand toward the
hole. 1t real and she was not dreaming.
The traveller had got out, and was gone, reck-
ing little of what might happen to her, since
he was free with his treasure!
Baraka crept up the slope of earth as quickly
as she could and got out. If she had hoped
to find him waiting for her, she was dlsap-
pointed, tor he was nowhere to be seen. He
had got clear awav with his camel bag full
the ground. with her face in the little stream,
drinking her fill, and forgetful even of the
man she loved In order to deprive them of
water the men had dug channel by which
it ran down directly from the spring to the
ravine on that side: then they had blocked
up the entrance with stones and earth, be-
heving that one mans strength could never
suffice to break through, and had gone away.
They had probably buried or burned Baraka
clothes, for she did not see them anywhere.
he ate IF dafe 1pa1
mans wallet and bit of the dry black bread,
and felt revived, since her greatest need had
been for water, and that was satisfied. But
when she had eaten and drunk, and had
washed herself in the stream and twisted up
her hair, she sat down on rock; and she
felt SO tired that she would have fallen asleep
if the pain in her heart had not kept her
awake. She clasped her hands together
her knees and bent over them, rocking herself.
WHEN nearly an hour had passed she
w looked up and saw that the
sinking for the shadows were turning purple
in the deep gorge, and there was a golden
light on the peaks above. She listened then.
holding her breath: but there was no sound
except the tinkling OF the tiny stream as it
fell over ledge at some distance below her,
following its new way down the valley.
She rose at last, looked upward, and seemed
about to 90 away, when a thought occurred
to her, which afterward led to very singular
consequences Instead of going down the
valley or climbing out of it, she went back to
the entrance of the cave, taking the wallet
with her, dragged herself in once more over
the loose stones and earth, reached the secret
hollow where the pool had been, and made
straight for the little mine of precious stones.
The traveller had broken out many more than
he had been able to carry; but she did not
try to collect them all She was not altogether
ignorant of the trade carried on by the men
of her family for generations, and, though she
had not the least idea of the real value of the
finest of the rubies, she knew very well that
it would be wise to take many small ones
which she could exchange for clothing and
necessaries with the first women she met in
the hills. while hiding the rest of the supply
she would be able to carry in the wallet.
When she had made her wise selection, she
looked once more toward the quicksand, and
left the place forever Once outside, she be-
gan to climb the rocks as fast as she could, for
very soon it would be night and she would
have to lie down and wait nearly twelve hours
for the dav since there was no moon, and the
way very dangerous, even for Tartar
girl who could almost tread on air.
High up on the mountain, over the dry we'll
where Baraka ana the stranger had been i'm
prisoned, the vulture perched alone with empty
craw and dropping wings But it was of no
for it to wait the living who might have
died of hunger and thirst, were gone. and the
body of dead Saad lay fathoms deep in the