The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1910-07-09

Apparently the tribesmen noted
nothing amiss u our appearance,
though we presented extra dusty and
dirty looks after our explorations
What's the frst mover" queried
Wayne.
Watch me-" counseled Corttce.
Reckoning the leader of the guard-a
gigantic half neg1o, half Arabic de-
posted in the fellows palm one of the
scarabs, saying:
Give that to your master Tell him
to come here at once. Col"
The fellow gazed amazedly at the
scarab, then at Cartice, then salaamed
and departed on dog-trot for the
oasis, all green ind cleaning in the
morning sun. As we watched we dis
tinctly saw the messenger arrive and
disappear in the sheik's tent. In less
than five minutes the white-robed
sheik himself appeared and strobe
over the desert il our direction.
Thought that would do the bust
ness" commented Cortice. 'You see,
though these Arabs know very little
of the ancient Egyptian religion or its
rites, they are aware that such yalu-
able scarab could only come from a
royal tomb, and they have pillaged so
many that they know there are always
vaIuables to be boxed for, to say moth
ing of the mummy itself"
Where got you this?" the sheik
exclaimed imperiously when within
speaking distance, holding up the
scarab.
Where we can get plenty more"
answered Cortice, with much greater
riches. See this and this!"
The Arabs eyes flashed greedily,
and gathering up his flowing robes he
| crawled into the entrance to the pyra-
mid We grinned at each other in
unholy glee Even If he found the
secret entrance to the sarcophagus
chamber, he would find only a rifed
mummy
In a few minutes out he crawled,
and instantly began to talk business
as well as his limited vocabulary
would allow
What price?4 ne asked.
you put us all on board boat theD
we tell returned Cortice, rafting q
few more scarahs nonchalantly in his
pocket.
Now, I haven't the least doubt that,
if the old robber had dreamed that the
best part of the loot was at that mo-
| ment in Wayne's pocket, our lives and
those of Lady Blanche and Retta Cor,
tiee would not have been worth a snap
of the finger But he didn't or couldnt
suspect that much. Nor did it take
him long to decide, but he was as
cunning as the old serpent himself.
.'A1l right, 9 he assented, showing his
teeth, you go; reach boat; tell where
But white women stay here see you
tell truth"
The old rascal's meaning was obyi.
Gus: He would send US under escort
back to the Nile; there we would di.
vulge the secret of the pyramid. Mean,
while he would hold the girls as host
ages to see that we played fair! OF
course that=didn't suit our book at all
No you DON'T" Wayne and Cor
tice exclaimed in unison; all go or all
stay! Seei" And they turned their
backs on the sheik.
/ Whether he would have given in, OF
! whether he would have tried to extori
the secret from US by force, there i
no telling, for at that instant a'surpris
ing diversion occurred.
From the direction of the oasis there
arose a confused din of shrieks
shouts, and gunshots, and we could
see the tribesmen running Wild.
about, brandishing their long guns Of
untethering their horses. Our she'll
gave one look, uttered a muttereG
curse in his black beard and with the
eight or ten fellows who had been oul
iailers set off on a wild race for the
Arab camp.
The cause of the disturbance nov
appeared on our left With the ris
ing sun at their backs there came rid
ing at a smart gallop over the deser
a troop of khaki-clad Tommies will
an officer at their head, f1anked by
truth peter anu d CU1OE-UGdE0E, tuSl
drawn sabers flashed in their RICH
hands, while the clank Of scabbard ant
chain was the sweetest music / hat
ever heard. They were almost on to-
of the oasis when we first spied them
and even as we gazed they rode RICH
over and through the camp, saberin
the fleeing Arabs right and left. Onl
a few tribesmen escaped, and it give
me pleasure to record that the hea
fuzzy-wuzzy of them all went dow
with a neatly cloven pate at the hand
of Capt Barclay, who was in CON
mand.
The fracas was all over when W
four arrived GREATNESS on the scene
and were received with open arms b
the ladies-at least, two of us were
Lady Blanche almost falling into tn
arms of Barton Cortiee, while Rett
seemed to need supporting by Lor
Westbury Wayne.
Well, the story Of our rescue wa