The Washington times., 1910-11-13
The Shadow of the Sphinx

in my tent for Hope. her father and
Jack.
an afternoon, / started back for our
/ camp with the basket under my arm.
! But a track OF light lay suddenly
atnwart my path. The curtain of one u
1 the princess tents had been drawn
aside, and Feridah herself stood before
! me.
I heard your voice. said she. II
knew il was yours. You have been
with my father
Not recently" made answer, set
| ting down the basket. Il talked with
| him after ! left YOU this morning"
He wished you TO change your
| creed2" she asked
l was taken abacll At the question II
| she knew this much, might she not also
| have learned our other theme of dis
YES said I. ''he spoke of it. but
did not insist"
You refused, then?'
Yes"
1t matters less than he thinks she
commented indiferently. But he alsD
consulted you on other mattersY'
Yes" | answered. thoroughly III II
ease and seeking escape from the con-
versa tional pitfaH into which l seemed
about 20 topple, "Of other matters, as
you say. Look / went on, awlSard-
~ changing the subject by pointing
downward at the basket, this fruit has
just be1 sent me. Won't you honor me
..F,uit?" she cried in childish delight.
dropping to her knees and seekin
Ugf1SJ. % the woven grass cover. / bent
TO relieve her 81 the task, unwindlnS
the grass cords as best / could by the
light from within the tent, while she
kuelt beside the basket eagerly watch
ing my clumsy efforts At length the
cords were undoue and l threw back
the cover. disclosing a shining top lay
Of ora no Lea
l pulled these aside and prepared 70
thrust my hand down into the basket
saving as l did so.
4 think you have misjudsed Hafiz-
"Hafz sent you that?" she cried
Shrilly.
Yes 1 made answer, in surprise ~
her vehemence. Just now he
The girl caught the heavy basket. and
cXerting all her strength, IN one light
ming movement, hurled II beyond the
scope CT nv outstre,ched hand
you foolr' she painted, leaping up
from her kneelinE position.
!, too, rose, staring AZ her dunn
founded.
You were putting YOUR hama into that
basket The basket Hahz sent she
cried. Has Allah breaJhed upon your
brain?"
Il don't understand / murmured. be-
wildercd. as l stopped TO pick up one or
overturned receptacle, L
DON'T she commanded fiercely,
SprinEiuC between me and the streWn
fruit. There is death in them
Nonsense" declared, annoyed at
her meiOdramatic assumption Of terror
the sending Of poisoned fruit would be
too easily traced. l don't intend 10 lose
all those oranges just because
He would arrange so that IT could
not be traced" she insisted DO not
r1f1 4 \
near enough 10 YOU, And YOU have not
the wit>es see it,
Nettled at her free scOrn, / moved
aside from where she stood facing me,
and doEErdlv STROBE across TO where the
upset basket lay at the very doorway OF
ner tent. 1 leaned over TO pick IL up;
then paused.
out of the Observation-Disclosures depths
Of the receptacle something dashed. So
swiftly did IL move and SO deceptive
was the light that [ could not for the
instant determine whether the slender
dark object was more than a Pickering
shadow from the lamp behind
But, once cree Of the basket, the thing
ceased TO oe long and sinuOus. and
shaped itself into a round, pulsatins
blot against the lighter sand, not yard J
away from me.
Then / saw. Coiled for a spring was
a tiny serpent, scarce ten inches long
Yet at a glance I knew II was the dead
lest. most dreaded of all Oriental
snakes, not excepting the more famous
king cOrbra. For this was the Nile asp
that haif-seen terror that turks In river
mud and Vaterside grasses, and whose
hghtest sting defes all the remedies
science has ever devised
And, in another second il must spring
The rough handling given TO its hid
ing-place had shaken the creature into
a fury. / was the nearest living thin
On me- therefore, were its gimlet eyes
fastened Truly I had walked up 70
my death" as FeriGah had said.
1 have heard of the hypnotic charm
eNerted BY a COiled snake Men who (
understand such matters say such a
theory is exploded. So, perhaps, II was
only utter surprise and horror that held /
me motionIess, inert, during that brief I
instand before the thing could launch /
itself at me. But so ! stool As far as &
my own efforts went, l was as good as !
dead already.
Then-it seemed a century, but prob 4
ably was barely a half second from the T
time the asp succeeded in escaping from /
the basket-some one flashed between I
me and the COiled snake with a swift /,
ness my eyes could scare fellow.
There, the fat heel Of her thin, gold F.
broidered slipper driven down hard /,
upon the creatures head. CTOIChed Feri- /.
dab, She had leaped forward with an 3
appalling lack Of fear OF thought of con- /
sequences. and had crushed the deadly /
thin gtO death,
Had she miscalculated the distance. /
had she missed the upward triangular /
head by a fraction OF an inch, had she /
been but one instant less quick-the 4
poison fanEs must have sunk into her /
bare ankle II was the most desperate I
chance I have ever seen taken And II /
had won.
Its head crushed. but the wormlike /