The Lambertville record., 1911-06-02
n II ~
MYSTERY
Of the Great
Desert of
Sahara
By R. W. keenan,

- citation. 1911.
ssssssssssssss
/ was lounging one afternoon In the
eastern part of Tripoli. a city in north
ern Africa and on the Mediterranean,
looking at the ancient castle of the
Bashaws. when | was startled to see
the wall of corner bastion of the
fortress open where 1t joined the
ground and a figure emerge and come
running toward me. On he came, stag
gering under the weight Of heavy iron
shackles. till he reached point within
a few yards of me. when he sank
down. evidently not knowing which
way to turn. He was blinking his
eyes as II blinded by the light of the
sun.
Then | saw. a puff of smoke on the
ramparts of the castle, heard a report
and saw evidences of a stirring in and
about the stronghold. 1t was evident
that prisoner had escaped The man
was a skeleton. and the agony on his
face at knowing that he must be taken
was distressing. Darting toward him,
/ began to heap sand over him and.
having some knowledge of his Ian
guage, told him that | was trying to
conceal him. He suffered me to do
so, and ! partly covered him with sand,
partly with an overcoat wore, for a
chilly sea wind was blowing. Then |
sat down on him, lighted a pipe and
began to puff. looking out with feigned
interest ON the Mediterranean.
! never knew who gave the alarm,
but It must either have been the fugi-
tive's jailer who had noticed his dun.
geon vacant or some one on the out.
side who ran In to communicate what
he had seen. At any rate. whoever
told of the escape must have lost sight
of the fleeing man, for when a party
ran out from the fortress to follow
evidently none OF them knowing which
direction to take. Mast of them ran
toward the shore. doubtless thinking
he would naturally so there In hope Of
escaping by boat. He certainly couldn't
swim out to any of the ships. loaded as
he was with irons.
Several persons came near where !
was. but they were too excited by the
chase to pay much attention to me,
for was In European dress and evi-
IDENTIFY not the man they sought. One
fellow was heading for me when
pointed. vociferating wildly at the
same time. TO pearl divers boat
lying near the shore. This probably
saved the man was hiding, for II was
likely that had l permitted the search
er to come nearer he would have no.
ticed that the sand had been disturbed
For half an hour l sat on my man.
and while sat thought. My act had
been the result of an impulse had
interfered with the law and If de.
tected would probably occupy dun
geon such as the fugitive had left.
From the moment realized my posi-
tion | shivered whenever | saw any
one coming In my direction The sun
was sinking In the west. and prayed
earnestly that 1t might set and leave
darkness behind II. Gradually the
searchers thinned out. not supposing
that the fugitive could be near at
hand. and finally the search was given
up in my immediate vicinity
When 1t grew dark enough to war
rant my uncovering the man ! did so.
His eyesight was now far better than
mine, for. as | had supposed. he had
become used to what little light might
make Its way into dungeon. told
him to go where he liked. but he
pleaded with me so eagerly to help
him get rid of his chains that ! could
not refuse him Besides. | considered
him In q sense as Robinson Crusoe
looked upon the man he had saved
from the cannibals, his own man Fri.
day. So covered him again. went up
into the town. bought coarse file and.
returning. cut Off his shackles. which
buried In the sand Then. giving him
what money had in my pockets.
told him to go his way.
I could not see his features. but /
could feel his gratitude in the pressure
of his hand and hear what he said
Translated into English. 1t is this:
Allah is great When you are In
trouble be will send me to help you"
With that he disappeared in the
darkness.
The next day | walked past the
point In the wall from which he had
made his escape saw hole just
large enough for a lean body such as
his to pass through. He had doubtless
managed TO secure some sharp impe
ment. with which he had dug his way
out through crumbing places. In
shown the cell in which be had lived
for twenty years and the passage he
had dug. But. conscious of the part
had taken In his escape. did not lin
ger longer than TO satisfy my curtos-
ity. Indeed. whenever a Turkish Off
cial looked at me | felt that | was
suspected
Not feeling sure that might not.
after all. come to he known as having
hidden the prisoner. went to the
United States consul and told him that
I feared arrest for an infringement of
Turkish law and asked him to send
every day to my lodgings to ask II
were still there What | feared was
being spirited away and put In dun
geon without any of my countrymen
knowing what had happened was
planning for trip down into the des-
ert, but I had my outfit to purchase