Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1911-06-03
~ n ~
MYSTERY
OF the Great
Desert Of
Sahara
BY R. W. keenan,
Copyright by American Press Assoc
citation. ioi1-

was lounging one afternoon In the
eastern part OF Tripoh. 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 a corner bastion OF the
fortress open where It Joined the
ground and 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 pun of smoke on the
ramparts OF the castle, heard report
and saw evidences OF a stirring In and
about the stronghold. 1t was evident
that prisoner had escaped. The man
was q skeleton, and the agony on his
face at knowing that he must be taken
was distressing. Darling 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 pipe and
began to pun. looking out with feigned
interest on the Mediterranean.
/ never knew who gave the alarm.
but 1t must either have been the fugi-
tive's 1ailer 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 party
ran out from the fortress to follow
him they scattered in all directions.
evidently none of them knowing which
direction to take. Most of them ran
toward the shore, doubtless thinking
he would naturally go 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 evil
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 1t was
likely that had permitted the search
err to come nearer he would have no
ticed that the sand had been disturbed
For half an hour I sat on my man.
and while / sat thought. My act had
been the result of an impulse. had
interfered with the law and II de
tected would probably occupy a dun
geon such as the fugitive had left
From the moment Ierealized my posi-.
ton I shivered whenever i saw any
one coming In my direction. The sun
was sinking In the west, and l prayed
earnestly that 1t might set and leave
darkness behind It. 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 II grew dark enough to war
rant my uncovering the man I did SO.
His eyesight was now far better than
mine, for. as I had supposed. he had
become used to what little light might
make its way into a 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 a sense as Robinson Crusoe
looked upon the man he had saved
from the cannibals, his own man FRI
.l,.
into the town, bought coarse file and.
returning, cut or his shackles, which
buried in the sand. Then, giving him
what money I had In my pockets.
told him to go his way.
could not see his features. but !
could feel his gratitude In the pressure
Of his hand and hear what he said
Translated into English, It Is this:
"Allah Is great. When you are in
trouble he win send me to help you"
with that he disappeared In the
darkness.
The next day I walked past the
point I'm tho wall from which he had
made his escape saw a hole just
his to pass through. He had doubtless
managed 10 secure bOIue suarp uupiu
ment, with which he had dug his way
out through crumbling places I'm
deed, visited his prison and was
shown the cell In which he had lived
for twenty years and the passage he
had dug. But, conscious of the part l
had taken in his escape. did not lin
ger longer than to satisfy my curios-
fly. Indeed. whenever q Turkish on
ciai looked at me i felt that was
suspected.
Not feeling sure that might not.
after all, come to be known as having
hidden the prisoner. went to the
United States consul and told him that
feared arrest for an infringement Of
Turkish law and asked him to send
every day to my lodgings to ask IL !
were stin 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 had my outfit to purchase
Universalists Meeting.