Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-30

veranda of the Hotel Semiramis in Cairo.
book lay idly upon his knees. 1t was
one of those yarns in which something
was happening every other minute. AS
adventures go. George had never had a
real one in all his tWenty-eight years, and
he believed that fate had treated him
rather shabbily. He didn't quite appre-
ciate her reserve. No matter how late he
wandered through the mysterious bazaars.
either here in Egypt or over yonder in
India, nothing ever befell more exciting
than an argument with a carriage driver.
He never carried small arms, for he would
not have known how to use them. The
only deadly things in his hands We're
bass rods and tennis racquets. No, moth
ing ever happened to him: yet he never
met a man in a ships smokeroom who
hadn't run the gamut OF thrilling eX-
periences AS George wasn't a liar him.
self. he believed all he saw and most or
what he heard.
Well here he was, Extraordinarily, a
pocket full Of money. heart full of life.
and as hopeless an outlook, so far as ro-
nance and adventure were concerned. as
an old maid in a New England village.
Why couldn't things befall him as they
did the chap in this book? He was sure
he could behave as well, If not better; for
this fellow was too handsome. too brave,
too strong. not to be something of an ass
once in a while.
George you old fool what's the use?"
he thought. Whats the use of a desire
that never goes in a straight line. but al
ways round and round in a circle?"
He thrust aside his grievance and sur
rendered to the never-ending wonder Of
the Egyptian sunset; the Nile feluccas.
riding upon perfect reflections; the date
palms, black and motionless against the
translucent blue Of the sky: the anne
thystine prisms of the Pyramids and the
deepening gold of the deserts brim. He
loved the Orient. always so new. always
so strange. yet ever go old and familiar.
A carriage stopped in front and his
gaze naturally shifted. There is cease
less attraction in speculating about new
corners in a hotel. what they are. what
they do where they come from and where
they are going. A fine elderly man of
fifty got out In the square set OF his
shoulders. the flowing white mustache
and imperial, there was a suggestion of
by young woman Of twenty, certainly
not over that age. George sighed visit
fully. He envied those polo players and
gentleman riders and bridge experts who
were stopping at the hotel. 1t wouldn't
be an hour after dinner before some one
of them found out who she was and spoke
to her in that easy style which he con-
Guided must be a gift rather than an ac-
complishment. You mustn't suppose for
a minute that George wasn't we'll born
and well bred. simply because his name
was Jones. Many a Fitz-Hugh Maurice
or Hugh Fttz- Maurice might have been
But no matter. He knew instnctively
then. what elegance was when he saw it,
and this girl was elegant. in dress. in
movement He rather liked the pallOr of
her skin. which limited that she wasn't
one Of those athletic girls who bounced
in and out Of the dining room. talking
loudly and smoking cigarettes and play
ing bridge for sixpenny points She was
tall. He was sure that her eyes were on
the level with his own. The gray veil
that dropped from the rim Of her simple
leghorn hat to the tip of her nose OBJ
scured her eyes. so that he could not
know that they were large and brown
and indefinably sad. They spoke not of a
WEAKNESS Of travel. but of a WEAKNESS
of the world, more precisely. of the people
who inhabited It,
She and her companion passed on into
the hotel and II Georges eyes veered
again toward the desert over which the
stealthy puppies Of night were creeping.
the impulse was mechanical he saw moth
inc. In truth. he was desperately lone
some. and he knew, moreover. that he
had no business to be. He was young;
he could at pinch tell Joke as we'll as
the next man: and If ne had never lad
nanv strange and wonderful things, and
could describe thew with that mental
afterelow which still fingers over the sun
set of our first expressions in roe'rv. But
there was ALWAYS that hvdra-headed mon
ster forever getting about his feet numb
ing his voice, paralvzing his hands, and
never he lorred off a head that another
I'D not instantly grow in its mace. Even
the sword of Perseus could not have saved
him since one has to get away from an
object I'm order TO cut 1t down.
Had he reallv ever tried to overcome
this monster? Had he not waited for the
prnpitiOus moment (Which YOU and I
know never comes) to throw off this spe-
cies from ha6es? r ia all very well. when
YOU are old and drie1 up. to turn to
worries and metals and precious stones
hut when fellows young! You can't
shake ha nds with ivory rerlica of The
Tai Nahal. nor. exchange p'easantries with
mandarins ring. nor vet conflde lows
and ills into casket of rare emeralds:
indeed. they do but emnhasize ones lone
Illness If only he had had dog: but
one cannot carry a dog half way round
the world and back. at least not with
comfort. What with all these new-fan-
gled quarantine laws. duties and fussv
ships officers who wouldn't let You keep
the animal in your stateroom, travelling