Bismarck daily tribune., 1911-11-24

It was early morning when O'Ryau
woke me.
"Come and look for your friend" he
said. r,.
felt refreshed. but terribly stiff and
bruised.
Sunlight was upon the mountain
tops, the shadows Of light, fleecy clouds
crossing them swiftly. Before the cav
| ern ran a broad, hard road. rough and
snow caked, descending somewhat
sharply to the right, ascending grad;
ually to the left, and directly opposite
| was the way I had come last night.
stood looking at it in amazement A
glacier stretched up to the mountain
opposite. a portion of it ending at the
roadway against which the winds had
piled loose snow, luckily for me, but
part Of 1t had cracked and sunk, turn
ing to run beside the road for a few
yards and then ending abruptly in
what last night had appeared to me
as a black line. Here the glacier was
broken off. its support straight wall
Of rock going down sheer for at least
800 feet. At the base roared a tor
rent which burst from the rock and
lashed itself into foam over it's rocky
bed.
IF your comrade wasn't dead be-
fore he went over that, he was dead
before he got to the bottom of it."
said Organ.
l looked down at the water tumbling
among the rocks and saw little
black mass lying there motionless.
save for the motion the swirling water
gave it. 1t was impossible to say
what it was, but think it must have
been Mustapha, for two spots sudden
ly rose from it, growing larger as they
mounted toward us with heavy fight.
"Vultures!' said my companion.
Poor Mustapha! He had expected
so much of tomorrow. God rest his
soul! He had indeed found new
country.
1t was still early when we started
upon our Journey. Two men were sent
on In front and told to keep sharp
lookout; the others fell to the rear, and
O'Ryan and I rode alone.
"What am to expect at the end Of
this journey?' asked presently.
Faith. that's more than I can tell.
It's every man for himself here, and
you'll find your life pretty much what
you make it,
'"That sounds promising"
"Oh, there's plenty of promise. It's
some Of the fulfillment I'm waiting for.
It's all very well to live back in the
middle ages and feel like the hero Of
a boys story book. but it wants pay
ing for"
"Then the legend is true. or partly
true" I said.
II don't know anything about the
legend or how these people came here.
Anyway, here they are and engaged
in as pretty piece Of war as poor old
Ireland has ever suffered from. There
are two factions in the country, the
kings party and the rebels, who are
headed by relation Of his-Princess
Daria. Those who fight for the prin-
cess fight chiefly for love Of her, which
is all very we'll in its way. but not
attractive to the adventurer who hopes
some day to 60 home and enjoy him.
self. The king, on the other hand.
pays his soldiers and, not having
enough men in the country to fight
his cause, he has got in few foreign
ers to help them. I'm one of the for
eigners. We have all been brought in
secretly, and not a man jack Of us
knows his way out"
Does the king pay well?"
II think he would If he could, but
his lack of the necessary troubles
me-" Organ answered.
"Then how does he manager"
Much as they do at home-makes
promises and pays for the accommo-
dations. That's not a new trick. 1t
was an old fashioned one in the days
Of ancient Babylon. The king, as
matter Of fact. expects to find treas
ure. We were looking for signs Of 1t
when you came. I expect the treasure
is where the legendary part Of the
story comes in"
"You found nothing Of it?"
mot a cent. Still, my undertaking
the mission means promotion when I
return"
"And with a prisoner too"
II would sooner have had a bit of
the treasure to take back" he an
swered bluntly. II don't deny that
shall try to make something for my
self out of bringing you back"
"How will you explain my coming"
asked.
It was we'll that I should know how
to speak best for myself. To look
after No. 1 seemed to be the creed Of
the country.
II shall tell the TRUTH" he continued.
''There is no lie to equal it. I'm glad
you're a big, healthy looking fellow.
We don't take much notice Of weak
lings. AS long as man has mighty
arm the size of his brain doesn't mat
ter"
The mountains on either side of US
narrowed as we went on until we
were presently passing through a de-
Ale that n few resOlute men could