The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-08-29

break him physically, too; to pay him
back pound for pence; to bruise, to
hurt. to rack him. that was all Ma
homed desired.
George made no further effort to
! free himself, nor apparently to bestir
himself about the future. Somewhere
In the fight, presumably as he fell
against the table, he had received
!! crushing blow in the small ribs; and
when Mahomed threw him back, he
| tainted for the second time in his life.
He reclined Imply in the corner Of
the carriage, the bosom Of his shirt
| bulging open; for the thrifty Arabs
had purloined the pearl-studs, the
gold collar-buttons, and the sapphire
cuff-links. And consciousness re-
turned only when they lifted him out
and dropped him inconsiderately into
the thick dust of the road. He stirred
again at his bonds, but presently lay
still. The pain in his side hurt keen
! ly, and he wasn't sure that the rib
was whole. What time had passed
since his entrance to the English-Bar
was beyond his reckoning, but he
knew that it was yet in the dark of
night, as no light whatever penetrated
the cloth over his eyes. That he was
somewhere outside the city he was
assured by the tang of the winter
wind. He heard low understandable;
and while he possessed smattering
of the tongue, his head ached too
sharply for him to sense a word.
Later, camel coughed. Camels? And
where were they taking him upon a
camel? Bagdad? Impossible: there
were too many white men following
the known camel-ways. He groaned
little, but the sound did not reach the
ears of his captors. To ride a camel
under ordinary conditions was pain
tul affair; but to straddle the ungainly
brute, dressed as he was, in swal-
iow-tail and paper-thin pumps, did not
promote any pleasurable thoughts.
They would in all truth kill him be-
fore they got through. Hang the rug!
And doubly hang the man who had
sold it to him!
His whilom friend, conscience, came
said: Don't do it," and now she was
saying quite humanity: 81 told you
sol" Hadn't she warned him? Hadn't
she swung her red lantern under his
very nose? Well. she hoped ne was
satisfied. His reply to this brief jere-
miad was that If ever he got his hands
upon the rug again, he would hang
on till the crack Of doom, and con-
science herself could go hang. Mere
! perverseness, probably. And where
was 1t, since he was now certain that
Mahomed had it not? 1t was Ry.
anne; Ryanne, smooth and plausible
Of tongue. Not being satisfied with a
thousand pounds, he had stolen it
again to mulct some other simple.
trustful person. George, usually so
unsuspicious, was now quite willing
to believe anything Of anybody.
He felt himself being lifted to his
, feet. The rope round his ankles was
thrown off. His feet stung under the
renewed fQw Of blood He waited for
them to iiberate his hands, but the
CALLING rope was not disturbed. It
was evident that the natives still en-.
tertained some respect for his fighting
ability. Next, they boosted him, flung
a leg here and leg there; then came
q lurch backward, the recurrence Of
the pain in his Side, and he knew that
he was upon the back of camel, des.
ert-bound There were stirrups, and
as life began to spread vigor once
more through his legs, he found the
steel. The straps were too short, and
in time the upper turn OF the steel
chafed his insteps. He eased himself
by riding sidewise, the proper way
to ride camel, but with constant
straining to keep his balance without
the use of his hands. Fortunately
| they were not travelling very fast, 9th
erwise, what with the stabbing pains
in his side, produced by the unvaryine
dog-trot, he must have fallen. He
was miserable. yet defiant; tears Of
anger and pain filed his eyes and
burned down his cheeks in spite Of
the cloth.
And he, poor fool, had always been
longing for an adventure, taste OF
life outside the peaceful harbor where
in he had sailed his cat-boat! Well
here he was, in the deep-sea water;
and he read himself so truly that he
knew the adventure he had longed fol
had been the cut-and-dried affairs Of
story-tellers, in which only the vii
lains were seriously disconnected
and everything ended happily. A
dashing hero he was, to be sure!
Why hadn't he changed his clothes
Was there ever such an ass? Ryann<
had told him that there was likely te
be sport; and yet he had left the no
tel as one dressed for the opera. ASS!
And tomorrow the Ludwig would sal
without him.
The wind blew cold against his
chest, and the fact that he could nei
Their see nor use his tnnRna tn rnnis+