Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-09-13

MAD was that II ever he got his handa
upon the rug again. he would hang
on till the crack Of doom. and con
science herself could 90 hang. Mere
perverseness. probably. And. where
was It, since he was now certain thaA
Mahomed had It not! Il was Ry-
anne; Ryanne. smooth and plausihle
Of tongue. Not being satisfied with =
thousand pounds, be had stolen Il
again to mulct some other simplA
trustful person. George, usually %
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 Of. His feet stung under Tie
renewed how Of blood. He waited for
them to liberate his hands, but Tie
CALLING rope was not disturbed. n
was evident that the natives stiIl e.
tertained some respect for his hghtingt
ability. Next. they boosted him, flung.
a leg here and leg there; then cane
lurch backward. the recurrence al
the pain In his side. and he knew that
he was upon the back Of a camel, des-
ert-bound. There were stirrups, ana
as life began to spread vigor oncsb
more through his legs. he found thel
steel. The straps were too short, and
In time the upper turn Of the steal
chafed his irsteps. He eased himself
BY riding sidewise, the proper wayI
to ride q 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 unvarying
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 hs
knew the adventure he had longed for
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 surel
Why hadn't he changed his clothesi
Was there ever such an ass? Ryanns
had told him that there was likely to
be sport; and yet he had left the no
tel as one dressed for the opera. ASST
And tomorrow the Ludwig would sail
without him.
The wind blew cold against his
chest. and the fact that he could nei-
Their see, nor use his tongue to moist
en- his bruised lips, added to the dis
comforts. Back and forth he swayed
and rocked. The pain in his side was
gradually minimized by the torture
bearing upon his ankles, his. knees.
across his shoulders. Finally, when
in dull despair he was about to give
up and slide of, indifferent whether
the camels following trampled him or
not, a halt was called. II steadied
him. Some one reached up and I'M
tied the thong that strangled the NE
in his hands. Forward again. This
was a trife better. He could now
ease himself with his hands. No one
interfered with him when he tore OF
the bandages over his eyes and
mouth. The camels were now urged
to swifter pace.
Egyptian night, well called, be
thought. He could. discern nothing
but phantom-like grey silhouettes that
bodied up and down after the fashion
Of corks upon water. Before him and
behind him; how many camels made
up the caravan he could not tell. He
could hear the faint sllp-slip as the
beasts shufied forward In the me
heavy sand. They were well out into
the desert. but what desert was a.
yet a mystery. He had forgotten to
keep the points Of the compass In his
mind. And to pick out his bearings
BY any particular star was to him no
more simple than translating Chinese
Far, far away behind he saw a lumi-
nous pallor in the sky, the reflected
lights Of Cairo. And only a few hours
ago he had complained to the head
walter because Of the bits Of cork
floating in his glass Of wine. All. for
the dregs Of that bottle now; warmth.
revival, new couragel Curse
the luck! There went one Of his
pumps. He called out. The man nd
ing in front and leading Georges
camel merely gave a yank at the rope.
The camel responded with a cough
and qulckened gait.
Presently George became aware OIL
a singular fact: that he could see out|
Of one eye better than the other;
and that the semi.useless orb shot out
little stars with every beat q his|
heart. One Of his ears, too. began. to|
throb and burn. He felt of 1t. It was|
less like an ear thar. a mushroom. III
had been. rafting good mix-up, any
how; and he accepted the knowledge|
rather proudly that the George Perci-
val Algenon, who but lately had en-
tered the English-Bar sprucely and
had made his exit in kind of negii-
gible attire. had left behind one char