The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1912-12-12
CHAPTER x.


hC Alo"Ah6 OdSA VI NY nnuG . pON
erful arm was produced by the stint
lus Of self-preservation; but almos
instantly thought dominated impulse
and all Indications Of belligerency dil
appeared. The arm sank, relaxed.
was not possible nor polite that Ms
homed.El-Gebel meant to take repris
al In this congested quarter. 1t woul
have gained him no advantage what
ever And Ryanne's perception Of tn
exact situation enabled him to smil'
with the cool effrontery of a man in
ured to sudden dangers.
We'll, we'll! So you have fount
your way to Cairo, MAhomed7"
yes, stfendi," returned Mahomed
with a smile that answered Ryanne'!
in thought and expression, the only
perceivable difference being In the &C
centuated whiteness Of his fine teeth
Yes, l have found you"
And you have been looking fol
me"
Surely"
Ryanne, with an airy gesture, signi
fed that he wished to enter his car
riage. Mahomed, with a movement
equally light, implied his determine
tion to stand his ground.
"In a moment, effendi," he said
smoothly.
Mahomed spoke English moro or
less fluently. His career Of forty-odd
years had been most colorful. Once a
young shelk Of the desert, Of ample
following, a series of tribal wars left
him unattached, a wanderer without
tent, village or onlon-patch. He had
first appeared In Cairo. Here he had
Of necessity picked up few words of
English; and from laborer in the cot
ton fields he was eventually graduated
to the envied position of dragoman or
guide. He tired Of this. being nomadic
by instinct and inclination. He tried
his hand at rugs in Smyrna, failed, and
found himself stranded in CONSTANT
nople. He drifted, became a steve
dore, hotel porter, burying his pride
till that moment when he could, in
dignity and security, resurrect 1t. For
tune, hanging fire, relented upon his
as cavass or messenger
to the British Consulate. After
time, he became what he considered
and like all fanatic pa
gans of his faith, proposed to recon
struct his religious life by a pilgrim
age 10 Holy Mecca. While there, he
had performed a considerable service
in behalf Of the future Pasha of Bag.
dad, who thereafter gave him a place
in his retinue.
Mahomed was not only proud but
wise; and series of events, sequences
Of his own shrewdness, pushed him
forward till he became in deed, If not
in fact, the Pasha's right-hand man in
Bagdad. That quaint city, removed as
it is from the ordinary highways of
the Orient, is still to most of us an
echo remote and mysterious; and the
present Pasha enjoys great privileges,
over property, over life and death:
and it is not enlarging upon fact to
say that when he deems it necessary
to lop off a head, he does so, without
his master in CONSTANT
nople. 1t Is all in the business of
day Next to his celebrated pearls and
rose-diamonds, the Pasha held as his
most precious treasure, the Holy
Yhiordes. And for it's loss Mahomed
knew that his own head rested but in
securely upon his lean neck. That his |
star was still in ascendancy he be-
ieved. The Pasha would not be in
Bagdad for many weeks. The revolu-
ion in Constantinople, the success of
The Young Turk party, made the
Pasha's future inCumbency a matter Of
While he pulled those
wires familiar to the politician, Ma
lomed set out bravely to recover the
stolen rug. He was prepared to pro-
ceed to any length to regain it, even
10 the horrible Ito his Oriental mind) |
necessity Of buying It, He retained
lis travel-worn garments circumspect.
~, for none would believe that his |
0urnouse was we'll lined with English
"Well?" said Ryanne, whirling his
cane. He was by no means at ease. |
There was going to be trouble some
where along the road.
81 have come for the Yhiordes, ef-
'endi."
"The rug? That's todlbad. haven't
t."
who has," One fear beset Mahom- |
sds heart; this dog, whom he called |
sffendi, might have sold it, since that
must have been the ultimate purpose
If the theft. And II he had sold It |
o one who had left Egypt Ma
lomed's neck grew cold. who has
t, effendi? 1s the man still in Cairo ?"
Yes. If you and your two friends
will come with me to the English Bar.
II explain many things to you," as
ured Ryanne, beginning, as he be-
ieved, to see his way forward. Don't |
'e afraid. I'm not setting any trap for |
'ou. I'll tell you truthfully that n
lidn't expect to see you so soon. II |