The Springfield herald., 1912-05-31

sell II II were really my Dduuie eHdi
lay upon the floor. or was l the VIC
tim of an incomprehensible trick? Yet
there was the jewel, and there at my
elbow were the two Moors, now an
ready for the action aftermath. Scarce.
in fact. had one of them picked up my
property and crammed 1t into my
hand before the uproar began. the
whole roomful of erstwhile sedate.
looking men springing to their feet
and turning upon us. For an instant.
the Moor who had snatched the Jewel
for me kept them back with ha-
rangue In Arabic Of which I did not
understand one word: but his best and
only card failed at the first playing,
and 1t remained to face the danger
and to fight 1t.
OF the extraordinary scene that fol-
lowed remember but little. 1t seemed
to me that was surrounded In an In
slant by hungry. cleaning hawk-like
eyes which glowed with mischief; that
women screamed, that lamps over
turned; that saw knives flashing on
every side of me. Had Sidi's men
then failed him or displayed any crav-
en- cunning, l take 1t that my body
might have been hurled from the Kas-
bah within a minute of the recovery
of the Jewel; but they showed quite
Standing on either side of me SO that
my body was almost wedged between
theirs. they suddenly flashed long
knives In the air, and cut and parried
with wondrous dexterity. For myself.
1 had only my fists, and these used
with a generous freedom, thinking
even in the danger that a Moor's face
is substantial one to hit; and that
little boxing goes long way with
him. Yet l could not help but realize
that the minute was a supreme one,
and as the crowd of demoniacal and
shouting figures pressed nearer and
nearer, threatening to bear US down
in the melee. heard my heart thump-
ing. and began to grow giddy.
AS the press became more furious.
the two men who had done SO well
were gradually carried away from me.
I found myself at last In the lower
corner of the room, surrounded by
four burly fellows (the main body of
the company swarming round the
Moors, my guides); and OF these but
one had knife in his hand. With
this, taking the aggressive. he made a
prodigious cut at me. which slit my
left arm from shoulder almost to the
elbow; but 1 had no pain from the
wound in the excitement of the mo-
ment; and l sent him bowling like
dervish with a heavy blow low down
upon the chest. OF the others, one I
hit on the chin. whereupon he cried
like a woman; but the remaining two
sprang upon me with altogether an un-
looked-for activity; and bore me down
with heavy crash upon the pavement.
1 thought then that the end had come;
for not only was half stunned with
the blow. but the man who knelt upon
my chest gripped my throat with grim
ferocity and threatened to squeeze
the life out of me as I lay. In
that supreme moment recollect that
the lights OF the room danced before
my eyes in surprising shapes; that I
saw a vision of dark-eyed but scream
ing women in the gallery above; that
the jewel in my vest cut my skin un.
der the pressure of the Moor's knee;
ana that fell to wondering II would
live one minute or five. Then. as a
new and violent shouting reached me,
even above the singing in my ears.
the Moor suddenly let go his hold. the
light of the scene gave way to utter
impenetrable darkness. and tainted.
Next day took dejeuner at the
Cafe Apollon with my arm in sling.
and Chassaigne's talk to. whet my ap-
petite. He had occupied himself dur.
ing the morning in. cross-examining
Sidi, from whom he had wormed the
whole secret of the robbery.
at is as clear as the SUM-" said he,
"the porter Mohammed was advised to
steal the jewel by the man fortunate
ly recommended to you. Mohammed,
knowing that the police would search
his house and watch him, hid the
Jewel in his wife's hair"
His wife!" said 1. WAS this dan
cling girl married to scamp like
that?"
Certainly; these Circassians don't
make great matches. II they make a
good many of them. Their husbands
are generally loafers about the cafes;
and this girl was no more fortunate
in that way than most of her sisters
You see. the fun of the business is
that Sidi got two thousand francs
from this man for telling him how to
steal your jewels, and another two
thousand from you for stealing them
back again. That's why he did not GO
with you himself last night. Luckily
l went into your hotel at ten o'clock
and learning from the man where you
had gone. followed you with dozen
Of my fellows"
you came at happy time, my dear
fellow" said l." in another five min
utes l should have needed only an e1
ecutor."
That's true; you were nearly dead
when 1 had the pleasure of kicking
the man who sat on your head. But
1t was your own fault, you must ad
nit"
ANY way" said I. "I got the stones.
and that's something"
He agreed to this, and when had
thanked him for the great service he
had done me, we parted. That night
l left Algiers, carrying with me the
pacific benediction Of the admirable
Moor Sidi who despite the fact that