Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-05-24
CHAPTER vlI.-(continued.)

BY dawn they were ready to start;
and so, In the level rays of sun that
seemed a dazzling sphere of intoler-
able light, poising itself in the eastern
rim of the world as If undecided
whether or no to take up its fight
across the armament, the little cara
van rocked out into the fastness of
the desert, the Irishman in the van
sitting blooded mehari as one to the
wilderness born.
On the seventh night they bivouack-
I'd hard on the heels of the flying col
nmn, having for seven days pursued
It this way and that, zigzagging into
The heart of the parched land.
Now, when they were come within
six hours of their goal, reluctantly,
long after nightfall, O'Rourke gave
consent to halt, conceding the me-
cessity; for WEAKNESS weighed upon
their shoulders great burden, and
the camels had become unusually sui
len and evil tempered; II rest were
denied them presently they would
become obstinate and refuse to follow
the road
ORourke closed his eyes and lost
consciousness with a sensation of fall
Ing headlong into great pit of OBJ
lvion, bottomless, eternal. Yet 1t
seemed no more than a moment ere
be was sitting up and rubbing sight
Into his eyes, shaken out of slumber
by his guide.
He stumbled to his feet and lurched
toward the camels, still but half
awake. When his senses cleared IT.
ritation possessed him. His guide had
been overzealous. He turned upon the
man and seized him roughly by the
arm.
What the divvle!" he grumbled an
grily, between a yawn and a chatter
of teeth-for the air was bitter cold.
The moons not yet up!"
Hush, Sidi!" Something in the
guides tone stilled his wrath. tArhe
Touaregg are all about us. They have
been passing US throughout the
night"
"Ye knew this and did not wake
me?"
There was no need; we could not
have moved ere this without detection.
NOW, they are all a-stir, and we In
the night, may pass for them-until
moon-up"
The guide turned away to rouse the
mehara, prodding them up, mutinous,
snarling and ugly. In another five
minutes they were again moving for
ward. BY the time the silver rim of
the moon peered over the edge of the
east they We're pelting on at full speed,
as yet, apparently, undetected by the
Touaregg.
An hour passed, and the chill in the
air became more intense; dawn was
DIT hand. A sense of security, of dan
gers left behind, came to the Irish
man; he began to breathe more free
az though still the polished butt of a
repeating rife swinging from the sad
ule remained a comfort to his palm.
ne grew more confident, mentally at
ease seeing the desert take shape
IN the moonlight and show itself desc
tate on every hand.
AFeh as ne gained assurance from
this thought, the guide turned in his
SADDLE and cried warning: The Tou-
~legg From that moment on both
welded merciless whips. For out of
tne moonlit wastes behind them had
shriiled voice. cruel and wild, an
houncing discovery and the inception
VI the chase. The fugitives had need
OF no sharper spur.
A rifle shot rang sharp on the echoes
ol that cry, but the bullet must have
4ailen far short. A moment later, in
eeeo' they opened brisk, scattering
NATURALLY Intellectual, though the
OcIlets dropping right and left in the
sand proved that the chase had got
within range.
Even with that warning, the end
vas nearer than he had dreamed or
hoped. 1t came In a twinkling and as
unexpected as bolt out Of clear