The evening world., 1912-04-24
THE CARPET
from BACDADI
A ROMANCE OF BROADWAY AND THE SAHARA !
BY HAROLD M'CRATH

George, who was . poet without the
gtft OF expression. never cease to and
new charms: and uothing pleased his
ows scud away across the sands. Ouoe.
toward the latter end Of day. Fortune
cried out and pointed. Far Away. pale
~ yet distinctly. they saw an ocean
liner. shs stood out against the yell
lowing sky a. . msgic-iantern picture
stands out upon the scrsen, and faded
similarly. II Wal the one and only
mirage thsy cav. or at least noticed.
Onoe another caravan. composed wholly
Of Arabs. passed. What hops the pris.
oners had was Instantly muffed out.
Before ne stranSsu came within hail.
tn9 Mah0med hustled his csptives into
his tent and swors he would Kill either
0scrgs o. Ryanns u they spoke. lie
forsot Fortune. however. A the cara.
van WA passing che screamed. In.
SANITY 2shomsd eiappsd his hand
roughly eve hes NOUN. The sheik Of
|the pasong caravan locked koeniy At
.uss tsat sUdled' gr4miy end parsed on.
What wA9 lt 70 him that q white
woman lay In wendsf tent? His one
smotion vas Of envy. After this the
prisoners oscAms apathstic.
Upon the seventh day they witnessed
ne dssert's tss4fylns singer. Tho dir
that had been ooei suddenly ncw stiIl
and hot; h blue abovU began to fade.
10 assume . Aesty. coppartsh color. The
arose out of the horisoa aHrou clouds.
approaching VITA inarsdible swiftness.
little whirbwtnds Of sand appeared here
and there. rose and died a. v for want
Of cir. Ash0ned vssrsd me esVayan
toward q kind OF blum COMPOSED Of sanl
and p~rccipItous oouiderx
All the camels wore made to kneei.
The boys muffied up their mouths and
noses. ana Mahomed gave instructions
to his captives. Fortune buytsa he.
head In her coat and nestled AVN BE-
sids her camel. while George and Ry.
anne used their bandkerchisfs. Oeorgs
left his camel and sought Rsrtuus's
side. found her hand and held Il tight
~. 10 scarcely gave thought to what
he did. He vaguely meant to encour.
age her. and possibly he ala.
The storm broke. The sun became
obscured. Pebbles and splintsrs Or
rock sang, through the pail Of whirlinw
nand. a. golden tone snvslopsd the
little gathering.
Had there been no natural -psotsctlon
they must have ridden on. blindIy ara
desperately. for to have nmsinsd stilI
In the open would have beer to await
their tombs. II spent liz fury In haif
an hour. ana the CLEARING air become
cold axsin. The proceeded.
The hair Of every one was dimIy NJ
low. their faces and their garments.
h camp wac made that MATT IL
found The csptives u~ntalkativA. The
girl and III two men sat moo6ilv
about the nrs. Fatigue had dulled
their bodies and hopsissnsas their
minds. The men were RAGGED now, I'm.
kempt; a stumble Of bead covered
their faces. gsunt yet burned. George
had lost his remaining pump. and O.
his stockings were now full Of holes
he had In the last flicker Of psrsoasI
pride wound about them some CASTOR
clothes he had found. There was not
enough water for sblutions; there wss
scarcely enough to assuage thirst.
by and by Rynnne without turning
his head. spoke to George. you say
you Questioned the courisrr"
yes"
"Hs says he showed the note to no
one?"
yes"
NO"
Ryanne had asked these questions a
dozen times n George had always
given the same
Up and away at dawn. for they must
reach the we'll that night It was u
terrible day for them all. wen tho
beasts showed signs Of distress. And
the worst of II was Mahomed was not
luite sure OF his route. Fortunately
they found the we'll. They drank itke
mad people.
Ryanne, who HAD discovered a pack
OF cards In his pocket. played patiNnce
upon a pot smoothed level with his
hand. He became absorbed In the game.
and tho boys gathered round him curl
ously. Whenever he succeeded IN turn
ing out the ifty-two cagvis ho would
smile and rub his bands together. The
bows nj length considered him unoai-
anced mentally, and In consequence
looked upon him ~ q ncar~hoiy man.
Between Fortune and George CONVEX
na,ion dwind!sd down to . query a
'Can / do anythAng for your
mo-. thanks; ! an getting long
To-nignt shs retired early ana Georss
toined Rysnne's audience.
ut nj about nine eards to the
play" DO comment led,
Ryanne turned over an acs. Ten %
fifteen lnutes went BY. In tho several
attempts no had failed 10 score the full
complement,
ueerge laughed.
"whaa's IN your 0A1Ar' cried Nyanno
peoyishiy. ~ IRA alpglAn9 vqrSh.tdk
iug shoet u cut O>sse1kA O0tiS
lH~ ~ 0mtAnmnn ~