The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-12-18
P K.
Mahomed Laughs.

lus of self-preservation; but almost
instantly thought dominated impulse,
and all indications Of belligerency dis
appeared. The arm sank, relaxed. 1t
vas not possible nor polite that Ma
homed-El-Gebel meant to take repr1s-
al in this congested quarter. 1t would
have gained him no advantage what,
ever. And Ryanne's perception OF the
exact situation enabled him to smile
with the cool effrontery Of a man In
ured to sudden dangers.
well, we'll! So you have found
your way to Cairo, Mahomed?"
Eyes, >efendi," returned Mahomed,
with a smile that answered Ryanne's
in thought and expression, the only
| perceivable difference being In the &C.
centuated whiteness Of his fine teeth.
Eyes, l have found you"
And you have been looking for
me-"
Surely"
Ryanne, with an airy gesture, signi-
| fed that he wished to enter his car
rage. Mahomed, with a movement
equally light, implied his determining
| ton to stand his ground.
I'm a moment, effendi," he said
smoothly.
Mahomed spoke English more or
less fluently. His career of forty-odd
years had been most colorful. Once a
young sheik Of the desert, Of ample
following, a series of tribal wars left
him unattached, a wanderer without
tent, village or ~onion-patch. He had
first appeared in Cairo. Here be had
of necessity picked up a few words of
English; and from q 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, a hotel porter, burying his pride
till that moment when he could, in
dignity and security, resurrect 1t. For
tune, hanging fire, relented upon his
appointment as CANVASS or messenger
to the British Consulate. After a
time, he became what he considered
prosperous; and like all fanatic pa
gans of his faith. proposed to recon.
struct his religious life by a pilgrim
age to 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 a 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 charging upon fact to
say that when he deems it necessary
to lop off a head. he does so, without
consulting his master in CONSTANT
noDle. 1t Is all in the business of a
day. Next to his celebrated pearls and
rose-diamonds, the Pasha held as his
most precious treasure, the Holy
Y%hiordes. And for its loss Mahomed
knew that his own head rested but in
securely upon his lean neck. That his
star was still in ascendancy he be.
lieved. The .Pasha would not be in
Bagdad for many weeks. The revolu-
ton in Constantinople, the success of
the Young Turk party, made the
Pasha's future incumbency a matter Of
conjecture. While he pulled those
wires familiar to the politician. Ma
homed set out bravely to the
stolen rug. He was prepared to pro
coed to any length to regain it, wen
to the horrible Ito his Oriental mind)
necessity Of buying it. He retained
his travel-worn garments circumspect.
ly, for none would believe that his
b%urnouse was well lined with English
b~ank-notes.
"Well?" said Ryanne, whirling his
cane. He was by no means at eas
There was going to be trouble m
where along the road.
Il have come for the Yhiordes, ef-
fendi."
THE rug? That's too bad. l haven't
It."
Who has," One fear beset Mahom-
eds heart; this dog, whom he called
effendi, might have sold it, since that
must have been the ultimate purpose
of the theft. And if he had sold it
to one who had left Egypt . . . Ma
homed's neck grew cold. WHO has
it, effendi? Is the man still in Cairo?"
Yes. If you and your two friends
will come with me to the English-Bar,
I'll explain many things to you," as
sured Ryanne, beginning, as he be-
lieved, to see his way forward. Don't
be afraid. I'm not setting any trap for
you. I'll tell you truthfully that l
l.I-bL $1,000 " 49,, TO