Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1912-12-13
CHAPTER X.
Mahomed LAUGHS.

Mahomed Laughs.
The drawing back of Ryanne's pow
erful arm was produced by the stimu-
lus Of self-preservation; but almost
instantly thought dominated impulse,
and all indications Of belligerency dis
appeared. The arm sank, relaxed. 1t
was not possible nor polite that Ma
homed- -El-Gebel meant to take repris
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 man In
ured to sudden dangers.
well, we'll! So you have found
your way to Cairo, Mahomed?"
Yes, effendi," returned Mahomed,
with a smile that answered Ryanne's
in thought and expression, the only
perceivable difference being in the ac-
centuated whiteness Of his fine teeth.
Yes, 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
riage Mahomed, with a movement
equally light, implied his determina-
ton to stand his ground.
'In e moment, effendi," he said
smoothly.
Mahomed spoke English more or
less fluently. His career cf forty-odd
years had been most coIorf.i. Once
young sheik of the desert, of ample
following, series of tribal wars left
him unattached, Wanderer without
tent, village or onion-patch, He had
first appeared in Cairo. Here he had
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
ncple. He drifted, became steve
dore, hotel porter, burying his pride
till that moment when he could, in
dignity and security, resurrect It, For
tune, hanging fire, relented upon his
appointment as cavass 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 pilgrim
age to Holy Mecca. While there, he
had performed considerable service
| in behalf of the future Pasha of Bag
dad, who thereafter gave him 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 ii Is not enlarging upon fact to
say that when he deems 1t necessary
to lop off a head. he does so, without
consulting his master in Constants
nople. 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
Yhiordes. And for its loss Mahomed
knew that his own head rested but in
securely upon his lean neck. That hil
star was still In ascendancy he be
| lieyed. The Pasha would not be II
Bagdad for many weeks. The reyolu
tion in Constantinople. the success o.
the Young Turk party. made the
Pasha'B future incumbency matter O
conjecture. While he pulled those