Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-12-18
CHAPTER XIII.
Not a Cheerful Outlook.

George, his brain in tumult, a fierce
tigerish courage giving fictitious
strength to his body. staggered towart
her. 1t was mad dream, mirage
of his own disordered thoughts For
tune there? 1t was not believable
What place had she in this tangled
web? He ran his fingers into his hair
gripped, and pulled. If it was a dream
the pain did not waken him; Fortune
sat there still. Through what ter
rors might she not have passed the
preceding night? Alone in the desert
without any of those convenience
which are to women as necessary as
the air they breathe! He tried to run
but his feet sank too deeply in tht
pale sand; he could only plod. He
must touch her or hear her voice;
otherwise he stood upon the brink Of
madness. There was no doubt in his
mind now; he loved her, loved her as
deeply and passionately as any sto
ried knight loved his lady; loved he1
without thought of reward, unselfish
ly, with great and tender pity, for I'M
consciously he saw that she, like he
was all alone, not only here in the
desert, but along the highways where
men set up their dwellings.
Mahomed, having an eye upon all
things, though apparently seeing only
that which was under his immediate
concern, saw the young mans inten-
ton, and more, read the secret in his
face. He was infinitely amused
There we're two of them, so it seemed
Quietly he slipped in between George
and the girl, and his movement freed
Georges mind Of its bewilderment
Unhesitatingly, he flung himself upon
the Arab, striving to reach the lean
brown throat. Mahomed, strong and
unwearie6, having no hand in the ac-
tual warfare, thrust George back SO
vigorously that the yG1ug man lost
his balance and fell prone G1on the
sand. He was so weak that the s9Il
stunned him. Mahomed stepped for
ward, doubtless with the. generous i'm
pulse to prove that in the matter of
kicks he desired to show no partial
ity, when a hand caught at his bur
mouse. He paused and looked down.
It was the girl.
Don't! A brave man would not do
that"
Mahomed, moved by some feeling
that eluded immediate analysis,
turned about 1t was time to be off,
if he wished to reach Serapeum the
following night. Pursuit he knew to
be out of the question, since who
was there to know that there was any,
thing to pursue? But many miles in
tervened between here and his desti-
nation. He dared not enter Serapeum
in the daytime. Lying upon the canal
bank as it did, the possibility of en-
countering a stray white man con-
fronted him. Every camel-way fire.
quented by Europeans must OF ne
cessfty be avoided, every town of any
size skirted, and all the while he must
keep parallel with known paths or be-
come lost himself. Not to become
lost himself, that was his real con-
Germ. The caravan was provfsioned
for months, and Ire knew Asfa-Minor
as we'll as the lines upon his palms
There were sand-storms, too; but
against these blighting visitatfons he
would match his vfgilant eye and the
instinct of the camels. The one way
in which these peculiar storms might
distress him lay in the total oblitera-
ton OF the way-sIgns, certain rocks,
certain hills, without the guidance Of
which, like good ship bereft of it's
compass. he might fall away from his
course, notwithstanding that he would
always travel toward the sun.
And there was also the vital cues
ton of water; ne must measure the
time between each well, each oasis.
So, then, aside from these dangers
with which he feft able to cope, there
was one. unforeseen: the chance meet
ing with wandering caravan headed
by white men in search of rugs and
carpets. These fools were eternally
hunting about the wastes of the
world; they were never satisfied TN
less they were prowling into countries
where they had no business to be. were
always breaking the laws of the ca.
hphs and the Koran.
The girl was beautiful in her pale,
foreign. way; beautiful as the star of
the morning, as the first rose of the
Persian spring; and he sighed for
the old Gays that were no more. She
would have brought a sultan's ransom
in the markets. But the accursed
Feringht were everywhere, and these
sickly If handsome white women were
more to them than their hearts blood
why, he had never ceased to wonder
But upon this knowledge he had
mapped out his plan of torture in re-
gard to Ryanne. The idea of SELLING
Fortune had dimly formed in h,r
mind, while his blood had burned IN
anger; but today's soberness showed