Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-08-08
co2yrirhs 1911 By sobb,.Merill Company
CHAPTER XIV.
Fortunes Riddle Solved.


Fortune, without deigning to reply,
walked slowly and proudly to her tent,
and disappeared within. She looked
neither at Ryanne nor at George. She
knew that George, his soul filed with
unlucky quixotic sense OF chlValry
which had made him SO easy victim
to her mother, would not accept his
liberty at the price Of REanne's, Ky
anne. to whom he owed nothing, not
even mercy. And II she had had to
ask one Of the two, George would
have been the natura! selection, for
she trusted him implicitly. Perhaps
there still fingered In her mind rec
objection Of how charmingly he had
spoken Of his mother.
She could have set out for Cairo
alone: even as she could have grown
a pair Of wings and sailed through the
afr! The fate that walked behind her
was malevolent. cruel. unjust. She
had wronged no one, in thought or
deed. She had put out her hand conf
IDENTITY to the world. to be laughed at,
dtstrusted, OF ignored. Was it pos
sible that little more than e month
ago she wandered, II not happy, In
the sense she desired, at least in q
peac aful state of mind, among her ca
melias and roses at Mentone? Her
world had been, In this short time,
remolded. reconstructed; where oncs
had bloomed garden. now yawned q
chasm: s-1 the psychological earth
quake had i.'i her t:gzy. That Ma
homed, now rough to q kind Of Der.
serk rag. :..!sht jcs:n reprisals at
once, did not aiariI her; indeed, her
feeling WIS 'ath": CT dull, aching IN
difference. Nothing mattered now.
But Ryanne and George were keenly
alive to the danger, and both agreed
that Fortune must go no farther.
Rranne, under his bitter raillery and
seeming scorn for sacred things, pos
sesscd latent magnanimity, and 1t
now pushed up through the false lay
ers. zones, it's my funeral. Go tell
her. You two can find the way back
to the canal, and once there you will
have no trouble. Don't bother your
head about me-"
"Rut what will you do?"
"Take my medicine" grim1y.
"Eyanne, you are offering the cow
ardly part to mel"
You fool, it's the girl. What do
I care about the rest Of It? You're
as brave as lion. When you put up
your fists the other night, you solved
that puzzle for yourself. For Gods
sake, do 1t while have the courage
to Let you! Don't you understand? I
love that girl better than my hearts
blood. and Mahomed can have it drop
by drop. Go and go quickly! He will
give you food and water"
"You go. She knows you better
than me-"
"Rut will she trust me as she will
you? Percival, old top, Mahomed will
never let me go till he's taken his
pound Of flesh. Fortune!" Ryanne
called. Fortune, we want you'll"
She appeared at the flap Of the tent.
Zones here will go back with you.
Go, both Of you, before Mahomed
changes his mind"
Miss Chedsoye, he is wrong. He's
the one to go. He was hurt worse
than I was. Pride doesn't matter at
a time like this. You two co." des-
perately.
Fortune shook her head. "All or
none Of us; all or none Of u.s." she re.
peated.
And Mahomed, having witnessed
and overheard the scene. laughed, a
laughter identical to that which had
struck the barmaid's ears sinisterly.
He had not studied his white man
without gathering some insight into
his character. Neither Of these men
was a poltroon. And when he had