The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-06-15

ping pariah dogs. fellaheen, Arabs, Be
/ douins from the desert, Nubians,
Greeks, Levantines-the fugitive had
/ not covered two-score yards ere a mob
Of such composition was swapping at
his calves
Turning and twisting. lodging and
| doubling, shifting this gratuitous en-
envy full in the face. treating the next
as ~ had the limb of the law (and
leaving both howling). he seized the
first opening and swung into a narrow
backway. leading inland from the wa
terfroDt
He ran as seldom he had run be-
fore, straining and laboring, stumbling,
/ recovering and plunging onward And.
by the gods, wasn't it hot, The
khamsin raved and tore like a spirit
/ Of hell-fire through that narrow alley,
/ turning it into a miniature inferno.
/ But in the course Of some minutes.
/ the end of the tunnel came in view;
a lighted rift between house walls,
/ giving upon the Illuminated street be-
yond. The sight brought forth a fresh
! burst of speed from O'Rourke. He
/ dashed madly out of the alley,
stumbled and ran headlong into a
! strolling Greek. who grappled with
him, at first in surprise and then in
! resentment, while the clamor of the
pursuing rabble shrilled loud and
/ near and ever nearer
Exhausted as he was, the Irishman
| struggled with little skill before he
! mastered his own surprise; and in the
end saw his fms written along the
blade of a thin, keen knife which the
Greek mad whipped from the folds of
his garments and jerked threateningly
above his head.
It was falling when O'Rourke saw
it. In another breath he had been
stabbed. Unexpectedly the Greek
shrieked, dropped the knife as though
it had turned suddenly white-hot in
his hands. and leaped back from
O'Rourke, nursing a broken wrist
while a voice as sweet as the singing
of angels rang in the fugitive's ears,
though the spirit of its melody was
simple and crude enough
"O'Rourke, be all tn powers, The
masther himself, Glory, ye beggar,
tits sorry I am that I didn't split the
ugly face of ye wild me sthick,
/. This way, yer honor! Come
wild me-"
Blindly enough Gndeed the world
was all awhirl about him) O'Rourke,
his arm grasped by a strong and conf
dent hand, permitted himself to be
swung to the right and across the
street. In thought blackness again
| was all about him, but the hand
gripped his arm, hurrying him onward;
and he yielded blindly to its guidance
without power, for that matter, to
question or to object; what breath
he had he sorely needed. And as blind
ly he stumbled on for perhaps another
hundred yards, while the voice of the
rabble made hdeOus the night be-
hind them. Hardly, indeed, had the
two whipped into the mouth of the
baCk-way ere it was choked by
swarm Of pursuers. But-"Niver
fear" said the voice at his side.
"'Tis ourselves thatll outwit them.
Here, now, yer honor, do ye
go straight on widout sthoppin' ontil
We come to an iron dure in dead wall
at the end av this. Knock there
vance, count tin, and knock again.
I'll lead EN- away and be wild We again
in a brace av shakes!"
Benumbed by fatigue and exhaus-
ton, O'Rourke obeyed. He was aware
that his preserver with wild whoop
had darted aside into a cross-alley, but
hardly aware of more. Mechanically
he Numbered on until brought up by
wall that closed and made a Guide
sac of the way
With trembling hands he felt before
him, fingers encountering the smooth,
cool surface Of a sheet Of metal This,
then, was the door AS carefully as
he could he knocked, counted ten, and
knocked again-while the mob that
had lusted for his blood trailed off
down the side alley in frantic pursuit
of his generous preserver. And he
heard with a smile, the latter's shrill
defiant Irish yells Turing them further
upon the false scent
''If It's not Danny" gasped the ad-
venturer, then myself's not the
O'Rourke, Bless the lad"
But as he breathed this benediction
the iron door swung inwards and he
stumbled across the threshold, half
fainting, hardly conscious that he had
done more than pass from open night
to the night of an enclosed space. His
foot caught on some obstruction and
he went to his knees with a cry that
was a cross between a sob and a
groan; and incontinently fell full
length upon an earthen floor, his head
pillowed on his arm, painting as If his
: heart would break
In the darkness above him someone
cried aloud, a startled cry, and then
the door was thrust to with a clang
; and rattle of bolts. a match rasped