The Bourbon news., 1912-01-09
CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.
South of Biskra there Is always
south of Briska there is never peace.
A guerilla warfare is waged peren-
nial.y between the lords of the desert,
the Touaregg on the one hand, and
the advance agents of civilization. as
personifed by the reckless French
Condemned Corps and the Foreign Le-
g:Cn on the other. Year after year
military expeditions set out from the
oasis of Biskra to penetrate the will
derness, either by caravan route to
Tinbuctoo or along the proposed
route of the Trans-Saharan Railway
to Lake Tchad; and their lines of
march are traced in red upon the
land.
Toward this debatable land O'Rourke
set his face with a will, gladly; for
he loved it. He had fought over 1t
of old; in his memory its sands were
sanctified with the blood of comrades,
men by whose side he had been proud
friendship he had been proud to own.
Mentally serene, If physically the re-
verse of comfortable, O'Rourke dozed
through the interminable twelve
hours of the journey to ElGuerrah;
arriving at which place after eight the
following morning, he transferred him
self and his handbags for now he
was travelling light to the connecting
train on the Biskra branch. The lat
ter, scheduled to reach the oasis at
fOur-thirty in The afternoon, loafed cas-
ually up the line, arriving at the term
inus after dark.
The Irishman, thoroughly tagged
but complacent in the knowledge that
he had left Doth vicomte and honor
able a day behind him, kept himself
from bed by main will-power for half
the night, while he made the rounds
of cafes and dance halls, in search of
trustworthy and competent guide
no easy thing to find
The French force by then was three
days out from the oasis, and no doubt
since it was technically flying col
umn.' calculated to move briskly from
point to point in imitation of Touar-
egg tactics, hourly putting a greater
distance between itself and its start
ing point Moreover, the pursuit con-
templated by the adventurer was one
attended by no inconsiderable perils-
By dint of indomitable persistence.
unfiagging good-nature and such In
fiuence as he could bring personally
to bear upon the authorities, O'Rourke
got what he desired-a competent
hera, with a pack animal that would
serve their purpose.
By dawn they were ready to start:
and so. in the level rays of a sun that
seemed a dazzling sphere of intoler-
able light, poising itself in the eastern
rim Of the world as If undecided
whether or no to take up its flight
across the armament, the little cara
van rocked out into the fastEess OF
the desert, the Irishman in the van
sitting blooded mehari IS one to the
wilderness born.
On the seventh night they bivouack-
, ed hard on the heels of the flying col
umn, having for seven days pursued
1t this way and that, zigzagging into
the heart of the parched land.
Now, when they were come within
six hours of their goal, reluctantly.
long after nightfall, O'Rourke gave
consent to halt, conceding the ne
ceSsity. for wearinecS waiohad uOOn
their shoulders great burden. and
the camels had become unusually SUI
len and evil tempered; if rest were
denied them presently they would
become obstinate and refuse to follow
! the road
O'Rourke closed his eyes and lost
consciousness with sensation of fall
ing headlong into a great pit of OBJ
livion, bottomless, eternal Yet 1t
seemed no more than a moment ere
he was sitting up and rubbing sight
into his eyes, shaken out of slumber
by his guide.
He stumbled to his feet and lurched
toward the camels, still but half
awake. When his senses cleared ir-
ritation possessed him, His guide had
been overzealous. He turned upon the
man and seized him roughly by the
arm
What the divvle," he grumbled an-
grily, between a yawn and a chatter
of teeth-for the air was bitter cold.
The moons nor vet mi"
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