The Elbert County tribune., 1912-03-22
CHAPTER vII-(contInued.)

BY dawn they were ready to start;
and SO, in the level rays of a sun that
seemed dazzling sphere of intoler-
able light. poising itself In the eastern
rim of the world as II undecided
whether or no to take up Its flight
across the armament, the little cara
van rocked out into the fastness Of
the desert, the Irishman In the van
sitting blooded mehari as 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
It 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 weariness weighed upon
their shoulders a 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
III IL IT,
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
gr1ly. between yawn and a chatter
of teeth-for the air was bitter cold.
"The moons not yet up,"
Hush, Sidi!" Something In the
guides tone stiiled his wrath. The
Touaregg are all about u.s. They have
been passing us throughout the
night
"Ye knew this and did not wake
me?"
There was no need; we could not
have moved ere this without detection.
Now. they are all a-stir. and we in
the night, may pass for them-until
moon-up."
The guide turned away to rouse the
mehara, prodding them up, mutinous,
snarling and ugly. In another FIVE
minutes they we're again moving for
ward. BY the time the silver rim of
the moon peered over the edge of the
east they were pelting on at full speed.
as yet, apparently. undetected by the
Touaregg.
An hour passed. and the chill in the
air became more intense; dawn was
at hand. A sense of security, OF dan
gers left behind. came to the Irish
man; he began to breathe more free
ly. though still the polished butt of a
repeating rife swinging from the sad
He grew more confident, mentally at
ease, seeing the desert take shape
in the moonlight and show itself desc
late on every hand.
Even as he gained assurance from
this thought, the guide turned in his
saddle and cried warning: The Tou-
areggi" From that moment on both
welded merciless whips. For out of
the moonlit wastes behind them had
shrilled voice. cruel and wild. an
nouncing discovery and the inception
of the chase. The fugitiyes had need
of nc sharper spur.
rife shot rang sharp on the echoes
of that cry, but the bullet must have
fallen far short. A moment later, in
deed, they opened brisk, scattering
fire-naturally Intellectual. though the
bullets dropping right and left In the
sand proved that the chase had got
within range.
Even with that warning, the end
was nearer than he had dreamed or
hoped. 1t came in a twinkling and as
unexpected as a bolt out Of q clear