Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1912-10-10

she swung her red lantern under his
very nose? Well, she hoped he was
satisfied. His reply to this brief jere-
miad was that if ever he got his hands
upon the rug again, he would hang
on till the crack Of doom, and con-
science herself could go hang. Mere
| perverseness, probably. And where
was it, since he was now certain that
Mahomed had it not? 1t was Ry-
anne; Ryanne, smooth and plausible
of tongue. Not being satisfied With a
| thousand pounds, he had stolen 1t
again to mulct some other simple.
trustful person. George, usually so
unsuspicious, was now quite willing
to believe anything of anybody.
| He felt himself being lifted to his
feet. The rope round his ankles was
thrown off. His feet stung under the
renewed flow of blood He waited for
them to iberate his hands, but the
CALLING rope was not disturbed. 1t
was evident that the natives still en-
tertained some respect for his fighting
ability. Next, they boosted him, flung
leg here and leg there; then came
a lurch backward, the recurrence Of
the pain in his side, and he knew that
he was upon the back of camel, des-
ert-bound There were stirrups, and
as life began to spread vigor once
more through his legs, he found the
steel. The straps were too short, and
in time the upper turn of the steel
chafed his insteps. He eased himself
by riding sidewise, the proper way
to ride camel, but with constant
straining to keep his balance without
the use of his hands. Fortunately,
they were not travelling very fast, 9th
erwise, what with the stabbing pains
in his side, produced by the unvarying
dog-trot, he must have fallen. He
was miserable, yet defiant; tears of
anger and pain filled his eyes and
burned down his cheeks in spite Of
the cloth.
And he, poor fool, had always been
longing for an adventure, taste OF
life outside the peaceful harbor where
in he had sailed his cat-boat! Well,
here he was, in the deep-sea water;
and he read himself so truly that he
knew the adventure he had lOnged for
had been the cut-and-dried affairs Of
story-tellers, in which only the viii
lains were seriously disconnected,
and everything ended happily. A
dashing hero he was, to be sure!
Why hadn't he changed his clothes?
Was there ever such an ass? Ryanne
had told him that there was likely to
be sport; and yet he had left the ho-
tel as one dressed for the opera. Ass!
And tomorrow the Ludwig would sail
without him.
The wind blew cold against his
chest, and the fact that he could neil
Their see, nor use his tongue to moist
en- his bruised lips, added to the dis
comforts. Back and forth he swayed
and rocked. The pain in his side was
gradually minimized by the torture
bearing upon his ankles, his knees
across his shoulders. Finally, when
in dull despair he was about to give
up and slide off, Indifferent whether
the camels following trampled him or
not, a halt was called. 1t steadied
him. Some one reached up and un-
tied the thong that strangled the life
in his hands. Forward again. This
was a trif1e better He could now
ease himself with his hands. No one
:nterfered with him when ha tore off
the Dandages over MS eyes ana
mouth. The camels were now urged
to swifter pace.
Egyptian night, we'll called, he
thought. He could discern nothing
but phantom-like grey silhouettes that
bobbed up and down after the fashion
of corks upon water. Before him and
behind him; how many camels made
Up the caravan he could not tell. He
could hear the faint slip-slip as the
beasts shuff1ed forward in the fine
heavy sand. They were we'll out into
the desert, but what desert was as
yet a mystery. He had forgotten to
Keep the points of the compass In his
mind. And to pick out his bearings
by any particular star was to him no
more simple than translating Chinese.
Far, far away behind he saw a lumt-
nous pallor in the sky, the reflected
lights of Cairo. And only few hours
ago he had complained to the head
waiter because of the bits Of cork
floating in his glass Of wine. All, for
the dregs of that bottle now; warmth,
revival, new courage! Curse
the luck! There went one of his
pumps. He called out. The man rid
ing in front and leading Georges
camel merely gave yank at the rope.
The camel responded with a cough
and quickened gait.
Presently George became aware of
a singular fact: that. he could see out
of one eye better than the other;
and that the semi-useless orb shot out
little stars with every beat Of his
heart. One of his ears, too, began to
thrcb and burn. He felt of it. 1t was
less like an ear than a mushroom. 1t
had been a rafting good mix-up, any
how; and he accepted the knowledge
rather proudly that the George Perez
val Algernon, who but lately had en-
tprpd tho I'm oil ch.Pap cOrT1oo1v opd