The Irish standard., 1912-12-28

fWOuAu paSb. SUBJECTS 1OF COuV9F1ds
ton were exhausted in no time. Dig
rs he might, George could find moth.
ing new; and often he recounted the
same tale twice Of an evening. sar.
donic laughter from Ryanne.
Alderman had given them up al
hopeless. He was strong. vain, DOM
tneering man, kindly at heart, how.
ever, but impatient. When he told a
story, he demanded the attention Of
all: 80, when Ryanne yawned before
: his eyes, and George drew pictures in
tho sand. and the girl fell asleep with
her head upon her knees, he drew
on abruptly and left them to their
own devices. He had crossed and re-.
crossed the silences SO often that he
was no longer capable of Judging &C.
curately another mans mental pro.
cesses. That they had had a strange
and numbing experience he readily
understood; but now that they were
out Of duress and headed for the
coast, he saw no reason why they
should not act like human beings.
They still put up the small tent for
Fortune, but the rest of them slept
upon the sand, under the stars. Once,
George awoke as the dawn was gild-
ing the east. silhouetted against tho
sky he saw Fortune. She was stand
ing straight, her hands pressed at her
sides, her head tilted back-a tense
attitude. He did not know 1t, but
she was asking God why these things
> should be. He, threw off his blanket
Y md ran to- her.
Fortune, you mustn't do that. You
VIII catch cold"
II cannot Sleep" she said simply.
He took her by the hand and led
i. her to the tent. cry" he said. Then
he did something he had never done
before to any woman save his mother.
He kissed her hand, turned quickly,
and went over to his blanket. She
remained motfonless before the tent,
!. The hand fascinated her. From the
hand her gaze travelled to the man
) settling himself comfortably under his
blanket. Pity, pity! that
Was ever to be her portion; pityl
In Damascus the trio presented
themselves at the one decent hotel,
/: and but for Ackermann's charges upon
the manager, It is doubtful II he would
have accepted them as guests; for a
more suspicious-looking trio he had
4 never set eyes upon. "a hotel man
weighs a.. person by the quality Of his
clothes.) Moreover. they carried no
luggage. Ackermann went sponsor;
and knowing something of the integ-
rity Of the rug-hunter, the manager
surrendered. And when George pre-.
vented his letter Of credit at the I'm.
oerial Ottoman Bank, again 1t was
-Ackermann who vouched for him. It
mad been agreed to say nothing Of the
character Of their adventure. None
Of them wanted to be followed by Gu
rious eyes.
: With handful of British gold In his
I pocket, George faced the future hope
fully. He took his companions in
and about town, hunting the shops for
clothing, which after various difficult
ties they succeeded In finding. It was
ill-fitting and cheap. but It would serve
till they reached Alexandria or Naples.
'.How are you fxed?" asked Ry-
anne. gloomily surveying Georges
ehoddy cottonwood suit.
"Cash in hand7"
(. \ /. eyes
Is About four hundred pounds. At
Naples I can cable. Do you want
sny1"
two months salary?" .,...
'Ryanne, do you really mean to
stick to that proposition?"
4 TITS on my mind Just now"
'Well, we'll go back to the bank
and I'll draw a hundred pounds for
you. You can pay your own expenses
/ Al we go. But what are we going to
\ do in regard to Fortune?"
"see that she gets safely back to
afentone."
Suppose she will not go there!"
TITS up to you, Percivai: IT'S Al, i'm
% you. you're the gay Locnlnvar
! from the west. I'm not sure-no one
ever is regarding = woman-but I
think she'll listen to you. She wouldn't
give an ear to scalawag like me.
This caravan business has put me out.
side the pale. I've lost caste"
you're only desperate and discour-
aged; you can pull up straight"
+ "Much obliged"
is s ''You haven't looked at life normal.
4 u; that's what the matter is"
~solon. you're right. There's that
poor devil back in Bagdad. I've killed
Z. ! man, Percival. It doesn't mix well
IN my dreams"
:; .You said that it was in self-de.
& Tense"
"And God knows 1t was. But IL
hadn't gone after that damned rug,
he'd have been alive today. Oh. damn
It all; let's 60 back to the hotel and
order that club-steak, or the best imi'
station they have I'm goina to have