The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-01-16

Yes. And upon condition that you
liberate US all, will put 1t into your
hands. But 1t must be my writing
this .ime."
A white man would have blushed
under the reproach of her look. Ma
homed smiled amiably, pleased over
his cleverness. Where is the kis-
weh?"
The kIsweh?"
The Holy Yhiordes. Where Is it?"
That l refuse to tell you. Your
word of honor first. to bind the bar
gain"
Ryanne laughed. 1t acted upon Ma
homed like a goad. He raised the
whip, and had Ryanne's gaze swerved
the part Of an inch, the blow would
have fallen.
"You laugh?" snarled Mahomed.
why, yes. A bargain with your
honor makes me laugh"
And your honor?" returned Ma
homed fleroely. He wondered why he
held his hand. 81 have matched trick
cry against trickery. My honor has
not been called. l fed you. gave
you drink; in return you lied to me-
dishonored me in the eyes OF my
friends, and one Of them you killed. p"
1T was my life or his" exclaimed
Ryanne, not rellshing the recital OF
this phase. 1T was my life or his;
and he was upon my back"
Fortune shuddered. Presently she
laid her hand upon Mahom6d's arm
Would you take my word OF honorT
Mahomed sought her eyes. Yes
I read truth in your eyes. Bring me
the rug, and my word Of honor to you
you shall go free"
But my friends?"
"One Of them" Mahomed laughed
unpleasantly. It was an excellent idea
"One of them shall go free with you
1t will be for you to choose which
Now, you dog, laugh, laugh!" and the
tongue of the kurbash bit the dust
within an inch of Ryanne's feet
What shall do?" asked Fortune
miserably.
Accept" urged Ryanne. III you
are afraid to- choose one or the other
of US. Jones and will spin COIN"
81 agree" said George, very unhap-
py.
Have you any paper, jones'?
George searched. He found the
dance-card t. the ball at the hotel. In
another pocket he discovered the little
pencil that went with 1t.
You write," said Mahomed to For,
tune.
81 intend to-" Fortune took the card
and pencil and wrote as follows;
Mother: Horace, Mr.. Jones and are
prisoners Of the man who owned the
rug which you will find in the large
steamer-roll. Give it to the courier
who brings this card. And under no
circumstances set spies upon his
track" In French she added: I'VE
are bound for Bagdad. In case MO-
hamed receives the rug and we are
not liberated, wire the embassy at
Constantinople and the consulate at
Ragdad FORTUNE"
She gave it to Mahomed.
Read 1t out loud" he commanded.
While he spoke English f1uently, he
could neither read nor write 1t In any
serviceable degree. The note he had
given to Fortune had been written by
a friend Of his in the baZaars who had
unon a time lived in New York. For
tune read slowly, slightly flushing as
she evaded the French script.
THAT will do" Mahomed agreed.
He shouted for one of the boys,
bade him saddle the hagin or racing
camel, which Of all those twelve, alone
was his, and be off to Cairo. The boy
dipped his bowl into the kettle, ate
greedily, saddled the camel, and five
minutes later was speeding back
toward Cairo at gait that would
bring him there late that night.
Fortune and George and Ryanne
watched him till he disappeared below
dip and was gone from view. In
the minds of the three watchers the
same question rose: would he be toe
late? George was cheerful enough
! thereafter, but h!s cheerfulness was
not Of the infectious kind.
At noon the caravan was once more
upon its way Ryanne was able tc
ride, The fumes Of whatever drug
had been administered to him haC
finally evaporated, and he felt only
bruised, old, dlsheartened. An evi
dav for him when he had set fortl
for Bagdad in quest Of the rug. HI
was confident that there would be NJ
rug awaiting the courier. and wha
would be Mahomed's procedure whel
the boy returned empty-handed wa
not difficult to imagine. Mahome
was right; so far honor had not en-
tered into the contest. According t
his lights, the Arab was only payin
| coin for coin. But for the girl, RI
, anne would have accepted the situt
ton with shrug, to await that mt
' ment when Mahomed, eased by tn
sense Of security, would naturally n
: lax vigilance. The presence OF Fo
| tune changed the whole face of tn
, affair. Mahomed could have his eye
and heart II he would but spare he
: He must be patient; he must acceI
Z insults, even physical violence, b'
: some day he and Mahomed would pla
d the final round.
His past, his foolish, futile past: a
!. the follies, all the petty crimes, a
4 the low designations in which he ha
indulged. seemed trooping about h
d camel, mocking and gibbering at hir
e Why hadn't he lived clean like Jont
d there? Why hadn't he fought tenn
tation as he had fought men? Ent
{ ronment was no excuse; bringing-u
n offered no palliation: he had gor
wrong simply because his inclination
!. had been wrong. On the other han
n no one had ever tried to help hi
L.