Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1913-02-06
CHAPTER K.
Mahomed Laughs.

"0UShSd -odSiSs
The drawing back of Ryanne's pow
erful arm was produced by the stimu-
lus of self-preservation; but almost
instantly thought dominated impulse,
and all indications of belligerency dis
appeared. The arm sank, relaxed. 1t
was not possible nor polite that Ma
homed-El-Gebel meant to take repris-
al in this congested quarter. 1t would
have gained him no advantage what
ever. And Ryanne's perception of the
exact situation enabled him to smile
with the cool effrontery of man in
ured to sudden dangers.
well, we'll! So you have found
your way to Cairo, Mahomed?"
Eyes, effendi," returned Mahomed,
with smile that answered Ryanne's
in thought and expression, the only
perceivable difference being in the ae-
centuated wilderness of his fine teeth.
"Yes, have found you."
"And you have been looking for
me"
Surely"
Ryanne, with an airy gesture, signi.
fed that he wished to enter his car
riage. Mahomed, with a movement
equally light, implied his determine
ton to stand his ground.
"In a moment, effendi," he said
smoothly.
Mahomed spoke English more or
less fluently. His career of forty-odd
years had been most colorfJl. Once a
young sheik of the desert, of ample
following, series of tribal wars left
him unattached, a wanderer without
tent, village or onion-pateh. He had
first appeared in Cairo. Here he had
OF necessity picked up few words of
. English; and from laborer in the cot
ton fields he was eventually graduated
to the envied position of dragoman or
guide. He tired of this, being nomadic
by instinct and inclination. He tried
found himself stranded in Constants
nople. He drifted, became steve.
dore, hotel porter, burying his pride
till that moment when he could, in
dignity and security, resurrect it. For.
tune, hanging fire, relented upon his
to the British Consulate. After a
time, he became what he considered
prosperous; and like all fanatic pa.
gans Of his faith, proposed to,lrecon-
struct his religious life by a0pilgrim-
age to Holy Mecca. While there, he
ha r1nrfprpnnH nnncidnra HE "a
in behalf of the future Pasha of Bag.
dad, who thereafter gave him a place
in his retinue.
Mahomed was not only proud but
wise: and a series ofevents, sequences
of his own shrewdness, pushed him
forward till he became in deed, If not
in fact, the Pasha's right-hand man in
Bagdad. That quaint city, removed as
it is from the ordinary highways of
the Orient, is still to most of us an
echo remote and mysterious; and the
present Pasha enjoys great privileges,
over property, over life and death !;
and 1t Is not charging upon fact to
say that when he deems it necessary
to lop off head, he does so, without
consulting his master In CONSTANT.
nople. 1t is all in the business of a
day. Next to his celebrated pearls and
rose-diamonds, the Pasha held as his
most precious treasure, the Holy
Yhiordes. And for it's loss Mahomed
knew that his own head rested but In,
securely upon his lean neck. That his
star was still in ascendancy he be-
lieved. The Pasha would not be In
Bagdad for many weeks. The revolu'
ton in Constantinople, the success OF
the Young Turk party, made the
Pasha's future incumbency matter OF
conjecture. While he pulled those
wires familiar to the politician, Ma
homed set out bsavely TO recover the
stolen rug. He was prepared to pro
coed to any length to regain 1t, even
to the horrible Ito his Oriental mind
his travel-worn garments circumspect
ly, for none would believe that his
burnouse was well lined with English
bank-notes.
"Well?" said Ryanne, whirling hi
cane. He was by no means at ease
There was going to be trouble some
where along the road.
81 have come for the Yhiordes, ef
fendi."
"The rug? That's too bad. haven
it."
'Who has?" One fear beset Mahom
eds heart; this dog, whom he calle'
effendi, might have sold it, since tina
must have been the ultimate purpos
of the theft. And If he had sold
to one who had left Egypt Ma
homed's neck grew cold. "Who ha