Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-01-04
CHAPTER Xxx Continued.

II once heard fellow say he re.
minded himself drowsly. that he could
sleep upon everything except stone
floor or concrete. Well. that man
didn't know the luxury of hoing tired.
And he didn't know either the wisdom
of storing up a good reserve stock of
sleep when You get the chance. .
took darn good care not to leave
boot tracks on those rocks. .
And if they don't hunt me out with
smell-dogs, I'm safe. Miss
Dubbs, my dearest, this isn't idleness
IT means that I'm at the end of my
string. 49,. But don't you fret.
I'll get you out. \. land Of course,
the owners, too if have to
spoil half Africa in the process
For the benefit of any reader of this
chroniclelwho does not know the upper
pointed out that the climate one finds
up there is very different from the hot
baking airs of the coast fringe.
In the length of the Atlas which lies
between the Atlantic shore and the
Algerian border 1t is quite possible
there may be glaciers and perpetual
ice-fields. No white man has explored
them-Sr, to be more precise, no white
man who has gone into that upper
country has ever returned to report
his observations, and the Berber who
lives in the neighborhood, and pre-
.sumably knows. is reticent creature
and will not tell. The present writer
who records only what he has seen.
has felt the sun up there drilling
through his head-gear at midday. and
has at that time stood in the middle
of his own small circular shadow And
vet on the same spot. and only twelve
hours later. the whole camp has been
whitened by steadily falling snow. ana
the chill of it was paralyzing. AS all
the world knows. there is nothing so
bitter as snow in the tropics. Inc
temperature. as temperatures go, may
not be anything remarkable. but IN
these things it is contrast that nlps.
Captain Kettle slept throughout the
baking dav the sleep Of utter Wearl-
ness. without dream, without sur.
insects hummed and pirged above him
and some OF them browsed on him 'H-
disturbed. or. ,t.
An investigating iackal got wind OF
him about supner-time, and trottea d
mile erinning at the thought or meal
Pvt he turned tail after brlet lnspec-
ton. and left a bad smell behlnd MN
to mark his displeasure. The pioneers
Of IN adjacent COLONY of ants, TOO. came
and, marched over him; but discover,
ing that he was still alive. retired
with a. resolve to call later on,
II was the chill that woke him.
He was stiff from head to foot. his
bones ached. and his skin prlckled,
this being the ordinary way that 1rost
affects one in the tropics. But the sea
life raises one above grumbl1ng at
trifes like these. He looked at MS
watch. frowned at the moon, snook
himself warm. and set out. He had
all his plan of campaign mapped OUT,
and after a brief reconnaissance. 10
make sure that the disposition OF the
enemy remained unchanged, he COM
menced the action.
He chose one of the larger pickets
IN tho valley below, where the white
clothed men lay In starnsn patIeih'
with their feet pointing TOWARD cen
trail camp fire, and shoulderlng the WIZ
chester, commenced a steady bompara-
ment at the blaze. He fired no Two
bullets from the same spot, but aiter
letting off one cartridge, ran s"lltly
for ten wards along the ridge before
dischargine the next. After the hrst
few shots he was Indifferent about m
accurate aim. The Berbers mad scat
tered from the fire when the first pull
lot hit a log, and sent up a rocket OF
sharks and had rolled off, like the ex-
nerts thew were at the sniplng game
into cover: and after that a bullet at
random was as good, or as harmless, as
a bullet aimed. l.. ..~ ~
:Captain Kettles ruse de guerre was
tn make the enemy think that they
we're attacked by a considerable num-
her If rifemen strung out along the
ridoe who had an order for individual
fire: and in this he succeeaea very
nlea sanity. Kettle splashed IN twenty
shots from a front or TWO nuha,eu
wards. and then there was a. cessation
Of firing as he sprinted back 10 MS
starting point To the Berber tnls rep
resented the interval necessar! 10 re-
load and reprime muzzle-ioaalng'
nint.1ocked musket. He repeated the
dose over the same two hundred wards
If front, and convinced them that thev
we're attacked by twenty men. We'll,
thew we're two hundred. The strung
ont sentries and supports had run IN
nv this and the whole crew OF them
we're hacked together in the bush.
They were sons Of Islam all. and
frontal attack appealed to them as one
of the surest short cuts to Paradise
for the lucky ones.
So word was passed with shout OF
"Allah," They broke cover. all two
hundred of them. and charged up
over the burnt hillside.
.s CHAPTER XXI.
.,- A Little Berber Sport.
ere 7 go much more with this sort
of game" Captain Kettle painted to
himself. 'my boilers will need re-tub'
ing, never knew how near man
could get to being burst by running up
hill in these high attitudes"
He souatted behind a boulder at the
head Of the valley, and peered over 1t
down the bare burnt slopes. The Ber-
hers had carried out their frontal at.
tack like the valiant men they were.
and had scattered at the head of the
ridge, and were hunting for the men