The Mena weekly star., 1913-06-05

''hl uIZzy. The fighting mood hadn,t eFaporated, by any means "yon know where it is better than I" S~ this was Mahomed?
 "Fool!" cried the other, shaking George roughly. Easy there! I had the rug. bnt It was stolen this afternoon" He wae very weak and tired. And if had It, shouldn't give it to you" win renewed truculence; land you may it." i'f0 anu 'iiioAe
 Mahomed, no longer pacific, struck Neorge Violently upon the mouth He on his part, was unknightly enough n attempt to sink his teeth in the bru. tal hand. Queer fancies fit through q man head in times like this: for the ineHectuality of the bite reminded nm or Hallowe'ens and the tubs with the Dobbing apples. One thing was certain: he would kill this pagan tho very first opportunity. Rather q startling metamorphosis in the char. acter of a man whose life had been passed in the peacefulest environ ments. And to kill him without the least compunction. too. To strike A man Who couldn't help himself!
 Hey there!" he yelled. "Help for white mani" After such treatment he considered it anything but dishon, orable to break his parole. And where was Ryanne? "Help!"
 Mahomed swung his arm round Georges neck, and the third cry be- gan with a gurgle and ended with a sigh. Deftly, the Arab rebandaged the prisoners mouth. So be 1t. He had had his chance for freedom: now he should drink to the bottom of the bitter cup, along with the others. He had no real enmity against George; he was simply one of the pawns in the game he was playing. But now he saw that there was danger in liberat Ing him. The other! Mahomed ca ressed his wiry beard. To subject him to the utmost mental agony; to break him physically, too; to pay him back pound for pence; to bruise, to hurt, to rack him, that was all Ma homed desired
 George made no further effort to free himself, nor apparently to bestjr himself about the future. Somewhere in the fight, presumably as he fell against the table, he had received a crushing blow in the small ribs; and when Mahomed threw him back. he fainted for the second time in his life He reclined Imply in the corner of the carriage, the bosom of his shirt bulging open; for the thrifty Arabs had purloined the pearl-studs, the gold collar-buttons, and the sapphire cuff-links.' And consciousness re- turned only when they lifted him out and dropped him inconsiderately into the thick dust of the road He stirred again at his bonds, but presently lay still. The pain in his side hurt keen- ly, and he wasn't sure that the rib was whole. What time had passed since his entrance to the English-Bar was beyond his reckoning, but he knew that it was yet in the dark of night, as no light whatever penetrated the cloth over his eyes. That he was somewhere outside the city he was assured by the tang of the winter wind. He heard low voices-Arabic; and while he possessed a smattering of the tongue. his head ached too sharply for him to sense a word. Later, a camel coughed Camels? And where were they taking him upon a camel? Bagdad? Impossible: there were too many white men following the known camel-ways. He groaned little, but the sound did not reach the ears of his captors. To ride a camel under ordinary conditions was a pain full affair; but to straddle the ungainly brute, dressed as he was, in a swal- low-tall and papor-thin pumps, did not promote any pleasurable thoughts. They would in all truth kill him be- fore they got through Hang the rug! And doubly hang the man who had sold 1t to him.
 His whilom friend, conscience, came hack and gibbered at him, Once he said: Don't do it!" and now she was saving quite kumanly: 'I told you sol" Hadn't she warned him? Hadn't she swung her red lantern under his very nose? Well, she hoped he was satisfied. His reply to this brief tere- 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 pervsrseness, probably. And where was 1t, since he was now certain that Mahomed had it notf It was By anne; Ryanne. smooth and plausible of tongue. Not being satisfied with | 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 Tor them to lberate bis hands, but the gallinR rope was not disturbed. It was evident that the natives still en- tertaIned some respect for his fighting obilitv. Next, they boosted him, flung a leg here and leg there; then came a lurch backward. the recurrence. or the pain in his side, and he knew that he was upon the back of a 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 fin time the upper turn of the steel chafed his insteps. He eased himseir