The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-01-02

had been rattling good mix-up, any,
now; and he accepted the knowle dge
rather proudly that the George Percl.
val Algernon, who but lately had en-
tered the English-Bar sprucely and
had made his exit in kind of negli-
gible attire, had left behind one char
acter and brought away another New
er again was he going to be shy: the
tame tiger as it were, had had his
first taste of blood.
Dawn, dawn; il only the horizon
would brighten up little so that he
could get his bearings. BY now they
were at least fifteen or twenty miles
from Cairo; but in what direction?
Hour after hour went by; over this
huge grey roll Of sand, down into that
, cup-ltke valley; soundless save when
the camels protested or his stirrup
clinked against buckle; all with the
somber aspect of scene from Dante.
Several black spots, moving in circles
far above, once attracted George; and
he knew them to be kites, which will
follow caravan into the desert even
as a gull will follow ship out to sea.
Later, torpid Indifference took pos
session Of him, and the sense of pain
grew less under the encroaching
numbness.
And when at last the splendor Of
the dawn upon the desert flashed like
a sword-blade along the sky in the
east, grew and widened, George COM
pretended one thing clearly, that they
were in the Arabian desert, out of the
main travelled paths, in the middle of
nowhere.
His sense of beauty did not respond
to the marvel of the transformation.
The dark grey of the sand-hills that
became violet at their bases, to fade
away upward into little pinnacles Of
shimmering gold; the drab, formless,
scattered boulders, now assuming
clearcut shapes, transfused with ruby
and sapphire glowing; the sun itself
that presently lifted its rosal warm
ing circle above the stepping-off
place-George saw but noted not. The
physical picture was overshadowed by
the one he drew in his mind: the good
ship Ludwig boring her way out into
the sea.
The sun was free from the deserts
rim when the leading camel was halt
ed. A confusion ensued; the camels
following stupidity into one another, in
kind Of panic. Out Of the silence
came a babble Of voices, a grunting, a
clatter Of pack-hasketS and saddle.
bags. George, as his camel kneeled.
slid off involuntarily and tumbled
against small hillock, and lay there,
without any distinct sense of what
was going on round him. The sand,
fine and mutable, formed couch COM
fortingly under his aching body; and
he fell asleep, exhausted. Already the
impalpable dust, which had risen and
followed the caravan all through the
night, had powdered his clothes, and
his face was stained and streaked.
His head lay in the sand, his soft Fe-
dora crushed under his shoulders.
What with the bruises visible, the
rents in his coat, the open shirt,
| soiled. crumpled, collarless, he in
vited pity; only none came from the
busy Arabs. AS he slept, a frown
gathered upon his face and remained
there.
When he came back from his
troubled dreams, a bowl Of rice,
thinned by hot water was given him.
He cleaned the bowl, not because he
was hungry, but because he knew that
somewhere along this journey he
would need strength; and the recur-
ring fury against his duress caused
him to fling the empty bowl at the
head Of the camei-boy who had
brought 1t. The boy ducked, laugh
ing. George lay down again. Let
them cut his throat II they wanted to;
1t was all the same to him. Again he
slept, and when he was roughly and
forcibly awakened, he sat up with
snarl and looked about.
His head was clear now, and he
began to take notes. He counted
ten, eleven, twelve camels. g car.