Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-01-31

from within. Had the courier re-
turned with the Holy Yhiordes, It IL
not impossible that he would have lib
Grated them all. But now he dared
not, he was not far enough away. To
Bagdad, then, and as swiftly az the
~exigencies OF desert travel would per
nit. One beacon of hope burned in
his breast. The Pasha might be de-
posed. and in that case he could i'm
m~ediately dispose Of his own goods
and chattels and seek new pastures.
II would come hard. doubly hard, since
he never could regain the position he
was TO lose.
Nine hundred pounds English. and
a comfortable fraction over; the yell
low-haired dog would have nothing
In the end for his pains. 1t would be
what the Feringhi called a good Joke.
A week passed. Christians. And
not one OF them recalled the day.
Perhaps 1t was because years had
passed since that time when 1t meant
anything to them. The old year went
out ~a.lagging! neither did they take
note Of this. Having left behind dvi-
lization, customs and habits were fer
gotten.
Sometimes they rode all day and all
night, sometimes but half a day, and
again, when the water was sweet, they
rested the day and night. Never a
human being they saw, never a cara
van met or crossed them. In this
week. the secret marvels of the desert
became theirs, They saw It CLEAN
and waver and glitter under skies OF
brass, when the north wind let down
and "A breeze came owe from the Per
sian Gulf. They saw It covered with
the most amazing blues and greys and
green's, They saw It under the rarest
azure and a stately feet of biilowy
clouds; under the dawn. under the set
Of sum-, under the o. and stars;
and u~nfailingly the interminable
reaches OF sand and rock and scrubby
bush, chameleon.like, readjusted Its
countenance to each change In the
sky. George, who was a poet without
the gift Of expression, never ceased
to find new charms; and nothing
pleased his fancy more than TO see the
cloud-shadows scud away acrosa the
sands. Once, toward the latter end
Of day, Fortune cried out and pointed,
Far away. palsly yet distinctly. they
saw an ocean liner. She stood out
against the yellowing sky 40 a magic
lantern picture stands out upon the
screen, and faded similarly. II was
the one and only mirage they saw. o.
at least noticed. :,
Once another caravan, composed
wholly Of Arabs, passed. What hope
the prisoners had was instantly
snufred out. Before the strangers
came within hailing. Mahomed hustled
his captives into his tent and sworn
he would kill either George or RyanDe
II they spoke. He forgot Fortune.
however. As the caravan passed she
screamed. Instantly Mahomed clapped
his hand roughly over her mouth. ThA
sheik Of the passing caravan looked
keenly at the tent, smiled grimly anti
passed on. What was 1t to him that q
white woman lay in yonder tentl His
one emotion was Of envy. After thii
the prisoners became a%pathetic.
Upon the seventh day, they vie
messed the deserts terrifying anger.
The air that had been cool. suddenly
grew still and hot; the blue Hboys
began to fade, to assume a dusty, coz
perish color. The camels grew rest
less. Quickly there rose out ~ the
horizon saffron clouds. ~approschlna
with incredible swiftness. Little
whirlwinds OF sand appeared here
and there, rose and died as z for
want OF air. Mahomed veered the car.
AVIAN toward a kind OF blum composed
| of sand and precipitous boulderH. All
| the camels were made to kneel The
boys muf1ed up their mouths and
noses, and Mahomed gave inltruc.
lions to his captives. Fortune buried
her head In her coat and nestled down
beside her camel, while George and
Ryanne used their handkerchiefs.
George left his camel and sought For
tunes side, found her hand and held
II tightly. He scarcely gave thought ia
what he did. He vaguely meant "a
encourage her; and possibly he did.
The storm broke. The sun became
obscured. Pebbles and splinters Of
rock sang through the pail of whirlins
sand. A golden tone envelops4 tie
little gathering.
Had there been no natural proteo.
ton, they must have ridden on, blind.
ly and desperately, for to have r..
NAMED still In the open would have
been to await their tombs. 1t spent
its fury In half an hour: and the
clearing air became cold again. The
caravan proceeded. The hair OF CIV.
cry one was dimly yellow, their face
and their garments.
(T0 pE CnNTJNYYE+n