The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-02-08

| from within. Had the courier re
| turned with the Holy Yhiordes. II ii
| 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 as tho
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.
mediately dispose OF his own goods
and chattels and seek new pastures,
1t would come hard, doubly hard, since
he never could regain the position be
was to lose.
Nine hundred pounds English, and
a comfortable fraction over; the vel.
low-haired dog would have nothtns
in the end for his pains. It 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. Ths old year went
out a-lagging! neither did they take
note Of this. Having left behind cavi.
lization, customs and habits were Tar.
gotten.
Sometimes they rode all day and all
night, sometimes but half day, and
again, when the water was sweet, they
rested the day and night. Never a
human being they saw, never cara
van met or crossed them. In this
week, the secret marYels 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 over from the Per
sian Gulf. They saw 1t covered with
the most ansaing blues and sfreys and
greens. They saw it under the rarest
azure and stately feet Of billowy
.alr,eds;; Reder the dawn. under tho set
Of Sun, unoeRothe moon anu stars;
and unfailingly the 1nterminable
reaches Of sand and rock and serabby
bush, ehaneleon-like. readjusted its
=countenance to each change In the
sky. George, who was poet without
the gift of expression, never ceased
to find new charms; and nothing
pleased his fancy more than to see the
eloud-shadows send away across tho
sands. Once, toward the latter end
of day. Fortune cried out aud pointed,
Far aWay, pal ~ get zistindtl they
saw an ocean IInsr he stood out
against the following sky as q magic
lantern picture stands out upon tia
screen. and faded similarly. It was
the one and only mirage they saw. OF
at least noticed.
Once another caravan, composed
wholly Of Arabs, passed. What hope
the prisoners had was instantly
snuffed out. Before the strangers
came within hailing. Mahomed hustled
his captives into. his tent and sWoIa
he would k s,ssse1l sfeIner George Ryanns
il they spoke. He forgot Fortune.
however. AS the caravan passed She
screamed. instantly Mahomed clappe1
his hand roA snIy over her M 9th. Tha
sheik OF the passing caravan looksl
keenly at the tent. smiled grtmly anti
passed on. What was it to him that 4
white woman lay in yonder tent? Hit
one emotion was Of envy. After THU
the prisoners became apathetic.
4 Upon the seventh day. they wild,
messed the deserts terrifying anger.
The air that had been cool. suddenly
grew still and hot: the blue abovs
began to fade, to assume dusty, coz
perish color. The camels grew rese
less. Quickly there rose out OF TIN
horizon saffron clouds. approaehini
with incredible sWiftness. Little
whirlwfnds of sand appeared hsse
and there, rose and died as IL for
want Of air. Mahomed veered the car
avian toward a kind Of bluff composed
of sand and precipitous boulders. All
the eamels were made to kneel. Tbs
boys muf11ed up their mouths aud
noses, and Mahomed gave instFuc-
lions to his captives. Fortune buried
her head in her coat and nestled down
beside her camel, while George ard
Ryanne used their handkerchief
George left his camel and sought For
tunes side, found he hand and held
II tightly. He scarcely gave thought 10
what he did. He vaguely meant 90
encourage her: and possibly he did.
The storm broke. The sun became
obscured. Pebbles and splintsrs If
rock sang through the pail Of yhirling
sand. A golden tone enVeloped tie
little gathering,
Had there been no natural protes
ton, they must have ridden on, blind,
II and desperately, for to have re,
NAMED still in the open would have
been to await their tombs. It tpert
It's fury in half an hour; and tlsa
air became cold again Thu
caravan proceeded. The hair OF CIV.
cry one was dimly yellow, their facaa
and their garments.
eTo BE Continued