Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-05-31

A white man wouiu Il"
under the reproach of her look, ma
bomad smi,ed amiably. pleased over
ioi'''T o where is the kis
web ,"
The kisweh?
"Tbe Holy Yhiordes. Where is It"
.1-hot refuse to tell you. Your
,.., 40" ~ honor first. TO bind the bar
gain" 49,, ~ A.
bomad like a goad. He raised the
whIn and had Ryannes gaze swerved
the part of an inch, the DO" would
have fallen. .,
"Ivbv yes A bargain with your
honor makes me laugh
And your honor" returned Ma
bomed fieroely. He wondered why ne
held his hand. 81 have matched trick'
ory ogainst trickery. Ny honor has
no, hon called. ] fed you. ! gave
Won drink; fn return you leo 10 me
d,sbonored me In the eyes OF my
friends. and one of them you killed
"It was my life or his. exclaimed
Rvanne. not relishing the recital OF
this phase. 1T was my lie or his;
and he was upon my back.
Eor,une shuddered. Presently she
laid her hand upon Mahomeds arm.
Would you take my word OF honor
Mabomed sought her eyes. Yes.
7 read truth in your eyes. Bring me
the rug and my word OF honor to you.
you shall go free"
But my friends"
Zone OF them" Mahomed laughed
unpleasantly. 1t was an excellent Idea.
"One OF them shall go free with you.
II will be for you to choose which.
Now. YOU dog, laugh. taught and the
tongue OF the kurbash bit the dust
within an inch Of Ryanne's feet
what shall l do" asked Fortune
miserably.
Accent" urged Ryanne. III you
are afraid to choose one or the other
Of Ms. Jones and will spin coin"
81 agree" said George. very unhap-
py.
Have YOU any paper. JonesT
George searched. He found the
dance-card I, the ball at the hotel. In
another pocket he discovered the little
pencil that went with II.
You write" said Mahomed to For
tune.
81 intend to-" Fortune took the card
and pencil and wrote as follows:
Mother: Horace, Mr.. Jones and are
prisoners OF the man who owned the
rug which you will find in the large
steamer-roll Give 1t to the courier
who brings this card. And under no
circumstances set spies upon his
track" In French she added; I'VE
are bound for Bagdad. In case Mo
named receives the rug and we are
not liberated, wire the embassy at
Constantinople and the consulate at
Basdad FORTUNE"
She gave 1t to Mahomed.
Read Il out loud" he commanded.
While he spoke English fuently, he
could neither read nor write 1t In any
serviceable degree. The note he had
given to Fortune had been written by
a friend of his In the bazaars who had
upon time lived in New York. For
tune read slowly, slightly flushing as
she evaded the French script.
THAT will do" Mahomed agreed.
He shouted for one of the boys.
babe him saddle the hagin or racing
camel, which of all those twelve. alone
was his, and be off to Cairo. The boy
dipped his bowl into the kettle, ate
greedily. saddled the camel. and hve
later was speeding back
toward Cairo at a gait that would
bring him there late that night.
Fortune and George and Ryanne
watched him till he disappeared below
a dip and was gone from view. In
the minds OF the three watchers the
same question rose: would he be too
late? George was cheerful enough
but his cheerfulness was
not of the infectious kind.
At noon the caravan was once more
upon its way. Ryanne was able to
ride. The fumes OF whatever drug
had been administered to him had
finally evaporated, and he felt only
bruised. old. disheartened. An evil
day for him when he had set forth
for Bagdad In quest OF the rug. he
was confident that there would be no
rug awaiting the courier, and what
would be Mahomed's procedure Wheh
the boy returned empty-handed was
not difficult to imagine. Mahomed
was right; so far honor had not en-
tered into the contest. According u
his lights, the Arab was only paying
coin for coin. But for the GIRL ny
anne would have accepted the situa'
ton with a shrug, to await that mo
ment when Mahomed, eased by the
sense Of security, would naturally re-
lax vigilance. The presence OF FOR
tune changed the whole face OF the
anair. Mahomed could have his eyes
and heart II he would but spare her.
he must be patient; he must accept
insults. even physical violence, put
some day he and Mahomed would play
the final round.
His past. his foolish, futile past; all
the follies. all the petty crimes. all
the low designations In which he hao
INDUCED. seemed trooping about MS
camel. hooking and gibbering at him
Why hadn't he lived clean like Jones
there? Why hadn't he fought temp