The Detroit times., 1914-03-14
By Vaughan Kester I


| Turks bullet hit me upon the breast
plate and glanced OF, bN mine took
effect I'm his left arm. and he fell
from his horse and lay bruised and
stunned. After this the Turks made
some sallies every day, but to no pur-
pose. SO that to al up the time. be-
ing then very young and somewhat
fOOlhardy, sent a message to the la
dies of the Turks that l was not 80
enamored OF their lovers heads but
would give them to anyone Of rank
who would reclaim them by combat.
This challenge failed not of its effect
and was accepted by Turk OF rank
called Benny Mulgro. We fought on
the same ground as before, but under
somewhat different conditions"
Sure, you were killed this time,
Captain!" a voice broke In.
And at this sally there went up q
great shout of laughter. but suddenly
1t died away in long painful silence,
such as one might feel, and In the
pause felt my bed rise and sink, and
rise again. with that strange motion
l could by no means understand, and
heard what seemed to be the wind
whistling and shrieking through the
bare branches of trees. Then ] caught
the voice of the first speaker. who
said very deliberately and with .
chilling kind Of courtesy:
Am to understand that the gen.
tleman is pleased to doubt any part
of my poor share In this trining I'd.
venture, which am telling merely
for the solace OF our company"
There was another pause, but very
brief this time. and the interrupter
said:
God forbid"
And with such unmistakable fervor
that there was another burst Of
laughter, but this time smothered and
wholly respectful.
II would have 1t So" said the voice
that now knew belonged to him they
called Captain. II say. we fought
under different conditions. First, we
rode 1t each other discharging our
pistols, by which no harm was done;
whereup0n we fell to with our axes,
and 80 strongly that sometimes one,
and sometimes the other, had hard
work to keep his saddle. Indeed. tt
went III with me. for received such
blow that I lost my battle-axe and
was nearly endorsed, whereat great
shout went up from the ramparts.
My adversary prosecuted his advan.
tage to the uttermost OF his powers.
and had II not been for the readiness
Of my horse and my own judgment
In such matters l must have been
slain. But by Gods assistance, not
only avoided the Turks onslaught.
but having drawn my sword l pierced
him through the back and body. 80
that he was Obliged to quit his horse.
and he stood not long ere he lost his
head, as the rest had done. The
whole army was 30 pleased with nae
that ] was taken In triumph to the
generals pavilion with guard OF six
! thousand men and with three horses,
before each OF which was borne q
Turks head on . lance. The Prince
received me with great honor and
bestowed upon me fair horse. rich
| " furnished, and q cimeter and belt
worth three hundred dncats."
All this while was becoming more
and more alert, and with the third
Turk slain, In whose fate ] had taken
vague and sleepy sort OF interest,
was disposed to know more of my
surroundings. Turning slightly.
found I could move my hands and
feet. recalled that the last time
had attempted this ] had suffered
cruelty; clearly my condition was I'M
proved. My heavy eyes opened, but
they were looking at the back OF the
bandages that had fallen down over
my face 90 that was as one blind
folded. However. ! made shift to
raise my hand and pushed these back
out of the way. Close above me was
an oaken ceiling, which was crossed
by square tipbers. ! might have
touched these beams with my hand
had I wished That II was nighttime
] knew by the quality OF the light
in the place, and moving my head a
little I saw great lanthorn where
| IL hung from q hook midway OF the
ceiling. With infinite difnculty ! man
aged to turn further on my side
which brought my face toward the
light, and saw group of men who
were seated about q table placed In
the center of what seemed to be a
small, low room They were still
talking, but my concern was now all
conferred in myself, and beyond the
fact that ! distinguished the sound OF
II VOiCCop hnCW hOshfh6 ~ VAs~~ '" -"
going forward.
or the group about the table no
ticed more particularly, for he first
came under my glance, a big. beard
ed fellow with fierce mnstaches, In
the dress of soldier. His compan'
ions, of whom there were half q
score, were of many sorts. Judging by
their attire: some richly dressed, and
others in frayed doublets that had
seen much hard usage; others again
wore Monmouth caps on their heads
coats of mail, and Irish stockings.
| With all my eyes stared at the
group under tho lanthorn. and az Y
swung to and fro the beams and wood
work creaked and groaned. and my
| bed rose and sank; never for a mo-
ment was II still
Then all of sudden someone cried
out: