The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1915-12-09

|
already distributed presents with the
purpose of ingratiating himself.
He glowered at me and greeted me
surlily with the Arabic salutation.
Extracting my documents from my
pocket, I presented them to him,
together with my card, which read:
Herr Arthur Won Elsmer, foreign Of
flee, Berlin
| He glanced at it and invited me
inside. He waved me to chair and
stood before me, reading the papers.
The cottage contained four rooms.
One of them, facing the living room
across the hall, seemed to be a labora-
tory. The two others, I presumed,
| were bedrooms. It was a comfortable
little place, and the Europeanized
sheik who had owned it had a fine,
| though somewhat rocco, taste in fur
nishing. I took all in during those
| moments of suspense. Everything de-
pended on whether my surmise was
true, and Fehmet was in the German
governments employment. If he were
| not, 1 stood self-convicted as spy
| and forger.
TO my immense relief Fehmet Eff
| fendi handed me back my papers with
! low bow.
Il am delighted to meet you, Herr
Won Elsmar," he said. so Herr Won
Martin has placed you in charge of
my work, I understand?
There was a note Of resentment in
the words, and 1 fastened to explain.
Hardly that, Hakim. am, in fact,
nominally your coadjutor in this work.
OF course we place implicit confidence
in you, but you will readily realize
that, if anything happened to you, the
benefits to humanity which are to re-
suit from your Investigations may be-
come lost or-public.'
AS 1 spoke l could see the suspicion
and distrust die out Of his face.
"Where are you staying, Herr Won
Elsmer?' he asked.
AT the hotel"
but you must take up your quar-
tiers with me-" he cried "A man
gets lonely here-a white man among
these niggers." In color he was a
pale lemon. you must move this af-
ternoon. Stay with me and l will
send a man to the hotel for your bag
gage. Ayesha!"
He clapped his hands, and a good
looking Arab girl entered the room.
She was perhaps seventeen years of
age; she was clothed in flowing robe
Of white, overlaid with bright vel
low silk shawl. Upon her wrist were
bracelets Of hammered copper.
Bring raki!" he ordered, and added
in Arabic instructions for a certain
man to get my baggage from the
| wharf.
mo, from the hotel" blurted out.
Then, as he corrected himself,
cursed my impudent tongue. Our con-
versation had been carried on in Ger
man, and I saw at once that Fehmet
had been trying to discover whether
I understood Arabic. However, it was
too late to offer any explanations, and
after all it was not of the highest
significance.
The baggage arrived, and by that
time Fehmet had drunk himself into
condition of amiability upon raki.
He showed me my room, he insisted
that / should remain his guest until
the work was completed, and his
tongue, Embossed, betrayed the man
to be what his aspect proclaimed him.
I cannot set down the things he
told me, or his manner of life in So
cotra. / gathered that he had lived
in many tropical parts of the world,
and that it was his hobby to visit such
places where he could give free vent
to his uncivilized instincts. He told
me that Mohammedanism was sham
and Christianity a delusion, that there
was no life beyond the body, and that
the "master-man," as he phrased it.,
lived solely for pleasure. He pointed
a thumb at Ayesha as. she entered
with the dinner. var
mo matter where a man goes, he
is not too old or ugly to find a sweet
heart" he said with a leer. "That
man Mohammed, who brought up your
baggage had agreed to buy her from
her father. He was saving up for a
flock Of goats when l persuaded her
father to let her work for me. be-
lieve Mohammed hates me on that
account. 1t is great happiness, Herr
Won Elsmer, to have for a servant
man who hates you and is afraid Of
you. Mohammed would kill me like
a dog if he dared, but before l go it
is I who am going to kill Mohammed
like dog. That is what l call the fas-
cination of life-to feel yourself free
from all restraint, to impose your will
upon the slavish lesser minds, such
as Mohammed's.'
I saw the Arab man, who came in
to clear away the dishes, cast glance
of malignant hate upon Fehmet, and
it occurred to me that, if anything
went wrong with my plans, l might
find an unexpected ally there.
He drank raki all that evening until
bedtime. I took the precaution to
place chair against the door of my
room and SleDt with nv revolver un-