The Holly chieftain., 1915-11-05

a. ,,or,al sickness. The hours are In
tenselv eolorless and they slip and shp
and slip into painful wakefulness' lh'o
fryor into drowsiness finally. and then
into weakness.
The Capitaine de Sabron. althoush
he had no family TO speak OF, ola pos
sess unknown to the Marqulse q hs-
cIignac, an old aunt in the provinces
and handful of heartless cousins VINO
were Indifferent to him. NeVertheiesS
he clung to life and in the hut OF a'ou
Ami fought for existence. EVERY 'iihe
that he was conscious he strugeieo
anew to hold to the thread OF me
Whenever he grasped the thread ne
vanuuished, and whenever he 1ost II"
he went down, down.
Fatou Ami cherished him. He was
a soldier who had fallen in the oalue
against her sons and grandsons. he
was a man and a strong one. ana she
despised women. He was her prey
and he was her reward and she careo
for him; as she did so, she became
| maternal
His eyes which, when he was con-
scious, thanked her; his thin hands
that moved on the rough blue rope
thrown over him. the devotion OF the
dog-found a responsive chord In the
great-grandmother's heart once ne
smiled at one of the naked. big-bellieo
eat-grandchildren. Benz Has
san, three years old. came up to SAB
ron with his fingers in his NOUN
and chartered like bird. This proved
! to Fatou Ami that Sabron had mol
the Evil Eye. No one but the children
were admitted to the hut, but the sun
and the flies and the cries of the VII
lage came in without permission, anc
now and then, when the winds arose
he could hear the stirring of the palm
trees.
Sabron was reduced to skin and
bone. His nourishment was insufti'
cient and the absence of all decent
care was slowly taking him to. death
1t will never be known why he did not
| die.
Pitchoune took to making long ex
cursions. He would be absent TOR days
and in his clouded mind Sabrou
thought the dog was accommodating fol
him over the vast pink sea without
there-which. if one could sail across
as in ship, one would sail to France
| through the walls of mellow old Taras
con, to the chateau of good King Rene;
| one would sail as the moon sails, and
through an open window one might
hear the sound of woman's voice
singing. The song, ever Elusive and
irritating in it's persistency. tantalized
his sick ears.
Sabron did not know that he would
| have found the chateau shut had he
sailed there in the moon. 1t was al
well that he did not know. for his wan
dering thought would not have known
where to follow. and there was repose
in thinking of the Chateau dEsclig
nae.
| 1t grew terribly hot. Fatou Ami, by
his side, famed him with fan she
had woven. The greatgreat-grand
children on the floor in the mud fought
together They quarreled over bits OF
colored glass. Sabron's breath came
painting. Without, he heard the cries
of the warriors, the ance-bearers-he
heard the cries of Fatou Anni's sons
who were going out to battle. The
French soldiers were in distant part
of the Sahara and Fatou Anni's grand
children were going out to pillage and
destroy. The old woman by his side
cried out and beat her breast. Now
and then she looked at him curiously
as If she saw death on his pale face
Now that all her sons and grandsons
had gone, he was the only man left in
the village, as even boys of sixteen
had Joined the raid She wiped his
forehead and gave him potion that
had been pierced with arrows 1t was
all she could do ftv captive
Toward sundown, for the first time
Sabron felt little better, and afte,
twenty-four hours absence, Pitchoune
whined at the hut door, but would no,
come in. Fatou Ami called on Allah
left her patient and went out to see
what was the matter with the dog. Al
the door, in the shade of a palm. stood
two Bedouns.
tTO BE CONTINUED