The Bolivar County Democrat., 1915-12-04


bring us water.
The Arabs gathered about us. taunt-
ing and buffeting US. Why they In
cluded me in the sentence could not
understand. unless their fanatictsm
famed out against me as . representa-
tive of the detested foreign rule. Dur
ing the ensuing hour they inflicted on
us every abomination OF insult.
Fehmet, when he had realized that
it was useless to struggle, gave them
back taunt for taunt. He was brave
Il admit that. He told them that
they would all be dead men before he
died. Had they seen the bottles he
broke? In each Of them was mil
lion gods Of pestilence. who would
carry death through Socotra.
They went away at last and Feb.
met and lay side by side. There
was no possibility Of freeing our
selves. and there was nothing to do
but wait in the faint hope that the
"Nymph" would appear. learn OF our
pred:cament. and rescue US. The
thought Of death was repugnant
enough to me. old man thouga ! am.
but death yoked to Fehmet was re-
pulsive. shrank away from him.
and I think he understood my feel
ing. for presently he spoke to me.
1T is hard for you. Herr von Els
mer," he said. with q sneer. but. after
all, II you had not been placed here
with me l should have killed you to-
morrow. You fool of an Englishman,
did you suppose that you could de-
ceive me with your letters from Ber-
lin? Why. 1 put my scheme before
Herr Won JAgow. and he told the at.
tendant to put me out Of his ONCE!
II l kept you alive and amused my
self with you. 1t was merely because
It gratified me to do so.
In three days more the yacht that
brought me here will return to carry
me away" he said. Il can live three
days without water. and by the end
of that time the Socotrese will all be
dead. You. too. will be dead. OF the
pneumonia plague which is at this mo-
AACuL ldSlCulH6 ItoCil upOu yOo.
And you?" questioned.
He roared his gorilla below. Il
vaccinated myself this afternoon. he
answered The plague cannot touch
me, as 1t will you. for have thou
sand million plague ',acilli in my body.
which are neutralized by the virus
which l inhaled from the broken test.
tubes. But you. poor wretch OF a
spy
The night wore on. and Fehmet
taunted me at intervals. But l cared
nothing for his words, nor yet for the
frost which gradually gave way. as
the sun arose, to suffocating heat. l
realized that the deadly plague had
me in its power, and 1t was not a
pleasant death to die.
Toward noon the Arabs visited us
and stood around US. BY this time
thirst had induced partial delirium
in me. l remember seeing Moham-
med poke Fehmet in the abdomen
with forked stick, and seeing my
companion struggle like wild beast
unconscious until l was aroused by
feeling Fehmet shake me.
Won Elsmer," he mumbled, q
I-how do you feel?"
Thirsty" tried to answer. but
I found that my jaw-not my tongue
was swollen. SO that the words would
hardly come from my lips.
Fehmet looked at me. and | saw
terror In the mans eyes.
1T is the bubonic plague!" he
whined and at that moment he seemed
to shed al his bombast and self-as
sertion. The man at my side was
nothing more than an Egyptian fellah
"a slave now, not slave-driver. The
fear Of death was heavy upon him.
1T is the bubonic plague. the milder
form. and IL inoculated myself
against the other" he mOaned. "Set
me free, Won Elsmer. We shall. die
here together"
His mumbling voice penetrated my
consciousness all through the night
Sometimes he gr0velled before the
image OF God in his beart-what God
l never knew. Somewhere supersti
tion, not faith. had set up her throne
in him. About midnight he lapsed
into delirium. At dawn he died.
The Arabs shook me out OF my
Iethargy. They gave me water and
unfastened the ropes that bound me
to the dead man. They seemed
afraid, and their curious mumblinG
speech at last reached my apprehen
sion. l opened my eyes and saw that
their faces were swollen as mine was
They, too, were in fear of death.
staggered to my feet. looked
down toward the sea, and saw the
"Nymph" just entering the harbor.
And SO great was the revulsion o
my feeling that l forgot the deadly
disease which had laid hold Of me
l forgot the danger of infection ant
made my way down the hill, half de
lirious still, all my purposes set upor
reaching the wharf at which the yes
| sci lay. reached 1t at last an(
crawled toward the ships doctor, who
was standing among a crowd OF ma
tives, vaccinating them. He looked
up and stared at me. saw recog
milton como into his face.
Keep your distance!" he shouted
Its pretty infectious. you know"
What. the plague?" l muttered.
Plague? What the dickens are 20,
talking about? You've got classica
case of mamps. didn't know the,
had 1t in Socotra."