The Parma herald. (Parma, Idaho) 1903-1917, 1915-07-15

breath no drew. He asked In Arabic,
Where am If-
In the hut Of victory" said Fatou
Ami.
Pitchoune overheard the voice and
came to sabron's side. His master
murmured:
Where are We. my friend?"
The dog leaped on his bed and licked
hts face. Fatou Ami. with whisk Of
straw, swept the dies from him. A
great weakness spread its wings above
htEAnd he fell asleep.
- are all alike to those who l,a
| In mortal sickness The hours are in.
tensely colorless and they slip and slim
and slip into painful wakefulness, into
fever, into drowsiness finally, and then
into weakness.
The Capitaine de Sabron, although
he had no family to speak OF, did DOS.
sess, unknown to the Marquise d'Es.
clignac, an old aunt In the provinces
and handful Of heartless cousins who
were Indifferent to him Nevertheless
he chung to life and in the hut of Fatou
Ami fought for existence. Every tina
that he was conscious he struggled
anew to hold to the thread of life.
Whenever he grasped the thread he
yanquished. and whenever he lost 1t.
he went down, down.
Fatou Ami cherished him. He was
soldier who had fallen In the battle
against her sons and grandsons. He
was man and strong one, and she
despised women. He was her prev
and he was her reward and she cared
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 robe
thrown over him, the devotion of the
dog-found = responsive chord In the
great-grandmother's heart. Once he
smiled at one of the naked. big-bellied
neutrality-suspicious. Benz Has.
san, three years old, came up to Sab
ron with his fingers In his mouth
and chartered like bird. This proved
to Fatou Ami that Sabron had not
the Evil Eye No one but the children
were admitted to the hut, but the sun
and the fies and the cries of the viii
lagc came In without permission, and
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 insuf1-
Client, and the absence of all decent
care was slowly taking him to death.
1t viii never be known why he did not
die.
Pitchoune took to making long ex-
cursions. He would be absent for days.
and In his clouded mind Sabron
thought the dog was accommodating for
him over the vast pink sea without
there-which. II one could sail across
ms 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 a woman's voice
singing. The song, ever Elusive and
irritating in its persist.ncy, 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 As
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 d'EscIis-
nae.
It grew terribly hot Fatou Ami, by
his side, famed him with 4 fan she
had woven. The great-great-Erand-
children on the foor in the mud fought
together. They quarreled over bits of
colored glass Sabron's breath came
painting. Without, he heard the cries
IF the warriors. the INTERCHANGEABLE
heard the cries of Fatou Anni's sons
who were going out to battle. Tho
French soldiers we're In distant part
of the Sahara and Fatou Annis 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.
Is II she saw death on his pale face.
VOW That all her sons and grandsons
lad gone, he was the only man left in
he village, as even boys of sixteen
lad Joined the raid. She wiped his
orehead and gave him a potion that
lad been pierced with arrows. 1t was
III she could do for captive.
Toward shutdown. for the first time
'abron felt little better, and after
hours absence, Pitchoune
Vhined at the hut door. but would not
ome In Fatou Ami called on Allah.
sft her patient and went out to see
hat was the matter with the dog. At
ne door, in the shade of palm. stood
wc Bedouins
(TO BE CoNTrnrrr>