Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-04-20

0WAAHS, supported Oy IOur O8mOOO
poles. was swiftly raised over his
head. He saw objects and took cogni-
xance of them. On the floor in the
low doorway Of mud hut sat three
little naked children covered with
flies and dirt. He was the guest Of
Fatou Ami. These were three Of her
hundred great-sreat-grandchi
The babies were playing with little
dog. sabron knew the dog but could
not articulate his name. BY his side
sat the woman to whom he owed his
life. Her veil fell over her face. She
was braiding straw, He looked at her
intelligently. She brought him q
drink Of cool water in an earthen yes
sci, with the drops oozing from its
porous sides. The hut reeked with
odors which met his nostrils at every
breath he drew. He asked in Arabic:
Where am II"
TN 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
his face. Fatou Ami, with whisk Of
straw, swept the flies from him. A
great weakness spread its wings above
him and he fell asleep.
Days are all alike to those who. lie
in mortal sickness. The hours are in
tensely colorless and they slip and slip
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 pos
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 time
that he was conscious he struggled
anew to hold to the thread Of life.
Whenever he grasped the thread he
vanQuished, and whenever he lost It,
he went down, down. u
Fatou Ami cherished him. He was
Z soldier who had fallen in the battle
against her. sons and grandsons. He
WAS . man and Q strong one, and she
despised women. He was her prey
and he was her reward and she cared
for him; as she did 50. 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
Observation-Disclosures. 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 flies and the cries Of the vii
lage 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 INSULT
cient, and the absence Of all decent
care was slowly taking him to death.
It will never be known why he did not
die.
Pitchoune t6ok. 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
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 a. the moon sails. and
through an open window one might
hear the sound Of woman's voice
singing. Tho song, ever Elusive and
Irritating in its persistency. tantalized
his sick ears.
sabron did not know that he would
have found the chateau shut had he
sailed there In the moon. It was 10
we'll 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'Esclig-
mac.
Itgrew terribly hot. Fatou Ami, by
his side. famed him with fan she
had woven. The great-great-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 Understandable
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 Fhtou Anni's grand
children were going out to pillage and
destroy. The old woman BY his side
cried out and bsat her breast. Now
and then she looked at him curiously,
% II 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, % even boys Of sixteen
had joined the raid. She wiped his
forehead and gave him potion that
had bean pierced with arrows. II was
all she could do for captive.
81 Toward eundown. for the nrst time
Sabron felt . little better, and after
twenty-four hours absence. Pitchoune
whined at the hut door. but would not
come y; Fatou mi called On Aliah.