Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1915-09-29
CHAPTER xxI-continued.


Pitchoune ran with his nose to the
ground. There were several trails for
a dog to follow on that apparently un-
trOdden page of desert history. Which
one would he choose? Without
scent a dog does nothing. His nos
trils are his instinct. His devotion,
his faithfulness, his intelligence, his
heart-all come through his nose. A
mans heart, they say, is in his stom-
ach-or in his pocket A dogs is in
his nostrils. If Pitchoune had chosen
the wrong direction, this story would
never have been written. Michette
did not give birth to the sixth puppy,
in the stables of the garrison, for
nothing. Nor had Sabron saved him
on the night of the memorable dinner
for nothing.
With his nose fat to the sands Pit
choune smelt to east and to west, to
north and south, took a scent to Sthe
east, decided on it-for what reason
will never be told-and followed it.
Fatigue and hunger were forgotten
as hour after hour Pitchoune ran
across the Sahara. Mercifully, the
sun had been clouded by the pre-
cursor Of a windstorm. The air was
almost cool. Mercifully, the wind did
not arise until the little terrier had
pursued his course to the end.
There are occasions when an ami
maIs intelligence surpasses the hui
man. When, toward evening of the
twelve hours that it had taken him
TO reach a certain point, he came to
settlement of mud huts en- the bor-
GERS OF an oasis, he was pretty nearly
at the end of his strength. The oasis
was the only sign of life in five hun
dred miles. There was very little left
In his small body. He Law Gown. pant
ing' put his bright spirit was unwill-
ing just then to leave his form and
hoVered near him. In the religion of
Tatman dogs alone have souls.
Pltchoune painted aud dragged him
SELF to pool of water around which
the green palms grew, and he drank
and drank. Then the little desert
wayfarer hid himself in the bushes
and slept till morning All night he
was racked with convulsive witches,
but he slept and in his dreams he
killed a young chicken and ate it. In
the morning he took bath in the
pool, and the sun rose while he swan
in the water.
If Sabron or Miss Redmond could
have seen him he would have SEEM
the epitome of heartless egoism. He
was the epitome of wisdom. Instinct
and wisdom sometimes go closely to-
gether. Solomon was only instinc-
tive when he asked for wisdom. The
epicurean Lucullus, when dying, asked
for a certain Nile fish cooked in
wine.
Pitchoune shook out his short
hairy body and came out of the oasis
pool into the sunlight and trotted into
the Arabian village.
Fatou Ami parched corn in a bra
Eier before her house. Her house
was a mud hut with yellow walls. 1t
had no roof and was open to the sky.
Fatou Ami was ninety years old,
straight as a lance-straight as one
of the lances the men of the village
carried when they went to dispute
with white people. These lances with
which the young men had fought, had
won hem the last battle. They had
been victorious on the field.
Fatou Ami was the grandmother
of many men. She had been the
mother of many men. Now she
parched corn TRANQUILITY, prayerfully.
Allah! that the corn should not
burn; Allah that it should be sweet;
Allah! that her men should be al
ways successful
She was the fetish of the settle
meDt In a single blue garment, her
black scrawny breast uncovered, the
thin veil that the Fellaheen wear
pushed back from her face, her fine
eyes were revealed and she might
have been priestess as she bent
over her corn!
Allah! Allah Akbar!"
Rather than anything should hap
pen to Fatou Ami, the settlement
would have roasted its enemies alive,
torn them in shreds. Some of them
said that she was two hundred years
old There was a charmed ring
drawn around her house. People sup
posed that If any creature crossed it
unlimited, It would fall dead.
The sun had risen for an hour and
the air was still cool. Overhead, the