Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-03-29

| U6 eCeTtUSGtb9 S1V6 OeI~ooH
Armenians and Kurds IN the terri
tory where Russia, Persia and Tur-
key odjoin, is the theme of the Ar
naenian story given here. It's scene
is IN the present field Of war. It
IS from Ah0roneau's tale, "B1aes the
o."
Chsro, the Armenian hunter, cared
! for weather as little as did the bears
and wolves that he fought. He suf-
fered natures cruelties as stubbornly
as did the rocks Of his native noun
tains. His continual strife, his con-
tinual shedding Of blood, had given
him not only the courage of a beast
of prey but the silence of one
Silent and unsmiling, he brought his
trophies to the village. Silent and
unsmiling, he bore them past the adj
miring people. Silent and unsmiling,
he departed.
But one day he entered the village
smiling. On his back was a strange,
horrible burden. It was not a dead
wild beast, but prey heavier and far
more noble. And Chsro smiled under
this burden. With a terrible, fatal
smile Chsro smiled as he stopped be-
meath the body of his only son.
"See Chsro's trophy !" he cried, when
the villagers gathered. ''Whose prey
is thise It is the prey of the Kurds !!
I hunt wild beasts! They hunt Ar
menians -
The son had been killed by Kurdish
raiders while he was trying to defend
from them the pair of oxen with which
he had been blowing.
And Chsro went back to his noun
tains and lay in wait-but not for ami
mals. He did not turn his steps home
ward again until he had drunk out of
his followed hand the blood Of the
Kurds who had slain his son.
When he re-entered the village the
neighbors clamored that it had been
raided in his absence and that his
daughter and his sons widow had been
carried off, Chsro listened. Without
!
away, and disappeared.
After many days he came back and
did something that struck the village
dumb. He gathered his possessions,
piled them in his house and set all on
fire. When the last glowing rafter had
fallen, he took his little grandson
Trumo by the hand and went away.
None of the village ever saw him
again, but before many days they
learned of the terrible deed that the
ing his house. He had crept to the
! Kurdish stronghold and had stabbed
the two captured women to death, that
the outrage to his family honor might
! vanish from the earth.
Chsro and his little Thumo wan
dered, clinging to existence by every
means that misery could devise. AS
| they went on, begging, starving, freez-
| ing, the old hunters mind became sick.
| Thumo's great, blue >eyes made him
shudder; for they We're the eyes of
his unhappy mother, whose innocent
UlOOu 1cu over Lie
hunters hand when he stabbed her.
He began to forget why he had slain
| his dear ones. Only the horror, the
! heartleSsness Of his deed survived in
his memory. He suffered dim tor
mentS by day. Vivid phantomS tor
| tured him at night. If it had not been
| THAI he must remain alive to care for
| little ThumO, his practiced hand
would have sent the steel into his own
throat, and he would have gone to God
to tell his tale-such tale, thought
old Chsro sobbing, that heaven would
shudder, the angels would wall and the
/ splendid stars lose light.
Weary, wretched and ragged, they
came at last into a town where there
was a bazaar. Chsro and Thumo sat
Of a meager sun. Suddenly the old
| man, looking at the busy market
| scene, began to weep.
Little Thumo looked in the direction
of his grandfather's gaze. He saw
Kurd with a beautiful OK.
bIdtS, S1duu1Il1lSl. OuE
screamed the child. He ran to the OK
and began to kiss the broad forehead
between the soft, gentle eyes
The Kurd, suspecting Instantly that
these must be the previous owners of
the animal, tried to drive it away;
but the child chung to the great, si1ken
ear, and the powerful brute stood OBJ
stinately still, seeking Thumo's cheek
with his muZZle.
'It is not timer said the Kurd
softly, my life on 1t! Come, child
and let him go!"
He tried to loose the boys hold On
the OK. "Grandfathert Grandfatherr'
walled ThumO.
A crowd bad gathered. Chsro could
not see what was happening. He could
only hear his grandchild scream. In
slant fury seized him. He sprang up,
broke through the crowd, and leaped
- II.