The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-02-07

his knees and }lpn lau-cd rp,H his
face. Baluos sttGcnal. Hi- head d"~
back systematically. For an instant
he stood Tins ana then crumpied very
gently into the botton o. the boar.
Bnyuys turned weakly IN tie dir"o-
tlcn Of the shore, 10 soc Maihjhn Drawn
up upon his elbows, lcyeiipg hi, rife
at him. The Engli~hnun slid to tue
bottom of the cnno" as "a bullet VIII
zpd above hin. Malhihn, sore hat, took
longer In aiming. nor was his AIM as
sure as formerly.
With difficulty haynes turned him
self over on his stomach and, grasI 0ng
his revolver in his right. hand, drew
himself up until he could look over
the edge of the canoe.
Malhihu saw HIM instantly and fred,
but Bayues did not finch or duck.
With painstaking care hc aimed at the
target upon the shore, away from
which he nov was drifting with the
current. His finger closed upon the
trigger. There was a Hash. a report.
and Malbihn's giant frame jerked to
the impact cf another bullet.
But he was not yet dead. Again ha
aimed nud fired the hullel ,pnntern-
The gunWalc ot the canoe close 10y
Bayncs' face. Bsyucs fred again rs
his canoe drifted further downstream,
md Malbihn answered from the shore,
where he lay in n pool of his own
blood.
And thus, ~doggedly, the two wounded
men continued To carry on their weird
duel until the winding African river
had carried the Hon. Morrison Baynes
out of sight around "A wooded point.
Meriem had traversed half the
length of the village street when a
score of white-robed negroes and half
castles leaped out upon her from the
dark interiors of the surrounding huts.
She tried to flee, but heavy hands
seized her, and when she turned at last
to plead with them her eyes fell upon
the face of a tall, grim old man glaring
down upon her from the folds of his
burnooSe.
At sight Of him she staggered back
In shocked and terrified surprise. II
was the shcik!
The sheik and his party had been
marching southwark along the river
when one of them, dropping out of
line to fetch water, had seen Meriem
making for the village. The fellow had
called the Sheik's attention 10 the
strange slgnt-a white woman alone III
central Africa-and the old Arab had
hidden his men In the deserted village
to capture her.
And when at last the woman had
walked into the trap he had set fol
her and he had recognized her as the
same little girl he had brutalized and
maltrented years before his gratitica
ton had been huge. Now he lost nc
Of father and daughter that had ex
listed between them in the past.
A two days march brought them a
last to the familiar scenes of hen
childhood, and the first face upon
which she set her eyes as she was
driven through the gates into the
strong stockade vas that of the tooth
less, hldeous Nahum, her one time
nurse. 1t was as though all the years
that had interviewed were but Il dream
Had it not been for her clothing ant
the fact that she had grown in stature
she might well have believed it so.
For a time the inhabitants of tn,
sheik's village who had not been upor
the march with him amused them
selves by inspecting the strangely claC
white girl whom some of them hat
known as a little child.
Among the Arabs who had come II
her absence was Il tall young fellow
Of twenty, a handsome, sinister look
admiration until the sheik came an,
ordered him away, and Abdul Kamal
went, scowling.
AT last, their curiosity satisfied, Me
riem was left alone. AS of old. sh'
was permitted the freedom of the vii
lage, for the stockade was high an
strong and the only gates We're wei
guarded by day and night. But, as o
old, she cared not for the companion
ship Of the cruel Arabs and the dc
graded blacks who formed the follow
ing of the sheik, and so, as had bee
her want in the sad days of her chile
hood, she skunk down to an unfreQuen
ed corner Of the Enclosure where sh
had often played at housekeeping wit
her beloved Geeka.
Meriem pressed her hand above III
heart and stifled a sigh, and as she dl
so she felt the hard outlines Of II
photographs she had hidden there 1
she skunk from Malbihn's tent. No
she drew 1t forth and commenced
re-examine 1t more carefully than 81
had had time to do before.
As she sat gazing at the picture ST
suddenly became aware that she WI
not alone: that some n was standir
close behind her. some n who hi
approached her nOiselessly. Guilt
she thrust the picture back into n
waist. A hand fell upon her sfoulde
She was sure that It vas the shei
u and she awaited In dumb terror Il