Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-26
ME- first rays of the morning
sun were stealing up the palm
bordered roads toward Sidi-

bordered roads toward Sidi-
bel-Abbes. above whose ram
parts the minaret of the great mosque
blazed white In the sky. Eighty miles
from Gran. on the coast, set away
In the vague, yellow. illimitable
wastes of the desert, Sidi-bel-Abbes,
the headquarters of the Foreign Lee
gion. Is surely one of the strangest
cities on earth.
1t was built by the Foreign Legion;
1t Is swept and garnished by the For
efgn Legion; it Is held against the
Arabs by the Foreign Legion. AT
night the electric lights round the
band stand of the Foreign Legion on
the Place Sadi Carnot blaze against
the Algerian stars, while the muez-
Gins on the balconies of the minarets
keep watch over Islam. and their
voices send north, south, east ana
west the cry that was old in the time
of Sinbad the Sailor!
All II Allah-God is great.
But the marvel of Sidi-be1-Abbes
Is not the fact that here Edison and
Strauss face Mahommed In the form
Of his priests. nor the flower gardens
blooming on the face Of the desert,
nor the roads along which the Arabs
stalk and the automobiles dash. The
marvel of Sidi- bel-Abbes lies In the
legion.
The sun had touched the upper
border Of the huge, blank eastern wall
OF the legion's barracks, and 1t was
still a few minutes before reveille,
when. In room No. of the tenth
company the garde chambre for the
day slipped from his bed. stretched
and yawned noiselessly, and glanced
around him.
The room was like the ward of a
hospital. and the likeness was made
no less striking by the card above
each Of the twenty beds, white card.
setting out each mans name and num-
Der.
Radoubs number as shown by the
card on the bed he had just vacated
was 1888.
Individual, with the face of gamtn;
is a Jester, who may be q cutthroat,
and who is certainly and above ali
things Partisan.
Radoub had in fact been an apache
by profession. and NJ. Lepine had given
him the choice between penitentiary
and the legion. He chose the legion,
because, as he said, he liked the name
better.
He was quite aware that life in the
legion was worse than life in PEN
itenttary. and he did not care a but
ton about the social difference; he
liked the name better, that was all
He was an artist.
He stood now, for a second. gazing
In all the attitudes Of slumber-4;er-
mans, French. an Englishman an
american. Greek and Russian.
Then. shudiing on some clothes. he
lett the room silently as the shadow
of moving cat.
In moment he was back with
huge Jug OF steaming coffee and as
he entered shouting to the others to
barracks yard-ths reveiile Of the
French army that sounds every MORN
ing across France. to find its echoes
In Algeria:
Ia Rs tat =. tat :. "a; ;. r. ha. ia. tat ia.
Rat tat tat ia ia ia tn.
In moment the room was astir.
Between the reveille and the muster
In the barracks yard there was only
half an hour, yet In that half hour the
coffee was drunk. the men dressed,
the beds made and the door swept.
Radoub yelling to the others to hur-
ry up, as 1t was his duty to put the
completing touch to the busting and
cleaning and fetch the water.
A0A no WcnI t6dTlnE uOWn the
stairs after the rest and out in the
harrack yard. half cut in two by the
blaze OF the S-o'clock sun and, under
q sky blue as corndower. the long.
long lines Of whitehead men fell in.
while tho echoes reused to the bugles.
Then, led By the buEies, the col
umns wheeled out Of the barrack
gates, making for the great drill
ground. whore the arms were piled,
and the men. in square formation
now. were exercised at the double.
It was terrific: with tho sun blaze
now in their faces. with the sun beat
ing now on their backs. and now with
their sides to furnace door. round
and round and round and round
the great parade ground they went,
the dust raising and hanging about
them in Q haze.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thir-
ty minutes, and then tho thunder and
movement ceased and the legion
naires, released for q moment after
their first exercise of the day. broke
into groups. cigarettes were lit, and
the dustladen air filled with the fumes
Of caporal.
Radoub, though sweating, showed
little signs Of stress; he had lungs OF
leather. Not so Casmir. man In his
company to whom he was talking.
Casmir was a bitter looking indi-
vidual who had once been gov
eminent clerk. His white uniform was
clinging to him with Precipitation, and
he was just getting his wind back.
Tho two men were walking up and
down rapidly, for It is impossible to
stand still after an hour OF the double.
"Well," said Casmir. this finishes
me. This Is the last time. Tn off,"