Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-26
By H. De We're
Stacpoole.

Th0 door opened ana he went In.
leaving Chloe seated on the ground to
down the alley, saw the stranger, ad-
vanced. burbling and bristling. recog-
nized him and passed on; the rising
moon laid pale finger on the wall
top and from far away across the
faint noises OF the cit came the
cry Of the priest from the balcony
OF the minaret calling the faithful to
prayer; and now a window opened
somewhere and the laughter Of girl
the ttnkle tankls OF guitar and .
snatch of song blew away on the night
wind and then snapped off to the clos
Ing of the easement.
This was the Spanish quarter of tho
Moslem town, and perhaps the wick
eldest. outside the jurisdiction Of tho
Bureau Arabe. and visited only by the
ropean population Of the place.
Twenty minutes passed, and then
the door opened and a man came out.
He was dressed in multi. but the al
iteration did not deceive Choc. He
knew his master at once and. rising,
followed him down the alley into tho
street.
Radoub had made up his mind to
escape from the legion. 1t was the
maddest act Of his life.
First of all. he was not an ordinary
legtonnaire. but a criminal serving
AoA IcHApiIItdtIou. X ne managed TO
escape he would have to begin his life
over again without papers It would
be impossible for him to ind work In
France; he must go to England or
some other country where papers were
not required. Then. again, he had
only to wait two short months and
he would secure rehabilitation and be
able to leave the legion and obtain
work.
Though he had started in life ~ an
apache, common sense had been talk
ing to him for the last two years or
so. pointing out that franc made by
robbery Is not worth two sous made
by work. The rate of exchange II al
ways against the crfn1inals: 80 ap-
pallfng is 1t that one may wonder at
any man with an ounce Of brains do
Ing business on such rufnous terms.
had determined. on finding himself
his own man again. to take to honest
ways.
He was now running all the plans
he had made for the future 30 nearly
In hin grasp. He was throwing every
thing away--for dog.
As a matter of fact, there was no
struggle involved in the giving up Of
his plans Cold plans for the fu-
ture, dictated by common sense. did
not stand for a moment before the
warm desire to keep the dog and fiout
huNAOElIy. Mug was nlS I1AI6s anu
he was not going to lose him.
Passing a shop where viands were
sold. he bought two sausages and put
them In his pocket. then he walked
on. striking toward the European
quarter.
To Radoub 1t seemed a month ago
since he had left the Place, and 1t
seemed extraordinary to hear the
band at 1t still
But he had little time to think Of
anything except his objective. and
that was Oran. eighty miles away.
bel-Abbes and Oran: that Is to say.
trap for runaway legionnaires. Ra-
doub was not such a fool az to use
the railway or even to walk along the
ter to him. The pursuit would be
after him before he could reach Oran
even by rail; he had to trust entirely
to his disguise and to luck. He rec
ognized that Choc would be hia main
difficulty: he could not disguise Choc
He had lit a cigarette. and he passed
along to the city gates without let
or hfudrance; q bourgeois taking an
evening stroll with his dog excited NO
same. and walking in n a Ss,sureiy NAM
ner, with his hands In his pockets. he
found the road to Oran and struck
along 1t. 1t Lay before him white It
the moonlight. and. beyond the gar
stretched the sand wastes and rocks
of the miserable desert that In day
light Is yellow. parched. sun-bieten
and murderous in its deso1atfon. A
few stunted palms broke tho skyline
on the right, while on the left could
be seen the lights Of the railway and
the furnace-lft smoke of train just
coming In from Dram. Radoub. not
Ios these ts sh Locked To- e sP n and sou sss
therA TO be seen. Then. calling to
Choo, he struck into his stride.
Five miles or so from Sidi-beI-Ab-
hes q mounted police patrol passed
Radoub without hating and with
scarcely q glance at him. but they
were going toward the. town. and
would know nothing of his escape.
Then, thinking things over, he re-
ffected that the fact Of his escape
would be still unknown even at the
barracks, where It was just turning-in
time. Legionnaires sometimes out
stopped their leave. The pursuit
row morning. when, definitely de-
clared absent. his description would
be circulated right to Gran.
But this did not incline him to
slacken his pace. He kept on steadily.
till he had reached q point some ten
miles from the town: then he took his
seat by the -wayside. took the sau-
sAges. which were wrapped UP In
sheet Of the Journal doran. frof. his
pocket and divided one with Choc.
Then, noticing a prickly pear bush
growing nearby he cut some OF the
fruit and carefully peeled 1t.
II was their first meal in the desert.
and they had four. for 1t was not till
the morning Of the third day Of his