The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-27

entering. His fncoherent ruatterinrs '
broke in upon my senii-corfaa. but
shook him off. I shrieked curses ct
Now the Bedouins were roountin-
'iie Slope not more than a hundred
yards below me. In the growing light
could see the face OF said ntohammad /
The man beside me exerted an, hi.
strength g to drag me back into the gal
lery or cave.
Then. those persistent efforts sud
aeniy ceased and duly told myself
that this weird being. having done his
best to save me, had Ted to save HIM
self. I was wrong.
You have asked me for a story of
the magic OF Egypt, and although, as
you see, it has cost me tears--oh- I am
not ashamed of those tears-I have re-
counted this story to you. You saw.
where is the magic? and I might reply:
the magic was in the changing of my
false love to true. But there was
another magic as well, and 1t grew up
while lay inert. awaiting death.
From behind me-. frotn above me.
arose a cry-a cry. You may have
heard of the Bedouin song. the Mig
mune":
Va men melek ana deri waat sa jebb.
Id eP ish hoos' a beb hatsa azat ia
lebb."
You may have heard how. when IL
is sung in certain fashion. flowers
drop from their stalks? Also, you may
have doubted this. never having heard
magical cry.
de not doubt It! For haze heard
a magical cry-this cry which arose
from behind mel It started some chord
in my dulled consciousness which had
never spoken before. I turned my head
and there upon the highest point Of
| the rocks stood the cave man. He
suddenly stretched forth his hands.
Again he uttered that uncanny. that
indescribable cry. 1t was not human.
1t was not animal. Yet 1t was nearer
| to the cry OF an animal than to any
sound made by the human species. His
eyes cleaned with an awful light, his
spare body had assumed a strange sig
| nificance; he was transf1gured,
| A third time he uttered the cry, and
out from one OF those openings in the
rock which 1 have mentioned, crept
jackal. You know how a jackal avoids
the day. how furtive. how nocturnal a
creature it is? But there in the golden
glory which proclaimed the coming of
the sun. black silheuettes moved
A great wonder possessed me, as the
first jacKal was followed by second,
by third, by fourth, by fifth. Did
say fifth? BY five hundred
by FIVE Thousand
| From every visible hole in the
rocks jaekals poured forth in packs.
Wonder left me, fear left me; 1 forgot
my sorrow, became a numbed intelli-
gence amid a desert Of jackals. Over
sea of moving furry backs. saw,
that outstanding crag and the weird
crouching figure upon it. Right and
left. above and below. jackals moved
. and all turned their heads
toward the approaching Bedouins,
| Again-again L heard that dreadful
cry. The jackals. in pack, thousands
| strong, began to advance upon the
| Bedeuinsi =.
I saw the four horsemen riding like
furies into tho morning sun. The
white mare. riderless.- galloped with
thern-and the desert behind was yell
low with jackals! For the last time
heard the cry.
| The jackals began to return!
Forgive me If 1 seem an emotional
fool. But when I recovered from the
swoon which blotted out that unnatural
spectacle, the wizard-for now 1 knew
him for nothing 1ess-had dug a deep
trench--and had left me. alone.
Not jdekal was in sight; the gun
blazeld cruelty upon the desert. With
my own hands / laid my love to rest
| in the sands. No cross, no crescent
marks her resting place.; but 1 left
my youth upon her grave, as a last
offering.
You may say that, since had sinned
SO grievoosly, since had betrayed the
| noble confidence of Said Mohammed,
my host. 1 escaped lightly.
Ali You do not know.
And what of the strange being whose
gratitude L had done SO little to merit
of him that I will tell you.
Years 1ater-how many IL does NOT
matter. but I was man with no ilIu@
sions-my restless wanderings Il being
still a desert rd-of-passage) brought
me one night to a certain well but
rarely visited 1t lay in a depression.
like another well that / am fated often
to see in my dreams. and, as one ap-
preached, the crowns OF the palm trees
which grew there appeared above the
mounds of sand.
twas alone and tired out; the next
possible camping piace--for I had no
water-was many miles away. Yet IL
was written that I should press on to
that OTTER distant well. weary though
/ was.
First, then. as / came up, perceived
numbers of vultures in the air; and 1
began to fear that someone near to
his end lay at the well. But when,
from the top of mound obtained a
closer view. 1 saw a sight that, after
one quick glance, caused me to spur
up my tired horse and to hy-hy, with
panic in my heart.
The brilliant moon bathed the hol-
low in fight and cast dense shadows Of
the palm stems Upon the slope beyond.
BY the spring. his fallen face CHASTITY
in the moonlight, in clear space
twenty feet across, lay dead man.
Even from where 1 sat<1 knew him;
but. had I doubted, other evidence was
there OF his identity. AS 1 mounted
the slope. thousands of fiery eyeg were