Evening star., 1921-03-27
A DESERT ROMANCE
By J. H. Rosny-Aine.

district. / took pains to win this
beasts friendship and succeeded to
such a, point that after six months
| she obeyed me blindly.
Il founded on her my hope of es
| Gaping. To reach the first European
| station l would have to face terrible
dangers. L felt that the presence of
| the loness would enable me to es-
| cape most of them.
My resolution taken, completed
the animafs. training. | could make
her turn angry and violent and then
quickly calm, down again by signs or
! words of command. Moreover, / had
taken especial care of mehari.
/. which also became attached to me,
MY escape was fixed for the end of
october, a favorable time because
the worst of the hot season was then
over.
| I'VE decamped-the mehari the
iioness and lon a beautiful starry
night. Everything went we'll. Some
doss trailed US part of the way
But 1 was their friend and they
finally turned back.
we were already some kilometers
I from the farm and on the edge of the
desert calculated that before morn
| ing we should have covered twenty
! leagues. Suddenly 1 saw before me a
| human figure, the figure of a woman.
Ihat could spoil everything. I was
] greatly upset.
The woman drew near and raised
her hands. 1 heard a silvery voice:
oh, Sidi, in the name Of Allah the
one and only God, have pity ON me.
Take me to my tribe
Il knew then that it was Fathma,
ike myself a captive, stolen from her
! people by raiding nomads. The eunuch
expected to sell her at good price,
for she was beautiful. He was only
| waiting until she should grow stouter,
and he stuffed her with food. But her
grief kept her thin.
~. should be glad to take YOU
along. said. But il 1 bring you
to your tribe. who will guarantee me
my life and my liberty"
swear by Allah. the one and only
God. and by Mohammed, his prophet,
that my father will cover you with
blessings
Her eyes glittered between the up-
per and the lower wells.
Come I answered. moved by her
misfortune and her youth, we will
see about it,
She mounted on the mehari, which
trotted at good pace till morning.
Then we rested in a thicket, guarded
by the lioness.
"THREE hours passed. Fathma
had ended by convincing me.
because I loved adventure and also
SdoSO oLo evening dt DUSK 1 naQ
seen her face. which seemed to me
one of the prettiest faces on earth.
IN short, l let myself be guided by
her. We finally dismounted in an
oasis where her people lived. She
had told me the truth. Her father
and the whole tribe, of which he was
chief, received us with enthusiasm
1 was their guest for as long a time as
/ wished to stay. And you can be
sure that l was much in love with
Fathma.
when 1 spoke of it to the chief he
expressed his regret and said:
This oasis is yours. My house
is your house. As long as I live
shall await your return. Oh. my
son. what can do for your"
II confessed to him that I regarded
his daughter as a treasure more pre-
cious than all the treasures of
Arabia.
"'Who else has a right to her. IL
the man who saved her life claims
the one and only God. 1t is my only
regret that you are not yet persuaded
of that
My hostess had reappeared with two
children. a boy and a girl. whom the
Greeks would have said that they
resembled a god and goddess.
Wasn't my adventure like the ad-
ventures in The Thousand and One
Nights"
'1t has never ceased to be-" I re-
piled. looking at that charming young
shouldn't be at all surprised to hear
the muezzin announcing the hour OF
prayer from the highest tower Of the
chateau, -