The Washington times., 1922-06-04

detached himself from the chat.
terinE crowd and came 10 him
sslasnaing. The sheik said Il few
words. and with another salaaE,
and Z sleam Of white t0eth. the
man turned and appr odched the
struggling group In the center Of
ths ring.
Diana Strengthened uo with In.
tersst. The frantic colt was go.
ing to be broken. II was already
saddled. Several ad iitionsl men
ran forward. and between them
the horse was forcibly held for a
moment-oniy for a moment, hut
It was long enough for rhe man
who leaped like a flash on to his
back. The others fell away, rae
ing from the reach Of the terrible
lashing heels. Amazed for the mo-
ment at the sudden unaccustom-
ed weight, the colt paused, and
then reared straight up, till It
seemed to Diana that he must fall
backward and crush he man who
was clinging to him. But he came
down at last, and for a few mo-
ments II was almost impossible to
follow his spasmodic movements as
he strove to rid himself Of his rider.
With a twisting heave uf his whole
body he shot the Arab over mis-
head. who landed with dull thud
and lay still. while the men who
had been holding the colt dashed
in and secured him before he Was
aware Of his liberty. Diana looked
towards the fallen man; liptle
crowd were gathered arounl him.
and her heart beat faster as she
thought he was deal. Dead so
quickly, and only a moment before
he had been so full OF life and
strength. Death meant nothing
to these savages. she thought bit.
terly, as she watched the limp body
being carried away ly three or
four men, who argued violently
over their burden. She glanced
at the Sheik. He seemed perfect
ly unconcerned and did not even
look in the direction Of the man
who had fallen. On the contrary.
he laughed. and, turning to Yusef,
put his hand on his .ihoulde" and
nodded towards the colt. Diana
gave a gasp. He spared no one.
He was going to make the Young
man take his chance as the rough
rider had taken his. She knew
that the lieutenant rode well, as
did all Ahmed Ben Hassan fol-
lowers. and that his :anguid man.
ner was only a pose, but he looked
so young and boyish, and the risk
seemed enormous. She had seen
colts broken before mary times,
as this one. But TO Yusef the
chance was evidently welcome.
With an answering laugh. he swag.
gered out into the arena, where
the men greeted him with shouts
There was the same procedure as
before, and Yusef boundei up
lightly into the saddle. This time.
instead Of rearing, the frightened
beast dashed forward in Il wild ef.
fort to escape. but The mounted
men, closing up. head I'd him into
the middle Of the ring again, and
in a few moments he was thrown
heavily. With a shrill scream the
colt turned on him open .mouthed.
and Yusef flung up one arm 10 save
his face. But the men reached
him in time, dragging the colt
from him by main force. He rose
to his feet unsteadily and limpei
to the tents behind. Diana could
not see him easily for the throng
around him.
Again she looked at the
Sheik and ground her teeth.
He was STOPPING to ligh' a
cigarette from a match that Gas
ton was holding, and then they
walked together nearer to the
colt. The animal was now
thoroughly maddened, and it was
increasingly difficult to hold him.
They went up close to the strus.
Cling, yelling grooms, and the
next minute Diana saw Gastcn
sitting firmly In the empty saddle.
The little man rode magnificently.
and put up a longer fight than
the others had done, but at last
his turn came, and he went flying
over the colts head. He came
down lightly on his hands and
knees, and scrambled to his feet
in an instant amidst a storm Of
shouts and laughter. Laughing
himself he came back to the Sheik
with a shrug of the shoulders and
outspread, eloquent hands. They
spoke together for moment. too
low for Diana to hear, and then
Ahmed Ben Hassan went again
into the middle Of the ring.
Diana's breath came more quick.