The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-11-20

Norseiunl JCnauslte, the project OF p0~
80 Of Paris, told me this story. We
we're on the deck CT his yacht in the med
t,srrsnear. the coast of Africa. was in
-. distance. We had been talking Of
+bst strange. famous Erglishman whose
.,se4- death in the North sea had
..,rrsd the world.
vrh,, had he never marrted-the great
60, rrzllshnan Of his time? We did not
~s~,e him. Monsieur Jonquelle called him
sir Henry" in the story.
The project Of police Of Paris presented
IN, story as tacugh it We're a detached
-,is NJ an oriental story teller in a bazaar
- cairo. And T listened with my eyes
.losas on the cool deck. moved slowly
Nv the long swells. O.. listened to the
trsrrs love story Of this strange. re-
-s-vad. famous Engushman who had lived
,- mystery and died in mystery:
-ra man who rode north from the cita-
de, along the Boulevard Mohammed Ali
was No longer young.
Va sat firmly in the saddle. and to the
distant eye. he was hard and lean like
, hunter in condition, but his face. dis
,or,rsd by wind and sun, in repose, was
,t~sd II vas an unusual face, scanned
and crossed with lines, the mouth firm.
sIroost harsh. with the muscles developed
along the Jaw. But 1t was not these
fsstures that impressed one.
r. VAS the mans extraordinary eyes.
r1o.. were large and set far apart. The
oo,,r -ou Immediately saw-a dark me-
t,rf. tlge--the blue of certain remote
sn4rss IN the tropic sky. The lids dropped,
-rvl7z the man an expression al once Of
serenity and menace.
Fs rode a gray Arab, and his clothes
vera evidently the best product Of a Bond
street tailor. He rode like a soldier
Ike one accustomed to live days and
nights N the saddle.
The man felt old and tired.
The vast, eternal. unchanging aspect
~ Egypt oppressed him. Here all human
effort seemed equally futile. Here, as in
India, che grew only old and accom-
0ilshed nothing. And, on this evening.
he felt acutely the menace of Egypt.
England had only extended fingers on
th,s great desert running south into i'm
Venerable mystery. She had only the
nsaca Of the bayonet; and behind the in
dolonoe, the listless resignation Of these
desert peoples, there seemd to lie a vast,
inherent hatred Of the invader that never
'sssened, and that waited always with
an untailing patience. In India, this
thing skulked in the distance, but here
Il seemed to apprca ch-to be at hand.
Perhaps what the man knew staged
this Impression. The whole world Of Is
lam was uneasy. She had been despoiled
In Turkey and shamed. She felt that
weak rulers, for gain or the love Of life,
Rad held her in leash when she ought
70 have been loosened with a great shout
70 a holy war. The heads CT Islam were
auiat but the tribes were restless.
England, feeling always with her deli |
cate antsnnae, knew this and, always
wise moved first. She had withdrawn !
this man from India and sent him here
20 set the butt of the Lee Enfield a little |
Nrrnsr IN the sand south toward khar |
tum.
Ho had a fortr'zh, IN Cairo before he
took up this Tremendous labor, and he |
used Il to he free, to be alone, to ride |
when he liked without an orderly always |
a his heels.
It was great honor that England did |
Vim. He might, In the end. become vice
roy OF India or slrdar Of Egypt. But. on
This evening he was impressed with the
value Of what he paid-his youth had !
hsen required q him. When he should
come up cut Of this desert he would he
old. And what had he gOt-whnt would
he get out OF these great hon0rs?
The man rode slowly, holding the nerv-
GUS Arab in. The strange, homogeneous
current OF the city passed him. but he
was thinking OF something else, and he
gave Il ne attention.
There was another thing. He unused
vaguely. Ha had seen on this very day.
in the shade of a ma gnihcent Towering
vine, a young soldier and an English gill.
They were sitting on a bench; neither
moved and only their hands touched.
They did not speak, and yet their faces
were like the faces Of angels
This was thing that he had always
mated. 7. was not the enemy in the front
mat threatened the army, it was these
owing creatures in the rear. Ruthless