, 1922-11-20


yacht IN the Mediterranean:
the roaE- OF Arrfca Was In the dis
ta-cN We had bcsn talking OF thEs
strange famous EngiishmAn whose
tragic death IN the North Sra had
stirred the world
Why had he never mArrec-the
greatest Eugiishmz1 OF his time, We
asa not name him Monsieur Jon
qusfle called him Sir Henry In he
story
The Prefect % Police Of Paris pre-
Esnted the story a. though q were
a detached tale OF an oriental story
teller IN a hazaar OF cairo. And I
listened with my eyes closed. on the
cool deck. moved slowly by h o
r-eIis- listened 10 the tragic
lows story Of this strange, reserved
famous Englishman who had lived IN
mystery and died IN mystery;
The ma who ods north from the
citadel. along the Boulevard NOLAN
med All. was no longer young.
He sat firmly IN the saddle. and TO
the distant eye. he was hard and lean
IKE a hunter in condition. but his
face diseolored by wind and sun. IN
repose was tired l. was an unusual
fact. scanned and crossed with lines.
the mouth firm. almost harsh. with
the muscles developed along the Jaw.
But Il was not these features that I'M
pressed one
It was The mans extraordinary
eyes. They were large and set far
apart The color you Immediately
saw dark metallic biue-;he blue
OF certain remote spaces In the trop'c
sky. The lids dropped. giving the
man an expression AZ once % serenity
and menace
He rode q gray Arab, and his
cloths were evidently the best prod
uct OF a Bond street tailor. He rode
like a soldier-iIke one accustomed 10
I'VE days and nights IN the saddle.
The man felt old and tired.
The vast. eternal unehAnging aspect
Of Egypt oppressed him. Here all hY-
man effort seemed equally futile. Here.
as in India. n grew only old and
Accomplished nothing. And. on this
evening. he felt acutely h menace OF
Egypt
England had only extended fingers
on great desert running south
Into impenetrRble mystery. She had
ia 81 PEa@t "a III hANtlAfAs hIAh
behind the .udoienee. the ~ilstless res
ignatiou of these desert peoples. there
seemed TO lie a vast. inherent hatred
OF the invader that never lessened.
and that waited always with an ua.
failing patience. In india. his thing
skuiked in the distance. but here II
seemed TO approach-to be at hand.
Perhaps what the mar knew staged
, this impression. The whole world Of
Islam was uneasy. h had been ds-
spoiled IN Turkey and shamed. h
felt that weak rulers. for gain or the
love OF life. had held her in leash
when abe ought to have been loosened
with q great shout TO a holy war. The
heads OF Islam were quiet, but tho
tribes were restless.
England. feeling always with her
delicate ~antennae. knew this and, al.
Ways wise, moved first. She had
withdrawn this man from India and
sent him here to set the butt OF the
Lee-Endfield a little firmer in the sand
south toward Khartum.
He had n fortnight in Cairo before
he took up this tremendous labor, and
he used It to be free. to be alone, 20
ride when he liked without an orderly
always at his heels.
II was great honor that England
did him. He might, in the end, be.
come Viceroy OF India or Slrdar OF
Egypt. But. on this evening he was
Impressed with the value OF what ne
paid-his youth had been required of
him. When he should come up out of
this desert he would be bid. And what
had be got-what would he get out of
these great honors7
The man rode slowly. holding the
n in. Tho strange, IN
congruous current OF the city passed
him. but he was thinking Of some
thing else. and he gave It no atten.
ton.
There was another thing. He
unused vaguely. He had seen on this
very day. in the shade OF a magnisi-
cent Towering vine. a young soldier
and an English girl. They were sit
ting 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 a thing that he has al
ways hated. II was not the enemy In
the front tina Threatened tho army.
It raj these loving creatures in the
rear. Ruthless and determined, he
A%- 70 AN1 Ah@@ oeh-Ai1 - II army
should be eelibate. And he had bro
ken and elbowed out the men who
would cucumber themselves with a.
loving heart.
Well. he had lived by the rue him
self There had been no woman about
him on the frontiers OF the Empirei
When he came, now and then, to Lon
don. the current OF life In which they
moved failed to touch him. They were
creatures apart.
He knew of them only what ap-
peared before the ye. And. while ne
eaw the beauty which they assembled.
he saw also the thousand follies that
seemed TO give them pleasure, and he
wondered in what mysterious charm
lay their appalling influence on his
soldiers.
And on this evening. alone in this
mysterious city. he began to be as.
sailed by a curious consuming wonder.
He began TO doub the value of the
one thing n he had gotten out OF
life. What was this other thing that