The Washington times., 1922-05-26

animal under her. she DENT uoWn'
lying low against his neck with
a little, reckless laugh, coaxing
him with all her knowledge and
squirting him alternately But soon
her mood changed. She frowned
anxiously as she looked at the
last rays Of the setting sun. 1t
would be dark very soon. She
could not go chasing through the
night with this tireseome Arab
at her heels. The humor seemed
to have died out Of the situation
and Diana began to yet angry.
In the level country that sur
rounded her there were no natuTa,
features that could afford cover
or aid in any way; there seemed
nothing for It but to own herself
defeated and pull up-lf she could.
and returning OF her own free
will was dismissed at once as
hopeless. She had seen enough
in her short glimpse OF the Arabs
tactics when they had passei her
to know that she was dealing with
a finished horseman On Il perfect
ly trained horse, and that her idea
could never succeed. But, per
versely, she felt that to that par.
tcular Arab following her she
would never give in. She would
ride till she dropped. or the morse
did. before that.
The whistle came again. and
again, in spite Of her relentless
squirting. her horse checked his
pace. A suden inspiration came
to her. Perhaps 1t was tine rorse
she was riding that WAS tho cause
OF all the trouble. II was
certainly the Arabs whistle that
had made 1t moderate its speed;
1t was responding clearly to a
reluctance to give any particulars
of his acquisition of the horse
came back to her. There could
not be much doubt about II. The
animal had unquestionably been
stolen, and either belonged to or
was known to the party Of Arabs
who had met them.
The naivete that paraded a
stolen horse through the desert
at the risk OF meeting its former
owner made her smile in spite
of her annoyance. but 1t was
not a pleasant smile, as her
thoughts turned from the horse
to its present owner. The sum
Of Mustafa Ali's delinquencies
was mounting UP fast. But II
was his affair. not hers. In the
meantime she had paid for the
horse to ride through the desert,
not to be waylaid by Arab
bandits. Her temper was going
fast.
She urged the horse on with
all her power, but percepttbly
he was slowing up. She flashed
another backward look. The
Arab was close behind her-closer
than she had been aware. She
had a momentary glimpse of a
big white figure, dark piercing
eyes. and white cleaning teeth,
and passionate rage filled her.
With no thought Of what the
consequences or retaliation might
be, with no thought at all beyond
a wild desire to rid herself of her
pursuer, driven by a sudden mad.
ness which seemed to rise up in
her and which she could not con-
troll. she clutched her revolver
and fired twice, full in the face
Of the man who was following
her. He did not even finch and
a low laugh Of amusement came
from him. And at the souni of
his laugh Diana's mouth parched
suddenly, and a cold shiver rip
Piled across her spine. A strange
feeling that she had never ex-
perienced before went through
her. She had missed again as
she had missed this morning.
How, she did not know; It was
inexplicable, but 1t was Il fact.
and fact that left her with q
feeling OF powerlessness. She
dropped the useless revolver, try.
ing vainly to force her horses
pace. but inch by inch the derry
chestnut that the Arab was rid.
ing crept up nearer alongside. =.
She would not turn to look again.
but glancing sideways she could
see it's small, wicked.lookins head.
with flat laid ears and vicious.
bloodshot eyes, level with her
elbow. For a moment or two Il
remained there. then with a sud.
den spurt the chestnut forced
ahead, and as II shot past Il
swerved close In besiie her, and
the man, rising In his stirrups
and leaning towards her. flung a