The Washington times., 1922-06-30


married. and the women Of his own
race seemed to have no attraction
for him. He was wrapped up In
his tribe and his horses. My father
had come for q stay OF some
months. My mother had recently
died and he wanted to get away
from everything that reminded him
Of her. One evening. shortly after
his arrival at the camp. a party Of
the Sheik's men who had been alb.
sent for some days in the north on
the chiefs affairs arrived. bringing
with them a woman whom they
had found wandering In the desert.
How she had got there. or from
what direction she had come. they
did not know. They were nearer
civilization than Ahmed Ben Has.
sans camp at the time. but with
true native tendency to avoid re.
sponsibility. they thought that the
disposal Of her was matter more
for their Sheik than themselves.
She could give no account Of her.
self. as. owing to the effects Of tbs
sun or other causes. she was tenn
porarily out OF her mind. Arabs
are very gentle with anyone who Is
mad-'Allsh has touched them"
She was taken to the tent Of one of
the headmen, whose wife looked
after her. For some days hN,was
doubtful whether she would re.
cover, and her condition was aggra-
waited by the fact that she was
shortly to become a mother. Sfe
did regain her senses after a time.
however. but nothing could make
her say anything about herself.
and questions reduced her to ter,
rible fits Of hysterical crying which
were prejudicial in her state of
health. She seemed calmest when
she was left quite alone. but even
then she started at the slightest
sound, and the headman's wife re.
ported that she would lie for hours
on her bed crying quietly to her
self. She was quite young-seem.
ingly not more than nineteen or
twenty. From her accents. my
father decided that she was Span.
ish. but she would admit nothing.
not even her nationality. In iGe
course of time the child was born. a
boy"
Saint Hubert paused a moment
and nodded toward the Sheik.
Even after the child's birth she
refused to give any account OF her.
self. In that she was as firm ns a
rock: in everything else she was
the frailest, gentlest little creature
imaginable. She was very small
and slender. with quantities Of soft
dark hair and beautiful great dark
eyes that looked like a frightened
fawn's. Ihave heard my father de-
scribe her many times. and have
seen the water-color sketch he made
Of her-he was quite an amateur.
Ahmed has II locked away some.
where. She nearly died when the
baby was born. and she never re-.
covered her strength. She made no
complaint and never spoke Of her.
self. and seemed quite content Is
long a. the child was with her.
She was q child herself in a great
number Of ways. 1t never seemed
to occur to her that there was any.
thing odd in her continued resi-.
dence in the sheik's camp. She
had q tent and servants Of her
own, and the headman's wife
was devoted to her. So were
the rest Of the, camp for that
matter. There was an element
Of the mysterious In her advent
that had taken hold Of the super
stitious Arabs. and the baby was
looked upon as something more
than human and was adored by
all the tribe. The Sheik himself,
who had never looked twice at
a woman before in his life. be-
came passionately attached to
her. My father says that he has
never seen a man so madly in
love as Ahmed Ben Hassan was
with the strange white girl who
had come 30 oddly into his life.
He repeatedly implored her to
marry him, and even my father.
who has horror of mixed mar
rigaes. was impelled to admit
that any woman might have been
happy with Ahmed Ben Hassan.
She would not consent. though
she would give no reason for her
refusal, and the mystery that
surrounded her remained as un.
solvabls during the two years
that she lived after the baby's
birth as It had been on the day
Of her arrival. And her refusal
made no difference with the