Evening star., 1923-03-25

tie tribute of our appreciation. The
proud sheiks Of the desert did not
disdain to take part in the wild
scramble. Even the Valentino one
unbent and Joined the scramble
The next day We saw most OF tho
same dancing girls squatting out in
front of their little houses in the
narrow, ancient streets. 1t suggested
the notorious Hosl1iWara of Japan
and l felt that the chaste damseIs OF
the desert were In need OF some kind
OF Moroccon Will Hays to watch
over their morals. To be plain about
it'll feared the worst
1t was at TourQuort that we really
got out into the desert. ! will not
deny that / had several uualms as we
said goodbye to civilization and we
three white people went out alone
into the dreary waste Of the Sahara
where so many could have perished
and have been forgotten
In the motion pictures the imper-
lled lady always seems to be rescued
by an accommodating gentleman with
a turhan and Il gallant heart but
after tht night in the music hall 7
was rot sure bur that the rescue
would be worse than being lost
Il saw in the paper the other dav
that the French have started a motor
caravan over the same route that we
took, equipped with automobiles that
have caterpiller wheels.
w SUCH luAuTieS were with We
had a real old-fashioned camel cara
van, just as they had in Biblical days
We had, / think, thirteen camels in
an, three or four horses and two or
three donkeys. I looked them all
over and decided on a camel. I had
ridden them before in several pic
lures, and l knew what they were
like, anyhow. In fact, before the trim
was over l knew a good deal more
ABOUT camels than ] advise anybody
else 70 learn. Riding a camel is a
good deal like trying to ride on a
feather bed fastened to the topmost
OF a snip in a storm. The fact that
my head was not jerked right off is 4,
hattering tribute TO the sturdiness OF
my spinal column. / can't remember
whether the camel I rode was a two
hump or one-hump. He was 80 COW
ered with mattresses and rugs and
beds that he looked like a moving
mountain. am afraid he had been
crossed in love, for he had a. vile
We camped out every night. Nv
husband and I had a. tent and his
manager had another tent: the Arabs
Just scattered themselves around WITH
the camels where over night han
pened TO find them
Il had heard a lot about tba ,,,ys
tery Of the desert and the way it
crept into your soul, but I didn't be-
Ileve it. | found out.
Nhen YOU first go in YOUR davs
are nlled with restleSsness and un-
eas,n eeasiness. You want to slap every
pody and see If they cannot be in
duced to move, but after while II
gets YOU. a vast quiet peace seems
TO perVade your whole being. II is
quite indescribable, but very wonder
iul. AS days go by the little things
that worried you seem TO slip away.
nothlng seems to matter any more
You and your little troubles are =,
very little and the old Sahara is 50
old and so quiet and so mysterious
and so appealing. The Sahara has
seen so many tragedies that have
dyed her sands and have disappeared
so many lives have beaten out
against her bosom in desolate despair
She has swallowed them all up and
sits there gray and old and quiet.
The desert doesn't look like The
desert that we know, with sage brush
and jackrabbits and little friendly
shrubs. II is all white, drifting sand
countless. illimitable and endless
II suppose II we had stayed around
little longer I would by now be
sitting around drinking Turkish cof-
fee and sucking the end OF q hookah
in blissful forgetfulness. Happily.
we got back to civilization in time