Evening star., 1924-10-04


hillock, where he could command the
whole field. sitting on a carpet under
white umbrella, surrounded b. his
generals, who were lingering their
boards and looking exceedingly down
cast, which was not unnatural, see
ing that at least half of them expect
ed to he beheaded
The sultan's face was an unpleas-
ant sight. He bit at the stem of his
hookah and his fingers twitched, but
he was not ungracious to the rene
gade lancer who did obeisance before
him.
stand up" he growled Thou Of
all my askars hast no need to grovel
How comes il that you alone went
through?'
"sidi," said Ortho, the sultan's enc
mics are mine-and it was not diff
cult l know the way"
Mahomet's delicate eyebrows arch
ed. Thou knowest the way -ha,
Then thou art wiser than these =.
these"-he waved his beautiful hand
toward the generals these sorry
camel cows who deem themselves
warriors. Tell these ass-mares thy
secret. Speak up and fear not"
Ortho spoke out. He said nothing.
about his horse having bolted with
him. that so far from being heroic he
was numb with fright. He spoke
with the voice of Fleischmann, de-
ceased, expounded the Prussian's
theory of discipline and tactics as
applied to shock cavalry, and. having
heard them ad nauseam. missed never
a point All the time the sultan
sucked at his great hookah and
never took his ardent. glowering
eyes from his face. and all the time
in the background the artillery
thumped and the muskets crackled
He left the royal presence a kaid
Mia, commanding a squadron, a bag
of 100 ducats in his hand, and a
month later the cavalry swept over
the astonished Bou khari as a flood
sweeps a mud bank, steeled by the
knowledge that a regiment of i'm
perial infantry and three guns were
IN their rear. with orders to NOV
them down did they waver They
thundered through to victory. and
the kaid Said el Ingliz (Which was
another name for Ortho Penhale)
rode, perforce, in the van-wishings
to God he had not spoken-and took
pike thrust in the leg and a musket
ball in his ribs. and was laid out OF
harms way for months
But that was past history, and now
he was watching his horses come in
They were not looking any too we'll
he thought. tucked-up, hide bound
scTdSSS - DeeH cdInUalRnlnE over
long, travelling hard feeding am
hoy. standing out in all weathers
He was thoroughly glad this tax COLI
lecting tour was at close and ne
could get them back into garrison.
His men drove them up to their heel
pegs. made them fast for the night,
tossed bundles of grass before them
and sought the camp fires that twin
killed. cheerily in the twilight A cou-
ii % nf ct oil ia
the thud of a shoe meeting cannon
bone and another squeal, followed by
the curses of the horse guard. A man
by the fires twanged an oud and
sang an improvised ditty on a palm
tree in his garden at Tafilet:
queen among palms,
Very tall. very stately
The sun gilds her vrrdure
With glitterine kisses
And in the calm night time
Among her green tresSes.
The little stars tremble
Ortho drew the folds of his jeilab
| closer about him it was getting
mighty cold-stopped to speak to a
! farrier on the subject of the shoe
| shortage and sought the miserable
| tent which he shared with his lieu
tenant, Osman Baki. Turkish ad- /,
| venturer from Rumeli Hissar.
Osman was just in from headquar--
.. ~
re. orted their mines laid and the Sari1
was going to blow the town walls at
mooiriSe-in an hours time. The
infartry were already mastering, but
there were no orders for the horse
The sari was in vile temper. had
commanded that all male rebels were
to be killed on sight, women op-
tional - looting was open. Osman
picked a mutton bone, chattering and
shaking; the mountain cold had
brought out his fever. He would not
go storming that night. he said, not
for the plunder of Vienna: slung the
mutton bone out of doors. curled up.
on the ground. using his saddle for
pillow, and pulled every available
covering over himself.
Ortho ate his subordinate's share
of the meager repast, stripped him
self to his richly laced kaftan. stuck
knife in his sash, picked up
sword and a torch and went out.
The general was short of cavalry .
unwilling to risk his precious body
guard. and had, therefore, not order
ed them into the attack. Ortho was
going nevertheless; he was not in
love with fighting, but he wanted
money-he always wanted money
He walked along the camp fires.
picked ten of the stoutest and most
rascally of his rascals, climbed out of
the gully and came in view of the
beleaguered kasba. 1t was quite a.
small place, a square fortress of mud
plastered stone, standing in a gorge
of the Major Atlas and filled with OBJ
durate mountaineers who combined
brigandage with refusal to pay
tribute. A five-day siege had in no
wise weakened their resolve. Ortho
could hear drums beating inside
while from the towers came defiant
yells and splutters of musketry
IF we can't get in soon the snow
will drive us away-and they know
it," he said to the man beside him. :
and the man shivered and thought Of
warm Tafilet. :,
Yes, lord" said he, and there'sv
naught of value in that roua Had
there been, the Sari would have not
thrown the looting open. A sheep,
goat or so-paugh! 1t is not worth
our trouble"
They must be taught a lesson,
suppose" said Ortho. -.
The man shrugged. They will be
dead when they learn it, =
German sapper slouched by whis-
tling I'm .Grunewald mein Lieb, und ;
ich," stopped and spoke to Ortho. They
had worked right up to the walls by
means of trenches covered with fas-
cines, he said, and were going to
blow them in two places simuIta-
neously and rush the breaches. The
blacks were going in first. These
mountaineers fought like devils, but I
he did not think there were more
than 200 of them, and the infantry
were vicious, half-starved, half
frozen, impatient to be home. Snow:
was coming, he thought: he could
smell it-whew,
A pale haze blanched the east: a :
snow peak cleaned with ghostlyf
light; surrounding stars blinked as,
though blinded by brighter glory,