Evening star., 1924-10-06

The negro spat- Bah, they are
as ugly as their own goats, but"-he
grinned, knowing Ortho's weakness
she may fetch the price of a black
horse-eh, Kaid?"
She may" said Ortho.
CHAPTER XXI.
Two days later the force struck
camp, leaving the town behind them
a shell of blackened ruins, bearing
on lances before them the heads of
thirty prominent citizens as sign
that Caesar is not lightly denied his
tribute
They streamed northeast through
the defiles, tattered rabble, a swarm
Of locusts, eating up the land as they
went. The wounded were iostled
along in rough litters, at the mercy
OF camp BARRIERS and renegade quack S :;
the majority died on the way and
were thankful to die. The infantry
struggled for miles (half rode
donkeys) and drove before them cat
tie, sheep, goats and a few woman
prisoners. What with stopping to
requisition and piuage they pro-
gressed at an average OF 12 miles
a day. Only among the negroes and
the cavalry was there any semblance
Of march discipline, and then only
because the general kept them close
about him as protection against his
other troops.
Beside Ortho rode the Arab girl.
her feet strapped under the mules
belly. Twice she tried to escape
once by a blind bolt into the
foothills, once by surer, sharper
road. She had wriggled across
the tent and pulled a knife out
of its sheath with her teeth. Os-
man had caught her just as she
was on the point of rolling on it.
Ortho had TO tie her up at night and
watch her all day long. Never had
he encountered such implacable re-
solve. She was determined to foil
him one way or the other at no mat
ter what cost to herself. He had
always had his own way with women
and this failure irritated him. He
would stick it as long as she, he
swore-and longer.
Osman Baki was entertained He
watched the contest with twinkling
a Georgian slave and he was as fair
as a Swede.
She will leave you-somehow," he
warned.
For whom? For what?" Ortho ex-
claimed. IF she slips past me the
infantry will catch her or some
farmer who will beat her life out.
Why does she object to me? 1 have
treated her kindly-as kindly as she
will allow"
Osman twirled his littlc yellow
moustache. Truly, but these people
have no reason. only a mad pride.
One cannot reason with madness.
kaid. Oh, know them. When l was
m he of hn
He delivered an anecdote from his
unexampled repertoire proving the
futility of arguing with a certain
class of Arab with anything more
subtle than a bullet.
Sell her in Morocco" he advised.
"She is pretty, will fetch a good sum.
No; I'm going to try my hand
first" said Ortho stubbornly.
You'll get it bitten" said the Turk.
eying the telltale marks on Ortho's s
face with amusement. For my part
1 prefer a quiet life-in the home"
They struggled into Morocco City
ten days later to find the Sultan in
residence for the Winter. building
sanctuaries and schools with immense
energy.
Ortho hoped for the governorship
of an outlying post, where he would
be more or less his own master, get
some pig hunting and extort back
sheesh from the country folks under
his protection. But it was not to be.
He was ordered to quarter his stall
warts in the kasba and join the I'm
perial Guard. Having been in the
guard before at Mequine; having in
f1uence in the household and getting
a windfaIl in the way of eight
months back pay, he contrived to
bribe himself into possession of a
small house overlooking the Aguedal
Gardens, close to the Ahmar gate.
There he installed the Arab girl
and a huge old negress to look after
her.
Then he set to and gave his un-
fortunate men the stiffening of their
lives.
He formed his famous black horses
into one troop, graded the others by
colors and drilled the whole all day
long.
Furthermore, he instituted a sys-
tenn of grooming and arm cleaning
hitherto unknown in the Moroccan
forces-all on the Fleischmann recipe.
Did his men show sulks, he immedi-
ately up-ended and bastinadoed them.
This did not make him popular. but
Osman Baki supported him with pc
wildered loyalty and he kept the
mokadem and the more desperate ras-
calls on his side by a judicious dlstrl-
button of favors and money. never
theless, he did not stroll abroad much
after dark, and then never un-
attended.
They drilled in the Aguedal, on the
bare ground opposite the powder
house, and acquired added precision
from day to day. Ortho kept his
eve on the roof of the powder house:
For two months this continued and
Ortho grew anxious. What with
household expenses and continued
douceurs to the mokadem his money
was running out and he was sailing
too close to the wind to try tricks
with. his mems ratiens and pay at
present.
Just when things were beginning TO
look desperate a party appeared on
the roof of the powder house, which