Evening star., 1924-10-04
THE OWLS HOUSE1
A Thrilling Adventure Story
By Crosbie Garstin
Continued from Yesterdays Starr
CHATTER XVI.
-rOSble GarStin
Copyright. 1924 by Frederick st.... r.

CHAPTER XII.
Ortho sat on the bare hillside and
watched hi horses coming in They
came up the gully below him in a
drove. limpilg from their hobbies
grays. chestnuts. BAYS duns and
blacks. blacks predominating 1t
was his ambition to command a
squadron of blacks. and he was chop
ping and changing to that end. They
would look well on parade. he
thought. line of glossy black Douk-
kala stations with scarlet trappings.
pestridden by lancers in the uniform
"hite burnoose-black. white and
scarlet. Such a display should catch
the Suitan's eye and he would be
made kaid rahaI
ne was a kaid mia already Sheer
luck had given him his first step.
"hen he first Joined the Makhzen
cavalry he found himself stablemates
with an elderly Pru sian named
fielschmann, who had served with
FREDERICK the Greats dragons at
Rossbach. Liegnitz and Torpau q
surly. drunken old sabreur with no
personal ambition beyond the assim-
iiation OF loot, but possessed of ex-
periehce and tongue to disclose it,
!" nus soper moments he held forth
70 ortho on the proper employment
or morse. He did not share the com
mon admiration for the crack askar
'ahces' but poured derision upon
.n."l' lney were all blus-
yer , ana braVado. he said. stage SOL
nIeis win no real discipline to con-
.Ioi tnem In tight corner He ad-
mitted they We're successful against
rebel hordes, but did they ever meet
resolute force he prophesied red
not dlsaster and prayed he might not
be there.
MS prayer was granted Disaster
came and he was not there having
mad his head severed from his shouI.
ders month previously while loot
ing when drunk and meeting with an
lrrltated householder who was sober.
ortho was in the forefront of the
ulsaster The black Janizaries. the
bou mari, were having one of their
periodic mutinies and had been drum
nned INTO the open by the artillery
ne cavalry were ordered to charge
instead of stampeding when they saw
Pe morse sweeping on them the ne
groes lay down, opened a well di
rected fire and emptied saddles right
and left.
hundred yards from the enemy
the lancers hlnched and turned tail
ana the Bou khari brought down
turn. In the first place he did not
know the others had gone about until
IL was too late to follow them. and
secondly, his horse, d powerful en-
tire, was crazy with excitement and
mad charge of him. He slammed
clean through the Bou khari like a
thunderbolt. with nothing worse than
the fright of his life and slight
flesh wound.
He had confused impression of
nre hashing all about him, bullets
Whirring and drpning round his head
black giants springing up among the
rocks, yells-and he was through. He
galloped on for a bit made a wide
detour round the flank and got back
10 what was left of his own ranks.
returning, he had time to medi-
tate. and the truth of the late (and
unlamented) Fieischmann's words
came back to him. That flesh wound
had been picked up at the beginning
OF the charge. The nearer he had
got the wilder the fire had become.
The negroes he had encountered flung
themselves fiat; he could have skew
cred them like pigs. If the whole
line had gone on all the blacks would
have flung themselves fiat and been
skewered like pigs. A regiment of
horse charges home with the impact
of a deep-sea breaker, hundreds of
tons.
The late Fleischmann had been
right in every particular. The scene
of the affair was Uttered with dead
horses and white heaps, like piles of
crumpled linen - their riders The
Bou khari had advanced and were
busy among these. stripping the dead
Stabbing the wounded. cheering de-
risively from time to time.
Ortho had no sooner rejoined his