Evening star., 1924-10-02
THE OWLS HOUSE
A Thrilling Adventure Story
By Crosbie Garstin
Copyright. 1894. by Frederick A. Stokes Co.

la poor man ard moil in the fields?
| No. I'm going to a house where they
have CONSCIOUS every day under
stan? See what I mean?'
"Ahoy there, lords he baWled. be
| hIod me. Nine years was in
! Alsiers at the house of Add ell -Hamri
the lawyer in Sidi Okbar street. No
Nesrani dog am |, but Moslem, a
| true believer. Moreover. | am skilled
| in sewing and carpentry and many
| kindred arts. Question me. !ords'
| that ye may see | speak the truth.
| Ahoy there, behold me-.
His outcry brought the buyers hock-
| ing. The auctioneer, seeing MS op-
portunity, enlarged on Mr.. Puddi-
combeS supposed merits. PosltiNeiS
the most accomplished slave Alglers
Fad ever seen. diligent, gifted and or
| celebrated piety. Not as young as
he had been perhaps. but what OF IL
| What was age but maturity, the ripe
ness of wisdom. the fruit OF eXpe'
| rience? Here was no gad-about hoy
| to be forever signing after the slave
wenches, lettering beside the story
| tellerS and forgetting his duty, out d
| man Of sound sense whose sole IN
| terests would be those of his master.
What offers for this union of all the
| virtues, this household treasure
Stimulated by the dual advertisement
| the bidding became brisk, the clamor
! deafening, and Mr.. Fuddicombe was
| knocked down, body and soul, for IL :,
| IS ShillingS and fourpence t55 ducats)
| to "A little hunchback with ophthal-
mia. but Of extreme richness OF ap-
parel
| Prisoner after prisoner was sold of
and led away by his purchaser until
! only Ortho remained. He was puzzled
| at this and wondered what to do next,
when the venerable Moor in the blue
| iellab finished some transaction with
! the auctioneer and twiched at his
| sleeve. As the guards showed no OBJ
| lection, or, indeed. any further inter-
! est in him, he followed the blue Jel-
lab The blue jellab led the way
| westward up maze OF crooked lanes
| until they reached the summit of the
| town, and there, under the shadow of
| the minaret. opened Il door in an
| otherwise blank wall, passed up a
! gloomy tunnel and brought Ortho out
| into a courtyard.
! The court was small. stone-paved
with single orange tree growing in
| the center and arcadeS supported on
| fretted pillars running all round.
| \ couple OF slave negreSSeS were
sweeping the courtyard with palmetto
| broomS under the oral GoadingS of an
| immensely stout old Berber woman.
| and, on the north side, out of the
| sun, reclining on pile or cushions,
| sat Capt. Benjamin MacBride. the
| traditional picture of the seafarer
| ashore. his pipe in his mouth, his
| tankard within reach, both arms nlled
| with girl He had A slender. kindling
| Arab lass tucked in the crook of his
right arm his left arm eNcompassed
| two fair skinned Moorish beauties.
They were unveiled. bejeWeled and
tinted like ripe peaches: their haiks
were Of white silk their big slceved
underg arments of Colored satin: their
toes were painted with henna and SO
were their fingers: they wore black
| ink beauty spots on their cheeks. Not
one of the brilliant little birds of
paradise could have passed her sew
enteenth year.
Capt. MacBrides cherry-hued coun-
tenance wore an expression of pro-
found content.
He hailed Ortho with a shout, Come
here. boy" and the three little ladies
sat up, stared at the newcomer and
whispered to each other, tittering.
i've bought you, d y see?" said
MacBride.
An Il tidy penny you cost me. If
the Basha wasn't my very good friend
you'd ha' gone to the quarries and
had your heart broken first and your
back later, so you're lucky. Now be-
stir yourself round about and do what
old Saheb Indicating the blue jel-
lab) tells you. or to the quarries you
go-see: What d y call yourself,
heh?'
Ortho told him.
"Ortho Penhale. thatU never do"
He consulted the birds of paradise
who tried the outlandish words over,
but could not shape their tongues to
them. They twittered and giggled and
wrangled and patted MacBride's
cheerful countenance
'Hark e. said he at last 'Tama
wants TO name you 'Chitane' because
YOU look wicked. Ayesha is for 'Sejra
because you're tall but Schems-ed-
dah here says you ought TO be called
Said because you're lucky to be
here" He pressed the dark Arab girl
to him. so Said be it. Said I bap-
tic thee henccforth and forever more
See"
Break Dawn embraced her lord,
Tama and Ayesha pouted He pro
sented them with a large knob of coll
ored sweetmeat apiece and they were