Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-05

| and ordered Islam and Kasim TO pre-
pare for departure The sunset glow
spread its purple lis.lt over the dunes
Mohammed Shah and Yolchi were in
the same position as In the morning
| The former had already begun his death
struggle, and he never regained con
sciouSness. But the latter woke TO life
In the cool of the evening. With his
hands clenched. he crawled up TO me
and cried pitifully: water! Give Us
water. sir! Only drop Of water!'
Then he crawied away.
Before darkness fell. we went over
our baggage. removed suit OF clean
clothing from the pile OF discarded
head to foot: for II was to die and be
buried by the standstorms in the eternal
desert, I would at least be robed In
clean. new shroud.
The things we had decided to take
along we're packed in soft saddle-bags
and these were fastened to the camels
All the pack-saddlcs were discarded. a.
they would only have added unnecessary
weight.
Yolchl had crawled into the tent to
lie down on my blanket. Mohammed
Shah was already delirious. The two
men eventually died In the death-camp.
or near 1t. They were never heard OF:
and when, after a year had elapsed.
they were stu missing. gave sum
OF money TO their respective WIDOWS
| and children.
All ave camels were induced to get
up. and they were tied to one another
! in single file. Islam led. and Kasim
| brought I'D the rear. We did not take
| the two dying men along. because the
camels were too weak to carry them.
and. indeed, in their deplorable con-
dition. they could not have Kept their
seats between the HUGS.
when It was pitch DIX. lit the can
die in the lantern. and walked ahead.
looking for the easiest way. One OF the
camels COLLAPSED during the march. and
lay down Immediately. prepared Tor
death, neck and legs stretched out. HIS
bag was placed on White. tho strong
| est of the four survivors.
In the faint light from the lantern.
Enlightened nv stride. and went on
| ahead. I walked thus for two hours.
| The sound OF the bells died away be-
hind me There was no sound discern.
| ,ble, save the swishing OF the sand
under my heels.
| ATll O'Clock. struggled up on to
o fiat, sandy ridge. to listen and to
reconnoiter. The Khotan -daria couldn't
be far away. I scanned the east. hop
ing TO detect the fire OF shepherds
camp: but everything was pitch-dark
Only the stars shone. No SOUND ntef'
rupted the silence.
/ placed the lantern In a position te
serve as beacon for Islam cnd hssInl
laid myself on my back and ponderec
| and listened. Ny conposure. however
remained mistaken. =,
Par away, the changing OF the last bell
again became audible. There were IN
tervals OF quiet. but the sound came
nearer. After I had waited for what
seemed like eternity. the four camels
stood forth like phantoms. They came
up to me on the ridge and lay down
right away. They probably mistook the
| lantern for o campfire. :.
Islam staggered along. threw nimseii
on the sand. and whispered laboredly
that he could 60 no farther. He would
die where he was He made no answer
when / tried TO encourage him TO hold
out.
| On seeing that the game was up. ]
decided to forfeit everything except my
life. took along only what ! always
carried In my pockets. Kasim. who stu
bore up. was happy when told him 70
come with me. Hurfiedly he took inc
shovel and pail. The lantern was sun
burning beside Islam. but its light soon
died out behind us,
Thus We @~l.~d on through the night
and the sand until the sun was blazing
AL bscame black before our eyes. as we
sank down. Kasim dug out. from .
northcrly slope. sand which was sun
| cold from the night stripped ana
| laid myself down In II. while kasin'
shoveied sand over me up TO my neck.
lie did the same for himself our
',ends were quite close 70 each other
and we shad,h ourselves from the sun
by hanging our clothes on the spade
which we had stuck In the ground.
All day We lay like this. speaking not
a word. and not getting a wink OF sleep
The turquoise blue sky arched over Us
and the yellow sea Of the desert ex-
tended around u.s. stretching To tint
horizon
When the ball Of the sun again rested
on the ridge Of "A dune In the west, W.
got up. shook of the sand. dressed, and
dragged ourselves slowly and with In
Vulnerable Interruptions, toward the
y
Al s.nrise next morning kasim eaugh'
- me by the shoulder. stared and
pointed east. without saying a word
What IL itf" ! whispered.
- tamarisk." he gasped.
A sign OF vegetation al last.
About 10 o'clock We found anothsi
tamnrisk. and we saw several more ~
the east. But our strength was gone
We undressed. md buried ourselves IN
the sand.
We lay IN silence for nine hours. A,
7 o'clock We dressed and continued on
ward, Altar three hours walk In the
dark. Kasin stopped short and whis'
pered. 'P0piars"
Between two dunes there appeared
three poplaTs standing close together
We sank down al their base. exhausted
With fs1gue. Their roots. toa. must de-
rive nourishment from below, We tool
hold Of the hpadt. intending U dig q