Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-25
Thu M~mmnp A Mystery Story
AAAV W@SSCI By Mary DahIberg
1870. BY pufnsld and COMPANY

IdSIlIQu eQOCu materially 10 Tie II1ll6-
age; weeks slipped iimperceptibly into one
another-and became months. Some
times at first, they were in country
fairly well watered, although noun
famous; but after they had stolen
past Tougourt, and crossed the Wadi
1gharg1ar into the rear marches of
Tunis the Sahara enwrapped them.
Dagger became hard and rudy
brown the desert brown that is more
red. She could ride all day, without
WEAKNESS, drinking a few mouthfuls Of
water, eating handful Of dates or
CONSCIOUS or curdIed milk or cheese,
once in q while g mess of eggs. She
learned Arabic, and converSed in jerky
sentences with fierce-eyed men.
In after-years she came to learn
something Of the anomalous position
she filled. She realized that the strange
men who visited the caravan or travel
ed with it for stretches, and were
trusted with the truth, would have re-
fused to believe In her virtue but for
the fact that Sidi Marut vouched for
her.
| Sidi Marut was q great man in the
desert, as great man as the Governors
General In their palaces in TuniS and
Algiers. She heard talk which indi-
Gated relentless, undying hatred OF
foreign domination.
In all the sandy hinterland of the
desert, behind the sweep of the High
Atlas, south of the Camerons and the
Kongo, the desert tribes and their
Negro converts dreamed of the day
when Islam should revive its conquests.
But strangely, Daggef's racial pride
wasn't affronted, perhaps h%eAuse Stdi
Marut's philosophy appe4Ied to her by
| its rugged honesty and sincerity. He
believed In the virtue of the soul, in
penitence, in self-sacrifice, in triumph
by works. In him was the stuff of the
dissenters of the Reformation, a faith
that was saved from harshnes by the
innate sweetness Of the man. Do what
you believe right, he preached. Seek
the truth, and when you find 1t, make
it yours. In love Of Allah, in obedience
to Allah's word. lies salvation.
Once they were attacked by wonder
ing tribe of Bedawi, pilligers, who
whirled out from behind sandhill, and
strove to come to close quarters, where
their numbers would have overwhelmed
the Sidi's men.
Dagger had her first experience of
human combat, and despite the sick
feeling at the pit of her stomach as she
! cuddled her cheek to a rife butt, she
liked the thrill of it-until the Bedawi
had whirled away in retreat, leaving be-
hind them half dozen Sprawled figures,
-, bare legs sticking grotesquely out OF the
folds Of dirty burnouses. But the Sidi
dismissed her computations with wave
of the hand.
Those who would steal must be
punished" he said. Those who would
take human life must expect to lose
their lives"
It was true, she admitted; but again
she had had brought home to her
Towards rnisgivings, and realized with
| increased clarity the processes his mind
had followed. In fact, almost every day
she was learning things which brought
her into closer touch with him, making
her appreciate more the fine balance
Of his attitude toward the problems OF
the spirit.
This was especially true after the
caravan had reached its destination,
the remote oasis of KufrsA where FL
Senussi, himself, ruled jointly as pontiff
and feudal lord, with a siYfSolicity that
was biblical. She was amazed by the
relative poverty, the smalln0s, of this
center of an influential creed. A vii
lage, scarcely town, of white washed
mud houses; a few thousand people. an
upretentiouS mosque. And the thoughts
which emsnated from it were rocking
faith shared BY millions Of diverse
races.
Under sidi Marut's tutelage, she
grasped the psychology of the desert
mind and the idealism and fapatical
determination which were the soul of
Islam, faith militant.
Perhaps 1t was this very breath of
| fiery energy and ernest seeking for the
absolute which ultimately spurred her
restlesSness She liked to listen to the
Sheikh and his faIniliars, discussing the
problems of Islam and the ideal way of
life. There was a freshness, a genuine
ness, here that the West lacked.
But presently she felt that she had
learned all that she required, and a
great urge came to her to Journey on
into the East. The Sidi argued with
her gently. Was she not happy? Yes.
Why not linger on? In the oasis she
was loved and respected. She might
set an example to the women. To HIM
self she should be sister. The Sheikh
mad said publicly that she was fit to
be the mother OF warriors. But Dagger
had no instinct for motherhood, no
more inclination to enter a harem than
to reign In the Hotel de Pontoise.
All she wanted or needed was the
stimulation of her search for the ashes
OF Howerd's memory--for that was what
1T amounted to.
And so one morning she said goodby
TO the Sheikh and her other friends
and climbed upon the camel the Sidi
held for her. He went with her, he and
an escort of picked fighting men. It
was no trouble, he assured her, in reply
10 her proteStations. There was work
for him in Libya and Egypt He'd
carry her at least as far as a frontier
station, whence she might arrange for
conveyance to Alexandria.
Continued Tomorrow,