Q: CHAPTER VI: FIRKET

June 7, 1896

Since the end of 1895 the Dervish force in Firket had been under the command of the Emir Hammuda, and it was through the indolence and neglect of this dissipated Arab that the Egyptian army had been able to make good its position at Akasha without any fighting. Week after week the convoys had straggled unmolested through the difficult country between Sarras and the advanced base. No attack had been made upon the brigade at Akasha. No enterprise was directed against its communications. This fatal inactivity did not pass unnoticed by Wad Bishara, the Governor of Dongola; but although he was nominally in supreme command of all the Dervish forces in the province he had hardly any means of enforcing his authority. His rebukes and exhortations, however, gradually roused Hammuda, and during May two or three minor raids were planned and executed, and the Egyptian position at Akasha was several times reconnoitred.

Bishara remained unsatisfied, and at length, despairing of infusing energy into Hammuda, he ordered his subordinate Osman Azrak to supersede him. Osman was a Dervish of very different type. He was a fanatical and devoted believer in the Mahdi and a loyal follower of the Khalifa. For many years he had served on the northern frontier of the Dervish Empire, and his name was well known to the Egyptian Government as the contriver of the most daring and the most brutal raids. His cruelty to the wretched inhabitants of the border villages had excluded him from all hope of mercy should he ever fall into the hands of the enemy. His crafty skill, however, protected him, and among the Emirs gathered at Firket there was none whose death would have given greater satisfaction to the military authorities than the man who was now to replace Hammuda.

1. the Emir Hammuda
2. the Dervish force
3. Since the end of 1895
4. no
5. yes
6. Week after week
7. Wad Bishara
8. Governor
9. Dongola
10. no
11. May
12. two or three
13. the one at Akasha
14. no
15. Osman Azrak
16. no
17. the Khalifa
18. no
19. His crafty skill
20. Osman

Numbered questions:
1. Who was in command?
2. who was neglected?
3. when was he in command from?
4. was akasha attacked?
5. was the inactivity go unnoticed?
6. how often was convoys deployed?
7. who was in supreme command?
8. what was his other occupation?
9. of where?
10. did any one have the ability to enforce his rule?
11. when were the raids?12. how many raids?
13. what position was changed?
14. was he satisfied?
15. Who superseded him?
16. was he a normal dervish?
17. what was he a follower of?
18. was he a kind ruler?
19. what protected him?
20. who was wanted dead?

Q: One Thursday morning, John's dad was making him breakfast. John came downstairs in his favorite blue shirt and fed his dog Bentley. After washing his hands, John sat down to a hot plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. John's baby sister Emily began to cry in her high chair. John gave Emily her pink pacifier to calm her down. After breakfast, John took Bentley out to the backyard to play fetch in the green grass. John only threw the ball a few times before it started to rain and they had to come back inside. Bentley shook himself to get the water off him and splashed John. John's dad asked John, "Do you want to play a game?" John said that he did and ran to get his favorite board game, Trouble. When they sat on the living room floor to play, Emily crawled over to sit in John's lap. Bentley lay next to John's dad with his head on his paws. John thought this rainy day was perfect.

1. John's dad
2. No
3. Thursday
4. John
5. Bentley
6. it started to rain
7. His baby sister
8. Emily
9. John
10. he gave Emily her pacifier
11. John and Bentley
12. he ran to get his favorite board game

Numbered questions:
1. Who was cooking breakfast?
2. Was it the weekend?
3. What day of the week was it?
4. Who fed the dog?
5. What is his name?
6. What was the weather like?
7. Who got upset during breakfast?
8. What is her name?
9. Who calmed her down?
10. How?
11. Who went outside after the meal?
12. What did John do when he went back inside?

Q: Bill Fulton doesn't remember losing his wallet, but its return helped him remember the past. The leather stayed smooth and the cowboy design unblemished . And when he looked inside, the contents brought back memories from 1946, when he apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers in the Baker Middle School gym.

Fulton's Social Security Card and bicycle license, bearing the address where he lived during his teenage years, were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched since the year after World War Il ended.

Worker Nathan Osborne found the wallet -- along with old homework, lost library books and a 1964 talent show program -- while removing the bleachers for renovations on June 17. It was brought to Fulton's door the following day by Melanie Trindle, the Baker Middle School secretary.

Middle School Principal Mindi Vaughan said the brown pine bleachers were connected to the gym balcony's brick wall and had remained in the same place since the school, known as the Helen M. Stack Building, opened in 1936.

Fulton, 78, said he probably lost the wallet while cheering for the Baker High basketball team with a group of friends. Fulton said the bicycle ID was needed because he delivered medicine for Rodamar Drug. He was surprised, however, that his bicycle ID wasn't inside. He said he always kept it there.

But rather than focus on what was inside the wallet, Fulton said the recovery has led him to reflect on his life -- one that took him to the Korean War and Berlin before the return to Baker City. He worked at Ellingson Lumber Company for 30 years, from March 1964 to April 1994.

Since his retirement, Fulton has enjoyed spending time with his 11-year-old black dog, Smokey. The two often hike the nearby mountains.

Trindle's knock on the door, wallet in hand, induced a slight ripple in his life, prompting him to consider the times he hadn't thought about in many years. "Where did all the times go?" Fulton said with a deep sigh. "It' s hard to believe that the times have gone so fast."

1. cowboy
2. while cheering for the Baker High basketball team with a group of friends
3. 1946
4. 1936
5. the Baker Middle School secretary
6. Nathan Osborne found the waller
7. Nathan found old homework, lost library books and a 1964 talent show program
8. Melanie Trindle
9. the bicycle ID was needed because he delivered medicine for Rodamar Drug
10. No
11. Yes
12. It was the Korean War
13. The two often hike the nearby mountains.
14. No
15. A dog.
16. The Ellingson Lumber Company.
17. 30 years
18. from March 1964
19. April 1994.
20. The Helen M. Stack Building

Numbered questions:
1. What design was on the wallet?
2. When did Bill lose the wallet?
3. In what year?
4. What year did Bill's school open?
5. Who is Melanie Trindle?
6. Who found the wallet?
7. Name something else he found.
8. Who brought the wallet to Fulton?
9. Why did Fulton need a bicycle ID?
10. Was the ID still in the wallet?
11. Was Fulton involved in a war?
12. Which war?
13. What do Fulton and Smokey often do together?
14. Is Smokey a person?
15. What is he?
16. What company had Fulton worked for?
17. For how long?
18. When did he start working there?
19. When did he stop?
20. What was the name of the school building>