OCR Interpretation


The Evening standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, January 18, 1913, Image 15

Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058397/1913-01-18/ed-1/seq-15/

What is OCR?


Thumbnail for

; ACTION BY jjjB BEST WRITERS I
BY ELEANOR STUART I
Calvin's diplomatic opportunity came
to him after days of depression and
temptation not that depression Is not
always temptation. But Galvln, M.D..
could divide his state of mind down
the middle and say: 'This much Is
B depression consequent upon climate
and the dear girl I left behind me
and this much is temptation to quit
Bustorah instantly consequent upon
a lust to be something better than a
mediocre medical man under contract
to British Government, rushed out to
a green pool with scum on it, merely
because a clerk in the Foreign Office
happened to notice its name on the
map. " The place of the pool is called
Madgeldar and gives on the v. ilderncss.
being policed by lions and furtively
patrolled by flies who are dedicated to
the Devil's secret service, spreading
b disease from eye to eve and mouth to
mouth; the are sentinels of sonow
upon the bronze faces of Arab chil
dren. But one learns nothing of Mad
geldar from the maps, except that it
ii almost on the southern line of So-
4 maliland In East Africa, bar one map.
printed at Milan, which says on its
ample margin. "Mall service via Aden
B' or Zanzibar "
j Galvin, M D. never anticipated mail;
his whole trouble was that he never
' anticipated anything He was. extrfn-
5 Bically. a tragedy I e. a first rate mind
-with fifth-rate opportunities but it is
B ever God's mercy that heads wins in
9 such toss-ups with Destiny when a h o
ot hoi is not playing the game. Also it
is well to remember that whale's dle-
turn as he disgorged Jonah for It is
i hard to keep a good man clown.
it The mail brought him. as a rule, a
I ; letter from Sybil Rae who was the
manager of the Alexandra Hat Shop
"Every Lady's Every Wish Antici
pated." Bond Street. London W He
t kissed these letters when they came
c j if his Bly Somali servants weren't
s looking and when he had finished
readintr them he put his red. Scotch
head in his hands and cursed with ar
dor Curses anJ prayers are twin
.brothers in simple natures like Gal
' vin's Within his mighty heart the
ache of personal failure throbbed on,
rand always Sybil receded, home grew
blurred even in the clear light of his
life's desire. The Arabs about him
"would have been surgical opportunities
''had not their religion forbidden the
'knife's healing uses, and sons of the
-wilderness know such a lot of pre
ventive medicine that other 'han surgl
cal emergencies do not arise except
ffwlth women; and. hu r,itcndu, these
ivomcn of emergencies do not arise
either, but die without doctors as priv-
-a''y dictates, and are burled In shallow
agraves.
L J And he had never anticipated a mail
aflless than on the day when his oppor
Wtunity arrived by it Dawn hail broken
fcpver the tangled green and waving
palms, bent In a sand-laden breeze
from the Somali desert. Day meant
jjDotblng but glare to him now as he
Btood In his pajamas on the housetop
ranr) looked into the swiftly lllumin
j.ted emptiness. "God," he cried. In
kjhis Intolerable loneliness. "If it breaks
7. me. I ve got to get away!"
3 As his eyes fell again to the heavy
ateely sea whose breakers threw out
( Jjthelr own complaint on the shore's
tawny strip, he caught sight of the
Baratra arrived unexpectedly from
.Mogdesha and dropped anchor with a
wattle In the harbor he wished he had
never seen
I' II
This sight of the little steamer.
Which weaves Occident and Orient to
gether into the shadowed pattern of
mens lives, stimulated Galvin to a
I point where he bathed and called his
boy, Bultak. to go for his letters. "Go
you, Bultak," he called in Arabic, "and
bring me good news quickly. The
steamer's anchor has cried out in the
town, while you still sleep like a dead
f elephant " Then half as a memorial
Service to his mother, half as a petition
rfor mitigation of his unspeakable lot
n life, he said the Lord'H Prayer.
f standing and in a loud whisper. His
xoffee and two Impeccable eggs were
Jlispatebed with his tired eyas on the
brilliant vacancy outside a J decently
'Curtained window He deihroned a
blaek ant on the eumralt of his jam
pot and leaned back in jbls chair
dreaming of power and ono woman's
I kindneas and wondering If either
.would ever be his except lor the pur
pose of dreams. He was still sitting
i-Tit the breakfast table w hen the letters
camc to him one from the Foreign
t ''Office and the other from Sybil Rae
His mood of apprehension was ever
Oreai before he opened home letters
and now he snatched at the note which
Cifte felt most threatening of barm, and
ftore off a strip from th heavy paper
gffef Great Britain's official envelope for
rforeign Office Mall.
I "Magnus Ga vin, Esy.. M.D" the
B letter ran.
Sik As a consequence of terri
; toi ial readjustment ( for purposes
of administration, w.e have named
you Commissioner for the Busto
: rah District; frouL the Italian
jfjK boundary on the nojrth to the Zln-
gua Zlngua River (on the south,
from Tlpi as a wewtern border to
4 Mageldar and the littoral. Your
0 salary Is l,(i()u, vvvlth house prlvi
lg leges and traveling allowance, and
Jt the maintenance of a household
staff We suggest Tipl as your
jjj residence. The post of District
Surgeon which you now bold Is
deemed unnecessary and is herc
jfl with abolished! Permission is
jC' granted you lVowover, to practise
i your medical 1 profession as you
W think fit I luive the honor to be,
,J$ sir.
lj "Your obedlont, humble servant.
u "Miiii.ano"
His face went) white under the glar
" ng thatch of h is deep red hair, but
r
a smile woke In It and after a few mo
ments of bewildered joy, he drew to
ward him an ornate and massive ink
pot and a rusty, spluttering pen. With
out a moment's consideration be wrote
on a bit of note paper in his pedantic,
over-careful script:
"Sybils I've a house as well as a
heart to offer you now, and a
thousand pounds a year For to
day some Evangelic impulse hav
ing stirred the earthly powers
I've been made Commissioner of
this backwater of barbarism. Will
you come out to me instanter'1 1
think you will. I hope you will
no I believe you will. Tlpi Is a
better place than this in climate
and Inshallah! we shall dwell
there.
"Galvin. M D
"N B I love you.
"P. S. If you start on receipt of
this you'll be arriving April first,
hut don't deal me an April Fool's
Paradise I want all the assur
ances you can send oe of good
faith!"
Still dazed at the fulfillment of his
dream, he touched Sybil's unopened
letter because she had once touched It
and gave a free rein to all hopes his
common sense had held so long In
check It's a wonderful thing." he
said, "that good fortune leaps Into a
man s life at one bound I had almost
ceased to believe In happiness."
He heard the slap of naked, native
feet hunying alone his tiled corridor.
A young Somali stood In the arch of
his doorway bearing himself insolent
ly as Somalis do He was slim and
taut as a fiddle-string, and was finger
ing his prayer beads busily with sal
low bands. Interrupting his devotions,
he spoke with a thick voice in vile
Arabic:
"A lady, an English lady, comes from
the steamer to speak with you She
Is here now "
"Bring her in." Galvin cried, "bring
her in here."
Bultak put his beads about his arm
and lied while Galvin exclaimed at the
strangeness of his dav. He had been
twenty-Six months In Madgeldar and
had seen but one woman, a nun. w ithin
the walled city. But even a missionary
Is a boon to a lonely man. and Galvin
hastened to dress, fluttering at the
thought of meeting a European woman,
even of the somewhat formidable mis
sionary type which invades East Af
rica. That his visitor could br any
thing but a missionarv never dawned
upon him He already saw her, with
his mind's eye her face wet from the
exertions of a grilling walk from the
shore her pince-nez slipping from a
nose not classic, but her sweet English
voice and stereotyped piety echoes of
the land that he loved, the country
from which his chance to serve had
(orae. He heard the rustle of her gown
as she entered the next room quietly
and all his memories of Sybil, all his
heated hopes of her, flowed through
him at the rippling noise of a silken
skirt He sat down on a disordered
little bed while his blue eyes filled
painfully.
I never knew I had noticed the rus
tle of women's skirts." Galvin said
faintly, brushing his hair arduously
with a pair of military brushes His
tunic was spotless, his hair was
smooth, and he wore his very best
Dumps the left one was a little eaten
by white ants and then he stood in
the doorway and looked straight into
the gray and tender eyes of Sybil Rao.
who sobbed with excitement at the
sight of him.
"Sybil!" he cried, as if she had been
a half-mile from him, "how came you
here?"
Ill
Sybil Rae and Galvin. M.D were es
sentially practical people. After the
first ecstatic Interlude between a life
of separation and the fact of reunion,
she told how she came to Madgeldar
very succinctly In the French mail to
Aden and the Bnrana to Madgeldar.
nor did she dwell upon the agonies of
nocturnal transhipment She had read
his open letter to her before he had
emerged from his bedroom and was
much elated at its contents.
"We shall be almost rich." she said
thoughtfully, "foi Aunt Phoebe is dead,
and It wa3 the first fruits of her legacy
which paid my fare out here"
Galvin. M D.. looked at her with a
smile of appreciation "You had good
courage to come alone." he observed,
"but I wish you had had time to write
or you might have cabled Aden and
they could have posted me the cable
from there but never mind, you're
here'"
"I'm here," she answered with a lit
tie echo of satisfaction.
"Still, I could have gone off to meet
you if I'd known, and I hate to think
of you alone with Somali boatment."
"The captain sent an Indian mechan
ic with me " she declared quickly.
"What a knight! er if I had but
known you were coming. I could have
had a parson on the spot. There's a
glut of vaiiega'ed religions in Africa,
dear girl, but parsons are almost un
known In this region."
Sybil turned pole "But you wrote
lots about such a nice missionary." she
cried in alarm. ' and I felt we could
hardly afford tables In rase of mar
rlage only In case of death besides,
oh, Galvin, M.D., I did love the thought
of a surprise!"
He took a great letter-book from a
shelf near at hand, a big book with
painfully few letters between Its pages
"He was a proper good sort, that mis
sionary," he said slowly, "and you did
well to remember him. He's to the
north of Tlpi somewhere, hut It will
be a hard ride on Somail ponies who
don't know what leg-wise means. His
name is Fedder, the missionary man's,
and he goes In for botany and ver
min. 11 we should send out for him
he'd come lilie a shot at this date he
lfi at the N'gambo of Band! with speci
mens of bats and moths and things
Well, because I'm Commissioner oi a
tented community you won't have to
establish a residence out here to get
married, any more than a lion does be
fore he eats a man that's one advan
tage "
She laughed then a whole-souled peal
of sound English laughter the like of
which he hadn't heard in literally
At fitt their cnnicl" ro kod nauwatiDirlv. but they prr'viitlv rtfl 1 into th rloBncd rhythm oi i-hip i tbc dfort ond Sybil
emilixl whenever her oiirjl v.os released (rum tbc adverse- a..r?Btioas oi nausea, glare and chafed knee
years; It healed homesickness and
spread the calm of absolnte courage
through him. for sometimes there's
much more sympathy in laughter than
in tears "I fancy you mean that I'm
gobbling you up," she said.
"Swallow me whole." he answered
with a boy's ardor, and their foolish
hands gripped each other, and they
looked long at one another as lovers
will 'Sybil," he said, in his deep
Scotch voice, "true love is as rare aa
true beauty, and both are God's truth
But who's to go fetch Fedder?" he
added presently.
Naked, bronze savages were carrying
her luggage over the veranda, and a
detached being, also bronze, stood at
gaze with a valise well balanced upon
his shapely head.
"I brought a ring," Sybil confessed
with a shamed face, "but somehow I
looked to you for the clergyman I
should like awfully to be married to
day. I should like It lots better than
hanging about with a nun or a sick
nurse until Mr. Fedder packs up his
beetles and comes OAer to marry us at
his convenience."
"That's the rub," Galvin said
thoughtfully. "You're the only white
woman in Madgeldar. I've leen here
six and twenty months and I never
saw but one other."
They sat staring at one another eye
to eye and without laughter "At least
there's no one to say catty things,"
she said, with scared eyes and a falter
ing voice, while a cheap clock ticked
emphatically and the bare feet of sav
ages slapped to and fro In the excite
ment of shifting luggage. An over
grown thicken was chased from the
veranda, making strange noises of pro
tee in lis great haste and tho increas
ing heat It was then that Sybil spoke
at length.
"My dear," she began in a voice
which betrayed Increasing agitation,
"don't let's wait for Mr Fedder to
come to us, let's go to him. will you?"
"It's the only thing to do," ho an
swered slowly; it's perfectly safe you
know, for we don't even tap the Mul
lah's countrv yes, that same Mad
Mullah of the morning papers at
home "
it will be less of a fag than getting
married with bridesmaids, and licen
ses, and things." she cried excited.
'in this letter" Galvin continued
thoughtfully, "Feebler distinctly says
that he'll le at this date in the N -gambo
of Bandi with hli specimens of
bats and moths and entomological
what-not Band! isn't bo far off Sybil;
with luck and willing nnss we'll get
there h'm about midnight. Can you
ride?"
' No." she said fearlessly, hitherto,
I've uever had the chance."
IV.
Galvin, M.D, poHes-ed the first re
quisite of a useful medbal man, he
could bluff beyond the dreams of poker
players; and when he heard thai Sybil
bad never ridden, he behuved as If that
knowledge were a great relief to his
mind
Baltuk." he called, "go thou lo Iph
raim bin Salf say to him we have need
of three camels and much water, alBo
the food of France In (ins, but no salt
pig, for we journey fast in desert
places and ham makes thirst."
It cost Calvin a pang to renounce
his Somali pony, "Soda Mint." who was
small aud white, and in Madgeldar's
sedentary routlue avowedly ood tor
the digestion; but he still smiled hap
pily at Sybil "Camels." he told her.
"smell shocking and are rnther slow,
but they aren't thirsty and they know'
the way lo Bandi, and somehow sand
doesn't tire them; therefore I choose
camels "
Then they sat together on the ver
anda while the noon hours passed in
scathing glare, from whose pulsing
agony of light a rough voice summoned
the faithful to their prayers. The wind
grew brisker moving like a busy pres
ence in tho drying heat and tv rannous
sun Galvin read Sybil's letter aloud
to her and l hey smiled at the an
nouncement of her legacy and Imme
diate departure for the East They
were decorously disposed in wicker
armchairs In full sight of all passers,
talking over all things in their heart's
content
After three when their heavy lunch
eon had been consumed and their mid
day rests taken, three humpnosed,
humpbacked camels passed the dwell
ing's white angle, biting at one an
other and baring long, discolored teeth.
They were laden with water-bottles of
goatskin and tin of food Incomparably
prepared In France, under which bur
dens they knelt grousing between the
depleted well and the tiled veranda.
Sybil had dressed for her wedding
In a stout serge skirt of blue with a
thick llannl blouse to protect her shoul
ders from the blistering sun Her col
lars and cuffs were the last word of
fashion's glittering babble, but Galvin.
M D . ignored them, and spread a shawl
of white linoleum over her shoulders,
packing the nape of her neck with wet
sponges from his unsought surgery.
"Tiar" (ready!) he said as she
mounted (he kneeling camel and Bal
tuk, naked now except for a loin-cloth
of ''American" (unbleached muslin
from Fall River) kicked her animal
upright, and screamed curses on him
in his own name and the Prophet's,
diopplng on his knees to pray God's
favor for their journey with an adapta
bility usually and only ascribed to Am
erican women in diplomatic life. Gal
vin then leapt to the summit of his
kneeling brute, who rose, flirting a
flail-like caudal appendage aud adding
his noises to the stress of departure.
At first their camels rocked nauseat
Ingly but they presently settled into
the defined rhythm of ships of the des
ert, and Sybil smiled whenever her
mind was released from the adverse
sensations of nausea, glare, and chafed
knees not to dwell too long on hands
stiffened with tense hold on the one
great pommel about which the chuck
ling water bottles were packed as se
curely as she herself Baltuk had filled
her hat's crown with a bit of ice pur
chased from the cook of (he Haiti" a loi
tho price of some surcharged post
stamps but this sped down her neck
into the regretted past in a few de
licious freezing rills She loved them
in their fleeting. Icy passage into the
remembered luxuries of Western liv
ing, but she laughed 8S she called her
self an immigrant and declared herself
able (o endure the country of her
choice. Sometimes Galvin gave her a
sop of lint, wet with diluted myrrh
which she held In her mouth lovingly
while be cautioned her not to swallow
It. and when at last she cast the thing
(o the desert's floor, (he once saturated
wad grown dry as powder In her burn
ing mouth she felt an Inrush of new
life and marvelled at the power of re
freshment In so neglected a simple
But after an hour's rocking on tho
hilly back of the great brute who sped
onward without an apparent though!
for the burning strand beneath him. or
(he unmitigated, sun-fllled sky above
him and (he desert she found succor
from above as if the shielding wing
of a guardian angel had come between
her aud (be excessive light Shadows
of the camels, the only shadows In the
glowing expanse of all that treeh
pace, shone on the desert's dusky faco
In lively mauve or a curious unbelieve
able magenta: audi the network of
nameless growth half vine, hall fun
gus, which breaks from the baked and
sandy surface of this wilderness,
showed itself in sudden detail as luo
sun lost Its overwhelming quality and
became weakened by nigh( s advance,
mere ligh( rather than a malign ele
meut which conquers man's sense of
sight Far in (he glowing west (he
clearness of atmosphere and the brll
Itance of omnipotent sun still domin
ated, but In the east grown Buave
and tender with (he flrs( hues of night
fall a fluff of cloud like the flowing
scarf of a veiled woman beckoned one
to the relief of darkness And every
swell upon Hie breast of the wild up
land their camels turned suddenly to
traverse, stretched its purple shadows
toward the east as a beggar's cup irf
held for greed of gold from traveler's
purse, or gush of water from a travel
er's bottle. Nothing human assailed
their senses; the world was a picture
In wild color from the hand of God:
painted In crcai Ion's dawn before man
had obtruded himself as an object to
be recorded.
The shadows lost (heir color, becom
ing a gray and dusty purple, when the
sun left the sky abruptly and only a
golden line hung on in the western
horizon like a postscript to the bright
ness that wa3 gone. Enjoyment seemed
to leap from the earth and descend
from the sky. for a tyrant had left the
world In the sun s passing, almost as
Baltuk folded away Sybil's shawl of
linoleum and took the sop from her
neck's nape bone dry "What news
of the evening?" he asked respectfully,
to which Galvin like a true Arab
responded, "Good news; It is cool by
God's mercy and a sea wind." A great
gaiety had wakened In their souls and
they looked at one another and laughed
like children In the soundless desola
Hon about them, racing their camels
over the hard baked desert track to a
space of green the northern part of
the oasis of Tlpi. at whose border is
Bandi and its fabled N'gambo. popu
lated with Arabs and their negroid
progeny, who ply desert trades and
speak in the language of poets of prac
tical matters too small for the mind of
an Occidental boarding house keeper,
or metaphysical considerations too
ample for the Intelligence of a Spinoza
to lind Us way among them.
i camels called to one another as
they set foot in the green bunch-grass
of Tlpi, and staggered along a steep
and sandy track sharply upward to a
verdant tableland, from which the des
ert looked like a sullen sea. its sheen
and color quenched in the growing
darkness, but an outline of billows and
tightly crimped rlpple3 quite visible In
the light of a round moon, shining
above in a clump of weird and leafless
trees at the plateau's edge. Their ani
mals traveled so much faster now that
speech was an effort, and with the cool
ness of the night came a great desire
not to molest its quiet, Sybil looked
reverently at the thickening array of
- above her and the grotesque out
line Of the camels' heads silently pic
turing to herself the quest of the Magi
a-; they bore fragrance and gold to the
child of the world's desire the human,
helpless ultimatum of Hebraic ambi
tion. The coolness kissed her cheek, but
the thorns tore at her skirts and teased
her camel while furtive creatures of
the underbrush dashed between his
forelegs. She sang one snatch of a
Christmas ballad. ' We three Kings of
Orient are." stimulated by a sweet and
sudden wind, which had gathered a
burden of perfume in faraway locust
groves to blow upon one pair of white,
girlish cheeks, in all Its African Jour
ney There was In this stillness, this
perfumed peace no atmosphere of
inn M no environment of clothes; the
murk and crowd of London was but a
dream: the noise of fires, the clang of
ambulances, the raucous sound of riots
were BUggested to her reluctant mem
o: b the actualities of former life
P-tii the peace of (he desert was a new
thing it was as simple and unusual as
holiness, and like holiness, it was as
empt M a sacred symbol to a mind
profane Great verses from (he first
chapter of Genesis strode through her
mind with the measure of Creation's
Titanic progress, as she threw out a
i i am I and aching hand toward Cal
vin and achievc-d her first conscious
epigram: "All great moments," ahe
panted are trysts with God'
Calvin said in reply but his answer
Ing hand-clasp satisfied her "Oh, don't
be metaphysical, or I shan't think
you're happy. '
V.
Their camels hurried on as camels
will when water He before them, and
n sudden glare of red azalea leapt out
,,i the fall) ti Bight It breathed on
Sybil as she passed, reflected for a mo
ment in Baltuk 8 moonlit and perspir
ng faCe Date palms clustered about
them now. as they sped north and west,
while calls lilies grew closelv bloom to
bloom, like decorations on an faster
card The whole world seemed a work
shop of Christmas and Easier special
ties -.nu bad they seen an angel prac
tising bis Miltonlan wings oi purple
and a me in the Ineffable ultramarine
of the star-punctured vault above them,
it would have seemed but natural.
Baltuk took their pending arrival ex-
cltedly He was anlo,'VVTriL !!!
self well and to have GaMn say he
owed comfort to him He pointed with
a conjuror's gesture to a well, placed
on the side of a sudden acclivity; a
wide expanse of hoof trodden dust be
fore It, and two rough-hewn, commem
orative pilars before Its wide walled
pool. On a crosbeam, resting on these
square columns, were these words In
the Mullah's hybrid Arabic: "What
father closes his door even at night
to his sons? or which father's heart
even In sleep but pities them9" This
was a recruiting station of Islam
where men are won to war by words
of fervent tenderness.
Baltuk tapped (he knees of his camel
on the dusty space before the pool, and
the beasts knelt, athlrst and docile
Sybil and Galvin dismounted, stiff and
roeilng. and Baltuk bade them heed:
'Over the hill to the right," he said.
"Is the N'gambo of Bandi My place
Is with these camels who must drink.''
They moved ever stiffly, numbed hand
in numbed hand, up I he hill rosetted
with low scrub, drinking from their
flasks as they gained a painfully won
resting place on the summit of a sud
den illogical hillock, about whose min
or base a city of huts rested, like a
dirty crescent of kennels, under the
bright full moon. Beyond (his make
shlfl city tom-toms beat and dancers
whirled amid the premeditated plenty
of a feast The great round moon im
personally and dispassionately lighted
each spare, active figure, until it stood
out from the blackness of its back
ground.
"It can't he a religious feast." Gal
vin muttered I know their damned
calendar and there Isn't the pretext
for a 'pigeon-wing' In all this empty
month What is It for which (hey
dance" H strode on down-hill. They
came suddenlv on a precinct where
camel3 were tied to pegs driven deep
In the e.irtli Tlir.ir locc woro f-iotonort
together with cruel thongs and there
were hordes of them thus picketed on
that hillside; they raised their ugly
heads on long and writhing necks,
seeming like snakes about to bite poi
sonously It was hard to tread one's
way among them, but Galvin pushed
his road through long aisles of muzzles
unsy mmetrlcally chewing coming out
at the far end of the crescent formed
by a strangely straggling town, and
sHting down on a stone, still radiating
heat for all It was night catching
Sybil's hand and his breath at the one
moment, while he considered his next
step. A roofless stone house vanned
skyward lust at their feet, and not ten
yards below them ten yards which
stretched in sheer clay exuding clamp
from the overflow of a well close at
hand which rippled audibly down the
steep to the town (roughs.
"Sybil." Gahln commanded, "stay
here More people than Bandi con
talno ordinarily are feasting and danc
ing Before I tako you within the
town, I want to know why."
"Don't be long." she ar ered rather
faintly as he started down the sheer
bank. He kissed her as he left her
and with his lingering handclasp came
the sense of parting, the night seemed
to close over her and choke her with
Its blackness. She saw him plunge
downward Into the town's nether dark
ness and she knew that riot was
abroad there, or Borne evil, patent to
his decivillzed faculties and undiscern-
ible to hers. It was awful to be alone
there where a moment before it had
been good to be with him
When she dared to look below her
the moon showed him to her as he
scaled the wall of (he roofless house
furiously Once within it he lighted
many matches, bending over what
seemed to be a dead animal But pres
ently it stirred she saw its black bulk
shift while chains clanked distinctly
and Galvin prodded it when it stirred
again with the same cheerless noise of
bondage
After those second sounds he kh 1 ed
at a wooden door in the least Hgh(ed
corner of the roofless building, and its
boards fell away from their fastenings
and opened a way out; she called to
him and he called to her, "Hush!"
the hardest command a man may give
his anxious helpmeet. He left the
house then and sled.- along the shad
owed side of a dusty track until he
was lost in the darkness, except for
one glimpse she had of him emerging
from (he door of a hut At last he re
entered the roofless house, and by the
apparent Iv increased bulk of (he inert
thing within it she knew (hat he was
beside it and wondered what he did
that he could leave her aloue In a lions'
countrv and Islam's domain
In sudden anger she slipped to the
edge of the cliff of clay, digging her
heels into K as she had seen hlni do to
retard her passage dow n its precipitous
slope. Breathless, she stole to the
broken door and entered its jagged
open Ing his strength had achieved at
one kick coming toward him timidly,
al l uued at a grating sound she had
not heard before.
' nailing,' he said, and she knew
from his voice (hat he exuKed, "see If
yon can work out his gag."
He put her hand on the protruding
part of the dark bundle and Sybil
started back fiom a bearded, sweating
face Calvin laughed nt her wild re
coll lust like me." he whispered.
but It's Fedder. good old Feebler! Do
get out (hat gag he's haiued and I'm
filing mv last link Can't you see he's
the Mullahs prisoner7 Cheer oh. Sybil,
and ireu ft '
"So (hats what they're out dancing
about?" she hissed fiercely, groping for
bis mouth with a sudden cessation of
fear and hands which (femblcd from
the sirainiug grip of her ride Galvin
grunted, fliinx valiantly at the metal
link while Sybils fingers pulled at a
-it range, stone-like thing betweeD Fed
ier's parted, burning lips.
Strange sounds, unlike speech came
from him while ahe worked, but at last
she held something and dragged It ,Hf
sharply away, when her hand was H
caught In a jaw swiftly closed and she H
sent out one cry of absolute agony
"He has bitten my hand." she walled
when she could speak, pressing herself 'H
to Gall in s side. IH
"I know ' he answered, "poor Sybil, WEi
dear girl, suck at it for God's sake, for
we must see this through It's the big- iH
gest day's work we have ever seen Rs
Come, the chains are off; we muBt get
out of this quickly."
He groaned when he saw her hand.
'Keep on sucking." he whispered, Hi
'and help me help Fedder walk." Hi
At that the long creature beside IHH
them stirred Excuse the bite," he jHg
said faintly, i am sorry, it was purely ' iK
involuntary" He rose and fumbled at
his breast with some half-executed de- I IH
sign of signing the cross upon it. and
reeling between them rushed for tho
shattered door through which the
moonlight also had b"rst
"We have no came, for him," Sybil
cried isH
"Have we not?" Galvin inquired iH
grimly, while they pushed on in dark
ness, suffering but alert.
The hill they had toiled over in as- B
cent seemed swiftly steep in Its down- jK
ward repassing, but they avoided the Hk
cliff beside which the roofless house K
stood bare and tenantless. Tomtoms H&
beat fainter In the peopled background HE
of deserted Bandi. and before them Hii
the desert stretched, mute, empty of JM
men. but full of meaning. Its little hill- IL
tops tawny under the flood of a moon flHtf
at the full. Its empurpled swales BeV
stretching In sharp lines, like so many
arrows fallen from a quiver. It seemed Btf :
sheer Impossibility that they could Hp
hold out until the well was reached. flu
Pulses beat in Sybil's head and breath
rushed In and out of her lungs, shak- -
ing her as it came and went. Fedder K' .
leaned on her intolerably and strange Bff'V,
thoughts of wanting to lie down, of Wt'
longing to die, shot like lightning fltl
through her mind.
Then Galvin paused, In the shadow
of an odorous locust tree, taking his IBe
watch from his wrist where he wore It g
In a leather bracelet and hiding It flsWli
within his tunic. JEe
The light caught Fedder's face and M
showed them his beard, the ends of Hfc
which had been stuffed into his mouth Bp.,
to 'make part of his gag The halra K?
BtUCk to his lips now and he picked H?
them off painfully, borrowing Sybil's IBr!'
handkerchief to wipe away the blood K
When tho came to Baltuk and the
camels Calvin spoke: Go back to the m
N'gambo, Baltuk, and tell your Mullah K
that I dropped my watch in his village fl!,
where I lifted b(s sick man. When it K?
Is found, bid him keep It, as a present ilfci.
for his kindness to me tonight. We rej-
wlll stay here." fl
Baltuk stood staring at them before K
he turned on his naked heel and ran R'
up the steep, scrub bordered path. 'We jBv
have now," Galvin continued, ever 30 Eft
gently a camel for Fedder. I couldn't BP-i
think how else to get one." K!
Their flight was too serious for ex- Jr
planations or speech, but when the
coral shades of dawn flared in the east mi?'
they saw Madgeldar's walls white In B
the distance, and saw each other's faces e
white too. and livid with fatigue, and ,F
racked with the bitter pains of such a w.
Journey. ,t
"It's the first time, old Galvin." Fed- F
der shouted, for their pace was still If
swift, "that the Mullah has had to give jp
up his quarry He had me four days." fl
"Curse him!" Galvin called genially.
"Don't cur?e him." Fedder screamed. L
"He's a man and lives up lo his llght6. I
Who's this ladv?" '
"My wife, when you get round to It. ,
We needed a parson, so we rescued ft
you. Miss Rae arrived out with yes- P"
terday's mall." L
They pounded on the city's gate un-
opened for the day. and sent boy-? for !fe
two prominent Arabs to be witnesses 'L
to the marriage. S
Galvin had hard work prying plaster '
of Paris away from Fedder's teeth, but I
at last they were all three bathed and
dressed, fed and festive It was then r
that Fedder told them of his capture,
with the hand of each deliverer clasped I
close in his. J
I was coming toward Bandi with no -end
of rare moths, a new one, blue, jr.
with gray ' 1
"That will do later." Sybil said p.
firmly.
"And I saw a train of desert men.
unmounted 1 knew It was the Mullah
leading them, and although he tried j
lo kill me with a queer kulfe, I liked II
him awfully. A man with him heard
from one of ray porters that. I was a
bit of doctor, so they decided to take I;
me to a smallpox district back of fl
Band) When we got to the town. I
tried to run away, so they look the '
roof off my house that the sun might
kill me, but a spring overflowed above L
me somewhere, and I was drenched
With it and felt the sun but little Jk
They made light of my beard, like a 1
lot of Moslems aud gagged me be- t
cause I frightened the townsmen, tell- j
Ing them how English love remembers 1
and how English arms ever win at it
long last They were all gone to a
feast to celebrate some defeat of our
men somewhere, when you got there. f.
Well, even four days in chains seem
centuries You're credits to your coun
trv you two" he ended thoughtfully
When Calvin's brief chronicle of all P.
this reached Lord Midland with his ac- L
ceptance of his new post, that august ;
person sent for an under secretary
"Why did we choose Galvin for Bus
torah?" he inquired. r
"To save expense. He was on Hi- "
spot more or less He was the flist
pawn to be advanced in the Bustorah I;,
game " M
"A splendid pawn.' Midland cried p
loudly, and so the House said, when L
the matter was put before them and p
they broke up after cheering.

xml | txt