LET 'ER BUCK
Page Eighteen
East Oregonian Bound-Up Souvenir Edition
Pendleton, Oregon, Thursday, September 21, 1922.
COLONEL FURLONG FOUND THAT TRAVELLING WITH ARABS HAD SOME
j . DIFFICULTIES; MORE THAN ONCE HE HAD DIRE NEED OF HIS GUN ARM
Adn venture? Itl picked the other raiin nnd became ...no Word or' lmi betrayed the . leuat.
has drawn men "' !' nr".
to the far places KincP sunrise, as approached
A Khn.T:-, a change had come over Alur
of the earth to. , . tn tMttrtt ethttwA v nHrU
every point of tho j
torn iass. Life
and limb are
risked in court
Imr the thrills!
1 1) u t adventure!
may Hive, and!
ninny u re t h e
thrillH that liavf'
been so found by;
ihost- who got!
away from the !
Lenten path.
How it felt to
risk bin life a-
trainst the maohi- Ta.ie
it a linns nf a pi;:-,
ilTOMp or i VI 1'KH
in a ride across a
denTf is tdd by
( harles Welling
ton Furlong in an
article which was
IHiiiiis h c d in
Warper's Month
ly, The story, an
related by Col.
Kiii'loiiM", i as fol
lows; 1 snap e c t o d
,M imtirhe. sus
pected him of an
indefinite shmelhinK, but the work
ings of hit wily, old Arab mind, its
MNiaoiiH and' its purposes, were to me
ti mysterious 'as the prenl wastes of
tin- Suhhra fSarhara) over which for
days we had been eruwHnff, and as a
elusive oh i he noxious Hand-lizards
which now and aln scurried from
beneath our horses feet.
, Thfj lonpr, hut caravan trail along
which -wo had crawled during the day
had led over the sun-scorched rocky
wastes or the 1 jnbel Nntfah'a (N'atfa
Hr.a AlounlaiiiK), and a. sundown
emptied uh into tho lit tin Arab town
KtioniK. Here we parted with a
Hinall caravan forty oamels Htrnn&
bound for Alma rata, with which we
hud traveled for the last three days.
.My two men, Mohammed and All, who
were' on loot, drove a, larue fast
walkhitf paeli-dotikey: while Mural
eho, .like myself, rode an Arab slal
Ifon. Ills )ient old figure, now ahead
of me, now by my side, seemed lost
in the folds of his barracan.
' Some mouths previously, a vifieed
'lriHspurt and ot her document h had
landed me safely within the confines
of the town of Tripoli, and later, aft
er comp difficulty, permission to
Ifavct Into the desert had been rant
eti by the Turkish Tusha who cum
ni'inded the Turkish t'ot'ers In thai
coniilry. 'Many Arabs there were in
tin town who would uladly have
risked the dnnmas of the desert as
rtiauemen, but as toy object was to
obi, i in iu lUi'tiin t ion of dfHi't t life, a
lii-tii vh't could net also as interpret
er u indispensable; and Murniohu
proved to be tin only available man.
K s irue that he had an unsavory rec
i o '.lid 1 was so warned by certain
iiu'inbersi of the little Kiitflish col
ony there. Ittil his broken KuKlfsh
and JiiiKiia. Franca, who valuable us
s ts; besides forewarned was -fore-i.'i'iued,
so It came about that Alurai-
wflh alacrity, and when several times
them nharply, he seemed to awaken
it vm;; necessary for me to repeat
ui n a start from deep . meditation.
This, at the time I attributed to the
faii;:ue of our journey and anticipat
ed r' laxalion, for j had promised a
rent ni Khoms following a custom of
the country. I reported to the Turkish
govern or on our arrival, saw my men
a ('. animal oonfora bly fixed in a
I'jndek (caravansary), with orders to
have everything In readiness to start
at two the following afternoon, then
spent the night at the house of Mr.
the only Englishman in the
This night In niid-Jully and the fol
lowing night, strangly different, stand
oat strongly In my memory perhaps
for the contrast with the dusty, mo
notonous traveling of other days and
the sleeping in dirty, crowded fond
uks; or perhaps, in contrast with each
other. If you would know the plea
sure of bathing, of sleeping between
the snow-'white Hheets of a bed, travel
day after day on the burning, scorch
ing, yellow-red sand of the Sa libra;
fill your eyes, nose and ears, your very
soul, with its flne-owdered dust; tie
your handkerchief, after the manner
of the Touurons, across your mouth
to prevent evaporation, that your
throat may not parch too much. Tra
vel early and late to make the most
fit the cool of the morning and even
lug. Sleep lightly if you are a lone
stranger and do not mind the un
comfortable lump of your pistol-holders
under your arm: they are better in
your hands than in tho other fellows.
So when, sunburnt, saddle-sore, and
tired of long riding and little sleep,
you fitd what did, a bath of delici
ous cold water, brought from nn old
toman well still used hy the Arabs
In Khonis, and a snow-white bed, give
praise at Allah. Then let the L bar
baric noise.4 of tho wild Sudanese
dance in the distance and the musical
chant of the Muezzin melt away with
your thoughts in the quite of the Af
rican night.
Had it no been for a casual stroll
through the Snk the next afternoon
my men might now bo recounting a
different yarn over their smoking
kief and coos-coos. . J threaded my
way among men, animal, shacks,
scattered garden produce, grains and
wares, which covered the ground In
Interesting heaps, and uh I pushed
through a small crowd which had
gathered about me, their curionslty
ami cupidity aroused by a gold filling
oi one oi my ieeui, mopped ior a
moment. For there In the middle of
an open space beside a Mm hoi it
C saint's tomb), Muralche was en
grossed in a low conversation with one
of the irregular guards, an Arab in
t hi Turkish employ. Disappearing
unobserved to another part of the
Suit. I should have thought no more
of the matter but for the fact that
when later In the morning these two
met iu my presence' by the (iovernor's
( alace, they omitted the customary
b'salaanis and effusive greetings of
Abdiammedan acquaintances, and hy
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recognition. - . i
itemindingr. Muraiche of my pre
vious orders to have everything in
readiness by twro oc!ock , I sauntered
up to lunch at Mr. Tate's. The route
to mv next point of destination, the
little town of Kussabat, was not only
over a rough mountainous country,
but was considered by tho Arahs dan
gerous on account of thieves. Heing
under the necessity of making the
Uiirney that day f was anxious to
anic there by sundown. Consequent
ly, when by half ' past two none of my
outfit put hi an appearance, i des
patched one of the house servants to
learn the reason.
First by wiiy excuses and then by
open mutiny, my men delayed the de
pa lure until half past five, when by
threats to a peal to the Turkish
I'nshn to have them thron into prison
an ' i.gnge new men we were finally
ready to start.
"Hut a guard, Arhi (Master) ?"
Twhe Muraiche has asked the ques
tion and twice f answered him that T
had notified the Turkish officials of
my intention to depart at two o'clock.
Had they intended to send a guard
they vould have done so. However,
being desirous of conforming to cus
tom. I sent Aruraiche to the Governor's
palace with instructions to report our
(b purture, but not to ask for a guard
as jm isonally I shared in the common
opinion that often the traveler is safer
without one.
1 watched Mui'iche after he round
ed corner and disapoarcd at a gallop
down the narrow street to the palace
from which, immediately reappearing,
ho set off to a different quarter of
tho town. Questioned on his return,
he replied that an officer had sent
him to notify a tfitard who was to go
with us. 1
"you'll see your way all right, for
I ho full moon ought to be up in about
two hours, but ride fast," were Tale's
parting words. Jt was good advice
and had often been given uie. before.
To t ra velers in North A frlcn , par
tioularly those among French colon
ists of Tunis and Algeria, the saying
"Never allow an Arab to ride, behind
you," has become an adage, and this
night in tho Oharian I proved its
worth.
Wo rode to the top of the steep
trail, down whioh the slanting after
noon sunbeans shot by in golden
shafts. Hack and beyond us these
sun shafts speap, until striking the
white walls of Khoms they broke,
spilling over them a flood of orange
gold, diffusing her surrounding olive
groves ana oaxe-paims wnn a goiuen
shifting (fold mist above it all
sparkled scintillating sea of blue.
Our course now lay almost due
south to the region of the Djebel
(rharian, the region I had hoped to
enter and pass through by day.
Hosting on the site of. ancient Tebda
of the Hoinans, my golden city of
Khoms lay nearly an hour's ride be
hind us and uh yet no guard, to my en
tire satisfaction. Tnis was short lived
however, fop soon a yell such as I had
never yet heard loosed from the
through), of a human being caused us
suddenly to draw reign. Down the
steep rocky encline, where an ordinary
horseman could but carefully pick bis
way, out on the sandy plateau upon
which we had Just ridden, riding wild
and giving his wiry little animal free
rein, dashed a guard, and when
abreast of us drew up short out of a
full run, after tho manner of Arab
horsemen,
"Jl'salaam' to Aluraiche, and a nod
of the head to me, which I slightly
reciprocated; yes, very slightly, for
before me was the one man out of all
the arahs t had ever seen that I would
have chosen last for a companion
that night. There in the glow of the
lato afternoon sunlight the stock of
his short, carbine resting on his sad
dle and the sweat making bright the
high lights on bis evil, brassy-bronze
face, set the worst cutthroat it was
ever my fortune to look upon,-
Aluraiehe's friend, ho of the niatket
pla ce.
Although I had learned not to Judge
men too much by appearances, i re
solved to watch him. After a short j
conversation with Muraiche, during
which tho guard's peculiar eyes scan
ned me from the rowels of my spurs!
to the lop of my sun helmet, 1 knew I PJ
that the main objects of his searching I F
glance were in my holsters, covered by w
my jacket; meantime, however 1 lst j
no oi cm oi ins weapon, a nanituern 'S:
maga'uie rifle of modern make. Then
he addressed me in Arabic, but not j
speaking the language, I turned to i
.ti ui aieiie. lie tens io man, me va
later replied. j
This sudden assumption nf leader-!
ship came most unexpectedly, bis J m
seeming intention to bring up the j A
rear. Now Arahs are daring though J
ignorant; but like all Orientals, fully i
mountains ior a s'.jort space. Then wicked-looking- nohhen club, which
the moon-glow appeared In the Kasl, usually he had kept stuck In one of
and soon the moon itseif lifted its pale j the packs. I knew that each carried a
distored shape above the horizon,
and suffused everything with, its pale
blue-green light, so cool and satisfy
ing to the eye and mind in contrast to
the hot sun glare that during the day
reflected through to the very brain. 1
Put the dark shadoe masses of hol
ders, perched shrub patches, and
shaded slopes, what uncanny things
might they not contain? And those
Gorges, too, which in the day reflect
ed heat light like an oven from there
hot, red sides'.' Now Ihey were cold,
damp and forebording, and a shudder
passed over me. For a moment a
sem-e of weakness, of (Var, of almost
helpness, tool; possession of me; thenj
1 reasoned with mysHf, 1 was cired,
unduely a pju-ehensive, the conditions
of heat and long days in the saddle
had overt a xed my nerves. I fell to
watching the agile bodies of my Arabs
on foot, as, tiring of the pace they
dropped back, until just in front; of
me Mohammed in particular; how the
lights and shadows played over his
great, powerful, animal-like form,
how subtly his sholder and calf mus
cles moved under the sleek dark skin;
how they fascinated me! Willing
through the long journey they had
served me, save at Khoms, 1 started,
my dreaming suddenly ended, and al
most involuntarily my spurs ca used
by horse to start ahead. The two mea
had so imperceptibly lessened their
pace that now they had dropped just
back of me, one on either side of my
horse, and in Mohammed's hand was a
long Arab knife so I ordered Muraiche
to tell the men to keep along side of
the donkey.
Down the other side of the moonlit
valley I paw a caravan coming towards
us heading for Khoms. Taking a
small note-bonk from my pocket, 1
wrote "Should any accident occur to
me, thoroughly investigate, my men,
including the guard.' and signed it.
Tearing the leaf from the book and!
folding I watched the great lumbering,
camels approach us, and dropped a
little farther behind, intending to give
it to the head man of the caravan for
him to bear to the Pasha at Khoms.
Then J decided that under the cir
cumstances there was not sufficient
evidence to thus predjudice the Turk
ish authorities against my men, so I
chewed it up and spat it into a patch
of sand-lilies.
From the distance came the faint
report of gun. Kvery one of my men
beard it, I knew, but no comment was
made, and we pushed deeper into the
mountains. On our left, looking to
ward the moon, objects were indis
tinct in tho half -tone and shadow,
while seen from there we appeared in
full moonlight. Now and again I
sensed moving shadows from that dt
reetion, but it was some time before
was sure that they were living forms
following us, perhaps hyenas, jnckaU,
or some sly chotah.
As we made sharp tutrns nt times in
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only one thinn. and that in a just andjK
strong ham!, which tiny must feel in!)?
urder to appreciate. Omsetim nlly my
couisn was plain. 'Till the tuuirdj
, ui man ine r.iravan, ana mai u ne
tfoM with me, lie kocs us one of wy
men. As we sot under way, the
I uuard rode slowly ahead, meanwhile
' taking sidelong plances at nie. out of
t he corners or his vulanious pray
, prpen eyes, filled with all the h.itn d
of the Mo.slnn for the Christian. I
realized th.it never in my life had lh
assets and liabilities of my status quo
received such careful audit ins.
When the reat red lantern of the
sun disk had sunk beneath the eaith
i line, from without the deep myster
ious valleys crept the Wne-vioiet mii't
film t of t w ilicht shadow s, absorbing
and leaveninc intr their dark denes
the brighter crimson ai'terulow.
acainst which moved the dark .shapes
of horse and men. Suddenly they
bunch d t to -mt and t be nuird
dismount d. tin n Mohamtmd and AH
went on with the paek-donk. .
'The guards s.iddle-inh brok
t ii," Mm. tu be inform d nie. tpt ui1
w ill f t it .i iil on can i id- on i v
! ."
"I mil wait." 1 replied, tin hand
to ft nciirU rstinc -n one of my ids
t"N. "Cut ou ride on M oriache."
Th ciith wa S'-on "f. d.' whi h
csn-oii'it in a a in ! foit to hit h it
; tno'h. r hole.
Snh ji r .ind more rsicttd jcirw th
trail and e entered the ranne of the
harian. At davhcht dimmed, an un-
cciuXontbJ tUiaucM iiuci over the.
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