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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1916)
The Red Mirage A Story of the French Legion in Algiers 8YN0P8I8. 14 Bylvla Omnoy, her lovor, Illrhnrd Fnr Ouhar. finds, has fiillon In lovo with Cap tain Arnaud of the KoMkh Iilon. In Captain Bower's room l-'arquhar furrns Bower to have l'restnn's I O U's re turned to him. Farquhar In helped tn hie rooms by (Jabrlolle Hinltli. Sower ihmaiHls n apology. Refused, he forces Kaniuhar to resign hie commission In return for possession of Karquhur's father's writ ten cunftiuslon tlmt he had niurdetiid How er's father. Gabrlello saves Farquhar from suicide. To shield Arnaud, Sylvia's nance, Karquhar professes to have stolen war plans and tulle the real culprit why he did en, As Itlohard Nameless he joins the Foreign legion and ee Hylvla, now Mine. Arnaud, meet Colonel Destlnn. Farquhar mets Sylvia and Uahrlelle, and learns from Corporal Uoetz of the col onel's cruelty. Arnaud becomes a drunk ard and opium smoker. Hylvia bci'uiues friendly with Colonel Destlnn. Arnuud becomes Jealous of Farquhar. Farquhar, on guard at a villa where a dance Is In proxress, Is shot down by Arnaud, Ar naud Justifies his Insanely Jealous .action to Colonel liestlnn. Arnaud goes to a danc ing girl who loves him for comfort. Ok brlolle meets Towe, for whom she. hail sacrificed position and reputation, and telle him she Is free from him. Sylvia meets Destlnn behind the mosque. Ar naud becomes III but Bylvla will not help him, nor Interfere for Farquhar. fla brlelle, aiding Farquhar, who Is under punishment, Is mistaken by him In his delirium for Bylvla. What does duty mean to you? c Despite his position of power, 5 tha tituation in which Colonel jj Destlnn finds himself Is hope- 5 less. There Is nothing to live jj for, apparently. At this mo- 5 ment sounds the stern call to I duty, but an Instant later temp- 2 r tatlon In the person of Sylvia f "C stays his response. Will duty "I wln? 3 ,V.V.W.W.W.W.W.V.V.V CHAPTER XIV Continued. Once past the sentries, the spahl turned. Into one of the quieter avenues leading to the barracks. He had not decreased his speed, and his horse's hoofs struck a metallic, ominous music out of the cobbled roadway. Colonel Destlnn heard it and It seemed that another sound had caught his atten tion, for he went to the window and Btood with his hand on the clasp, his bead bent. Something rustled some thing white flashed put from between the trees and came gliding hurriedly toward him. "Sylvia!" he muttered. She almost flung herself into his arms, clinging to him with a child's panic, and for the moment that he held her their shadows were sharp cut against the light. Then he half dragged, half carried her Into the room and closed the windows. There were heavy curtains on either side, and he dragged them across. Save for the soft Jingle of his spurs and her own quick breathing there was no sound. He came back to her and drew her veil from her white face. "Where have you come from?" "From the Cercle. Desire left me. I don't know where he went to but I ran here." "I have watched five nights for you." "I knew. It has been awful the temptation, the fear, the uncertainty. Every night I tried to make up my mind one way or another, but 1 couldn't. I seemed to have lost hold Oh" her white baby hand3 clutched at his dolman In helpless despair "oh, what have you dpne what have you done?" "I was very brutal." He led her gently to an armchair far from the window and stood quietly beside her, his hand still holding hers, his eyes turned from the bowed head to the dis ordered table, as though seeking a memory. "Some men are born brutal some become brutal through habit, Sylvia. I have seen life too long from my deliberately chosen standpoint to change. And then I meant there should be no illusions either for you or me." "I have none," she broke out bitter ly; "they ore all gone. I would not have come to you tonight if you had not made me see my own worthless ness." "I knew that You would have played on the safe side of the game and ealled it virtue." "Paul, how cruel you are!" "Yet you love me, don't you?" She looked up at him with veiled wistful eyes. "Yes I believe I do., You are the one real thing left me the one real thing of my whole life. I have been fed on illusions, my own and other peo ple's. They thought because I was beautiful more beautiful than most women-that I was also better, differ ent And I believed so, too. From our second meeting I knew that you had seen me the real me the foolish, selfish, vain, shallow child. And at first I was frightened, angry, fasci nated against my will, and then in tensely, unutterably grateful." He bent over her and lifted her to her feet "You have been honest," he said. In changed tone. "That is all I wanted. We wear masks every one of us and I mine. I am not absolutely a devil. It's hard to believe, I suppose, but there was a time when I was fond of all sorts of unlikely things flowers and music, and men and women and thlldren." His bands released hers, By I. A. R. WYLIE tAllriabU reserved, Tie Bobbs-MsrrlU Co.) and he walked restlessly to the table, where he stood a moment In silence, his back toward ber, Ills bead bowed. This Is a miniature of my son," he said abruptly. She came softly across the room and took It from him. There was a moment In which they seemed to pass out of each other's conscious ness. Then she looked up timidly. Ills Lbcud was still bowed, and the sharp- cut Indomitable profile gave ber no clue, no Indication. 'Ho died ?" she said almost In a whis per. "No, It was I who died." ne straight ened up like a man shaking off a dream. "I am getting sentimental, Sylvia. You are young and very beau tiful and I am an old man who has murdered the best In him " "I Knew That You Were a Traitor, Richard," She Said, "but I Thought You Were Still a Gentleman." "I never think of you as old," she interrupted thoughtfully. "There is something about you " "What was that?" She had broken off abruptly, her fea tures white with panic. He lifted his head, but did not look at her. "Did you hear anything?" "Someone rode up I heard the horse's hoofs there is someone com ing now " Her voice was dry. Terror had stamped out all trace of beauty from her face. Destlnn crossed the room and held open a side door. "Go in there!" he commanded quiet ly.' "It Is probably a message. In five minutes the man will have gone. Don't come in till I call you." She obeyed unresistingly, and with one haunted glance over her shoulder, crept past him into the unlighted room. He closed the door and went back to his table. He was now perfectly calm Someone knocked imperatively, and he answered the summons with tranquil Indifference. As the door opened he glanced up, and the eyes of the two men met fixedly over the wavering candle-flame. It seemed to blot out everything but their faces. Richard Farquhar saluted. "I have come with a message from General Meunler." "The message Is urgent then?" "Yes. A spahl arrived this evening with news that the tribes are rising. The outpoBts have been cut up. There is no communication between here and" "Give me the letter!" With rapid;, steady fingers Colonel Destlnn broke the seals and hurried over the half a dozen lines of precise writing. When he had finished the whole man had changed. The mask was in its place, so absolute in Its dis guise of energy and steeled purpose that what had been before now seemed a grotesque incredible comedy. "The First marches at midnight," he said, half to himself. "The orders were already given when you left?" "Yes. Corporal Goetz's men were in campaign but five minutes after the signal." "You were badly wounded. What are you doing in this business? You aren't fit to carry a rifle." He saw the tightening of the dogged Jaws, and for a moment there flashed between them a strange sympathy the sympathy of fighters to whom fighting Is the great essence of life. It passed like a streak of light in the darkness. Colonel Destlnn turned away. "Give mjr compliments to General Meunler. I shall be with tho regiment In ten minutes." This time there was no answer. The sllenco seemed to Impress Itself slowly on Colonel Destlnn's consciousness. He looked up over the top of tho letter which he still held to the light and his gaze rested for a second on the little Ivory fan and the white gloves then passed upward, as though drawn by an Irresistible fascination, to the face of the man opposite. He, too, had seen, A minute later their eyes met. In tne distance a bugle chanted the Legion's war signal, "Aux amies! Aur armes!" Richard Farquhar swung round and closed the door behind him. Instinct ively Colonel Destlnn bad placed him self between Farquhar and the door leading to the Inner room. It was typical of him tlmt be did not threaten or attempt to deny the vital facts of the situation. In an hour this man might be arrested and shot down, but not now. Richard Farquhar picked up the fan and opened it "Colonel Destlnn, a roan I knew gave this to the woman be was to bare murrled. How did it come here?" Colonel Destlnn looked Into the blazing eyes of his opponent and frowned. It was the first sign of yielding self-possession. "You are brave. Courage Is the ono thing I can respect You are free to go, Englishman." "Not till you have answered." "I shall then have double cause to order out a shooting party on your be half." "What you insinuate is a damnable lie" Destlnn laughed. "At least you have the courage of your convictions," he said, almost with regret The legionary made no answer. He had thrust aside the intervening table, and the next instant both men were locked together In a merciless em brace. There was no sound scarcely a movement The first fury of Far quhar's onslaught balanced his fever- weakened condition and leveled their respective strength to practical equal ity. Then the steeled muscles of the elder man asserted themselves, and slowly, imperceptibly, he retreated from the door, seeming to yield, never for an instant relaxing bis tenacious hold upon the other's arms. Suddenly he wrenched himself free and sprang back to bis writing table. "If you touch that door I shall shoot you down now," he said quietly. Farquhar turned, conscious that his own rage had suddenly burned out. He saw that the door which Destlnn had protected had opened, and that Sylvia Arnaud, white and large-eyed with terror, stood trembling on the thresh old. Farquhar recoiled a step. Colonel Destlnn had replaced his revolver ot the table. There was something akin to pity written on his hard face. Sylvia glanced at him and then at Farquhar, Behind her fear there had already be gun to dawn the knowledge that the situation was dramatic- and wholly in her hands. "I knew that you were a traitor, Richard," she said. "But I thought you were still a gentleman. It seems I was mistaken." Her manner was tearful, childishly resentful. He turned from her without answer "I owe you an apology, Colonel Des tlnn," he said simply. "Do you trust me enough to let me place myself un der arrest?" "I trust you enough to let you find your punishment under fire," was the courteous answer. "I shall need brave men." "I thank you." They saluted each other gravely, with respect, as unreconciled duelists who have learned each other's worth In the bitterness of battle; then, with a slight bow to the woman, standing against the dark background of the inner room, Richard Farquhar passed out of the open window. "Aux armes! aux armes!" He laughed to himself, his teeth clenched. But the music of that storm signal was as the call of the blood, a challenge to the fighting spirit of his race. He swung himself lightly Into the saddle and drove his heels against the horse's dripping flanks. "En avant, Grane!" The animal swerved. Someone had caught at the bridle. Farquhar bent forward, peer ing into the darkness. "Who is it? My God Gabrielle!" "Yes; I thought I recognized you. Where have you come from?" "Colonel Destlnn's " "Is" "Yes; she is there." "Captain Arnaud is asking for her, and I suspected. There isn't a mo ment to be lost" .V.SWsV.W.V.V.W.V.V.W. 31 Has Captain Arnaud discov- J ered his wife's utter treason, 2 and started out to kill her and her men friends? After what j you know, would you blame the husband for anything murder- out he did? , (TO BE CONTINUED.), easarits . IP m P bOiina THIS Is being written in China, whero, at tho moment of writ ing, there Is much talk of dis covering and following the will of the pooplo on tho quostlon ot monarchy or republic. Those who best know China can only smile. Thero is something amusing in the Idea of discovering the will of China's mil lions ot peasants on a subjoct of no tional moment, says a writer in the Dundee Courier. Tha patient Chinese husbandman known nothing and cares loss whether he Is ruled by a president or an em peror. His opinion on any matter of national Importance will not be dis covered within the next 100 yoars. He has to discover it himself before oth ers can do so. At present it does not oxlst. His one Idea of good govern ment Is to be loft alone In peace with out being too greatly robbed by offi cials. If his crops are good he leaves politics, whether local or national, to those who are Interested in them. For his part, he has less than no lntorcst. The Chinese peasant Is a man al most entirely without ambition. He has two ruling passions of life, and these are so closely allied that they may be described as one, The acqui sition of wealth is out of the question for him. To him a Mexican dollar which Is worth about 1 shilling 9 pence Is a vast sum, and twenty of them constitute a fortune. If he earns the equivalent of two pence a day he is doing famously, but you cannot save much off two pence a day. Since he cannot amass wealth, therefore, be sets himself to amass a family, If one may so phrase It. The strongest am- Burying a plague victim. bltlon of his life perhaps passion would be a more accurate term Is to get married and to rear a large family, preferably of boys. Second only to that is his desire, having reared his family, to have the mem bers of it married as well. And be cause marriage is the beginning and end of the existence of a Chinese peas ant the matter Is taken with quits tremendous seriousness. He marries young. Rather, he la married young, for the contracting parties are not the two most immediately concerned, but their parents. The contract Is drawn up long be fore the young people are of a mar riageable age, and past it the young people cannot go if they wish. But they seldom wish. The young man is content with the choice made by his mother. One girl Is as good as anoth er to him, so always she can rear a family. What women think in China matters nothing to any one; among the peasant class, that is to say. Yet for all his passion to get married, the young man seldom dreams of provid ing a home for his bride. He is con tent to take her to his father's house, and to rear his children there. The time will come, of course, when the little home will become too small, but it serves him for a very long time first Everyone a Worker, From this custom of two or three generations living together springs the fact that everyone, from the young est to the oldest, does some kind of work to help. A little tot of three may be seen gathering bits of stick; the tottering old grandmother Is generally found trying to weave or spin. Chi nese youngsters appear to have no real childhood. They do not laugh as do our children, or as do the children, say, of our Japanese allies. In point of fact, one has to visit Japan to find children who appear to make the most of life. They laugh all day and every day, and they never seem to find any thing worth crying over. Yet it must not be supposed that, because the Chinese child works at an age when our children can do little more than toddle, life for them is one of gloom. In their own way, they are perfectly happy while they are working, and one doubts whether they would be anything like so contented it they were set to play as we know play. The same holds ot the wife of the peasant rsJ P fill -mm Day aftor day she Is forced to work, and very often the burdens she is forced to carry are disgracefully heavy for a woman, But what else Is there for her to do? She has no housework to perform, She cannot read. She Is not educated, and she bas not beon taught to think. If the right to work In the fields were donlod her she would be the most miserable creature alive. These things must be viowed from the Chinese and not from tho western point of view. Every writer on Chinese matters makes montlon of the filial respect dis played by Chinese young people. Yet it simply does not exist. They are misled by the fact that ancestors are worshiped and old people revered. It has to be said of the Chinese peasant that he never allows his old father or hie old mother to starve so long as he has a handful of rice to share. There are no poorhouses for old poople In China. They are not needed. But be tween child and parent there Is no sign of respect. Men and women in China are not respected until they are either dead or approaching death. They they become tremendously Im portant. A woman Is regarded as a fool and a tool while she is still young and vigorous. She is venerated and her opinion gravely regarded when she is In her dotage. But no chil dren on earth, perhaps, talk to their parents as do Chinese children; and the manner of their back-chat, bad as it Is, Is as nothing to the nature of it. You have to understand that swear ing In China Is an art. I grant you that you have some "professors" In Dundee; I have heard them, and I ap- predate their proficiency. But they have to hide their diminished heads in front of a Chinese even a Chinose youngster. Man Without Sympathy. One characteristic of the Chinese peasant is his indifference to pain. He may be badly smashed -up, yet he will cling to life with a tenacity that pulls him through where a European would go under. I saw a man the other day who fell thirty feet down the hold of a ship. One sldo of ins face was ter ribly battored. Two of his ribs wore broken and one arm was badly dam aged. A European would have been carried instantly to hospital. His one anxiety was to be allowed to return to work and his description ot those who would not allow him to do so lacked nothing In point and directness and was sufficiently comprehensive to in elude their ancestors, existing rela tions and heirs forever. He simply could not understand what all the bother was about From this indifference to pain, again, springs a want of sympathy with another sufferer. A man may die on the roadside without the slightest notice being taken ot htm. Let his relatives take care of him. If he is dying, why trouble with him? It is the business of the authorities to cart away the corpse. Why should anyone worry over him? For the matter of that, of course, if the case is one of plague, say In Hongkong (where the laboring class is only a little better than the peasant class in China) dying man will be taken into the street and loft there. If that cannot be managed the body will later be slipped out quietly and left some dis tance away. If it is kept in the house the authorities will come round with brushes and pails and disinfectants and other foolish things, and clean the Louse and fumigate it, and generally annoy the Inmates. The idea of an i;oying living people because of a man who Is dead Is ridiculous! He has ono strong saving grace, however. If he has not come too much in contact with foreigners, and so be come contaminated, he is an honest business man. Order rice or tea from one ot the more important peasant farmers and get a sample, and he will send rice or tea exactly to sample. Therein he differs from the Japanese, who has no sense of honor in business, and Is seven kinds of a rogue, PADDY'S WWQ 7MW MARY GRAHAM mm. SUPPER PICNIC FOR LIZARDS. "Now t' o Fairies," said Daddy, "a you know are very fond of the Liz ards, so today, as It was raining a lit tle bit the Fulrifs gave a supper Pic nic for the Lizards. "The Lizards love a day 'when It is Just Raining a little bit. That is what they consider a really beauti ful day. And the Fairies bad told thera that the first day whon It was Raining a little they would give their Suppor Picnic. At three o clock this afternoon all (he Lizards went to the wood grove. The lizards love a day when It rains in Fairyland where tho Fairies hud planned to have their Party. When tho Red Lizards got thore ahead of tho others thoy saw all the Fairies dressed in wonderful custumes of Red. Of course, the Lizards were very much pleased that the Fairies had paid them such a compliment as to dress up in the color thoy always wore. And when the Gray Lizards came crawling along, the Falrios all changed their costumos to Gray. And all through the afternoon first they would bo Red and then they would bo Gray. And their wands all matched whatever color their dresses wore. "After they had some Games- some very queer, crawllng-around-the-ground Games that the Lizards lovo so well then the wondorful Supper tool: place. "Everything that the Lizard Family Is fond of was on the long Supper Ta ble at the Fairies' Picnic. And as for decorations! Well, the Fairies had gone to a great deal of trouble for this Party and they had special help from tho Rain Drops. The Table was very long and also very low down, almost touching the ground. There were benches around covered with moss and soft, damp earth which the Lizards thought was quite perfect. "On the Table were Red Candles which strangely enough did not go out when the Rain Drops came down, but Instead burned all the brighter and Just flickered with fun every time a Rain Drop fell on them. The Rain Drops mado tho- Table glisten and look as though thore were Sparkling Lights bobbing up everywhere around. 'There were Red Berries on the Ta ble and all sorts of good things made out of moss and earth, and goodies from the woods. In fact all the Berries had been only too glad to give the Fairies lots ot Berries and other dell- clous things to eat for the Picnic Supper. "But after all the Supper was over with, the Fairy Queen surprised everyone by saying, "Now, Old Witty Witch is coming to tell us Stories and do Tricks for Witty Witch Gave Them Fine Time. us. Her first name is Witty because she is very Funny, and so In high honor of her "Wit" they have always called her "Witty." And of course her name is Witch for you will under stand when you see hor Tricks that she certainly is a Witch.' " "I thought Witches were awful Old Creatures," said Nancy, "who fright ened Children." "Dear me, no," said Daddy. "Tha Witches feel very badly that soma Children think they would frighten them. They can't help looking Old and Funny that's what makes them Witches and the kinds of Tricks they do but they think Children are Pretty Nice, and wouldn't frighten them for worlds. "And at the Suppor Picnic the lit tle Lizards crawled up and sat in old Witty Witch's lap, and the Fairies all gathered around, while old Witty Witch gave them all a fine eve ning full of Jokes and Surprises.'' NO FAULT OF LITTLE DORIS Gives Mother Unique Explanation for Being at Foot of Class Other Girl Had Left. Doris was rather backward in her studies, and one day when her father was inquiring into her standing at school the little girl admitted that she was the lowest In her class. "Why, Doris, I am ashamed of you!" exclaimed the mother; "why don't you study harder and try to get away from the foot, of your class?" "It ain't my fault," replied Doris, in tones of Injured Innocence, "the little girl who has always been at the foot bas left school." Old Witty Witch Gave Them All a