Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1915 — CHAPTER XXI—Continued. [ARTICLE]

CHAPTER XXI—Continued.

It was rare for the caravan to pass by Beni Medinet. The old woman’s superstition foresaw danger in this Visit. Her veil before her face, her gnarled old fingers held the fan with which she had been fanning Sabron. She went out to the strangers. Down by the well a group of girls in garments of blue and yellow, with earthen bottles on their heads, stood staring at Beni Medinet’s unusual visitors. “Peace be with you, Fatou Anni,” said the older of the Bedouins. “Are you a cousin or a brother that you know my name?” asked the ancient woman. “Everyone knows the name of the oldest woman In the Sahara,” said Hammet Abou, “and the victorious are always brothers." . “What do you want with me?" she asked, thinking of the helplessness of the village. Hammet Abou pointed to the hut “You have a white captive in there. Is he alive?” “What is that to you, son of a dog?” “The mother of many sons is wise,” said Hammet Abou portentously, "but she does not know that this man carries the Evil Eye. His dog carries the Evil Eye for his enemies. Your people have gone to battle. Unless this man is cast out from your village, your young men, your grandsons and your sons will be destroyed.” The old woman regarded him calmly. “I do not fear it," she said tranQullly. "We have had corn and oil in plenty. He is sacred.” For the first time she looked at his companion, tall and slender and evidently younger. "You favor the coward Franks," she said in a high voice. “You have come to fall upon us in our desolation.” She was about to raise the peculiar wail which would have summoned to her all the women of the village. The dogs of the place had already begun to show their noses, and the villagers were drawing near the people under the palms. Now the young man began to speak swiftly in a language-that she did not understand, addressing his comrade. The language was so curious that the woman, with the cry arrested on her lips, stared at him. Pointing to his companion, Hammet Abou said: "Fatou Anni, this great lord kisses your hand. He says that he wishes he could speak your beautiful language. He does not come from the enemy; he does not come from the French. He comes from two women of his people by whom the captive is beloved. He says that you are the mother of sons and grandsons, and that you will deliver this man up into our hands in peace." The narrow fetid streets w'ere beginning to fill with the figures of women, their beautifully colored robes fluttering in the light, and there were curious eager children who came running, naked save for the bangles upon their arms and ankles. Pointing to them, Hammet Abou said to the old sage: *See, you are only women here, Fatou Anni. Your men are twenty miles farther south. We have a caravan of fifty men ail armed, Fatou Anni. They camp Just there, at the edge of the oasis. They are waiting. We come in peace, old woman; we come to take away the Evil Eye from your door; but if yon anger us and rave against us, the dogs end women of your town will fall upon you and destroy every breast among you.” She began to beat her palms together, murmuring: “Allah! Allah!” "Hush,” aald the Bedouin fiercely, “take us to the captive. Fatou Anni.” Fatou Ann! did not stir. She pulled aside the veil from her withered face, so that her great eyes looked out at the two men. She saw her predicament, but she was a subtle Oriental. Victory had been In her camp and in her village; her sons and. grandsons had never been vanquished. Perhaps the dying man in the hnt would bring the Evil Eye! He was dying, anyway—he would not live twenty-four hours. She knew this, for her ninety years of Hfe had seat many eyes close on the oasis under the hard bine skies. / ~ ~ To the taller of the two Bedouins she said in Arable: yH

“Fatou Ann! is nearly one hundred years old. She has borne twenty children, she has had fifty grandchildren; she has seen many wives, many brides and many mothers. She does not believe the sick man has the Evil Eye. She is not afraid of your fifty armed men. Fatou Anni is not afraid. Allah is great. She will not give up the Frenchman because of fear, nor will she give him up to any man. She gives him to the women of his people.” With dignity and majesty and with great beauty of carriage, the old woman turned and walked toward her hut and the Bedouins followed her.