Adventure Magazine Cover — page 122: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Ii4 obtaining an outlet I prayed to Allah and to those who surround us this night, and was drawn to an old man carrying a bag of gold, and with the aid of much skill and a knife I agreed to take the money so that I might be free and undetected. “By Assuan I met a holy man who was a charmer of snakes; but I was the son of my mother, who was a priestess of the ancient Aramaic religion—of which I may not tell you, my lord, for you are not of the brother- hood. So it was that the snakes knew me, and in the eyes of the vulgar I was a snake- charmer. But he was bad, my master, the holy man, and jealous, so that he stole the snakes which I had trained, and all the money. “YT did not see him for many years, and then he died. But I had become a guide and prospered a little. Thus it was, my lord, that I came to Europe, knowing your languages. And many things.” “Vou sure did,” I muttered. “T dwelt in your city of London some great time; but I was not successful, for it was cold and much rain, and your laws are not as our laws. I went back to the Levant, to Egypt; and I became donkey-boy at Alexandria, but this was a part of too.much exercise. When I was sixteen—shame be upon me—I forgot my mother and my most beautiful country and who I was, and mar- ried a woman of no importance. “Many children came, and much food and things were required; so, gathering wisdom as I went, I collected a sum of money again and gave it to help my wife and leit her quickly so that I might go to Morocco. And in Tangiers I met a man, a Scotchman, and having no money, for I am honest, I went with him as interpreter to Cape Juby. “My lord knows my history with that Scotchman and with the company he made. I worked hard for them, but Allah had not put wisdom .in the heart of the young man they left with me. But indeed I worked hard and was surprizingly honest.”’ “T believe you,” I murmured, but he didn’t hear me. “But when I left them my heart was low. Something had gone out of me. Europe, my lord, has a strange effect upon us Orientals. In some way the strength to do is taken away as the sap from a tree. Thus it was that for years I lived and toiled in terrible ways, forgetting my forefathers and the wisdom of my hand and faith. Thus Adventure perilously I descended into frightful punishment where you, my lord, found me as a teacher of Arabic in London, already an old man stricken with poverty and with no faith in Allah nor any god, slinking like a small dog through the Strand. “T was full of gladness to work ‘with my lord; for he lifted up my heart to be with a man of race, although but for a few hun- dred years.”’ I caught a glimpse of a twinkle in Field- morre’s blue eyes in the star-glow. ‘“‘And I ‘was surprizingly faithful to you, my lord, watching over your interests as if you were a man of .my own ancient blood. Is ‘that not so, my lord?” “Yes, you were certainly very faithful and diligent,’ assented Fieldmorre. ‘“That is what surprized me the more by your dis- gusting treachery.” “T, too, am more extremely surprized,” stated Sabah solemnly; “but I am extremely confident that your lordship will find me in a manner of speaking not guilty.” “Not guilty!” I exclaimed. ‘Considering that seven whites were killed!” “Wait a minute, Tromp,” urged Field- morre. ‘“‘Let’s see what he has to say.” “T thank you, my lord. You have under- standing and a large heart, which I shall not forget. If I may be permitted to remark, your lordship would have been captured and slam by the Baron Bertouche had I not interfered in a most surprizing way. Is that not so, my lord?” “T suppose so, you. Go on.” “With.great pleasure, my lord. I will now come to the time when your lordship with Mr. Langster journeyed to see Ma-el- Einen—I beg your lordship to remember that up to that experience I had sunk so low as ‘to forget my race and my gods. ‘‘When your lordship had read the diary of the lost white man and consulted with me, I was much rejoiced, for truly it seemed to me that in my old age I should gain gold and return to Aram Zobah, I the lost son of my beautiful mother, and if it so please Allah to raise a most surprizing monumental tem- ple to house the last of the sacred Aramaic manuscripts of which my beautiful mother, the priestess, is the holy keeper. But Allah de- creed that you should leave me and go away. “And I talked much with the shareef Ma-el-Einen, who is a surprizingly holy man. And he caused me to feel-my wicked- ness, and spoke of my mother and my race. COIN Clooolkks C@