Evening Star Newspaper, December 6, 1926, Page 33

Taila (®1926. by Eusenp MacLeas.) BYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS. Jhe characters are: Antonius, s Roman ldier with a hroken les. who has fought erod's guards in defense of a party of vil- ors from Jezreel in Palestine: his cap. who Bias arrived with troops and ordered erod's men away. Laila. an Arabia s Seen make ato arvem & heauiitul ilage 3 185 chief and his follower. who ‘aleg aided ra: Aaron. a brave old s ard. who 1+ Marvam's fa Aring atrance:. Whose words rought evil fo all the reat. €hapler ende. Laila reappears at Antonius’ E:-n. Tollgwing her releass from imprieon- v ...8" ars whe ‘will interpret betwean m and the Arabian chief. (Continued from Yesterday's Star.) | CHAPTER LVI. The Arabian chief burst into an Bxcited flow of words. laila listened, while Antonius Peached up and took her hand. “He says.” she said wt last, “that u are the bravest man he ever new, and that if you will come into the desert with him you never shall want for anything your heart de- Eires!” “An excellent chief,” approved An- tonius. “But tell him the centurion gays he must remain a prisoner. He s Caesar’s enemy.’ The woman translated. The chlef’s bands went up in amazement and his dark eves rolled toward the soldier. He launched into swift speech, ges- turing violently. “Omar, spirit of evil, again,” the woman sighed. “He says Omar came to his tribe with word that Caesar desired to be rid of Herod and that great riches awalted the Arabians if they would coma and loot Herod's palace and incidentally killa man—" She turned to the chief with a ques- tion. At his answer she went on, her woice lower: “If they would slay Another, who walks the earth in hu- mility and love.” Her hands were clasped before her, @nd her lips moved silently a moment The Arabian broke in and waved toward the centurion as he spoke. “He says he was questioned by the officer last night and that he never thought to mention Omar—he be- «|lieved that @mar had come to him . |with the appfoval of Rome."” Laila hastened away. When she reached the officer's side she pros- - |trated herself and, rising, addressed him earnestly. He listened with folded arms until she was done. Then, shouting an order for his own inter- preter to come, he walked to the Arabian’s side. With a few sharp questions he brought forth the same answer that Laila had received. “We must find this Omar,” he said, with decision. “Woman, do you know where he may be found?” She moved her head negatively. “He comes and goes, secretly and in silence,” she said. *“He pauses only lor~ enough to drop words of poison, suggestions full of evil and moves upon his way. But I have a thought.” She pointed toward a distant sum- mit of the mountain. “One night of sorrow, I lay beside that peak,” she sald, “and saw him with his followers engage in a mystic rite. They bowed around a flame and he spoke as their master in a tongue I did not under- stand. Watch there—it may be his altar, to which he will return.” * ok ok A long tongue of fire arose, lighting a cloud that hung low over Gilboa. It was on the ledge of which Laila had told. Midnight was approaching and below the rock a group of Roman soldiers crept forward, softly, so they would not stir the bushes between which they moved. = In advance Laila, a dark cloak covering her head and body, crawled up the path. Beside her was the cen- turion. The helmets of the men had been left behind, so that no glint from the fire might betray them. The metal on thel shields had been daubed with clay in order that they would not glisten. Ornaments of metal and jewels had been forbidden. As before, a solitary figure passed, stripped to the waist, black against the fire. Others came, and forming a circle, moving faster and faster. A chant arose. Then silence. The soldiers flattened themselves on the ground. A man appeared above them, the light from the flame outlining in crim- son his tall form and crowned head. He threw his arms aloft and called a solitary word. The centurion touched Laila on the arm and whispered: “It is he!” The men ahout the fire were danc- ing and chanting in a wild, barbaric language. oftly the centurion re- commenced his advance, Laila beside him. They had reached the point where Laila had rested before, when the man upon the mountaintop swung toward them. “Centurion,” he called in his deep voice, “and Laila! I bid you welcome! I am about to finish. Come for- ward!"” The soldiers bounded to their feet and charged. Omar moved his hand toward the fire swiftly. The flame leaped higher, burned blue, then green—and then disappeared. When the company reached the ledge the stranger and his men were gone. The centurion scuffed his feet along the ground. There yere no embers. Only dry grass and weeds were under his sandal. “It is as it was before,” said Laila, indicating the soil around them. ';‘Thure was no sign remalning of the re.” The soldiers ran @own the path on the opposite side. An hour passed befors they straggled in to report that they had found no trace of any man. “A spirit,” sald the woman, draw- ing hér mantle over her face. “A spirit flled with wickedness and hate.” Frowning and muttering to himself, the centurion led the way over the steep course to the camp. They ar- rived near morning, and without fur- ther word to his men than a curt order to sleep, he lay down his mantle and covered his face with his arm. Laila, brooding, sat near the fire and waited for dawn. Soberly, when Antonius awakened, she told him what had transpired. “He moves swiftly and he knows the mountains,” he said when she had finished. “I believe him to be a priest of Ashtaroth, whose worship still sur- vives in many parts.” She shook her head. “I do not know what he is,” she said, “but man or not, priest or no priest, prince or evil spirit, my fear of him is gone.” Arising, she withdrew to the shelter of a low, broad-spreading oak and knelt there, her hands clasped before her, praying. The soldiers who passed looked at her curiously, but did not disturb her. She had been ordered not to move outside the camp and so long as she obeyed the sentries had been told not to molest her. At noontime there was a small dis- turbance at the border of the camp. Two soldiers came, leading a man who stumbled and drooped, his head hanging upon his breast, his beard and garments coated with ‘mire. Antonius stared and then cried aloud: “The Pharisee!” “The villagers who were sitting around their own campfire arose and hastened to the newcomer. They threw their own mantles over him and gave him drink out of their cups and food, which they held to his mouth with their hands. He was too weak to help himself. It was Maryam who, an hour later, satisfied the soldier's intense curi- osity. She came and stood befors him, glancing nervously at the soldiers, who winked and grinned. “The Pharisee left us in the cave because the company was contamina- tion,” she said. *“But he would not surrender to Herod nor do anything that might betray his neighbors. So he has lain in a crevasse in the moun- tain, out of view of Herod's men, without food, with only the water of the puddles to drink since the day you saw him leave!" er eyes were wet. ) “Most men are brave” said An- tonius thoughtfully, “each after. his own manner. Some /fight and die; some bow down their heads and suf- fer in patience under the blows that fall upon them; some lift up their faces and smile, though their hearts are in deadly pain.” He thought a while. “Maryam,” he asked, “have you given up your thought of the youth whom you saw in the flelds?” Her eyes dropped. ‘No,” she said softly, “and I never shall. But the Amablan woman came to me, her eyes wet with sorrow, and told me that she had decelved me. She had said that he came to her—but she tells me that it was false. I saw him only once and sought him many days, though it is not the manner in which maidens of my people are used to act. I thought he had' searched for me, but I was wrong. I can only hope.” Laila was coming toward them. “Have you forgiven her?” asked Antonfus. “She saved us all,” sald Maryam, “Of course, I have forgiven her."” The Arablan woman stopped and smiled. “Your father sends for you,” she said. “A messenger has come from the village with word he desires you to hear.” The girl hastened away, and Laila sat on a stone beside the soldier:— “I thought one time of taking her as my slave,” he sald, looking after the girl. “Then I proposed that she become my wife. Yet I am not sorry she refused, for she would be un- happy living my life, cut off from her own people, wandering' through the world in the train of an army.” Laila reached over and touched hir arm. (Concluded in Tomorrow’s Star.) S g CLAUDEL APPROVED. President of France Formally Rat- ifles Envoy's Appointment. PARIS, December 6 (#).—Appoint- ment of Paul Claudel as Ambassador to the United States was approved formally by President Doumergue at Saturday night's cabinet meeting. M. Claudel, now Ambassador at Tokio, and noted quite as much for his abil- ity as a poet as he is a diplomat, will succeed Henry Berenger, who recent- ly refused to accept renomination to the post. - "Splendid Results' obtained with AMOCO-GAS 4 Jhe AMER_ICAN. O AFFILIATED Wi IL. 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