The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 27, 1899, Page 27

bY Copyrighted. tern college, of her int leman was at one time & favorite pupil, the match erly opposed by hi He arranges & trip to Groece hoping to D vent the wedding. Coleman calls on Marjory for an answer to his suit. try his affection she treats him coolly and announces her trip to Greece. He misunders! d the result is they say good-by in a most matter of fact nds, and manner, but Marjory rushes In tears to father fully convinced that Cole- man does not love her, while Coleman goes to the club and drowns griet in drink The professor arranges to take some of his students with his family % Greece—among them & young sophomore named Coke, who has distinguished himself in & freshman rush and is regarded by Coleman in the light of a rival. Coleman gets an appointment as war correspondent of the Eclipse for salls via London. On the steamer he meets ) ok, triend, who pays him marked atten he fair Nora and in turn is him- ng her good-by, although sl sits ks she makes to her party he knows s at the Walnwright party ars at Nikopolls point at once. rrounded with difficulties and no cablegram from Eclipse” to as- all hazards, as thelr position had America. In Greece he learns 80 he sets out f approsch hts. He recel oertaln the whereabouts of the party aiready oreated considerable oo {Continued.) It certainly way, but that Walbwright p: g §reat sens. a colt. , when batteries had -fought each other “Vl‘dr, and horse, foot and guns were now about to make a general advance, {t was dificult, he ©0 to stir men to think and fesl out of the present Zone of action; in fact, the thoughts and feelings of the other side o dejected as he saw clearly that tl task arjory of course was everything in one big affalr. It was the romance of the t to the American world was arous- days would have made his heart who when at home manifested the most gentle most of them ocould not by any pos;.buls ha rely for the prank, and yet all of them who seen an man shot through the head in battle had little more to the man had been a rag bab Tender they might be; poets they m be; but they were all borned with a provisional, tem~ callouse which was formed ality 6f making them always irect future. * said one to Coleman. they all Americans? Oh, I suppose it wi 1 Constantinople will u—nzn(’eA that u.l‘i')x s?7 Well, we conglude that the Tu i Pentepigadia. _In that case your e uncovered unless the son at Prevasa intervenes. t Prevasa, by the way, may make a deal of trouble. Remomber , but ab by thelr fa" wa: Hink of e Exactly how far is it to N! Coleman. it is about thi the other. ‘There ry road as ros River. I've got [ look at it? iy to and fro graph of from the commander of the cav- d to be- al n hat : 1 he was be out to be a e upon doors of d at the officer in grateful acknowledgm dily afleld. Black blocks of in. They were o e dews, when Further, he convin ough an interp er to the minds of otHer Stactory as looking at a landscape through a stained-glass front a stir near where a curious hedge of 0 some sort of a garden h. Many of the d raised But_there seemed to come a to the 1 at it was wrong to fire. Then pres- e o dirty brown figure, anad Coleman conld ses crowned with a dirty fez which had t the figure was that of one of the t to the captain the sergeant a wavered, changed his mind, was ob- confidence_and then began to advance nes. When he arrived within halling dis- Colemen’s dragoman and many of the and a moment later he was seen to be ¢ith & body which seemed to have been afterward maimed by either labor or op- identical in thelr effects. S reception o cek soldlery was no less fervid than their wel- %f him to their protection. He threw his grimy fez in the air and &4 out cheers, while tears wet his cheeks. When he had come upon | e of the ditch he ran capering among them and the captain, the dragoman and a number of soldiers received wild em- 3 Kisses. He made a_dash at Coleman, but Coleman was now the game, and retired dexterously behind different groups with a rance of not noting that the young man wished to gréet him. the hedge of dry brambles there were more indications of life, peasant stood up and made beseeching gestures. Soon a whole ble people had come out to the Greeks, men, women and lc smocks, prancing here and thers, -iproar- g their dellverers. An old, tearful, toothless 1y into the arms of the captain, and Coleman's soul was moved to admiration at the way in which the tered a chaste salute upon the furrowed cheek. The drago- ondent that the Turks had run away from the viilage Janina. Everybody was proud and happy. came from the rear at this time and asked !h&;gp. Yo were the two strangers in civillap attire. When or was immediately mollified 1 to o nts of Epiri The a ted fon, the Anished ar A majo tain in sharp tone 5 the captain had answered correctly the ma, P22 e ‘maag o4 bead men group of villagers e major strode at the P dan ubouflhn 0] np;‘%mu!hnvonafod. Coleman and th at .& Teq! mi ned one on either 3 l.m!ml manner they entered the village. From all sorts of hedges and thickets people creeping out to pass into & delirium of joy. The mflo: TTOW¢ gmc pack horses with rope bridles and g-‘l“ m{unted and foilowed the oclanking column they rods on in umo! was probably more of a true festival than most men experience even in the longest Iifs The major with his Greek instinct of drama was & splendid personification of poetic quality; in fact he was himself almost & lyrio, time to time %oe glanced gsck at Coleman with eyes half Atmmed wit! reciation. The people gathered flowers, great blossoms apD: ottfurplu and corn color, They sprinkled them over the three horsemen and flung them deliriously under the feet of the little nags. Being now mounted, Coleman had no difficulty in avolding the embraces of the peis- ants, but he felt to the tips of his toes an abandonment to a kind ofrrlena- ure with which he was not at all familiar. Riding thus amid cries of thankegiving addressed at him equally with the others, he feit & bumlnz virtue and quite lost his old self in an illusion of noble benignity. An there continued the fragrant hall of blossoms. L?x;eublo little huts straggled along the sides of the village street as if they were following &t the haels of the great white houss of the bofi. e column procesded northward announcing laughingly to the glad villagers that they would pever see another Turk. Before them on the road was here and there a fez from the head of a fled Turkish soldier and they lay like drops of blood from some wounded leviathan. Ultimately it grew cloudy. Tt even rained slightly. In the misty downfall the column ot loldlkers fn blue was dim as if it were merely a long trail of low-hung smoke. They came to the rwins of & church and there the major halted his battallon. Coleman worried at his dragoman to learn If the halt was only temporary. It was a long time before there was answer from the major, for be had dr up his men in platoons and was addry ard d roared out evidently the glories of patrio ries of their anclent pe and he ertul speech, for eason t im It was impossible to tell on was a good or a bad one, because the platoons without discernible feelings as if to the f the table consequences of a campa are. Coleman ate black bread and choc e dragoman hovered near the major with the intention of pounc upor him for information as soon as his lungs ylelded to the strain upon them. ‘The dragoman at 1. returned with a very long verbal treatise from the major, who appa had not been as exhausted after his speech to the d think. The mafor had said that he ha to form a junction with some of the troops coming direct from he expected that in the morning the army would be divided would chase the retreating Turks on toward Jannina, while ; would advance upon Prevasa, because the ene: had a garrison there which had not retreated an inch, and although it was cut off it was sary to send either a force to hold it In its place or a to go through with the business of capturing it. Else there ft in the rear of the left flank of a Greek advance upon Jan- nina a body of the enemy which might become active. The major sald that his battalion would probably form part of the force to advance upon Nikopolis was on the road to Prevasa and only three miles away CHAPTER XII Coleman spent a lcnfi afternoon in the drizzle. Enveloped {n his mack- intosh he sat on a boulder.in the lea of one of the old walls and moodily smoked clgars and listened to the ceaseless clatter of tongues. A ray of light penetrated the mind of the dragoman and he labored assiduously th wet fuel until he had accomplished a tin mug of coffee. Bits of cinder floated In it, but Coleman rejoiced and was kind to the dragoman. The night was of cruel monotony. Afflicted by the wind and the dark- ness the correspondent sat with nerves keyed high walting to hear the pickets open fire on a night attack. He was so unaccountably sure that there would be a tumult and panic of this kind at some time of the night that he prevented himself from getting a reasonable amount of rest. Ho could hear the soldiers breathing in sleep all about him. He wished to arouse them from this slumber which, to his ignorange, seemed stupid. The quality of mysterious menace in the great gloom lng the silence would have caused him to pray if g‘myer would have transported him magi- cally to New York and made him & young man with no coat playing liards at his club. The chill dawn came at last and with a fine elation which ever follows a dismal night in war; an elation which bounds in the bosom as soon as day has knocked the shackles from a trembling mind. Although Cole- man had sleot but a short time h) was now as fresh as a total abstainer coming from the bath. He hear. the creak of battery wheels; he saw cruwnnfi bodies of infantry moving in the dim light like ghostly proces- slons, Ho folt & sremandons Virjit: came with B9w hogs In W9 day~ A4 gusioms; 1t Waa asgerting took satisfaction sentimental journey. It was & ‘was on aotive lm active service of the heart, and he felt wu:mvnxmu to conguer difficulty even as the olds nquered di cuni. H m?u'ln glmlelf in & way ke To0, had. come out 1o Aght for jove with glants, dragons fld“ hes. had never known that he could be so pleased with that o 3 The major had suddenly I thelir horses to some oifier peopia, o this versatllity of interest be - nuf his lums%mn d they moved out on foot, following the so of the Wheels. They came in time to & bridge and on_the side b7 ridge was a hard military road which sprang away in two direc- e and west. Bome troops wers c: ‘_;gn‘ out the west: way an fl‘: dragoman polnting at them =ald: y going Prevasa. at i. road Nikopolis.”” Coleman grinned from ear to ear and sl pged bis dragoman on the shoulder. For a moment he intended to hand the men & louis of reward, but he changed his mind. eir traps were in the way of bein sinoe the dragoman was now a victim o thusiasm. The road wound along the base of the mountain r“f‘(n eer- around the abutments in wide white curves and then ciroling Into gleas ere immense trees spread their shade over it. Bome of the great trunks Were oppressed with vines green as garlands, and these vines even ran like an‘.n foam over the rocks. Streams of translucent wnrr show- h but they minded lttle thee‘mnmce of Coleman's en- r down from the hills and made pools in which every pebbie, ev;ry of & water plant shone with magic luster, and if the bottom of & ool was y of clay the clay glowed with phire 1 The day was alr. The country was part of that land which turne e minds of its D anch, rom toward a more tender drearying so that indeed their nymphs wm?‘ (e, one is sure, in the cold mythology of the north with 1u storms amid th g:cm of pine forests. It was all wine to Coleman’'s spirit. It muvmt! m to think of success with absolutely surety. To be sure ons of his boots began 80« his toes, but he gave it no share of his attentio] ter pace than the troo; Th a much and every- ‘wh lg m:tylnnm and confidence and the cry, “On to asa. t midday they were at the heels of the advance battallon, amon ts stragglers, uflnl its white dust Into their thro: and eyes. Th dragoman was waning and he made a number of attempts to stay Cole- man, but no one could have had influence upon Coleman’s steady rush with hi straight to the front as if thus to bolize his TP mvufou of sweat marked the dust is face, and two of his toes were now paining ss if they were being burned off. He was obliged to concede & privilege of limping, but he would not stop. At nightfall they halted with the outpost battalion of the ln(lntr{. All the cavalry hlx in the meantime come up and they saw their ol friends. Thers was a village from which the Christian peasants came and cheered like a trained chorus. Soldiers wers driving & great flock of fat sheep into a corral. They had belonged to rkish bey and they bleated as Yl they that they were the mere spoils of war, Coleman lay on the gteps of bqy’- house gmoking, with his head on his blanket ;;vql(. Cfimparu 'Iowe‘ off in the flelds. He was now about four miles from Ntkopolls. ‘Within the house the commander of t‘h&{-vurg was writing atches, Officers clanked up and down the stairs. e dashi oung n came and sald that there would be a general assault upon vasa at the dawn of the next da Afterward the drago: Qdescended u; the vfllm and in some w wrenched a little rnd' orse from an inhabitant acksaddle was on its back and it would very handily carry the traps. n this matter the dragoman did not consider his master; he considersd his own sore back. Coleman ate more bread and chocolate tal and also some tinned sardines. He was content with the day’'s wor did not se¢ how he could have improved {t. There was only one route by which the W: wright party could avold him and that was bx( oing to AD thence taking ship. But since Prevasa was b}oc aded by & Greek flee! he conce! that event to be impossible. Hence he had them hed, on this peninsula and they must be either at Nikopolis or Prevasa. . would probably know all éarly in the morning. He reflected that he was 100 tired to c f there might be a night attack and then wrapped In his blankets he went peacefully to nlaeg in the grass under a big tres with the crooning of some soldiers around their fire blending into his slumben, And now, although the dragoman had performe number of feats of incapacity, he achleved during the ons hour of Coleman’'s sleeping a blunder which for real finish was simply & pérfection of art. on Coleman, much later, extracted the full story it appeared that ng events happened during that single hour of l)aer, Ten minutes c; he had lain down for a night of oblivion the battalion of infantry, whid! had advanced a little beyond the village, was recalled and befl.n a h'\‘u‘- ried night march back on the way it had so festively come. It was sig- nificant enough to appeal to almost any mind, but the dragoman was able to not understand it. He remained jabbering to some acquaintances among the troopers. Coleman had been asleep his bonfi ‘when the dashing young captain perceived the man and, completely horrified by his resence at that place, ran to him and whispered to him swiftly’ mta he o was to flee, fles, flee. The wing of the a which had advance northward upon Jannina had already been tumbled back by the Turks and all the other wing had been recalled to the Louro 'ver and the; was now ng!h!n[ practically between him and his sl ng master the onu?y ut a cavalry picket. The cavalry was !mmediately gol m a forced march to the rear. The stricken dragoman could even to ras £ee troopers getting into thelr saddles panic simply bundled Coleman upon stuttered out his tale and the dazed c trample of the retiring ca n turn in a flash from an ex on of utter malignancy frafd of it; he ran off He rushed to the tree and in a fe b as awake., He tuated saw a tness , pu by the steady bind the trap: om halter. Come! Come! Queek! Queek v the road and started to do aga wi nsiderable expenditure of f ¥ of the cava had alrea in lonely silenice. The a The dragor.a:: muttered hastily his last dire rumors. ssian cavalry were coming. The mountains were now i the dread Albanian frregulars. Coleman had thought in h tramp that he had appreciated the noble distance he knew g of their nobility until he tried made on th And the s of the little ho ng with hamme The correspondent glanced continuoally up at t side he could sometimes hear the metallic clin a glen. For the first n holster and let his fingers remain on the handle of his revol not hoc hard road . From just in front of him he could hear the chattering of the dragoman’s teeth which no attempt at more coolness could seem to prevent. In the mean- time the casual manner of the little gray horse struck Coleman with maddening vividness. If the blank darkness was simply fllled with fero- clous Albanians the horse did not care a button; he leisurely put his teet down with a resounding ring Coleman whispered hastily to the drago- man, “If they rush us, jump down the bank, no matter how deep it is. That's our only chance. And try to keep together.” All they saw of the universe was in front of them, a place faintly luminous near their feet, but fading in six yards to the darkness of & dungeon. This represented the bright white road of the daytime. [t had no end. Coleman had thought that he could tell from the very feel of the alr some of the landmarks of his daytime journey, but he had now no sense of location at all. He would not have denied that he was squirm- ing on his belly like 8 worm through black mud. They went on and on. Visions of his past were sweeping through Coleman’s mind precisely as they are said to sweep tbmufh the mind of a drowning person. gut he had no regret for any bad deeds; he re- gretted merely distant hours of &ma and protection. He was no longer & hero going to rescue his love. He was a slave making a gasping attemgt to escape from the most incredible tyranny of circumstances. He half vowed to himself that If the God whom he had in no wise heeded would permit him to crawl out of this slavery he would never again venture & yard toward a danger any greater than mar be ljwnrred from the police of a most glr?er metropolis. If his juvenile and uplifting thoughts of other ys had reproached him he would simply have repeated and re- peated, “Adventure be damned. It became known to them that the horse had to be fed. The debased creaturs was asserting its right to do as it had been trained—to follow $ais Tight durips & situation Whioh requireg GRABBING OUT HIS REVOLVER HE AIMED IT’ /_\FQOM THE TOP OF HIS IMPROVISED AG rom co ahead ng the Seirioezie® vy ot B PR R ST BT I r8e :ng omsg uce Coleman to g ahea Ie-d.tnr:‘tno se. Coleman, of course, had to succumb. The xwhw % l.né tearfully whisper malodio- g: lute bfi' it 4 not ses his it e e Nl B R e us| e H 1] ese frights out to be the m s little tri effects leaves, but they were replace ‘water\or the of ng the same torrenta in slight y‘flflu—m‘? forms. Then the poignant thing interpolated, A volley crashed ahead of them some half a mile away and another volley answered from a still nearer point. Bwishing noises which the correspondent had heard ! now knew to have been from the passing o lets. He and t came stock still. They heard three other vi g with the abrupt lamor of a hall of little stones upon a hollow surface. Coleman and the ragoman came close together and looked into the whites of each other's hastly horse at that moment stretched down his neck a?’.g wer! eyes. The began placidly to pluck the grass at the roadside. equally blank with fear and each seemed to seek in the other rampant manhood upon which he could lean at this time. Behi were the Turks. In front of them was a fight in the darkness. In {t was mathematic to suppose In fact were also the Turks. T barred; enclosed; cut off. e end was come. Even at t! moment they heard from behind them the so slow, stealthy footsteps. They both wheeled Instantly, choking w additional terror. Coleman saw the dragoman move swiftly to the sl of the road, ready to jump into whatever abyss happened to be B! Coleman still gripped the halter as if it were in truth & straw stealthy footsteps were much nearer. Then it was that an anity ca upon him as if fear had flamed up within him until it gave hi mi flecent des(perluan of & madman. He jerked the gray horse b to the approaching mystery, and grabbing out his revolver almed it from The two men the top of his improvised bulwark. He halled the darkness. “‘Halt! Who's there?’ He had expeoted his voice to sound like a oan, but instead it happened to sound clear, stern, commanding, H.ko go volce of & young sentry an encampment of volunteers. He did not seem to hayve any privilegs of selection as to the words. They wers born of themsalves. Hes waited then, blanched and eless, for death to wing out of the darkness and strike him down. He heard a voice. The voice sald: ‘Do you speak English?’ For one or two seconds he could not even unde stand English, and then the great fact swelled up and within him. ;h(l yoloe lti all its new q\uv%rl was still undoubtedly the voice of Pro- fessor Harrison B. Walnwright of Washurst College. CHAPTER XIIL A change flashed over Col u:fuhnfle%mnmm anlm }{o had known the ‘egsor long, but he had never Qe:s :‘ & guaver in his voice, and it was this little quaver t seem to Impel him to supreme- al of the dangers which he looked upon 28 ReTE, To cpeke he Spofe in . Tow tone: J"&“‘&Z’mi. the master & spoke he spo) a4 low H o n He co\gld hear his dupes fluttering ther: n}L darkness, of the situation. ‘&‘es," he said, “I speak Epglish. Thers is some dacser. Stay where you e and make no noise,” was as 0ool as an iced drink. To De spre e circumstances had in no wise changed as to his personal danger, bus beyond the important fact that there were now others to endure it wit| him he seemed able to fo: it in a strange, unauthorised sense of tory. It came from the professor's quavers. ‘Meanwhile he had forgotten the dragoman, but he recalled him mw o bid him wait. Then, as wejl conc s{nn monk hiding Nfin . tiptoed back into a group of pecple 0 knew him Intl; ly. cerned two women mounted on liti horzo- ,ind about ti uuth ‘].'h rd. It men. He could hear them a; is all right, smoothly. “You ogly need to — Suddenly out of the biackness projected & halt ww b was the face of the little professor. He stamm 3 e—we—do m reslly speak English?” Coleman in his feeling of superb trtumph oo eady as hemp, s was ost have laughed. s D ‘were %m- &0 s haste nllow“'” Ig. ster rebul old gro— r. “Di you hear me?™ he hissed through his tightening flips. -x-EZ, are fighting just ahead of us on the and if you want to save yourselves don’t waste time.” Another face loomed faintly Mke a mask painted in ETRY, et teumsly Broathed oat 4 Tl Taoa o an &n y ou tlyp-!h:pmn-?ondenfif it ‘avout bim that kind of e tumult which lfiféi tnns'upmgu .‘ri“!;'oa :n flf' tthn 1t &uzm': 08t tho tric moment 8 Te. e an quickly toward & . go beljeved that one was making foolish gestl fi!m"whil the of Ft A a !g.ednt : s lllteg ?n. he knew toh o m oon; she d!d not move. nly a woman Ww o0 g not cgre for him would have moved. l,':l‘hll appli rectly te what he thought he knew of s nature. There was confusion among tha students, but Coleman suppressed it as BULWARK in such a situation might & centurion. *B-s-steady!” He seized the arm of the professor and drew him forci close. “The condition is this,” he whispered rapidly. “We are in a fix with this fight on up the road. I was sent after you, but I can’'t get you into the Greek lines to-night. Mrs. W V. t and Marjory must dismou and I and my man will take the horses o . All the rest of you must 50,57 about a hun d feet into the woods and hide. When I come back I'll hall you and vou answer low.” The professor was like pulp in his grasp. He choked “oleman” in agony and wonder, but he obeyed with leman sprang to the s y figure he satd authoritative o a fitt d and dropped from her hors lse to clin; 9 hem immedlately, imparting to h s the darkness permitted him a kind of casual polit as if he were too intent upon the business in hand. He bunched the crowd and shed them into the wood. Then he and the dragoman took the ho indred yards onward and tethered them. No one would care if they were stolen; the great point was ta get them where thelir noiss would have no power of revealing the whole party. There had becn no further firing. After he had tied the little gray horse to a tres he unroped his lug- gage and carried the most of it back to the point where the others had left the road. He called out cautiously and received a sibilant answer. He end the dragoman hunted among the trees until they came to where a forlorn company was seated awalting them, lifting their faces llke frogs out of a pond. His first question did not give them any assurance. 3 sald at once, “Are any of you armed?”’ Unanimously they lowly breathed “No.” He searched them out one by one and finally sank down by the professor, He kept a sort of hypnotic handcuff upon the dragoman, be- cause he foresaw that this man was really going to be the key to tha best means of escape. To a large neutral party wandering between hostils lines there was-technically no danger, but actually there was a great deal. Both armies had too many irregulars, lawless hillsmen come out to fight their own way, and if they were encountered in the dead of night on such hazardous ground the Greek hillsmen with their white cross on a blue fleld would be precisely as dangerous as the blood-hungry Albanians. Coleman knew that the rational way was to reach the Greek lines and he had no Intention of reaching the Greek lines without a tongue, and the only tongue was in the mouth of the dragoma He was correct in thinking that the professor's deep knowledge of the ancient ]&nguaie would give him !msfi clue to the speech of the modern Greek. As he settled himself by the professor the band of students, eight in number, pushed their faces close. e did not see any reason for speaking. deep silencé in which he felt that all were bend!n?’ to hearken to his words of council. The ;g‘oleuof huskily broke the stillness. “Well * » » ‘What are we to do now?’ - i Coleman was decisive, indeed, absolute. ‘“We'll stay hers until daylight unless you care to get shot.” “All right,” answered the professor. He turned and made a useless remark to his fiock, ‘‘Stay here.” Coleman asked civilly: ‘“‘Have you had anything to eat? Have you got anything to wrap around you?” Continued next weelk, There were thirty seconds of