The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 29, 1904, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. , had swept in such m the great lakes and nes of Egypt, and even ts full, show to hoped, to its outset it had been signs found other to Central retired a ued a lull, seen from the , ten , and then ne for civ- last camel, i it, for an un- s and temporarily at- tached 1 Soudanese, made the & -pher headqua. the general, but which himself rt, thick. ce and covered a in t offi- placid remar c spirit. With guilele manner he ut and outwitted the I f Orientals. He stood, a cigare tween his fingers, looking at the = ymer. 1 heard that you had come. Sorry the chief isn’t here to see you. Gone up to the frontier, you know.” y regiment is at Wady Halfa. I sir, that T should report my- there at once?” I was to give you your orders.” e WAy to & map upon the wall pointed with the end of his cigar- You see this place? It's the Kurkur—a little quiet, T am excellent air. You are ere as quick as find 2 company of the Nin to »n of cavalry. You will Joyce looked at the name, at the intersection of two black hout another t upon the several inches around it. g a we Not very good water, afraid t You soon get accus- tomed to 1 on, It's an Important post, 28 being at the junction of two cara- van routes. All routes are closed now, of course, but still you never know who might come along them.” “We are there, I presume to prevent g™ between you and me, there's sthing to raid. You are there ercept wmessengers. They must call at the wells. Of course, you have only just come out, but you probably understand already enough about the conditions of this countr » know that there is a great deal of disaffection about, and that the halifa iz likely to . herents. Then, again, Senoussl lives up that way”—he waved his clgarette to the westward—"the halifa might send a message to him along that route. Anyhow, your duty s to arrest every one coming along, and get some ac- count of him before y«u let him go. You don't talk A 1 suppose?” “I am learning, sir.” “Well, weil, you'll have time enough for study th And you'll have a na- tive officer. aething or other, who speaks English, ond can interpret for you. Well, goodby—I'll tell the chief vou reported yourself. Get on to w as quickly as you ean.” to Baliani, the post boat to i then two days on a camel " ert an Ababdeh aggage camels to tie own exasperating ver, even two and a half hour mourt up in time, and 2 third evening, from the heap of a which is : r Joyce ant clump of this cool patch peir out to nate had gre and he own. 2 place for ed had It was not an a lengthy e, bowl depres s of browa v There was the trees also beautiful to 1t exasperating in view of ure had provided her the very spot e is needed most. A single acia Gid something to re- Here Hilary Joyce » heat, and in the cool quare-shouldered, with their r funny lit- Joyce was a > blacks loved bashi w. »on But one day was The weather, the ish water look upo the fact t sh nat trees on store th At the end of he had been And then nething to break £ as the sun was sinking rode slowly down the old It had a fascination for row track, winding among and curving up the mul- n road. this na remembered how in the d gone on and on etching into the unknown heart of Afri- rough manry centuries had aten #m th, so that now, unused deserted, Il vwwvound away, the angest of r , a foot broad, and perl it was ps two thousand miles in length wondered s rode how long ourneyed trav; bad from thc south, and then he ed his eyes and there was a man along the path. 1 instant Joyce thought that it might be one of his own men, but a nd glance assured him that this not be so. The stranger was ed in the fiowing robes of an Arab, not in the clos He w n mad swiftly -fit ng khaki of a tall, and a high cem gigantic. He with b erect s ver :im alor strod and the bearing of a man who knows no fear. Who could he giant coming out of the unknown? The be, this formidable precursor po; of a horde of savage spearmen. And where could he have walked from? The nearest well was a long hundred miles down the track. At any rate, the frontier post of Kurkur could not afford to receive casual vis- Hilary Joyce whisked round his »ped into camp and gave the Then, with twenty horsemen at ck, he rode out again to recon- noiter. The man was still coming on, in spite of these hostile preparations. For an tant he had hesitated when first he aw the cavalr but escape was out of the question, and he advanced with the air of one who makes the best of a bad job. He made no resistance, and said nothing when the hands of two troopers clutched at his shoulders, but walked quietly between their horses into camp. Shortly afterward the pa- trols came in again. There were no signs of any Dervishes. ‘The man was alone. A splendid trotting camel had been found lying dead a little way down the track. The mystery of the stran- ger's arrival was explained. But w and whence, and whither? These were questions for which a zealous officer must find an answer. Hilary Joyce was disappointed that there were no Dervishes. It would have been a great start for him in the try and keep In touch with his ad- Egyptian army had he fought a little 4+ ol | ON YASHIMA | -~ --ll‘ HE Jepanese naval men have officer left me alone in a chartroom never been in the habit of invit- on an upper deck, whilé he hurried oft ing foreigners to be present at to his duties. target practice aboard their war- From the big yellow funnels of the ships, but it was the writer's luck fo battleship huge banks of smoke tum- witness Ly accident a reelistic exhi- bition of Japanese skill at gunnery. This was shortly after the Spanish- Americ war. The American troop sort of which I was then a petty s lying in the naval dry agasaki. This Kept us there & long time, and our captain had be- come intimately acquainted with vari- ous Annapolis trained officers on the Japanese battleship Yashima, aiso in port. One morning I was sent aboard the Yeshima with a message to one of her officers from our captain. When I had delivered it the Japanese officer said: “It's impossible for me to send my answer just now. We are going out- side the harbor for a couple of hours’ target practice. If you have the time to spare, you may stay aboard till we come in again.” The fmvitation was accepted. The bled up, rolling over the green hilis that surround the harbor. The cap- tain and his staff stood on the main bridge. There was a simplicity in their neat blue and white uniforms that made it difficult to distinguish their ranks, nor was there that pompous- ness of manner in them peculiar to many European naval officers. One little chap came into the chartroom for something and bowed very polite- ly. 1 took him to be a wardroom steward until afterward he turned out to be the navigating officer. A bell clanged faintly somewhere down in the bowels of the ship. They had been weighing anchor, but so noiselessly that I had fafled to be aware of it. Shrill whistles came from various parts of the ship, and groups of men moved about the decks with automatic regularity. Sentries with muskets sprang up in und¥pected spots as though they were shoved up countiess pads of innumerable. out of the deck. There was no noise, no hurry, no excitement. But from the small oblique eyes of every man came a gleam of intense professional interest. There was none of the blase Indifference of the soldier at drill. One of the for'd six-inch guns was to be tried first. Above, on the fore and aft bridge, stood a lieutenant with 2 pad and a pencll to record the hits. Beside him stood an ensign with watch to time them. It was to be a test of quickness as well as of marks- manship. Below a petty officer stood behind the gun, a wire in each hand. He was stooping, his eye even with the gun sights, his whole attitude one of intense mental concentration. For the first time I heard a word spoken. The lieutenant gave the word. A brilliant yellow bar of fire shot out from the muzzle of the gun. The at- mosphere crackled like new sheet tin. A ball of white smoke flew upward. A few seconds passed—all eyes were on the white triangle, a mile abeam. It seemed as though the projectile must have gone beyond the horizon line. Suddenly a white spurt of foam shot up from the Indigo water within fifty yards of the target; a long, thin thread of water, that opened at the top like an umbrella and came down in show- ers, A clang of the breech-lock brought my attention to the guns again. The gunner was once more sighting. This time he fired at will—he was trying to make time. Another crackling re- port, anather breathless interval, and the exploding shell sent up its foun- tain closer to the target. This was repeated flve times. At the last shot the target was hidden in the spurt of foam. The liteutenant rushed aft along the PR P AT WAS A HANDSOMM FELL Ow = ST BoOoVD GRAaA> EyeEs AanD A LONG Bl acrm PEARD bridge. A gun In one of the after tur- rets began firing, almost as regularly and as quickly as a pulse beat. DBe- tween each shot came the clang of the breech block. Evidently the second gun made better time; her shells cer- talnly came nearer the mark. A smothered cheer came from her crew. The officer skipped ’'midships, = the ensign with him. There was no mis- taking the repressed excitement of the gun crew. The men had thrown open thelr thick jackets—the gunner had thrown his off. His arms were bare; the muscles swelled and shrunk as though the brown skin held imprisoned snakes. His lips were parted, expos- zt his teeth as though he were snarl- 8.« His first shot struck the target full, putting & hole through one of the can- vas wings, the shell exploding slightly beyond. Again came an impulsive action on his own account. But even as it was, he had a rare chance of im- pressing the authorities. He would love to show his capacity to the head of the Intelligence, and even more to that grim chief, who mnever forgot what was smart, or forgave what was slack. The prisoner’s dress and bear- ing showed that he was of importance. Mean men do not ride pure bred trot- ting camels. Joyce sponged his head with cold water, drank a cupof strong coffee, put on an imposing official tar- boosh instead of his sun helmet and formed himself into a court of inquiry and judgment under the acacia tree. He would have liked his people to have seen him now, with his two black orderlies in waiting, and his Egyptian native officer at his side. He sat behind a camp table, and the prisoner, strongly guarded, was led up to him. The man was a handsome fellow, with cold gray eyes and a long black beard. “Why,” cried Joyce, “the rascal making faces at me.” A curious contraction had passed over the man's features, but so swiftly that it might have been a nervous twitch. He was now a medel of Ori- ental gravity. “Ask him who he is and what he wants.” The native officer did so, but the stranger made no reply, save that the same sharp spasm passed once more over his face. “Well, I'm blessed!"” cried Hlilary Joyce. *Of all the impudent scoun- drels! He keeps on twinking at me. Who are you, you rascal? Give an ac- count of yourself! D’ye hear?” Eut the tall Arab was as impervious to English as to Arabie. The Egyptian tried again and again. The prisoner looked at, Joyce with his inscrutible eyes and occasionally twitched his face at him, but r opened his mouth. The Bimbashi scratched his head in bewilderment. “Look here, Mahomet Ali, we've got to get some sense out of this fellow. You say there are no papers on him?” we found no papers.” of any kind?” s come fay, sir. camel does not dle easily. come from Dongola, at least.’ “Well, we must get him to talk.” “It is possible that he is deaf and dumb.” “Not he. I never saw a man look more all there in my life.” “You might send him across to As- souan.” “And give some one else the credit? No, thank you. This is my bird. But how are we going to get him to find his tongue?” The Egyptian’s dark eyes skirted the encampment and rested on the cook’s fire. “Perhaps,” said he, “ if the Bim- bashi thought fit"—— He looked at the prisoner and then at the burning wood. “No, no, it wouldn't do. No, by Jove, that's going too far.” «“A wery little might do it.” “No, no. It's all very well here, but 1t would sound just awful if ever it got as far as Fleet street. But, I say,” he whispered, “we might frighten him a bit. There’s no harm in that.” “No, sir.” “Tell them to undo the man's gala- beeah. Order them to put a horseshoe in the fire and make it red-hot.” The prisoner watched the proceedings with an air which had more of amuse- ment than uneasiness. He never winced as the black sergeant ap- proached with the glowing shoe held upon two bayonets. “Will you speak now?” asked the Bimbashi, savagely.” The prisoner smiled stroked his beard. “Oh, chuck the infernal thing away cried Joyce, jumping up in a passion. “There's no use trying to bluff the fal- low. He knows we won't do it. But I can and I will flog him, and you tell him from me that if he hasn’t fond his tongue by to-morrow morning I'll take the skin off his back as sure as my name's Joyce. Have you said all that?” “Yes, sir.” “Well, you can sleep upon it, you beauty, and a good night's rest may it give you!” He adjourned the court, and the pris- oner, as imperturable as ever, was led away by the guard to his supper of rice and water. Hilary Joyce was a kind-hearted man and his own sleep was considerably disturbed by the pYospect of the pun- ishment which he must inflict next day. He had hopes that the mere sight of the koorbash and the thongs might prevail over his prisoner’s obstinacy. And then, again, he thought how shocking it would be if the man proved to be really dumb after 2ll. The pos- sibility shook him so that he had al- most determined by daybreak that he would send the stranger on unhurt to Assouan. And yet what a tame con- nev, A trotting He has gently and - cluston it would be to The incident! He lay upon his angareeb still debating it when the question suddenly and effect- fvely settled itself. All Mahomet rushed into his tent. “Sir,* he cried, “the prisoner I8 gone!” “Gone?” “Yes, sir, and your own best riding camel as well. There is a slit cut in the tent, and he got away unseen in the early morning.” The Bimbashi acted with all energy. Cavalry rode along every track; scouts examined the soft sand of the wadys for signs of the fugitive, but no trace was discovered. The man had utterly disappeared. With a heavy heart Hil- ary Joyce wrote an official report of the matter and forwarded it to As- souan. Five days later there came & curt order from the chief that Re should report himself there. He teared the worst from the stern soldler, who spared others as little as he spared himself. And his worst forebodings were real- ized. Travel-stained and weary he re- ported himself one night at the gen~ eral’s quarters. Behind a table plled with papers and strewn with maps the famous soldier and his Chief of In- telligence were deep In plans and figures. Their greeting was a cold ena. “I understand, Captain Joyce,” sald the general, “that you have allowed & very important prisoner to slip through your fingers.” “I am sorry, sir.” “No doubt. But that will not mend matters. Did you ascertain anything about him before you lost him?* o, sir. How was that?” “I could get nothing out of him, stn®™ “Did you try?” “ “Yes, sir; I did what I could.” “What did you do?” “Well, sir, 1 threatened to use physle cal force. “What did he say?™ “He said nothing.” “What was he lke?” “A tall man, sir. Rather a desperats character, I should think.” “Any way by which we could identify him?” “A long, black beard, sir. Gray eyes And a nervous way of twitching his face.” “Well, Captain Joyce,” sald the gen- eral, in his stern, inflexible voice, “I cannot congratulate you upon your first exploit in the Egyptian army. You are aware that every English officer In this force is a picked man. I have the whole British army from which to draw. It is necessary, therefore, that I should in- sist upon the very highest efficiency. It would be unfair upon the others to pass over any obvious want of zeal or intelligence. You are seconded from the Royal Mallows, I understand?’y es, si “I have no doubt that your w:o(.l will be glad to see you fulfliing your regimental duties again.” Hilary Joyce's heart was too heavy for words. He was silent. “I will let you know my final decision to-morrow morning.” Joyce saluted and turned upon his heel. “You can sleep upon that, you beau- ty, and & good night’s rest may it give you.” Joyce turned in bewilderment. Where had those words been used before? Who was it who had used them? The general was standing erect. Both he and the Chief of the Intelligense were laughing. Joyce stared at the tall figure, the erect bearing, the in- scrutable gray eyes. “Good Lord!” he gasped. “Well, well, Captain Joyos, we am quits!” sald the general, holding out his hand. You gave me a bad ten min. utes with that Infernal red-het horseshoe of yours. I've done as much for you. I don’t think we can spare you for the Royal Mallows just yed awhile.” “But, sir; but—1 “The fewer questions the better, per. haps. But, of course, it must seam rather amazing. I had a little private business with the Kabbabish. It must be done in person. I 4i4 it, and came to your post in my return. I kept en winking at you as a sign that I wanted a word with you alone.” “Yes, yes. I begin to understand.” “I couldn’t give it away befors all those blacks, or whers should I have been the next time I used my false beard and Arad dress? You put me in & very awkward position. But at last I bhad & word alone with your Egyptian officer, who managed my escape all right.” “He! Mahomet ANT" “I ordered him to nothing. I had a score to settle wi you. But we dine at 8, Captain Joyce. We live plainly here, but I think I can do you a little better than you did me at Kurkur.” _—_ e % B1G GUNS | HOW THE JAPS FIRE | | cheer, or murmur of admiration, rath- pr. The small, black mustache of the lleutenant went upward as he jotted down some figures on his pad. The first shot evidently made the gunner overconfident. The four suc- ceeding shots were comparatively poor. Not a word was spoken, but the gun crew scowled. There came an interval in the firing. The target swung ahead. Then a small gun up in the foretop began sputtering nervously, the reports rolling above us ke thunder. All the officers on the bridge were gazing intently at the tar- get through binoculars. A circle of angry white foam appeared about it. The ship’s course was describing a huge figure eight. As the target swung around on the other beam an- other six-inch gun on that side opened fire. -After each firing the men slipped back the breech lock, pulled out the empty brass shell and slipped in a load- ed one with the regularity of automa- tons. There was not a trace of their repressed excitement in their move- ments. Only their faces showed the keen rivalry between the men who manned the different guns. Sometimes — they gave that muffied cheer, or again their oblique eyebrows became more cblique still and the corners of thelr mouths went down. Again the target swung ahead, and again came the thunderous roar of the smaller quick firing guns. The white wings. of the target almost disappeared in a holling circle of milky foam. In- stinctively my hands went up and cov- ered my ears; the atmosphere seemed to crystallize and break up Into pow- dered bits. A big gun In some for'd turret interpolated its gigantic roar at regular intervals that set the big ship trembling. We were coming closer to the tar- get now, and the firing increased. Slowly we passed it. Those gun crews not engaged in firing stood stolidly by their guns, staring fixedly at the tar- get. Their excitement had passed— their faces were as expressionless as that of the average Chinaman when he overcharges for the wash. Again the engines began throbbing and the green hills about the harber mouth rose on both bows. In half an hour the Yashima's anchor cable ‘was rattling out.