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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1904)
3E OMAHA DAILY BEE; SATURDAY, MAY 14; 190. T THE SCARABEUS BV EDWARD STRATTOIM HOLLOWAY. (Copyright, 1904. by Edward Btratton Hol loway.) - -1. ; The hock given iy the cabled new had not ceased to paralyse and numb. Orson tood peering out Into the gray dimness of London) but hla thoughts were among the narrow itreets, the white mosques and un der the tarlng blue eky of Cairo. And Juit then the last letter Arkwrlght hnd ever written waa put Into . hla hand the letter of a man who had taken hie own life. It read: "Before me la a vial of the ancient poison. There! I have taken It. Queer the aolutlon never came to me before. It came just now an Inspiration. I have not alept for night. The last drop waa wrung out of life. What to dd With the UleleM thing? Destroy It, of course. Of course!" Orson dropped hla hand. "Mad! But thank Ood that he waa when he did that, He read on: "The treasures of the old kings are U your. All I But let me whisper to you; bend over. No 8shl There Is Thya. Don't tell her I waa going to whisper that. Don't, I say. Ood! I tell you don't! "And the Ptah-Hotep Bcarabeus. Do you remeTnber how it glowed and burgeoned; how the little fires of hell seemed licking up In ItT That la here, too. "Ask Thya. Bhe will give you all at the old stand. But you must com and get them. Tou will not get them else. I have told her of you. Bhe will know. "But llBten! Maybe you'd better sink them in the Nile. No! Ye gods of Egypt, Ink them! No! I say." The writing trailed oft illegibly Into noth ingness. Orson stood thinking. The warn lng wns plain before him; but Orson was a passenger on the next P & O. steamer. II. Orson paused outside the low door In the eastern Inferno he knew so well the narrow streets of the Oriental quarter of Cairo thronged with natives, ews, Greeks ana aaoors, wun occasional gnmpaes 01 falr-halred Circassians, negresse and the luscious-eyed maidens of Upper Nubia. He knocked. There was no reply. H knocked again the old, queer signal. In a moment the door swung inward. He opened his llpe to speak, but said nothing. A slow, scornful smile came Into Thya's face. He had expected and had shrugged his shoulders. But this was a queen. She paid little attention, merely standing aside. He bent his broad shoulders and passed within, "I am Orson," he said simply. She spread her hands (.bout her. "It Is yours." Then, taking from her dreas the scarab, she placed It In his hand. The place filled him with many mem ories; he glanced abouU-then turned to the girl to speak, . Bhe was gone. Orson lit a cigarette and sat down, lit It was a fortnight later. A strange rest lessnesa had taken hold of Orson. Fresh from the encounter on the desert he sat with his comrades in Julian's cafe. Cath- cart was speaking. "And Orson here, with his blond aureole and angel-blue eyes" Cathcart laughed "the devil's got him, too. Tou should have seen him handle the Arabs tha4 got after the stuff." "And I've seen him shift his step so he wouldn't crush a cricket," put In Zavakos. Orson flushed uneasily. "They were not cricket." Cathcart persisted. "No more than you are the old Orson." He turned again to Zavakos. "It wasn't the doing he was as quiet as a scythe mowing grass, but" he laughed again "Orson, all bell looked out of your eyes.' "Drop It I" . At the note In Orson's voice the two men looHed at each other. . But Orson was already talking of other things, his tones as gentle as before. Zavakos bent across the table that he might hear for the air was full of the clanking glasses, clamoring voices, the strumming of guitars, the clash of cym bals. Red rays from the perforated lamp above turned the blue wreaths of smoke into a hase of purple, and, beyond, through the archway of the court hung the flat, orange disk of the rising moon. Orson had his glass half way to hla lips then set It dowrt. That was alL There was not the change of a feature; but for Orson the world had turned over. There had been a man to whom, after months of legal contest, the courts had given Orson believed with a vile Injus tice the title and estates Orson ha claimed as his own. That man was also winning the one woman Orson would ever love. Then when the typhoon of 1902 had .truckrtha "Equator" In the Indian ocean and It bad gone down with all on board, with her had gone the man who stood between Orson and his estates, between himself and the woman. To him, as next . heir, the first had already come; the sec ond In due time he hoped to win. Now, across, the cafe, there In the arch way -where the moonlight fell, sat the man. There was no halt I nthe swing of the Inoident Orson told, but he was thinking a a man thinks who has but an Instant In which to decide his fate. He finished his story and, as the laughter of the others mingled with the noise about them, his glance fell upon his hand as It lay upon the table rested upon the Ptah Hotep scarabeus In Arkwrlghts ring-setting, encircling his finger. Its color was chnnglng irldescently Its opalesque tints showing sea-green and the Pink of the early dawn. Then among these, as of the sunrise, shot reddish lights, until within all seemed a living flame. And now In Orson's syes were the same glints of fire. He looked about him. Close by, beam ing, his one white hand rubbing the other, strolled Julian among his customers. "Pardon a moment." Orson rose. The cafe keeper turned at the sound of Orson's voice met the eyes fixed upon his own. He was under an obligation to the Norseman that villain though he was Julian would not likely soon forget. And, In that Instant of silence, Orson's gate seemed to remind him of many things. "Do you see that man there In the left of the erehwsy?" Orson asked carelessly. "Rather badly used up he Is; head leaning on his hsnd. Put a gentle dope In the next drink he orders gentle, mind you." Orson resumed his seat IV. It was morning. The sun had risen with the startling quickness of the east, nt now the cry, "Allahu Akbar! AIlalHj Akbarl Allahu Akbar! Ashhadu an la liana 111" Alan!" sounded from the neigh boring mosque. Iq the house which had been Arkwrlght' sat Orson, looking down upon the man stretched upon a couch. He tossed, mutter ing Incoherently. Orson forced a few drops of liquid between his caked lla. then re sumed his watch and his Inward struggle. The man's condition was clear to Orson. Worn to the bone with privation and the mephitlo atmosphere of the lower coast, fever had again begun Its ravages. The dost oX the night before still further be clouded the workings of his brain, but this would disappear. Te Orson, familiar with the disease, the course to pursue waa equally clear. He wa as safe In Orson's hsnds as In those of a phyalclan fever a Ion considered. But the light showed Orson's face ss haggard as the man's own. The struggle hsd been night-long. Remember! Orson hsd but to withhold his hand and all would again be his. An hour later and Orson had not moved. There was a voice at his shoulder, slowly scornful-- "In the days when there were men, what a man wanted he took!" Orscn got to his foot, facl.ig the womai ORSON'S HAND8 WERE ABOUT HIS who on that first day, two weeks before had turned over to him John Arkwrlght' possessions. The change In her was appalling. Her fresh beauty had died. Save to the variable lights in her eyes, life seemed to have gone out of her, leaving her shrunken, numbed. But as her glance rested upon the scarab on Orson's finger, her old animation re turned and into her cheeks came again the rich glow of youth. "You!" said Orson. "Why?" "Am I. not needed?" "No ". said Orson, harshly. "Then you do propose to take what you wish." She nodded toward the figure on the couch. Ha shook his head slowly from side to side. 'I thought not. Then you had better take that haggard face of yours away to rest. He is safe. What Is It to meT" And, though this waa but the second time he had seen the woman, Orson felt that there was little sublunary Indeed for which she cared. He rose, left the room and threw himself upon his bed. e Hours later, when . be again appeared, she would not go till he had sought his restaurant and eaten. Then, "I will come tomorrow with the muessin's call." He thanked her, but protested. Bhe glanced again at the unconscious man and asked suggestively: "Do you wish, then, to get someone ih to care for him?" There was no reply that could be made. Toward evening the man opened hi syes Intelligently and looked Into Orson's face. Reading no pity there he turned to the waU. Then over Orson came a spasm of re morse. He had seen In the countenance of the man before him the vestiges of that struggle which one knows who goes down Into death, and who, having by a miracle escaped It, with life, riches, love before him, had opened his eyes upon the face of one who would grant no quarter himself, Or son. And then the other side Orson's own once wronged out of all those things which make life good, Ood himself had seemed to stretch out his hand against the wrong doer. Bo his possessions had come to Or son with the hope also that when time had dulled the edge of sorrow, her lovs might return to him who had once believed It his own. Then had come the summons here, and with it some strange force into his life, which sometimes seemed to twist his na ture, aa be knew It, all awry. And now this! " The hour struck, and Orson, rising, took up the medicine and bent over the oouch. The man looked up Incredulously; then came the ord mocking smile that had al ways set Orson's blood on fire. But the man opened his mouth for the dose. Neither had spoken a word. VI. The next morning when the man awoki) he looked up Into the face of Thya, bend lng over him. Hla eyes opened Wonder-wide; he passed his hand across them as If to brush away the visions of fevered hours. But aha waa there still her haud now upon his fore head, delU-lously soft and Sympathetic. He took the medicine she ottered, mur muring his thanks. Often his eyes sought her aa row she leaned among the pillows of the divan. In her was both the listless charm and the swift alertness of the serpent, and In her lightly poised head, once more full of dark Egyptian beauty, was fascination. Twice, as she smiled, meetlug his gase, her eyes held his, but for the most part she seemed unconscious of bis presence. At last he spoke. "Why am I heref Bhe shrugr.ed her shoulders. The fierce hate again shone In his face. "What are you to him OraonT" "Nothing." Indolently she took a seat by his pouch. "Then why are you here. If I may ask?" ' She i untied atffUy. "Net on hU account. yon may b sure. But yon must not talk. Tou have been 111." Again she bent toward him, touching Ms forehead. "The fever I gone." Her finger pressed his eyelid shut, and he was con tent. For months he had not known the touch of a woman's hand. Neither moved. It would have been In structive to trie man could he have seen the emotions which played In her eyes amused, half tender, scoffing, satisfied, al ways subtle always evil. So sitting, st length she started and looked up, for Orson stood beside her. With contempt he looked her through. And to Orson, also, It would have been In structive could he have seen her face as he turned away. VII. It became an Immediate question what Orson should do with his prisoner. He wasted no time In searching for the mo tives of his holding. Though still resisting that mocking suggestion now with hint i THROAT, THEN OVER ORSON AQAIN day and night "What they wanted they took" he had ht mnn and meant to keep his clutches 'upon him. Wherefore, using the tools which littered Arkwrlght's strange rookery, he soon made fast the few avenues of escape from the inner room and transferred his prisoner thence. Thya he trusted not at all, but, after that second day, gracefully banished her from the house, though Inquiring how he might serve her In return for her kind ness. Bhe half turned, laughing over her shoul der. "Fear not as to that reward It will come." Orson did not admire complications. He shut the door with a shrug of relief. Then, to his wrath, he discovered dally evidence of her presence. He must go out for aid and food, and during these absences Ehe came and gloried In leaving traces of er visits. It was clear that she possessed some means of entrance unknown to him self. That she came and went without vis ible means he, with his Norse mysticism, was almost. Indeed, ready to believe.. And the prisoner? The second day, aa Orson left food by his bed, he looked up. "Fattening the calf for butcheryor what?" Orson's voice was quiet, but It cut the air. "Tou know what I want Olga and my estates." . The man met Orson's gase a long minute with all his wealth of Insolence; then rolled back, again with his face to the wall. Orson's fingers ached to wring out his life. It was the hour of the siesta and the streets without were silent. Orson waa alone with his enemy. The power grasped him, and his great frame moved. Inch by Defend Nerves and tissues by drinking QhlrardeUVs Ground Chocolate Contains all the nutriment of tocoa delicious, whole some, refreshing. Always fresh alwsrs reed v for nao. MEXICAN Mustang Liniment curr Frostbites and ChUblsOtu MEXICAN 1 Mustang Liniment litmt thing- lor a I aunt burst. MEXICAN Mustang Liniment tfjrlT mt mil fnflw sn wllcr mmmm n u Inch closer, closet. Now he bent over. The force of that terrible, silent struggle be tween good and evil reached the man wpon the bed. Though Orson did not know, beads of sweat stood out upon his forehead; hi hands were clenched beneath the sheet. He would not cry out, but his body quivered. He expected death. Then Orson gaeped, staggered a little and went out. VIII. Thya sat upon the divan, her feet earled beneath her. Her hand were preseed to her cheek, holding the scarab within them. Her long, black hair was down, and be tween Its strands looked out her face, alight with joy and passion, "And you, my scarab," she crooned, "again we are together. Centuries of ob livion In the tomb, and now he took you from me, but the curse still works. Didn't n see It that Arkwrlght engraved there CAME THAT PASSION TO KILL. t warn? When he profaned the tomb was he In too great haste to see, or did he fail to heed? Well, he Is in torment now, and, we being here together, the other will fol lowsoon." Bhe bent her head, caressing the scarab, laughing softly. "Ah! now I see: loose In your golden setting that Is why he left you as ha went out. The glow lights up In you. It will not be long now. He will again wear you upon hi finger, and then The days have passed and the other Is now strong. He Is there, quiet, alert, a cobra, watching bit Chance to strike." "But here, my scarab, Is M'sieu Orson at the door. All honor to M'sieu till bell take him swift and strong. He shall find you where be left you. Now. my scarab, oon!" e e e Orson was at work upon the setting of the ring; but his tools were not delicate. Arkwrlght's necessity had mainly been for heavy Implements hammers, bar and wodges with which to force the tombs of ancient kings. He had difficulty In closing the setting about the stone, and the ring remained somewhat distorted. Orson slipped it on hla finger, where It stayed. He leaned over, pressed It carefully against the anvil, rounding out Its contour. Bshind him, at the farther end of the room, silently, the girl was at the door to the Inner chamber. It opened. Bhe stood aside, pressing Into the man's band, as be came out, a long chisel. He stole down the room toward Orson. He raised the weapon. Orson turned and threw up his arm. The chisel flew from the man's grasp. MEXICAN . TAustang Liniment for Msui, Beturt r Peultry. MEXICAN Mustang Liniment bl Old Sore quickl , MEXICAN Mustang Liniment i Cus4-4 Uodaer Itt MCb n. 5 Pi o d B Orson's hands were about Ms throat Then over Orson came again that passion to kill. Before his eyes swam a red mist. He saw nothing of the man's face growing darker, more purple under his granp; noth ing of the wcmiB at the end of the long room, smiling, malignant, triumphant Or son was but dimly conscious of hi hands before him, grasping; while out of that en meshing mist glowed one spark of flame upon his finger. ' Then the light broke upon him. It was this that dragged him down. Throwing his enemy from him, he wrenched It from hi finger, dropped It upon the anvil at his side, swung over It a huge hammer. The woman sprang forward with a cry. It waa too late. The hammer descended the scarab flew Into fragments. The woman pitched forward upon the floor. Over her bent the man, and now be cried to Orson: "Take your cold, whit woman Olga. This is she I love." He lifted the prostrate figure and raised her against his knee. She was a dried and withered mummy. THE INDIAN CHIEF'S FAREWELL Pat net l Cplsode la the Weary Life f a Big Brkve Italklag the Pike. The Indian chief had stood silently smok ing his calumet for nearly half an hour, a contemplative expression in his eagle eye, with his navy blue blanket pulled tightly around his lithe and towering form. The sun was biasing down upon his bare head, but he, of course, fared naught for that, reared, a he had been, to the heats Of summer and the tempests of winter, with out any head covering to shield him from the elements, except ht long black hair, glossy aa a raven's wing. It was also glossy as a crow's wing, but the crow Is a common kind of bird, and no one ought to' use It in a story like this Is going to be. Many strands of red and yellow yarn were twisted about the two braids Into which hia locks were separated, and down the center of the parting of his hair he had rubbed a pinch of red ochre after the custom of his tribe. Across his eyelids and extending from their outer edge to his ears was a broad band of yellow. There were other dabs of color where his dis criminating fancy had encouraged him to continue the frescoing of his physiognomy. And he stood contemplating. Borne writers think that when the Indian thus stands or more generally sits, for hours, silent and melancholy, he Is brooding over the fading away of his race before the conquering paleface, but since the census bureau has discovered that the Indian la not fading, but increasing in numbers, some other reason must be assigned for this meditative tem per of hla. But these reflection are de laying. One of our party, after gaelng upon the Indian chief for some time In deep sympathy, turned to us and saldi "He Is thinking of his people tvien they used to roam over this country and It was all their own. I've no doubt It rankle in his bosom to see us building towns and railroads all over it, and using him a part of our show, when we hold a world's fair, I am going to sp to him." He stepped up and, holding out his hand to the Indian chief, said, "How?" The In dlan chief, without changing his expression or looking at him, took ths offered hand with a dignified gesture, and answered, "How." "What tribe you?" asked our companion, "Blaekfeet," was the answer, and you could oatch the proud Inflection In his voice, "They great tribe, once." "Yes; great tribe long age." "Are you with the show?" "Yes; Indian how." "Do you like show?" "Not me Ilka be free back In north, where my people were long ago." "How aad," Said our friend, tumtng to us, and ws felt all the pathos of that wild un tutored being's yearning for his native land. Just then we were startled by the Indian chief, relaxing the faraway and dejected lo:.&t In his countenance and saying: "Have yiu got a cigar i" One of us handed him a Havana. He lit It, took a few deliberate puffs, and broke out: "Do you know, gents, I hate to smoke that blanked old pipe; It's a nuisance- But It's In the contract to go lugging this con founded old blanket around, too. It's worse than a Turkish bath. 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