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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1904)
'Angus M, 1901 ( 'THE ILLUSTRATED BEE. 18 make among snakes, the snake of Billing ton O'Keefo. O'Keefe Btarted In. Ills llfo and liveli hood ho knew depended for tho tlmo being upon the people. He began at the begin ning with the temjdo of the coiled snake. II o manufactured brick and built a building that would have made a San Francisco builder laugh till his sides burst, but the Inhabitants of Swat wondered at it and gazed at It with bulging eyes. Then he built a house for the Akoond. All that O'Keefe did waa to boas the Job. He found fcia workmen willing enough to do the won derful things that ho commanded. He found a email lake upon a hill and laid a course of bamboo pipes and carried fresh water into the very midst of their village. He taught them to make pottery. He found some cotton growing wild and sent out a lot of pickers to bring It in. He built a cotton gin and taught them gradu ally to make cotton string and then to weave. He showed them how to cure and dry meat. Half of these things he knew; the other half lie guessed at. He even healed the sick. Last, but not least, he taught them to cure good tobacco and to make good whisky. For this they were duly grateful. They had been eating opium and drinking a mixture of opium and alcohol. In other words, he was all things to all men, was Eillington O'Keefe. Now Billlngton O'Keefe could not do all these things and many more without leav ing his Impress upon the time and upon the men about him. And be did. And he be came, by the assent, in fact by the sug gestion, of the Akoond himself, not only the prophet of the Snake, the priest of the Coiled Serpent, but also the prime minister to the Akoond himself. And tho Akoond resigned to him all the tusks of state. O'Keefe ran everything that there was to run. In all, O'Keefe's sojourn In that island at that time was not so many months. But be worked rapidly, and singularly enough, be had good material to work upon. He bad the freedom of tho Island and his word Was practically law. It was at this Juncture that the great American game of politics entered the arena of events in Swat. BlUington O'Keefe had become a popular man. His advent marked the commence ment of an era of prosperity. He had min istered to the material wants of a grateful people, and tlia people were anxious to re ciprocate. They had kept their eyes open, too, and they had observed that O'Keefe did everything and the Akoond nothing. O'Keefe was a roan after their own hearts. O'Keefe had don much tha Akoond nothing. Stupid as they were, the inhabi tants of Swat appreciated the genius of the man who could make the work of ten men ten times as light, with the -same result; who could show one man how to do the work of ten; who could invent and teach them new pleasures of which they had never even dreamed, and who could, In abort, make their life infinitely more worth living than it was before. To them this man O'Keefe, if not a god, was at the very least a prophet And all that he was doing was to teach them to live, to work, to enjoy themselves, as the very poorest white man lives, works and enjoys himself; that is all. He was doing nothing unusual. But to them he was a wizard; he was the Yankee In King Arthur's court. The Akoond was but an ordinary man. And so a low-voiced cry went around the principality. And the burden of Its Bong was thus: "Oh! Keefe! Akoond of Swat! Oh! Keefe! Akoond of 8wut!" in other words, it was late fall or early winter, and the election season hnd commenced. The cam paign was beginning. The Akoond did not enjoy nil this. At first he, too, had enjoyed und admired the genius of O'Keefe; many of the universal benefits fell to his lot. But being stupid, he did not grasp at first the meaning of the times. And beyond all that, he kept bis muscles in fairly vigorous trim. Surely be was the logical Akoond of the unwritten law. But the people felt otherwise. O'Keefe was the very man for them. O'Keefe was well satisfied as he was. He preferred private life to public honor. He. too, felt of his muscles, and then looked at the Akoond'a and concluded that it was well to let well enough alone. He did not hanker after public office. Be sides, he wanted to get home. But O'Keefe was flually forced into tha candidacy of the first office in the land. The majority were for him. A staunch minority, however, still supported tha Akoond. It was not until winter bad begun to break and tha spring had set in that the Judges set a day for the great trial of Btrength between the old Akoond and the new for no one doubted that O'Keefe would be the new one. O'Keefe roluctantly contemplated the situation. He went so far as to suggest a change in the unwritten constitution of the islanders of Swat, and advised them to select their high official by votes rather than by wage of battle. But religion and superstition were too firmly grounded in tho Inhabitants. They still believed in the supremary of the strongest man. but they knew that O'Keefe would turn out to be the strongest man. Had not O'Keefe done this? Had ha not dona that? And besides, tho coiled ser pent was upon his breast. But then there was a colled serpent upon the breast of Akoond. In vain O'Keefe atempted to show them tho futility of tho thing; they would not bear him. O'Keefo was indeed their man. As for O'Keefe, he was quite assured of two things. The first was that he would never stand up before the Akoond of Swat. The second was that he himself would never bo the Akoond of Swat He believed, too, that his failure to ac complish the desired object would be fol lowed by tho same social ostracism that bad followed the defeat of former candi dates. But ho knew that he must bow to the Inevitable. He had been unusually fortunate, and It whs possible that his good fortune would not desert him now. Now, the Akoond, albeit on occasions stupid, was at times a veritable schemer. He feared O'Keefe, but he did not relish a beating and the Inevitable sneers and out cries which followed It and lasted for years afterward. Physically ho was brave, morally he was a coward. He went into severe training. He was not sure that mere physical supremacy could do much, but he was taking no chances. He called Into his tent or hut eoine half doaen of bis chief counsellors and hit upon a plan. The day of the great fight approached. It was to be fought at sundown on what might be designated a holy day In Swat It was the first day of spring. On the night before O'Keefe, who had in vain sought some way out of tho predica ment, strolled down to the shore. He could not flee, for If he did they would follow and overtake him. He must see it out. A native touched him on the shoulder and requested him to follow. The native led him to a distant clump of trees. In the midst of which stood several men. One of these was the Akoond. Sev eral others belonged to the political party represented by the Akoond. and some half dosen were personal friends of Bllllngton O'Keefe. "Oh, Keefe," said the Akoond, In his native tongue, "I am still Akoond. To morrow either you or I may be. I am still Akoond today. I have commanded ' that you and I should have a preliminary trial of strength tonight These men know why It should be so, and they ac quiesce. At least, that Is what he meant. Akoond looked around upon his friends. They silently bowed. The solution of the mystery wan this. Tho Akoond, who was somewhat earful of being beaten by O'Keefo In tho formal trial, had also a greater fear of the huml'lation which would follow. He had purposed in his mind at the start to resign voluntarily and acquiesce in the peaceful choice of th3 new Akoond. But when he began to train end found that his muscles kept growing larger and harder all the time, he felt con siderable faith In his physical prowess. 113 thought after all that material thirgs were quite powerful in their way a.s were the spiritual. So he had concluded to s:e" O'Keefo out, fight him In a preliminary battle, and then, if O'Keefe were the win ner, he, the Akoond, would surrender his privileges, without a formal whlpp'ng. On the other hand, If once he could defeat O'Keefe, he knew that he could do It twice. And to do it upon the day of battle waa more almost than he could dare to de;!re. O'Keefe knew he was In for It. But h.3, too, had made some preparation. And te sides that ho was morally and phyjrlcaZly bold. He acquiesced. They bnred to the w.ilst; these two men of tho colled serpent. O'Keefe, big man that he was, looked al most like a pigmy as he faced the b'g black man. tho Akoond of Swat. Well, It did not take long. It was soon over. O'Keefe had stood up In many a fight. He had been victor in many, loser In many. But luck was against him. He had been tho victim of the "terri ble right" of the strong arm man. Smith. He had been knocked down and drngged out by Captain Jenks of the "Sarah Mar garet." These, though, were mere by-play. The Akoond was a master in I1I1 line. What he had to do, he did at once. In two minutes the limp form of Billlngton O'Keefe was hanging In the fork of two branches of a tree, where the Akoond had flna'ly tossed him, tond the Akoond was dancing with delight. The Akoond stalked off the ground and tapped his chest "I and only I," he as sured himself and those around him, "X am the Akoond of Swat" O'Keefe's friends stayed behind and as sisted tho vanquished to his cabin. They couldn't understand It; they did not know what It meant They waited for O'Koefo to revive. He did revive and he told them it was no use. lie told them that he never could be the Akoond of Swat, tht ho was sure of It; and that If he remained until the time of tha great battle of the morrow, he was sure .the Akoond would kill him. He told them ho must go and go at once. He was down and out. They must get him away. O'Keefa was in a frensy of fear. He bad been knocked about too much in tha last few months. F'esh and blood might stand it, but his nerves were giving away. Oet me away." ha implored of the friendly natives, "get me awny at once. They obeyed. They worked all night and built him a wide raft. O'Keefe al ready had tho same row-boat which ho had brought with him. But ho had Leeti afraid to trust himself again to the sea In a small boat The raft was different and much better. O'Keefe had recovered Just enough to superintend the Job. They followed his directions. And when toward dawn tho raft was ready, they placed upon It a quantity of provisions. Tho sun was rising as they pushc.l eft". It began to get hot at oneo. The wind was with them and they set a small sail constructed In a hurry. As they atartcd oft. O'Keefo with his right hand suddenly slapped his face. When lie had dono so, he looked Into his band. "By George!" he exclaimed, "a mosquito a Jersey mosquito nnd nothing else." When they had left the land some small distance behind them, O'Keefa held out his band to the two men who were with him on tha raft "It's far enough," he said to them, in their tongue, "as It la, you will have liard work swimming back." They shook their heads. "We go with you, Oh Keefe," they said, "until you find a ship." On nnd on they sailed Into the Pacific sea. That night O'Keefe, the proposed Akoond, was an unknown quantity In the Isle of Swat. The black man was now nil things to all men; he was still tho Akoond of Swat CHAPTER, X. To Avoid an EntfinultiiK Alll men. Mr. Constitutional Smith occupied a very delicate a very ticklish position. He know that somewhere on the face of the earth a man of the name of BlUington O'Keefe was moving heaven and earth to get back home. He knew that the entire New York police department and several banks, to boot, had thrown out over the United States and per haps In other countries a net in which there was great danger of Ills being enmeshed. His first Impulse had been to maintain his Identity as O'Keefe for a short tlmo only, to steal away some night with thg wealth of O Keefe. He had found that O'Keefe's wealth was merely a myth; and he found that New York still maintained In Monroe at least one man who had strong suspicions that all was not as it should be. He knew that if once he left town, wherever he ap peared after that he would be recognized at once as Constitutional Smith. The dan ger was too great. He was forced to chooso between tho two horns of a dilemma. He chose the lesser evil. lfe concluded that safety lay In maintaining his identity as Billlngton O'Keefe. He must stay and face it out and trust to luck. The town of Monroe does not know to this day that Constitutional Smith mas queraded at one time as Billlngton O'Keefa The town does not know that Ell l gton O'Keefe spent several months in tho Pa cific ocean upon tho Isle of Swat. Smith unquestionably played his part to perfec tionperfection to a greuter degree than was really necessary. Disappointed ns lie was in finding O'Keefe's fortune dwindled to cipher, S Tilth cast about for ways and means. At first ho had concluded that it was up to him to enter into a sys tematic raid, by means of a few swindling games ho knew of, upo:i the pockets of the richer men In town. Never had a crook Buch an opportunity as was presented to this man Smith. And that because behind him stood tho leputa tion of Uillington O'Keefe. O'Keefe, If nothing else, was a square man. Tha rogue's chief difficulty is that th-3 world lacks confidence in him. But the world be lieved in IsilTngton O'Keefo. Naturally, therefore, it believed in Constituti jnal Smith. It was the greatest chance of his life and Smith recognized it. "But ," ho exclaimed to himself. And that "but" meant much. Great wealth 11 a fine thing, If It can l:o properly enjyd. But Smith preferred to contemplate h's wealth In the fvee air, rather than behind cold steel bars. He underttood that It was possible to get away with many of the hard-earned dollars of Monroe. But the aftermath was too uncertain. Smith was governed by the signs of the times. It was necessary, therefore, in order that he might run the beRt possible rhanc; s ulti mately to enjoy full liberty and the pursu't of happiness It was necessary that he do something that he had rarely aver done. That was, to live an honest life. Hi determined that for some time to come he must not only resemble O'Keefa outwardly, but he must actually be O'Keefe, Instead of Constitutional Smith, strong arm man and swindler, he became Billlngton O'Keefe, an honest man. Two things worried hi in. One was the eoclal relation that existed between Bil llngton O'Keefe and a Miss Margaret Kobe son and her mother. The other was the social relation that existed between Bil llngton O'Keefa and the very effusive widow who had conferred upon him the $5,000 check. Smith was very shy of women. "No women In mine," he waa nee.ustomed to say, "they're too dangerous." He sized up wouiea as a clout. "They're all alike. be said, "tb y'r nil alike and I wouldn't trust one of them around tho corner, not for five minutes." Ho had alrjniied them as ft class. For tU'intcly for himself, he had never cared for women. But he had seen his fellow criminals rur?e their sweethearts, sinters, mothers, wivesfor Innocently and Inad vertently, or with malice aforethought, giving a rlue to the police which ultimately had proved fatal. Without women the polleo department would give up In de spair. It makes little difference whether they nre dealing with a defaulting bank cashier oT good family or a burglar of tha lowest Kind of character It is the woman, or women, that they watch, he the rela tions existing between them and tho guilty man legitimate or Illegitimate It makes no difference. At some time the woman will unconsciously betray the man, nnd the au thorities wait for that tlmo to come. Constitutional Smith understood thrsa things, and It was. therefore, upon princi ple that ho regretted tho advent of these women upon the arena of events. Person ally und individually he ndtnlred them. Miss Koheson from her picture nnd the widow on account of her attractive per sonality. Smith was but human, and judg ing the widow with a critical eye, he was forced to Acknowledge to himself that she was Just nbout his kind. In fact, when he held her hand on tho occasion when ha wnlted for the check, he felt two or threa pleasant litllo thrills run up and down his brawny nrm. "She's a good sort after nil," ho aald to himself, "If I were O K"efo I'd stick to her nnd let the little girl go, though hell knows she's all right, too." But as a matter of precaution he thought It well, If possible, to shuffle off both these women and thus lessen bis chntices of possible detection. Hut he knew also Hint ho must not evade the social duties which Billlngton O'Keefe would be likely to per form. He' was not disobedient therefore to the injunction of Patricia JelllfTc Robeson, directing him to obt.Tin nnd produce forth with before her the latest novel of the namo of "The Chilled Soul," und Incident ally to "come out to Jelllffo" and court hejr daughter. (To bo Continued.) RED -fr- GROSS 4 Full Quarts WHISKEY 3.00 Express charges prepuki. Recommended by the leading physi cians and used in all prominent hos pitals. The Red Cross Whtaikey enjoys to day the best of rep utations nnd stands above all In quality end purity. References: FIRST NATIONAL. 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