OUT OF THE TRIBE OF AHLI.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10580, 8 October 1910, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUT OF THE TRIBE OF AHLI.

CBv Julia Lee Logan and Yates Stirling, Jr.)

It was a young face, smooth and fair, Jnit not without the delicate traceries ol a heart-history. it looked eagerly out across the quadrangle, where a band of troopers were m«iT coining into sight. The horses movc-d slowly, some of them bearing a double burden. The mam body drew Tin at tile barracks, while a few moved 'on toward the little hospital. The woman who watched at the window turned pale. Her hand clutched at the bamboo shade as her eyes _tolimved the forms of the men who lifted., burdens from the bapks of the. horses, anil bore tiiem into the buildmg. . llien all was quiet as before. The quad-, rangle lapsed into careless slumber;-The ; limed roads gleamed under the wlnte jjo.it of the afternoon sun. :The. luxuriant ylangylang and the myriad, spreading palms were as still as painted tures. The woman waited; every • lierve tense and vibrant.. Her eyes clung'unwaveringly to the door in: the .little building through which the inanimate bundles had been carried. After a while a man came out or the door, walking slowly—a tall man, his left arm in a sling. The woman s breath came" faint and slow. He started across the quadrangle toward her—and she sank into the chair behind her, a innp little heap of relief. A moment more and ; a strong arm lifted her, a rough sun-browned cheek sought hers. . "It's only a scratch, sweetheart, ' he whispered, "and you're a soldier's bravo little wife." . ••I'm not," she answered, with a . pathetic, cliild-like slirinldng from the; blood-stains on his khaki coatj "I don't want to be brave! I only want to cr v." She buried her face on his duststained shoulder but the tears did not , C °''t'must go to the Colonel now," he said presently, -'but" I'll be back very j soon." ' ■ i t -j. 1 She stood away with a sweet dignity; to lot him go, 'and watched" him as lie , Btrodo away from her into the compound. She could see the flag hang- ( f n rr limp and irresponsible from the tall 1 s taff. It did not care that it proclaim- c c( ] that here was the heart of power \ and of peril—in this sleepy town of c jolo, by the balmy Sulu Sea. £ She turned toward the dopr at her left, standing a moment to listen. A. f sharp rapping sound was heard, then a- r baby's crow of delight, and the clapping of tiny hands. • t She opened. the door. There was her s £Oii and his Moro nurse engrossed in an c exciting charge of infantry which was taking place on the floor. The mother c knelt and snatched the little one up in her ;irms. o "No, 110!" expostulated the infant, n becoming a wriggling mass of eager- g ness to get back to'the battle field. '•No, 110!" he reiterated excitedly, ii "Baby slap army—Baby shoot him." " And with that, Baby kicked until the t\ soldiers 011 the floor trembled with terror. . f. The grave responsibility of his office, ti however, failed to impress : his mother ri as she held him yet more closely 1 , rock- >' ing him the while and crooning softly, "He's come back!' He's come back!" I The kicking and wriggling continued, a though less violently. "It's all over, precious sing, it's all *• over!" she chanted with rapturous t caresses. ° (

Suddenly the small form relaxed and a stiff little forefinger was raised to touch an arrested tear-drop on her face —as if it were something new and strange, and worth investigation. After solemn contemplation of the slow disappearance of the moisture from bis finger-tip, the small person decided not to discuss the matter, and remarked with seeming irrelevance, "Favor aw gone—Faver aw gone." "Xo, little son, Faver'scome —Faver's come!*' was the joyous refrain. At the sound of footsteps in'.the room behind them she looked up. The soldier stood in the doorway. The mask of sec purpose had fallen away, and for an instant the exultant defiance of youth and gladness gleamed in his face is lie held out an arm to fold them, close.

"What does the Colonel say, Jack?" ventured the little wife, after the nurse Lad claimed her charge and home him airav.

"Nothing is to be done yet," he answered in monotonous tones, "he hopes to avoid war and has sent a message to Ahli, inviting him t<3 a conference, But while we are waiting Ahli is growing stronger. The Dattus from all over the island will unite with him, believing us cowards, if wo do not punish his treachery immediately." Thou he turned his face up to look at him. "Dearest," he said slowly, "do you know what'it will mean?" She made no answer: "I shall have to send you away from me."

"And this a walled town?" she demurred faintly. "fiut you see," he explained, "we have only four troops of cavalry and a battery of artillery, scarcely four hundred men at present strength, while the enemy number thousands. I don't fear their taking the town without aid from the inside, bat who knows the temper of the iloros living in our very midst? You see when the troops are out and the garrison here reduced to a minimum, then—" he broke off, holding her to him almost desperately. Then he went on calmly, "The Colonel is sending all the women away on the Labuan. She sails in three days. You can stay in Zamboanga until thisMows over." Her clasp of his hand grew tighter, and her eyes clung to his face. She feared nothing but the distance that would lie between them. '•Winifred, dear, if we could be sure that all the town natives were like Salima.''' ho began casually, after a lit-' tie while, "then we —" he glanced out of the window just in time, to see his young heir clasped in the nurse's arms hi an ecstacy of affection evidently fluite distasteful to that small person's -uijdo Saxon blood. ' . "Oh, she is such a treasure!" replied Winifred suppressing a little sigh. When, an hour later, the Captain returned from a conference -with the quartermaster he found Winifred,' a Pale pensive little flower, drooping in the midst of the bows and billows of her dinner dress. "Jack, dear, you are so worn," she wooded. "Can't we send out regrets this tinier" "Now. wouldn't I do playing a great hero for Mrs Ingalls and the Major!" be replied, pinching her cheek. "Why. "out yon realise that "the fight has all t0 he done over to-night^—with much greater precision?'" So !io u as got into his white regalia, ""laments and all, in spite of tho bandaSod arm. Winifred ran away for a last hovering over the little crib whore' tranr.nillity .slept the little worn victor 01 ii'iiiimeralile battles of the day. "Jake good care of him, Salima!" . It almost ;l Jilt, as she halted at the <a>or. ]" or v ~& s j le no i very young aim Messed, and had she not just "■■audit sight of the six feet of strength •?'"• prowess—s-afe and close, and wait"'•K.to } v:H ] i, or out m to their little ad'wni.g world! •Minna made a low assent in her own toiigiii'. but as her glance followed her raciiiin young mistress there was a look in ],;>,. oves tha-fc mistress did not see.

"IXuft you think. Jack," Winifred eliatt-.Med out of, sheer reaction of •fart, as .she fluttered along on her hus":'ii., s arm. 'T)ou't you think sonintinies Salima has a strange poetic oeatitv:-"'

s of a very picturesque type, cer-. !, n 'n ■■'"'" ' lO "plied absently. IMrs JnK|ills swept them in on a tide of effusion a I'ravo for the hero and a kiss < f s P (Sri:l l tenderness for the pale cheek of »ip little wife. . During the dinner the hostess dragged m: m Braisted a reluctant and fragmentary story of the fight—his almost "iiraailous escape from, the Moro chief who had rushed upon him from the {•"isle, ar.d who had notfallen until l>is knite had drawn" the life-blood of thf w.Ptain's horse. Winifred's eye shone ''tli something beyond'"pride ns h*r ear caught the abides of :- le under officers, who recounted the J™ of the young captain, deeds '"eh "one man in a thousand would uave had the nerve to attempt." - Atter dinner all the ladies of the garflSf)n trooped in to pay homage to her uer °, who sat in the midst of it with

the air of one to wliom the future looms I too large to be more than half mindful r of the present. He noticed that the rrnjor, with some irritation, left the room at a servant's announcement of one Chang Woo —-but I when he returned the look of irritation had given place to one of tense purpose. He"sought out Captain Braisted with a haste that gave the lie to the lightness of his words: . '•Jack, my boy. I'm going to waive hospitality and excuse you now. You look ghastly—you're all in! And little Mrs Captain Jack—you must remember she passed through the battle to-day, too." "Yes," replied the CaptaiD, rising and' none deceived, "arid it was ■ her first."

Along the clean narrow street he felt Winifred'tremble against his side. The shadow of an unnamed fear bore them, precipitously along. ■, .' • She rah. up the steps ahead of him and turned up the lamp in the drawing room.

Before he could reach her he heard her little - pitiful, half-smothered cry from the nursery. She groped blindly for him through the open door and sank unconscious in his arms., He laid her gently on a couch, then made a rapid search through all .the rooms of the little house, finding them empty, and silent. As he entered the drawing-room the major and Chang Woo were coming in at the front door. No one spoke. The stricken man sank down by Winifred's side, for a moment, helplessly regarding the little limp, cold hand that" lay in his. The Major ordered a waiting servant to summon Mrs 'lngalls, while Chang Woo, stuttering with importance and commiseration, bespoke tho captain. "Salima, you savee? —he you girl—allee same Amah. Ahli alee same father. Plenty bad —you kill he Mother to-day. Plenty tlouble—Ahli catchee_ you babee."

Braisted struggled to his feet, grasping the edge of a table to steady himself. As he did so he displaced a paper lying on an open magazine. Mechanically he -picked it tip and looked at the strange Arabic characters traced thereon in an unsteady hand. Major Ingalls took it from him and read aloud:

"Ahli commands me to bring the child. I dare not disobey; He send this message to the captain:: 'The life of a chief for the life of a chief. Deliver up your body to Ahli and the child shall be returned to its mother's arms. Ahli hath spoken'!" Jack returned to .ministering.to Winifred, and. the Major, assisting, said in matter-of-fact tones, "Only a faint, you know:—rthe best thing that could happen to her. I've sent for Mrs Ingalls—she'll -take good care of the little girl." "Yes," returned Braisted, seeking his cap, "I must go to the Colonel." "Perhaps the girl has not gotten out of the town," went on the Major's busi-ness-like voice, "I have sent.: men to the gates." "No hqpe of that," replied Braisted in flat tones, as lie reached the door, "the guards all trust her. The child would "be a mere bundle of clothes." „At the end of the Captain's s£ory sudden tears sprang to the eyes of the grizzled old Colonel and. his hand rested gently on the shoulder of the young father, "as he said: "This post is at your command, Jack. I shall be. guided by your wishes. Keep a cool head."

It was two hours later ..that the Captain held Winifred in a close farewell. Her dry strange whispers and the cowed look in her eyes clutched at his heart with a new anxiety. With this scene behind him, arid God knew what before, lie rede forth at the head of his six hundred troopers—and Chang Woo as guide rode woefully beside. '

The mild tumult,of the horses' feet passed slowly through the gate and out into the jungle beyond.' They reached the main road by the old Spanish Guartel. Then they took up the trot with a thundering as awful and relentless as the feet of doom. -

When the guide signified that they were Hearing the fortified Cotta of the great Moror chief,'; they- -halted;'-. Grim and silent, they sat upon their chargers ■waiting for the dawn. At last the first pale sentinels of light lifted along the East, and the staring eyes discerned a grim gray wall ahead. "No random shooting!" was whispered along the line, as they unmounted. Slowly they eneircjed: the strong-h-built fort of stone, half-hid (in a gloom of trees. In five minutes they were on the wall, and their foes, aroused and frenzied, swarmed to meet them. Braisted gave a sharp command. Ten men dashed forward with him—and the guide—their revolvers barking furiously. At last the savages fell buck. A wild superstition filled their eyes' as they beheld the white chief advancing, apparently without danger, in the midst of their weapons. Through the broach in the brown yelling mass the ten cut their way. Braisted turned with a question to Chang Woo. The guide was not there. The Captain glared fiercely at the dozen houses before him. One of them must he Ahli's. "Mv God —which one!" he groaned. There was a rush of twenty of the retreating enemy towards the largest of the houses. "They made violent efforts to force an entrance, but the door held firm. _ As one man, Braisted and his comrades made towards it. The enemy held their ground with fanatical courage, but the advance of the handful'of Americans was as sure and calm-as. death. The savages yielded. But as they fell back thev fired volley after volley into the wooden structure they had been fighting to protect. Braisted stood on the threshold. There was a momentary flash of indecision on his face, then his huge shoulder struck the heavy door with a resounding thud. With the added onslaught of other shoulders the great timbers creaked and finally gave way, falling inward with a crash. There followed a strange dead sileuoe, as the men, halting upon the wrecked door, gazed into a large room, apparently untenanted. ' . A dim light.flickered from a wick in a- dish of oil. Its-struggles with /the wraiths of the new dawn stealing m -it tbe window, gave an uncanny expression to the gaudy hangings on the walls. The vital smell of the gunpowder had not obsecured the sickening must-laden air of the interior. . "Lima—Oh, Lima!" a tiny frightened voice piped out of the stillness. The father sprang to a far corner. Behind a heavy chest,, his little son was struggling to extricate himself from the deaef arms of his nurse. ~ • ■ As he caught sight of his father .the child's hands went to his face m bewilderment, the fingers leaving tiny, traceries of blood. Thou his" anxiety for release vanished. lie sat content where he was. Suddenly-realising the responsibility of his superior knowledge, he dipped his finger with great delicacy into the dark spot at his nurses breast. Then holcling it up for inspection " he said solemnly, "See —Lima hurted! "Blackwater hurted Lima. Lima aw gone seep." "Yes, little man, Saluna is asleep, Braisted uttered hoarsely as he gathered dhe little one into hi& arms. . His eyes wandered back and- iortn. aloim the trail of blood leading from the doorway to the form' lying prone at his feet. ~ . . ~ , At last she had dared—she had dared to disobey! - He passed the child into the arms ot the men who stood nearest him, and, gently lifting the. body bore it to;-the Soonvay. ,/,.'.,.'' ' J;/ The'hard,morning light fell upon the faces of the group, relaxed and-hag-gard. A frail sunbeam filtered through the trees and.peered into the face of the sleeper..' ' , , ~''-, "She had a white heart!-' muttered, the. sergeant, and he looked quickly away from the lonely form of the girl, lying dead among the enemy.