4 "THE. THIEF OF BAGDAD" BY ACHMED ABDULLAH Based on Douglas Fairbanks' Fantasy of the Arabian Nights, by Elton Thomas £ CHAPTER L J : In the Orient' otley, widted an- pals the tale of Ahfned cl-Bagdadi's-- #the Thief of Bagdad." as he is called in the ancient records-~search for hap- piness, which is by the same token 'the file ot his adventures and exploits and has assumed in the course of the character of something hom- something epic and fabulous, ' something close-woven to the golden of the desert in"both pattern and of romance. ¢ It is mentioned with pride by his own tribe, the Benni Hussaynieh, a i us-tongued, hard-riding breed of Bedawins, brittle of honor and greedy gain, of whom--due to a father, of the sterile Arabian sands and eager for the pleasures of bazar and parketplace--he was the city-bred des- endant. It is spoken of with a mix- of awe and envy by the Honor- le Guild of Bagdad Thieves of whom fie was once a keen 'and highly res- ted member. It is wide-blown ough the flaps of the nomads' black = tents from Mecca to Jeddah and ond; berry-brown, wizen old wo- gen cackle its gliding gossip as they y the coffee for the morning meal rock the blown-up milk skins upon ir knees till the butter rolls yellow and frothing; and, on the sun-cracked Tips of the cameleers, on the honeyed, lying lips of overland traders and mer- Shants, the tale has drifted South as as the Sahara, North to the walls of , stony Bokhara, Southeast and heat to Pekin's carved dragon gates and the orchid plains and ochre mountains of Hindustan, and West to the pleasant, odorous gardens of Mor- occo where garrulous white-beards comment upon it as they digest the brave deeds of the past in the curling, blue smoke of their water-pipes. * "Wah hyat Ullah--as God liveth!" their telling begins. "This Ahmed el- Bagdadi--what a keen lad he was! A deer in running! A cat in climbing! A snake in twisting! A hawk in uncing! A dog in scenting! Fleet as a hare] Stealthy as a fox! Tenac- jous as a wolf! Brave as a lion! Strong as an elephant in matingtimel" "Or, taking a blade of grass between umb and second finger, another an- nt will exclaim: ; . "Wah hyat hatha el-awed wah er- rub el-mabood--by the life of this em and the blessed Lord God! Never all Islam, lived there one to eqiml ymed the Thief in quality and pride, e scope and exquisite charm of his every!" ~ Or perhaps: "Wah hyat dugny=by the honor of my whiskers! Once, O True Be- it happened in Bagdad the t Aye--may I eat dirt--may I be father to my sons if I lie] But ce, indeed, it happened in Bagdad Golden!" _ AE I Re Iroquois talk And then the full, rich tale. The wondrous ending. Yet the tale's original cause was simple enough, consisting in the snatching of a well-filled purse, a hun- gry belly craving food, and the jerk and pull of a magic rope woven from he hair of a purple-faced witch of the left-handed sect; while the scene was the Square of the One-Eyed Jew--thus called for reasons lost in the mists of antiquity--in the heart of Bagdad. Across the South end of the Square straddled the Mosque of Seven Swords, raised on a flight of broad marble steps as on a base, lifting the apex of its wide horseshoe gateway fifty feet into the air, its walls untwining sinuous arabesques of yellow and 'elfin-green faience beneath the pigeon-blue glare of the sky, its lonely minaret lovely and pointed and snowy-white. East the latticed Bazar of the Red Sea Traders filtered the sun on rugs and silks, on copper vessels and jewelry and thin gold-inlaid perfume bottles, in an ever-shifting saraband of shad- ows; rose and purple and sapphire and purest emerald. North a broad, tree- lined avenue swept on toward the pal- ace of the Caliph of the Faithful that etched the horizon with ja tortured abandon of spires and turrets and bartizans. West squatted a packed wilderness of narrow, cobbled alleys; a labyrinth of flatroofed Arab houses with dead-white walls facing the street, but blossoming toward the inner court. yards with palm and olive and rose- bush. Here, too, was the dim, tortuous Bazar of the Potters, plum-colored Nubians brought as slaves from Afri- ca, and, farther on, a cemetery eriss- crossed with Barbary fig and the tiny stone cups filled with grain and water for the birds of passage, in obedience to the blessed Moslem tradition. In the very centre of the square of the One-Eyed Jew a great fountain played with sleepy, silvered cadences. And here, on a stone slab a little to one side of the fountain, Ahmed the Thief lay flat on his stomach, his chin cupped if his hands, the sun rays warming his bare, bronzed back, his black eyes darting in all directions like dragon-flies to give warning of rich and careless citizens who might pass within reach of his agile hands and whose purses might be had for a little soft twist and tug. . The Square and the streets and baz- ars were teeming with humanity, not to mention humanity's wives and chil- dren and mothers-in-law and visiting country cousins. For today was a holi- day: the day before the Lelet el-Kadr, the "Night of Honor," the anniversary of the occasion when the Koran was 'revealed to the Prophet Mohammed in the year 609. So throngs milled and moiled every- where: people of half the Orient's crazy-quilt of races, Arabs and Seljuks and Osmanlis, Tartars and Syrians, Race is not Dying out rap- idly as is Generally Supposed. of securing Re- the "Canadian | children and Mr. and Mrs. 'Style, Turkomans and Uzbeks, Bokharans, Moors and Egyptians, with here and there men from the Farther East, Chi- nese, Hindus and Malays, traveling merchants these, come to Bagdad to swap the products of their home lands for what the Arabs markets had to of- fer. They were all making merry after the Orient's immemorial fashion, res- plendently, extravagantly, and noisily; the men swaggering and strutting, fingering their jewled daggers and cocking their immense turbans at a rakish, devil-may-care angle; the wo- men adjusting their thin-meshed face veils which did not need adjusting at all; the little boys seeing if they could shout richer and louder abuse than the other little boys; the little girls rivaling each other in the gay pansy- shades of their dresses and the con- sumption of greasy candy. (To Be Continued.) A EUCHRE PARTY Was a Fine Success at Chaffeyls Locks. Chaffey's Locks, Nov. 14--~The eu- chre, held on Wednesday night, at the home of Mrs. J. K. Regan, under the auspices of the Women's Institute, was most successful. Mrs. J. Regan was convener assisted by Mrs. G. Gefford, Mrs. P. Watters and Mrs. E. Alford. Mrs. J. H. Dwyre won the ladies' prize: E. L. Fleming the gentlemen's prize, while the consolation prize was given to Mrs. J. J. Murray. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Simmons are spending a few days at Kingston. Miss H. Dwyre, Notre Dame Convent, Kingston, spent the holiday at home. George Burns returned from Cleve- land where he has been visiting. Wil- liam Doyle has a staff of men engaged at his golf course. He expects to have it completed about June 1st, next. Dr. T. F. Chamberlain is spending a few days in Montreal. H. C. Austin has secured a position in Williamsville, N.Y. and leaves today to assume du- ties. E. Sherwood, Ottawa, is guest of P. H. Wright, also Mr. Slater, Mont- real, who are spending a few days duck hunting. R. J. Fleming, student of the R. D. S., Toronto, spent Thanks- | . giving day with his parents. THE SERVICE RECALLED, Owing to Anniversary Event at Empey Hill Selby, Nov, 12.--A number from here attended the Thanksgiving sup- per at Grace Methodist church, Na- panee, on Monday night. Miss Flor- ence Abbott returned from the Gen- eral Hospital on Saturday last. The W.C.T.U. ladies met on Wednesday, There will be no service here on Sunday night on account of anniver- sary services at Empey Hill We are glad to say Miss Myrtle Coolidge is still improving at the General Hoepital, Kingston, T. Edgar has improved his resi- dences with a new cement stoop. 8. Mowers left on Monday on a hunting trip. Mr. and Mrs. C. Ballance and Watertown, N.Y:, were calling on friends here. Visitors: Mr. and Mrs. M. Hudgin and daughter at A. Woods'; Mr. and, dians. This left out entirely the Indians of the far north and of the Pacific Coast. Some have claimed that as late as 18568 there were as many as 150,000 Indians on Van- couver Island and the mainland coast, but that twelve years after- wards the number for the whole late. The at vice in World War though nota. tris." os ® latest uted bound to t. ae follows: -- : Prince Edward Island 235 Nova Beotis we. 2,048 _®Five Indiana bit the dust, Wut ritory in which to roam at will, |New 1,331 thelr comrades pressed cl still | probably militated at aspQuebec 11,568 giving vent to blood curdling war- much as lack of knowledge of the On abate 36,4 $6 whoops. Deadshiot' Dick smiled of writing as it was Manitoba ... een 13,869 grimly. He knew----" And when in ancient Europe and centuries be- | Baska! sre 15,914 you were reading ome of the old-|fore in the ancient Bast. ha AIDOIA ......ccooicnccrimnmnnoses 14,887 time Western storiss you knew also, | therefore has been lost that d | British Columbia oo. 22,377 Cat this paint. that PDéadshot Dick|have been enthralling to stu xX 'ukon Territory ...... 1,390 bad a surprive in store for|dent and the reader of A West Territories .... 3,878 the he was the main, but is writ- would la total of 346,963 first country, a gain of 1 be the eleven years. clusive of 60,000 + ITISH WHIG TT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1084 re COMMUNITY PLATE CLUB Join Now Kinnear & d'Esterre Bmp or Paap Desgw-Table Knives Hollow Hendle Modeled Handle Housewives, Here's Your Chance! Make your own Selection, any Design, any Pieces, any Sets A Small Payment puts it in your Home {The balance may be paid $2 each week You pay only the regular Cash Price. § ! $F hil HITE iif 5. 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A man is never a shining example gathered to give a shower of useful [ried in England and a distance of | when-he is lit, ' wn oo po 0b :