mE T-- TH te EE -- E DAILY BRITISH WHIG MONDAY, ' DECEMBER 23, 193s "THE THIEF OF BAGDAD' BY ACRMED ABDULLAH Based on Douglas Fairbanks' aay of the ; : Pantasy Arable Nights, by The Mosgol laughed disagrieably: teplied a8 disagreeably: , "A wise Mandarin once remarked that to speak of bgey will not make ' the mouth sweet, Personally I believe that you are both wrong. For'l am sure that this little magic apple of mine | will gain for me the hand of Zobeid if ~-gh--if she really means to keep her promise!" : "Eh?" came the Persian's surprised exclamation: + "You sees," continued the Mongol, "during these last seven moons I have often wondered if Zobeid was simply playing with us, sending us on impos sible errands, since, after all, she is a woman, thus perverse by instinct--or if she intended keeping her pledge!" The Indian looked' at the Persian, doubt sprouting in his brain as rice sprouts under the spring moonsoon: "Does she mean to keep her pledge? I wonder!" '"T wonder!" echoed the Persian. "Let us find out!" suggested the Mongol. "How?" . "By consulting the magic crystal!" replied the Mongol. "Why not?" agreed the India. "Why not indeed?" echoed he of Persia and of the paunch. CHAPTER IX. * Closely they crowded about the ma- gic globe, watching tensely, while the Prifice of India implored Doorga to cause the blessed miracle to material ize. Long and ardent were his incanta- tions to the goddess. Not that it 'was teally necessary. All he would have had to do was to_say to the crystal: . "Show me Zobeid!" and it would have obeyed immediately. But he saw here a good opportunity to impress the oth- er two with the social importance of his divine relations. So he chanted: . "Thee I implore, O Doorga, O Smas hana Kali, O Mighty Ruler of the Lower and the Upper Firmament! Be- hold, I am blood of thy blood and bone of thy bone! Hari Boll Hari Bol! Hari Bol! Thou art the Mother "of All the World, of men and women and éows and Brahmins, also of grief and laughter, of light and darkness and the Zodiacal Twins! Hari Boll Hiri Bol! Hari Bol! Grant me one boon | Show to me, thy blood relation, and to these two Princes by my side, though they are mere dust-created mortals, what Zobeid is doing at this very mo- "ment! Ho, Doorga! Ho, Devi!" Prince of FR At once the magic globe . clouded. Breathlessly they waited for a few moments while something -- perhaps the very spirit of Doorga--came out of the nowhere and wiped over the cry- stal with a soft, gigantic hand, causin, a great coiling of motley colors an interlacing of lines and curyes to pour down into the globe's opaque depths, then to separate, to-coordinate neatly, and to picture Zobeid's apartment as in a miniature. The saw every last detail of the ap- artment: the walls gemmed and inlaid; the floor of marble mosaic and covered with gold-thresded Teheran rugs; the carved Arab furniture; the great silver vases filled with a profusion of flowers, oringe-flaming lilies, deep-red damask roses, and ma of feathery parrot- tulips of the most exotic shades, some purple, some white-spotted and stained with cgimson and violet, others so dark that they seemed black. They saw the immense dressing-table with every- thing arrayed in proper order; attar holders, rose-water bottles, prepared sandalwood pdwder, saffron, and pods of musk. . They saw, clustering about Zobeid"s couch, a great company of men and women, amongst them her father, the Caliph of Bagdad. The latter had his head bent on his chest. His shoulders seemed to be shaking with great sobs. "What is the matter?" asked the Mongol with well-simulated excite- ment. ' Then, as though in answer to his question, in the miniature of the globe the Caliph turned. They saw tears streaming down his face; and, as the crowd about the couch drew aside, they saw the Princess stretched out, pale, hardly breathing -- on the point of death, there was no doubt of it Perhaps for the first time in his life, an idea not suggested by others pop- ped into the Persian's brain. "Quick!" he, said, stepping on the magic rug. "Come with me! Let us fly to Bagdad] We shall be there within the hour!" "ARQ!" gighed the Indian," "to cele- brate the death rites!" "Not -at alll Has not our eminent colleague from Mongolia the myster- apple which holds the secret of life and death? Perhaps he will be able to save Zobeid--for mel" "No! For me!" interrupted the Hin- du. "For myself! Just for myself per sonally!" came the Mongol's unspoken thought as he joined the other two on the rug. "Hari Bol! Hari Bol! shouted the Indian. Fly away, . O magic rug!" "To the west--quickly!" command- ed the Mongol The rug rose from the ground and cut rapidly through the air toward Bagdad, while down below, on the road between the latter place and Terek el-Beyyin field and village and desert and hamlet, the excitement and con- sternation of the people who looked up and saw the wondrous flying car pot, peaked to a hysterical pitch. Hundreds fainted with fright. Hundreds prostrated themselves and : Jraved to Allah and the Prophet Mo- med: "Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds! The Compassionate, the Mer- ciful, the All-Merciful, the All-Under- standing | Thee we worship, 3#d Thee we ask for help! Guide us in the straight way, the way of those to whom Thou art dou; not of those upon is Thy wrath nor of the erring!' The prayer was everywhere. - "The Day 'of Judgment is here!" shouted a Dervish. "Behold--up there flicth the Archangel Gabriel, calling the souls to gather before Allah's throne!" | "Allah!" "" Steadily the excitement grew. . Camels broke their halter-ropes'and stampeded. Horses followed suit. Dogs became mad nd bit stray human legs. Cats bristled their hair and scratched and hissed. (To Be Continued.) -- SIE But remember Eve talkin machineis no aVICTROLA > MASTER S VOICE Why buy asub- stitute you hopewill doas well. Genuine VICTROLAS cost no more Look for the trade mark "HIS MASTER'S VOICE J ~The Finest Gift of All! Plan Winter Sports. One of the features of the big pro- gramme of winter sports planned by athletic directors at Deseroanto is a skating race between two old-timers, which promises to attract consider able attention. The contestants are over eighty-four years of age, and both are active and are keen to "get away." The old-timers raced last year, and the event was talked gbout throughout the district for months afterwards, so a recurresice of the feature in this year's programme is sure to attract greater interest tham ever, Opposition is a good many timgs the death of legitimpte trade. A The World Will Recuperate. Albert rewuerat ¥n the January Yale Review. I am not one of those who throw up their hands in despair and mum- ble vague fears about the collapse of civilization. The world has been in just as serious straits before, and every time, after some suffering, it has recovered Fortunately there is a wonderful power of recuperation ifn lite which enables us to adapt ourselves to new conditions, how- éver hard they may be. The world will grope its way out of the pre sent chaos, and the enormity of the task will precisely be the'cause of its redentption. Great states have crumbled down, and, what is more | serious, tried ideals, morality itself are tottering on thelr foundations. The work of reconstruction ig im- mense not. only in the material do- main but also in the moral and in- tellectual. But the effort demand- ed is so great that it will screw our courage to the sticking place and call upon all the resources of gur Ca Four rows of delicate hand-hem- stitching form the border of an at~- tractive handkerchief that comes in white or colored linen of the sheerest texture."