Argosy, Vol. 1 (December 9, 1882) — page 194: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A FAIR SLAVE TO THE MAHDI. 3187 ‘ Yep; and it’s agin orders, too. Horficer lookin’ at me with his bloomin’ field glasses, thinks I plunked a wounded sheik. I['ll show him.” He lifted the dead vulture in full view. “Wait a bit!” he said. “I’m goin’ to see wot this confounded feathered hyena carries around with him ” ‘ Come on, or we'll get a reprimand,” growled the elder brother. “ Just a minute!” persisted the other. “ Jove! if there isn’t some sort of a paper wrapped up inside of the scarlet rag, and writin’ all over it, too.” “ Mighty queer,” said the other. ‘“ Let’s see it. Sure enough. There’s ‘writin’, and damme if it ain’t English writin’, too. Wish it wasn’t so dark,” he mused. ‘“ Rawther like to see what the cove has got to say, whoever ’e is.” “See here! ’’ came a sharp command from the left. ‘“ You orderlies are a long time making trips. What were you shooting out there? ” “ A bloomin’ halbatross, sir, with red rags tied to his legs ‘ Halbatross nothin’, you fool! It was a wulture, sir ‘‘ I mean a wulture,” apologized the ycunger. ‘“ And the rags done up a message in English, sir. Don’t know w’ere it come from. Here it is, sir.” The officer approached and took the crumpled sheet. “ T say, Simmons,” he called out to a brother officer near, “ look at this. Two orderlies found it tied to the leg of a vulture they killed. Mighty queer ’’ He passed it to his comrade at arms. “I don’t see anything so remarkable ” | “You don’t? Why, read, man. It’s a message from some one escaped from Khartoum.” The officer gave a sneer. “ Nobody escaped from Khartoum—nobody could escape. Don’t I know these Mahdiists like my book of tactics? Bah!” “ But see! The man says that the Mahdi is dead—poisoned—ten days ago or more, and that Abdulla is his successor. You must agree that the thing is very extraordinary.” The listener was rubbing his chin meditatively. “ Take it to the colonel,” he said, and turned away to his work. So the message went to the colonel, and the colonel, much impressed, con- vened a score of officers inside the zereba. The strange document was read and reread aloud, its history exploited, and then a young lieutenant broke forth with: - “ Why, certainly it’s genuine. I know Bardoff—met him in Cairo. Tall chap, built like Apollo, and a remarkable linguist. He was supposed to have fallen at Khartoum.” “ As for the girl and the balloon business,” broke in another officer slowly, “ surely you remember the stir the matter made when the news was sent abroad that an American girl and five young explorers left the Congo region, the men being killed, leaving the girl in the balloon alone——” “ Exactly, and her brother is in his yacht at Cairo now,” interposed another. ‘Wanted to go up the Nile on the hunt for her, but they wouldn’t let him on account of the dervish troubles. Why, it’s all perfectly plain. They are over there in the Kohreb range, sure as you're born, and waiting to be res- cued.” 99 GORGE OOO @ UN ceo