Beadle's Dime Library No. 157 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

4 Mourad, the Mameluke. “To-night I heard him say something.” a Indeed? What was it?” ‘“‘He said to Cafarelli, ‘it would be well worth promotion to any man who could find out for me whether those Mamelukes have an field artillery; but I can’t order any one out, the risk is too great.’ ” “Indeed! And what did you do?” ‘*T stepped up and saluted and I said to him: ‘My general, if you will excuse me from guard duty to-night I will go,’ and he gave me one of his sharp looks and asked: ‘Whoare you? [ stood up like a stake and answered: ‘St. sergeant of Guides.’ He turned bis back on me and walked away as if he was think- ing. Then he came back and said: ‘ Have you a horse? ‘No, general,’ I said, ‘he has had a wounded man on him all day.’ ‘ You can take mine,’ he answered: ‘he has not been ridden all roe i know _ — Mey) we Sa observ: angere, Gryly; way do (Gieete = pn I have no horse” : e “Do you yonstasber the general’s first order to the army of Italy?” ‘* No,” answered the master still more dryly. “T was in Holland with Pichegru. know not of your army of Italy.” “You needn’t sneer, my little man. The soldiers of Italy don’t deserve it. But I will tell you about that order. It said: ‘Sol- diers, you need ee and the enemy has it. You must take it from him. You can, i you have "" ** And I su ’ that Iam to find a horse in the camp of Mamelukes—is that what you mean? nk you. I prefer to wait till we have beaten them.” “* Listen,” replied St. George, “I offer you a share in this adventure because I think you to be a master of the sword. What I pro is this: Let us go out now in the dark, when no one will expect us, We will be sure to come on some of the Mameluke or Arab scouts and if we are sharp, we can take them surprise, steal a horse each and make a dash for their camp. If you are afraid, go back. Iam going on, Lafangere hesitated, but as the latter walked steadily away toward the desert, the Gascon suddenly matte up his mind, slipped his arm through that of St. and o ed: ‘* 4 maitre d’armes more or less makes no difference. Iam with you. But why did you not take the Ewe horse?” “‘ Because he was not enough,” said St. se whepaonys ih the best to be bad, and they are all with Mourad Bey.” “ Halte ! qui va la ?” suddenly rung out from the sentry on the extreme outpost, who lay be- hind a hillock of sand and heard them coming. St. George answered the challenge and gave the counte perp “We are going & a little expedition by the general’s . Have you seen any o " enemy since sunset?” - * J wt Bo a lot of vou ey the bill thn er,” said the sentry, . “ican sme e roast mutton at thelr fire in the little puffs of wind. Isit not a shame that heathens should feast on the fat of the land, while we good Frenchmen have nothing but dry beans?” “ Wait till we beat them,” was the consolin reply of the creole. ‘* We’ll have plenty, then. he soldier growled and resumed his weary watch, while the two friends stole forward in the moonlight, keeping under the shadow of the sandhills and stepping softly. They had no weapons but their swords, and as soon as they were out of sight of the sentry, they drew these and stole along like thieves. It was a well-nigh desperate task for these two men to hope to steal on Arabs, born in the desert, by surprise, but these were no common men. St. George, born in San Domingo, where the Maroons and Caribs still haun the jungle, and where ambushes were frequent, kept his me rolling on all sides, his ears open to the wer sto sound, and finally stopped short and w ered: ey are over the next hill. Down!” Both Frenchmen sunk to the earth and listened intently. y could hear the sound of voices and the oceasional rattle of a harness as a horse shook himself, The sounds came from the other side of a low hillock of san‘ that formed the bank of one of those canals of which Egy and which ore! “Sa theaPh eft dry and dusty im the hot sea- son, Into this canal the two adventu had crept, and had now come to the point bebind which enemies were sheltered; how many no one could say yet. 1 isten,” : the creole, ‘‘ we have only one chance—a rush b se, Ihave read about these , and I know that when they are on ror ag os never tie their horses. loose, ready to ted. kat my saber. It is that of the Ma ke. ou see it is sharp. (a ee “4 Lafangere felt the edge and uttered a slight ‘Mon Dieu! itis likearazor. Ihave cut the skin in just feeling it.” ———— ee | sR — DLL RRL LL SSS ‘Very good. Observe too that itis curved with the edge inside like ascythe and hasa broad back. One can cut off armsand legs with it like carrots. You have only your small sword, You must get a scimitar like this.” Lafangere shook his head. ‘*] am satisfied with this. I know the point and I trust to it before all your cuts.” The creole nodded. “Very well then, come along.” They crept gently up the embankment on hands and knees, and St. a ye over, instantly drawing back his head and beckoning to Lafangere, who was behind him. “ There are two Mamelukes; the rest Arabs,” he whispered. ‘* We can handle them.” The swordmaster crept up beside him and they both lay down on the top of the bank, look- ing down on a strange scene, rouped around a small stinking fire of dry camel’s dung, were about a dozen Arabs, in various degrees of ragged and picturesque cos- tume, with their swords lying on the sand, their spears stuck by them, and their scrubby little horses in a patient row, awaiting orders. Sitting next to the Frenchmen, with their backs toward them, were two men, whose bright steel helmets wreathed in gay shawls, their chain-mail vests and silk and velvet robes, no less than their very gorgeous arms, proclaimed them to belong to the terrible Mameluke cavalry, They sat gazing at the fire and smoking short chibouques in grim silence, as if they disdained to join in the chatter of the Arabs, who seemed one’ in telling stories. Beside them, their long bridles trailing on the ground, stood two beautiful bay horses, magnificently caparisoned, a carbine and a short mace hanging at the sad- dle-bow of each. The Mamelukes, as they could see, had the sashes round their waists full of pistols and daggers, each had his saber lying on his la The whole group was ee twenty feet off, and St. George plucked the sleeve of his com on. They were two near to risk a w , but he inted to one of the Mamolukes as if to ask if vafangere could make account of him, and the Gascon nodded and drew up his feet to make a spring. . reich bg cautiously they crawled to the top the Arabs being too busy to notice them, an on a sudden e a spring to the bottom of the bank, éach on bis man. St. George’s victim never uttered a ames as he sheared off his head at a le clip with the terrible scimitar, but the man who fell to Lafan- ere’s share jumped up, turned half round and ed to draw a pistol, just as the Gascon, with a straight lunge, spitted him, mail shirt and all. With a dying roar of agony and fury the Mameluke threw up his bands and fell, while the Arabs, who had for one ment sat para- lyzed, leaped up and drew theif swords. “To the horses!” yelled St. George, and in another moment he was in the saddle of the nearest. Lafangere tugged at his blade, but it was stuck fast in the Mameluke’s body, and St. Genrne shouted: ‘Take his saber and mount!” The order Was instantly obeyed and the two Frenchmen dashed into the midst of the de- moralized Arabs, where their skill with their weapons made itself felt in a moment. Had two common soldiers tried the same game they would have been cut to eet but two swordmasters, active, powerful and skill- ful, handled the Arabs like boys; so that in less than five minutes they fled, leaving three dead on the field, “T told you we could do it,” observed St. George, coolly, “You see the point is not always the best in a scuffle like this. Come, let us strip these Mamelukes. They are worth three or four thousand francs each; for they carry all they have on their backs and saddles.” ‘* We are fitted out,” cried the Gascon, full of delight. ‘*Who could ask more? St. George, you are a creole angel, and I will go with you wherever you will.’ “] will to goto Embabeh and find if the Turks have any artille To do that we need to be di as Mamelukes. If we are chal- lenged we have good horses.” ey hastily assumed the outer dress of the slain Mastnétakes, Lafangere ore “These gentry are well built. They would have oe us a pretty little tussle had we allowed them time to think, See, one, two, four pistols—English too—two daggers and an lish carbine—a blunderbuss and this saber ch, I must confess, cuts well. My man is a rfect arsenal.” a And mine is no lamb either,” said St. aor dryly. He has a spiked mace in addi- on. They rode away at a their good fortute, and Ge er eected, thelr course bt for the distant glare of Mourad Bey’s watch “TI have learned a little Arabic from our friend the professor,” he observed, as thev rode on, ‘and you want to know it too. If you meet a man in this country, you don’t say good- evening but ‘Salam Alecikum,’ Try it. ' “ bin a —‘ Salam Aleikum.’ pose he or wants to talk?’ “Then we must kill him,” said St. George coolly. “ It I mistake not, we shall soon have occasion for all we know, asI see the glitter of steel yonder in the moonlight.” CHAPTER IV. MOURAD THE MAMELUKE. THE two adventurers were oes camp of the Mameluke Beys, as they from the long dusky line of smoke that hung over the palm trees on the banks of the Nile by the little village of Embabeh. A low bank, that had the a of & fortification, stretched for half a mile cae the bank, and the space in front was dot with tents and parties of troops bivouacking, so that St. George observed: ‘* Those fellows are careless enough in all con- science, or they have too many men to get in- side their works. They do not seem even to have a picket out. Hallo! who's this?” As he spoke they descried a rapidly movin figure dashing through the enemy’s camp, fol- lowed by several others, all horsemen, and saw the flashes of pistols. “A deserter, by the blue!” cried Lafangere, ey ‘See! it is a Mameluke too!” Indeed; they could tell from the first that the fleeing was a horseman, and as he came. nearer the glitter of his arms showed him to be a Mameluke. He appeared to be mounted on a gray horse of great swiftness, for he was gain- on his pursuers, and St. George hurriedly d: ‘We must help him. If he is a deserter he is against them, and all against them are for us, Lafangere nodded, and they rode on at a moderate | oem drawing their long Mameluke pistols, to be ready for any F In less than five minutes the fieting | had red the camp, to all a ce un- scathed by the hasty shots fired at him from all P egheren and came skimming over the sands of the desert. like a bird. Then they halted, and both cried as he came up: ‘Who goes there? Halt!” The fleeing But sup- the see se, in : I hear the old em once French, messieurs! am I WTS Weise on Sten,” cried Lafangere, joyful me on then, ully. “Who are those behind you?’ f cialis ‘“Some of the bey’s slaves,” answered the stranger, as he rode up. ‘*They are nothing, messieurs. We three can take them all. But how come you here?” ‘* We are on a scout, to find if the enemy have any field artillery. We surprised and killed two Mamelukes. Can you tell us, have they any guns to move?” t spoke. was St. George who ‘Not one six-pounder. They are all ship’s guns, on clumsy carriages, not to be moved out,” answered the stranger, in the same hur- ried, nervous way. ‘Take care, messieurs. They are coming. Can you fence?” | ‘‘We are both masters,” answered the Gas- con, proudly. ‘‘ And you “T can beat the best of them, and they all know it,” returned the stranger. “ Putup your pistols. Give them the cold steel. Pistols are tools on galloping horses. Now, messieurs.” They had only time to observe that he was a young-looking man with a slight black mus- tache and a handsome face, while bis dress and arms were of the richest. Then they galloped to meet the oncoming foes, who were five in number, trailing after each other according to the speed of their horses. In another moment they had closed on the leader, who proved to be a tall negro, black as jet, on a white horse, The stranger encountered him, and Lafangere uttered a of admiration. ** Splendidly done! that’s the trick!” He looked at the combat with the eye of a master of the sword. The negro, in true Mameluke style, had raised his arm to make asweeping cut, and the stranger, instead of trying to parry cut back at the pore wrist, and took off his hand with a light Not stopping a moment, they swept on at the next two, who were together, and before any one could gay how it happened, both went down, one firing a pistol-shot that missed its aim, when the last pair turned their horses and fled in dismay. ** Now, messieurs,” observed the stranger, as coolly as if nothing had happened, “we have done enough for the honor of ovr beautitul France. Let us strip these dead dogs and go into your camp.” St. George hesitated. “You are quite sure about those ship’s guns?” he said. ‘I don’t want to go back to the general without knowing.” ‘Of course, I am sure,” = ed the other COMIC DOGKS.CO