St. George Rathborne

“ He, too, has, by this time, discovered the pasha, who does not appear to be alone, since several men hover around him, men wearing the fez, but whether Turks or not remains to be seen.
It is as though one were suddenly transported to a street in Stamboul. In imagination the sounds incident to that queer city on the Golden Horn assail the ear: the tinkling of silvery bells, the strident voice of the muezzin on the minaret calling to prayer, the dismal chant of dervishes, the howling of mongrel curs that after nightfall roam the streets. ”

“ The strains of music from the hidden orchestra rise and fall to the time of a popular march. No longer the low serenade or the sad sweet lullaby that falls like the rippling of running water on the ears of those who converse, but the strong, joyous marching music that means in so many words, “get your partner and advance upon the food that has been prepared by the first caterer of the World’s Fair City.” ”

“ The excitement gradually dies away when the fair inmates of the car realize that they are no longer in danger from the crazy professor, whose brain cannot stand the exhilarating influence of a ride in mid air.
Slowly the wheel revolves, and relieved of their apprehensions some of the women proceed to look out upon the wonderful spectacle, for Chicago lies spread out before their vision, bathed in the mystic moonlight, while at their feet, as it were, nestles the representative homes of the world’s strangest peoples. ”

“ With these last cutting words the Turk steps forward and tears the veil away. His manner is proud, disdainful. He feels as though he has the destiny of all present within the grasp of his hand, just as might a reckless man who holds a dynamite bomb, and looks around upon the men he hates.
As he does this, he receives the greatest shock of his life. It almost paralyzes him. He stares like a man demented.
Instead of the lovely features of Dorothy, he sees the face of a man, and a very homely face it is, to boot. The fellow shuts one eye and ogles him in a ridiculous fashion. ”

“ The hum of many voices marks the presence of a multitude; from over the buildings across the way come the many cries that day and night accompany the riding of the camels and donkeys in Cairo Street; here and there shout the bunco-steerers who officiate at the doors of various so-called Oriental theaters; fakirs howl their wares—from “bum-bum candy” to hot waffles and trinkets—while the ear-distracting tom-tom music, from behind the gate leading to the Javanese village, throbs like the pulsations of a heart. ”

“ Aleck is quiet, a thorough gentleman always, and for reasons of his own he keeps near Mr. Cereal. Knowing the secret of the other, he feels that he has a deep interest there.
As to Wycherley, he makes himself right at home, and being introduced moves among the guests with charming freedom. An old traveler of his stamp can adapt himself to either terminus of “society,” and under other circumstances, should fortune throw him among a herd of tramps, or into a camp of darkies, he would be found the jolliest fellow of them all, telling tough yarns, singing songs, and picking the banjo. ”

“ To falter, to lose his grasp upon the cold iron of the immense wheel means instantaneous death, since he is now high above the battlements of the Midway, whose loftiest structure does not dare to mount on a level with the monster shaft of the Ferris wheel.
Craig is a thorough athlete, his muscles trained by a generous indulgence in the manly sports for which fair Montreal is noted. With only an Indian hunter as a companion he has crossed mountains of snow and rivers of ice on snowshoes, in search of the great moose, or the caribou of Newfoundland. ”

“ Dense smoke fills the hallway. The crackling of flames makes mad music, and when this is supplemented by the shrieks of terrified women, shouts of firemen, the throbbing of engines, and a dull roar from the dense crowd that collected like magic under such circumstances, the result is a combination that once heard can never be forgotten.
Wycherley looks down the stairway and immediately draws back again. Even his remarkable nerve is shaken by the sight. ”

“ Aleck reflects upon the strange combination of circumstances that have been grouped amid these scenes of pleasure and beauty. The guests move about, singing takes place, with occasional gentle serenades by the company of musicians hidden among the palms and ferns; and none of them even suspect what an undercurrent of human tragedy is occurring beneath the placid surface. Apparently all is mirth and good cheer; people nowadays do not carry their hearts on their sleeves. The swan is said to sing as it dies. Brave mariners on the stormy deep go down with colors flying. ”

“ All is merriment in the Midway. It is to the great Fair what the variety stage may be [Pg 273] in connection with theatricals in general. People go to tragedy to be instructed—to learn of human passions. They look at comedy to see life as it occurs—to weep with misery, to rejoice over the triumph of virtue; but when, wearied with business cares, and anxious to forget trouble for the time being, they desire to laugh, it is farce to which they turn. That is why the variety theater has gained such a hold upon the masses. ”

“ Several times during the day and evening the wedding procession takes place; an unique affair, headed by the stout major-domo, with whirling sword and fierce expression, who is followed by the strangest rabble American eyes ever gazed upon, from the palanquin to the dancing girls in the rear, their faces half concealed behind the yashmak.
Looking down the singular street from a second story balcony, or an upper chamber of the Mohammedan mosque, as this procession approaches, one could easily imagine himself in the old native quarter of Cairo on the Nile. ”

“ As Craig looks he receives a shock. The brilliant lights fall upon a face he cannot forget and which is just being covered by the light veil attached to her hat. Dorothy it is, the millionaire’s daughter. His interest is quickly aroused, and under the circumstances it is not at all strange that he should desire to see who her male companion may be.
They are conversing eagerly, as though deeply interested in each other. Another moment and the bazaar has closed upon them.
“Let us follow,” suggests Wycherley, at once.
Aleck hesitates. ”

“ What if this is some lover who has incurred the parental anger, and whom she dares not receive at home—he has the face and bearing of a true man.
“Don’t imagine you have a mortgage on her affection, Aleck Craig,” he mutters sneeringly, as if to mock the strange feeling of pain that assails his heart; “and it's none of your business if by chance she has met her fate before discovering that a bachelor of your size was haunting the Fair looking for her. ”

“ That is the picture Aleck sees, and he can feel his companion quiver with suppressed excitement as she, too, gazes upon it, and, for the first time since her babyhood, sees the face of her mother.
He fears lest she may faint, nor thinks it strange under the peculiar circumstances that he should slip an arm around her waist. She does not resent it—at such a time the strong arm of an honest man is not to be despised.
Saidee is pleading her cause. She is not in the plot of the cunning pasha, and believes Samson Cereal has come here to upbraid her because her heart yearned for her child. ”

“ The strain is too much; he flings off his coat with a quick movement.
“What would you do?” cries the other, leaping toward the Canadian.
“Change cars,” is the cool response thrown in his face, as the athlete springs upon the great iron framework and begins to mount upward.
“Come back! it is too late, man. Good Heavens! the wheel begins to move. Come back!” shouts Claude, thrilled with the sight. But it is as easy to go forward as to return, and with hands of steel clutching the rim of the throbbing wheel, Aleck Craig climbs upward to meet his fate in mid air. ”

“ He picks out his man and faces him with the air of a scientific boxer, dazzles the eyes of the Oriental by the rapid use of his hands, and rains such a shower of blows upon him that the fellow, believing him a wizard with the six arms of a Chinese god, bellows for mercy.
The action has been swift, and the field won. Aroun Scutari reads his defeat in the signs so apparent, and wisely steals away. His minions sneak after him. Aleck turns to the woman who still holds the limp figure of Dorothy. ”

“ Wycherley it is who suggests the idea, and his companion falls in with it at once. They are anxious to be on the move at any rate. Some around them, looking weary and haggard, are only too glad of a chance to rest.
In a crowd like that which haunts the spectacular Midway, it is not as difficult to follow a person undetected as might be believed. All that is necessary is to keep him in view, never losing him for a second, and making sure to have a squad just in front, behind which one is safe from observation in case the pursued is suspicious and casts many glances over his shoulder. ”

“ Samson Cereal hesitates, but from an unexpected quarter help comes for the Turk.
“You can believe him. What a pasha swears on the Koran, that he will do.”
It is Marda who speaks, and the speculator makes up his mind.
“Pasha, you have played a bold game and you have lost. Make up your mind to accept the inevitable. As your people so philosophically say, 'Kismet—it is fate.’ Go then to your home, to your wives, on the Bosphorous. Forget that we live. May our lives never again cross.” ”

“ Haven’t I seen one of the most learned professors of Yale perched on the hump of a camel, grinning from ear to ear; while his companion, a preacher whose name is a household word from the Atlantic to the Pacific, whose sermons are weekly printed wherever the English language is spoken, trotted up and down this street on a diminutive donkey, his feet scraping the ground. I’d have given something for a snap-shot camera at that time. Look at our friend—he’s enjoying the lark as much as would a schoolboy. ”