LITERATURE.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1135, 7 January 1884, Page 4

LITERATURE.

A TERRIBLE REVENGE--j — v ■ • ( Continued .) Upon this each put his coin into the fire, and when it was healed, drew it forth'; Kaddonr saying in a load voice, .* Hatred to the death !’ placed: it. on the back of Hassan’s outstretched hand; Kaddonr afterwards submitted to the same ceremony, >vhile Hassan repeated the words ho had just spoken. The two Arabs ; now seated themselves, silently; enduring the torture caused by ’the ! red-hot brass as it burnt its way into their flesh. Not a m’ovoment was made, not a muscle quivered, no feature w'aS"allowed tb indii cate -the lonneiit they Avere suffering. When the coin was; cold,, caqli threw it. from his hand, and spreading some grains of powder on thc :i scared wound,' spoke in grave and solemn tones —‘ So long as this mark shall las*, so long will be your enemy.' ; After a .ceremony of this kind nothing is held harmless from the ruthless, destruction, the infliction of which future opportunities may afford to either party.- Even wifej children, parents, arc not exempt from the savage fury of the sworn evo-my. No tiino or space ot time can obliterate) the vow of vengeance thus taken by the Arab. Hassan returned to his tent, determined to watch over his wife, and guard her with untiring vigilance from the machinations of Kaddonr. He constantly wore arms during the day, and at night- they - were- never out of his reach; and on leaving his tent lie invariably left Baia in-charge of a trusty negro slave to watch over and protect her. Months, however, passed away before anything occurred to awaken his apprehensions. Hatred had cither died within Kaddour’s. heart, or he was planning some. elaborate scheme of revenge ; ami Hassan remained in a state of continual suspense ; but at length his suspense was ended. One evening, on entering his tent, Hassan perceived the following words, in Arabic characters, traced on the sand: ‘I waited till yon hoped to become a father.’ He entered his dwelling overwhelmed by a terrible presentiment; which, on beholding his wife, was in a measure fulfilled. He beheld her on her mat writhing with 1 pnini Hassan divined the truth, and a few hasty questions put to the attendant confirmed ii. A strange Arab presented himself with dates for sale. Baia unsuspectingly, bought some. She had eaten them ; they contained

poison; and death was fast overtaking her. At this terrible information Hassnn’s firmness gave way; he groaned heavily, ho-fell at hiswih’s feefc and bathed them with tears. Brahim, who, attracted by his lamentations, bad entered the tent, learnt the dreadful news, and. endeavoured, by administering large draughts of asses’ milk, to relieve his daughter of the torment she was snffer- ' ing. , But Eaddour had chosen his poison too well—it had taken too deep a root for any remedy tr> avert its effects. Two hours of indescribable torture, and Baia was dead ! Massan harried the distracted Brahim from the tent, and remained during the whole night with the remains of his wellbeloved. The next day ho saw that the horrible words written at the threshold of the tent had boon effaced, and others substituted, They ran thus— ‘ Have I struck justly ?’ After the funeral, Hassan, absorbed by ft terrible hope of revenge—which only relieved his one hitter grief—set out unattended for the mountains. He had been directed to a valley where Eaddour often hunted. Thither he repaired, and passed a month. By night he enveloped himself in his burnous, and slept under a'tree; by day he concealed himself in a spot which commanded a view of the; .whole valley, which was of immense extent. There, immovable as > rock against . which he Jeant, did ho ,wait for his enemy, with that patience which the hope of. vengeance inspires in the breast of an; Arid)..... ; One mbfhing'Hnssahi.espied. a .IVoWemah in the val]M y liis eye, sharpened, by } the instinct bf hati;ed, ,recognised < Eaddqur, w. advancing' by a- narrow pathway, v(hiph;w.<?hnd along ;lhe side of The mountain. This road was well chbsen ; for, being completely open and, unshel it 1 afforded a r view of everything around. In a single spot, however, at a little distance from the path, there grew several shrnbs { amongst which it ; «dg|t be ppe^itle'fqr;ftrf enemy to conceal himself. A transient rsTnjle,. played . Hnssfm’Siipfc, the first which had passed over his ‘CohiUcnanco since'the' burial of his wife. He examined his gun, charged i it, T and crept 5 stedMiiliy 4 amongst the bushes. Leaning patiently against a hraiich, ho 'raised Jn’s gun ready, whed the right: moment snddld qome tpdire. Eaddour advanced towards the -thicket, .and stepped within a shoit distance of it to scrutinise every : leaf; bnt as nothing occurred to excite his suspicions, he continued his route. Hassan took deliberate aim at his enemy, and fired. Eaddour fell. The ball, which had broken his arm near the shoulder, to/ nlinqhish the hold of liis gnu ; but raising his arm by a desperate .effpffTi®- endeavoured qnsucceqsfnllj . to ’ raw r out ' his pistol. Hawaii in one bound stood before him, an, round the body, threw him upon the earth, and undoing his own belt- bbnnd his victim tightly ; Whilst Eaddour, foaming with rage, and his teeth gnashing from the effects of pain, offered.hut-a vain resistance.. Intoxicated with the savage joy that vengeance gives; Hassan placed his foot upon the breast of the prostrate eneirly. He showered his bitter tabu’s on him, and repeated the words which werb : written oh the sand on the morrow of the death ofVßaia: ‘ And 1, also, have I struck justly ? Eaddour,' be yonr own judges It is, yob who have killed my wife; it is-yon who have hilled my child j it is you who haye

condemned me to evrlasting misery; what vengeance have yon not prepared for yon;self? But Allah be praised, he has given yon np to me in the stale I could most have desired; oh, Baia! Braln'ind my child! yon shall all be avenged !’ The Arab of the tribe of the Genfcra made no answer, but began to recite his prayers. Hassan, with his head leaning upon his hand,” was seated near Kaddonr ; he was reflecting upon the kind of death which ho intended to inflict upon his enemy. Fixing his eye .upon him, he seemed to hold a conversation “ with himself, for his lips moved ; sometimes he shook his head, as making a negative sign; at others a smile of contentment passed over his face. At length he rose, and drawing from his purse, of the form of a portfolio, a piece of money enveloped in a cloth, he showed it to Kaddonr, saying, ‘ Do yon recollect this coin?’ The Arab was silent. ‘ Well,’ continued he, ‘ it is the same piece, of money with which yon imprinted yonr hatred upon my flesh; look how well the mould of it adapts itself to the. wound ; one of ns shall die, said yon ; it is you ; however, what had I done to yon to incur yonr hate ? What had Baia done to yon? What had my child done to yon ?’ The voice of Hassan was moved in pronouncing these words. Then ho rrsinned in a different tone, ‘ At last I have you in my power !’ Hassan selected three stones, gathered some brambles, and placing some dried moss upon a pebble, obtained a light by striking it with the back of his blade. The fire was communicated to the moss, then to the brambles of the hearth, upon which he now placed the piece of money ‘ CowardT cried Kaddonr, ‘ kill me quickly..' ; * Kill; yon .quickly ! qh no, no ; Baia and my child, did yon kill them quickly ? Ah ! on the contrary, why cannot I make your tortures last as long as my grief ?’ It could only distress the reader to' pursue 1 the details of Hassan s revenge. Suffice it to state that he exercised all - the refinement of cruelty, which half-civilised nations know so well how to practise, maiming his limbs, searing his eyeballs * with the burning coin, &c. ; thus destroying the life of his victim slowly, and rejoicing over every ..expression of , despair and suffering which was wrung ■ from him. Ii was only when death had 1 ended the ferocious raptures of l he one, and the agonies of the other, that Hassan retired, leaving the body a prey ■ to the boasts of the dnaort. ( Concluded.)