_Corporal Jacques of the Foreign Legion_
The longest route march ends ere long,
The hottest sun to the west must go,
The Legion marches a thousand strong,
On the wind of the desert the bugles blow,
The wild notes die as the stars out-shiver,
But the wind of the desert it blows for ever.
Corporal Jacques of
the Foreign Legion
By H. de Vere Stacpoole,
Author of
"The Pearl Fishers," "The Reef of Stars," &c.
LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW
LETTER OF A LÉGIONNAIRE RECEIVED BY THE AUTHOR FROM THE EDITOR OF
"THE POPULAR MAGAZINE," NEW YORK, U.S.A.
July 27, 1916.
SIR,
Reading an article in _The Popular Magazine_, I thought I would write
to you. In number May 20, 1916, is an article, "Stories of the
Legion" by H. de Vere Stacpoole. He states nobody escaped from the
Legion. Well, I have done so, though it involved me becoming a
Mohammedan and joining a wandering band of Touaregs and took two
years to accomplish. I finally wandered across the Sahara, helped in
the looting of caravans, and sailed from Cape Tuby with the
assistance of Baba Hamid of the Wad Lagin Hameva Tribe, on the
western Sahara seaboard below Morocco on a Spanish fishing boat to
Teneriffe, Canary Islands. I am longing for the desert, the smell of
the camel dung fire, and the freedom of the everlasting sand ever
since. The hardship, adventures and escapes I went through are
incredible. This took place ten years ago, since then I have been
elephant hunter in Central Africa, in the army of Emperor Menelik of
Abyssinia, pearl fishing off North Australia, diamond digging at the
Cape, and in a revolution in Central American republic, not to
mention fighting with Muley Mohamad El Hiba, the son of Sheik
Ma-el-deinne of South Morocco when he tried for the throne of Morocco
against Muley Hafid, the Ex-Sultan of Morocco. If Mr. Stacpoole
would be interested in my story, a letter will find me care of
General Delivery, New Orleans, in the period of the next thirty days,
when I leave for Honduras.
Yours faithfully,
***** *****