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 lean, pictur- esque sons of Ishmael to avenge and free themselves at last. Sherif Hus- sein and his four sons had worked out a plan for the révolution, which they kept secret un- til a few weeks before they touched off the fuse. They did not even dare trust their close associates, be- cause in Turk- ish territory plots were usually dis- covered before they matured, and no man knew whom he might trust. Not only were there spies, but innumerable spies on spies, and at that time the Young Turks were watching the Arabs as a cat watches a mouse. Early in June, 1916, when Lawrence was establish- ing his repu- tation authority as an on "THE UNCROWNED KING OF ARABIA." the geography of the Near East at the British Headquarters in Cairo, Sherif Hus- sein sent word to all the tribes of Holy Arabia to be ready to rise at a moment's notice. Then, on June 13th, he gave the signal. Simultaneous attacks were launched against Mecca, a city holier than Jerusalem to more than two hundred and fifty million human beings, and Medina, the second holiest Mohammedan city, where the great Prophet is buried, and also at the great Arabian seaport of Jeddah. Hussein's sons, Ali and Feisal, were in command of the forces at Medina. Hussein himself supervised the attack on Mecca. Vol. lix.-4. ARABS TELLING STORIES OF LAWRENCE'S DEEDS TO SCOTCHMEN FROM A PASSING TRANSPORT AT AKABA. AKABA IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TURKISH BASE ON THE WESTERN COAST OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, WHICH WAS CAPTURED BY THE ARABIAN "IRREGULAR" ARMY UNDER THE COMMAND OF COLONEL LAWRENCE. HERE AT AKABA EMIR FEISAL AND "EMIR LAWRENCE, "THE UNCROWNED KING OF ARABIA, HAD THEIR COURT FOR NEARLY A YEAR. THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO IT WAS KING SOLOMON'S SEAPORT. Digitized by 49 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE REVOLT REVEALED FOR THE FIRST TIME. The details regarding the origin of the Sherifian Revolt, as it was called, have never been made public before. The following facts, given to me by Emir Feisal and his lieu- tenants, were later verified by Lawrence. Google troops in Medina, the northern most of the two holy Arabian cities and the ter- minus of what is known as the Hejaz Rail way, which runs south of Damas- cus through the desert east of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the Hills of Moab, Al- though the Bedouin s swarmed down in clouds, the Turks drove them off with their heavy artillery at Medina. Sherif Hus- sein was more successful at Mecca. The capture of Mecca will go down in Moham- medan history as one of the four or five great events of all time. It is my privilege to be the first to make public the details of that historic battle, as they were given to me by the Arab chieftains who captured the city and by Mohammed Said el Sakkaf, Arabian Ambassador to Abyssinia, with whom I cruised across the Red Sea. Not more than a dozen Christians have succeeded in getting to Mecca, disguised as Mohammedans, and have lived to tell the tale. The most famous of these, of course, was Sir Richard Burton, the British traveller and explorer, who translated "The According to the Emir's story, the Sul- tan of Turkey had about twenty thou- sand picked 1 Original from CORNELL UNIVERSITY