The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-20

up cnce mare into the heishss, and I'm The
exhilaratinG sense Of fFeedom snapped
Tho day was better chosen than n the
s Ss. sspios ~ss sS S'sSiSaeiy int ins.. $3.50 s.
my accident the storm broke. The peece
had been treacherous afser an. some
race passion and tribal jealousy, and there
was . disastrou. bur OF s~aneuinary
s..yi But Of 'hi.. q the .-Ts DIM: 49,
came 70 me was ut = different sork. When
a declining sun yarnsd me ~ work my
ont, I made . blunder and took my hear
ings NO indirectly that I was lost.
Instead Of striking the track I hooked
strewn with the dsbris Of mighty rocks,
shattered. no doubt, In some rensose nata-
not, except IS the weary ~expedisnt Of re-
blocked the path in front. Suddenly /
mysterious figure, which / instantly reg
oRnized again. was at work among the
bnryins treasnre. / saw bundle after
bundle pushed into u yawning hollow.
With stupcfled Gase watched. What
couth, unrobed, dwarfish; ! do not won
der that, for n space, believe Ina n being
OF other lineage than the human. But
when the strange squat figure moved of,
/ was sufficiently daring ar sufficiently
ma9netized to follow.
Pursuit was unex pf,t.teNl, 0n0 stealth
ruled my conduct. I was led by winding
men,. "s OF ' Bur%css ruby mine. / KNEW a
i" MOE one. On fspe every r' side ~srs iofsns Of the
fact, abruptly realized, that caprice had
brought me into one of natures notable
carelessness. My foot overturned o stone
and my presence was discovered.
1 fancy my anwitt,na guide was as UNI
certain of result as myself, but / was in
light just then and he was in shadow, and
edge. He came forward not even pansine
as he heard the click OF my weapon drawn
against evsntualities: Closer scrutiny re-
stamp equally of intelligence and suffer-
ing on his pinched, prematurely old coln-
he called me- AT once by my name. without
prefix or explanation.
What do yen do here, Ho-ron?' he
81 want the path to the lowe. village,'
I answered. ~ nave missed it,"
Al last I got a clue to much that was
"You are far out of your way You can
not reach the xyat mig IL will he
better 70 stay, in f"ther's-in our rave
/ obeyed the word and gesture, and a
very few PAGES brought us through a steep
again into the familiar quarters Of Moung
My gent of the mine. then. was Moung
Shark !" said ne. And a terrified look
came upon his countenance.
1 listened. but could hear nothing. My
Dyes, yes; IL has come. as llc said IL
would the boy cried, shifting his breast.
And his eyes dilatcd with fear.
"what Is your trouble? - l asked, though
1 could already guess.
"Hark. say again - he answered. i'm an
lighting below i'm the valley. oh. they
Kill the loved and rcvcred phoonghic.of
whose lapses from orthodoxy there seemed
no current suspicion! Z Thought il very
unlikely. Yet the forboding words of the
seer echoed i'm my memory.
The cvcntidc went i'm anxious watching
and waiting. Ii was marvellous how the
one touch of nature made us kin. But the
hoy spoke no word of his past.
When the morrow dawned two anxious
faces watched from the friendly veil OF
the bushwood the bend of the great valley.
A solitary wayfarcr came into view. Re
lief, ringing into exuberant joy, was in
my companions accents.
lad said.
Alas! the gladness vas doomed to q
speedy eclipse. l thought that MounR
he walked. And once within the noun
tain fastncss il was plain that his sombrc
forecast had not been SO false as we would
willingly have believed.
Moung Ko looked at me first with con-
sternation and then. l was almost sure,
content. know that with genuine un-
vi hs ~ ube Will ~ tultbl
was IA man and n brother to MounR Ko,
whether he were Burman or Briton. II IL
the glory of the world-bond that i'm all
lands there are these hearts loyal to
humanity. But the phoonRhie reeled and
sank upon the fioor. To the boys horror
and my own we saw that his coarse robe
was dycd crimson ut the side he .Rripped
so tightly. Moun0 ko was
1t was my turn to play the surgeon, aid
ed, as to appliances by the devoted, de-
spairinE son. But my skill was infinitely
below Moung Kos: II was the patients
suggestions that ! had to follow.
"And IL will be in vain," the old priest
gaspcd wcarily. "the time il at hand. !
have known il from the first. II is my
fate and l deserve il. Listen and l will
make the dark thing clear. The law of
the pagoda allows ~neophites To go back
to the world il they like not the life of
the solitary. / was sent on "a mission soon
after l became u priest, and they lost me.
In another province 1 broke my vows for
"a woman's sake. I loved and married.
But il was an unhappy match. My wife
deserted me, and 1 understood that our
babe was dead. Then l returned to An
apoora as il nothing had happened. II
was my great transGression. The story
l told was true. but only half the truth,
and so, I'm another sense, u lie. And ]
could not rest. ! nde much and I
found the mine-and this cave. IL was
-