The Jennings daily record., 1902-07-23


crooked scimitar that hung by his
side aud laid it behind him. Ther
with "A strange exclamation he fell
upon the cloak. rolled it between his
fiat palms. padded it. smOOthed it and
peeped beneath it's hem, as 1t seemed
suddenly 10 swell and spread. The
silence of curiosity. il moi or respect,
fell unOm us. but | confess that my
hair stood Oh eud and l could feel tile
goose flesl, on my spine when he
W .Znrd jerked away the cloak and dis
closed II chubby. bright eyed, naked
Indian boy sitting suuaiely before lis
on the sand. 1, could have heeN no
ordinary hallucinarinn. for the chill
leapt nimbly to his feet. chatterng to
his creaiOr, Ali Beg. AS W" exchanged
cries of wonder I'm afraid I'm telling
ii very badly. am l Anne" t'rhis to
Mrs. MontfOrd. who had come to listen
ut the doorway Eut she said: NO.
it's all right only don't go past the
place where come in. please. Harry"
"All right. Anne. Then. lets see.
Oh. yes. that boy was there as real
as amy hoy | ever saw at night by
the light OF either moon or torch. The
adept bowin= and grinnin" like II
pleased chimlrllZae now dropped III"
clOa!, again went hyStercally TO work
with his lean hands turning from his
, ,uSl; only tw.ce to look II; the boy who
stood silen, beside him gazing about
at the white faces of the fasclnarel
audience. When the cloak began TO
assume the form and size that Srrmrd
! to satisfy the adept he whipped it
away again and there, as plain as
himself or the boy, yawnin@ as II Just
awakened. its mean. furtve. yellow
1 eyes darting lurid glances upon us.
lay full-.rOwn leopard. the hair on
it's tawny back rising angrily as Ali
kicked him into standing posture.
his foetid breath coming to our nos-
trils as he snarled with rage. his tail
whipping the sand into our faces rs
he lashed it about. Oh. it was = real
leopard think. At all events. l re-
member some of us who happened to
have them slipped out our pistols. and
can still see old Dinwidlie biting
his gray mOl,Stache a. he r"n .hed for
his sabre.
But it was the climax Of The weird
spectacle which followed. :y "eiieS
of vindictive kicks and cuffs The adept
was wOrkin" the sinister beast into q
fury. The great cat was snarlin: and
Swapping. lcerinc and striking 1t him.
when he Sutiden'! furled the cloak
round the boy. who. all calmIcSS and
.r.,
thr,lStiIg the drnb mass of boy ana
cloHk at the creature. Ali stepped aside
and stood mot ionlcSs; while the brute
fell tooth and claw upon the covered
boy. There was :; roar. Il fountain OF
sand. thr men jumped up, som" scared,
some furious. som" ran 10 the nous"
for weapons. and it would have -pn"
hard with Ali Beg aud his dia holicnl
hciSt il ii,c,in had moi jumped UP
cool rs II veteran on dress parade, to
restore order. Hit we were all stand
ing. excited and pnnic-Strckeu over
The boys fate. when ne hOWing Oricn-
tai suddenly laid his hand on the
leopard. Withdrew the c!oak and
p"voured: Vanished?
Il don't know. gentlemen" said
Major Montrord; Il can'l tell what be-
c:,me OF the little black fellow. Ali
Beg had no Suone, made his low
showed us hat the bog was gone.
oheisancc tlhcy call it -Snlaaml 10
Colonel Dinwiddir and rhe circle than
he waved the empty cloak Il few times.
spread il above the leopnrd'S head and
covered that chnn-licking demon. AS
we looked the cloak dropped down
down. till it lay tlal and spreading on
the sand. The leopard was gone. |
picked up the ill-Smellin" cloak myself
and il the earth had opened and Sw:l-
lowed the beast il could not have dis
appeared more thoroughly. Well
that's nearly all Of the supernatural
part "t the story. We repeated it tin
every man III che station was halt
, datfy about mysticism and hankrup
with paying admission fees. We'd
have all become RuddiStS | guess if
one fine day Colonel Dinwiddies niece
hadn't come along. touring India with
IL party of English folks and II camera
She was the prettieSt, dantiest-'
F, Now stop. Harry" cried Mrs. Mont
| ford. I'm finish the story. Well. rs
1 the major was saying. l came aion.
! and found the whole station crazy
about the mysterious performances of
! Ali Beg. OF course I had Il camera
and | made up my mind 10 see the
show and make as many pictures OF
| it as / could. or course. that meant
II matinee in the middle of the day.
| when the sun is al the proper angie
for photographs. And We had it. 1t
alr Happened just as Harry told it. and
| | was Swapping away all right ill
well, | ddn't exactly -
'Out with it. Anne. You tainted
when you saw the leopard" laughed