The San Francisco call., 1904-04-17

COuiQ lcil LIE " 0tA1--dt tiiiiCS
The name suggested other things of
which he wished to ask.
Ling and Ii were both lost?" he
asked suddenly.
Both" He looked at me searching
ly now, and 1 was ready with more
lies "The fire was premature
I'LL" exclaimed the King, smoking
furiously; but then he laughed:
"Old Ling was fox
That was all. With one glance at the
sarcophagus, he went to the door,
where his bodyguard instantly sur
rounded him again.
Throughout the long day preparations
for the event of the night went on.
The city was crowded with country
men, and troops were needed every
where Mobiles and rural governors
with their attendants kept pouring
through the gates, with the throngs of
commoner type from every portion of
the kingdom-all anticipating keenly
the great event treasured up in talk
and dreams since the death of their
Queen. At sundown the Great Bell of
Keinning would be struck for the int
tial ceremony in the throne room,
WnGn tic IAli6 WOQia CiOSC thC Sidoc
lid and draw on the golden cover.
Then the march to the tomb would be-
gin.
had hurried to the Japanese quarter
of the city to quell, with a show of
Cossacks, a slight irruption in the
never-ending feud between the Japan
ese and the Quelpartiens, and was re-
turning to the barracks when Lieuten-
ant Kim came to meet me with a note
given him by a legation boy who had
hunted me futilely all day.
l tore it open and read:
Remember the Altar of Spices and the
signal of the scabbard. For day / am
Queen of Quelparte incognito. d.
1 sat utterly speechless on my horse.
With Kim's own hands he had laid
Dulcine Oranoff in the Queens sarcoph-
agus
Dazed, cursed myself for a fool for
thinking Dulcine would have intrusted
such a secret to another The degree
in which she had deceived me testified
to the degree in which 1 trusted her
for what more is love than faith after
all?
l hurried Kim to the barracks to
bring my troops. and / set off at gal
lop for the legation. 1 rode as though
1 could undo what had been done. Per-
haps in my bewildered state of mind I
believed / could. II SO, the idle thought
was suddenly banished from my mind
by the booming OF the Great Bell.
This, had been told, was the signal
for the King to close the sarcophagus
the initial ceremony of the royal fu-
neral in the throne room.
Now every fear had became tenfold
fearful, and every danger seemed ten
fold dangerous. Things which before
had seemed trifies or had not been
considered at all became gigantic with
terrible possibilities. Was there suffi-
cient breathing room in that glittering
cell in which 1 had left Dulcine?
Would not the journey of three miles
to the tomb over those rough streets
in cart cause her to faint and then
suffocate. If the King was still fear
full of the dreaded Tuen, why was so
brave? Were there not possibilities Of
danger of which had not dreamed? /
had really taken little definite thought
about freeing the woman at the Altar
of Spices as I had SO heedlessly prom
ised. Would this be possible? Would
the sarcophagus be yelled from sight
or be exposed to the view of all the peo-
pie?
AS / dashed forward, these and a
hundred other questions drove the hot
blood to my head.