Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-17

Akoond. The Akoond. thinking this a
good opportunity. made another dive at
Smith. Smith smiled and slightly twitched
his body. He was scratching his chin re-
fiectively when the chief rushed by and
measured his own length upon the ground.
Try again, old fellow remarked Con-
stitutional Smith. The Akoond's temper
had gone by this time. and the rest was
series of gestures. made 1t plain to Smith and
the assembled crowd that he would toss
Smith into the boughs Of an adjacent tree
He had done it before and he would do 1t
now. Smith appreciated the good lnten"
lions Of the Akoond.
But h is paved with them, you know.
old man." he remarked pleasantly: Ihen,
by a streak of luck, the Akoond smote
Smith upon the lip which jerks had split.
For the next ten minutes few people knew
what was happening. Only Smith knew
that with strength and persistency which
he had never before equaled he was rain
ing blow after blow upon the other man
head, and blow after blow upon the other
mans heart. 1t was war, pure and simple
He could have knocked him out If he would.
But he didn't want to, just yet. He finally
reduced the Akoond to condition where
at any instant he would have fallen prone
upon the ground. Smith, with an elaborate
display of science, danced around him. and
kept him from falling by gracefully prop
ping him up with blows from ms hsts.
FINALLY Selling the Akoond about the waist,
Smith, by a superhuman effort. flung him
far and wide into the boughs of the very
tree that had been indicated by the Akoond
himself. The crowd stood aghast
Constitutional Smith looked ABOUT MIN
and rolled cigarette.
Gentlemen" he said 1.-The Akoond was
great man, but he wasn't Constitutional
Strong-Arm Smith, that's all he snlieo
genialIy upon the crowd Suddenly there
was a rush and fifty men seized MIN ana
raised him to their shoulders.
Hundreds of men were yelling On
Keefe! Oh Keefe!' came from multitude
of threats. "Oh Keefe. Akoond OF swat!
Oh Keefe Akoond of Swat!
Smith was indeed the Akoond OF Swat.
And almost the first man who did formal
homage to him was the wreck OF the iate
Akoond He did homage because ne mao 10.
The populace prodded him from behind as
he crawled on his hands and knees 10 swear
allegiance to the new Akoond
..Tbat,s all right old man., said Con-
st,,utional Smith, soothingly. you didn't
eventuate that's all I've been there some
day" ne added. patronlzlnely' soihe oas'
ri teach you how.
Constitutional Smith scratched his head
"Dear me-" he exclaimed refiectively, III
Mr. Ellington OKeefe could only see me
now"
The Isle of Swat was a nonentity-a
cipher upon the face of the earth. 1t was
the essence of all that was of mo account.
Doubtless 1t was this fact that had made II
Stunned by white men, and had kept It's
people so FAR DeHlnQ lne present age. ddu
the island been productive of something,
no matter what, useful in trade and COM
merce; had her people been active-even
actively hostile. why. then. she might have
amounted to something. She might have
made a name for herself But she was
sterile. and the minds of her people were
sterile And the world had left her to her
self
But in the midst Of It all, Constitutional
Smith had arrived, and he had become her
Akoond Behind Constitutional Smith were
two incentives. In the first place, he was
an active man. He was hard worker. He
was a money getter. His methods may
have been different from those of others,
but the end always justified the means. He
was on the lookou. for good opportunities.
Opportunity saith the Spanish proverb.
hath hair in 'front.' but behind she is bald;
IL you wish to hold her. seize her by the
forelock for when once she is past you,
the devil himself could not overtake her."
Smith was man who generally seized that
forelock with a firm grasp. But in the
Isle of Swat there seemed to be no oppor-
tunity. He concluded that Ii would be wise
for him to make one. He might have sailed
away In the Sarah Margaret" but there
were various reasons why he did not want
to do so. jenkins was a dangerous man,
and Smith knew he was safer on the island
than on the ship. The ship still lay at
anchor waiting for his signal He was
not ready yet to give 1t.
Smith had another reason for staying on
the island. He felt a pride about beating
Ellington Okeefe at his own game. So