The Minneapolis journal., 1904-11-19

very terrible thlng. e COuldE l. nave drag
ged that other down with me, would
have reioiced at the prospect.
Ragobah broke the silence. you have
left your stick this time, see.' he said,
as he unsheathed the long knife i had
once before escaped, and ostentatiously
felt its edge as If he were about to shave
with it.
You were in haste, sahib, when you
left me last time, or. should not now
have the pleasure of this interview Pc,
assured / shall dosmy work more thor
oughly this time. Behind you there Is a
hole partly filled with water. IF you drop
a stone into this well, 1t Is several Sec i
onds before you hear the splash, and
there is a saying hereabouts that 1t is
bottomless. ] am curious ato know II this
be true, and I am going to send you to 4
see. OF course, if the story Is well found
ed, shall not expect you to come back.
That would be unreasonable, Sahib. = 4
All this was said with refined sar-
casm which rnaddened me, and, az he
concluded, he began to edge steathily to-
ward me. So strong Is the Instinct of
self preservation within us that doubt.
not would-be suicide, caught In the act
| of hanging himself, would struggle madly
for his life were someone else to forcibly
adjust the moose about his neck. At all
events, I found myself unwilling, at. the
last moment, to have someone else launch
me into eternity and, as I wished to gain
time to think what should do to escape,
I said to him.:
'Why do you bear me such malice?
| Can you not see that any injury / may
| have done you was purely in lf-de-,
Ifense2 You sought the quarrel, sid took
the only means at hand to protect my
| self I did not, as you know, seek to kill
| you, a thing / could have easily have
! done, but was content merely to make
good my escape. L"
"Bah!' he said, interrupting me saw
! agely. THAT has nothing to do with it.
| Had you only pounded my head you
might live but you have pounded my
/ heart. It Is for that I hate you, and for
that you die"
"What have I done?'' asked
| "What have you done?" he roared, fu-
rious with rage. ''I will tell you. You
I have by magic possessed the mind of my
wife. Your name, your cursed name Is
ever upon her lips. My entreaties. my
, supplications> are answered by nothing
else. Even in her sleep she starts up and
! calls for you. You have cast spell up
on her Day by day she droops and with
ers like a lotus-fower whose root is sew
| cred; yet ever and always is your cursed
name upon her lips, goading me to mad
ness, until at last have registered sa-
cred oath to kill you. and remove the ac-
I cursed spell you have thrown upon her.
Had he advanced upon me at this mo-
~ment he would have found me as help
less IS a child, SO overcome was I by the
sudden JOY which seized upon me, and
seemed to turn my melancholy inside out.
Il Those words Of hatred had been as a
torch illumining the gloom Of my despair,
for they had shown me that my existence
: was not altogether barren and unproduc-
tive. The life which has known the
heaven Of true love cannot be called a
, failure. There is no wall so high, no dis
tance so great, no separation so complete
as to defy the ineffab4e commerce Of two
: loving hearts. Iona, then, was still
/ mine, despite all obstacles. What g
5 change this knowledge made. In an in
slant life became an inexpressibIe bene-
} faction, for it permitted me to realize j
was beloved-and death was dow erec
7 with a new horroM--the fear that
! should cease to know it. sa-- -.,a. -tt
I was roughly aroused from my ref1ec.
: ttons by Rama Ragobah. : K. -.l asJ.-.
Come, Sahib,' he said, as his thicl
, lips curled sneeringly, suppose you tr.
: your spells upon me? You will neve
, have better chance than now to shov
. your power and again he made sligh
{ movement toward me with the gleamint
4 knife. The moon, low down upon th
t horizon, sent a broad beam Of light int
1 Lie 6ltidllCb OI Tie cave. ana over tn
head and shoulders Of the Indian It
I cold light shimmered along the blad
u which was now held threateningly to
: ward me. The crisis had been reached.
In times Of such great urgency one ha
: frequently an Observation-Disclosures
I disconnected unbidden-which no amour
f of quiet, peaceful thought would sug
gest. Such extraordinary flashes are tn
. result of reasoning too rapid for con
I'm. II
Il ready laid bare his right arm to the Ell
J, u bow before had determined upon tn
70 desperate course would pursue, an
e upon which l must hazard my all. AS h
II advanced upon me I seized the large
, !, white sola hat from my head, and hurle
It full in his face. It was a schoolbo
trick, yet upon its success depended m
: life. Instinctiyely, and In spite of him
o self, Ragobah lodged, closed his eyes
r. and raised his right hand, knife and al
q to shield his face. I sprang upon him a
t the same instant threw my hat, and S
8 was able to reach him before he opene
e his eyes. L had well calculated his move
d ments, and had made no mistake. AS
n reached him his head was bent down
S ward and forward to let the hat pas
a over him. His position could not hav
d been better for my purpose. / ''swung o
n him., as vie used to say at the gymna
J. SUM, catching him under his protrudin
I jaw, not far from the region Of the caro-
It'd artery. The blow was well placed
l. and desperation lent me phenomena
3, strength. 1t raised him bodily off ri
I feet, and hurled him backward out of tn
re- cave, where he lay motionless. He wa
le now in my power. I seized his knife an
it bent over him. Words cannot expires
" the hatred, the loathing I felt for hi
3: then and always. Between me and til
i light of my happiness he had ever stoot
y an impenetrable black mass. Twice ha
le he sought my life, yet now, when he wa
1T in my power, I could not plunge h
atl weapon in his heart. Would 1t not (
L just, I thought, to drag him into the cay
M and hurl him down the abyss he had IL
a. tended for me? Yes; he certainly meri
il. ed it; yet I could not do that either.
" wished the snake a thousand times dea
n yet / could not stamp it into the earth.
at He was beginning to slightly move no
ae and something must be done. It w;
es useless to run, for the way was long, ar
as he could easily overtake me. You ms
lis wonder why / did not take to the thlcke
Z but If you had ever had any experien
st with Indian jungles you would know tha
ed without the use of fire and axe, they a
tn practically impenetrable. Profess
NJ Haeckel, botanizing near that same spe
al, spent an hour in an endeavor to for
ID Ibis way into one OF these jungles, b
an only succeeded in advancing few ste
ed i into the thiclset, when, stung by mo
it, eluitoes, bitten by ants, his clothing to
Needing arms and legs yvolIn