Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-04-22
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE ARCHITECT.


SDHtE III SAIhNAulFS- ahh 'A'A'
them TO make designs with that light
ness which causes the buildings To re-
semble the abodes of fairyland-
There was once an Indian king who
was ambitious TO excl all other kings
in the beauty OF Ms palace. He there
fore called upon all the architects of his
kingdom for designs. offering prize so
desirable that it could not fail TO slim
ulate some mighty effort OF genius. The
king had but one child. daughter. He
gave out that the successful competitor
should have his daughter To wife and
reign with her after his own death.
Now. there was a young architect at
the capitol Abdul Kerim. He had been
employed TO rebuild Il wing of the pal
ace containing the princess apart
ments. and the two had met and loved.
Abdul Kerim. on hearing of the prize
offered. was overjoyed and set To work
with high hope To make design that
would give him the girl he loves. Three
years were given in which to hand in
dra wings. aud during these three years
Abdul worked night aud day designing.
throwing away his work. starting i'm
again. till AT the expiration Of half The
that satisfied him. Then he occupied
the remaining half in perfectinG IT,
Stimulated by love. he evolved struc-
ture which when built would far eX-
coed anything of its kind I'm India.
When the king saw the design he
was delighted. But he had never in
tended To keep his word 10y giving his
daughter 10 the successful competitor
and now trumped up a charge as an
excuse for not doing so. He accused
Abdul kerim Of being in league with
a conspiracy against the government
discovered at the time and threw him
into prison.
When the princess heard of this she
was incOnSolable. She sent one of the
women To the prison where her lover
was confined. who. by bribing the
guard. was permitted to enter and con
sole him by assuring him of her mis-
treSs' unalternble love. Kerim told
the woman 10 tell the princess to be OF
good cheer: that the king would be
forced TO keep to his agreement. be
cause an architect is the best person To
superintend his own plans. and he
believed he would sooner or later he
called upon to build the palace.
There was in the kingdom n quarry
Of stone tinted like the opal. which
when polished had ii beautiful. rides
cent effect. II had hong been reserved
by the king for the new palace. Great
care was 70 be taken i'm getting out the
stone and shaping IL into the indiYid-
ual parts which were 10 make up the
palace. for there was but enough OF IL
TO make one such building. and If any
serious blunder were made by which Ii
should became necessary to use other
stone the kings hopes would he blast
ed. Among kerim's plans were de-
sCriptiOn and diagram Of every stone TO
be used in the construction. and the
king decided that II would be safer to
get out the material and shape each
stone in accordance with this descrip-
ton. After all had been hewn il would
be a simple matter to set them up in
place But the king was desirDus OF
having the work superfntended iby the
designer of the building. and indeed
this was the only safe plan. He sent
a messenger To Abdul Kerim Eln prison
to say that If he would accept the posi-
ton and see that the building was
erected in accordance with his plans
he would pardon him for bis alleged
part In the conspiracy nndSgive him
handsome sum besides.
Kerim could do nothing Vbut consent
to the agreement. He was placed in
charge OF the work and asteveFy stone
came from the quarry ands was shaped
II was marked In accOrttS7Tce with n
system devised 10y erimjhimself. Dur
Ing ibis time he was a lith-J-ty aud was
not even watched. for nOIone knew of
any reason why he shouRi- wish to es-
cape or fail TO do his work TO the best
Of his ability. At last the stones which
We're 10 compose the tsIiRiing were fin
ished. the quarry meHn while having
been exhausted. Then X erin aStonish-
ed the king by refusiutG'tO superintend
the erection Of the palace. His males
~ was about Ia order 1he architects
head stricken off wheuiit occurred to
him that he must first kget the marking
of the stones So he Se7lt to Kerim for
IT, Kerjm replied thatthe did not have
H. Then the king ordered him TO pro
ducc il on pain of iustaIh death Kerim
refused The king wastin n quandary.
Unless he could get the marking from
the architect the palace could not be
built. He directed Kesrim 10 he brought
TO him and accused Thin OF bad faith
IN breaking his agreement. whereupon
Eerim reminded the king that his mai
Pstv had first broken his agreement
and stoutly refusedtto go any further
with the work except on the original
terms Then the ktngIordered him put
10 the torture 10 EFFORT what was nee
essary. bur directed that his life should
not be risk ed Ker1m was tortured till
II was plain he would die II the torture
were continued.
II was now plain that the king must
either give mp histpalace or fulfill his
condition. He seEf for his daughter
and told her OF the Situation She CON
fessed that she and ;Kerim had secretly
loved each other and said that It was
this love which had tho non