Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-15

distance the Gurkhas short. sturdy legs.
Yet why do YOU take this trouble for
me?''
why ask painted the Gurkha. "Did
not stand behind you and see that YOU
did not throw the knife? Am a dog to
stand by and see an innocent man yoked
to crime?" He laughed shortly. Am
a fool TO forget how great is the gem
erosity of Kings? This way. hazoor,'
why call me King" Amber hurdled
heap Of offal and picked up his pace
again Yet you will find me generous.
though hut a sahib.
THE sahibs are very generous" Again
the Gurkha laughed briefly and unpleas-
antly. But this is no time for words
Save your breath. for now we must run"
He broke into sprirgy lope. with his
chin up. elbows in and chest distended,
his quick small feet stopping regardlesslv
through the viscous mud OF the unpaved
byway. Hear that he cried as series
Of short: sharp yells rose in the bazaar
behind them. The dogs have found the
scent" And for time terror winged
their flight. Eastern mobs are hard to
handle: If overtaken the chances were
anything you-pleas to one that the
fugitives Would be torn tn pieces as by
wild animals ere the police could inter
fere.
They struck through stranger and more
awful quarters than Amber had believed
could be tolerated. even in India. For II
there were a better way Of escape they
had no time to pause and choose II. From
the racket in their rear the pursuit was
hot upon their trail, and with every
stride. well nigh. they were passing those
who would mark them down and. when
the rabble came up. cry ii on with ex-
plicit directions
And so Amber found himself pounding
along al the heels of his Gurkha threading
acres of fiimsy huts huddled together In
meaningless confusion-frail boxes OF
bamboo. mud and wattles. thrown rough
ly together upon corrupt. naked earth.
that reeked of the drainage OF uncounted
generations. Whence they passed through
long, brilliant silent streets. lined with
open novels wherein vice and crime bred
cheek by jowl. the haunts OF shame.
painted and unabashed. sickening In the
very crudity of its nakedness.
There is no bottom to the pit wherein the
native sinks. ." And on, painting. with
laboring chests and aching limbs. into
the abandoned desolation OF the Chinese
quarter. and back through the still. dead
ly ways which Amber had threaded In the
footsteps of Pink Satin-where the houses
lowered high and were ornamented with
dingy, crumbling stucco and rusty, empty.
treacherous balconies of iron. and the arr
hung In stagnation as II the very winds
here halted to eavesdrop upon the in
iduities that were housed behind the jeal-
Gus. rotting blinds of wood and iron.
BY now the voice of the chase had sub
sided to a dull and distant muttering far
behind them. and the way was clear. Be-
yond its age-old. ineradicable atmosphere
Of secret infamy there was nothing
threatening I'm the aspect of the neigh
borhood. And the Gurkha pulled up.
breathing like a wind-broken horse.
Easily. hazoor." he gasped. There 10
time for rest
Willingly Amber dropped into waver-
ing stride. so nearly exhausted that his
legs shook under him and he reeied
drunkenly. and. fighting for breath, they
stumbled on, side by side. in the shadow
of the overhanging walls. until as they
neared a corner the Gurkha stopped and
halted Amber with an imperative ges-
ture.
THE police, sahib, the police" he
breathed, with an expressive sweep or ms
hand toward the cross street. Let US
wait here till they pass" And In evident
panic he crowded Amber into the deep
and gloomy recess afforded by door
overhung by a balcony.
Taken of his guard but with growing
doubt Amber was on the point or re-
monstrating Why should the police con-
Germ themselves with peaceful wayfarers?
They could not yet have heard OF the
crime in the bazaar, miles distant. But
as he opened his lips he heard the latch
click behind him. and before he could lift
a finger the Gurkha had flung himself
bodily upon him. fairly lifting the Ameri-
can across the threshold.
They went down together. the Gurkha
on top. And the door crashed to with
rattlA OF bolts leaving Amber on his
back. in total darkness. betrayed. loss
and alAne with his enemies.
cI\p be continued tomorrow