Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-28
) THE BRONZE BELL
BY LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE.
Copyright. by
includ The


away endlessly. like sea frozen in its
fury.
There lies thy kingdom, o. my king
The bewitching voice cooed seduction at
his shoulder. There and here.
She sought his hand and placed it firmly
upon her bosom, holding it there with
gentle pressure until he felt the humping
Of her heart and the warm flesh that
heaved beneath a shred Of half-trans-
parent lace.
Reddening and a little shaken. he
snached his hand away. And she laughed
chidingly.
railway in the south, all the land is
Khandawar, Beloved-thine Inheritance
thine for the taking even as / am
thine, if thou wilt take me. Look
upon it, thy fathers kingdom, then upon
throwing back her head and meeting his
gaze with eyes dangerous beneath their
heavy silken lashes. Yea, l am alto
gether thine, my king! Wilt thou cast
me aside. then. who am faint with love
for thee? . Never has thou dreamed
of love such as the love that l bear for
thee How could 1t be otherwise. when
thou hast passed thy days in the chill
exile Of the north? O, my husband, turn
not from me-
He pulled himself together and stood
away Madam he said, with an alb
surdly formal bow. II am not your nus
band
She opened her arms with infinite allure.
'It is so little that is asked of thee
only to ascend thy fathers throne and
be honored of all Bharuta, only to WELD
the sceptre that is thine by right. only to
reign AN undisputed king in two king
ldons-khandawar and thy Naralnl $
heart"
II am very sorry" he returned with
the same prcciseness. ut is quite i'm
possible. Besides, it seems that you leave
the Sirkar altogether out of your calcu-
lations. 1t may not have occurred to you
that the Supreme Government of lnoia
may have something to say about the
contemplated change.
He saw her bite her lips with chagrin.
and the look she flashed to his face was
anything but kind and tender. "Arre!'
She laughed derisively. And of what &C
count is this frail, tottering Sirkars VIII
besides the Will of the Body? OF what
avail it's dicta against the rulings OF the
Bell? Thou knOwest-
Pardon. l know nothing. nave told
thee Rance, that 1 am not Har Dyal
Rutton.'
She was mistress of a thousand arti-
fees. Brought to standstlll on the one
line of attack, she diverged TO announcer
without the culver of an eyeiash 10 De-
yea, thou has told me-" she purred.
But I, Naraini, l know what l know.
Thou dost deny thyself even as thou dost
deny me- but =" art thou willing TO be
put to the PROOF, my hlilS
IF you've any means or proving my
identity. / would thank you for making
use of it, Rance .
There is the test of the Token, LalJi.
Il am not aware of 1t.
1.-The test Of the Token-the ring that
was brought to thee, the signet of thy
House Surely thou hast it with thee;
Since that night in Calcutta AMBER nao
resumed his habit of carrying the lokeh
in the channels bag. Now. on the renee
ton that it had been gwen nm LOT or q
special purpose. which had been frus-
trated by the death Of Dhoia Baksh, SO
that he had no further use for 1t. he de-
cided against the counsels OF pruaehce C
WHATS the Odds he asked himseif: II
I do lose it? / don't want the On thing
-it.s brought me nothing but trouble
thus far" And he thrust hand WITHIN
his shirt and brought forth the emerald
"Here it is" he told the woman, cheer-
fully Now this test?''
place it upon thy flnger-so, even upon
thv little finger, as was thy fathers wont
with it. Now lift up thine arm, So ana
turn the stone to the west. toward
Kathiapur.
Without comprehension he yielded to
this whm, holding UP his right arm ana
turning the emerald TO the quarter HUI
Gated by Naraini.
The hour had drawn close upon dawn;
4 cold air breathed down the valley ana
was chill to them In that LOFTY eyre: me
moon, dipping toward the rim OF tne
world. was poised, a globe of dull silver
mon tho ridge Of far. dark hill. As
thew watched it dropped out of slght ana
everything was suddenly very bleak and
black.
And curious thing happened. r
Naraini cried out sharply-"Aho! as IL
unable to contain her excitement.
Somewhere in the palace behind them
a great gong doomed like thunder.
CTo be continued tomorrow