Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-26
THE BRONZE BELL
BY LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE.
Copyright. by LouIsJo vane)
including


| less and motionless with the beauty OF
their unuttered desire. and before ne
could collect his wits. she had made him
| captlVe-had without warning cast her
self upon her knees before him and I'M
| prlsoned both his hands. burying her face
IN their palms. He felt her lips hot upof
| MS flesh, and then-wOnder of wonders
tears from those divine eyes streaming
through his fingers.
The shock of 1t brought him to his
senses. Pitiful. dumfounded, Mortified. he
glared wildly about him, seeking some
avenue of escape. There was no one
watching: he thanked heaven for that
while the cold sweat started out upon his
forehead. But still at his feet the woman
rocked, softly sobbing her fair shoulders
gently agitated, and still she detied his
gentle efforts to free his hands, holding
them in grasp he might not break
without hurting her. He found his tongue
eventually.
Don't" he pleaded desperately. my
dear. you mustn't. For PHYS sake don't
! sob like that! What under the suns the
trouble? Don't. please! Good Lord
| what am / to do with this lovely luna.
tic?' Then he remembered that he had
| spoken in English and thoughtfully trans
lated the gist of his remonstrances, witt
as little effect as II he had spoken to the
empty air.
Though in time the fiercest paroxysn
of her passion passed and her sobs dimin-
| ished in violence, she chung heavily tc
lifted her in his arms The error was
fatal: he had designed to get her on hel
feet and then stand away. But no sooner
had he raised her and succeeded in dis
engaging his hands, than soft round arms
were clasped tightly about his neck and
her face-if possible, more ravishing in
tears than when first he had seen it-pil-
lowed on his breast. And for the first
| time she spoke coherentiy
''Aie.'' she walled, TREMENDOUSLY. Ale
&c fhn .iIp Of my n
brimming. now that thou hast returned
to me at last, o. my lord. Well nigh had
I ceased to hope for thee, Q, Beloved
we'll nigh had this heart of mine grown
ishment save hope, save hope! Day and
night I have watched for thy coming fol
many years. praying that thou shoulds1
| return to me ere this frail prettiness OF
mine. that made thee love me long ago
should wane and fade. SO that thy heart
should turn to other women, o, my hus.
band!"
Husband, Great-heavens Look here
my dear, hadn't you better come to your
senses and let me go before
come to disturb us? Nay, but who should
come between husband and wife in the
first hour of their reunion after many
years of separation? Is it not known
have waited for thee, almost thy widow
ere thy wife, all this weary time?
Or is it that thy heart hath forgotten
thy child-bride? Am l scorned. ., my
lord-I Naraini? Is there no love in thy
bosom to leap in response to the love OF
thee that is my life?''
She released him and whirled a pace OF
two away, draperies swirling, jewels scin
tillating cold fire in hopeless emulations
of the radiance of her tear -gemmed eyes
"Naraini?" stammered Amber, recalling
what he had heard of the woman. Ma
raini.''
AYE, my lord, Naraini, thy welded
wife," The rounded little chin went up q
trifie and her eyes cleaned angrily. Am
I no longer thy Naraini, then? Or woulds
thou deny that thou art Har Dyal. my
king and my beloved? Hast thou indeed
forgotten the child that was given thee
for wife when thy father reigned II
Khandawar and thou were but a boy-s
boy of ten. the Maharaj Har Dyal? Has
thou forgotten the little maid they brought
J thee from the north. Lalji-the nader
who had grown to womanhOOd ere thy
return from thy travels to take up thy
fathers crown? Ale! Thou canst
never forget, Beloved; though years and
the multitude of faces have come between
us as veil. thou dost remember-ever
as thou didst remember when the mes
sage of the Bell came to thee across the
great black waters, and thou didSt learn
that the days of thy exile were num-
bered, that the hour approached when
again thou shouidst sit in the place Of
thy fathers and rule the world as once
they ruled it,
CTo be continued tomorrow.)