The independent-reporter., 1909-12-23

pairing for the outbreak" he said fn.
gering the glass of brandy that Britt
had poured for him. Ever since
Chase began 10 20 In so noticeably foi
the ladies-ahem.''
Chase glared at him. The others tit
tered.
Il don't mean the old story, sir. of
the Persians, and fm saying, sir.
what's more. there wasn't II word OF
truth In it-l mean the ladies of the
chateau. begging pardon too. Won
Blitz came To me often with com
plants that you were being made u
fool of by pretty face or two and
that you were going over to the enemy
body and soul. When | heard that
they tried to kill you the night before
last made up my mind that no white
man was to be left to tell the tale
Last night we locked all the company's
books In the vaults. got together all
hand and made preparations to go Oh
board the steamer when she called this
morning. My plan was to tell them of
the trouble here and try to save you.
We were all expected to die Of the
plague-that's what we were-and ]
realized that Tommy Atkins was off
the boards forever.
1--WE hadn't any more than got the
cash and valuables ready to smuggle
aboard when down came Rasula upon
us-10 o'clock last night. your lord.
ship. He had dozen men with him,
and he told every mothers son Of us
that our presence In the town was not
desired until after the ship had sailed
away. We were taken up into the
hills by squad of men. There wasn't
a man among us that didn't know that
we were to be killed as soon as the
ship had gone. With our own eyes we
saw the mail bags rifled and nearly all
of the mail destroyed. The pouches
from the chateau were burned. Ra.
sula politely informed US that the
plague had broken out among the cha.
teau servants and that no mail could
be sent out from that place. He said
he intended to warn the ships officer
that explains the short stay Of the
ship and the absence Of nearly all mai
from the island. There won't be an.
other boat for three weeks, and they
won't land because Of the plague
They will get word, however, that
every one In the chateau has died OF
the disease and that scores of natives
are dying every day.
"Well, we decided to break away
from the guard and try to get to the
chateau. 1t was their intention to
take some Of us back to the bank this
morning to open the vault and the
safes. That was to be our last act
dozen Of the women came up to where
we were being held. They were flying
from the town and ran into the arms
of our guard before they knew Of theil
presence. 1t seems that those devils
down their had set out to kill theil
women because 1t was known that one
of them had warned Mr. Chase OF
his danger. During the excitement
brought about by their arrival in oul
camp we made a sudden attack upor
our guards. They were not expecting
II, and we had seized their rifles before
they could recover from their surprise
regret to say that We were obliged te
kill few Of them In the row that fol
lowed. You let us In just In time. My
word, 1t was a close shave"
"It's an III wind that blows all evil
said Deppingham. "Mr. Bowles, you
are welcome. We are a bit short o'
ablebodied soldiers. May we count on
you and the men who came with you ??
ITO the end. my lord" said Bowles
almost bursting his jacket by infa
ton. The others slapped their legs
Stanchly.
The arrival Of the refugees from
Arafat gave the chateau a stanch lit
tie garrison Of sixty men.
"For the time being we are as snug
as bugs In a rug" said Deppipgham
when all was over. Shall we rejoin
the ladies. gentlemenT He was as
calm as May morning.
The three leaders found the ladies
In the shaded balcony, lounging lazily
as II no such thing as danger existed
Below them in the grassy courtyard a
dozen indolent Persians were congre-
gated. lying about in the shade with
all the abandon Of absolute security
The three women In the balcony had
been watching them for an hour, COM
menting freely upon these creatures
from another world. Neenah, the
youngest and prettiest Of them all, had
waited kisses to the proud DANES
above. She had danced for their
amusement.
Lady Agnes waved her hand lazily
toward the group below, sending a
mocking smile to Chase. "The Asiatic
plague" she said cheerfully.
''The deucew broke In her husband.
not catching her meaning. HAS 1t
really broken outT'