The Washington times., 1911-08-01

stopped at merry ngure on the rim,
Me tell! Me tell! Me known
What do you known l demanded.
The fellow pointed up at the sky. l
had no idea what he meant, but l saw
that the moon was rising. In few
ed with light. The higher mountains
had already cadght the silver dnge.
What do you known" | repeated.
Wait! Moonee! Me show brother
co."
1t was clear what he meant-at least,
l thought so. He then scattered the fre
across the road, and for minute haa
a hOrrid feeling of distrust, fearing there
might have been murder. As there was
nothing to- do but wait, l threw myself
upon the ground and watched the grow
ing moonlight, together with the un-
canny figure that stood before me.
Presently he rolled up the sheepskin
and returned II to his bosom.
Come! We see! Gomez!
He beckGned for me to follow as ne
started down the gorge. Making sure
that my firearms and knife were In
their proper places, ! motloneo lot hiih
1t was mile to the lower end OF tne
gap, where l had built the other fire ana
waited. The way was rouEh, ana sooh
fell behind the mountaineer.
At the mouth of the funnel just De-
fore reaching the fire. the snake-charm-
er stopped / thought perhaps he was
surprised at the gldaNing Goals before
him; but while, he had evidently seen
them. he pointed upward. Why he was
not more surprised at the sight OF the
fire puzzled me, and 1t would have puz-
zled me still more were II not for d
certain occult sense nearly all tnese
people possess. OF course, this Is In
CxpiiCable fIom the Westerner's view
point, but Tibetan is rarely surprised.
He always seems to have expected 1t.
| followed the direction of the mans
finger as ii pointed skyWard. A small
white cloud was rejecting the light OF
the moon into the ghostly valley be-
meath. 1t looked almost like human
hand, with parted fingers creeping on
and outward to the west. Although
there was nothing very striking in Its
appearance. l could see that the snake
charmer was intensely interested. In
deed, he was absorbed In its contempla-
ton, and glanced round from time to
time to see II I was watching Perhaps
he saw more than l did, and l tried to
ask what 1t was, but conversation Ian
guished.
AS continued to look the edge Of the
ClOud-or, rather, point In the edge
took on firmer shape and gradually part
ed from the mass An instant later
could see that 1t was falling earthward
II continued to fall until hidden behlnd
a great mountain-spur, when ! could see
IT no more. Was the snake-charmer
magician? Had he been the cause of
lIllS TeHldl hdDIt SLBIlA'
NV eyes were now fixed upon the
man. There was something more he
wanted to show.
Taking the sheepskin from his coat,
he again waved it before the fire. Once
more the serpent squirmed and wrig-
gled, once more he swallowed the feath-
er, and then fixed his head hrInly
against one OF the figures on the disk: |
"Waitee! Brother comee! Horse and
y ak come, tCo!
He now pointed down the trail. indi- |
eating that | was to look for their re- |
turn in that direction. There were GER
tain wild gestures that seemed to con-
meet the vision in the sky with what |
was about TO follow. He kept his eyes |
upon the sheepskin until he was sure I
ne was right, tracing the cabalistic de-
signs with his long. bony finger again
and again, until apparently satisned:
Then he rolled up the skin and hlc IL
as before.
With a sigh of relief. the man now |
squatted before the glowing Goals ana
began raking them over with MS pod
knife, blowing gently into them from !
time to time. He seemed to see things. ,
and pointed at them with a queer grin !
as he uttered some diabolcal words
Presently he jumped up and hourlsh-
ing the knife wildly above ms heau,
gave a whoop that might have been
heard a mile away. Then all was stlll.
We both listened-the Tibetan with his
ear upon the ground. l standing.
The fellow seemed to hear something |
which I did not. There was an odd look |
of satisfaction upon his face, evidenced |
from time to time as he turned first one !
ear then the other to the ground. sud
denly he jumped up and began kicking |
the fire aside.
When he had removed II entirely from |
the path, he covered II quickly with |
such dirt as he could scratch with his |
knife and fingers from the crannies In |
the rocks In a minute there was not |
hA oh n n rTTN q
and | stood facing each other In the |
Then a strange thing hap
pened.
seized me by the arm and tried to pun
me from the path. Seeing 1 mistrusted
his motives, he let go suddenly and
Jumped aside, pointing to spot where |
he wished me to stand. 1t was near the |
knife, and he made a signal that |
might take It If l pleased. This did.
and filled with wonder, took up my |
position where he asked me to.
The Tibetan stood upon the opposite
side of the road, farther down, and sep
arated from me by probably mo, not less
could tell, unarmed There was no hos
lie Observation-Disclosures he had given
me every advantage, both in position |
and means of defense.
There was a wild believing in the
valley, the clatter Of hoofs and many |
-eet, unearthly shrieks Of terror, groans
IF despair. In the rare atmosphere of
hose great attitudes, 1t Is difficult to
estimate distance by eye or ear, and l
could not guess how far away these
noises were. Sometimes a shout will be
heard for several miles, especially II
below the listener.
From where l was standing 1t was
possible to catch the look of intense IN
terest and growing wonder upon the |
face of the man below me. In the full
light of the moon, every action was
visible. The cleaning teeth, the plated
hair still falling beneath the turban.
the strange, rhythmical swaying OF
the body keeping time to the sound
of his droning, the outstretched
head and neck as If in expec-
tation of some new sight, were all
very striking. I thought 1t wise to keep
At intervals he would drop to the
ground and listen, as II to locate the
advancing sounds, for even | could tell
hat they were getting nearer. 1t was
Ill very strange and weird, but nothing
% what was about TO follow:
,earer and more distinct were the
;hrieks of terror. the groans of despair.
Then, as II by magic. the human cries
,eased. while the upward plodding OF
he beasts grew slower and less excited.
At last the heavy breathing Of the
attle-the stumbling, weary Dragging oI
he feet 1t was strange, pathetic, after
he wild snortirg and believing of the
tampede.
As they approached, the droning in
'antation of the snake-charmer became
more faint-more distant-slower.
/ Continuation of This Story VIII
he Found In Tomorrow
Issue of The Times.