The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-08-28

ing the order does ABOUT dA II uAa
since the days OF the FIRST white rover
who touched the shores OF Hind. II is
small, but that signifies nothing; for
you can brew a mighty poison In a
small pot Well. happened to save
the old kings life"
81 knew It would be something like
that" said Kathlyn. go on. Tell it
ALL"
The colonel had recourse 70 hts pipe
again. He smoked on till the coal was
dead The girls waited patiently
They knew that his silence meant that
he was only marshaling the events In
their chronological order.
The king was kindly old chap
simple. yet shrewd. and with that
slumbrous oriental way Of accom-
plishing his ends. despite all obstacles.
Underneath this apparent simplicity
discovered a grim. sardonic humor
Trust the oriental for always having
that packed away under his bewilder-
ing diplomacy. He was all alone In
the world. He was one Of those rare
eastern potentates who wasn't ham
pered by parasitical relatives. BY
George, the old boy could have given
his kingdom, lock. stock and barrel,
to the British government, and no one
could say him nay. There was n good
deal OF rumor the last time / was there
that when he died England would step
in actually. The old boy gave me
leave TO come and go as | pleased, to
hunt where and how ] would. ! had a
mighty fine collection. There are
tigers and leopards and bears and fat
old pythons, 40 foot long OF course,
il isn't the tiger country that central
India is, but the brutes You find are
bigger. have about 60 beasts there
now, and that's mainly why I'm going
back. Want to clean Il up and ship
em to Hamburg, where I've a large
standing order. I'm going first to Cey-
Ion, for some elephants"
The colonel knocked the ash from
his pipe.
THE old boy used to do some trap
ping himself, and whenever he'd
catch a fine speciman he'd turn it over
to me. lie had a hunting lodge not
far from my quarters. One day All
med came to me with a message say
ing that the king commanded my pres
ence at the lodge, where his slaves
had trapped a fine leopard Yes. my
dears, slaves. There is even a slave
mart at the capital this day. A bar
barrie fairy land, with its good genIi
and its bad djinns."
"The Arabian Nights" murmured
Winnie, smuggling close to Kathlyn.
"The oriental loves pomp," went on
the colonel. "He cant give you a
chupatti-"
whats that?' asked Winnie
something like hardtack. Well, he
can't give you that without ceremonial
When l arrived at the lodge with All
med the old boy-he had the complex
ion of a prima donna-the old boy sat
on his portable throne, gllttering with
orders. Standing beside him was. a
chap we called Umballa. He had been
street rat. A bit of impudence had
caught the kings fancy, and he
brought up the boy, clothed, fed him,
and sent him away down to UmbaHa
to school When the boy returned he
talked Umballa morning, noon, and
night. till the soldiers began to call
him that, and from them it passed on
to the natives, all Of whom disliked the
upstart Hanged If l can recall his
real name. He was ugly and hand
some at the same time; suave, pa
tient, courteous; yet somehow or other
| sensed the real man below-the Tar
tar blood l took a dislike to him.
first off. It's the animal sense. You've
got it, Kit. Behind the king sat the
Council OF Three-three wise old ducks
wouldn't trust with an old um-
brella"
Winnie laughed.
while we were salaaming and
genufecting and using grandiloquent
phrases the bally leopard got loose,
somehow. Maybe some one let him
loose l don't know. Anyhow, he
made Tor the king, who was too thun-
derstruck to dodge. The rest of 'em
took to yheir heels, you may lay odds
on that Now, l had an honest liking
for the king. Seeing the brute make
for him, dashed forward. You see,
at ceremonials you're not permitted
to carry arms. 1t had to be with my
hands. The leopard knocked the old
boy flat and began to maui him.
kicked the brute In the face, swept
the kings turban off his head and
flung it about the head of the leopard.
Somehow or other l got him down.
Some Of the frightened natives came
up, and with the help Of Ahmed we
got the brute tied up securely. When
the king came around he silently shook
hands with me and smiled peculiarly
at Umballa, who now came running
up"
And that's how you got those poor
hands!" exclaimed Kathlyn, kissing
the scars which stood out white
against the tan.
That's how" raising the hands and
putting them on Kathlyns head in
kind of benediction.
rs that all?" asked Winnie, breath
lessly.
Isn't that enough?" he retorted.
We'll, what is 1t, Martha? Dinner?
Well If l haven't cheated you girls
out of your tea"
Teal" shifted Winnie disdainfully.
"Do you know, dad, you're awfully
mean to Kit and me. II you'd take the
trouble you could be more interesting
than any book ever read"
"He doesn't believe his stories would