Evening star., 1914-04-12

the CoffaOof, ana one OF tne treasure
leopards roared back at the sinister
sound
"Highnessr timidly.
Enough! I hold you blameless" He
rushed from the palace.
Poor fools: Let them believe that
they had escaped. There was still the
little sister; in short time now she
would be inside the city walls. The
colonel sahfb would return: indeed.
yes. There would be no further diff
Guilty regarding the flligree basket of
gold and gems Still. he would pursue
them, if only for the mere sport of it.
If he failed to catch them all he had
to do was to sit down and wait for
them to return of their own volition.
Ramabai. however, was a menace,
and Umballah wondered how he was
going to lay hold of him. While wait
ing for his elephants to be harnessed
he summoned the council Ramabais
property must be confscated and Rama
time the council fatty refused to fall
in with Umballah's plans. And they
gave very good reasons. Yes, Rama
bal was a menace, but, till the SOL
diery was fully paid, to touch Ramabai
would mean the bursting forth of the
hidden fire and they would all be con-
sumed
"open the treasury door for me,
them"
I'VE dare not. The keepers under
stand. They would loose the leopards
which we dare not shoot. The law
What is the law to us?' demanded
Umballah frankly. Let US make laws
to suit our needs. The white man does
And we need money; We need each
other" pointing a finger suggestively
toward the floor
Only when we have the troops re-
piled the council firmly. I'VE have
bent our heads to your will SO far in
everything. but we refuse to sacrifice
these heads because of a personal spite
against Ramabai, whom we frankly
and wisely fear We dare not break
into the treasury. The keepers are un-
bribable; the priests are with them,
and the people are with the priests.
Bring back the white man and his
daughter first; if that is impossible,
marry this second daughter, and we
will crown her; and then you may. work
your will upon Ramabai You have
failed in all directions SO far. Succeed
but once and we are ready to follow
you."
Umbal1ah choked back the hot, i'm
perious words which crowded to his
lips. These were plain, unvarnished
facts. and he must bow to the inevita-
bic, however distasteful it might be.
For the present, then, Ramabaf should
be permitted to go unharmed But
Ramabai might die suddenly and acct
dentally in the recapture of the
colonel sahib. An accidental death
would certainly extinguish any vol
canic fires that smoldered under Allaha.
So with this secret determination in
mind, Umballah set forth.
Ahmed, his mind busy with thou
sand things. forgot the thousand and
first, at that stage most important of
all; and this was the short cut, a
mere pathway through the jungle, but
which lessened the journey by some
thirty miles. And this pathway Um-
ballah chose. The three hours head
way was thus pared down to minutes.
and at the proper time Umballah would
appear, not behind the pursued but in
the road in front of them
There was. to be sure, a bare possi-
bility Of the colonel and his party get
ting beyond the meeting of the path
and the road-that is, if he kept going
forward all through the night, which,
by the way, was exactly what the
astute Ahmed did But Kathlyn's curl
osity the next morning neutralized the
advantage gained
group of masked dancers. peripa