The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-09-11

hOOkahs ana coffee, TO them reform
meant change only. not the alleyiation
OF some OF their heavy burdens The
talk OF freeing slaves was but talk
slaves were lucrative investments; a
man would be fool 20 free them. An
old man. with a skin white like this
new queens and hair like spun wool,
dressed IN a long black cloak and a
broadbrimmed hat, had started the
agitation OF liberating the slaves More
than that. he carried no idol OF his
God. never bathed In the CHATS, or
took flowers 10 the temples, and seemed
always silently communing with the
simple iron cross suspended from his
neck But he had died during the last
visitation Of the plague,
They had wearied OF their tolerant
king. who had died mysteriously; they
were now wearied OF the council and
UmbAlla; In other words. they knew
not what they wanted, being People.
Who was this fair.skinned woman
who stood so straight before umbal-
las eye? Whence had she come? To
be ruled by a woman who appeared to
be tongue tied Well, there were worse
things than q woman who could not
talk. Thus they gabbled In the ba-
zaars, round braziers and dung fires.
And some talked of the murder The
proud Ramabai had been hailed to
prison; his bankers gold had not
saved him. o, this street rat Umballa
generally got what he wanted. Ra-
mabai's wife was one OF the beauties
OF Hind.
Through the narrow, evil smelling
streets OF the bazaars a man hurried
that night. glancing behind frequently
to see II by any mischance some one
followed He stopped ,at the house OF
Ial Singh, the shoemaker, whom he
found browsing over his water pipe.
rs it well?" said the newcomer. in
toning
1T is WELL" answered Lal Singh.
dropping the mouthpiece OF his pipe.
He had spoken mechanically. When
he saw who his visitor was his eyes
frightened. Ahmed"
"Hush!" with a gesture toward the
ceiling.
She is out merrymaking, like the
rest of her kind. The old saying: II a
man waits. the woman comes to him.
am alone. There is news?"
There Is a journey. Across Hind to
Simla."
The hour has arrived?"
at least the excuse. Give these to
one in authority with the British raj.
whose bread we eat Ahmed slid
across the table a very small scroll.
The memsahib is my masters daugh-
ter She must be spirited away to
safety"
"Ah!" Lal Singh rubbed his fat
hands. so the time nears when we
shall wiring the vultures neck. All, it
is good! Umballa, the toad. who swells
and swells as the days go by. SILVA
has guarded him well. The king picks
him out of the gutter for a pretty bit
of impudence, sends him afar to Um-
balla, where he learns TO speak Eng
lish, where he learns 10 wear shoes
that button and stiff linen bands round
the neck He has gone on, gone on!
The higher up, the harder the fall.
The cellar?"
There are pistols and guns and
ammunition and strange little wires
by which l make magic fires
"Batteries?"
"One never knows what may be
needed. You have the key?"
Yes"
Hare Sahib's daughter. And Hare
Sahib ?"with twinkling eyes.
"In some dungeon. mayhap. There
all avenues seemed closed up"
"Umballa needs money" said Lal
Singh, thoughtfully But he will not
find it," in afterthought.
Tomorrow"
AT dawn"
These two men we're spiders in that
great web Of secret service that the
British raj weaves up and down and
across Hind, TO Persia and Afghanis-
tan. to the borders Of the Bear.
Even as Lal Singh picked up his
mouthpiece again and Ahmed sailed
forth into the bazaars Umballa had
brought to him in the armory that
company Of soldiers who had shown
such open r.utiny not against the
state. but against him.
Gravely he questioned the captain.
"Pay our wages, then, heaven born,
said the captain. with yelled insolence.
PAY us, for we have seen not so much
as betel money since the last big
rains"
Money" mused UmbaIla, marking
down this gallant captain for death
when the time came.
"Ai, money; bright rupees, or, better
still, yellow British gold. Pay us!"
Let US be frank with each other"
said Umballa, smiling to cover the fire
in his eyes.
THAT is what we desire" replied
the captain, with a knowing look at his
silent troopers.
81 must buy you
The captain salaamed.
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