The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-05-11

real good reason. 1 have always desired to be loved for
my own sake and not for the money 1 have"
Money? p repeated the Colonel Never had he in any
way associated this healthy young hunter with money.
Did he not make a business of trapping and selling wild
animals like he himself? Money! l did not know that
you had any, Bruce"
" am the son of Roger Bruce"
What! The man who owned nearly all of Peru and
half the railroads in South America p
Yes. You see, Colonel, we are something alike. We
never ask questions. it would have been far better If
we had. Because l did not question Kathlyn when I
first met her 1 feel half to blame for her misfortunes.
l should have told her all about Alfalfa and warned her
to keep out of it. 1 should have advised her to send
native Investigators, she to remain in Peshawur till she
learned the truth. But the name Hare suggested moth
ing to me- not till after I had left her at Singapore. So
l shall go back with you. But please let Kathlyn con-
dnue to think of me as a man who earns his own living"
God bless you, my boy! You have put a new back
bone in me. It's hard not to have a white man to talk to,
to plan with. Ahmed expects that 10 shall be ready for
the return in the morning. He, however, intends to go
back on a racing camel, to go straight to my bungalow,
if it isn't destroyed by this time. Perhaps Winnie has
not arrived there yet. I trust Ahmed"
$50 do 1. 1 have known him for a long time-that
is, 1 thought I did-and during the last few weeks he
has been a revelation. Think of his being your headman
all these years, and yet steadily working for his Raj, the
British Rajw
They can keep secrets"
WELL, We have this satisfaction: when Pundita rules
it will be under the protecting hand of England. Now
let us try to look at the cheerful side of the business.
Think of what that girl has gone through with scarcely
a scratch! Can't you read something in that? See how
strong and self-reliant she has become under such mis-.
fortunes as would have driven mad any ordinary womauI
Can't you see light in all this? 1 tell you, there is good
o~J owl uynr6inr Fo n~5 -. 49, - 49, At NJ
fakir will in the end prove stronger than your bally old
guru. When I am out of the orient laugh at such
things, but I can't laugh at them somehow when I'm in
India"
Nor l." $751;. .
That night Kathlyn signifed that she wished to 70
down to the beach beyond the harbor basin. Bruce
accompanied her. Often he caught her staring out at
the t~winkling lights on board the Simla. By and by they
could hear the windlass creaking. A volume of black
smoke suddenly poured from the boats slanting funnel.
The ship was putting out to sea.
why do you risk your life for US p she asked sud-
denly.
Adventure is meat and drink to me, Miss Hare"
The prefix sounded strange and unfamiliar in her ears.
Formally. She had been WRONG, then; only comradeship
and the masculine sense Of responsibility. Her heart was
like lead.
"It is very kind and brave Of you, Mr.. Bruce; but I
will not have it"
Have what?" he asked, knowing full well what aha
meant.
"This going back with us. Why should you risk your
life for people who are almost strangers?'
"strangers7 He laughed softly. Illus it never
occurred to you that the people We grow up with are
never really our friends: that real friendship comes
only with maturity Of the mind? Why, the best man
friend I have in this world is a young chap met but
three years ago. 1t is not the knowing of people that
makes friendships. 1t is the sharing Of dangers; Of bread
in the wilderness: of getting a glimpse of the soul which
lies beneath the conventions Of the social pact. Would
you. call me a stranger
80, no J" she cried swiftly. 1t = merely that I do
not want you to risk your life any further for u. liz
there no way / can dissuade youg'
None that / can think Of. I am going back with you.
That's settled. Now let us talk Of something else. Don't
you really want me to goT'
"Ah, that isn't fair looking out to sea again and
following the lights aboard the simla.
It was mighty hard for him not to sweep her into his
arms then and there. But he would never be sure Of
her till she was free Of this country, free of the sense
of gratitude, free to weigh her sentiments carefully ana
unbiasedly. He sat down abruptly on the wreck Of ain
ancient hull imbedded in the sand. She sank down a
little way from him.
He began to tell her some OF his past exploits the
Amazon, the Orinoco, the Andes, Tibet, and China; OF
the strange hotsam and jetaam he had met in his travels.
But she sensed only the sound Of his voice and the de-
sire to reach out her hand and touch his friendship!
Bread in the wilderness
Ahmed was lean and deceptive to the eye. Like many
Hindus, he appeared anRnnic; and vet the burdens the