The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-10-02
CHAPTER VI.
The Temple Of the Lion.

looked as though It had been sculp-
tured out OF mist. Here and there the
heavy dews. touched by the moon
lances, flung back flames of sapphire,
cold and sharp. To Kathlyn the tenn
| pie was OF marvellous beauty. She
urged Rajah toward the crumbling
portico.
1t was a temple in ruins, like many
in Hind. Broken pillars, exquisitely
carved, lay about. and some of the tall
windows of marble lace we're punctur-
ed, as If the fist of some angry god
had beaten through. Under the de-
| cayed portico stood an iron brazier.
Near this reposed a cracked stone
| sarcophagus; an unusual sight In this
| part Of the world. 1t was without its
! lid. But one god now brooded here
/ abouts-Silence. Not a sound any
where, not even from the nearby
trees. She saw a noiseless lizard slide
| jerkily across a patch of moonshine
and dissolve into the purple shadow
beyond.
w nat was Nlllb ItlnBlGs W nat bOho
had been worshiped here. And why
was it deserted? She had heard her
father tell Of the ruined city of Chitor.
Plague? .. Kathlyn shuddered.
Sometimes villages, to the last soul in
them, were brushed from existence
and known no more to man. And this
might be one of them. Yet indications
of a village we're nowhere to be seen.
1t was merely temple, perhaps miles
from the nearest village, deserted save
by prowling wild beasts, the winds, the
sunshine, and the moonshine. She
looked far and wide for any signs of
human habitation.
She commanded Rajah to lneel. So
held by the enchanting picture was
Kathlyn that the elephants renewed
restlessness (and he had reason, as
will be seem passed unobserved by
her He came to knee. however, and
she got out Of the howdah. Her legs
trembled for a space, for her nerves
were in a pitiable condition. Suddenly
Rajahs ears went forward, he rose,
and his trunk curled angrily. With a
whuff he wheeled a4I shuttled off to-
ward the jungle cut of which he had
so recently emerged.
Halt" cried Kathlyn. What had
he heard? What had he seen? Haiti"
But even as she called the tall grass
closed in behind the elephant. What
water and food she had disappeared
with him.
She paused by the brazier, catching
hold of it for support. She laughed
Historically: 1t was 80 funny; it was
all so out of Joint with real things,
with everyday life as she had known
it. Weird laughter returned to mock
her astonished ears, a sinister echo.
And then she laughed at the echo, be-
ing in the grip of species of madness.
In the purple caverns of the temple
she suddenly became conscious Of an
other presence. A fash as of moon
light striking two chrysoberyls took
the madness out of her mind. This
forsaken temple was the haunt of a
leapord or 2 tiger
She was lost That magnetism
which ordinarily was hers was at it's
nadir, She hesitated for a second,
then climbed into the empty sarcopha-
gus, crouching low Strangely enough,
as she did so calm fell upon her;
all the terrors Of her position dropped
away from her as mists from the
mountain peaks. She had, however,
gotten into the hiding place none too
soon. She heard the familiar pad-pad,
the whiff-whifr of big cat Immedi-
ately into the moonlight came an
African lion, as out of place here as
Kathlyn herself; his tail slashed,
there was long, black streak from
his name to his tail where the hair had
risen. Kathlyn crouched even lower. |
The lion trotted round the sarcopha-
gus, shifting. Presently he lifted his
head and roared. The echoes played |
battledore and shuttlecock with the
The lion roared again, this |
time at the insulting echoes. For a
few minutes the noise was deafening. |
A rumble as of distant thunder, and
the storm died away.
By and by she peered cautiously.
She saw the lion crossing the open
space between the temple and the jun
gle. She saw him pause bend his
head, then lope away in the direction
taken by Rajah.
To Kathlyn it seemed that she had
40 longer anything to do with the body
If Kathlyn Hare. The soul of another
lad stepped into this wearied flesh Of
hers and now directed it's physical
manifestations, while her own spirit
'tood gratefully and passively aloof,
Nothing could happen now; the world
lad grown still and calm. The spirit
rev the sleeves of the robe snugly
lbout her arms and laid Kathlyn's
lead upon them and drew her down
nto profound slumber.
Half a mile to the north of the
uined temple there lay, all unsus-
ected by Kathlyn, village-a vii
age belonging solely to the poor, most
Y ryots or tillers OF the soil. The
o0r IN A afa lrrnx.f b,,A A.. ..-.s.a- ~ | ,