The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1914-09-22
CHAPTER VI.
The Temple Of the Lion.

The Temple of the Lion.
In the blue of night the temple
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 temple in ruins, like many
in Hind. Broken pillars, exquisitely
carved, lay about, and some of the tall
windows of marble lace were 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 q 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.
What was this temple? What gods
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 village we're nowhere to be seen.
It 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 Ra1ah to kneel So
held by the enchanting picture was
Kathlyn that the elephants renewed
restlessness land 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
trembIed for space, for her nerves
were in a pitiable condition. Suddenly
Rajah's ears went forward, he rose,
and his trunk curled angrily. With a
whuff he wheeled and shuffled off to-
ward the jungle out Of which he had
so recently emerged.
Halt" cried Kathlyn. What had
he heard? What had he SEEM 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: it was so 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 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 a 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 a 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
sound. The lion roared again, this
time at the insulting echoes. For g