St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-11-28

Ssomp bsoemorD lay anchored III the
omns. 4 British nag dropped from the
stern Of one Of them. This meant Bonn.
nay; and Bombay. In turn, meant Suez.
the Mediterranean, and the broad At,
lantic.
The air was still and hot, for the In.
dian summer was now beginning to
lay its burning hand upon this great
peninsula. The pale dust. the white
stucco OF the buildings. blinded the
eye.
They proceeded at once to the single
hotel. whore they found plenty OF &C.
commodation. Then the colonel hur-
ried OF to the cable Office and wired
Winnie. Next he ascertained that the
British ship Simla would weigh anchor
the following evening for Bombay;
that there they could pick up the Delhi,
bound for England. There was moth
Ing further to do but wait for the an
swer to the colonel's cable to Winnie.
which would arrive somewhere about
noon Of the next day.
And that answer struck the hearts
OF all Of them with the coldness Of
death. Umballa had beaten them.
Winnie had sailed weeks ago for ALA
ha in search Of father and sister!
Ahmed spat out his betel nut and
squared his shoulders. Somehow he
had rather expected something like
this. The reason for Umballa's half.
hearted pursuit stood forth clearly.
"Sahib, it is fate" he said. I'VE
must return at once to Alfalfa. Truly,
the curse of that old guru sticks like
the blood leeches Of the Bengal
swamps. But as you have faith in
your guru, have faith in mine Not
hair Of our heads shall be harmed"
Il am very miserable man, All
med! God has forsaken met" The
colonel spoke with stole calm; he was
more like the man Ahmed had former
ly known
mo, Allah has not forsaken; he has
forgotten us for time" And Ahmed
strobe out to make the arrangements
for the return.
Bruce" said the colonel, 1T IL time
for you to leave US. You are man.
You have stood by us through thick
and thin. cannot ask you to share
any Of the dangers which now confront
us, perhaps more sinister than any we
have yet known"
Don't you want met" asked Bruce
quietly.
Kathlyn had gone to her room to
hide her tears.
Want you! But mol" The colonel
wrung the young mans hand and
turned to go back to Kathlyn.
wait q moment. colonel. Suppos-
ing l wanted to go, what then? Sup
posing should say to you what I dare
not yet say to your daughter, that I
love her better than anything else In
all this wide world; that 1t will be
happiness to follow wherever she goes
/. even unto death?"
The colonel wheeled. Bruce, do you 8
mean THAR"
with all my heart, sir But please
say nothing to Kathlyn till this affair
ends, one way or the other. She might
be stirred by sense OF gratitude, and
later regret It, When we get out OF
this-and rather believe In the
prophecy Of Ahmed's guru or fakir-
then Ill speak. have always been
rather a lonely man. There's been no
real good reason. l have always de-
sired to be loved for my own sake, and
not for the money l have"
Money!" repeated the colonel.
Never had he in any way associated
this healthy young hunter with money.
Did he not make business Of trap
ping and selling wild animals, like
himself? Money! did not know that
vou had any, Bruce"
Il am the son of Roger Bruce"
What! The man who owned near.
y all Of Peru and half the railroads In
South American"
yes. You see, colonel. we are
alike. We never ask cues.
ions It would have been far better
+ we had Because did not question
Kathlyn when first met her feel
lelf to blame for her misfortunes.
,hculd have told her all about Alfalfa
md warned her to keep out of 1t.
.hould have advised her to send native
Investigators, she to remain in Pesha.
vur till she learned the truth. But the
lame Of Hare suggested nothing to
ne. not till after had left her at
singapore. So I shall go back with
'ou. But please let Kathlyn continue
o think of me as man who earns his
,wn living"
God bless you. my boyl You have
tut a new backbone in me. It's hard
lot to have a white man to talk to, to
'lan with. Ahmed expects that we
hall be ready for the return In the
morning. He. however, intends to go
'ack on racing camel, to 90 straight
o my bungalow. II it isn't destroyed
y this time. Perhaps Winnie has not I
.rrfved there yet. trust Ahmed"
so do !. l have known him for q
ong time-that is. thought did
nd during the last few weeks he has
zen a revelation. Think Of his being
our headman all these years, and yet
teadily working for his raj, the Brit
sh rail-"
They can keep secrets"
We'll, we have this satisfaction:
Fhen Pundita rules It will be under the