The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-08-12

-|f5s 4-t If24 e. -. ~ =
dress. Perhaps the Colonel sahib
would be pleased to see If he can wear
it? And also the use of my barber?r
"Bala Khan" cried the colonel, you
are q prince indeed! 1t will tonic me
like medicine. Thanks, thanks!"
st is we'll"
you have a wonderful elephant out
there in the compound said Bruce,
who had remained a silent listener to
all that had gone before.
"Ah! That is curiosity. He is wor.
shipped by Hindus and reverenced by
my own people. l am his official Gus.
todian. There is q saying among the
people that III will befall me should I
lose, sell or permit him to be stolen"
"And many have offered to buy?"
inquired the, colonel. ii
MANY" tir
When the colonel appeared at sup.
per, simple but substantial, he was q
new man. He stood up straight,
though his back still sInarted from the
lash. Kathlyn was delighted at the
change. ~ -. ~
After, the meal was over and coffee
was drunk, the khan conducted his
guests to his armory, Of which he was
very proud. Il Guns Of all descriptions
lined the walls. Some Of them Bruce
would have liked to own, to decorate
the walls Of his own armory, thou:
sands Of miles away. Baep5
The colonel whispered. a forgotten
prayer as, later. no laid down his
weary aching limbs upon the rope bed!
Almost Immediately he sank into slum
Der as deep and silent as the sea.
kathlyn and Bruce, however, went
up to the hanging gardens and re.
manned there till nine, marveling over
the beauty Of the night. The Pathan
city. lay under, their gaze, with a like.
ness to one Of those magic cities one
reads about in the chronicles Of Sin.
bad tho Sailor. But they spoke no
word Of love. When alone with this
remarkable young woman. Bruce found
himself invariably tongue-tied.
AT the same hour, less than fifty
miles away, umballa stood before the
opening of his elaborate tent, erected
Iat shutdown by the rivers brink, and
rcowled at the moon. He saw no
beauty in theStranslucent sky, In the
Silvery paleness Of the world below.
He wanted revenge, and the word
Missed In his brain as a viper Kisses
in the dark Of its cave. ~
Dung fires twinkled and soldiers
lounged about them, smoking and COS.
Giping. They had been given an earn.
est against their long delinquent
wages. and they were in a happy frame
Of mind. Their dead comrades were
dead and mourning was for widows; for
them would be the pleasures Of swift
repr!sals. The fugitiyes had gone to:
ward tho desert, and in that bleak
stretch Of treeless land It would not be
difficult to find them, once they started
in pursuit.
Midnight. ~
In the compound the moonlight, lay
upon everything; upon the fat sides
and back of the sacred white ele.
plant upon the three low caste keep
ers, now free Of the ;yigllant eye of
their Brahmin chief. The gates were
barred and closed; all inside the house
OF Bala Khan were asleep. Far. away
q sentry dozed on his rife, on the
wall. The three keepers whispered
and chuckled. among themselves.
who will known said one.
.The moon will not speak" said an.
other.
Then let us. go and smoke
The three approached the elephant.
A bit of gymnastics and one of them,
was boosted to the back Of the ele.
phant to whom this episode was more
or less familiar. Another followed:
the third was pulled up, and from the
elephants: back they made the top OF
the wall and disappeared down; into.
No. s series OF .'The Adventures
snt Kathlyns win be shown at the