St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-12-19
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by HAROLD MAC CRATH

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I Bruce seized him by the shoulder.
What 10 that?"
THE white goddess. sahib! She Il
on the roof Of burning house Dursa
Ram. my master, set fire to It. He ID
drunk and hiding In . house near b.. -
The man II mad" declared the
colonel. kit would not have host her
way this far. He II lying. He wants
4 money"
Ahmed spoke. The bearer fell upon
his knees.
Three shots, at intervals!
| The colonel and Bruce stared into
each others eyes.
God in heaven!" gasped the colo.
mel: those are revolver shots!"
bring the nett" shouted Ahmed. To
the trembling bearer he said: Lead
US; We follow. And II you have
spoken the truth you shall not only
have your freedom but rupees for your
old age"
A lions net IL q heavy affair, but
with the aid Of the keepers the mon
ran as quickly and lightly as II burden.
less. Smoke. There was a fire. The
hearts of the white men beat painfully.
And the same thought occurred to
both Of them: they should have gone
to Ramabars home first, then turned
their attention to the lions. And I'm.
balla was hiding in q house near by!
Well for them that they entered the
doomed quarters as they did. Kath.
Ign saw them. and the muzzle Of the
revolver which she was pressing to
her heart was lowered, the weapon
itself slipping from her hand to the
roof. God was not going to let her
die like this.
Spread out tho nett" commanded
Bruce. "Kathlyn, can you hear me?"
he shouted. cupping his hands before
his mouth. Family he heard her re-
ply. when I sive the word. jump. Do
not be afraid"
Kathlyn stepped upon tho parapet. A.
great volume Of smoke obscured her
for moment. Out Of the windows
the vivid tongues Of flames darted.
flashing upward. She summoned all
her courage and waited for the call
At the man she loved. Inside floor
gave way with crash and the col
lateral walls Of the building swayed
ominously. A despail'ing roar accom-
panied the thunder Of falling beams.
The lions had gone to their death.
Jump"
Without hesitation Kathlyn flung
herself into space A murniur| ran
through the crowd. which had for the
moment forgotten its own danger in
the wonder Of this spectacle The men
holding the net threw themses. ss
backward IS KathEy, struck the mesh.
Even then her body touched the street
eobbles and elae -sr bruised and
shaken severe y. T,ul, Z. -aliyo. aliye!
There rose the great shouting which
Umballa and the dancing girl had
heard.
Shortly after the house collapsed.
The IRE spread to the hoe,see on each
Dida.
Bruce seised thu bearer By the arm.
Now. the house which Umba. Va en-
lered!"
Eagerly enough the slave dir, voted
him. For all the abuse and beat tngs
no slave was to have his hour. But
hey found the house empty except .s0r
chatterfng monkey and . screamil Is
pafrakeet. 10th attached to pedestaa
perches. Brace liberated them and re-,i
turned to the colonel.
Gone! Well. let him hide In the
Jungle, a prey to fear and hunger.
At least we are rid Of him. But l
shall die unhappy II In this life We
:wo fail to meet again. kit"
John" She withdrew from her
ather's arms and sought those of the
nan who loved her and whom she
eyed, as youth will and must. Let
linn so. Why should we care? Take
ne to my sister"
Ahmed smiled as he and his men
oiled the net. This was as It hould
'e. For what man was a better mate
or his golden-haired memsahibf And
hen he thought OF Lal Singh, s.nd he
hoked q little. For Lal SIM Ih and /
% had spent many pleasant hi yurs to- +
ether. They rad worked togs ,ther in
lay and In war, shared dan ger and
read and glory. all Of wh ich was
'ritten In the books Of tho B ritish raj
1 Calcutta.
It was the will Of Allah; there was
ut one God, and Malone 4 was his
rophet- Then Ahmed dis missed Lal
ingh and the past from b h thoughts,
tier the philosophical ma nsner Of the
static. and turned to the. more vital
6airs under hand
At Ramabai's house the re was
Apply reunion; and on her znees Pun
TIA confessed to her lord how near
- had been to Christian I lamnation.
be had fallen from grace she had
'verted to the old custm MS of her
zee, to whom suicide WI not sin.
Amabai took her in his arms and