The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1914-09-22

road to Alfalfa, since Kathlyn had not
been seen upon it. lie found where
Rajah had yeored of into the jungle
again, and followed the trail tireless-
". But it was to be his misfortune al
ways to arrive too late.
To Kathlyn the day passed with
nothing more than the curiosity OF the
natives to disturb her. They brought
her cotton blankets which she ar
ranged in the sarCophagus, There
we're worse beds in tne world than
this; at least it shielded her from the
bitter night wind.
She ate again at shutdown and build
ed high the sacred fire and tried 10
plan some manner Of escape; for she
did not propose to be deml-goddeSS
any longer than was necessary. From
Pundita she had learned many words
and a few phrases in Hindustanl, ana
she ventured to speak them to the
holy men, who seemed quite delight
ed. They could understand her, but
she on her part could make little or
nothing of their jabbering. NeVerthe"
less, she pretended.
Finally the holy men departed, after
having indicated the sacred fire ana
the wood beside 1t. This fire pleased
Kathlyn nightly While it burned
brightly the lion would not proWl IN
her immediate vicinity. She won
dered where this huge cat had come
from, since she knew her natural MS
tory we'll enough to know the African
lions did not inhabit this part OF the
globe. Doubtless it had escaped from
some private menagerie.
The fire, then, giving her confidence,
she did not get into the sarcophagus'
but wandered about, building IN her
fancy the temple as it had stood in It's
prime. The ceilings had been mag
nificently carved, no two subjects
alike; and the walls were Of marble
and jasper and porphyry. A magic
continent this Asia in it's heyday.
When her forefathers had been rude
barbarians, sailing the north seas or
sacrificing in Druidical rites, there
had been art and culture here such as
has never been surpassed. INDIA, OF
splendid pageants, or brave warriors
and gallant kings! Alas, how the
mighty had fallen! About her, penury'
meanness, hypocrisy, uncleanllness'
thievery, and unbridled passions. :
What was that? Her heart missed a
beat That pad-pad; that smiling
noise.
She whirled about, knocking over
an idol. It came down with a crash
and, being of clay, lay in shards at
her feet. Unfortunately 1t was the holy
Of holes in this temple.) How She
gained the shelter Of the sarcophagus
she never knew, but gain it she did.
and covered down within. She could
hear the beast trotting round and
round, shifting and rumbling In his
throat. Then the roaring of the pre-
ceding night was repeated. The old
fellow evidently could not find those
other lions who roared back at him so
valiantly. Evidently fire had no ter
rors for him. For an hour or more
he patroled the portico, and all this
time Kathlyn did not stir, hardly dar'
ing to breathe for fear he might un-
dertake to peer into the sarcophagus.
Silence. A low roar from the inner
shrine told her that for the present
she was safe. Tomorrow she must
fly, whittier did not matter. Toward
four o'clock she fell into doze and
was finally awakened by the sound Of
voices raised in anger
Poor sheep! They had discovered
the shattered idol. 1t did not matter
at all that the return Of their ancient
goddess was to bring back prosperity.
She had broken their favorite idol.
Damnation would come in devils
wind that night
The holy man who had missed the
chance of claiming the miraculous ap-
pearance of Kathlyn as work OF his
own now saw an opportunity to re-
habilitate himself in the eyes of those
who had made his holiness a COM
Portable existence. With piece Of
the idol in his hand he reused Kath.
Ign and shook the clay before her
face, jabbering violently. Kathlyn un-
derstood readily enough. She had un-
Willingly committed sacrilege.
The natives gathered about and
menaced her. Kathlyn rose, standing
in the sarcophagus, and extended her
hands for silence. She was frightened,
but it would never do to let them see
it. What Hindustani she knew would
in this case be Of no manner of use.
But we human beings can, by facial
expression and gesture, make known
our messages with understandable
clearness. From her gestures, then,
the holy men gathered that she could
recreate the god. She pointed toward
the sun and counted on her fingers.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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