The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-09-02

' e
syed Winnie apecnlati web. Y
Winnie drew closer to her sister, but
hat was all.
$50 be Il. Alfalfa It shall be, with
out meddling Ramabai; back to the
gurus who love you sol" He dropped
his banter. you call me murderer.
admit it. have killed the man who
was always throwing his benefits into
my face, who brought me up not as a
companion but as a plaything. He is
dead. I slew him. After the first,
what are two or three more crimes OF
this order?' He snapped his fingers.
I want that treasure. and you will tell
ne where It is before am done with
you. You will tell me on your knees,
gladly. Now, men! There is a long
Journey before U.s."
The colonel, Kathlyn and Winnie
Umballa mounted the other As for
the quasi-mahouts, they were not par.
ticularly happy behind the ears OF the
elephants, who. with that keen appre-
citation Of their kind, understood In
stinctively that they had to do with
novices. But for the promise OF gold
that dangled before their eyes, threats
of violent death could not have forced
these men upon the elephants.
They started east, and the jungle
closed in behind them.
AS for Umballa. he cared not what
became OF the other prisoners.
They were being held captive in one
of the village huts. The chief had
pleaded in vain. He was dishonored,
for they had made him break his word
to the white people. So be 1t. Sooner
or later the glitter of gold would leave
their eyes and they would come to
him and beg for pardon.
Moonlight. The village slept. Two
fishermen sat before the hut combining
the prisoners. on guard. An elephant
quealed in the distance. Out of the
Ihadow a sleek leopard, then another,
The guards jumped to their feet and
scrambled away for dear life to the
nearest hut, crying the alarm. Bruce
opened the door, which had no lock.
and peered forth. It was natural that
the leopards should give their tmmedi'
ate attention to the two men In Hight
Bruce. realizing what had happened
called softly to Ramabai and Pundita;
and the three OF them stole out into
the night. toward the camp. Bruce did
not expect to find anyone there. What
he wanted was to arm himself and to
examine the boulder.
Meantime, Ahmed returned with the
truant elephant to find nothing but dis
order and evidences of a struggle. A
tent was overturned, the long grass
trampled, and the colonel's sola-topee
hat lay crumpled near Kathlyn's tent
"Ai, all" he walled. But. being a
philosopher his waillng was of short
duration. lie ran to the boulder and
examined it carefully. 1t had not been
touched. That was we'll. At least that
meant that his sahib and memsahih
lived. Treasure! lie spat out curse
+. and threw his rifle to his shoulder
Rut his rage turned to Joy as he dis
covered who the arrivals were.
Bruce Sahib!" N.!E
Yes, Ahmed. Umballa got the best
of us. We we're tricked by the truant
elephant. He has taken Kathlyn back
to Allaha."
And so shall we return!" fE
Ahmed called to his weary mon,
His idea was to fill the elephant saddle
bags with the gold and stones, leave
ii in trust with Bala Khan, who should
in truth this time take his tulwar down
from the wall. He divided his men, one
company to guard and the other to
labor. 1t took half an hour to push
back the boulder and dig up the bas-
kct. After this was done Bruce and
Ramabai and Ahmed the indefatigable
carried the gold and precious stones
to the especially made saddlebags. All
told, It took fully an hour to complete
the work.
With water and food, and well
armed, they began the journey back
TO Alfalfa, n formidable cortege and
in no tender mood. They proceeded In
forced marches, snatching what sleep
they could during the preparation OF
the meals.
Many q time the impulse came to
Bruce to pluck the shining metal and
sparkling stones from the saddlebags
and toss them out into the jungle. to
be lost till the crack of doom. There
were also moments when he felt moth
ing but hatred toward the father Of the
girl he loved. For these trlnkets Kath'
lyn had gone through tortures as
rrightful almost as those in the days
of the inquisition. Upon one thing he
and Ahmed had agreed, despite Rama
BATS wild protest. they would leave
the treasure with Bala Khan and follow
his army to the walls Of Alfalfa II
harm befell any of their loved ones
not one stone should remain upon an
other. And Bruce declared that he
would seek Umballa to the ends Of the
earth for the infinite pleasure of ia.