The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-08-21

xd6 W
time to see the crocodile's fearful
ter's edge. He presently slid back
into his Shiny bed: a few yellow bub-
bles, and he was gon
kathlyn's heart became suddenly
and unaccountably swollen with rage,
she became primordial; she wanted
to hurt, MAIN, kill. Childishly she
stopped and picked up heavy stones
which she hurled into the water. The
instinct to live famed SO strongly in
her that the crust of civilization fell
away like mist before the sun, and
for a long time the pure savage (which
lies dormant in US alb ruled her. b
would live, live, live; she would live
to forget this oriental inferno through
which she was passing.
she ran toward the jungle, all IN
conscious of the stone she still held
In e hand. She lost all of
time and compass; and SO ran in a
half circle. coming out al the river
again.
AhAAdA l"lIlSAL was llSAu6 LII
h east when she found herself again
looking out upon the water. the stone
still c!utched tightly. She gazed at
the river, then at the stone, and again
at the river. The stone dropped with
a thud at her feet. The savage in
her had not abated in the least; only
her body was terribly orn and wear
led and the robe, muddied and torn,
e~nveloped her like a veil of ice. Above
her the lonely yellow sky; below her
the sickly river; all about her silence
which held a thousand menaces.
Which way should she go? Where
could she possibly find shelter for the
night?
The chill reused her finally and she
swung her arms to u the circula~
ton. Near by she saw a tree, in the
crotch of which reposed a platform,
and upon this platform sat a shrine.
A few withered flowers hung about
the gross neck of the idol, and with
cred flowers lay scattered at the base
of the tree. There vas also a bundle
forgotten. At least, yonder platform
would afford safety through the night.
So. with the last bit of strength at her
command, she gathered up the rushes
and climbed to the platform, arrang-
ing her bed behind the idol. She COW
cred her shoulders with the rushes
and drew her knees up to her chin.
She had forgotten her father, Bruce,
the happy days in a far country; h
had but a single thought, to sleep.
What the want of sleep could not per-
form exhaustion could, and presently
she lay still.
Thus, she neither saw nor heard the
pious pilgrims who were on their way
to Alfalfa to pray in that temple
known to offer protection against
wild beasts. Fortunately, they did not
observe her.
The pilgrim is always a pilgrim in
India; it becomes, one might say, a
fascinating kind of sport. To most
of them, short pilgrimages are as tame
as rabbits would be to the hunter of
lions They will walk from Bombay
to Benares, from Madras to Lhassa,
begging and Dragging all the way.
Eventually they become semi-holy.
distinguished citizens in a clutter of
mud huts.
They deposited some corn and fruit
at the foot of the tree and departed.
leaving Kath1yn in peace. But later,
when the moon poured it's white, cold
radiance owe her face it awakened
her, and it took her some time to
realize where she was.
Below, belly deep in the river,
stood several water b%uffaloes, their
sweeping horns glistening like old
ivory in the moonshine. Presently a
leopard stole down to the brink and
Tapped the water greedily, from time
to time throwing a hasty, a%pprehen-
sive glance over his sleek shoulders.
The b%uffaloes never stirred; where
they were it was safe. Across the
river a bulky shadow moved in the
light. and a fat, brown bear took his
1.-THE of the water. The leopard
snarled and slunk OF. The bear
washed his face, possibly sticky with
%purloined wild honey, and betook
himself back to his lair.
kathryn suddenly became aware Of
the act that she was a spectator of a
9SCAC ou~A OS AC" 0A14o OSlAsS are
permitted to see; truce water where
the wild beasts do not kill each other.
She grew SO interested thai she forgot
her own plight. The tree stood only a
few feet from the water. so she saw
everything distinctly.
Later, when his majesty the tiger
made his appearance dramatically, the
buffalo simply moved closer together.
presenting a formidable frontage of
horns.
Never had Kathlyn seen such an
enormous beast. From his great pad
ded paws to his sloping shoulders he
stood easily -four feet in height, and
his stripes were almost as broad as
her hand. He drank. doubtless, eying
the buffalo sp~eculatively; some other
time Then he. too, sat on his launches
and washed his face, but with in
finite g~racefulness. 1t occurred to
b watcher that, familiar as she was
with the habits of wild beasts, never
had she witnessed a tiger or a lion
nac this domestic scene. Either they
were always pacing their cages gaz-