The Washington herald., 1914-05-10
CHAPTER iii
The Woman and the Whal.

THE Rayha of Timor walked through the pIlared
porphyry halls of his haren, r1mindful of the
maidens who bowed before him.
Their dark eyes cleaned him through gauzy wells
their round pink limbs showed begulingly through
hmy draperes the of their fans waited per-
fume to his nostris but his senses unmoved his
eye behed beauty there his heart was like stone to
their loneliness.
His dark penetrating eye darted swift looks, now
here there amidst the wilderness of beauty around
him, but did he pause tarry with any one
He was seeking one whose slightest look or gesture
brought him her side and whose lghtest touch ran
like fire through his veins.
where is Sari" he demanded of salaaming eunuch
"She is with her nadens the balcony overlooking
the sea-" was the answer.
The brow of the Rayha of Timor grew dark He had
noticed her going there often of late and the quick
suspicion which with jealousy had OWNED the
cause
Tmor is the largest and wealthest of the islands in
the Malay Archipelago and its ports touched by
vessels which there carry their trade in
dalwood and wax. By this the of the ex-
plosion the island and the determination of the
pirates who had terrorized that whole region had
reached the inhabitants of Deli where the Rayha of
Timor resided As the wonderful news of Zingos
heroism being related and of his singular
beauty and charm of manner passed from mouth
mouth, the Rayha had observed the bosom Of
Sari his favorte, rise and fall and had caught the
faint flush that her checks whenever the of
the young hero mentioned. This together with an
added GOODNESS of which she assumed toward
him, convinced him that there had arisen the most
vexing kind of rival-one who beyond the reach
of his rapier.
He found Sari as the eunuch had directed on the
balcony overlooking the She standing apart
from her maidens, her little white hand lying the
cold stone of the baustrade her eyes fixed afar the
horizon where the white ships went sailing by. She
was lovely in her oriental costume of embroidered
boero jacket and transparent draperies which, caught
by the breezes luttered around her and sometimes
pressed against her round limbs until she lookeS like
piece Of sculptured marble Her dark head
crowned with coronet of pearls and ropes of glim-
merng pearls lay the sofness of her white breast
why do you gaze, of late, longingly the scar"
The Rayha beside her. His dark face came so
close to hers that she obliged to draw aside to
avoid meeting his lips.
81 wish l the bottom of it." she said YEARLY
Her 1anguor and GOODNESS maddened him far more
than any of the studied poses of the others. He at
tempted to caress her. but she repulsed him. and
ing he left her. his face dark with anger As he made
his way back to the hail. amid the rows of saaaming
eunuchs and aidens into his oriental mind came
the vague consciousness that though man possessed
womans body her soul might still be free to fly
the blue and dwell with some unknown rival
Sari descendant of the ancient Spaniards
who had settled in Timor before the incoming of the
Aabians and all these centuries of oriental custom had
not blotted of her Spanish blood the Unborn hatred
of the life of the harem There was wild call for
freedom in her which could be sienced even
BY her high position here by the costly raiment
and jewels which heaped upon her by the Rayha
As the approaching the hour of two,
Sar called to her maidens reminding them that the
hour for the bath at hand, and the bal
cony cleared of its lovely occupants and silence
reigned where but before there laughter
md the tnkng of zithers and the clash of cynbals
In Timor the bath is sacred ceremony. and is per-
formed every day, when the weather pleasant at the
hour of two in the afternoon The preparation begins
with solemn procession of the maidens, led always by
he favorite of the harem, each walking in stately
manner. with her hands clasped behind her back each
little pointed toe taking, daintiy, step at time
until they disappear into their apartments below The