The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-08-07

acrid smoke, quickenee bis stride, Tho
fire followed with amazing rapidly
and stopped only when It reached the
bed of a trickling stream. no doubt q
torrent during the big rains. A great
pail ofsmoks blotted out everything In
the rear; blotted out hope, for Bruce
never could pick up tho trail now.
Kathlyn's eyes were feyerishiy dry
and bright 1t was onls a matter OF
time when the howdah would slip
down the brute's side. She prayed that
| she might die instantly. Strange
fancies fitted through her mind, dis
ordered by all these days OF suspense
and terror. .
And suddenly the Jungle came to an
end, and a long plowed field opened
into view, Beyond this field rose a
ruined wall, broken by a crumbiing
gate, and lounging in the gats~ay
were soldiers. Near by were two ets
phauts employed In piling logs.
Raiah, p~erforce, ~slackened his gall
The soldiers became animated, imine'
diately the two mabouts charged their
brutes toward Rajah. who stopped.
He had had his sport. He swayed to
! and fro, One of the ,mahouts reached
forward and cloutedS Rajah on the
knee. He slowly kneeled. The sol
diers ran forward to help Kathlyn out
OF the howdah. At the sight OF her
skin their establishment was great,
She was very weak and faint. n
the increasing babel of tongues was
like little triphammers beating upon
her aching head. One of the soldiers
gave her a drink of water. He held
his canteen high, 80 that the water
trickled into her mouth; no lips but
his own must touch the nozzle, other
wise, being a Brahmin, he would be
defled, Natives instantly tlocked
about, ~jabbering In wonder. Some OK
the holder touched her bare arms
The soldiers drove them back angrily.
Through the press a horseman pushed
forward. The rider stared at the
strange captive, started, and uttered
an astonlshed cry.
THE white queen OF Alfalfa, whom
mine own eyes saw crowned at the
Durbar there!" he murmured. by the
shroud of the prophet, what a this
mean? Stop" he called to the sol
diers, Kathlyn looked up duly,
Convey her to his highness the ku
mor!' The prince should decide what
| should be done with her,
The kumor was big and lazy and
sensual. He gazed upon Kathlyn with
eyes which sparkled eyilly, like a cats,
Who Is this woman?" he demanded
"Highness. she Is the white queen
of Alfalfa, but who may say that she Is
here?" with a smile as evil as his
masters,
But how came she hereg"
The herseman briefly recounted the
events as he had seen them in the cap
ital of Alfalfa.
Who are you. Madden the kumol
asked In English, for, like all poten
tates, little or great. in India, he
spoke English. 1t presented the de-
lectable pastime OF %conspiring In two
languages; for from Bombay to Cal
cutta, from Peshawar to Madras, India
seethes, %conspires, and takes an occa'
sional pot shot at come poor devil OF
a commissioner whose only desire is to
have them combine religion and SAM
tation.
Il am an American. Please take ms
to the English commissioner Some.
how instinct told her that she might
not expect succor from this man with
the pearls about his gross neck.
Il regret that his excellency the
commissioner has gone to Bombay.
Besides, | do not know that you tell
the truth. Still, I can offer you what
pearls and emeralds you may find to
your liking
"Your ~highness, there are those
whose coming shortly will cause you
much annoyance II you refuse to give
me proper aid. There is no possible
way for you to cover up my appear
ance here. Send me to the commits
sioner's bungalow, where ! may await
| the coming Of my friends"
Indeed" The kumor saw here q
conflict not altogether to his liking.
He was lazy, and there was the damn
able, unrelenting hand OF the British
raj looming in the distance. He
shrugged. "Achmet, call the captain
Of the guard and have him convey this
runaway queen to Alfalfa. Surely, I
may not NEEDLE with the affairs OF q
friendly state" With a wave OF his
fat. bejeweled hand he appeared to dis.
miss the matter from his mind.
Kathlyn was led away. The human
mind can stand only SO many shocks.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)