The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1915-04-10

layers Frustrated themselves again,
and the holy man besmeared his bony
chest with more ashes.
A second holy man appeared upon
the scene. wanting in breath. His jaw
dropped and his eyes started to leave
their sockets. Knowing his ilk so
thoroughly well. he flung himself
down before the brazier and beat his
forehead upon the ground; not in any
chastened spirit, but because he had
oversight that morning. This glory
might have been his, All. al!
Later the two conferred During
the day they should guard the priest
ess, because, having taken human
form, she might some day tire of this
particular temple. AT night she would
be well guarded by the lion.
Several awe-stricken women came
forward with bowls of cooked rice and
fruits and new copper drinking YES
sci. These they reverently placed at
Kathlyn's feet.
Gradually the spirit which had com.
length Kathlyn became keenly alive.
1t entered her mind clearly that these
poor, foolish people really believed
her a celestial being, and so long as
they laid no hand upon her she was
not alarmed. She had recently passed
through too many terrors to be dis.
turbed by a bit of kindness, even il
stirred into being by religious fanati.
cism.
Kathlyn ate.
By pairs the villagers departed, and
soon none remained save her self-ap-
pointed guardians, the two holy raen.
kathlyn felt desire to explore this
wonderful temple. She discovered
what must have been the inner shrine.
The chamber was filled with idols:
here and there bit of gold leaf cen.
turtles old. glistened upon the bronze,
the clay, the wood. The caste mark
on the largest idols head was pol.
lshed ruby, overlooked doubtless dur.
ing the loot. She swept the dust from
the jewel with the tip of her finger,
and the dull fire sent shiver of de.
light over her. She was still a woman.
AS she wandered farther in her foot
touched something and she looked
down. 1t was bone; in fact, the floor
was strewn with bones. She quickly
dlscerned, much to her relief, that
none of these bones were human. This
was, or had been, the den of the lion.
There was an acrid, unpleasant odor,
so she hurried back to the brazier
vaguely she comprehended that she
must keep the fire replenished from
time to time in order to pacify the
two holy men. At night it would fend
off any approach of the lion.
Where was Bruce? Would he ever
find her? That philosophy which she
had inherited from her father, that
quiet acceptance OF the inevitable,
was the one thing which carried her
through her trials sanely. An ordi
nary woman would have died from
mere exhaustion
Bruce, indeed AT that very mo.
ment he was rushing out of Kumar's
presence, wild to be off toward the
road to Alfalfa, since Kathlyn had not
been seen upon it. He found where
RaJah had veered off into the Jungle
again, and followed the trail tireless.
| ly. 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
were worse beds in the 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 to
plan some manner of escape; for she
did not propose to be a demi-goddess
any longer than was necessary From
Pundita she had learned many words
and few phrases in Hindustani. and
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 and
the wood beside it. 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 his
tory well enough to know the African
lions did not inhabit this part of the
globe. Doubtless it had escaped from
some private menageria.
The fire, then, giving her con. dence
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
efficiently 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