Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-02-10


so foreign to your western America
that fear you will not easily recover
what you seek"
"But I must get the papers back"
said John quietly. "There is no ques-
ton about It."
MANY a man has refused to &C.
knowledge that thing is impossible"
Faversham warned him, ''and the east
has driven him mad. However, 1 am
much interested myself, not only for
the sake of Miss Ruth, but from a
sporting standpoint, and promise you
I'll do my best to help you"
They considered the suggested plan
of taking the idol away from the Hin
du during the voyage, but Faversham
vetoed this after a somewhat exten
sive investigation.
you see," he told Ruth. II know
the fellows language, and he comes
from tribe far In the north of India.
Most of those chaps are looked upon
as rather sacred, and this man in spe-
cial, I see, is much respected by the
other natives in the steerage. To des-
ecrate his image would simply mean
an uproar that we could never explain
to the satisfaction of the captain and
his officers. In fact, we should all get
into the most serious trouble"
"Then your advice is to- waltz" she
murmured.
"Most decidedly" said the baronet.
A. I,o hn1 su
The steamer was slipping easily
along across a moonlit sea that night,
and Ruth and Sir Donald were far in
the bow watching the waves foam
softly away from the cutwater.
The girl had awakened during the
past few weeks TO the dim happiness
OF being always the center of mems
/ thoughts.
She was not in love, but she was
ready to be- The experienced man be-
side her surmised this. His own heart
was beating new tune. He had lived
much. and women had not been aloof
: from his life.
But this fair, proud, inexperienced,
1 yet self contained girl wakened in him
/ deeper feeling than he cared to con-
/ fess.
| To be sure, he had John Dorr to con-
! tend with. Faversham did not under
| estimate him as a possible rival when
he allowed himself to go so far as con-
| templating marriage with Ruth.
He liked the young American, and
none knew better than he the effect
| that constant association with Dorr
must have upon a young and very i'm
! pressionable girl. Johns own senti-
| ments were unmistakable-he was
deeply in love.
From Hongkong they transshipped
| to a p. and o. steamer for Bombay,
and under Sir Donald's expert guild
ance they shortly found themselves in
India and installed in a very good ho-
tel.
"We must wait here till / discover
through natives just where that fellow
is bound for
"Why not simply trace him" de-
manded Dorr, impatient to be about
| his errand.
THAT would be out Of the question:
| Faversham explained. "In the first
! place. you don't understand any native
tongue, and in the second place the
| British government doesn't look with
| favor on strange and unattached Eu-
ropeans stumbling about among the
! natives.
IF you leave it to me I think l
( not only can ascertain the exact place
where this fellow comes from, but the
temple where the idol belongs
/ Several days passed, during which
Sir Donald was busy among old &C.
! quaintances, leaving John and Ruth to
! their own devices.
They occupied their time in sight.
seeing. At last Faversham came into
dinner one evening with a smile on his
| face.
i've found your man and learned
something of the history of the image
he said.
And we can get it back?" Ruth in.
quired promptly.
Sir Donald shook his head gently.
Not so fast, young ladyr'
But that is what we came for" she
/ went on.
'The fact of the matter is this" said
! the baronet-"that image was stolen
several years ago-a great many, In
truth. 1t is the tutelary deity of a
small city on the river Bhala, and it is
about as sacred an article as you could
pick up. The people of that city think
that since they have lost their image
the god is angry with them. and fol-
some years they have quietly conduct
ed search for it,
"And this man will take it to Bhala p
demanded Ruth.
HE has already started. I under.
stand from some of the natives
know"
'Then what are we to do?" demand
ed John.
"Bhala is some hundreds of miles up
country" Sir Donald continued. "Psrt
OF the way we can go by rail, but part
of the road we must travel either on
foot or by htter-if we CO."
"Of course we are going!" said Ruth.
81 most earnestly beg OF you to stop
here" said the baronet. you don't
know your India as / do. and even If
we accomplished our purpose we should