Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1915-02-18

lutHccS W SACHdHScs uOI ulu uc Curi
to become the repository of other
mems pasts But he would share his
bread and his rupees, when he had
| them, with any who asked. Many
tried to dig into his past but he was
as unresponsive as granite. 1t takes
and has been, and Warrington went
about women in a wide circle In a
way he was the most battling kind
of a mystery to those who knew him;
he frequented the haunts of men, took
Ia friendly drink, played cards for
small sums. laughed and TESTED like
any other anchorless man In the
East men are given curious names
| They become known by phrases, such
as, The Man Who Talks, Mr. Once
Upon Time, The One-Rupee Man,
and the like. AS Warrington never
received any mail, as he never entered
hotel, nor spoke of the past, he be-
came The Man Who Never Talked of
Home.
| Il say, James, old sport, no more
going up and down this bally old river.
Well go on to Rangoon tonight, II
we can find berth"
Yes, sahib this business very
piffle," replied the Eurasian without
turning his head. Two things he
dearly loved to acquire-a bit of
American slang and bit of English
silver. He was invariably changing
rupees into shillings, and Warrington
could not convince him that he was
always losing in the transaction.
/ They tramped on through the dust.
The sun dropped. A sudden chill be-
| gan to penetrate the haze. The white
man puffed his cheroot, it's wrapper
dangling; the servant hummed an
Urdu lullaby; the parrot complained
increasingly.
Warrington laughed and shook the
dust from his beard Its a great
world, James, great, wonderful
world. I've just two rupees myself. In
other words we are busted"
1.-TWO rupees!" James paused and
turned. why, sahib. you have three
hundred thousand rupees in your
pocket
"But not worth an anna until / get
to Rangoon. Didn't those buffers give
you anything for handling their lug
| gage the other day."
Not pice, sahib.'
"Rotters 1t takes an Englishman
to turn small trick like that Well,
well; there were extenuating circum-
stances They had sore heads. No
man likes to pay three hundred thou
sand for something he could have
bought for ten thousand. And l made
them come to me, James, to me- |
made them come to this god-forsaken
hole, just because it pleased my fancy.
believe I'm heaven born, after all.
The Lord hates gutter, and so do
1. / nearly quit myself, once; Ell,
Rajah, old top? But made them
come to me. That's the milk in the
cocoanut, the curry on the rice. They
almost had me. Two rupees 1t
truly is a great world"
"Jah, jah, jah! ah-jah-jah-
ja-a-a-h!" screamed the parrot. Cha
loo!"
60 on! That's the ticket. If l
were praying man this would be the
time for it. Three hundred thousand
rupees!" The man looked at the far
i horizon, as if he would force his gaze
beyond, into the delectable land, the
Eden out of which he had been driven.
James, I owe you three hundred ru-
PEGS, and i am going to add seven
hundred more. We've been fighting
this old top for six years together, and
you've been good servant and good
friend; and I'll take you with me as
far as this fortune will go, if you say
the word"
"Ah, sahib, am much sorry. But
Delhi calls. and | go. A thousand ru.
PEGS will make much business for me
in the Chandney Chowk"
Presently they became purple shades
in a brown world.
|