Meade County news., 1915-04-15

Allaha-not publicly, but secretly
there to infict what punishments see
ft."
II have nothing more to say" re-
piled the colonel
mo? And thou, white goddess?"
Kathlyn stared over his head. her
face expressionless. 1t stirred him
more than outspoken contempt would
have done.
"And you. pretty one?" Umballa
eyed Winnie speculatively.
Winnie drew closer to her sister. but
that was all
$50 be 1t. Allaha 1t shall be, with
out meddling Ramabai; back to the
gurus who love you SOL" He dropped
his banter. you call me a murderer.
| admit it. have killed the man who
was always throwing his benefits into
my face, who brought me up not as
companion but as a plaything; He is
dead. 1 slew him. After the first,
what are two or three more crimes of
this order?' He snapped his fingers.
Il want that treasure, and you will tell
me where 1t is before am done with
you. You will tell me on your knees,
gladly! Now. men! There is long
journey before us"
The colonel, Kathlyn and Winnie
were forced into one howdah. while
Umballa mounted the other. AS for
the quasi-mahouts, they were not par
ticularly happy behind the ears of the
elephants, who, with that keen appre-
citation of their kind, understood In
stinctively that they had to do with
novices. But for the promise Of gold
that dangled before their eyes, threats
of violent death could not have forced
these men upon the elephants.
They started east, and the jungle
closed in behind them.
AS for Umballa, he cared not what
became of the other prisoners.
They we're being held captive in one
Of the village huts. The chief had
pleaded In vain. He was dishonored,
for they had made him break his word
to the white people. So be 1t. Sooner
or later the glitter Of gold would leave
their eyes and they would come to
him and beg for pardon.
Moonlight. The village slept. Two
fishermen sat before the hut conflning
the prisoners, on guard. An elephant
squealed in the distance. Out Of the
shadow sleek leopard, then another
| Tho nd i,tY ~ thoir foot a V1d
scrambled away for dear life to the
nearest hut, crying the alarm. Bruce
opened the door. which had no lock,
and peered forth. 1t was natural that
the leopards should give their immedi.
ate attention to the two men in flight
Bruce, realizing what had happened
called softly to Ramabai and Pundita
and the three of them stole out into
the night, toward the camp. Bruce did
not expect to find anyone there. What
he wanted was to arm himself and to
examine the boulder.
Meantime, Ahmed returned with the
truant elephant to find nothing but dis
order and evidences of struggle. A
tent was overturned, the long grass
trampled, and the colonel's sola-topee
hat lay crumpled near Kathlyn's tent.
"Ai, all" he walled. But, being a
philosopher, his wailing was Of short
duration. He ran to the boulder and
examined 1t carefully. 1t had not been
touched That was we'll. At least that
meant that his sahib and memsahib
lived. Treasure! He spat out curse
and threw his rife to his shoulder.
But his rage turned to Joy as he dis
covered who the arrivals were.
Bruce Sahib!"
"Yes, Ahmed. Umballa got the best
of US. We were tricked by the truant
elephant. He has taken Kathlyn back
to Allaha."
"And so shall we return!"
Ahmed called to his weary men
His idea was to fill the elephant saddle
bags with the gold and stones, leave
1t in trust with Bala Khan, who should
in truth this time take his tulwar down
from the wall. He divided his men, one
company to guard and the other to
labor. It took half an hour to push
back the boulder and dig up the bas
ket. After this was done Bruce and
Ramabai and Ahmed the indefatigable
carried the gold and precious stones
to the especially made saddlebags. All
told, it took fully an hour to complete
the work.
With water and food, and well
armed, they began the. journey bach
to Alfalfa, a formidable cortege and
in no tender mood. They proceeded In
forced marches, snatching what sleer
they could during the preparation oi
the meals.
Many time the impulse came tC
Bruce to pluck the shining metal and
sparkling stones from the saddlebags
and toss them out into the jungle, tc
be lost till the crack of doom. There
we're also moments when he felt moth
ing but hatred toward the father of the
girl he loved. For these trlnkets Kath
lyn had gone through tortures az
frightfuI almost as those In the days
of the inquisitlon. Upon one thing he
and Ahmed had agreed, despite Rama
bai's wild protest, they would leave