St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1915-01-09
ogpyFight By Harold MacGFatba

l - ~~NAN
To carry it away as it is, in bulk,
would be counting suicide
| Ahmed scratched his chin. Trust a
white man for logic.
And, besides went on Bruce, the
!; news would go al over the Orient and
the Thugs would come like flies scent
ing honey. No; this must be kept Sc
cret if we care to get away with it. 1t
cannot be worth less than million.
And I've known white men who would
cut our Threats for q handful OF ru-
pees."
For the first time since the expedi-
ton started out tho colonel became
normal, a man of action, cool in the
head and foresightei. The hardshlps
of his incarceration, the many dangers
through which he had passed and the
| constant worry oyerhis daughters had
had their effeot upon his mental ana
physical being. Heretofore he had
| been content to tet others lead and
blindly follow. apparently hoping little
| for ultimate success and freedom. NOW
he was the colonel Of old, the 1ntreplo
and resoureeful man whom Anmea
mad followed in many : hunting e1pe-
dition.
ahmed, spread ont the men around
the camp,r he ordered; brlskly. In
struct them to shdot over the head OF
anyone who approaches: this the first
time. The second tine, to kill. Bruce
has the right idea; SO let us get busy.
Over there. that boulder is. me
ground will be danp and soft under 1t,
and when we roll ! back there will be
no sign of its havig been disturbed.
used to cache ammunition that way.
! Give me that spads-
1t was good to Kthlyn's ears to hear
her father talk likA this.
At depth Of tree feet the basket
was lowered, covered and the boulder
rolled into place After that the colo
mel stopped and cdabed the turf where
the boulder had Temporarily rested.
He showed his yonderful woodcraft
there. 1t would tale a keener eye than
Umballa possessed to note any disturb
ance. The safetyof the treasure ulti-
mately, however, depended upon the
loyalty of the keepers under Ahmed.
They had been. nth the colonel for
years; yet s. ne colonel shrugged.
He had to truststhem; that was all
there was to the9natter- Here was
treasure that might we'll test the hon.
esty of any man No one could fore
tell whether thaloyalty Of his keep
ers would stand up against q tempta-
ton such az sthh But there was no
alternative, he rust trust them.
A sentinel cane rushing up-one Of
the keepers
Something ID stampeding the ele-
pianist" he cried.
Ahmed and the men with him rushed
of. In Ahmeds opinion, considering
what lay before them. elephants were
more important than. colored stones
and yellow metal Without the ele-
plants they would indeed find them
selves in sore straits.
Let us mDve away from here" adj
vised Brucs picking up the imple-
ments and shoulde ring them, He
walked several yards away, tossed
shovel and pick into the bushes, tore
at the turf and stamped on it, giving
it every appearance of having been dis
turbed. Thecolone1 nodded approving.
ly. It WASH good point and he had
overlooked IT.
they retarned hastily to camp,
which was about two hundred yards
beyond theboulder. Kathlyn entered
her tent tochange, her clothes. ragged,
soiled and burnt. The odor OF wet
burnt cloh Is never agreeable. And
she needed dry ahoss, even If there
was but e hour or two before bed
time.
Only ons Gle ohantI had succeeded in
boiling. IN some manner he had
loosened 1iis peg; bit what had started
him on the rum they never learned.
The other elephants were, swaying I'm.
easily, but their pegs W ere deep and
their chains stout. All med and the
keepers Went after the truant on foot.
me noise Of the cha Sc died away.
bruce wasiRhdng his pipe. The colo
mel was ar1mining by the freight
lew enlerai9 which he lad taken from
the baskef. Ramabai was, pleasantly
gazing athis wife. Knhlyn and Win
ME were emerging from the tent, when
yell Crested their astonished ears.
me campsRas surrou nfled. From one
SIDE cams ITmballa. from the other
came heSnutineersL Kathlyn and
Winnie lev to their fathers side In
between came I'm oalla. with Bruce
and Rannaai and Punsiita effectually
separates Umba la and his men
closed lnsrpon tfie colonel and his
daughter 'reasr re and revenge!
Bruce nde fur ious effort to join
kathlyn, Nt the Numbers against him
we're too many 1t was all done so
suddenlylnd .effsectually, and all due
to their MN car elessness. They had
not fuliyfealize d the resourcefulness
and deyaehi inf ;enuity of the arch vii
lain. unhlla. He had caught them
on thei5g guar d and they were again
apparene il his power. What new
form OF rue lty were they now to be
subjecte to !?
Kit, i'd her father, "our only
chance t refuse to discover. to Um-
balla WIZ we have hidden the bas-
ket. WI lie. IL you open your lips it