Meade County news., 1915-02-25

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dungeon?" dryly.
wait till we overthrow Umballa
and the cowardly Council; then we
shall speak of him. Wen?" proudly
and fearlessly.
'Ramabai." replied the captain, IL
too, will be frank. will be loyal to
the hand that pays me best, for am
not an Allahan by birth. am q
mercenary. l have said it."
BE with me on the morrow and !
promise out Of my own chest will
pay you your arrears and earnest
money for the future On the other
hand, what will you gain by taking US
prisoners to UmballA?"
my lords word is known. ! my.
self will take charge Of the affairs at
the palace; and Umballa shall go to
the burning CHATS. will announce to
him that l found you not. When you
arrive at the palace you will find
everything in readiness. But till you
come dare not lift hand"
And at that moment he meant every
word he said. Ramabai was the rich.
est man in Allaha- He turned again
to his men. to find that they were
ready to follow Ramabai anywhere
and at any time
Ahmed, who knew the Asiatic heart
thoroughly, could scarcely repress a
smile. No matter. II they proved
loyal to Ramabai on the morrow much
would be forgiven.
The captain and his men departed.
while Ramabai and his friends reen-
tered the house, to find the imper-
turbable Lal Singh decked out In his
lawful finery. He was Ramabai's right
hand. and the British raj vanished into
nothingness.
"All is ready" he announced.
Dawn" replied Ramabai
"The servant goes forth for the
chupatties."
Dawn. The garden was filled with
silent armed men. With Ramabai in
the secret gallery were the chiefs. Ra-
mabai indicated the blazing swords.
my friends, choose among these
weapons. The gems are nothing. but
the steel is tried and true"
Lal Singh selected the simplest, sa-
laamed, and slid the scabbard through
his cummerbund
AS for Kathlyn, she could not keep
her eyes off the beautiful chail cuirass
which had once upon time been worn
by one of Pundita's forbears, war
rior queen.
Beautiful, beautiful" she ex-
claimed. "Pundita, may put it on?
And tell me the story of the warrior
queen. To be brave like that, to fight
side by side with the man she loved!"
She put the cuirass on.
Quite involuntarily her eyes roved
to Bruce, who was staring at her like
one entranced. The hearts Of both Of
them leaped, but their lips remained
mute. There was. however, a message
in the eyes which each read with equal
clearness. oh. to be free, to be back
in the old familiar world!
Lowly Pundita told the story. AS
she unfolded the tale Kathlyn ex-
perienced a strange exhilaratiop. un-
like anything she had previously
known. She wanted to snatch down
one Of the swords, start out for the
palace, to stand in the midst Of bat
tie. And the odd part Of It was this
I,lI kiox ,,okk kror 1io
and expanded magically, like fakirs
peepul tree.
The sky was yellow when the little
army started off upon its desperate
emprise. A guard was left behind for
the women.
God be with you," said Kathlyn. as
she gave her hand to Bruce.
"Kathlyn, I'm afraid of you." he said
earnestly.
"In what way1"
What made you put on that chain
armor? And your eyes look so strange!
All. promise me that you will stay
here and obey the men left to guard
you! You know the wTv to the secret
armory. Fly to 1t at the Egst sound Of
firing. No one knows how teis is go
ing to end. l would not give = rupee
for the word of any soldier In A>laha.
Promise, or shall not be able to heep
my mind on what is before me-"
'T promise that only in the matter
Of life and death will STIR Oh"
impulsively, why was l not born a
mani"
II much prefer you as you are"
He smiled, kissed her hand, and took
his place among the eager revolution
lists.
kit" said Winnie when the wom-
en- were alone, Kit that man loves
you!"
"And, Winnie, girl, II anything
happens to him 1t will kill mel" Kath.
lyn wrapped her arms about her sis
ter.
Pundita solemnly gave each of the
girls dagger.
What is this for?" Kathlyn asked.
"If my lord fails there will be worse
things than death in store for U.s."
lPundita was again the fatalist my
husband strikes openly now. He