Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-02-18

"How could you do it,"
do what?" vaguely.
Lead a forlorn cause to victory: |
you. a grill"
She brushed back the hair which |
tumbled about her eyes. glanced at the
powder-stained faces grouped about
her. glanced at the toppled throne. at
Bruce, at Ramabai. She made an ef-
fort to explain, but the words would
not come.
II would not question her." said
Bruce to the colonel. For my part,
I never SO thoroughly believed in God
as l do now. She does not realize
what she has DONE"
The colonel bent his head rever-
emily.
I'VE owe our lives to her." said Ra-
mabai. Somewhere in the dim ages
there was a great mother. and today
| her soul entered the memsahib."
"Mine!" murmured Bruce. This
beautiful. strange woman is mine! God
| send the day quickly when ! can take
her in my arms and guard her! Ra-
mabai," he said aloud, go to the
tbalcony and proclaim Pundita queen.
Let US have done with this before
there is any chance Of Umballa recov-
ering. What shall we do with the
| Council?"
Watt" responded Ramabai. 1T
is for another to say" And he point
ed to the marble flags at his feet.
And all understood what honor
meant to this man of dark skin.
| Now" he continued. Il wish to go
Il Iaax fH.
cient guard here to watch over the
palace. My wife waits; and the death
of Lal Singh may have"
| The same thought flashed through
Kathlyn's mind; the dagger. Dying
Lal Singh had declared that Ramabai
was a prisoner; and well would Pun
dita comprehended what that meant.
Yes. yes! let us go quickly!" Kath-
lyn cried. Pundita might be dead and
Winnie crazed with grief.
They left the palace Immediately.
The overthrow of Umballa seemed
to be complete. Everywhere the SOL
diers surrendered, for 1t was better
to have food in the stomach than lead.
Tomorrow there would be many a pyre
at the murning CHATS. but today was a
day Of victory.
Every one began to hunt for Umbal-
la. There was as yet no price on his
head: It was the zest Of hunting only
that set the people to It They ran In
and out of Umballa's house. and were
not above looting. though word had
gone forth that Ramabai would have
every looter shot II found in the act.
But search as they would. they could
find no trace of Umballa.
A woman who loved him-the only
one loyal to him, in all Allaha that day
had hidden him in a palanquin in
the garden of brides. Crouched down
in the narrow space shuddering at the
sound Of shot, whether near or far.
dying a thousand deaths. wishing he
had never been taken from the gutter.
willing to give up his Jewels. his
plate. simply to live.
The woman of the zenana, when the
tumult died away completely. found
some slaves. She made them divest
themselves of the royal turbans and
assume ordinary white ones. Then she
told them to carry the palanQuin to
a certain house in the fruit bazaar. to
go by side streets. alleys, passages, to
avoid all gatherings. Once in the
house Of her sister. the dancer. Um-
balla would be safe till he could
secretly return 20 his own house and
enter the secret chamber.
When Kathlyn left the palace thun-
der Of cheers greeted her. Kathlyn
was forced to mount the durbar
throne, much as she longed to be on.
But Bruce anticipated her thought and
dispatched one OF the revolutionists to
the house of Ramabai. Kathlyn held
out her hands towards the excited
populace. then turned to Ramabai ex-
pressively. Ramabai. calm and unruf-
fed as ever, stepped forward and was
about to address the people. when the
disheveled captain OF the guard, whom
Umballa had sent to the arena lions,
pushed his way to the foot of the plat
form.
THE arena lions have escaped"
And there were a dozen lions in all.
strong. cruel. and no doubt hungry!
Panic. Men who had been at each
others throat. bravely and hardly.
turned and fed. II was foolish
panic, senseless. but. like all panics.
uncomfortable. Those on the plat
form ran down the steps and at once
were swallowed up by the pressing.
trampling crowd.
Bruce and the colonel. believing that
Kathlyn was behind them. fought their
way to a clearing. determined to Sc
cure nets and take the lions alive.
When they turned Kathlyn was gone.
For a moment this two men stood as IL
paralyzed. Then Bruce relieved the
tension by smiling. He laid his hand
| ON the colonel's shoulder.