The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-10
FIRST EPISODE
[concludsdl
"The Higher Power
CHAPTER III.
Ali slneh All Powerful.

TVEN In the storm and stress of
* the moment, when the hot blood
raced in the veins and the devil
ish glamour of war tinted the
most commonplace incidents with its
nncanny sheen, it was borne in on ey
cry observer that all the while Ali Singh
treated his own followers or dupes as
though they were SO many sheep, his
attitude toward the whites was rather
that Of conqueror who saw his plans
baked than Of one who really regret
ted so much lamentable bloodshed. He
used words of smooth apology it Is
true, speaking In excellent English and
with grave courtesy, but his air of ma
jestic aloofness was repellant.
After contemplative glance at Ma
Tor Cameron, his eyes sought Mr..
Clark. Oddly enough, he picked out
the consul unerringly. Yet the two
had never met previously, and Mr..
Clark, like every other civilian pres
ent, was disheyeled and bloodstained,
his clothes were torn and soiled and
his usually good humored face was
disfgured by CRIME of dust and per-
spiration.
Il deplore this outrage" said Ali
Singh slowly, addressing the consul and
indicating the corpse laden battlefield
and distant bazaar by sweeping ges-
ture Of his left hand. II am sorry that
these fools have been led away by
mailman. You have punished them Sc
verely already, but that is only what
they deserve. You will, of course, rep
resent the matter fully to the imperial
government, which will order the prov
ince to pay ample compensation for the
deaths, personal injuries and loss Of
property caused by the riot. The ring
leaders, too, will be dealt with by
Picking. but shall now make an ex-
ample Of the imbecile mainly response
ble."
Without waiting word Of acknowl-
edgement from the consul, he turned
and shouted in mighty voice:
I "Come hither, Wong Li!'
The Buddhist priest rose from the
ground and crept forward. All the fire
and fury Of fanaticism had gone out
Of the man. He was now whining,
crawling, fear stricken object. Els
eyes no longer darted flame, but lifted
themselves despairingly to Ali Singh
with the abject surrender of an animal
about to be chastised for some con-
scious fault. He tried to speak, but
could only humble some unintelligible
sentences. Those among the Ameri-
can onlookers acquainted with the Chi
nese language fancied that Wong Ii
muttered again and again the word
"yu," which means "jade,' and, by In
ference, as jade II deemed q rarest of
gems in the far east, precious one"
or most exalted"
All Singh. casing on the cringing
wretch with the cold and merciless
eyes Of snake about to strike some
1uivering rabbit, disdained even to ut
Ter a command. Ho merely made
urious semicircular sign In the air
! With one hand, sign which Mr.. Clark
alone among the white men interpret
I'd correctly as indicating the crescent.
Tho priest, covering in manifest ter
ror. spread wide his arms, As though
to show that he carried no weapon,
whereupon All Singh drew forth
flashing scimitar and thrust its Jew
eled handle toward Wong Ia. who took
it In a half palsied grip, yet seemed to
falter and once moro dared to look at
this implacable, Judge In piteous sup
plication.
All Singh's lips curved In 4 disdain-
full smile, smile which conveyed a
greater threat than many an emperor's
frown, and again he made that mys-
terious sign.
Wong Il hsaitated no longer. With
queer an1mal-nke yelp, he seized the
! hilt Of the sword In both banda,
placed the ;peint against his heart and
drove It homo with Z force which
actually sent the keon blade clean
through his body. Ali Singh stopped
over the fallen man.. placed = foot on
his breast and withdrew the scimitar,
which be wiped on his Victims clothes
before returning It to the seabbard.
Then he growled ! deep throated or
der:
,'Back to your kennels. doss, and see
that you stop therer'
Every man who could move his
limbs fastened to obey. Though their
prophet spoke now In Chinese, all
seemed to understand. They skunk
on-stolid Manchu. naughty Pathan,
alert Zap and savage Dyak alike.
Hero was their master, ana they knew
It. Within sixty seconds Of All singh's
arrival on the scene of all those thou
oands '',~-> 100 ~c+ c-a
left In the vicinity Of the consulate.
except the hundreds Of dead and the