Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-01-14

L
"Highness!" timidly.
Enough! I hold you blameless."
He rushed from the palace.
Poor fools! Let them believe that
they had escaped. There was still the
little sister; in a short time now she
| would be inside the city walls. Fne
Colonel Sahib would return; indeed
yes. There would be no further dih-
Guilty regarding the iligree basket OF
gold and gems. Still, he would pur-
sue them. If only for the mere sport
of It. II he failed to catch them all
he had to do was to sit down and wait
for them to return of their own voii-
ton. ---.a
Ramabia. however, was menace;
and Umballa wondered how he was
going to lay hold of him. While wait
ing for his elephants to be harnessed
he summoned the Council. Kama
BATS property must be confiscated and
Ramabai put to death. Here for the
first time the Council fatty refused to
fall in with Umballa's plans. And
they gave very good reasons. Yes.
Ramabai was a menace, but till the
soldiery was fully paid. to touch Rama
bal would mean the bursting forth OF
the hidden fire and they would all be
consumed.
open the treasury door for me.
then!"
I'VE dare not. The keepers under
stand. They would loose the leopards.
which We dare not shoot. The law
What is the law to us?" demanded
Umballa frankly. Let US make laws
to suit our needs. The white man
does And we need money; we need
each other" pointing finger sug-
gestively toward the floor.
"Only when we have the troops re-
piled the Council firmly. I'VE have
bent our heads to your will SO far in
everything. but we refuse to sacrihce
these heads because Of a personal
spite against Ramabai. whom we
frankly and wisely fear. We dare not
break Into the treasury. The keepers
are unbribable; the priests are with
them. and the people are with the
priests. Bring back the white man and
his daughter first: II that is impossi-
BILE. marry this second daughter. and
We will crown her: and then you may
work your will upon Ramabai. You
have failed in all directions SO far.
Succeed but once and we are ready to
follow you"
Umballa choked back the hot. I'M
perious words which crowded to his
lips. These were plain, unvarnished
facts. and he must bow to the inevita-
BILE, however distasteful 1t might be.
For the present. then. Ramabai should
be permitted to go unharmed. But
Ramabai might die suddenly and ac-
cidentally in the recapture of the Colo
mel Sahib. An accidental death would
certainly extinguish any volcanic fires
that smoldered under Alfalfa So. with
this secret determination in mind. Um-
balla set forth.
Ahmed. his mind busy with thou
sand things, forgot the thousand and
first. at that stage most important OF
all; and this was the short cut. mere
pathway through the Jungle but which
lessened the journey by some thirty
miles. And this pathway Umballa
chose. The three hours headway was
thus pared down to minutes. and at
the proper time Umballa would ap
pear. not behind the pursued but In
the road in front of them.
There was. to be sure, bare possi-
bility of the colonel and his party get
ting beyond the meeting Of the path
and the road--that is, II he kept going
forward all through the night. which.
by the way. was exactly what the as
tute Ahmed did. But Kathlyn's curl
osity the next morning neutralized the
advantage gained.
A group of masked dancers, peripa-
tetic, was the cause. Confident that
they had outstripped pursuit. she saw
no reason why she should not witness
the dancing.
How Umballa came upon them sud.
denly, like a thunderbolt, confiscating
the elephants: how they fled to near
by temple. bribed the dancers for
masks and garments. fed still farther
into the wooded hills. and hid there
with small arms ready. needs but little
telling. Umballa returned to the city
satisfied. He had at least deprived
them OF their means of travel. Sooner
or later they would founder in the jun.
gle, hear of the arrival of the younger
daughter, and return.
Ahmed was grave. Lal Singh had
gone. Now that the expedition had
practically failed. his place was back
in the shoe shop in the bazaars. Yes.
Ahmed was grave. He was also trifle
disheartened The fakir had said that
there would be many disappointments.
but that in the end He might be
liar like all the other Hindus. Yet
surely one part of his foretelling was
correct: many disappointments.
Kit" said her father. Ahmed
warned you not to stop"