The Washington herald., 1916-01-02

ers take him and his men up 70 our
bin there: otherwise. keep him heum-
" satisfisd % hs Il IL I hnd sim sha" In ihe sans
place when ] get back
The four hundred rode. on. and the
only man who had the least idea OF
what their destination might be. or
OF the nature of the work ahead, was
Dick. who rode IN front OF them.
He rode ahead for mile or two;
and then since he did not know what
new plans the princess might have
mfde. nor what reinforcements she
men along In front OF him. under an
Afghan officer who knew 20 an ounce.
or a mile. the endurance OF horse
and could guess within a reasonable
fraction of the limit Of a man
What had been cruel march from
Astrabad was scarcely more than a
pleasant gallop back again. In the
still fresh enough 70 auSken the
pace. and IL was long beforeN midnight
when the leading scout caught sight
Of Of Iva wstcsfre burning before ,oihs The
back to report all well, and nothing
less than Dicks authority could have
suppressed the cheer which almost
burst out from the column.
Dick went to the front row now
and led them along In silence, and IL
was he who answered the challenge
reached the barricade.
He rode on with scarcely word to
the sentry. and his men filed after
him by two in silence.
voice when the barricade was near.
You, Yussuf AIT
Il sabih."
"All well bshadurp
''GoodE' said Dick. Leave fifty Of
your men here. Then take the rest
and hurry to Usbeg Airs aid He
l. Where bshsdur''
Back along the road we came
Yes..now-tonight.
Olga Ksrageorovich took hold of
the reins of government in Astra bad
and held them with a grip that would
have done credit to praetised ruler
She had enough men there to hold
the place now against any new at
| tempt Dick was likely TO make, but
her dare assume the offensive until
the guns should come.
She sent telegram after telegram to
Russia along the mended wire, urging
that the army corps be started on it's
way.
In proof OF how careful the Rus
sian plans had all been laid for in
vasion of Persia when occasion offer
ed. gunboats with troops on board
| began to arrive and drop anchor in
the bay. the day after her telegram
She was seized with a yesrning to
have II out with Dick-to capture him,
and torture him and kill him with her
own fingers before the army corps
venge. The sight Of his dead body
would not be enough for her. She.
she-must kill him with her fingers!
Then she saw dust and q column
on the sky line. She sent gallopers 70
tell the guns to hurry. GaIInE from
tower through strong glasses, she
knew nearly as soon as the gaIlop-
| guns behind and were trudging as
| smother regiment had done. weapon
less, ashamed! Now she knew that
behind that row Of wagons after aili
And, peering from behind the
wagons. Dick laughed. in that strange
/ unmusical infectious note Of his. in
He could see. bit by BIT. the Who'll.
puzzle piecing itself together into the
shape he wanted. He could guess what
move the princess was likely to make
| next: and his laugh rang like a bell
4 as he saw the smoke of a fair-sized
! gunbost lifting over the seawsrd sky
The commanding officers refused to
/ march out of Astrabad until the men
from the gunboats had marched in,
| threatened them they stuck 70 their
| point So there was a long delay
| while q little force OF sailors, marines
| and nondescripts was got together on
| of all except their engineers. Then,
! when the new force marched in, the
old and far more numerous forcs
marched out, hot foot in an attempt
| TO reach the two regiments before
/ Dick Anthony could capture them or
else utterly destroy them
| As they marched Dick watched them
closely; He had seen the men brought
from the gunboats by the shore He
saw the city gates closed and the few
| defences manned by newcomers. Half
his right front and the bay on hi. E
| left, he saw everything and read be-
| tween the lines Later, he saw the
new new, big gun gu5RooSst Ss drop her s6S s1ehOr iE
landed to be marched into the city.
| Russia was at her old game-sd-
ysncing! No thought of a retreat OF
the need for covering one entered the
At night, with steam Kissing gent.
y thgSggn S5 he Sor ssfsty TaiTes IN proof
of oil fuels superiority over coal
| they all slept except for a man OF
two who watched the cages In the en-,
Dicks orders were given so silent.
| ly that only the company officers
| gathered round him could hear them,
BEEN n toid o to leave RS behind wtre a aS isn
now in charge Of the horses, and
| company by company the rest were
led In silence to the shore, where they
| hid in deep shadows. Fifty men were
| sent to cut the wires again: for now
\ IL was Dicks turn to wish secrecy
| Fifty. more men laid down their arms
/ and went in search Of small boats II
| was two hours after dark when the
| keel of the last small boat discover
able grounded between reeds and q
voice said:
"All ready now, bahadurr'
4 With a little splashing and oar
| humping. which made Dick and the
L company commanders curse but did
/ not disturb the drowsy gunboat
i crews, the five advanced units of Rus
sias Caspian feet were surrounded
| one by one. Dick blew a whistle, and
| at once the small boats all headed IN
ward. An alarm WAS shouted. long too
late. The bigger gunboets siren
! screamed and her search1ight flicker
| ed and then hared, full-on. But by
| that time Dick was UP the side of her
ION deck with his sword drawn. and
] each of the other gunboats was in
\ like predicament
Below with youl Get belowr COM
/ manded Dick, and the thinned-out
i crews obeyed. They showed less re-
sentiment and more curiosity than the
/ military-more disposition to change
masters without troubling themselves