Rocky Ford enterprise., 1916-02-04

In the Arena.
eyes. He glanced moodily round. noted
the guards patrolling the boundaries
Of their secluded camp; and then he
looked down at Kathlyn. Only q bit
Of her forehead was exposed. One
brown. shapely hand clutched the
howdah blanket. A patch Of moon
shine touched her temple. Silently he
stopped and laid a kiss upon the hand.
then crept over to Ahmed and lay
down with his back to the Moham-
medan's.
After awhile the hand clutching the
howdah blanket slid under and finally
nestled beneath the owners chin.
But Winnie could not sleep. Every
sound brought her to an upright po-
sition: and tonight the palace seemed
charged with mysterious noises. The
muttering Of the cockatoo. the tinkle
of the fountain as the water fell into
the basin. the scrape and slither of
sandals beyond the lattice partitions.
the rattle of a gun butt somewhere in
the outer corridors-these sounds she
heard. Once she thought she heard
the sputter Of rifle shots afar, but she
was not sure
Kit. beautiful Kit! o. they would
not. could not let her die! And she
had came into this land with her mind
aglow with fairy stories!
One of the leopards In the treasury
corridors roared, and Winnie crouched
into her cushions. What were they
going to do to her? For she under
stood perfectly that she was only a
prisoner and that the crown meant
nothing at all so far as authority was
concerned She was the veriest pup
pet. What with Ahmed's disclosures
and Kathlyn's advice she knew that
she was nothing more than a helpless
pawn in this oriental game OF chess.
At any moment she might be removed
from the board.
She became tense again. She heard
dor. key turned In the lock. The
door opened. and in the dim light she
saw Umballa.
He stood by the door, silently con-
templating her. What a certain dun
geon holdsi" still eddied through the
current of his thoughts. Money.
money! He needed It: 1t was the only
barrier between him and the end.
which at last he began to see. Money.
baskets and bags of it, and he dared
not go near. May the fires of hell
burn eternally in the bones of these
greedy soldiers, his only hope!
His body ached; liquid fire seemed
to have taken the place Of blood in his
H.
mass of bruises. Beaten with gun
butt, driven. harried. cursed-he, Dur
ga Ram! A gun butt in the hands of
low caste! He had not only been
beaten; he had been dishonored and
defiled. His eyes flashed and his fin
gers closed convulsively. but he was
sober. To take yonder white throat
in his hands! 1t was true; he dared
not harm a hair of her head!
"Your sister Kathlyn perished under
.he wheels of the car Of Juggernaut."
Winnie did not stir. The aspect of
the man fascinated her as the near
ness of a cobra would have done.
Vipers not only crawled in this ter
rible land; they walked. One stung
with fangs and the other with words.
'She is dead, and tomorrow your
father dies"
The disheveled appearance of the
man did not in her eyes confirm this
Indeed. the longer she gazed at him
the more strongly convinced she be-
came that he was lying But wisely
she maintained her silence.
Dead" he repeated. within q
week you shall be my wife You know.
They have told you. l want money.
and by all the gods of Hind. yours
shall oe the hand to give It to me.