Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1917-11-15


aers1 - as ee,ss& aaee sae A,asks'
shadows ef cAs ssassea eaiaaaax. va,
ssaea an ssess- saxece3 wsJs.awaks
saAio shoaisi have maae sasN a srwn
+ eescle sns~sax as the eaa
I "tsaax sre~-evahMs yea Aeaa Asn'
wscs Sea afraid es asa. az wAast~ N
usaneea Hyde esxsaaiax ~ aRess hssa
I ssag> nssssad ef aasxersax. Kiax seaas<
/ o1e Aeo the kaRpas xaeonA. and In Z
Esanus< he easxht sight II serxean
g aastvs nfaAtxJ passing DOM -
/ srsan. he SAaSs@ = s4Sa ssas brought
3 sas assa e. hssa ca the run.
Did yea ss~ shss ruaaways" he
asked
~Ha. sshih> SAW one running. Shall
I fo1lowy-
ma This piece Of his shirt viii
iieotify him. Take II. Hide it. When
man with q torn shirt. into which
that piece fits, makes for the telegraph
Office after this train has gone on. see
that he Is allowed to send any tele-
grams he wants to! Only. have copies
OF every one Of them wired to Captain
King. care Of the stationmaster. Delhi.
Have you understoodf'
"Ha. sahib."
"Grab him. and lock him up light
afterward-5ut not until he has sent
his telegrams!"
"Atcha, sahib."
"Make yourself scarce, theni"
Major Hyde was dressed. having per.
formed that military evolution In some
thing less than record time.
"WhO was that you were talking
tor he demanded. But King did not
seem to understand until the native
sergeant had quite vanished into the
shadows.
The engine shrieked of death and
torment; the heat relaxed as the en-.
CINE moved-lOOsened-le go-lifted
at last, and a trainload Of hot passen.
gers sighed thanks.
"What are you looking atT' Hyde
demanded at last, sitting on Kings
berth.
"Only q knife" said King. He was
standing under the dim gas lamp that
helped make the darkness more un-
bearable. He slowed the knife away
In his bosom, and the major crossed to
his own side.
Within ten minutes Hyde was asleep,
snoring prodigiOusly. Then King pulled
out the knife again and studied 1t for
half an hour. The blade was of bronze,
with an edge hammered to the keen
| rs n h. 30
~ pure gold, in the form of a woman
dancing. The whole thing was SO ex-
quisitely wrought that age had only
s0ftened the lines, without In the least
Impairing them. 1t looked like one of
those Grecian toys with which Roman
women Of Nero's day stabbed their
lovers. But that was not why he be-
gan to whistle very softly to himself.
Presently he drew out the generals
package of papers, with the photograph
on the top. He stood up. to hold both
knife and papers close to the light In
the roof.
1t needed no great stretch Of imagi.
nation to suggest likeness between
the woman of the photograph and the
other. of the golden knife-hilt. And
nobody, looking at him then. would
have dared suggest he lacked imagina.
ton.
If the knife had not been so ancient
they might have been portraits Of the
same woman, in the same disguise,
taken at the same time.
"She knew l had been chosen to
work with her. The general sent her
word that I am coming" he muttered
to himself. "There must have been Q
spy watching at Peshawur. who wired
to Rawal-Pindi for this man to jump
the train and 60 on with the job. Why
should she give the man a knife with
her own portrait on it3 Is she queen
Of secret society," Well-we shall
seei"
He lay back with his head on the
pillow, and before Ave minutes more
had gone he was asleep. His mobile
face in repose looked Roman, for the
sun had tanned his skin and his nose
was aquiline. In museums, where
sculptured heads of Roman generals
and emperors stand around the wall
on pedestals, 1t would not be difficult
to pick several that bore more than q
faint resemblance to him. He had
breadth and depth of forehead and o
| jowl that lent itself to smiles as well
as sternness, and throat that ex.
pressed manly determination In every
| nodded line.
He slept like boy until dawn; and
he and Hyde had scarcely exchanged
another dozen words when the train
screamed next day into Delhi station
Ito be continued)