The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-08-02

Rewa Gunga made no answer to
that, although King waited for an ans
wer. For about minute there was
no sound at all, except the beating OF
Kings heart. Then he moved. to try
and see the Rangers turban above
the rock. He could not see it. He
found niche In the rock, set his foot
in it and mounted three or four feet,
until his head was level with the top.
The Rangar was gone!
He listened for two or three min
utes. but the silence began to make
his head ache again; so he stopped
to feel the moor with his hand before
deciding to go forward. There was no
mistaking the finish given by the
tread of countless feet. He was on a
highway, and there are not often pit
falls where so many feet have been.
For all that he went forward as q
certain Agag once did, and it was
many minutes before he could see
curtain glowing blood-red in the light
behind the two lamps, at the top of
hight OF ten stone steps. It was
peculiar to him and to his service
that he counted the steps before go
ing nearer. When he went quite close
he saw carpet down the middle of
the steps, so ancient that the stone
showed through In places; all the pat
tern. supposing it ever had any, was
worn or faded away. Carpet and
steps glowed red too. His own face,
and the hands he held in front OF him
were red.hot-poker color. Yet out.
side the little ellipse of light the dark.
ness looked like a thing to lean
against, and the silence was 50 in
tense that he could hear the arteries
singing by his ears.
He saw the curtains move slightly,
apparently in little putt of wind that
made the lamps waver. He was very
nearly sure he heard a football be-
tiny silver bell, or a jewel striking
against another one.
He kicked his slippers of, because
there are no conditions under which
bad manners ever are good policy.
Vide history and Cookers famous.
code. Then he walked up the steps
without treading on the carpet, be-
cause living scorpions have been
known to be placed under carpets on
purpose on occasion. And at the top.
being a Secret Service man, he stoop-
ed to examine the lamps.
They were bronze. cast. polished
and graved. All round the circumfer.
ence of each bowl were figures in half
relief, representing q woman dancing.
She was the woman Of the knife-hilt,
and Of the lamps in the arena! She
looked like Yasmini! Only she could
not be Yasmini because these lamps
were so ancient and so rare that he
had never seen any in the least like
them, although he had visited most
of the museums of the East,
Both lamps were alike, for he
crossed over to make sure and took
each in his hands in urn. But no
two figures of the dance were alike
on either 1t was the same woman
dancing. but the artist had chosen
twenty different poses with which to
his skill, and hers. Both
lamps burned sweet oil with a wick.
and each had a chimney Of horn. not
at all unlike a modern lamp-chimney.
The horn was stained red.
AS he set the second lamp down he
became aware Of subtle interesting
smell, and memory took him back at
once to Yasmini's room in the Chand-
nj Chowk in Delhi where he had
smelled it first It was the peculiar
scent he had been told was Yasminis
own-a blend OF scents, like chord
of music, in which musk did not pre-
dominate.
He took three strides and touched