The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1917-11-23
CHAPTER xI.-Continued.

Are there devils in Tophet? Fire
and my veins are one!'
The man did not notice the eager
ness beaming out of Kings horn
trimmed spectacles. but Ismall did; 1t
seemed to him time to prove his vir-
tues as assistant.
'Thls is the famous hakim Kurram
Khan" he boasted "Hc can cure any
thing and for very little feew
The man looked increduous, but
King drew the covering from his row
OF instruments and bottles.
'"Take chancel |" he advised. "None
but the brave wins anythingw
Ismail and Darya Khan were new to
the business and enthusiastic. They
had the man down, held tight on the
floor to the huge amusement of the
rest, before he could even protest; and
his howls of rage did him no good, for
Ismail drove the hilt of knife be-
tween his open jaws to keep them open.
A very large proportion of Kings
stores consisted of morphia and CO.
caIne. He injected enough cocaine to
deaden the mans nerves, and allowed
1t time to work. Then he drew out
three back teeth In quick succession,
to make sure he had the right one.
Ismail let the victim up, and Darya
Khan gave him water in a brass cup.
Utterly without pain for the first time
for days, the man was as grateful as
wolf freed from trap.
"Are there any others In pain In
Khinjanf" King asked him.
Listen to hint What Is Khinjan
IL there one man without a wound or
a sore or scar or a sicknessT
'Then. tell them" said King.
The man laughed.
when l show my jaw, there will be
fight to be first Make ready, hakim
got"
King sat down to eat, but he had not
finished his meal-he had made the
last little heap of rice into ball with
his fingers, native style, and was mop
ping up the last OF the curried gravy
with it-when the advance guard of
the lame apd the halt and the sick
made Its appearance. The caves en-
trance became jammed with them, and
no riot ever made more noise.
"Hakim! Ho, haklml Where is the
hakim who draws teeth? Where is the
man who knows yunani?"
Ten men burst down the passage all
together, all clamoring, and one man
wasted no time at all but began to tear
away bloody bandages to show his
wound. King rolled up his sleeves and
began, so that eagerness gave place tC
wonder. The desperate need of winning
bis first trick, made him horror-proof
and nobody waiting for the next turf
was troubled because the man under
the knife screamed little or blet
more than usual.
When they died-and more than on,
did die-men carried them out ant
dung them over the precipice into tn,
waterfall below.
Ismail and Darya Khan becam,
choosers of the victims. They seized |
man, laid him on the bed. tore off hi
disgusting bandages and held thei
breath until the awful resulting stencil
had more or less dispersed. Thel
King would probe or lance or bandag
nS he saw fit, using anesthetics whel
he must, bat managing mostly withou
them.
They almost flung money at him. III
tossed money and clothes and ever
other thing they gave him into corne
at the back of the cave, and nobod
tried to steal them back, although
man suspected of honesty in tha
company would have been tortured I
death ms an hereto and would hav
had no sympathy.
For hour after gruesome hour h
toiled over wounds and sores such a
only battles and evil living can pre-
duce, until men began to come at las
with fresh wounds. all caused by bu
lets, wrapped In bandages on whic
the blood had caked but had not grow
foul.
"There has been fighting In the Khy
ber." somebody informed him, and h
stopped with lancet In mldair to listen
scanning a hundred faces swiftly IN
the smoky lampllght. There were ter
men who held lamps for him, one OF
them a newcomer, and 1t was he who
spoke.
.Fighting in the Khyber! Aye! We
were little Iashkar, but we drove
d