Crittenden record-press., 1917-10-18

'he air OF royalty entertaining blood
equal.
King accepted cigarette for polite
ness sake and took occaslon'to admire
the mnns slender wrist, that was
doubtless hard and strong as woven
steel, but was not much more than half
the thickness Of his own. One of the
questions thnt occurred 10 King that
minute was why this wrll.bred young
ster whose age he guessed at twenty
two or. so had not turned his attention
to thcsarmy.
my helgh,~
The mrn had read his thoughts
Not quite. tall enough. Besides
you are a soldier, are YOU not? And
do you fghtf" Then, after n minute
OF rather strained silence: "My mes
sage Is from her"
From Yasmlni7"
"Who elsef
King accepted the rebuke with lit
tie inclination Of the head. He spoke
ns little as possible. because he was
puzzled, lie had become conscious OF
puzzled look In the Rangar's eyes
and II only added 10 his problem II the
Hangar found in him something mex
plicable. The West can only get the
better OF the East when the East Is too
cock.sure.
she has jolly well gone North ="
said the Hangar suddenly, and King
shut his teeth with a snap, He sat bolt
upright and the Rangar allowed him.
self to look amused.
"She has often heard Of you" he
said.
I've heard Of her" said King.
"of course! Who has not7 She has
desired TO meet you, sahib, ever since
She was told you are the best man In
your service"
King rrmt,d, thinking Of the knife
beneath his s.lrt. Again, It was a. II
The Hangar read n part Of hi, thoughts.
II no' NIL of them. II is mt difficult 10
counter that trick hut 90 do II man
must BE- on his guard or sc Enst will
Know what he has thought and what
ho !. going to think m lhnuy have dis
covered when il was too late.
"llor men are ahic to protect any.
body, he from any Gods number of
a'sHssns whatever may lead YOU To
think 'hc contrary From now forward
Your NE Be- 10 her mons kccpIug"
Very good ~ her l'm sure" King
murmurcd, lie WAS thinking OF the
general. express order to apply Tor o
/ passport hat would take him into
khlniau caycs-mcutully cursing the
necessity for nsklug any Kind of favor
-nnd wondering whether to ask this
man f"r u or wait until be- should meet
Nasului. The RangRr answered his
thoughts again as II he had spoken
them aloud.
"Shc left this with me, saying am
10 give IL tn you, an 10 say that
wherever YOU wear II. between here
and AfghanlStan your life shall be safe
aud you may come and gow
King stared. The Rangar drew a
| bracelet from an inner pocket and
held II out. I, was n wonderful bar.
barrie thing Of pure gold big enough
for u grown pnn's wrist. and old
enough TO have been hammered out In
the very womb ot time. !, looked ul.
most like ancient Greek. and Il fns,
tened with hinge aud clasp that
looked ~ II they did not belong to It
aud might have been made by not
very sklllful modern icwcler.
Wont you wear it, asked Rewa
Gunga, watching him. 1T will prove
n true talisman What was the name
~ the Johnny who had lamp 20 rub?
Aladdin II will be- better than what
hc had lie could only command n lot
II bogics. This will give you authority
over flesh aud blood Take Il, sahib -
So King put II on, letting II slip up
, his sleeve out of srht-wlth n senSa.
, tlon ~ the snap closed ~ putting
handouts on hlwSelf But the Ranger
looked relieved.
THAT Is your passport, sahih' Show
Il to u hillmHn whenever you suppose
yourself In danger The RAJ might
go to pieces, hut while Yamlnl lives"
"llcr friends Will boast about her,
suppose"
King finished the sentence for him
because II ~ not considered good form
for natives 10 hint nj possible dissolu.
tlon Of the Anglo.lndlnn government.
Everybody knows that the British will
not govern India forever. but IN. Brit.
ish-who know II best of all, aud work
10 that end most fcrvcntly-are the
only ones encouraged 10 talk about Il.
For n few minutes after that Rewa
Gunga held his pence, while the ear
rinrc swRycd NJ hrcakueck speed
through the swarm'rc streets. King.
watching HEd sayl-g uc'h'ag dil not
believe for u second the .,me cxpln.
nation Yasnlnl had left behind. She
mus, have some good reason for wleh.
inr 10 be Mr., up the klyhcr. and he
WIS Norv sorry indeed 'l,c had slipped
away. l, might hc only jealousy. yc;
WY should She hc !,rH'ousi
Il was the next rcrarL of the
r. 'ngar's that sot hlh entirely on his
guard, and ,hcnccforword whoever
could have read his thoughts would
have been more than human. lie had
known ~ TIM, ihougb.rcndlnE trick