Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1917-12-01

/
got in the Khyber the other day?"
Nay. Here in Khinjan."
"a man told me last night" said
King, drawing on Imagination without
any conjunction at all, that the fight
in the Khyber was because a jihad is
launched already"
THAT man lied!" said the guard
shifting position uneasily, as if afraid
to talk too much.
| $50 told himl" answered King. ~
told him there never win be another
ilhad"
r. Then thou art a greater liar than
| he f" the guard answered hotly "There
will be jihad when she is ready, such
an one as never yet wasl India shall
bleed for all the fat years she has lain
unplundered Not throat of an I'M
believer in the world shall be left UNI
slit No jihad? Thou liarl Get in
out Of my sight -
So King retired into the cave, with
something new to think about. Was
she planning the jihad Or pretending
| to plan one? Every once in a while
the guard leaned far into the cave
| mouth and hurled adjectives at him.
the mildest of which was a well of in
| formation. If his temper was the tenn
per of the Hills" it was easy to read
| disappointment for iihad that should
have been already but had been post
poned. King let him alone and paced
the cave for hours.
He was squatting on his bed-end
In the dark, like a specialized image Of
| Buddha, when the first of the three
men came on guard again and at last
Ismail came for him holding pitChy
torch that filed the dim passage full
of acrid smoke and made both of them
cough. Ismail was red-eyed with it.
Gomez" he growled "Come, little
hakim!" Then he turned on his heel
at once. as if afraid of being twltted
with desertion. He seemed to want to
get outside, where he could keep out of
range of words, yet not to wish to
| seem unfriendly.
| But King made no effort to speak to
him, following in silence out on to the
ticing that the guard with the bolls
was back again on duty. He grinned
| evilly out of a shadow as King passed
Make an end :" he advised. Jump.
hakim, before a worse thing happens w
To illustrate the sugg, stion he
kicked loose stone over the cliff. and
the movement caused him to bend his
neck and SO inadvertently to hurt his
boils. He cursed and there was pity
in Kings voice when he spoke next
do they hurt thee?"
"Aye, like the devil! Khinjan is
place of plaques !"
II could heal them" King said. pass
| ing on, and the man stared hard.
Come !" doomed Ismail through the
darkness shaking the torch to make
1t burn better and reckoning impatient
~, and King hurried after him, leaving
behind savage at the cave mouth who
fingered his sores and wondered. NUT
tering. leaning on a rifle, mutterng
and muttering again as If he had seen
a new light
Instead of waiting for King to catch
up, ISmail began to lead the way at
great speed along a path that descend
ed gradually until 1t curved round the
end of the chaSm and plunged into a
/ tunnel where the darkness grew
Opaque. For thirty minutes he led
swiftly down crazy devils stairway
of uneven powders, stopping to lend
hand at the worst places, but ever
iastingly urging him to hurry.
Then the hell-mOuth gloom began to
grow family luminous, and the water
falls thunder burst on their ears from
close at hand. They emerged into
fresh wet air and a sea of sound. on a
rock ledge like the one above. Ismail
raised the torch and waved 1t. The
fire and smoke wandered up, until they
fiattened on a moving opal dome, that
prisoned all the noises in the world.
"Earth's Drink >" he announced way
ing the torch and then shutting his
mouth tight, as if afraid to voice sacrl-
lege.
1t was the river million-coI0red in
the t0rchlight, pouring from Il half
iilie-iOuB SidSH IN the CHI ABOVE tNcfn
and plunging past them through the
gloom toward the very middle Of the
world. Somewhere 1t met rock bottom
and boiled there. for a roar Ike the
seas came up from deeps unimagin-
able.
He watched the overturnlng dome
until his senses reeled. Then he
crawled on hands and knees 70 the
IedCe's brink and tried to peer over.
But Ismail dragged him back.
"Come!" he howled; but In all that
din his shout was like whisper.
How deep is itT' King beloved
back.
Allah Ask him who made it! !"
The fear Of the falls was on the
Afridl, and he tugged at Kings arm in
frenzy Of impotence. Suddenly be
let 20 and broke into O run. King
trotted after him. After ten minutes
hurrying uphill. h. guessed they must
be level with the river. in q tunnel run
ming nearly parallel Ismail kept look
ing bae6 TO bid King hurry aud never
paused once 30 rest.