davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

quarter. passing unnoticed in the
throng.
The religious frenzy of the people
had reached its zenith. On every
street corner priest was haranguing
the crowd.
I made straight for the temple, I'M
ostentatiously losing myself in the
crowd.
The throng got steadily denser. I
found progress very hard. and 1 was
still goodly distance from the tenn
pie when suddenly from nowhere 1t
seemed whisper started. 1t went
through the crowd like wildfre. Into
the temple! Into the temple! The sac
rifice is about to begin"
Pushing. fighting. kicking, I pressed
on: and finally l gained the entrance of
the temple. 1t had taken me a good
many minutes to get there, and the
service was already In full swing.
Wreathed In incense smoke. I saw, far
In the interior Of the temple, the head
Of gigantic statue of Doorgha, whose
fendish eyes seemed to look straight
into mine with an expression Of demo-
MAC glee.
I could not hear distinctly. Only a
confusing noise. like the roaring of the
sea on rocky beach And then sud
denly an utter GREATNESS silence sue
ceeded to the uproar
BY this time. using old foot ball tao
tics, I had pushed my way up to the
front row OF the worshipers, SO that
stood directly in front of the statue
OF drums. clash of cymbals, a shrill-
Ing OF reed-pipes-and troupe of
nautch girls swept to the center of the
fioor--bending. swaying, twisting
dancing before the goddess with hor-
rible gestures.
Came again silence. The nautch girls
disappeared and priest stepped forth.
His long. lank arms were smeared with
ashes. On his forehead was the scarlet
caste mark Of Doorgha.
He clapped his hands and n hundred
torches were lit The torch bearers
danced through the temple lighting up
the interior with many colors.
once more the priest raised his arms.
and an was still, The whole temple lay
awaiting something terrible, incredible,
nameless.
The priest bowed before the statue of
Doorgha. His voice seemed to come
from very far away
"a sacrifice, brothers, sacrif1ce to
Doorgha. the Mother,
Three times he bowed. Then another
priest handed him human skull half
filled with burning embers He bowed
again ana. nke :. herald. announced:
THE sacrifice"
There was another wall Of cymbals
ana tomtoms. and two priests came
from penlhd the statue of Doorgha Be
tween tnem. his hands tied behind his
, naSk. ou ~ erect and slightly smiling.
walked the blue-eyed Manchu.
AT that moment / forgot my enmity,
my bitter hatred Of the man. 1 adj
mareo nm. In Il strange, inexplicable
way wa, l respected him For he marched
~ ere re . 70 ms doom; to death OF flames.
OF unspeakable agony. But he marched
erect. a smile on his thin lips.
me Two priests and their captive
stopped In front OF Dooreha-
Inc ,orcnes were extinguished one by
1as; Momentarily there was stygian
was lit and swung in such a position
ina an or its light was directed upon
th o soene IN front Of the idol. while
'Ae WILLS the ceiling, all the other
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

there was a threat in their high pitched
voices. "a sacrifice!"
But the logs were as before-cold
gray: There was neither flame nor
l smiled to myself. l thought of the
heavy package which Mascasenhas had
carried beneath the flowing folds OF ms
robe. l thought Of the miracle whlch
l had prepared: with the help Of me me
admiral. the ships surgeon and the
chief engineer. .Sulphate Of ammonia ~
was. mixed with boric acid and borate
OF soda, and guaranteed to make even
sacred deodar logs non
Then l jumped up with yen: lllteu
my hands high above my head.
"a miracle" / shouted. "a miracle.
brothers! A miracle. by Kali and Devi.
1 swung myself up to the pedestal OF
the goddess. 1 kept my presence OF
face the crowd once more | located
the position of the metal door through
which the priests had pushed the
Manchu.
Behold the miracle" 1 shouted at
the top Of my voice. obey y, .he COM
mands Of the blessed gods. be
thought myself OF the WORDS winch
years ago, ! had heard used by ASH
smeared fakirs in the towns OF lndia-
"Obey the commands of the many gods,
the commands Of the four-armed rev.
erence! For the spirits are against
you-Alayas and Gumas, halta Is ana
?akshas!-Dahinis. Yoginis, and shark-
fnis of dreadful forms, Bless the mir
acle Of the gods, For samashana Kali
herself had spoken
L jumped down again ana tore the
torch from the hands OF the nlgh
priest. l pushed 1t into the stoke
hole.
See" yelled. THE gods refuse the
sacrifce. 1t Is a miracle"
The crowd surged forward in solid
mass: They took up the shout IN mad
"A miracle, A miracle, y miracle"
They swept about the statue OF Door
Rha. Ihey pushed the priests 70 one
side. A thousand hands snatched at
the deodar logs to break off piece,
a splinter bit of the sacred wood as
which they had beheld.
Pandemonium was loose. 1 pushed
my way through the crowd. win
wei directed kick l upset the lamp
which was still swinging from the
hands of a dazed priest
biacKness fell over the temple.
l fought my way back to the statue
or Doorgha, climbing over bodies OF
syddan ,fai Yelling men ah na,d " ,na,ai
me statue of Doorgha. said TO my
self. | swung myself up to- the Redes-
.al with great effort. l wrenched open
the furnace doors,
Quick" 1 said. "ouick! I'm vande-
water"
helped the Manchu out and away.
sac by side we fought our way
through the maddened crowd,
lew minutes later we were OUTSIDE
the temple. Mascasenhas was already
there. waiting for us. with smile on
his honest face.
We made the water front in record
time. Once more the launch chugged
her way to the Guerriere.
Inc Manchu kept his word.
name by name, detail by detail. town
by town. he gave me the secrets of the
organization which he had started ana
directed in Europe, Asia and America.
Like an iron net he had flung his in
trigues all over the world. He had
worked with threats and with bribery.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

Everything was quiet. Mr.. Brent and
Mrs. Lee-whom he had presumably met
for the first time the night before, and
yet whom he had addressed as Miriam
hearted attempts to shoot sparrows.
From a little distance they looked ex-
ceedingly purposeless. not to say lazy,
and even the expressions of their faces
partook of their general casual aspect.
But If any one had been near enough
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24
Continued from Fourth Page.)

CONTINUED from Fourth Page)
puzzled at the last paragraph. The
final admonition was easy enough 10
mand OF the preceding paragraphs. ask
ing me to save Yuan Kee from death
Of flames, and thus to ACQUIRE merit
and the giving away OF secrets
the famed Monastery of Shao-lin. Years
ago / had been there. 1t is one of the
sights Of that part of China I remem-
bered vaguely the two painted and
carved tablets which 1t contained.
talked the whole thing over with
Mascasenhas. the Rajah of Hyderpore
and Sir Hector Cave Browne. Finally,
the admiral, who had been on the China
great interest in everything connected
with the Middle kingdom. bethought
himself of his library. 1t contained
many works of travel and reference.
He looked through the shelves. and
found NJ. de Broglie's book about the
province of Honan. which gave pictures
and descriptions of the Monastery of
Shao-lin-
We got the following information:
..In the monastery are two ancient
stone tablets inscribed with pictorial
statements of the trIunity doctrine of
the so-called Sanchiao: the three doc
trinal systems of Buddhism. Confuci-
anism and Taoism. The second tablet
faiths side by side. in a symbolic and
conventionalized manner. The place
of honor in the center is occupied by
the Sakyamuni Buddha: to the left is
Lao-chin. the legendary founder of
Taoism. and to his right is China's
perfect sage. Hongfu-tse. Sakya-
munfs head is surrounded by an
aureole from which issues an UPWARD
his feet are lotus blossoms bursting
into bloom"
But what did Yuan Kee mean by
his cryptic allusion? He was too
shrewd a man to waste any words in
useless. written babbling.
Suddenly the young rajah rose with
a shout Of triumph.
My word. I've got 1t! I told you that
after / got over my fit of despair
bacf here in the Doorgha temple, 1
used my eyes and ears There are
three statues in the temple. Get the
parallel with the three holy blighters
in this picture2"
He pointed at the colored plate at
which we had been looking
But wait. There's more to IT, The
middle statue is Doorgha herself. Kali
is to the left and SILVA to the right.
All clear, so far. isn't It? And there's
still another resemblance between the
statue of Doorgha and that Of the
Sakyamuni Buddha" He laughed. IT'S
at least the Brahmans consider it. One
of them explained ii to me Trying to
make my last days on earth easy. and
all that sort of rot He told me that
] would be burned to death. and in a
novel manner. by Jove.
You see. the whole inside of Doorgha
is nothing but a furnace. open at the
top to let the smoke escape Get
that? Just like the flaming aureoIe of
the Buddha. And those beasts of
Brahmans proposed to jolly well put
me in the tummy of the goddess and
roast me to death. damn them, And,
q ba h.,
stand on pedestal of lotus flowers.
And that's where they start the fire.
Sort of stokehole, Ell? The priest told
me they used a special brand Of wood
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

he spoke, except, as you know, I am
rather crack shot with one myself.
Funny thing, but you would not think IT
If you were watching me from one OF
the windows of the house, would YOU
Il wouldn't. indeed" said Miriam.
laughing. Il see what you are driving
at. Kit-sorry to have been SO dense.
Hello. here's your Molly coming back
alone. She must have abandoned the
luckless Percy in the town"
Brent sprang to his feet. Il say.
Miriam. he said. you won't mind
leaving us. will you? She left rather in
state. you know, and l want to kiss
and make it up
Til go indoors and think about pig
cons" promised Miriam
Molly was coming toward them over
the lawn. little paler than usual and
with eyes that showed solemn from
under the shady brim of her garden
hat.
TRY and meet me in the sitting room
in about twenty minutes, Miriam, SAID
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

I'm the transport department" Mrs.
Sanderson informed him with maternal
pride.
She put the books neatly on q shalt
as she spoke.
All" exclaimed Brent. pointing his
Pipe at Charles then you are the very
man l wanted to see. You can really
tell us the truth about those Russians"
Perhaps" said Charles sanderson.
Laughing "and.perhaps not"
contidentially and with a beaming
smile. perhaps I can tell you some
thing. l have an aunt at bennington,
an awfully jolly old lady. She didn't
see them herself. because as
matter of fact, she can't get out Of her
chair. but her parlor maids young man
works somewhere near the railway.
Well, he has pal who actually works
on the railway, a very nice young fell
low-Salvation Army and all that; tee
totaier, too, l believe-and he told him
that he had actually seen them-ths
Russians. 1 mean
That. of course. proves it," said Mrs.
Sanderson. laughing. though not un-
kindly.
What do you Think" persisted Brent
to Charles.
Shall tell you the truth"
Il wish you you'd: all these rumors
are dashed worrying"
Very well then. 1 WILL" said Charles,
sEliIinS broadly Dy now. Ihey dlQn {,
not a solitary man Jack Of a Russian"
Brent's face fell. He stood looking
the picture Of disappointment. well.
that is stckening." he said, absolutely
sickentng. On the strength Of the Sal
walton Army young man I had put hve
auid on 1t with fellow at the club.
This is blow. 1t will be blow for
the old lady, too. It's made her abso-
lutely 1T at bennington. being able to
tell the story"
We'll, I must go and have q wash
and brush up said Charles. $50 long.
Mr.. Brent" He opened the door for his
mother and they both passed out.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

parts of the room were bathed in pur-
pie shadow.
The high priest commenced his abom:
Unable hymn, lifting his ash-smeared
arms in angular motion. The scarlet
caste mark on his forehead seemed
alive.
Hail, Mother, Hail. Three-eyed god
dess OF horrid form! Hall. malign image
Of destructiveness! May this sacr1nce
smell sweet in thy nostrils"
Came silence, thick. palpable.
And suddenly, directly above the
group in the center. a faint sound
sound inaudible except in such dead
clogging silence-toid OF a metal oooI
being opened.
looked. l gave a low shrek. quickly
The body of the idol had opened like
a furnace The next moment the two
priests had lifted the Manchu up and
had pushed him through the door into
the body of the Doorgha.
A sharp, metallic click-and the door
was shut The crowd shivered and
moaned. Here and there ion2-drawn
wall of "Doorgha. Doorgha" quivered
in the air.
Another clash of symbols and drums,
another droned chant from the lips OF
the high priest and dressed In white,
the brilliant sectarian mark of Door
CHA on their foreheads. six Brahmans
Of high degree came from the left.
walking with stiff dignity. Each car
ried a heavy log of deouar wood on his
shoulder
Behind them. flaming torch carried
high in his hands. walked Mascasenhas.
He acted superbly. He bowed before
the high priest. kissing the hem Of his
robe, and the priest smiled and blessed
him with outstretched hands.
One of the Brahmans bent down be-
fore the goddess There was a raspin &
and creaking Of metal against metal.
The priest rose. He had opened the
lotus-fowered pedestal of the idol. the
stokehole of which the Rajah Of Hy-
derpore had spoken to me.
One by one the priests pushed the
deodar logs into the hole.
Again a wall of drums and cymbals
and reed-pipes rose shrilly. menacfng-
ly. in ear-splitting waves of sound.
Again the high priest commenced his
abominable Mantra in honor of the
goddess.
Then he turned to Mascasenhas.
1.-The atonement, o brother. o servant
of the God of the Invincibly Strong
Quickly Mascasenhas stepped in front
of the stokehole. With a muscular
sweep he brought the torch down on
the piled logs of wood and held 1t
there.
The crowd was breathless. An unclean
atmosphere of cruelty and lust swayed
them as a vagabond wind SWAPS a leaf
on q high place.
They waited. spellbound. for the ac-
complishment of the sacrifice.
But the deodar-wood did not catch
fire!
Once. twice, three times Mascasenhas
pushed the crimson flaming torch into
the pile of wood. He blew on 1t: he
famed 1t with his loose robe. But there
was never an answering fame; never
even as much as a flicker.
The high priest himself took the torch
from Mascasenhas. He pushed 1t
through the hole again and again
twisting 1t, turning 1t.
But there was no result.
The crowd moved forward In a solid
phalanx. I was in the front rank. swept
along. as l wanted to be.
"A sacrifice" they demanded: and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24
7 types --- By Sara Moore

der direction of an expert "breaker.s
drove him through his PAGES. until
spirit almost broken. sweating. too pes.
tered to think of rebellion. the novice
docilly trotted and jumped as his tor
mentors intended he should.
When the head trainer looked around
at his guest she was prone on the
meadow grass, face buried in her arms.
sobbing as If her heart would break.
Il never saw anything beaten before,
she sobbed by way Of apology. And 1t
seemed so-unfair. He Is such q dne
piece of horsehesh-and sensitive
Well, he has to get trained some.
time" snarled the head trainer Grossly.
How'd you think we did 1t? With
love and sugar plums?"
He's bleeding" cried the girl, rs he
led her away.
We'll. the punishment now will save
him from worse later. II he isn't tx2ins
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

Brent. by the way" he added, laugh h,
ing softly, as the girl drew nearer.
don't mind telling you that my oa.n
didn't run over by accloent -. San,
dersons' private sitting room. ssnoer-
sons an admiralty man. you KNOW.
exit. YOU are a genius murn VIE,
Miriam with an amused smile wen; ME- =:
Pollock. did YOU see the a,h pre, .yviy "oh,
don't 20 in. Mrs. Lee" ,... ,v
"Must. I have actually not finished my
unpacking yet. See you at luncn. any ~
Mrs. Lee, who had mastered the ar OF
graceful disappearance, seemed 10 eVapo-
rate toward the house. .,.
Brent took a quick look at the girls
'f "WellLTndine." he said. taking her
well, what?' asked Molly. Then With
a quick flash of suspicion. '1s that Mrs
Little ignoramus!" laughed Brent
have you never even read about your
prototype? Well. never mind: want
You to sit down and talk to me-"
IT have been wanting to talk TO you,
said Molly. but 1t seems difficult some
how oh, Girls. It was go hate1ul tn' 3
"Oh, I don't know" said Brent careless
ly. II don't think it mattered much
"That's just It," said Molly despairinsly;
'You don't think IT matters; Father and
Brent sat silently looking straight IN
front Of him his clean shaven face, we'll
featured and tanned. but heavily lined
for his tlnirty-odd years. seemed to have
had the foolish insouciance wiped out OF
it for a moment.
Chris" went on Molly, suddenly soft
ening, you know don't want you to go
to the war I think I'd go mad to Imagine
you in danger, but-but-the feeling
been growing up in me that perhaps
there's something more important than
just loving and being happy. Can't you
do something? Something here at home.
even If you can't go to the front? Oh,
Chris, 1 am such a coward that I'll be
glad il there really is some reason why
you can fight. But l do want to know
what it is and why you don't do any
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24
EooD COMMISSIONER HOOVER wal

EOOD COMMISSIONER HOOVER was
talking about war profiteers
These men," he said. yield to an
impulse that is but too common-an
impulse we should try to restrain.
ITS a hoggish impulse. once saw
it illustrated in a bank. A lady had
asked for new envelope for her bank
book. The envelope was handed to her.
and the lady behind, noting that her
own envelope was dingy. asked for .
new one, too.
Me, too. said the third lady in line.
and then the thing became epidemic.
After the teller had handed out
twenty or thirty new envelopes he lost
patience. A fresh lady hurried up. She.
too. held out a hand.
I'm have one also, II you please
she said. with a sweet smile.
lone what, madam" said the teller
coldly.
"She looked confused.
why she stammered. what tbs
other ladies got
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24
SYNOPSIS.

The story opens in the West Crest
private hotel in an English sea coast
town. when England has been at war
one month. Mrs. Sanderson. the pro-
prietress: her son. Charles. serving in
the English admiralty; Mr.. Pollock. the
Justice of the peace: his daughter, Molly.
nineteen; Christopher Brent, Molly's
fance; Mrs. Miriam Lee, a widow Of
thirty-fve. the latest fsrriyal at the
hotel; Miss Myrtle, sbinster; Fraulein
Schroeder. colorless Lutte German wom-
an. claiming twenty years Of English
naturalization; Pennicuik. young Eng
lish soldier, and Fritz, a servant In the
house, are the entire occupants of the
hotel. Christopher Brent is looked upon
by all the other hotel occupants. except
ing Molly and Mrs Lee, an irrespons-
ible idiot. due 10 acts and conversation
he affects, especially when war talk,
which is uppermost in all conversation.
is conducted in his presence. A young
English girl. an hysterial enthusiast,
breaks in on the hotel party one morning
carrying a basket Of white feathers, one
of which she is going to present TO every
man she meets who has not enlisted.
Molly makes known her engagement to
Brent. but states that when the war
broke out her father took dislike to
him because he had not enlisted. Brent
counts as something of a mystery in the
household.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

ed to be a classy horse-Lord, atu.t 70
better to have him prepared for life
in a gentleman's stable than to be left
to grow up into a dub to be driven
hooked up to some laundry cartr'
He deposited her at the hotel, with
something of scorn in his attitude.
There's a whole lot in breeding" he
said before he turned away. But breed
ing amt no good without training. And
it's the whip that teaches. not sugar
plums."
Two years later Bernices husband
complained. one morning. about slip
shod methods of one of the servants.
You have worse service than any
housekeeper 1 know" he criticised. Our
servants are ALWAYS just short Of ideal.
Why don't you get a new set? These are
anything but well trained"
His wife's face quivered. She thought
Of the horse trainers philosophy.
Well trained? 1 should hope they
aren't, poor things, / wouldn't have Q
we'll broken-person on the place
thank God"
Copyright. 1917. BY the Mcclure syndiestaA
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24

if he hadn't known you'd only met Mrs
Lee last night he'd have thought you
must have known her before. You
seemed so very intimate. considering"
"Wen, it's a funny thing" confided
Brent, "but I find I knew her husband
years ago in South Africa
''Oh. said Molly, staring at him. When
did you find that outT'
This morning"
when were you in South African
"Oh. about ten years ago now
What were you doing there?
Diamond prospecting. but we didn't
find any. Do you want to dig up the
secrets of my bad, black past. Molly?
Let dead pasts lie or they may be lied
about
Chris"
'oh. don't mean that shall lie" said
Brent hastily Men don't like to be
questioned. Molly"
80 1 see. said Molly, getting up. Il
thought perfect love meant perfect
confidence"
$50 it does" said Brent "It means
having confidence in a. person without
being told anything about him. In
fact. you might call love the confidence
trick"
Molly had never heard of the conf
dence trick and would not have smiled
If she had
"Oh. well. suppose we have a game Of
tennis" she said. suggesting what was
to hor the normal panacea for any
versation.
Pm frtghtfully sorry Molly. but I
can't just now. There are one or two
things I must see to before lunch"
the house Perhaps" she flung back
over her shoulder. Mrs Lee might help
you with them II you asked her.
dare say she will even II you don't"
Brent stood looking after her and
swore softly but unmistakably. then
he, too, went into the house. by way
of the Sandersons' sitting ROOM
The sitting room was empty. even
fraulein having taken herself and her
knitting elsewhere. Brent glanced at
down whistling softly, with rather a
gloomy look on his face. Then he drew
his Inevitable pipe from his pocket and
struck a light. At this moment Fritz.
a blond and cherubic looking individ-
ual. came abruptly into the room.
sight of Brent. but do you know
where Mr.. Pollock is? They demand
him on the telephone
Mr.. Pollock" said Brent. lighting
his pipe "I don't know. He was play
ing golf; perhaps he's come In and is
Brent finished lighting his pipe and
flung the match in the crate, where 1t
lay Pickering on the neatly laid ar
rangement of wood and coal. He was
Fritz. who rushed past him. almost
knocking into him. and, snatching the
match. put it out
What the devil are you doing?"
asked Brent.
Fritz stood breathing heavily, his
florid face actually pale.
"Ach." he calculated, that was mar
row sqveak"
Fritz. pull yourself together. Vot
vos narrow sqveak?"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-24
That Impulse.

BE CONTINUED NEXT SUNDAY.l
The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1917-12-03
ADVICE-ET PRACTERIA MILL

o Az
hghpiced
Washington
foodess
a
20OoO00O families Probably
of
blow would
amonth for it--Ne