Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-11-26

the Pickering light below. Across the
cavern's farther end for space of two
hundred yards the great river rushed,
plunging out of a great fanged gap and
hurrying out Of view down another one.
licking smooth banks on its way with
hungry sucking sound.
There were little lamps everywhere,
perched ON lodges amid the stalactites,
and they suffused the whole cavern in
golden glow. In the midst of the cav
ern great arena had been left bare,
and thousands of turbaned men squat
ted round 1t in rings. At the end
where the river formed q tangent to
shem the rings We're tlattened, and at
that point they We're cut into by the
ramp of bridge, and by lane left
to connect the bridge with the arena.
The bridge end formed nearly square
platform. about fourteen feet above the
floor, and the broad track thence to
the arena, as well as all the arenas
boundary. had been marked off by
great earthenware lamps, whose greasy
smoke streaked up and was lost by the
wind among the stalactites.
"Greek lamps. every one Of 'em"
King whispered to himself, but he
wasted no time just then on trying TO
4 explain how Greek lamps had ever got
4 there. There was too much else to
watch and wonder at.
No steps led down from the bridge
end to the floor; toward the arena 1t
was blind But from the bridges far
Their end across the hurrying water
stairs had been hewn out of the rock
wall and led up to hole of twice a
mans height, more than fifty feet
above water level.
On either side of the bridge end Il
passage had been left clear to the
river edge, and nobody seemed to care
to invade it, although it was not
marked off in any way. Each passage
was about fifty feet wide and quite
straight. But the space between the
bridge end and the arena, and the
arena itself, had to be kept free from
trespassers by fifty staggering ruff
fans. armed to the teeth.
Every man of the thousands there
had a knife in evidence. but the aren't
guards had magazine rifles as well q.
Khyber tulwars. Nobody else wore
firearms openly. Some of the arena
guards bore huge round shields of pre-
historic pattern of a size and sort he
had never seen before, even in mu-
seums. But there was very little that
he was seeing that night of a kind that
he had seen before anywhere
The guards loled insolen'ly, CON
scious OF brute strength and specia
favor. When any man trespossed witt
so much as toe beyond the ring 81
lamps. guard would slap bis rifie-but
until the swivel ratified, and the of
fender would scurry into bounds amit
the jeers of any who had seen.
Showing, kicking and elbowing will
! 'N'i utpbNt, iohIhii i'ltNh a. 49,
through the already seated crowd ant
drew King down into the crampe'
space beside him, close enough to til,
arena to be able to catch the guards
low laughter. But he was restless. Fl
wished to get nearer yet, only Their
seemed no room anywhere in front.
Then a guard threw his shield dow
with q clang and deliberately fired hi
rifle at the roof. The ricochetting bul
let brought down shower of spliht
cred stone and stnlactite. and h
grinned as he watched the crowd dodg
to avoid it.
Instantly a hundred men rose fror
, different directions and raced for III
| arena. each with a curved sword i
, either hand. The yelling changed bac
f. into the chant, only louder than before
| and by that much more terrible, Gym
| balls crashed. The music box resume
| its measured grinding Of the "Marsei
laise." And the hundred began a
, Afridi sword dance, than which ther
| is nothing wilder in all the world. II
q like can only be seen under the shado'
A of the Hills"
: (TO BE CONT1NUED)