Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-12-28

"Shall I leave my brother in the |
lurchY' the hakim asked them; and !
though they murmured, they thought |
better of him for it.
Well for him that he had plenty of !
Epson salts in his kit, for in the
Hills" physic should taste evil and
show very quick results to be believed
in. He found a dozen diseases of
which he did not so much as know
the name, but half of the sufferers
swore they were cured after the first
dose. They would have dubbed him
faquir and have foisted him to a pillar
of holiness had he cared to let them.
Muhammad Amin slept most of the
day, like a great animal that scorns
to live by rule. But at evening he
came to the cave mouth and frllmi-
mated such a sermon as set the whole
camp to roaring. He showed his
power then. The iihad he preached
would have tempted dead men from
their graves to come and share the
piunder, and the curses he called down
on towards and laggards and unbe-
levers were enougi to have fright
ened the dead away again.
In twenty minutes he had undone ali
Kings missionary work. And then in
ten more, feeling his power and their
response, and being at heart a fool
as al rogues are. he built it up again.
He began to make promises too def
mite. He wanted Khinian caves. More.
he needed them. So he promised them
they should all be free of Khinian
caves within Il day or two, to come
and 90 and live there at their pleasure.
He promised them they should leavov
their wives and children and belong
lngS safe in the caves while they them
selves went down to plunder India. He
overlooked the fact that Khinjan caves
for centuries had been a secret to be
spoken of in whispers, and that pros.
pect of its violation scame to them as
a shock.
Half of them did not believe him.
Such thing was impossible, and if
he were lying as to one point, why
not as to all the others, too?
And the army veterans. who had
been converted by Kings talk of par
dOns, and almost reconverted by the
sermon, shook their heads at the talk
Of taking Khinian. Why waste time
trying to do what never had been done,
with her to reckon against, when a
place in the sun was waiting for them
down in India, to say nothing of the
hope of pardons and clean living for
while? They shook their heads and
combed their boards and eyed one
another sidewise in a way the Hills"
understand.
That night, while the mullah glow
cred over the camp like a great old
owl, with leaping freight reflected in
his eyes. the thousands under the skin
tents argued, so that the night was
all noise. But King slept.
All of another day and part of an
other night he toiled among the sick,
wondering when a message would
| come back. 1t was nearly midnight
when he bandaged his last patient and
came out into the starlight to bend
his back straight and yawn and pick
his way reeling with weariness back
to the mullah's cave. He had given
his bag of medicines and implements
to a man to carry ahead of him and
had gone perhaps ten PAGES into the
dark when strong hand gripped him
! by the wrist.
flush !" said a voice that seemed ia.
miliar.
He turned swiftly and looked
straight into the eyes of the Rangal
Rewa Gunga!
"How did you get here?" he asked
in English.
"Any fool could learn the password
into this campi Come over here, sa
hib. l bring word from her."
The ground was criss-crossed like /,
mans palm by the shadows of tent
ropes. The Rangar led him to wher,
the tents were forty feet apart ant
none was likely to overhear them
There he turned like flash.
"She sends you this !' he hissed.
In that same instant King was fight
ing for his life. In another secon,
they were down together among tn
tent-pegs, King holding the Rangar'
wrist with both hands and struggling
to break it, and the Rangar strivin
for another stroke. The dagger h
held had missed Kings ribs by S
little that his skin yet tingled fror
its touch. 1t was a dagger with bronz
blade and a gold hilt-her dagger. !
was her perfume in the air.
They rolled over and over, breathin
hard. King wanted to think befor
he gave an alarm, and he could NO
think with that scent in his nostril
and creeping into his lungs. Even i
the stress of fighting he wondered hoy
the Rangar's clothes and turban ha
, come to be drenched in it. He admit
, ted to himself afterward that it wa
, nothing else than jealousy that suE
gested to him to make the Ranga
prisoner and hand him over to th
, mullah.
! That would have been a ridiculou
thing to do. for it would have force
his own betrayal to the mullah. Br
, as IL Iue IduSdT ndu Tedu HIS LllH'
he suddenly redoubled his efforts an
King, weary to The point of sickness
: had to redouble his own or die. Pc
: haps the jealousy helped put venom
!, his effort, for his strength came bac
= :, to him as a madman's does. The RAJ
: gar gave moan and let the knife fal
: And because jealousy is poison Kin
II did tho yvrOnor thiDU fboD Ha DOuD nc
on the knife instead of on the Ranga
{ He could have questioned him-kne
u on him and perhaps forced explain
a tons from him. But with a sudde
y swift effort like q snakes the Rang: