Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-11-23
CHAPTER xI.-continued.

CHAPTER xI.-continued.
"Are there devils In Tophet? Fire
and my veins are onep
The man did not notice the eager
ness beaming out of Kings horn
rimmed spectacles, but Ismail did; 1t
seemed to him time to prove his vir-
tues as assistant.
"This is the famous hakim Kurram
Khan" he boasted. "He can cure any
thing, and for very little feel !"
The man looked incredulous, but
King drew the covering from his row
OF instruments and bottles.
"Take chance r. he advised. None
but the brave wins anything"
Ismail and Darya Khan were new to
the business and enthusiastic. They
had the man down, held tight on the
floor to the huge amusement of the
rest, before he could even protest; and
his howls Of rage did him no good, for
Ismail drove the hilt of a knife be-
tween his open jaws to keep them open.
A very large proportion Of Kings
stores consisted of morphia and CO.
calne. He injected enough cocaine to
deaden the mans nerves, and allowed
It time to work. Then he drew out
three back teeth in quick succession,
to make sure he had the right one.
Ismail let the v.Stim up, and Darya
Khan gave him water in a brass cup.
Utterly without pain for the first time
for days, the man was as grateful as
a wolf freed from a trap.
"Are there any others In pain In
Khinjan3" King asked him.
Listen to hint What is Khinjan7
Is there one man without n wound or
a sore or a scar or a sickness|
''Then, tell them," said King.
The man laughed.
"When I show my jaw, there will be
a fight to be first Make ready, hakim !
gor
King sat down to eat. but he had not
finished his meal-he had made the
last little heap Of rice into ball with
his fingers, native style, and was mop
ping up the last of the curried gravy
with it-when the advance guard Of
the lame and the halt and the sick
made its appearance. The caves en-
trance became jammed with them, and
no riot ever made more noise.
"Hakiml Ho, haldml Where is the
hakim who draws teeth2 Where is the
man who knows yunani7"
Ten men burst down the passage all
together. all clamoring, and one man
wasted no time at all but began to tear
away bloody bandages to show his
wound. King rolled up his sleeves and
began, so that eagerness gave place to
wonder. The desperate need of winning
his first trick, made him horror-proof I;
aud nobody waiting for the next turn
was troubled because the man under
the knife screamed a little or bled
more than usual.
! When they died-and more than one
did die-men carried them out and
flung them over the precipice into the
waterfall below.
Ismall and Darya Khan became
choosers Of the victims. They seized a
man, laid him on the bed. tore off his
disgusting bandages and held their
breath until the awful resulting stencil
had more or less dispersed. Then
King would probe or lance or bandage
ms he saw it, using anesthetics when
he must, but managing mostly without
them.
They almost flung money at him. He
tossed money and clothes and every
other thing they gave him into a corner
at the back Of the cave, and nobody
tried to steal them back, although {
man suspected of honesty in tha
company would have been tortured t
death as an hereto and would hav,
had no sympathy.
For hour after gruesome hour h.
tolled over wounds and sores such a
only battles and evil living can pro
duce, until men began to come at las
with fresh wounds, all caused by bul
let's, wrapped in bandages on whic
the blood had caked but had not grow
foul.
"There has been fighting in the Khy
ber," somebody informed him, and h
stopped with lancet in midair to lister
scanning a hundred faces swiftly |
the smoky lamplight. There were te
men who held lamps for him, one
them a newcomer, and 1t was he wh
spoke.
Fighting in the Khyber! Ayel "
were a little lashkar, but we droN
them back into their fort! Ayel "
slew manyl"
mot a jlhad yet?" King asked, as
the world might be coming to an en-
The words were startled out of hir
Under other circumstances he won
never have asked that question so
rectly; but he had lost reckoning
everything but these poor devils dren
ful need Of doctoring, and he was III
man reused out Of dream. II
holy war had been proclaimed alread
hen he was engaged on fOrlorn hor
BIZ. the man laughed at him.
"Nay, not yet. Bull-with-a-bea
holds back yet. This was little fgl
The jihad shall come laterr
"And who is Bull-wlth-a-beard'
King wondered; but he did not a
that question because his wits we
awake again. II pays not to be in I
much of hurry to know things in {
"Hllls."
AS II happened. he asked no me
questions, for there came a shout
The cave entrance whose purport
dld not catch, and within FIVE minu
nfter that. without n word Of explal
tion. the cave was left empty Of all
cept his own FIVE men. They carr
away the men too sick to walk q
vnnlshrd. snatchlng the last man av
t..... ..,~, XtuOto AnOarS hod