The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-05-17
hlNC-@Me KfIYBER RIFLES
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81 TALBOT MUNDY
cs,v.rs~r 1915 ,. rnr Bo,,.-N.a..s1 ca


Who'd take all that stun to Europe,
where they make it," he reflected.
And what nd they use camel har-
ness for In France?"
At his leisure--in his own way. that
was devious and like string Of mir
acles-he filtered toward the tele-
graph ONCE. The native who had fol-
lowed him all this time drew closer,
but he did not let himself be troubled
by that.
He whispered proof Of his identity
to the telegraph clerk, who was
Royal Engineer. new to that job that
morning. and q sealed telegram was
handed to him 1t once. The shadow"
came very close indeed, presumably
to try and read over his shoulder from
behind, but he side-stepped into cor
ner and read the telegram with his
back to the wall
It was IN English, no doubt to es-
cape suspicion; and because 1t was
wartime, and the censorship had
closed on India like throttling string
ii was not In code. So the wording,
ell things considered, had to be in
genius. for the Mira Ali, Of the Fort,
Bombay, to whom 1t was addressed.
could scarcely be expected to read
more than between the lines. The
lines had to be there to read between.
Cattle intended for slaughter" 1t
IAN, despatched Bombay on Fourteen
down. Meet train. Will be inspected
en- route, but should be dealt with
carefully on arrival Cattle inclined
to stampede owing to bad scare re-
ceived to North Of Delhi. Take all
precautions to notify Abdul" It was
signed "Suliman"
Good" he chuckled Lets hope
we get Abdul too. wonder who he
list"
still upinterested in the man who
Swallowed him, he walked back to the
ONCE window and wrote two tele-
grams; one to Bombay. ordering the
arrest of Ali Mira of the Fort. with
an urgent admonition to discover who
his man Abdul might be, and to seize
him as soon as found; the other to the
station In the north, insisting on close
confinement for SULLIVAN.
Don't let him out on any terms at
ALL" he wired
That being all the urgent business,
he turned leisurely to face his shadow
and the native met his eyes with the |
engaging frankness Of an old friend, |
coming forward with outstretched |
hand. They did not shake hands. for |
King knew better than to fall into the |
first trap offered him. But the man |
made signal with his fingers that is
known to not more than a dozen men
in all the world, and that changed the |
situation altogether.
Walk with me-" said King, and the !
man fell into stride beside him.
He was a Ranger,-which is to say
Rajput who. or whose ancestors had
turned Mohammadan. Like many
Rajputs he was not big man, but he
looked fit and wiry; his head scarcely
came above the level OF Kings chin,
although his turban distracted atten-
ton from the fact. The turban was of
silk and unusually large.
The whitest of wellkept teeth,
cleaning regularly under little black
waxed mustache betrayed no trace of
betelnut or other nastiness, and Meth:
er his Ane features nor his eyes sug-
gested vice Of the sort that often UNI
dermines the character OF Rajput
youth.
OH bcCOuu LuOuSut, dAu 1t IIIC uCAt |
opportunity to see them, King was not
and he changed his opinion about
their color a dozen times within the
hour Once he would even have
sworn they we're green.
The man was well-to-do. for his
turban was Of costly silk. and he was
clad in expensive Jodpur riding
breeches and spurred black riding
boots, all perfectly immaculate The
baggy above and tight below
suggested the clean lines of cat-like
agility end strength.
The upper part Of his costume was
semi European. He was reular Ran
ger dandy. Of the type that can be
seen playing polo almost any day at
Mount Abu--that gets into mischief
with a grace due to practise and her
edity--but that does not manage its
estates too we'll, as a rule, nor pay its
debts in a hurry.
MY name Is Rewa Gunga," he said
in low voice. looking up sidewise at
King a shade too guilelessly. Be
tween Cape Comorin and the North
ern Ice guile Is normal, and its abb
sence makes the wise suspicious.
81 am Captain King"
II have a message for you"
"From whom?"
Prom her!" said the Hangar. and
without exactly knowing why, or be-
ing pleased with himself. King felt
excited.
They were walking toward the sta
ton exit. King had a trunk check in
his hand, but returned It to his pocket,
not proposing just yet to let the RAN
gar overhear instructions regarding
the trunks destination; he was too