Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-10-12
King frowned.

NOl IdsIulul! mig ldLuIuSu, anu
the general nodded The helmet-strap
mark, printed indelibly on Kings jaw
and cheek by the Indian sun, tight
ened and grew whiter-as the general
noted out of the corner of his eye.
'Know herT'
"Know of her, of course, sir. Every
body does. Never met her to my
knowledge"
'Um-m-ml Whose fault was that7
Somebody ought to have seen to that.
Go to Delhi now and meet her. I'll
send her a wire to say you're coming.
She knows I've chosen you. She tried
to insist on full discretion, but l over
ruled her"
Kings tongue licked his lips, and his
eyes wrinkled. The generals voice be-
came the least shade more authorita-
tive.
when you see her, get pass from
her that'll take you into Khinjan
caves Ask her for it, For the sake
of appearances I'll gazette you Sec
onded to the Khyber rifles. For the
sake Of success, get a pass from her !"
"Very well, SIR"
you've q brother in the Khyber
rifles. haven't you? Was it you or your
brother who visited Khinjan once and
sent in a report?"
'I did. sir"
He spoke without pride. Even the
brigade Of British-Indian cavalry that
went to Khinjan on the Strength of
his report and leveled it's defenses
with the ground, had not been able
to find the famous caves. Yet the
caves themselves are q byword.
There's talk of jihad (holy war).
There's worse than that When you
went to Khinjan, what was your chief
objectT"
ITO find the source Of the everlast-
ing rumors about the so-called Heart
of the Hills SIR"
"Yes, yes. / remember. / read your
report. You didn't find anything, did
you? Well. The story is now that the
Heart of the Hills has come to life.
SO the spies say"
King whistled softly.
There's no guessing what 1t
MEANS" said the general. "Go and
work with Yasmini. The spies keep
bringing in rumors of ten thousand
men in Khinjan caves, and of another
large lashkar not far away from Khin-
jan. There must be no jihad, King
India is all but defenseless! This
story about Heart of the Hills COM
ing to life may presage unity of action
and holy war such as the world has
not seen. Go up there and stop 1t If
you can. At least, let me know the
facts"
King grunted. To stop a holy war
single handed would be rather like
stopping the wind-possibly easy
enough, If one knew the way. Yet he
knew no general would throw away O
man lik1 himself on a useless venture
He began to look happy.
The general clucked to the mare
and one wheel ceased to touch the
gravel as they whiried along a semi.
circular drive. Under the porch of a
pretentiOus residence, sentries salut
|
than sixty seconds King was follow
ing the general through a wide en-
trance into a crowded hall. The In
slant the generals fat figure darkenet
the doorway twenty men of higher
rank than King, native and English
rose from lined-up chairs and pressed
forward.
"Sorry-have to keep you all wait
ing-busy!" BE waved them asid,
with little apologize gesture. "Com
in here, King"
King followed him through a doc
that slammed tight behind him on rub
ber jambs.
"Sit DOWN."
The general unlocked a steel drawe
, and began to rummage among the pa
pers in it. In a minute he produce,
I package, bound in rubber bands
, with q faded photograph face upwar
) on the top.
. "That's the womanl How d'yo
: like the look of herr"
, King took the package and for
3 minute stared hard at the likeness O
woman whose fame has Travelled II
and down India, until her witcher
: has become a proverb. She wa
I dressed as dancing woman, yet yer
: few dancing women could afford to b
e dressed as she was.
a The general watched his face wit
= eyes that missed nothing.
8 "Remember-I said work w. III her
King looked up and nodded.
= 'They say she's three parts Ru
e sian," said the general ITO my know
" edge she speaks Russian like q nativ
n and about twenty other tongues 6
L well, including English. She was II
g girl widow of a rascally hill rajal
It I've heard she loved her rajah. An
II I've heard she didn't There's anoth,
l. story that she poisoned him. 1 kno
she got away with his money-ar
v that's proof enough of brainsI Son
4. say she's a she-devil. / think that
n an exnggeratlon, but bear in mir
e she's dangerous ~
n King grinned. A man who trus
Eastern women over readily does n
n rise far in the secret service.
"If you've got nous enough to Ike,
" on her soft side and use her-not |
h her use you-you can keep the Hiu
70 quiet and the Khyber safel If "
10 can contrive that-nOw-.-ln this pint
h. there's no limit for you! Coz
I mander in chief shall be your job b
fore you're slxtyI"
s. King pocketed the photograph al
es papers. 'Tm well enough confer
e. sir, ps things are" he said quiet
Of The general paced once across t
n room and once back again, with han
behind him. Then he stopped in fro
n of King.
ne mo man in India has sitter ia
e. than you have nOwl A jlhad launch
from Tho lIIIIIrt ,r-n,,Id ,,,nn- nnn.n