Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1918-03-14

, ktsss.s ase.,.s sss.-ea s.o sa sar
+ ssysf sgevgs gas&~a s. s.aat z"
+ %salya Tea h.x EavuF aui tas"# a"g
( pil.d u vita feals s,u14a.
~1hr haEiut speaks ths uU1h sh'
/ laughed
( kEug turned about tu>'aa'l, "a Fn"f
/ her. hut be snlaaused :" low thMl "t'
| could uot have s,,an his expression ha'
! she tried.
| If y. wish IL. viii order HIN
| TOSSED into Eurth's Drink after those
| other three"
| Muhummnd Amin rose, Stroking h's
| beard and rocking where he stood.
| at Is thu law he growled, ana
| King shuddercd.
ut Is the law" Iasmini answered In
| Il voice that rang with prtd" anu IN
| science, that none interrupt me Will.
/ speak, For such illmannCed ones
| Earths Drink hungers! VIII you test
my authority. Muhammad Amin? Think
We, II that head had only fallen into
| Muhnmmad Anim's Jap, the mullnh
| might have smuggled in another man
| with it,"
A roar of laughter greeted that
| thrust. Many men who had not laughed
at the mullah's first discontinue
| Joined in now Muhammad Amin sat
| and fidgeted, meeting nobody's eye and
answering nothing.
$50 it seems to me good" Yasmini
| said. in voice that did not echo any
more hut rang very clear and true (she
| seemed to know the trick of the roof
| and to use the echo or not as she
chose), "to let this hakim live! He
shall mediate in his cave a while. and
perhaps he shall he beaten. lest he
dare offend again. He can no more es-
cape from Khinian caves than the
women who are prisoners here. He
may therefore live"'
There was utter silence. Men looked
| at one another and at her, and her
| blazing eyes searched the crowd swift.
| ly. 1t was plain enough that there
| were at least two parties there, and
| that none dared oppose Yasmini's will
| for fear Of the others.
"TO thy seat. kurram Khan!" sh :
| ordered. when she had waited a full
| minute and no man spoke.
He wasted no time. He hurried out
| Of the arena as fast as he could walk,
with Ismail and Darya Khan close at
his heels. Ismail overlook him. seized
him by the shoulders. Rugged him. and
dragged him to the empty seat next to
the Orakzai Pathan. There he Rugged
him until his ribs cracked.
"Ready o. wit :" he crowed. "Ready
O. tongue! Light O life! Man after
mine own heart Hey. I love thee
Readily would be thy man, but for be-
ing hers! Turned the joke on Muham.
mad Amin! Turned it against her
enemy and raised a laugh against him
from his own men! Ready O. wit
Shameless one! Lucky one! Allah
was surely good to thee"
"Have they taken Ali Masjid fort?'
King whispered.
"Nay, how should know? Ask her
She knows more than any man knows!
| King turned to ask the same ques
ton of his friend the OrakZai Pathan
but the Pathan would have none of his
questions, he was busy listening fO1
whispers from the crowd. watching
with both eyes, and he showed King
aside.
The crowd was very far from being
satisfied. An angry murmur had be
gun to fill the cavern as hive is filled
with the song Of bees at swarmine
time. But even so. surmise what one
might, it was not easy to persuade the
eye that Yasmini's careless smile an(
easy poise We're assumed. If she rec
ogniZed Indignation and feared it. she
disguised her fear amazingly. Leisure
ly. languidly, she raised both arms un
flight. The little jewels stitched to he
gauzy dress twinkled like fireflies a!
she moved The crowd gasped sharp
ly. She had it by the heart-strings.
She called. and four guards got un
der one shield. bowling their heads ant
resting the great rim on their shoul
ders. They carried it beneath her ant
stood stilA With low delicious laugh
sweet and true. she sprang on it, ant
the shield scarcely trembled; sh
seemed lighter than the silk her dres
was woven from!
They carried her so. and In the mids
Of the arena before they had cease'
moving she began to sing, with he
head thrown back and bosom swelling
like a birds.
The East would ever rather draw Ii
own conclusions from hint let fal
than he puzzled by what the West be
lieves are facts. And parallels are no
good evidence in courts of law. whic
is always consideration. So her son
took the form Of parable.
And to say that she took hold o
them and played rhapsodies Of he
own making on their heartstrings woul
be to undervalue what she did. The
were dumb while she sang, but the
rose at her. Not force In the worl
could have kept them down. for sh
was deftly touching cords that stirre
other forces-Suhtle. mysterious. me:
merle. which the old East understand