New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-01-18

lllll tlllt silould tolit tcu III III IL
Hills and a thousand cartridges would
mean not only a hundred dead English.
men, but ten times that number busily
engaged. Why bargain when there
was no need? A rifle Is what it Is.
The Hills are the Hills ="
TELL me about your lamp oil, them
he said. you burn enough oil IN
Khinjan caves to light Bombay! That
does not come in by submarine. The
sirkar knows how much of everything
goes up the Khyber. l have seen the
printed lists myself-a few hundred
cans of kerosene-a few score gallons
of vegetable oil, and all bound for far
ther north. There isn't enough oil
pressed among the Hills to keep these
caves going for a day. Where does it
all cOme fsOm?"
She laughed, as n mother laughs III
Il child's questions, finding delicious
enjoyment in in%structing him.
"There are three villages, not two
days march from Khabul, where men
have lived for centuries by pressing
oil for Khinjnn caves" she said. "The
Sleeper fetched his oil thence. The
Sleeper left gold in here. Those who
kept the Sleeper's secret paid for the
oil in gold. no Afghan troubled why
oil was needed, so long as gold paid
for it. And l know where the Sleeper
dug his gold!"
They sat in silence for a long while
after that, she looking at the table,
with It's Ink and pens and paper, and
he thinking, with hands clasped round
One knee for 1t is wiser to think than
to talk, even when Il woman Is near
who can read thoughts that are not
guarded.
"Athelstan" she said at last. 1T
sounds like a kings name! What was
the Sleeper's name? Was there such
n name in Rome?"
mo-" he said.
what does 1t mean?" she asked
him.
"SlOw Of resolution! !"
She clapped her hands.
"Another sign! she laughed. "The
gods love me! There always is Il sign
when I need one. Slow of resolution.
nrt thou? will speed thy resolution,
woll-beloved! You were quick to
change from King, of the Khyber Rifle
regiment, to Kurram Khan. Change
now into my warriOr-my dear lord
my King again! !"
She rose, with arms outstretched to
him. All her dancers art, her I'M
tanned poetry, her witcllery, were ex-
pressed in a movement. Her eyes melt
ed as they met his. And since he stood
up. too, for manners sake, they were
eye to eye again-almost lip to lip.
Her sweet breath was in his nOstrils.
In another moment she was In his
arms, clinging to him, kissing him.
And If any man has felt on his lips
the kiss of all the scented glamour of
h East, let him tell what Kings sem
sations were. Let Caesar, who was
kissed by Cleopatra, come to life and
talk of it!
Kings arm is strong, and he did not
stand like an idol. His head might
swim, but she, too, tasted the delirium
of human passion loosed and given for
n mad, swift minute. If his heart
swelled to bursting, so must hers have
done.
II have needed you! she whispered.
II have been all alone! have needed
yOu!"
Then her lips sought his again, and
neither spoke.
Neither knew how long 1t was before
she began to understand that he, not
she, was winning. The human answer
to her appeal was full. He gave her
all she asked Of admiration, kiss for
kiss. And then-her arms did not
cling so tightly, although his strong
right arm was like q stanchion. Be
cause he knew that he, not she, was
winning, he picked her up in his arms
and kissed her as If she were a child.
And then, because he knew he had
won, he set her on her feet on the foot
stool of the throne, and ever pitied
her.
She felt the pity. AS she tossed the
hair back over her shoulder her eyes
glowed with another meanlng-danger-
ous-like a tigers glare.
"You pity me? You think because
l. love you, you can feed my love on
a plate to the Indian government?
You think my love Is q weapon to use
against me? Your love for me may
wait for a better time? You are not
so wise as I thought you, Athelstan !"
But he knew he had won. His heart
was singing down inside him as 1t had
not sung since he left India behind.
But he stood quite humbly before her,
for had he not kissed her? He knew
he had won. Yet If anyone had asked
him how he knew that he had won, he
never could have tod.
"lf you were to go back to India ex-
cept as its c%OnquerOr, they would strip
buttons from your uniform and
tear your medals off and shoot you
in the back against u wall! My sigma.
ture is known in India and l am
known. What write will be believed.
Rewa Gunga shall take a letter. He
take observation-disclosures He
see them on their way and shall
give them the letter when they reach
the khyber and shall send them into
India with it. Have no fear. Bull
shall not intercept them,
as l have intercepted his men. When
Gunga shall return and tell me
he saw my letter on its way down the
.hyber, then we shall talk again
you and I! Come! !"
She took his arm, as If her threats
had been caresses. Triumph shone
from her Y She tossed her hraya