Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1918-02-28

| grv>pa N>vr~ tN nrty staggering rut
| tiau~ armed To- tn, teeth
| Every nan OF the thousands there
| had Knife In evidence, but the arena
| guards had magazine rifles IA we'll n
| khyher tulwurs Nobody else wor,
| firearms openly. Some Of the Arena
| guards bore huge round shields of pre-
| historic pattern uf a size and sort he
| had n'vcr seen before, even IN mu
| seumS. But there was very little that
| he was seeing that night OF Il kind tina,
he had seen before anywhere!
| The guards lolled insolently, co..
| ...,, o. HiutC syrengtR ana eperl,u
| iHNur. When any man trespnsscd with
| 50 much as Il toe beyond the ring OF
| lamps. II guard would slap his ritlc-hutt
until the swivel ratified, and the Of
fender would scurry into bounds amid
| the ieerS of any who had seen.
Showing, kicking and elbowing with
set purpose. Ismail forced way
| through the already seated crowd and
| drew King down into the cramped
| space beside him, close enough to the
arena to be able to catch the guards
low laughter. But he was restless. He
wished to get nearer yet, only there
seemed no room anywhere in front.
Then a guard threw his shield down
with a clang and deliberately fired his
rifle at the roof. The ricOchetting bull
let brought down shower of splint-
cred stone and stalactite, and he
grinned as he watched the crowd dodge
to avoid it.
Instantly hundred men rose from
different directions and raced for the
arena. each with curved sword in
either hand. The yelling changed back
into the chant, only louder than before,
| and by that much more terrible. Gym
balls crashed. The music box resumed
Its measured grinding Of the "Marseil-
Iaise." And the hundred began an
Afridi sword dance, than which there
Is nothing wilder in all the world. It's
like can only be seen under the shadow
of the "Hills."
Ismail seemed obsessed by the spirit
Of hades let loose-drawn by it, as by
magnet, although subsequent events
proved him not to have been altogether
without plan. He got up, with his
| eyes fixed on the dance, and thrust
himself and King next to some Orak-
zai Pathans, elbowing savagely to right
and left to make room. And patience
proved scarce. The nearest man
reached for the ever-ready Pathan
knife, but paused in the instant that
his knife licked clear. From a swift
side glance at Kings face he changed
to full stare, his scowl slowly Civ
ing place to grin as he recognized
him.
"Allahw He drove the long blade
back again.
"Well met, hakim! See-the wound
heals finely"
Barring his shoulder under the smelly
sheepskin coat, he lifted bandage
gingerly to show the clean opening out
| day before. 1t locked wholesome and
ready to heal.
"Name thy reward, hakim! We
Orakzai Pathans forget no favOrs!"
| (NOw that boast was true One.)
King nodded more to himself than to
the other man. He needed, for in
| stance. very much to know who was
planning a jihad, and who "Bull-with-
aboard" might be; but it was not safe
to contde just yet in chance-made &C.
quaintance. A very fair acquaintance
with some phases of the East had
taught him that names such as Bull.
with-a-beard are often almost photo
graphically descriptive. He rose to his
feet to look. A'blind man can talk, but
ii takes trained eyes to gather informa-
| ton.
The din had increased, and it was
| safe to stand up and stare. because all
eyes We're on the MADNESS in the mid
| die. There We're plenty besides him.
self who stood to get better view,
and he had to dodge from side to side
| to see between them.
'Tm not to doctor his men. There
fore It's fair guess that he and l are
to be kept apart. Therefore he'll be as
far away from me now as possible,
supposing he's here"
heaStIlHS along tllat line, ne tTleu
to see the faces on the far side, but the
| problem was to see over the dancers
heads. He succeeded presently, for
the Orakzai Pathan saw what he want
ed. and in his anxiety to be agreeable,
reached forward to pull back box
| from between the ranks in front. Its
owners offered instant fight. but made
| no further objection when they saw
who wanted 1t and why. King Won
! dered ut their sudden change of mind.
He found man soon who was not
interested in the dancing. but who had
/ eyes and ears apparently for every.
thing and everybody else. He watched
him for ten minutes. until at last their
eyes met. Then he sat down and
kicked the box back to its owners. He
touched the Pathan'S broad shoulder
The man smiled and bent his turbaned
head To listen.
opposite" said King, "nearly ex.
0ctly oppoSite-three rows from tho