New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-01-11

the lamp to Kings face.
"kuch dar nahin hal :" he answered.
There is no such thing as fear"
suddenly the Afridi blew the lamp
out, and then the darkness became
solid. Thought itself left off less than
II yard away.
"Ismail :" he whispered. But Ismail
did not answer him.
II" faced about, leaning against the
rock, with the fiat of both hands
pressed tight against it for the sake
of its company and almost ut once he
saw IA little bright red light glowing
in the distance. 1t might have been
below him it was perfectly impossible
to judge, for the darkness was not
measurable.
"Flowcrs turn to the light" droned
lsmail's voice above sententiously, and
turning, he thought he could see red
eyes pecring over the rock. He jumped,
and made n grab for the flowing beard
that surely must be below them, but
he missed.
Little fish swim to the light J"
hl'l'u lNIlull. MotuS ny " tH'
light. Who is n man that he should
know less than they?'
He turned again and stared ut the
light. Dlmly, very vaguely he could
make out that Il causeWay led down
ward from almost where he stood. He
was convinced that should he try too
climb back Ismail would merely reach
out n hand and shove him down again,
and there was no sense in being put
to that indignity. He decided to go
forward, for there was even less sense
in standing still. SO he stopped to
feel the floor with his hand before
deciding to 90 forward. There was
no installing the finish given by the
tread Of countless feet. He was on a
highway, and there are nOt often pit
falls where so many feet have been.
For all that he went forward as n
certain Agag once did, n 1t was
many minutes before he could see n
certain glowing blood-red in the light
behind two lamps, at the top of a flight
of ten stone steps. When he went
quite close he saw carpet down the
middle of the steps, so ancient that
the stone showed through in places;
all the pattern, suppOsing it ever had
any, a worn OF faded away. Carpet
and steps glowed red too. His own
face. and the hands he held in front
of him were red-hOt-poker color. Yet
outside the little ellipse of light the
t1p rLnn InnlnJ lil-a a thipU tn liam
against, and the silence was so intense
that he could hear the arteries sing,
ing by his ears.
He saw the curtains move slightly,
apparently in Il little pun of wind that
made the lamps Then he walked
up the steps and at the top he stopped
10 examine the lamps.
They were bronze, cast, polished and
graved. All round the circumference
of each bowl were figures in half
relief, representing II woman dancing.
She was the III Of the knife-hilt,
and of the lamps in the arena! But no
two figures of the dance were alike.
1t was the same woman dancing, but
the artist had chosen twenty differ
rnt poses with which to immOrtalize
his skill, and hers. Both lamps burned
oil with n wick, and each had
IA chimney of horn, not at all unlike
II modern lamp chimney. The horn
was stained red.
As he set the second lamp down he
became aware of II subtle, interesting
smell. and memory took him back Mt
once to Yasmini's room in the Chandni
Chowk in Delhi where he had smelled
it first. 1t vas the peculiar scent he
had been told was Yasmini's own-a
blend of scents. like II chord of music,
in which musk did not predominant.
He took three strides and touched
the curtains, discovering now for the
divided down the middle. They were
of leather, and though they looked old
as the Hills" themselves, the leather
was supple as good cloth.
"Kurram Khan hal 7" he announced.
But the echo was the only answer.
There was no sound beyond the cur
tains. With his heart in his mouth he
parted them with both hands, startled
by the sharp jangle of metal rings on
a rod.
So he stood, with arms Outstretched,
ring-staring-staring-with eyes
skilled swiftly to take In details, but
with II brain that tried to explain
n hundred wild suggestions
md then recled. He was face to face
the unexplainable-the riddle of
khinjan caves.
The leather curtains slipped through
MS fingers and closed behind him with
he clash Of rings on a rod. But he ,
vas beyond being startled. He was :
lot really sure he was In the world. I
He was not certain whether II was the
century, or 55 b. c., or ear ]
Ter yet; or whether time had ceased. s
The place where he was did not
ook like a cave, but a palace chamber, 9
or the rock walls had been trimmed |
quare and polished smooth; then they q
lad been painted pure white, except Q
or a wide blue frieze, with a line Of I
old leaf drawn underneath it. And {
n the frieze, done in gold-leaf too, !
vas the Grecian lady Of the lamps. |
lways dancing. There were fifty or |
ixty figures Of her, no two alike. !
A dozen lamps were burning, set In v
iches cut In the walls at measured
~1tervals. They were exactly like the s
wo outside, except that their horn b
himneys were stained yellow instead s
red. ~suffusing everything In q golden k
low. v