The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1918-06-06

caught Its breath all together. The
mullah In the middle froze into i'm
mobility. Bull-with-a-beard stood
mumbling, swaying his great head from
side to side, no longer suggestive Of a
bear about to charge. but Of one who
hesitates.
The crowd vas staring ut the end Of
the bridge. King stared. too. and
caught his W breath. For Yasmini
stood there. smiling on them all as the
new moon smiles down on the Khyber !
She had come among them like q spirit,
all unheralded.
So much more beautiful than the one
likeness King had seer Of her that for
a second he doubted who she was, she
stood there, human and warm and real.
who had begun to seem a myth. clad
in gauzy silk transparent stun that
made no secret Of sylphlike shapeli-
ness and looking nearly light enough to
blow away. Her feet-and they were
the most marvelously nodded things
he had eve seen-were naked and
played r~estlessly On the naked stone.
Not n part Of her was still for a
fraction of n second yet the whole eff.
feet was Of insolently lazy ease.
Her eyes blazed brighter than the lit.
tie jewels stitched to her gossame.
dress, and when a nan once looked at
them he did not find It easy p look
Amin seemed transfixed, like a great
foolish animal.
But King was staring very hard In
deed at something else-mentally
cursing the plain glass spectacles he
wore, that had begun TO flm ove and
dim his vision. There were two brace
let's on her arm, both barbaric things
OF solid gold. The smaller Of the two
was on her wrist and the larger on her
upper arm. but they were so alike, CT.
cept for size, and 30 exactly like the
n Rewa Gunga had given him In her
name and that had been stolen from
him in the night, that he ran the risk
OF removing the glasses a moment TO
stare with unimpeded eyes. Even then
the distance was too great. He could
not quite see.
But her eyes began to search the
crowd In his direction. and then he
knew two things absolutely. He was
sitting where she had ordered Ismaii
to place him; for she picked him out
almost instantly. and laughed as II
somebody had struck a silver bell. And
one Of those bracelets was the one that
he had worn: for she Haunted Il at
him, moving her arm so that the light
should make the gold glitter.
Then, perhaps because the crowd
had begun to whisper, and she wanted
all attention, she raised both arms TO
toss back the golden hair that came
~cascading nearly to her knees. And as
II the crowd knew that symptom well,
1t drew lts breath In sharply and grew
very still.
"Muhnmmad Amin !" she said. and
che might have been woolng him.
THAT was a devils trick !"
II was rather an astounding state
ment, coming from lovely lips In such
n setting. II was rather suggestive Of
n drivers whlplash, flcked through the
air for a beginning. Muhnmmad Amin
continued glaring and did not answer
her, so In her own good time, when she
had tossed her golden hair back once
or twice again. she developed her
meaning.
"we who are free Of Khinjan caves
do not send men out to bring recruits.
We know better than to bid our men
tell lies for others ut the gate. Nor,
seeking proof for u new recruit, do
we send men to hunt a head for him
not even those OF us who have n lash
kar that we call our own. mullah Mu.
hammad Amin! Each Of us earns his
W way In !"
The mullah Muhammad Amin began
10 stroke his beard, but he made no nm.
wer.
"And-mullah Muhammad Amin,
thou wandering man Of God-when
that lashkar has fooiishly been sent
and has failed. Is II written In the Kala-
mullah saying We should pretend there
was n head, and that the head was
stolen? A lie Is n lie, Muhammad
Amin! Wandering perhaps Is good. II
In search of the way. Is II good to
lose the way, and to lie, thou true fol-
lower OF the Prophet?"
She smiled, tossing her hair back.
Her eyes challenged. her lips Knocked
him and her chin scorned. The crowd
breathed hard and watched. The mul.
lah muttered something In his beard,
and sat down, and the crowd began 10
roar applause at her. But she checked
It with a regal gesture. and a glance
OF contempt at the mullah that was
alone worth a journey across the
Hills" to see.
"Guardsw she said quietly. And
the crowds sigh then was like the night
~.rd In q forest.
"Away with those three Of Muham.
mad Anim's men |"
Twelve Of the arena guards threw
down their shields with a sudden clat.
ter and seized the prisoners, four to
each. The crowd shivered with de-
licious anticipation. The doomed men
neither struggled nor cried. for fatal
ism Ia an anodyne al well as an eIplo-
sive. King set his teeth. Yasmini. with
both hands behind her lead. continued
to smile down on them all as sweetly