Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-09


| If must lie. who love the truth,
(And honor bids me lie),
I'll tell a lordly lie forsooth
To be remembered by.
II / must cheat, whose fame Is fair,
And fret my fame away.
I'll do worse than the devil dare
That men may rue the day!
Beyond question Yasmini is a
craftsman of amazing skill, ana
her genius as does all true gen
ius-extends to the almost infinite
consideration of small details. The
medium in which she works-hu-
man weakness-affords her unlim-
tied opportunity; and she owns the
trick, that most great artists win,
of not letting her general plan be
known before the climax. Neither
friend nor enemy is ever quite sure
which is which until she solves the
problem to the enemy's confusion.
But Yasmini could have failed in
this case through overmuch finesse.
She was not used to Germans, and
could not realize until too late that
her compliance with this mans
him more preemptory and more
one-sided in his point of view.
From a mere agent, offering the al
most unimaginable in return for
mere promises, he had grown al
ready into dictator, demanding
action as a prelude to reward. de
had even threatened TO cause her,
Yasmini, to be reported to the po-
lice unless she served his purpose
better,
II she had obeyed the general and
had picked a trooper for the bust
ness in hand, it is likely that Vas
mini would have had to write fall
ure to her account. She had come
periously near to obedience on thfsI
occasion, and it had ben nothing
less than luck that put RanJoor
Singh into her hands, luck being
the pet name of India's kindest
god. Ranjoor Singh was needed in
the instant when he came to bring
the German back to earth and a
due sense of proportion.
The Sikh had a rage in his heart
that the German mistook for zeal
and native ferocity; his manners
became so brusk under the stress
of ii that they might almost have
been Prussian, and, with its own
reflection, that kind of insolence
grows limp.
Having agreed to lie, Ranjoor
Singh lied with such audacity and
so much skill that it would have
needed Yasmini to dare disbelieve
him.
The German sat in state near Vas
minis great window and received,
one after another, liars by the doz-
en- from the hills where lies are
current coin. Some of them had
listened to his lectures, and some
had learned of them at second
hand; every man of them had re-
ceived his cue from Yasmini. There
was too much unanimity among
them; they wanted too little and
agreed too readily to what the Ger
man had to say; he was growing al
most suspicious toward half-past
ten when Ranjoor Singh came in.
There was no trooper behind him
this time, for the man had been sent
to watch for the regiments depart
ure, and to pounce then on Bagh,
the charger, and take him away to
safety. After the charger had been
groomed and fed and hidden, the
trooper was to do what might be
done toward securing the risaldar-
majors kit; but under no condi-
ton was the kit to have precedence.
Groom him until he shines!
Guard him until 1 call for him!
Keep him exercised" was the
order that sang through
the troopers head and overcame
establishment in the hurry to obey. !
Now it was the Germans turn to
be astonished. Ranjoor Singh |
strobe in, dressed as a Sigh farm |
err and drowned down Yasminfs in !
slant desire to poke fun at him. |
The German rose to salute him, and |
the Sikh acknowledged the salute |
with a nod such as royalty might |
sparef for a mental.
Gomez" he said CURLY, and the |
German followed him out through |
he door to the stair-head where so
many mirrors were. There Ran
oor Singh made quite a little play /
If making sure they were not over
heard. while the German studied |
lis own Mohammedan disguise |
rom 20 different angles.
TOO much finery!" growled Ran
DOR Singh. 81 will attend to that.
First, listenl Other than your
ak, l havehad no proof at all of
you! You are spy!"
81 am a"
You are a spy, All the spies I
ever met were liars from the
ground up! / am a patriot l am