Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-01
CHAPTER X.

| THAT En- a.
eNow a trip" said the tiger, lis
easy to spot,
(Oh, jungli, be seated and 4lst-
enD
Some tempt you with live bait, ana
others do not;
! tOh. iungli, be leery and Hsten!)
The easiest sort to detect nave
door
A box with three walls and ROOF
and a floor
That the veriest, hungriest CUP
should ignore.
(Oh, jungli stop laughing ana
listenD
This isn't trap, as I'll show you,
my friend
| But the tiger fell into II. mat Is
the end.
(Oh, jungli, be loving and listenD
-Yasmini's Song.
Ranjoor Singh, on the tran OF a
murderer, showed with his whole
strength against a little door OF
the observation-disclosures
1t Welded suddenly. He shot IN
beadIong. and the door slammed be-
hind him. AS he fell forward into
mitch darkness he was conscious OF
shooting bolts behind and OF the
squeaking. of a beam swung lnSe
place.
But, having served the Raj Tor
more years than he wanted 10 re
member, through three campaigns
in the Himalayas, once against the
Masudis, and once in China, be was
in full possession of trained soldler
senses. Darkness, he calculated IN
stantly, was a shield TO him VINO
can use it, and a danger only to
the unwary; and there are grades
of wariness, just as there are
grades of sloth.
Two men who thought themselves
so wide awake as to be beyond the
reach of government, each threw a
noosed rope, and caught each 9TH
err, Ranjoor Singh could not see
the ropes. but he could hear the
stif1ed swearing and the ensuing
struggle; and an ear is as good as
an eye in the dark.
Something-he never knew what
warned him to duck and step for
ward. He felt the whistle OF a CLUB
that missed him by so little as 10
make the skin twitch on the back
OF his neck.
His right leg shot sidewise, and
he tripped a man. In another sec
ond he had the club, and there was
no measurable interval of time then
before the darkness was a living
miracle of blows that came from
everywhere and missed nothing.
Three men went down, and Ran
1oor Singh was in command OF a
situation whose wherefore and pos
sibilities he could not guess until
an electric torch declared itself
some twenty feet away, at more
than twice his height, and he stood
vignetted in a circle of white light.
THE sahib proves gentle
guest" purred voice he thought
he recognized. 1t was woman's.
Has the sahib a pistol with him"
Ranjoor Singh, cursing his own
neglect of soldierly precaution,
saw fit not TO answer. A human
arm reached like snake into the
ring of light. He struck at it with
the club. and a groan announced
that he had struck hard enough.
Does the sahib think that the
noise of a pistol would cause his
friends TO come? Is Ranjoor Singh
ashamed? Speak sahib. Is it well
TO break into a house and be surly
with the hostess?'
Ranjoor Singh stepped backward,
and the ring of light followed him.
until he stood pressed against the
teak door and could feel the heavy
beam that ran up and down ii,
locked firmly above and below. He
prodded over ,h!s head behind him
with the club, trying to find what
held the beam, then five feet, until
its center was on the center OF the
clubs handle.
A pistol cracked and flashed then.
from behind the light. and Tie cht