Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1918-05-02

woman lay Hano N 7ano.
Richly embroidered, not very ancient
Indian draperies hung down from 1t
to the floor on either side. On It,
above the linen, a man and woman
lay hand in hand and the woman was
so exactly like Yasmini, even to her
clothing and her naked feet. that 1t
was. not possible for man to be self.
possessed.
They both seemed asleep. It was
minutes before he satisfied himself
that the mans breast did not rise and
fall under the bronze Roman armOr
and that the woman's jeweled gauzy
stuff was still. Imagination played
such tricks with him that In the still.
ness he imagined he heard breathing
After he was sure they were both
dead, he went nearer. but 1t was q
minute yet before he knew the woman
was not she. At first wild thought
possessed him that she had killed her
self.
The only thing to show who he had
been were the letters s. p. Q. II. on
great plumed helmet, on little table
by the bed. But she was the woman
Of the lamp-bowls and the frieze. a
SO like her. and like Yasmini too, that
II was difficult to decide which Of the
two 1t represented.
She had lived when he did, for hei
fingers were locked In his. And HI
had lived two thousand years ago, be
cause his armor was about as old rs
that, and for proof that he had dice
In II part of his breast had turned t
powder inside the breastplate. The
rest Of his body was whole end per
fectlY preserved.
Stern. handsome In a high-beaket
Roman way, gray on the temples, firm
Tipped, he lay like TN emperor In har
ness. But the pride and resolution or
his face were outdone by the serenity
Of hers. Very surely those two hat
been lovers.
Both Of them looked young ant
healthy--the woman younger thar
thirty--twenty-five at a guess-and
the man perhaps forty. perhaps forty
Ave. Every stitch Of the mans. cloth
Ing had decayed. so that his armol
rested on the naked skin, except for a
dressed leather kilt about his middle,
The leather was as old as the curtains
Mt the entrance. and as well preserved.
But the woman's silked clothing was
as new rs the bedding. Yet. they both
died about the same time. or how could
their fingers have been interlacedi
And some Of the jewelry on the WON,
ans clothes was very ancient as well
az priceless.
He looked closer at the fingers for
signs Of force and, suddenly caught his
breath. Under the woMan's himsy
sleeve was a wrought gold bracelet,
smaller than that one he himself had
worn In Delhi and up the Khyber. He
raised the loose sleeve to look more
closely Mt 1t. and the movement laid
bare another bracelet. on the mans
right wrist. Size for size, this was the
same as the one that had been stolen
from himself.
Memory prompted him. He felt its
outer edge with finger nail. There
was the little nick that he had made
In the soft gold when he struck II
against the cell bars In the Jail at the
Mir Khan palace! He touched the
gold. 1t was warm. He repeated the
test on the woman's wrists. Hers was
warm. too. Both bracelets had been
worn by = living being within an
hour
He muttered and frowned In thought
and then suddenly jumped backward
The leather curtain near the bed had
moved on It's bron1e rod.
sAren't they deAEsr" . voice salo q