Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1918-02-23

on the right of his neck not very far
from the jugufar.
"Hah p said King. "Was that wound
got in the Khyber the other day."
NAY. Here in Khinian."
"A man told me last night" said
King, drawing on Imagination without
any conjunction at all, that the fight
in the Khyber was because iihad Is
launched already"
THAT man lied" said the guard
shifting position uneasily, as If afraid
to talk too much.
$50 told him!' answered King. 81
told him there never will be another
jihad."
"Then thou art a greater liar than
he!" the guard answered holly "There
will be a jihad when she is ready, such
an one as never yet vast India shall
bleed for all the fat years she has lain
unplundered Not throat of an I'M
believer in the world shall be left UNI
slit No jihad? Thou liar! Get in
out of my sight"
SO King retired into the cave, with
something new to think about. Was
she planning the jihad Or pretending
to plan one2 Every once in while
the guard leaned far into the cave
mouth and hurled adjectives at him,
the mildest of which was well of in
formation. If his temper was the tenn
per of the "Hills," it was easy to read
disappointment for jihad that should
have been already but had been post
poned. King let him alone and paced
the cave for hours.
He was squatting on his bed-end
in the dark, like a specialized image of
Buddha, when the first of the three
men came on guard again and at last
ISmail came for him holding a pitchy
torch that filled the dim passage full
of acrid smoke and made both of them
cough. Ismail was red-eyed with it,
Gomez he grcwled. "Come, little
hakimm Then he turned on his heel
at once, as If afraid of being twitted
with desertion. He seemed to want to
get outside, where he could keep out of
range of words, yet not to wish to
seem unfriendly.
But King made no effort to speak to
him, following in silence out on to the
dark ledge above the waterfall and no.
ticing that the guard with the boils
was back again on duty. He grinned
evilly out of shadow as King passed.
Make an end !" he advised. Jump,
hakim, before worse thing happens !"
To illustrate the suggestion he
kicked loose stone over the cliff, and
the movement caused him to bend his
neck and so inadvertently to hurt his
boils. He cursed, and there was pity
in Kings voice when he spoke next.
do they hurt thee?"
aye, like the devill Khinjan is
place of plaguesw
Il could heal Them" King said, pass
ing on, and the man stared hard.
Come ~ doomed Ismail through the
darkness, shaking the torch to make
1t burn better and reckoning inpatient
ly, and King hurried after him, leaving
behind a savage at the cave mouth who
fingered his sores and wondered, NUT
tering, leaning on a rifle, muttering
and mutterng again as IL he had seen
a new light.
Instead Of waiting for King to catch
up, Ismail began to lead the way at
great speed along a path that descend
ed gradually until it curved round the
end of the chasm and plunged into a
tunnel where the darkness grew
Opaque. For thirty minutes he led
swiftly down a crazy devils stairway
of uneven powders, stopping to lend
a hand at the worst places, but ever
lastingly urging him to hurry
Then the hell-mouth gloom began to
grow family luminous, and the water
falls thunder burst on their ears from
close at hand. They emerged into
fresh wet air and sea of sound on a
rock ledge like the one above. Ismail
raised the torch and waved it. The
fire and smoke wandered up, until they
tattened on Il moving opal dome, that
prisoned all the noises in the world
"Earth's Drink y he announced, wav-
ing the torch and then shutting his
mouth tight, as if afraid to voice sacri-
lege.
1t was the river, milllon-colored in
the torchllght, pouring from q half
slash in the cliff above them
and plunging past them through the |
gloom toward the very middle Of the
world. Somewhere 1t met rock bottom |
and boiled there, for a roar like the |
seas came up from deeps unimagln-
able.
He watched the overturning dome
until his senses reeled Then he
on hands and knees to the
lodges brink and tried tn peer over.
But Ismail dragged him back,
"Come !" he hGwled; bht in all that
din his shout was liks q whisper
How deep is it?' King beloved
back.
Allah AsF him who made it!'
The fear OF the falls was on the
Afridi, and he vugged at Kings arm in
4 frenzy Of impotence. Suddenly he
ct go and broke into 4 run. King
.rotted after him. After ten minutes
lurrying uphill he guessed they must
le level with the river, In q tunnel rum
hing nearly parallel. Ismail kept look
ng back to bid King hurry and never
paused once to rest.