Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-28
Riddle of the Sacred Son

supposed to avert-thAt Is to say, dur
most i ssored Of al rs Ii l holy tooth
Of acknowledgements mysteriously
from the temple Of Dambool. and In
spite OF the fact that many laos OF ru-
PEGS were offered for its recovery. It
traced. although . huge fortune awaits
the restorer. and, with Il, empowering
honors from the native princes. Those
must have been trying times, Lady
Chepstow. for the commandanes wife,
the mother of the commandments only
child?'
"Horrible! horribler' she answered.
with q shudder. forgetting for an in
the recollection Of the trasioai past.
For a period our lives were not safe;
murder hid behind every bush. skulked
In the shadow Of every rock and tree.
little sarrison might BE- rushed under
cover Of the darkness and every soul
Slaughtered before the relief force
ccIld come to our assistance;
anxiety for husband and child. And
once the very Healousness Of our COM
I feared. -oh"-with shudder Of
eyes. as i to shut out the memory
Of it-''Ohl that nisht-that horrible
might! Unknown to any Of US, my
baby. rising from the bed whore had
to stand By Iofd cnspstow wsn W. 9Sea
beyond the line Of defense. and, before
anybody realised 1t. was out in the
open. alone and unprotected.
"Ferralt. the cook: saw him first:
native. armed with q gun. in the
shadow of the underground. without
hesitation the brave fellow rushed out.
fell upon the native before he could
dart away. wrenched the gun from him.
and Drained him with the butt. A cry
Of the utmost horror rang out upon the
air, and. uttering It.. another native
bounded out from q hiding place close
to where the first had been killed.
where Cedric was. Evidently he had
no intention Of molesting the little
fellow. for he fed straight on past him.
stu shriekins after the incident oc-
his intention were to murder the boy,
and. clapping the gun to his shoulder.
IN panic Of excitement. he fired. If
1t had been one Of the soldiers. who
likely to be in q nervous quake over
the circumstances. the thing could not
have happened. although the fugitive
was careering along. IN 4 direct line
Ferralt- Oh. Mr.. clesk. can You
imagine my horror when saw the
flash Of that shot. heard n shrill cry
IL. p s1osna a2 p saw my child drop to
Good heavenr' exclaimed Cleek, asi-
tated in spite OF himself. "Then the
native~'
Yes; and was so horrifed by the mis-
result. he rushed blindly to the brink
OF deep ravine and threw himself
headione to death. But the injury to
Cedric was only . trining one, after
all. The bullet seemed merely to have
erased him in passing. and beyond
ragyed cash in the heshy part Of the
thigh he was not harmed at all. This 1
myself dressed and bandaged. and in
But It taught me a lesson. that night
OF horror. and I never let my baby
out Of my sight for one instant from
that time until the rising was entirely
Quelled.
"As suddenly A. ii had started the
trouble subsidized. Native priests came
under q nag OF truce to Lord Chepotow
and confessed their error, acknowl-
edged that they had never any right to
their gods. for the loot Of the temple
had actually taken place in the midst
Of the rising. and they knew that it
could not have come from the hands
under survsillanes ali the time, ana not
one person Of the race had vsntured
within 2 mile Of the temple.
Yet the tooth Of BuddhA had bssn
S sassn. 81 the sasrsd tooth which is more
0aufanne Buddha itself. Their rsmorSe
was very real. and after that. TO the day
OF hS death from fever. eighteen
months afterward. they could never
And even then their favor continued.
They transferrsd to the little son the
homage they had done the father. but
IN Tar greater degree If he had been
q kings son they could have shown him
Ne
cred him with rich gifts: If he walked
out. his path was strewn with flowers
by bowling maidens; II he went into the
market place the people Frustrated
Themselves before him.
When questioned Buddhist women
OF TINS amazing homage to Cedric they
was sacaed, they said. Buddha had
Withdrawn his favor from his people
suspsoting the father ana Of The inno-
cent ife-Fezzalt's-vhioh had been
sacrificed and they had been Commands
Cd Of The peissts 20 do homage to the
child and thereby appsass the offended
god. who. doubtless. had himself sparit-
Cd away the holy tooth. and would not
restore It until full recompsneo was
nAdS to the sacred son Of the sacred
dead.
when 1t became known that had
decided to return to England with my
sums to remain. and whom they found
that 1 could not be tempted to stay, the
populace turned out IN every toDvn and
village through which we passed on our
way to the ship, and bowling multitudss
followed uD to the very last. Nor did II
cease with that for in all the years that
have followed, even here in London, the
homage and worship have continued.
My son can 20 nowhere but that he IL
followed By Cingalsse: can see no man
or woman Of the race but he or she
prostrates herself before him and muir
murs. Holy. most holyT And daily.
upon him from unknown hands, and he
is watched over and guarded constant
Iy. ] tell you all this, Mr.. Cleek, that
you may the better understand how
appalling 10 the horror which now as
sails US, how frightfui 10 the knowl-
edge that some one now seeks his life
and IL using every means to take It."
TN other words, my dear Clesk." put
in Narkom. AZ Lady chepstow, over
come with emotion, broke down sud
denly. "thers appears to be . sudden
and inexpiicahle change Of front on
the part Of these fanatics. and they
the little lad as they formerly were to
protect and cherish him. Al any rate,
some one OF their order has, upon thrao
separate occasions within the last
month. endeavored to kidnap him and
in one instance even attempted to muir
der him."
rs that a fact7" qusried cieek sharp-
ly. glancing over at Miss I.orne. "You
are certain It is not fancy. but An alb
yves: oh. yes" she made answer as-