The Washington times., 1919-10-26

lndJ happening, ana Wnen the ST.
lence started to well out from the
hut ! felt cold and clamny. | am
telling you the truth of that busi-
ness. | know that some Spectac!ed
scientists in Berlin and New York
would laugh at this yarn, but there
are things happening in this part
of the world that those same scien-
lists could not reason out in mill
ion years. They would ,aush at
Gung for brushing his shoulders so
that the curses of Jilo the leper
might not lodge on him, but how
do they know that Gung is acting
foolish when he does that? They
know nothing, and they laugh at
things that they do not understand
so that other fools viii think they
are wise.
THAT same silence crept out into
the night when the Hindoo started
to stare into the water / cannot
describe that silence. 1t was Just
as II some invisible glue had been
poured over that jungle so that all
the little leaves were held tight In
their places, and all the little
monkeys and birds we're turned to
stone. 1t was the kind o. silence,
that must have fallen upon Pompeii
and Herculaneum when that stream
Of lava stopped from buobling.
thought that the whole world was
silent, and those cries of the man
on the mate ere going out, out, out
through thes stiffness seeking the
one he desired
Il stood back near the wall of
that hut and watched l watched
the door. ia! as | watched the
same thing happened that had hap
pened on the night previous. The
door opened ever so slightly, and /
got goosefiesh all over me. And
that kitten looked as If she were
startled. too. She arched her back
and watched with her green eyes,
and knew that the presence was
approaching the mat in just the
same way that it had approached
it once before.
"The man stopped crying out the
girls name, and he laid quiet, but
he did not lay quiet very long.
Nein. He lifted himself on h's ell
bow and tried to get up, but he was
too weak. Ten times-twepty
times he tried to get up, but each
time he would fall back upon the
mat, and / was so terribly scared
that did not step forward to stop
him from wasting his strength.
/ did not. AS / watched thai man
I thought that someone that could
not see was motioning him to fol-
low them to the door, so I stood
as IL | was rooted to the spot.
THAT went on for about fifteen
minutes and l got afraid. | glanced
at the squatting Hindoo and won-
dered how the strain Of that busi-
ness would affect him. did not
know what might happen. / knew
that the presence was still in the
hut, and / got queer feeling that
something terrible would happen II
Gung stopped staring at that gourd
before that thing left the little
dwelling. And did not think that
the harm would come to the sick
man. No, did not
AFTER what seemed a century
that sick man fell back exhausted,
and felt that the thing that :he
kitten saw was moving toward the
door. And ! was right. That door
opened slowly and remained open,
and then the man on the bed COM
menced to struggle again in an eff
fort to get upon his feet Do you
know what / was certain of just
then? I was certain that the sick
man saw someone beckoning to
him from that door. | will swear
he did. His struggles to get to his
feet were terrible to look at, but
1t was no use. He tell back In a
faint on the mat, the door closed
softly, and that silence was broken
again by the noises of the Jungle.
"Gung was exhausted alter that
stunt. He was long while coming
to his senses, and when he could
speak he put question 10 me.
What was the matter, master?'
he asked. What made her waltz
What do | know?' | cried. Il
think that this man on the he,i sau