The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-02-08

a dozen StuQentS naQ been arrested Ior
interfering with the police in the dis
charge of their duty. and people In the
immediate neighborhood heard that the
two ladies who kept the boarding.
house in Well Lane had been informed
that they must take no more Indian
students. It was generally considered
rather hard on them. and in a day or
two the affair was forgotten.
Nor was there a great dea. of COM
ment in the city when Mr.. Brandon
retired from the firm of Wilkinson,
Brandon & Co. He could afford to do
so. it was said. and he had put In many
years OF hard and successful work.
Why he should elect to go abroad and
throw up everything with which he
had been connected socially was
rather surprising; but. after all. q man
had the right to spend his we'll earned
leisure as he liked. His acquaintances
shrugged their shoulders. and thought
no more about it; and his friends.
whatever inkling of the truth they pos
sessed, kept silent.
"I took you for a baboon. sir" said
Amos. ,.....A
"A what?" TsAfs3'
"a baboon-one o. them a
"a babu." laughed West. 81 had to
test the disguise. Amos. and narrowly
escaped being kicked from my own
door. That was good enough for me.
II you did not recognize me. was
fairly confident no one else would. That
stone. Amos. was for years. for CEN
turtles. perhaps. the eye of one-eyed
god in Northern India. Some one
looted it-perhaps not Colonel Hard
acre himself. that is uncertain, and
since he has recently died will remain
uncertain. probably. but it came into
his possession. and he gave It to Bran-
don to keep for him.
There is always unrest in India.
Amos, and in recent years some fanat-
les have preached another and
greater mutiny. to begin and be cer-
| tain OF success when the eye OF the god
should CLEAN again from its proper
| setting. It was lost; no one, strangely
enough, seems to have had any idea
! of its hiding place. or murder would
certainly have been done to get pos
session Of it. So through the bazaare,
where news spreads like fire Il stubble.
information was circulated that a GER
tain prince, wishing to do honor to
his god. would pay a great reward for
| the discovery OF the stone.
This came to Brandon's ears, as was
natural. seeing his close connection
with India. Until this time he may
possibly have been ignorant of the Sig
nificance OF the stone deposited with
him for safety. He fell to the tempta-
ton, and secret negotiations were s<,s
on foot and worked so cleverly, chat.
| although the government was aware OF
| the growing unrest AID the danger. and
| even of the sign which was to set light
to the blaze. they could not discover
anything. At last Brandon became
suspected and I was put on the track.
/ and was nearly beaten by Brandon
burgling his own safe. By doing SO he
took the part of victim. so far as Col
| onel Hardacre was concerned, for he
did not know that he had died recent
ly: and in case of the government find-
ing out that the stone had been in his
possession, he trusted the burglary
would prove that he had nothing to do
with the stone going back to India
/ Had he not taken me for a con-
spirator. and accented the bogus stone
for the real one in order to protect
those to whom he had already given
the real stone in exchange for the re-
ward, do not see how he could have
been proved guilty. He had been rob-
bed, and there would have been an enc
of the matter. as far IS he was cons
cerned."
Amos nodded. He did not look In the
least interested. but his master paused,
SO he nodded.
1.-THE house at Hampstead had long
been known as the resort Of restless
spirits" West went on. so I tried 1t.
1t was a leap in the dark. To surround
; the house with police and raid IL would
have been futile. II the stone wsrs
there, precaution would have been
taken to have notice of any such action.
We might have got the men. but We
should not have found the stone. They
would have been clever enough to hide
1t securely. and without the stone we
had nothing to accuse them of, nothing
against them whatever. So took my
; chance as Hindu. and the blue emer.
aid is in the hands of the governments
Yes. sir. May I ask, sir"
How got away with their lingo? ]
!, was born in India Amos. And my
! hands hurt where I tore them on the
fence
Yes. sir; but they'll mend all right
What's troubling me is who's going to
pay for mending those bullet-hoies IN
the car"
''I think we won't bother the govern.
ment about that" laughed West.
: "As you please. sir" said Amos. ana
he put the silver box of cigarettes with
u in his masters reach and left the room.