The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-11-04
You hold stillY


sailors were Furnishing the miners for
completely. Perhaps the tale of the
white mems murder" did not impress
the searching party.
What will they do to the four?"
Break leg" said the Arab. Maybe
starve"
Andrew March shuddered, and the
strange one below volunteered: my
men do not like"
Lexington saw that two white
strangers causing great trouble for
the miners could not become very
popular. March also understood. He
SAID simply: Take me before your
men,"
rs there anything you can say?'
asked Con.
only what told them before" re-
piled March I'VE represent a nation
that IS as eager to punish Tau Kuan
as these workers can be, If we can get
back there to tell the story. can
make that clear, at least"
They may not be in mood tn lis
ten
March smiled sadly. Moods" he
OcSdHS OUT shook his head
The three men passed into the larger
portion Of the cavern, where the red
olsn roof was marked with the fare
from the burning gas below. Several
women cried out sharply at sight of
the white men and fed like tfnfd ami
mails TO their rock-pockets I'D the
walls Their skirts were brief and
ugly. Several very young children
darted after their mothers to the safe
ty OF dark familiar haunts-too young
to have been spoiled" It was only q
period of months before they would be
taken into the city, to be nodded into
slaves IN the houses of the soldiers.
the circulation Of their blood retarded,
their very souls distorted. Returning to
the mines a year or more after, they
would be lost and strange and as if
orphaned, among their own kin. Their
family life did not receive sanction of
the state.
The frightened women left food be-
mind them. Jars stood close to the ifs
sure from which came the fire. The
contents had been prepared for bak-
ing. Con bent down to sniff at the
on together. and Lexington waited.
feeling himself useless in such a con-
ference. He was more interested in
finding an exit
To the left was the passage leading
to the foot of the slanting shaft. He
noted long vine that came down over
the loose gravel like a guide-rope. Con
climbed into the charging daylight to-
ward the top. Sunlight, the old enemy.
was beguiiing. He was thinking that in
Tau Kuan they have either too much
sunshine or too little. The pale,
haunted faces of the children below
troubled him. An intense light was
binding him from above A flash of
desert days came over him oddly.
swift "Reminiscences of pain and thirst.
gone in the space Of one upward step.
yet leaving a dryness in the throat.
Con realized that the only trees within
a thousand miles were the half-grown
oaks outside the easements of the prin-
cess.
Now the air changed in his nostriIs
and he caught again the hot, sweeping
currents of the sand. When the green
blOts left his eyes he raised his head
above the level of upper earth and
stared away. The city, less than a mile
distant, was shimmering behind heat
waves, at moments dimmed by clouds
OF dust that rushed across the valley.
He squinted to find the path they had
taken last night through the fog, with
the sleepers rising to find them.
A dromedary with baskets and a
driver was coming out at the big gate.
Out to the south was a motiOnIess
bOrseman, the sun flashing from his
silver and steel. He seemed to be
guarding the horizon. He was one of
the scores who sought a trace of the
fugitives. But nearer, along the road,
was a third rider, cantering between
the green squares. Cons heart beat
violently. He recognized the gray
cloak of his princess.
She rode under the full blaze of high
morning sun. The pony moved brisk
ly. The watcher was puzzled as to
why she came out in the great heat,
leaving the shelter of the palace tiles.
She was alone, save for the far figure
of the sentinel. She was mounted per-
fectly, and this was comforting to Con.
who lOnged for more signs of her west
ern self. She reached the cut in the
hill, the head OF the ravine, and there
drew rein. VividIy he recalled that it
was the point of their first meeting
where her uplifted right arm had
saved him, while with the left she con-
cealed her face.
He swore to himself that he was pre-
sumptuous in imagining she had rid
den there for any reason connected
with himself, unless she too was seek
ing to discover the white disturbers of
the empire and give them over TO the
vizir. Con argued with himself that
she had gone to the raVine before she
knew he existed, that probably. she
rode there each day for constitution
al, since there was nowhere else to 20.
Yet his emotions had their final say.
Lifting himself out at the mouth Of
the shaft, he glanced up and around.
The sun was scorching. If he attempt
ed to move along the face OF the hill
he would draw the eye OF the sentinel
and the end would come quickly. Cons
turban and blouse were white and he
felt that he must be glowing like a
ron, m ha s5r1v, hillside