Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1925-12-11
SWORD
OF HIS
FATHER
e BY Short stsry Pub. Coz
RfgNAasae>seSsessSesessIs
By ETHEL C. RANDALL

luc ldDlC uuucE luc 8 al A'h
w light Of the swinging lamp.
A Mr.. Baroque took the head,
opposite to him was Major Millait, a
portly cavalryman with chin blue from
much shaving, on his right were my
brother and myself, while our vls-a-vis
was a well-known opera singer-Mrs.
Cantel In private life-and a boy Of
nineteen or Whereabouts, whose name
appeared on the passenger list as tx.
Sinhala." This lad seemed greatly at
tracted to Mr.. Baroque. with whom he
entered into conversation. He told the
elder man that he was a foreigner. a
Cingalese by birth, and an orphan,
that he had gone to a Catholic mis-
sion school where he had learned mu-
sic, English, French and Latin, and
where he had been befriended by the
old priest, whom he was now on his
way to visit. He added, further that
he had a notion Of becoming a priest
later on, when he should be old
enough. and had seen a bit of the
world.
Such were the passengers aboard
the Babylon City, bound to Chicago
from Buffalo on this night of Septem-
Der 20, 1907. II was storming heavily,
but being good sailors We scorned to
take to our staterooms and gathered
about the table In the cabin for a
game Of cards. We were In the thick
Of a second game when Mrs Cantel,
after a continuous run Of bad luck,
threw her hand impatlently upon the
cloth. The cards slid in regular pro-
cession, one after another, to the floor,
as the boat rolled to a sudden swell.
With light laughter we caught at the
table edge to steady ourselves.
Just the night for ghost Stories"
l suggested, seeing that no one made
a move to resume the play.
Ghost stories are passe," avowed
Mrs. Cantel. THE fashionable method
Of counteracting sleep is to have ones
mind read"
Mind reading, heyp cried the ma
jor 1--WE heard a lot about the In
dian being able to tell what one thinks,
but I'd give Aver to see 1t done"
Cant be done" The manner of
Mr.. Baroque's abrupt assertion winged
the thought across my brain that its
finality of sentence was less a mere
statement of fact than a desire to fos-
ter conviction in himself.
At this moment, however, and amid
the "0hs!" and the "Ahs o. and the
Then how the deuce do you account
for so-and-sof" Of Mrs Cantel and the
major, my brother addressed the young
foreigner, who had been silent since
the card playing had ceased.
"Is is true, Mr.. Sinhala, that your
countrymen have a special gift that
wayf
Hey Do you mean to say, young
man, that you can read my mind?"
burst in the major.
The boy bowed an affirmative and
turned to my brother
The Brahmin holy men undoubted.
ly can fathom the innermost workings
of another's mind. 1t is a character
istic trait In some families in India
and elsewhere In the Orient, as much
as is the peculiar color or setting of
the eye, or the shape of the hand, In
Others"
No one of us missed his reply. Not
that he spoke loudly. Indeed his voice
was exceedingly low pitched But its
hating tones were memorable for a
caressing quality that in sonorous and
vibrant richness reminded one ire.
sistibly of the tlmbre Of a muted
cello. We stared at him In a silence
that throbbed with the dead echoes
of his beautiful voice. But beyond
his being well enough to look upon
the face and figure revealed nothing
appreciable Of their personality. Ye,
ones instinct CROPPED for the something
that lay masked behind the studiously
observed conventionallty. / noted the
repose OF the figure, and read into
the attitude latent restlessness akin
10 the giozed calm of an animal on
the spoor of Its prey. My glance
dropped to the hands resting on tn,
green baize of the table covering, ant
l thought l could trace more than {
suggestion of cruelty In the careles,
interlacing of the fine, long fingers
Still, the face, except for an eastern
gravity that to our occidental eye,
imbued 1t with subtlety, contradicte,
these impressions. was looking nj
myself for a visionary, when caugh
the look Mr.. BarOque had fixed on Sin
hala's face. 1t was q gaze of suci
searching, yet at the same tim,
such puzzled inquiry, Of sucl
agoniZed questioning as II 1
asked out of the longing of llfetim,
that the boys countenance give to hin
the key to its mystery, that m,
thoughts rebounded upon themselves
That look, though 1t met merely on,
of conventional regard, set these tw,
apart from the others about the board
linked them together, as II were, II
some Intangible way, clearly felt, bu
not at all understood. What nut,
demand had been made by Mr.. Ba
rogue, what answer would be vouch
safed?
The momentary pause brought us t,
ourselves. The major cleared hi
throat, Mr.. Baroque shrugged hi
shoulders like a man trying TO rit
himself Of an uncanny dread. and tn,
spell was broken.
Bat what have you to do when yol
read ones mlndf" queried Mrs. Can
tel, with a shiver that was not alto
gether affected.