Evening star., 1928-12-16

collapse and the feeling as if dark
wings were brushing her temples. 1t
must have been a thorn. Then had
come giddiness, swimming in the head,
failing pulse The hands were cramp-
ed, and by degrees all the limbs, as if
there were glass; splinters in the blood,
tearing the vessels. At length the dread
certainty found vent in cry:
THE Queen of Darkness
The jungle was filled with this cry
at once cry of veneration for the deity
and a cry of horror and lamentation
It was too late. I lanced the wound,
which was no more than needle prick
on the foot, with biackened margins
The cautery is only of use in the first
instant after the bite, and in any case
/ could never have brought myself to
add fresh torment to those from
which the little frame was already
suffering. Let the child die in peace,
exclaimed a voice within me. 1t is her
last privilege on earth.
Often we remained encamped for a
considerable time in one spot, my goal
and the passage of time forgotten.
The green eyes of the jungle and the
silyery breath of the night air in the
open country put a spell upon me;
thought gave place to reverie; day was
an indefeasible gertrude of the Joy of
life. and night formless dream.
The vigorous, tranquil and patient
growth of the plants that claimed
every corner of the earth, gradually
robbed my mind of the consciousness
of its own right. Graded in wonder
and animated by the will of another ex-
istence than my own. moved onward
as II walking in sleep; and yet at the
same time vigilant and profoundly per-
meated with a glowing faith in the
sacredness Of being.
But as the days passed, I began more
and more to feel that something was
wrong with me. I tried all kinds of
remedies except the only one that
could have helped me-f1ight from the
swampy jungle
MY home had vanished from memory.
Europe had become noisy and
unpleasant dream, full of needless
hustle. I smiled compassionately when
I recalled the fuss that I had made
over the petty happenings of my rest
less past. My imagination ran sriot in
colorful dreams. Life was clouded with
visions.
At length I seemed to awaken in a
new existence. My limbs were weight
ed as with an infinite fatigue, while
my eyes were unsteady and stupefied.
Suddenly I caught sight of my hand
lying on my knee. It looked like a
foreign object, emaciated and quite
white. ! tried to raise it, and it obeyed
me. sighed profoundly, and distinctly
recall saying out loud
This cannot be the old life."
Thereupon Panya appeared. He
looked extraordinarily unreal. as If he
were floating in the air. My thought
was, "Hullo, there is brown man with
a white turban!"
"Sahibl" he cried, as he looked into
my eyes, "Sahib, speak,"
Where are We, Panya?" I asked
feebly. Whats happened to the time,
Panya?"
The boy stared at me uncomprehend-
ingly. A fresh anxiety was obvious in
his face, but this waned as he continued
to look at me.
"Sahib, speak good words to me-" he
begged, at once dubiously and hope
fully
Then I realized that my questions
had been in German, so I repeated
them in English.
Instead of answering, Panya uttered
a loud cry, fell upon his knees and en-
braced mine. Sobbing, he stammered
"Sahib, you will live!"
where have we got to. Panya?"
Panya rose with a happy laugh,
moved to one side and said
That is the sea. We are high in
the hills, and you are looking down
on the sea. We carried you here from
the Swamps, marching for two days and
two nights without stopping to sleep,
and hardly resting at all until we
reached the fresh air and quiet. Look
around. Look at the forest! This is
the abandoned bungalow of an English
farm. We had to drive out the donkeys
which had taken possession Of the
house."
He paused and looked at me once
more. Then he went on:
"Oh. Sahib, now you have come to
yourself again. Sense has returned to
your eyes and your words, and Joy has
returned to my breast"
AS l watched Panya weeping, un-
derstood that he was speaking the
truth. and that, from the realm of fever
poisons, my spirit had come back into
the world of reality.
X y r. X
MANY of the necessities of life were
AVA lacking to us.
among our food supply. Still, there
were not many mouths to feed Besides
myself, Panya and Pasha, there were
only two porters from South Canara.
These latter, with great expenditure of
labor and often at the hazard Of their
lives, would from tims to time procure