Evening star., 1934-08-12
CHAPTER VIII.

80 he handled the long halt
ed wood ak, with its small,
H. razor-keen edge. sit In
that far corner while this
show is onl"
Dianas sea-green eyes flashed.
IF they force their way in. you
will kill me. won't you2"
Gray nodded. his face pale and
drawn.
"Hokumdar!" challenged Limhu
hoarsely.
"Friend!" came the answer. In
English.
II was MAJ. Mercer's voice.
"Lordy. but it's good to see you.
'zero'I We'd almost given up hopei"
exclaimed Mercer gladly. Miss
Gray glanced back over his shoul-
der.
Eyes, thank Godi Glad TO see
you. you old villainl"
your Byzantine cipher's been
found, 'Zero'l
Gray stared ct him incredulously.
"Found7 How2"
when they we're packing Sir
Johns trophies the book was found
in the throat of the big stuffed cobra
that stood in the residency hall.
You have been known to walk In
your sleep, you know, Grayi" ban
tered Mercer. you must have hid
den 1t yourselfl"
Gray frowned. He had remem-
bered his dream How he had
thrust a knife down q snake s
throat, in q dark jungle Down a
snakes throatl Hadn't the sadhu
said to him, several times. Safety
lies in the snakes throat? He un-
derstood the words nowl
I'm jolly glad it's foundi e. Did
you ever discover who poisoned poor
old Sir John2"
"Yes, we did" MERGERS eyes were
somber. THE musalchi fellow didn't
die, after all, and he told US. One OF
Sirdar Mohammed Sha's informers
did it.
"Col. Houghton intends to attack
the pass at dawn" he went on. I'll
aeroplane last night How did
you get past their pickets2"
''The Lord - and Limbu - only
knowl'' smiled Gray.
AS he spoke, in the valley far below
the little group q great sheet Of red
and violet fame flared upward.
Hastily Mercer turned his glasses
In the direction of the explosion.
II it had been light enough he
would have seen q l,000-foot zig-zag
crack suddenly seam the side Of the
bulging bluff-widen-yawn till the
immense mass leant slowly forward
seemed to pause-and then fall. A
moment later a thunderous echo
clapped and blundered round the en-
circling hills.
A hand had fumbled among the
three switches In the council cham
ber-and erred. The Palace of the
Mirror had been blown up.
AS a giants foot might crush q
match boy, that piece Of gray noun
tain crushed Prester Johns strong
hold.
One Of the first persons TO meet
Gray and Diana as they entered the
perimeter of Col. Houghton's camp,
which was in an open valley, was Ia-
saldar Sher Singh.
wa Guru-jee kee Khalsa" ex-
claimed the old Sikh delightedly, as
he strobe up to them.
Gray grinned as they shook hands
Sorry left you in the lurch during
that skirmish, Risalder Sahibl It
wasn't my fault-but my guides, / am
afraid
"That cursed dwarf is in camp,
major sahib!"
Gray whistled softly.
AS he and Diana were talking with
Col Houghton, a muffied and long
drawn-out rumble shook the air, and
the earth quivered under their feet.
Were in for an earthquake, Gray
Hope to heaven it doesn't send
any of those boulders tumbling down
on to our fellows headsl We had one
or two stiff shocks yesterday morning
Did you feel them?"
YES" answered Gray quietly, eve
felt them all right About this
Mongol, sir :"
And in a few graphic sentences
Colin Gray sketched Khoon as he
knew him.
Col. Houghton smiled grimly.
Hes a pukka devil, evidently. But
he's come over to the governments
side, and we badly need an ally, such
as he can be -. We can't hold his
past record against him-not for the
present, at any rate, Gray"
Ten minutes later the mountain
battery opened fire.
AS If In answer to the puny voice
of the guns, a shattering peal of thun-
der shook the dark hills, and the
heavens were rent by binding lances
Of lighting.
The cohorts Of Azrael. the Angel Of
Death. were about to be loosed.
Earth and sky, alike, quivered as II
In an agony Of travail. Horror fol-
lowed horror. Landslide followed
landslide, and with each successive
shock masses of loosened earth and
rock came crashing and rolling their
way down to shrilly, harsh arreggio
OF shale and small stones. Tremor
succeeded tremor. A furious wind had
arisen, and before it reeled a dozen
fantastically twisted, whirIing pillars
OF dust, hundreds Of feet high, which
staggered down the valley like drunk
en- Titans-then, hitting the hilIsides
broke and subsidized.
On the other side Of the pass the
breath OF that annihilating wind drove
peIore II hot, stinging clouds of grit