The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1939-07-20
CHAPTER III

helmet, wearing goggles, and with
camera suspended somehow from
her portly figure, prodded ruins with
the ferrule of a green silk sunshade.
Two palace servants danced attend
ance on her, doing their obsequious
utmost to prevent calamity.
"Sahiba! Not good! Much too
many OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
bad. Come, look this way. Plenty
ruins this way"
But Mrs. Deborah Harding wasn't
in the habit of taking the advice of
anyone less than a Supreme Court
Justice; nor would she hesitate to
question that if it didn't agree with
her own convictions. She was dy-
manic, opulent, willful dignity per-
sonifed. As honorary special CORE
spondent to The Woman Citizen, of
Aaronville, Clarendon County, Ohio,
she was being an authority on ruins.
She looked like authority. She had
authoritative gestures, and note
book.
It was close on sunset. Mrs. De-
borah Harding's goggles were dusty.
The blood-red sunrays confused her
vision. She was one of those people
who always believe what they see
but nothing that they don't see. She
saw a cobra. She did not see that
the stone, on which she set her foot,
was loose, curved on its under side
and resting insecurity on fiat rock.
So she twisted her ankle and sat
downward. It jolted every bone in
her corpulent body.
Two hundred and eight pounds Of
widow with bankers references and
one hundred per cent opinions, can
sit down harder than a crate Of
groceries.
Il never saw such people-such
country. / have travelled all
around the world from America.
have visited numbers of countries.
/ have not seen your equals any,
where for inefficiency and lack Of
human intelligence. What shall
do now? l am in pain. Have you
no ideas? Can't you suggest some
thing?"
One of them mounted the pony
and cantered away for assistance.
Mrs. Deborah Harding sat tanning
herself and making inpotently
harsh remarks about the swarms of
flies that were looking for a last,
lazy meal before going to sleep.
The cantering servant drew rein
at an outlying police kama and, after
a heatedly uncomplimentary debate
with the policeman IN charge,
phoned the palace The Maharanee
was out. It entered no ones head to
consult the Maharaiah; it was his
hour of the day to study postage
stamps, so he was incommunicado
except to the physician who should
bring him his evening tonic. How
ever, Prince Rundhia had returned
that afternoon, from visit to Delhi.
Someone phoned him. Things hap
pened.
There are two palaces. Rundhia's
is separated from the Maharajah's
only by high wall and two widths
of glorious garden. Rundhia's i'm
ported patent automatic garage-door
swung open. His imported ex-Czar-
ist chauffeur whirled a RoIls-Royce
to the front door. Rundhia took
the wheel They opened the front
gate just In time. Another split
second and he would have crashed
it, sacked the lot Of them, and
bummed new car from his aunt.
There was wnirl of dust, a din
of footing. Headlights flooded the
narrow roads with binding glare.
Three dogs and some belated chick
ems died the death. Three villages
gasped and called on thirty gods to
witness their piety. Rundhia
rammed on the brakes and got out
of the car to bow to Mrs. Harding
just as calmly, as blandly, as anus
edly courteous as If he were en-
tering her drawing room.
well, / am glad to see YOU"
said Mrs. Deborah Harding. st don't
know who you are, but
Prince Rundhia, your hosts
nephew"
How d'you do. You took your
own time, didn't you? I had begun
to think no one was coming"
The garden guesthouse was a copy
of a cottage at Juan les Pins. It
had been Rundhia's idea. The
Prince had persuaded his aunt the
Maharanee to go thoroughly modern
for once.
The Maharanee almost worshiped
Rundhia, but she had compelled him
to return from Europe by cutting of
the supplies of cash. She wanted
him to learn to be fit for the throne.
But Rundhia was always threatening
to go to Europe again unless she
made things tolerable; so she had to
make good his gambling losses and
to humor his whims.
No one had stayed at the guest
house until Mrs. Deborah Harding
heard about it during her tour of
India. She knew exactly how to
contrive invitations. She considered
she conferred a favor on the rules
of Kadur by accepting their hospi-
tally for herself and her niece.
ITO BE CONTINUED