The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-02-20
THE RAINS CAME
BIT LOUIS BRoMfIELp
Copyright 1887. 1885 1889 BY Louis Bromfieis
Distributed By Ledger syndicate

be horrible. and the day after, ana
the day after with all this
heat and rain
But the jackals would feed well
and the vultures and the crocodiles,
risen now in the flood out of the
thick smelly mud of the river.
They could swim anywhere now,
into the very heart of. the town.
Then the wind rising. tore apart
the clouds for a little while, ana
in the velvety blackness of the
open sky the stars appeared again,
the Indian stars that were differ
ent from stars elsewhere, more
brilliant than ever now in the
clean-ws shed air. But in a little
while the stars disappeared again
and there was only the low roof
of blood-red clouds. Inside the
house the wailing Of Mr.. Banner
ice began once more, a wailing in
which there was the terror of
hurt animal.
Edwina said Il wish that nasty
little man would stop making such
a noise. That's worse than every
thing else
She had come to India wanting
something to happen to her ana
now as she stood on the balcony
the realization came to her that 1t
was happening to her and happen
ing with a vengeance, something
which surpassed anything within
the scope of her imagination. She
was not dead. but she might be
dead before many days passed, or
hours or even minutes, for that
matter.
There was something ridiculous
in facing a spasm of Nature, clad
in single garment of white crepe,
wearing half of ones Jewels. A
little amused, her mind began to
wander, thinking how one should
dress properly for such an occa-
sion. Shorts, I suppose" she
| thought, land a silk shirt. That
would be smart as well as sensi-
BILE"
Now. slyly. she looked at Tom,
who was leaning on his elbows on
the fragile wooden rail, his pro-
file silhouetted against the red
clouds, and she thought, as she had
thought many times before, HE is
an attractive man . surely one of
the most attractive men" But
now, strangely the sight of him
left her without emotion.
She did not love Tom. She was
only fond of him.
And suddenly she found herself
wishing that it was Tom who had
gone off into the flood and dark
ness with Miss MacDaid, leaving
behind the major, and almost at
once, little startled, she thought,
so that's what happened to me-"
And she gave herself over to think
ing of the young doctor, seeing
him again as she had seen him
during the hours of restless bore
dom before the fantastic Miss
Hodge had come to call.
She saw the mayor clearly now
carrying the plump, hysterical
Miss Murgatroyd up the stairs like
bag of meal. She saw him with
his great shoulders and fine dark
face and blue eyes and the funny
half-grin that was born, she de
vined suddenly. out of an odd mix.
ture of vitality and high spirits,
with the sadness of melancholy
and tragedy just beneath it. 1t was
Tom who had been useless.
The major couldn't be dead now,
swept away by the flood like all
the screaming, terrified people in
the compound, because the thing
wasn't finished yet. 1t was for
that, she told herself with a half
hysterical mysticism, that she had
come to India against her will,
against the advice of every one: it
was for that she had come here in
! the wrong season. drawn here by
this thing which had to happen.
Two days ago. even an hour ago,
she would not have cared whether
she lived or died, but now she had
desperately to live, because this
thing had to come to an end in
fulfillment, this thing for which
she had been searching always.
No, he couldn't be dead. be-
cause it was he who would save
her. In him she was going to find
the thing she had been searching
for; and suddenly she was aware
that it was not simply his good
looks which attracted her. but
something else-his GOODNESS. his
defiance, his fearlessness in set
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