The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-02-17
The Rains
Came
Continued From Page Ten

shes all right. III leave you and
get to the barracks. but Mrs
Simon cried out No. No. You
can't leave rs now
That's where I bclonc he an
swered. Stay here and III come
back for you as soon as In able
Then Mrs Hogge Egburry
cried out that she could not be
left. and Mrs Simon. intoxicated
a little by the spectacle q Harry
Loder in action. said. No, Lily.
let him go And 10 Loder she
said. Go Go, Do your duty"
Then suddenly he was gone and
Mrs. Hoggett-E ghurry heard the
strange horrible sounds from the
town below them and said What
is that
It's people yelling said Mrs.
Simon. and again she turned 10
where Harry Loder had been. and
said, Go, Your place is at the
barracks" But he vas already
gone
Skirting the edge Of the flood.
he drove the wheezv old Morris
through the rain. sometimes on the
road. sometimes across the sodden
fields. for he knew every inch Of
the way only too well. so well that
he was damned sick Of it. even
now in all the excitement, and as
he drove he was frightened. not
by the fear Of death which he had
never experienced, but by kind Of
vague. Undesirable animal fear.
like the panic Of A startled buck
in thick jungle. a dread Of some
thing which he did not understand.
Then in the lights of the car
he saw the white corner post of
the raceeourse road and knew that
he was only a little way from the
barracks. and at the same time he
heard wild shouts and cries and
the sickening unnamable fear took
entire possession of him again and
he h oug ht, Maybe they've
turned, Maybe they're numbering
the boys" and in the next moment
the lights of the car turning in at
the drive. struck the place where
the barracks should have been.
only there were no barracks now
but only a great heap of rubble
with jagged and broken beams
emerging here and there.
He heard the wild cries of the
Indian soldiers scurrying like ants
in the drenching rain to clear
away the shattered stone and
mortar. and at the same time he
thought, That's where the mess
was. They must have been at
mess. They're all beneath it
and Culbertson and
Bailey and Sampson" Then the
soldiers came running toward him,
staring into the lights, shouting
things which he did not under
stand. and he til Dug ht, This
bloody country This damned
bloody country" and began to sob.
Without stopping the motor he
jumped out and cried in Hindu
'tani. wv here is Lieutenant
Bailey? Where are the officers -
and the three men who had run
toward him no longer shouted. but
stood half in the circle of light
rom the motor, paralyzed and
tongue-tied.
And then one called Pashat
Singh. sergeant. ehoked and
blurted in Hindustani: He's in
there All the sahibs are in there
The house fell on them" Then the
men began to make incompre-
hensible noises and to salaam
again and again in the most un-
fashion as if they were
in some way responsible for the
disaster
With Psshat Singh beside him
he began to tear at the heap of
stones. cut long ago from the
depths of that eternal Mountain
ALBANIA. wildly and without plan.
cursing and sobbing, and almost
at once he came upon the piano,
that poor awful. tinny piano.
ruined by heat and dampness,
which Cruikshank used to play
after tiffin in the evenings. He
thought. Perhaps he was playing
the piano. Perhaps We'll find him
here And then suddenly they
found the body of poor Cruik-
shank beneath the battered piano,
crumpled, broken. bloody and quite
dead. and. clenching both fists.
Loder raised them toward the
pouring sky. shaking them and
crying out, This bloody country,
This bloody awful country"
For a long time after Loder left
them. the two middle-aged women
remained huddlod together on the
floor Of the veranda. Mrs. Hog
gett-Egburry sobbing Historically,
Mrs. Simon trying to comfort her,
and then presently they both were
silent from emotional exhaustion
and sat listening. straining to hear
the distant sounds from the stree
en- town which came TO them.
muffled and hideous through the
rain. as if in some way they could
read them and discover what had
happened
Then Mrs. Simon said. in a low
voice. 7 wonder what has hap
pened 10 the boys and TO Hazel
and Mr.. Simon"
Then Mrs HoggettEgbur be-
gan again TO cry. Don't leave ne.
You csWn't leave me
Get me your driver"
Il can't move. | cawn't get up.
Can him Call the 'ouse boy"
Mrs. Simon clapped her hands.
but there was no answer and then
she tried shouting the name Of the
head boy. weakly AZ first and
then louder and louder a. the
terror grew again.
DALI" she shouted. DALI"
again and again. and when no
one answered she fell silent filled