Barnwell sentinel. (Barnwell C.H., S.C.) 185?-1925, February 07, 1918, Image 2
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PAGE TWO
BARNWELL SENTINEL, BARNWELL, SOUTH CAROLINA
r
tt
A Romance of
By TALBOT MUNDY
Copyright by the Bbbba-Merrill Company
mnr© on the pat)i below missed her assured them that, ridiculous though It was not a Rangar at all, but She, and
footing and fell a dozen feet...-only to sounded,' theBritish were actually how anybody ran eVer have mistaken
get up,'again and scramble as If a thou- j willing to forgive their enemies a-d her for a man, even In man’s clothes
hand devils were/behind her. the-Riuw («» pardon all deserters ulm applied for and with her fckiu darkened, was t/e-
h*»r xTrlmfe like a Worker to pJirdo’fi oil eomlitiun ot good faith in ’ votid the sentry’s p«
gar riding, her grimly, like a •jockey In
a raee. Threw rjjoro shocks followed.
A great slice N^f Khinjan suddenly
caved In with a roar, and smoke and
, dust*hurst, upward through the tuju ;
jMwver to gnessi He
C H APT Eft X X I—-Continued.
—13—
getting even by condemning the lot of
them to tTeath. "“Anfeye for. the risk
Rut out of the corner of his eye, and of on eye !” say the unforgiving ‘‘Hills.”
once op*twice by .looking back• dellb- “If one of use-should go back Into
eratel.v, King saw that Ismail was his cainp now lie would be tortured,
taking the members of his new hand Re sure of that.”
one by one and whispering to them. 1 Breathing deeply"Wn -the darkness,
What he said was a mystery, hut as they nodded, as If tne dark had eyes,
they talked each man looked at King. Ismail’s chin drove a fraction deeper
And the more they talked the better into his shoulder.
pleased they seemed. And the’day
wore on the more deferential they
grew. By midday If King wanted to
dismount there were three nt least to
hold his' stirrup and ten to help him
mount again.—*
Four thousand men with women and
children and* baggage do not move so
swiftly as.one man or a dozen, espe
cially in the "Illlls," where discipline
Is reckoned beneath a proud man’s
honor. There were many miles to go
before Khinjan when night fell find
the mullah hade them camp. He hade
them camp because they would have
done It otherwise In any case.
When the. evening meal was eaten,
and sentries had been set at every van
tage point, there came another'order
from the mullah. The women and
children were to be left In camp next
dawn, and to remain there until sent
for. There wns murmuring at that
around the camp, and especially among
King’s contingent. But King laughed.
“It Is good!” he said, v-
“Why? How so?” they asked him.
"Bid your women make for the Khy-
ber soon after the mullah marches to
morrow. Bid them travel down the
Khyber until we and they meet!”
“But—” v
"Please yourselves, sahibs!” The
hakim’s air was one of supremest In
difference. "Aa for me, I leave no
women behind me in the mountains,
I am content.”
They murmured a while, but they
gave the orders to their women, and
King watched the" women nod.
Even as Yasmlni hnd tested him and
tried him before tempting him at last,
she must be watching him now, for
even the East repeats Itself. She had
sent Ismail for that purpose. It was
likely that her course would depend on
his. If he failed, she was done with
him. If he succeeded in establishing a
strong position of his own, she would
yield. With or without Ismail’s aid,
with or without his enmity, he must
control his eighty men and give the
slip to the mullah, and he went at once
about the best w r ay to do both.
■ "We will go now,” he said quietly.
“That sentry in yonder shadow has
his back turned. He has overeaten.
We will rush him and put good running
between us and the mullah.”
Surprised Into obedience, and too de
lighted at the prospect of action to
wonder why they should obey a hakim
so, they slung on their bandoliers and
made ready. Ismail brought up King’s,
horse and he mounted.. And then at
King’s word all eighty made a sudden
swoop on the drowsy sentry and took
him unawares. .They tossed him over
the cliff, too startled to scream an
alarm; and though sentries on either
hand heard them and shouted, they
were gone like wind-blown ghosts of
dead men before the mullah even knew
what was happening.
They did not halt until not one of
them could run another yard,,King
trusting to his horse to find u footing
along the cliff-tops, and to the men to
And the way. -
‘‘And what does she intend7" King
asked him suddenly.
; “She? Ask Allah, who put*the .spirit
in her! How should I know?”
* l We will march again, my brothers!”
King shouted, and they streamed along
behind- him,- now .with no advance
guiinl, hut with the Ornkzai Pathan
striding h«;slde King’s horse, with a
great hand on the saddle. Like the
others, he peerned decided In his mind
l that the hakim ought riot to be allowed
free to any man who can tell a He much change to escape,
without flinching. It is the way out ; Just as the dawn was tinting the
again that is not free. How many men surrounding peaks with softest rose
' ' ~ * * ' an< * they topped a ridge, and Khinjan lqy
bling crust. •
There was a pause after that*, ns If
{ the waiting elements were gathering
'strength. For ten minutes they watched
j and scarcely breathed. Rcwq G'ungn
gained the summit and. dismounting.
qd by King with the reins over his
Ttrtn. The mare was too blown to do
anything but stand and tremble. And
King was too enthral led\jta. do anything
but stare.
“That"Is.what a woman can do for
a 1 man!” said Hewn Gungu grimly;
“She set a fuse xmd exploded all the
dynamite. There \\ <Te tons of it! The
galleries must have fallen iti, one on
“Now ye-know—fpr all men know-
that the entrance Into Khinjan raves Is
dp ye know that have entered
never returned?” „
They all nodded again. It was com
mon knowledge that Khinjan was a
very graveyard of the presumptuous.
“She has sot a trap for the mulluh.
She will let him and all his men enter
and will never let them out again!”
“How knowest thou?” .This, from.
two men, one oh either* hund. _
“Wus I never in Khinjan caves?” he
retorted. “Whence came I?- I am her
man, sent to help trap the mullah! I
would have trapped all of you, but for
being wearv of these 'Hills’ and wish
ful to go back to India and be par-
doued! That Is who I am I That Is i
below them across the mile-wide bone-
dry valley.. And while they watched,
and the Khlnjup men were beginrtlng
to murmur (for they needed no lust
view of the place to satisfy any long
ings!) none else than Ismail rose from
behind a rock and came to King’s stir
rup. He, tugged and King bpeked tys
.horse until they stood together atxart.
“She sends this message.” - said Is
mail. showing his teeth in the most
peculiur grin that surely the “Hills”
ever witnessed. “Many of her men,
who have never been in tfcg army, are
none the less true to her, and will
not leuve them to the mullah’s mercy,
how I know!” i They will leave the caves In 4 little
Their breath came and went slbl- j while, und will come up here. ' They
th<* "other! A thousand men digging' not very cordial,
for a thousand years could never got
the clear fires "and the men talked—
and talked—and talked until the stars
grew big as moons to weary eyes and
they slept at last, to dream of khaki
uniforms and kurnel sahibs who knew
neither; fear nor favor andl who said
things that were so. It is a'Jind world
to-the" Himalayan hillrpan where itTen
in authority tell truth Unadorned with
out .shame and without consideration—
a mad, mad world, and perhaps too ex
otic to lie wholesome, but pleasant
while the dream lasts.
<tvvr in the fort Courtunny placed
a hath at King's disposal and lent him
clean clothes and a razor. But he was
the future. for one, etc. . . But nobody be-
Thnt they prayed to Allah like little 1 lievod that part of his tale.
children lost and found, : The women}/ As Yussnf bin Ali said'"Over the
Slgs to their hahles ovet; ggnfpTire- up the Khyber -Mtew - oav
“Wheijr she . set's out to disguise her
self, she .is, what she will be, and-he
who says lie thinks otherwise has two
tongues and no conscience!”
What is surely ttue is that the four
of them—Yasmini. the general.’Cour
tenay and King—sat up ii|H night in a
room in the fort, talking together,
w hile a succession of jsontries over
strained -their ears endeavoring to hear
through keyholes. And! the sentries
heard, nothing and invented very -much.
But Partirh Singh, the Sikh,- who
carried in bread and cocoa to them at
about five the nest morning, and
found them still talking. heard*. King
say. “Sp. in my opinion,, sir, there’ll
he no jihad in these parts. .There’ll
sporadic, raids, of course, hut
he
nothing a brigade can’t deal with. The
.“Tell me all the war .news!” said
Into Khinjan now', and the-only way King, splashing in the tub.- And Cour-
out is down Enrlh's Drink! She bade tenuy told him, passing him another
mo come and bid you-goodby. sahib. I . cake of soap when the first was On-K ' ,,1 ‘ l /' ’“ 1
would hav„ stn.vod io th.-rV; hut .ho , ifWti. After .11. there was .01 mtteh .war.^^
commanded me. She-said, ‘Tell King lo tell—butchery in B^ljtium—Huns
sahib my love was tr.ue. Tell him I
give- him India and all Asln that
were at my mercy !* ”
- While the Hangar spoke there came
three more farth tremors in swift suc
cession, and a thunder out of Khinjan
as if the very “Hills” were coming to
an end. The mare grew frantic and
the Rangar summoned six men to hold
-rber.- --—
and guns-and the everlastingly glori- “ Very . * al(1 the zenera1 ' “ You
mis stand that saved Paris and France^™" “P «he Khyber again and Jpin.
.your regiment.”
and Europe.
“According to the cables our men are
going the records one better. 1 think
that's all,” said Courtenay.
“Then why the stiffness?” asked
King.^ “Why am I talked to at the
end of a tube, so to speak?”
'■■♦‘You’re under arrest!” - said Court e-
But by that time the Hangar’s tur
ban was on again and the tears were
dry. and it was l'artan Slugh who
Suddenly, right over the top of Khib- na J'.*
Jan’s upper rim, where only the eagles ‘ The deuce I am!”
ever perched, there burst a column of
water, immeasurable, huge, that for a
moment blotted out the sun.'
CHAPTER XXII.
luntly, and the darkness was alive with
the excitement they thought them
selves too warrlor-Ilke to utter.
“But whut will she do then?” asked
somebody.
King searched his memory, and In
a moment there came back to him a
picture of the hurrying Jezailchl he
had held up in the Khyber pass, and
recollection of the man's words.
"Know ye pot,” he said, “that long
ago she gave leave to all who ate salt
to be true to the salt? She gave the
Khyber jezailchis leave to fight against
her. Be sure, whatever she does, she
will stand between no man and his
pardon I”' '
Bqt will she lead a jihad? We will
not fight against her!”
Nay," said King, drawing his breath
in. Ismail’s chin felt like a knife
against his collar bone, and Ismail’s
Iron fingers clutched his arm. It was
time to give his hostage to Dame For
tune. “She will go down into India
and use her influence in the mutter of
the pardons!”
I believe thou art a very great liar
Indeed!’’ said the man who lacked part
of his nose. “The Pathan went, and
he did not come back. What proof
have we?”
“Ye have me!” said King. "If I
show you no proof, .how can I escape
you ?”
They all grunted agreement as to
that. King used his elbow to hit Is
mail In the ribs. He did not dare
speak to him; but now was the time
for Ismail to carry Information -to her,
supposing that to be his job. And after
a minute Ismull rolled into a shadow
and was gone. King gave him twenty
minutes’ stnrt, letting his men rest
their legs and exercise their tongues.
. Now that he was out 6f the mullah’s
clutches—and he suspected Yasmlni
would know of It within an hour or
two, and before dawn in any event—
he began to feel like a player in a game
of chess who foresees his opponent
mate* in so many moves. . -
If Yasmlni were to let the mullah
and his men into the caves and to Join
forces with him in there, he would at
least have tlme'To' hurry back to India
with his eighty men and give warning.
He ml^hFhav? tljbe to Call up the Khy
ber Jeznllchls find blockade the caves
“Whither?” one whispered to King,
“To Khinjan!” he answered; and
that was enough. Each whispered to | [ )e f ore the hive could swarm, and he
the other, and they all became fired t 0 think of the hope of that,
with curiosity more potent than money Dn tHe other hnnf , , f th(>re wns to
^ rlh r 0S- he a battle royal between Yasmlni and
When he halted at last nml dis- the mullah, he would be there to watch
mounted amt rat down and the atrag- „ aad to oorofor , i nd i„ with the news,
glers rnoght up. panting, the, held a ,j, ow w J wTll on ng „,„, orde r
council of war all together, with la- bp close KbilUan brpolt of dny ...
mall sitting at King s back and h-anlng hc saW and , bpJ all ( . ot „ and obpJed
a chin on his shoulder in order to hear
him as if his word had been law to
better. Hone pressed on bone, and the thrm for Of hit of them he wns
place grew nnmh ; King shook him «S , h1m|y doubt _ be „ ho sepmpd
a dozen times | but each time Ismail n|0 „ con | i , J „ nt ot al ,
~ ‘ rk '
set his chin hack on the same spot, as" -. ,
„ A ,,r t u . ,, . 4 .. 7, They swung ffhftftg Into the darkness
a dog will that llrtens to his master. , , , .
v „* V.„ under low-liung stars, trailing behind
Yet he insisted he was her matt,-and t ,, e> . .
not King’s *I^ l ng s horse, with only half a dozen of
“Now. ye men nf the ■Hills,'" said! 11 "™/ hundred yards or so ahead as
King, “ltsten to me who am political. 0,1 H<lva,1, • , ' em,rd ’ aai1 a " of eI '
arc to go down Into India and be made
prisoners If the slrkar will not enlist
them. You are to wait for them here.”
"Is that all her message?** King
asked him.
“Nay. That Is none of It! Thjs Is
her message: THOU SHALT KNOW
THIS DAY, THOU ENGLISHMAN,
WHETHER OR NOT SHE TRULY
LOVED THEE! THERE SHALL BE
PROOF SUCH AS EVEN THOU
SHALT UNDERSTAND!”
Ismail slipped away and lost fchnself
among the men, and none of them
seemed to notice that he had been
away and bad come again. It was a
little more than an hour after dawn
and the chilled rocks were beginning to
grow warmer when the head of a pro
cession came out of Khinjan gate and
started toward them oYar the valley.
In all more than five hundred 'men
emerged and about a hundred women v
and children. Then:
“Muhammad Anita comes 1" shouted
a voice from a crag top.
' They snuggled Into better hiding,
and there was no thought now of leav
ing before the mullah shoul<h*go by.
It needed an effort to quiet them when
the mullah rose Into view at last above
the rise and paused for a minute to
stare across at Khinjan before lead
ing his four thousand down and on
ward. He was silent as an Image, but
his men roared like a river In flood and
he made no effort to check them.
He dismounted, for he had to, and
tossed his reins to the nearest man
with the air of an emperor. And he
led the way down the cliffslde without
hesitation, striding like a mountaineer.
His men followed him noisily.
It was thirty minutes after the last
of the mullah’s men had- vanished
through the gate, and his own men In
dozens and twenties were scattered
“I’m-taking care of you myself to.
obylate the necessity of put tit-5 a sen-
try on guard over'you." . >
"Good of you. I’m. sure. What’s R 1
all about?"
“I don’t mind telling you, but I’d 1
rather you’d wait. The minute you
It rose
sheer upward, curved op Itself, and fell
In a million-ton deluge on to Khinjan
and Into Khinjan valley, hissing and
rearing and thunderlngr
Earth’s Drink had been blocked* bv”! were sighted word was wired down to
the explosion und had found,a new way
over the barrier befttre plunging down
again Into the bowels of the world.
The one sky-flung leap It made as Its
weight burst down a mountain wall
was enough to blot out Khinjan for
ever, and what had been a dry, mile-
wide moat was a shallow lake with
death’s rack and rubbish floating on
the surface.
The earth rocked. King was up on
fils feet In a second and faced about.
The Rangar laughed.
“So ends the ‘Heart of the Hills!““
he said. “Tljlnk kindly of her. sahib.
She thought well enough of you !”,
He laughed again and sprang on the
black mare,* and before King could
speak or raise a hand to stop him he
wns off at wondrous speed along the
precipice in the direction of the Khy
ber pass and India. Two of the men
who had come out of Khinjan mounted
and spurred after him.
King collected his men and the wom
en and children. It was easy, for they
nessed and dazed by fear. In half an
hour he hnd them mustered amf
marching.
headquarters, and the general himself
will be up here by train any minute.”
“Very well," said King. “Got a ci
gar? Got a black one? Blacker the
befte^!” " . f.
He was out of his bath and remem
bered that minute that he had not
smoked a cigar since leaving India.
Naked, slmVed, with some of tho. stain
removed, he did not look like a man In
trouble as he filled his lungs with the
saltpeterish smoke of a fat Trlchino-
poll.
And then the general came nnd/flld
not wait for King to'get dresseu but
burst Into the bathroom and shook
hands with him while ho was still
naked and asked ten questions (like
a gntling gun) while fvfng was getting
m I arrested, sir?" asked
rest aside.
“And why
Kihg the/tnoment he could slip the
question In edgewise.
“Oh; yes, of course. Try the case
were numb from what they had wit- ^ wel1 as anywhere-.- What does
r an > ,s
He Was Nearly Sure
Heard Weeping.
threw most doubt on the sentry’s tale
about the golden hair. But. as the
sentry said, no doubt Partan Singh
was Jealous.
There Is no doubt whatever that the
general went back to Peshawur In the
trnin at eight o’clock and that the
on his trousers, diythlng each answer j Ilanpur went wIth hlrn Jn tt 8 «R arate
after the third Wrd and waving apartment with nlout a dozen hill;
1 men chosen from nimng tliose who hna
CHAPTER XXIII.
They reached the Khyber famished
apd were fed at All Masjid fort,, after
King had given a certain password and
had whispered to the officer command- -■ K enera k
Ing. But he did not change into Eu
ropean clothes yet, and none of his fol
lowing suspected him of being an Eng
lishman.
“A Rangar pn a black mare has gone
down the pass ahead of you In a hur
ry,“"they told him at AH Masjid. “He
had ^two men with him and food
enough. Only stopped long enough to
make his business known.”
“What did he say his business Is?”
asked King.
“He gave a sign and said a word
that satisfied us on that point!”
“Oh !” said King. "Can yotr signal
down the pass?” 1 ' t
“Surety.” .
"Courtenay .at Jamrud?"
“Yes. In charge there and growing
tired of doing nothing." -
% “Signal down and ask him to have
that bath ready for me that I spoke
about Goodby.”
So he left All Masjid at the head of
a motley procession that grew noisier
and more confident every hour. Ismail
offender - with - reward - for - capture-
offered !” Thajt- was a gem of a title.
4 I know
pectlhg to see Khinjan loom above each
next valley, for distances and darkness
are deceptive In the “Hills,” even to
“ ared .“f tralnpd Suddtal tbe advance
things (h«t no soldier would find on haUed . dld Dot . hoot And
in a thousand years, and I will tell
you some of what I know.”
Now he had to be careful. If he
were to invent too much they might
denounce him as a traitor to the
“Hills” In general. If he were to tell
them too little they would lose In
terest and might very well desert him
at the first pinch. He must feel for
the middle way and npset no preju
dices.
“She has discovered tljat this mul
lah Muhammad Anlm Is no true mus-
11m, but an unbelieving dog of a for
eigner froril Farangistan! She has
discovered that he plans to make him
self an emperor in these hills, and to
■ell hillmen Into slavery!” Might as
well serve the mullah up hot while
■bout It t Beyond any doubt not much
a Bore thao a mile awaj the mullah was
‘Thou Shalt Know This Day, Thou
Englishman, Whether or Not She
Truly Loves Thee.”
along the cliff-top arguing against de
lay with growing rancor, when a lone
horseman galloped out of Kt)lnjangate
and started across the valley. He rode
recklessly. He was either panic-
stricken or else bolder than the devil.
In a minute King had recoghlzed
the mare, and so had the eyes of fifty
nteiE around him. No man with half
an eye for a horse could have failed
to recognize that black mare, having
ever seen her once. In another two
mlnntes King had recdfrnlzed the Ran
ger’s silken turban.
Most of the men were staring down
ward at the Hangar’s bead as he urged
- . . the mare np the cliff path, when the
“None! He told Ufl of the *ardoni explanation of TasmlhRs message
.h *" came. It was only King, urged by
some Intuition, who had his eyea fixed
on Khlnjap. •> v v — . *
There came a shock that actually
•waged the hill thaj stood on. The
nsJKIng caught up withrthem he saw
1 they were fialklng with someone.
He had to ride up close before he
recognized the Oraktai Pathan.
“Salaam !*’ said the fellow with a
grin. “I bring one hundred god
eleven!” w
As he spoke graveyard shadows rose
oat of the darkness around and leaned
on rifles. ■
“Be ye men al! ex-soldiers of the
rajr King asked them.
± “AY* l” they growlfd in chorus.
: “Who gave yon leave to come?" King
asked.*
“Non
and we catne!”
“Aye!” ; said the drakzal Pathan.
drawing King aside. “But she gave
me leave to seek them out and tempt
them!” 2 ‘ - r
began to grow more lively and to have
a good many orders to fling to the rest.
“You mourn like a dog,” King told
him. “Three howls and a whine and
a little sulking—and then forgetful
ness !” 1 — ,
Ismail looked nasty at that but did
not answer, although he seemed to
have a hot word ready. And thence
forward he hung his head more, and at
least tried tc seem bereaved. But his
manner was unconvincing none the
less, and King found It food for
thought.
The ex-soldlers and would-be soldiers
marched In four behind him, growing
hourly more like drilled men, and talk
ing, with each stride that brought
them nearer India.' more as men do
who have an interest In law and or
der. Behind them tramped the wom
en from Khinjan, carrying their ba
bies and thglr husbands’ loads; and
behind them again were the other
women, who had been toW they would
be overtaken in the Khyber, but who
had actually had to run themselves
raw-footed In order to catch up.
Down the Khyber have come con
querors, a dozen conquering kings, and
as many beaten armies; but surely, no
stranger host than this ever trudged
between the echoing walls. The very
eagles screamed at them. Signals pre
ceded, them, and Courtenay himself
rode up the pass tor greet them. At
Jamrud they were given food and their
rifles were taken away from them and
a guard was set to watch them. But
the guard only consisted of-'two men,
both of' whom^ifere Pat bans, and tttiqf
mean?”
Out of his pocket tho general pro
duced a letter that smelt strongly of
a scent King recognized. He spread
It out on a table, ax^l King read. It
was Yasmlnl’s letter that she had seut
down the Khyber to make India too
hot to hold him.
Too bad about your brother.’’ said
“The body is burled.
How much is true about the head?”
King told him.
“Where’s she?” asked the general.
King did not answer.- The general
waited. .
“I don’t know, sir."
_ “Ask tbe Rangar,” Courtenay sug
gested.
“Where Is he?” asked King.
“Caught him coming down the Khy
ber on his black mare and arrested
him. He’s In the next room! I hope
he’s to be hanged. So that I can buy
the mare,” he added cheerfully.
King whistled softly to himself, and
the general looked at him through
/balf-closed eyes.
,“Go In and talk to him, King. Let
me know the result.”
come down, with KInq.
Ajid it Is certain thi/ before they
went King had u talk yu.h the Bangur
In a roopi alone, of which conversa-
Ron,‘however, the sentrr reported "aft
erward that he did no': overhear one
word; and he hnd tc go to the doctor
with a cold In his ear at that. He said
he was nearly sure I.e leurd weeping
But on the other hand, ihose who saw
both of them come oul were certain,
that both were smllMg.
It Is quite certain /hut Athelstnn
King^went up the Khyber again, for
the official records nay so, and they
never lie, especially In time of war. He
rode a coal-black mate, and Courtenay
called him ”Chikki"--a “lifter."
Some say the Hangar went to DelhL
Some say Yasmini is In Delhi. Soma
say no. But It Is quite certain that be
fore he started up the Khyber King
showed Courtenay a great gold brace
let that be had under hfs sleeve. Fiva
men saw him do It.
And If that was realty Rewa Gunga
In the general’s train, why was tha
general so painfully pollje to him? And
why did Ismail insist 00 riding In the
traia* Instead of accepting King’s offer
to go up the Khyber with him?
One thing Is very certain. King was
right about the Jihad. There has been
none In spite of all Turkey’s and Ger*
He hud picked King to go up the ma ny’s efforts. There have been spo*
Khyber on that errand not for noth- radio raids, much ns usual, but nothing
lug. He knew King and he knew the
symptoms. Without answering him
King obeyed. He went out of the room
into a dufk corridor\and rapped on
one brigade could not: exslly deal with,
the press to the contrary notwithstand
ing. -
King of the Khybfr rifles Is novY a
the door of the next room to the mn J°r, for you can see that by turning
right. There was a muffied_ answer ' U P ^e army list. 7
from within. Courtenay shouted some- I But If you wish to know just what
thing to the sentry outside the door transpired In the mom In Jamrud Fort
and he called another iqau, who fitted
a key In the lock. King walked Into
a room In which one lamp was “burn
ing and the door slammed shut be
hind him.
He was In there an hour, and it
never did transpire just what passed,
for he can hold his tongue on any sub
ject like a clam, and the general, If
anything, can goTilm one better. Cour
tenay was placed under orders not to
_talk, so those who say they-kuow ex
actly what happened in the room be
tween the time when the door was
shut on' King and the time when he
knocked to have it opened and called
for the general, are flot telflng the
truth. - ,
What is known Is that finally the
gjeneral hurried through the door and
ejaculated, “Well, I’m d-—d !” -be
fore he could close It again. The sen
try (Punjabi Mussulman) has sworn
to that over a dozen campfires since
the day* . _ .j-
,■ And It is known, too, for the Sentry
has taken oath on It and has told the
story so many times without much
variation that no one who knows the
man’s record doubts any longer—It Is
known that when the door opened
again King and the general ‘walked
out with the Rangar between them.
And the Rangar had no turban on,
but carried ltNinwound in his hand.
And his golden hair fell nearly to his
knees and changed his whole appear
ance And ha was weeping. And ha
whll^ the general and Courtenay wait
ed, you must ask ? King—If you dare;
for only he knows, and one other. It
Is not likely you can find the other.
""Rut It Is likely thxit you may hear
from both of them again, for "A wom
an and Intrigue are cne!*’ as India
says. The war seems long, and the
world is large, and the chances for In
trigues are almost infinite, given such
combination as King and Yasmlni and
a love affaW——r~
And as King says on occasion:
^'Kueh dar nahin hai! There is no such
thing as fear!” Another one might
say f “The roofs’the limit!”
And bear In mind, for this Is Impor
tant: King wrote to Yasmlni a letter,
In Urdu from the mullah’s cave, lp
which.he as good as gave her his word
of honor to be her ‘tloyal servant”
should she choose to return to her alle
giance. He Is no splitter of hairs, no
qnlbbler. His word is good on th«
darkest night or whenever he casts t
shadow In the sun. - ^
“A man and his promise—a womac
and Intrigue—are one!”
(THE* END.)
' Invented Cherokee Alphabet
Sequoyah, Inventor of the Cherokee
alphabet, was one of tie great men
of the Indian race.- H» waa a half-
breed, - whose English name Wfl ,
Georgy Guess. His fntb< r was a white
man and his mother a UtB-o.ooj jg
dlao woman. ^