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King of tee Khyber Rifles Talbot- Mmundly Copyright by tb Bobba-Merrill Company A Story That Combines the Thrill of Modern Detective Fiction With the Romance of Arabian Nights Tales ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE EXTRAORDINARY In this remarkable tale Mr. Mundy introduces us to the mysteries and charm of India, and to an Interesting people of the Orient about whom the western world knows little or nothing. In the company of Captain Athelstan King, his hero, we go on a wonderful journey In Khlnjan caves; and with him we meet Yasmlni, an exotic beauty of marvelous fascination. It gives us great pleasure to publish "King of the Khyber Rifles" because we believe bur readers will enjoy the serial more than any we have printed In a long time. 'THE EDITOR. CHAPTER I. The men who govern India more bwer to them, and herl are few. hose who stand in their way and pre tend to help them with a flood of yords are a host. The charge has jeen the light in print that India well- prlng of plague and sudden aeatn nd money lenders has sold her soul V twenty succeeding conquerors in irn. . So when the world war broke the jvorld was destined to be surprised on ndla's account. The Red sea, full of acing transports crowded with dark kinned gentlemen, whose one prayer ,vas that the war might not be over before they should have struck a blow or Britain, was the Indian army's an iwer to the press. ' More than one nation was deeply hocked by India's answer to "prac- ices" that had extended over years. Jut there were men In India who earned to love India long ago with hat love that casts out fear, who knew exactly what was going to happen and ould therefore afford to wait for or- Iders instead of running round in rings. At.ielstnn King, for instance, noth ing yet but a captain unattached, sat til meagerly furnished quarters with his heels on a table. He is not a doctor, yet he read a book on sur gery; and when he went over to the club he carried the book under his arm and continued to read it there. In the other room where the telegraph blanks were littered in confusion all about the floor, the other officers sent telegrams and forgot King, who sat and smoked and read about surgery; and before he had nearly finished one box of cheroots a general at Peshawur wiped a bald red skull and sent him an urgent telegram. "Come at once!" It said simply. King was at Lahore, but miles don't matter when the dogs of war are loosed. . The right man goes to the .right place at the exact right time then, and the fool goes to the wall. In that one respect war is better than some kinds of peace. In the train on the way to Peshawur he was not troubled by forced con versation. Consequently he reached Peshawur comfortable, In spite of the beat. And his genial manner of salut ing, the full-general who met him with a dogcart at Peshawur station was something scandalous. Full-generals, particularly In the early days of war, A? "Come at Once," It Said. do not drive to the station to meet captains very often ; yet King climbed Into the dogcart unexcltedly, after keeping the general waiting while he checked a trunk! The general cracked his whip with out any other comment than a smile. A blood mare tore sparks out of the macadam, and a dusty military road began to ribbon out between the wheels. Sentries In unexpected places announced themselves with a ring of shaken steels as their rifles came to the "present,"' which courtesies the general noticed with a raised whip. . On the dogcart's high front sent, star ing straight ahead of him between the horse's ears, King listened. The general did nearly all the talking. ' "The North's the danger." King grunted with the lids half-lowered over full, dark eyes. He did not look especially handsome In that at titude. Some men swear he looks like a Roman, and others liken hlra to a gargoyle, all of them chocking to Ig nore the smile thut can transform his tvhole face instantly. "We're denuding India of troops 11 ,n ta;tf not keeping back more than a mere handful to hold the tribes In check." King nodded. There has never been peace along the northwest border. It did not need vision to foresee trouble from that quarter. In fact It must have been partly on the strength of some of King's reports that the gen eral was planning now. "Well, the tribes'll know presently how many men we're sending oversea. There've been rumors about Khlnjan by the hundred lately. They're cook ing something. Can you Imagine 'em keeping quiet now?" "That depends, sir. Yes, I can imagine it." The general laughed. "That's why I sent for you. I need a man with imagination ! There's a woman you've got to work with on this occasion who can imagine a shade or two too much. What's worse, she's ambitious. So I chose you to work with her." King's Hps stiffened under his mus tache, and the corners of his eyes wrinkled Into crow's feet to corre spond. Eyes are never coal-black, of course, but his looked it at that min ute. "You know we've sent men to Khin jan who are said to have entered the caves. Not one of 'em has ever re turned." King frowned. "She claims she can enter the caves and come out again at pleasure. She has offered to do It, and I have ac cepted. Can you guess who she is?" "Not Yasmini?" King hazarded, and the general nodded. The helmet-strap mark, printed indelibly on King's Jaw and cheek by the Indian sun, tight ened and grew whiter as the general noted out of the corner of his eye. "Know her?" "Know of her, of course, sir. Every body does. Never met her to my knowledge. "Um-m-m! Whose fault was that? Somebody ought to have seen to that. Go to Delhi now and meet her. I'll send her a wire to say you're coming. She knows I've chosen you. She tried to Insist on full discretion, but I over ruled her." King's tongue licked his lips, and his eyes wrinkled. The general's voice be came the least shade more authorita tive. "When you see her, get a pass from her that'll take you Into Khlnjan caves ! Ask her for It I For the sake of appearances I'll gazette you sec onded to the Khyber rifles. For the sake of success, get a pass from her 1" "Very well, sir." "You've a brother in the Khyber rifles, haven't you? Was it you or your brother who visited Khinjan once and sent in a report?" "I did, sir." ne spoke without pride. Even the brigade of British-Indian cavalry that went to Khinjan on the strength of his report and leveled its defenses with the ground, had not been able to find the famous caves. Yet the caves themselves are a byword. "There's talk of a jihad (holy war). There's worse than thatl When you went to Khinjan, what was your chief object?" "To find the source of the everlast ing rumors about the so-called 'Heart of the Hills,' sir." "Yes, yes. I remember. I read your report. You didn't find anything, did you? Well. The story is now that the 'Heart of the Hills' has come to life. So the spies say." King whistled softly. "There's no guessing what It means," said the general. "Go and work with Yasmini. The spies keep bilnging In rumors of ten thousand men in Khinjan caves, and of another large lashkar not far away from Khinjan.- There must be no jihad. King! India is all but defenseless! This story about a 'Heart of the Hills' com ing to lite may presage unity of action and a holy war such as the world has not seen. Go up there and stop it if you can. At least, let me know the facts." King grunted. To stop a holy war single handed would be rather like stopping the wind possibly easy enough, if one knew the way. Yet he knew no general would throw away a man like himself on a useless venture. He began to look hnppy. The general chicked to the mare and one wheel ceased to touch the gravel as they whiried along a semi circular drive. Under the porch of a pretentious residence, sentries salut ed, the sals swung down and in less than sixty seconds King was follow ing the general through a wide en trance Into a crowded hall. The in stant the general's fat figure darkened the doorway twenty men of higher rank than King, native and English, rose from lined-up chairs and pressed forward. ."Sorry have to keep you all wait ing busy!" He waved them aside with a little apologetic gesture. "Come in here, King." ' King followed him through a door that slammed tight behind him on rub ber jambs. . "Sit down!" The general unlocked a steel drawer and began to rummage among the pa pers in it. In a minute he produced a package, bound In rubber bands, with a faded photograph face upward on the top. "That's the woman! How d'yoti like the look of her?" King took the package and for a minute stared hard at the likeness of a woman whose fame has traveled up and down India, until her witchery has become a proverb. She was "That's the Woman! How Do You Like the Look of Her?" dressed as a dancing woman, yet very few dancing women could afford to be dressed as she was. The general watched his face with eyes that missed nothing. "Remember I said work with herl" King looked up and nodded. ' "They say she's three parts Rus sian," said the general. "To my knowl edge she speaks Russian like a native, and about tweuty other tongues as well, including English. She was the girl widow of a rascally hill rajah. I've heard she loved her rajah. And I've heard she didn't ! There's another story that she poisoned him. I know she got away with his money and that's proof enough of brains! Some say she's a .she-devil. I think that's an exaggeration, but bear in mind she's dangerous I" King grinned. A man who trusts Eastern women over readily does not rise far in the secret service. "If you've got nous enough to keep on her soft side and use her not let her use you you can keep the 'Hills' quiet and the Khyber safe! If you can contrive that now in this pinch there's no limit for you! Com mander In chief shall be your Job be fore you're sixty!" King pocketed the photograph and papers. "I'm well enough content, sir, as things are," he said quietly. The general paced once across the room and once back again, with hands behind him. Then he stopped In front of King. "No man In India has a stlffer task than you have now ! A Jihad launched from the 'Hills'' would mean anarchy In the plains. That would entail send ing back from France an army that can't be spared. There must be no jihad. King! There must not be one! Keep that in your head!" "What arrangements have been' made with her, sir?" . "Practically none! She's watching the spies in Delhi, but they're likely to break for the 'Hills' any minute. Then they'll be arrested. When that happens the fate of India may be in your hands and hers! Get out of my way now, until tiffin-time 1" '. In a way that some men never learji, King proceeded to efface himself en tirely among the, crowd in the hall, contriving to say nothing of any ac count to anybody until the great gong boomed and the general led them all in to his long dining table. Yet he did not look furtive or secretive. No body noticed him, and he noticed ev orybody. There Is nothing whatever secretive about that. The fare was plain, and the meal a perfunctory affair. The general and his guests were there for no other reason than to ent food, and only the man who happened to seat himself next to King' a major by the name of Hyde spoke to him at all. "Why aren't you with your regi ment?" he asked. "Because the general asked me to lunch, sir!" "I suppose you've been pestering him for an appointment I" King, with his mouth full of curry, did not answer, but his eyes smiled. After lunch he was closeted with the general again for twenty minutes. Then one of the general's carriages took him to the station ; and it did not appear to trouble him at all that the other occupant of the carriage was the self-same Major' Hyde who had sat next him at lunch. In fact, he smiled so pleasantly that Hyde' grew exas perated. Neither of them spoke. At the station Hyde lost his temper open ly, and King left him abusing an un happy native servant. The station was crammed to suffo cation by a crowd that roared and writhed and smelt to high heaven. But the general himself had telephoned for King's reservation, so he took his time. There were din and stink and dust be neath a savage sun, shaken into re verberations by the scream of an en gine's safety valve. It was India In es sence and awake! India arising out of lethargy ! India as she is more often nowadays and it made King, for the time being of the Khyber rifles, happier than some other men can be In ballrooms. Any one who watched him and there was at least one man who did must have noticed his strange abil ity, almost like that of water, to reach the point he aimed for, through, and not around, the crowd. He neither shoved nor argued. Or ders and blows would have been equal ly useless, for had It tried the crowd could not have obeyed, and It was in no mind to try. Without the least ap parent effort he arrived and there is no other word that quite describes it he arrived. ' He climbed Into his car riage and leaned from the window. "Why are you here?", asked an acid voice behind him; and without troub ling to turn his head, he knew that Major Hyde was to be his carriage mate again. "Orders," said King. "Is that your answer?" asked the major. Balked ambition Is an ugly horse to ride. He had tried for a command but had been shelved. "I have sufficient authority," said King, unruffled. He spoke as If he were thinking of something entirely differ ent. His eyes were as if they saw the major from a very long way off and rather approved of him on the whole. "Show me your authority, please !" King dived Into an inner pocket and produced a card that had about ten words written on its face, above a general's signature. Hyde read It and passed it back. "So you're one of those, are you !" he said In a tone of voice that would start a fight In some parts of the world and In some services. But King nodded cheerfully, and that annoyed the major more than ever; he snorted, closed his mouth with a snap and turned to re arrange the sheet 'and pillow on his berth. -, CHAPTER II. The train pulled out, amid a din of voices from the left-behlnd that nearly drowned the panting of the overloaded engine. Hyde all but stripped himself and drew on striped pajamas. King was content to lie in shirt sleeves on the other berth, with knees raised, so that Hyde could not overlook the gen eral's papers. At his ease he studied them one by one, memorizing a string of names, with details as to their own ers' antecedents and probable present whereabouts. There were several photographs In the packet, and he studied them very carefully Indeed. But much most carefully of all he examined Yas:ninl's portrait, returning to it again and again. He reached the conclusion in the end that when It was taken she had been cunningly dis guised. "This was intended for purpose of identification at a given time and place," he told himself. "Were you muttering at me?" asked Hyde. "No sir. Nothing of the sort in tended." Hyde turned an indignant back on him, and King studied the back as if lie found it interesting. On the whole he looked sympathetic, so it was as well that Hyde did not look around. Balked ambition as a rule loathes sym pathy. After many prlckly-hot, interminable, jolting hours the train drew up ai Kawal-Pindi station. Instantly Kins was on his feet with his tunic on, and he was out on the blazing hot platform before the train's motion had quite ceased. lie began to walk up and down, not elbowing but percolating through, the crowd, missing nothing worth noticing in all the hot kaleidoscope and seeming to find new amusement at every turn. It was not in the least astonishing that a well-dressed native should address him presently, for he looked genial enough to be asked to hold a baby. King himself did not seem surprised at all. Far from It; he looked pleased. "Excuse me, sir," said the man In glib balm English. "1 am seeking 1'nji tain King sahib, for whom my bruilx i is veree anxious to be servant. Cuu you kindlee tell me, sir, where I could find Captain King sahib?" "Certainly," King answered him. He looked glad to be of help. "Are you traveling on this train?" The question sounded like politeness welling from the lips of unsuspiclon. "Yes, sir. I am traveling from' this place where I have spent a few days, to Bombay, where my business Is." "How did you know King sahib is on die train?" King asked him, smil ing so genially that even the police could not have charged him with more than curiosity. "By telegram, sir. My-brother had the misfortune to miss Captain King sahib at Peshawur and therefore sent a telegram to me asking me to do what I can at an Interview." '"I see," said King. "I see." And judging by the sparkle in his eyes as he looked away, he could see a lot. But the native could not see his eyes at that Instant, although he tried to. He looked back at the train, giving the man a good chance to study his face in profile. "See that carriage?" he asked, point ing. "The fourth first-class carriage from the end? Well there are only two of us In there; I'm Major Hyde, and the other is Captain King. I'll tell Captain King to look out for you." . "Oh, thank you, sir !" said the native oilliy. "You are most kind ! I am your humble servant, sir !" King nodded good-by to him, his dark eyes in the shadow of the khaki helmet seeming scarcely Interested any longer. "Couldn't you find another berth?" Hyde asked hlra angrily when he stepped back into the compartment. "What were you out there looking for?" King smiled back at him blandly. "I think there are railway thieves on the train," he announced without any effort t relevance. He might not have heard the question. Hyde snorted and returned to his seat In the silence of unspeakable scorn. But presently he opened a suit case and drew out a repeating pistol which he cocked carefully und stowed beneath his pillow; not at all a con teraptible move, because the Indian railway thief is-the most resourceful specialist in the world. But King took no overt precautions of any kind. After more interminable hours night shut down on them, red-hot, black-dark, mesraerically subdivided into seconds by the thump of carriage wheels and lit at intervals by showers of sparks from the gasping engine. Then King, strangely without kicking off his shoes, drew a sheet up over his shoulders. On the opposite berth Hyde covered his head, to keep dust out of his hair, and presently King heard him begin to snore gently. Then, very carefully he adjusted his own position so that his profile lay outlined in the dim light from the gas lamp In the roof. He might almost have .been waiting to be shaved. Long after midnight his vigil was rewarded by a slight sound at the door. From that instant his eyes were on the watch, under dark closed lashes; but his even breathing was that of the seventh stage of sleep that knows no dreams. A click of the door-latch heralded the appearance of a hand. With skill, of the sort that only special training can develop, a man in native dress In sinuated himself Into the carriage He Feigned Sleep So Successfully That the Native Turned Away at Last without making another sound of any kind. King's ears are part of the equipment for his exacting business, but he could not hear the door click shut again. For about five minutes, while the train swayed headlong Into Indian darkness, the man stood listening and watching King's face. He stood so near that King recognized him for the one who had accosted him on Rawal pindi platform. And he could see the outline of the knife-hilt that the man's fingers clutched underneath his shirt. Me feigned sleep so successfully that he native turned away at last. "Thought so!" He dared open his eyes a mite wider. "He's pukka true to type ! Rob first and tben kill !" As he watched, the Uilef drew the sheet back from Hyde's face, with trained fingers,, that could have taken spectacles from the victim's nose with out his knowledge. Then as fish glide in and out among the reeds without touching them, swift and soft and un seen, his fingers searched Hyde's body. They found nothing. King moved In his sleep, rather noisily, and the movement knocked a book to the floor from the foot of his berth. The noise of that awoke Hyde, and King pretended to begin to wake, yawning and rolling on his back (that being much the safest position an un armed man can take and much the most awkward for his enemy). "Thieves !" Hyde yelled at the top ox his lungs, groping wildly for his pistol and not finding it. King sat up and rubbed his eyes. The native drew the knife, and be lieving himself in command of the situation hesitated for one priceless second. He saw his error and darted for the door too late. With a move ment unbelievably swift King was there ahead of him; and with another movement not so swift, but much more disconcerting, he threw his sheet as y the retlarlus used to throw a net m ancient Rome. It wrapped round the native's head and arms, and the two went together to the floor In a twisted stranglehold. In another half-minute the native was groaning, for King had his knife wrist In two hands and was bending It backward while he pressed the man's stomach with his knees. The knife fell to the floor, and the thief made a gallant effort to recover It, but King wns too strong for hlra. He seized the knife himself, slipped It In his own bosom and resumed his hold before the native guessed what he was after. The train screamed Itself to a standstill at a way.iide station, and a man with a lantern began to chant the station's name. The Instant the train's motion altogether ceased the heat shut in on them as if the lid of Tophet had been slammed. The prick ly heat hurst out all over Hyde's skin and King's too. There was plenty of excuse for re laxing hold, and King made full use of It. A second later he gave a very good pretense of pain In his finger ends as the thief burst free, i The native made a dive at his bosom for the knife, but he frustrated that. Then he made a prodigious effort, just too late, to clutch the man again, and he did suc ceed in tearing loose a piece of shirt; but the fleeing robber must have won dered, as he bolted Into the blacker shadows of the station building, why snch an iron-fingered, wide-awake sahib should have made such a truly feeble showing at the end. "Hang It! couldn't you hold hlra! Were you afraid of him, or what?" de manded Hyde, beginning to dress him self. Instead of answering, King leaned out Into the lamp-lit gloom, and In a minute he caught sight of a sergeant of native infantry passing down the train. He made a sign that brought the man to him on the run. "Did you see that runaway?" he asked. , "Ha. sahib. I saw one running. Shall I follow?" "No. This piece of his shirt will Identify him. Take it. Hide it ! When a man with a torn shirt, into which that piece fits, makes for the telegraph office after this train has gone on, see, that he is allowed to send any tele grams he wants to! Only, have copies of every one of them wired to Captain King, care of the stattonmaster, Delhi. Have you understood?" "Ha, sahib." "Grab him. and lock him up tight afterward but not until he has sent his telegrams !" "Atcha, sahib." "Make yourself scarce, then !" Major Hyde was dressed, having per formed that military evolution in some thing lesd than record time. "Who was that you were talking to?" he demanded. But King did not seem to understand until the native sergeant had quite vanished into the shadows. The engine shrieked of death and torment ; the heat relaxed as the en gine moved loosened let go lifted at last, and a tralnload of hot passen gers sighed thanks. "What are you looking at?" Hyde demanded at last, sitting on King's berth. "Only a knife," said King. He was standing under the dim gas lamp thai helped make the darkness more un bearable. He stowed the knife awaj In his bosom, and the major crossed tc his own side. In Delhi, King meets Rewa Gunga, Yasmini's man, who tells him she has already yone north. In Yasmini's house the captain ,ls given his first test of charac ter. (TO BE CONTINUED.)
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Nov. 30, 1917, edition 1
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