Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Feb. 1, 1918, edition 1 / Page 2
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By Talbot Momd Copyright by tha Bobba-Marrill Company A Story That Combines the Thrill of Modern Detective Fiction With the Romance of Arabian Nights Tales Kmg of the Khyber Rifles WHEN ISMAIL AND THE OTHERS COMPOSING KING'S GUARD DISCOVER THE CLEVERNESS OF HIS DISGUISE THEY ARE FIRST PUZZLED, THEN DELIGHTED. Synopsis. At the beginning of the world war Capt. Athelstan King of the British Indian army and of Its secret service, Is ordered to Delhi to meet Yasmlnl, a dancer, and go with her to Elnjan to meet the outlaws there who are said by spies to be preparing for a Jihad or holy war. On his way to Delhi King quietly foils a plan to assassinate him and gets evidence that Yasmlnl is after him. He meets Rewa Ounga, Yasmlni's man, who says she has already gone north, and at her town house witnesses queer dances. Ismail, an Afridl, be comes his body servant and protector. He rescues some of Yasmlni's hillmen and takes them north with him, tricking the Hangar into going ahead. The Hangar deserts him at a dangerous time. He meets hid brother at All Masjld fort CHAPTER VIII Continued. The packs were' laid on the ground, and the mules shook themselves, while the jackals that haunt the Khyber came closer, to sit in a ring and watch. King dug a flashlight out of one of the packs, gave it to Ismail to hold, sat on the other pack and began to write on a memorandum pad. It was a minute before he could persuade Ismail that the flashlight was harm less, and another minute before he could get him to hold it still. Then, however, he wrote swiftly. In the Khyber, a mile below you. Dear Old Man I would like to run In and see you, but circumstances don't permit. Several people sent your their regards by me. Herewith go two mules and their packs. Make any use of the mules you like, but store the loads where Z can draw on them in case of need. I would like to have a talk with you before taking: the rather desperate step I in tend, but I don't want to be seen enter ins r leaving- All Masjld. Can you come doro the pass without making- your In tention known T It is growing- misty now. It cught to be easy. My men will tell rou where I am and show you the way. Why not destroy this letter? Athelstan. He folded the note and stuck a post age stamp on it In lieu of a seal. Then be examined the packs with the aid of the flashlight, sorted them and ordered two of the mules reloaded. "You three !" he ordered then. "Take the loaded mules into All Masjld fort Take this chit, you. Give it to the sahib in command there." "To hear is to obey I" said the near est man. They took the mules' leading reins and before they had gone ten paces were swallowed in the mist that had begun to flow southeastward. The night grew still, except for the whim pering of jackals. Ismail came nearer and squatted at King's feet. Darya Khan came closer too. King had tied the reins of the two horses and the one remaining mule together in a knot and was sit ting on the pack. Solemn, almost motionless, squatted on their hunkers, they looked like two great vultures watching an animal die. They sat in silence for five minutes. Then suddenly the two hillmen shud dered, although King did not bat an eyelid. Din burst Into being. A volley ripped out of the night and thundered down the pass. "How-utt! Hukkums dar?" came the Insolent challenge half a minute after It the proof positive that All Masjid's guards neither slept nor were afraid. A weird wall answered the chal lenge, and there began a tossing to and fro of words, that was prelude to a shouted invitation: "Ud-vance-f rrrennen-orsss-werrul !" English can be as weirdly distorted as wire, or any other supple medium, and native levies advance distortion to the point of art; but the language sounds no less good In the chilly gloom of a Khyber night. Followed another wait, this time of half an hour. Then a man's foot steps a booted, leather-heoled man, striding carelessly. Not far behind him was the softer noise of sandals. The man began to whistle "Annie Laurie." "Charles? That you?" called King. "That you, old man?" A man In khaki stepped Into the moonlight. lie was so nearly the Im age of Athelstan King that Ismail and Darya Khan stood up and stared. Athelstan strode to meet him. Their walk was the same. Angle for angle, line for line, they might have been one man and his shadow, except for three quarters of an inch of stature. "Glad to see you, old man," said Athelstan. "Sure, old chap !" said Charles ; and they shook hands. "What's the desperate proposal?" asked the younger. "I'll tell you when we are alone." His brother nodded and stood a step aside. The three who had taken the note to the fort came closer partly to oall attention to themselves, partly to claim credit, partly because the outer alienee frightened them. They elbowed Ismail and Darya Khan, and one of them received a savage blow in the stomach by way of retort from Ismail. Before that could start an ex plosion Athelj "Ismail 1 'A the pass out watch! Corned tljus but no sod trfered. "men. Go down on I lr oAn i I whistle He put fingers between his teeth and blew until the night shrilled back at him. Ismail seized the leather bag and started to obey. "Leave that bag. Leave It, I say 1" "But some man may steal it, sahib. How shall a thief know there Is no money in it?" "Leave it and go I" Ismail departed, grumbling, and King turned on Darya Khan. "Take the remaining men and go up the pass!" he ordered. "Stand out of earshot and keep watch. Come when I whistle!" "But this one has a bellyache where Ismail smote him i Can a man with a bellyache stand guard? His moaning will betray both him and me!" ob jected "Lord of the Rivers." "Take him and go!" commanded King. "But " King was careful now not to show his bracelet. But there was something In his eye and in his attitude a subtle, suggestive somethlng-or-other about him that was rather more con vincing than a pistol or a stick. Darya Khan thrust his rifle's end into the hurt man's stomach for encouragement and started off In the mist "Come and ache out of the sahibs' sight!" he snarled. In a minute King and his brother stood unseen, unheard in the shadow by a patch of silver moonlight Athel stan sat down on the mule's pack. "Well?" said the younger. "Tell me. I shall have to hurry. You see I'm in charge back there. They saw me come out, but I hope to teach 'em a lesson going back." Athelstan nodded. "Good 1" he said. "I've a roving commission. I'm or dered to enter Khlnjan caves." His brother whistled. "Tall order 1 "What's your plan?" "Haven't one yet Know more when I'm nearer Khinjan. You can help no end." "How? Name it!" "I shall go in disguise. Nobody can put the stain on as well as you. But tell me something first Any news of a holy war yet?" His brother nodded. "Plenty of talk about one to come," he said. "We keep hearing of that lashkar that we can't locate, under a mullah whose name seems to change with the day of the week. And there are everlasting tales about the 'Heart of the Hills." "No explanation of 'em?" Athelstan asked him. "None! Not a thing!" "D'you know of Yasmlnl?" "Heard of her, of course," said his brother. "Has she come up the pass?" nis brother laughed. "No, neither she nor a coach and four." "I have heard she's up the pass ahead of me," said Athelstan. "She hasn't passed All Masjld I" said his brother, and Athelstan nodded. "Are the Turks In the show yet?" asked Charles. "Not yet. But I know they're ex pected In." "You bet they're expected in 1" The young man grinned from ear to ear. "They're working both tides under to prepare the tribes for It. They flatter themselves they can set alight a holy war that will put Timour Hang to shame. You should hear my jezailchies talk at night when they think I'm not listening !" "The jezailchles'll stand though," said Athelstan. "Stake my life on it!" said his brother. "They'll stick to the last man I" "I can't tell you," said Athelstan, "why we're not attacking brother Turk before he's ready. But my job Is to help make the holy war seem unprofit able to the tribes, so that they'll let the Turk down hard when he calls on 'cm. Every day that I can point to forts held strongly In the Khyber is a day In my favor. There are sure to be raids. In fact, the more the merrier, provided they're spasmodic. We must keep 'em separated keep 'em swarm ing too fast while I sow other seeds among 'em." His brother nodded. Sowing seeds was almost that family's hereditary job. Athelstan continued: "Hang on t All Masjld like a leech, old man! The day one raiding lash kar. gets command of the Khyber's throat, the others'll all believe they've won the game. Nothing'll stop 'em ! Look out for traps, smash 'em on sight. But don't follow up too far I" "Sure," said Charles. "Help me with the etaln now, will you?" With his flashlight burning as if Its battery provided current by the week Instead of by the minute, Athelstan dragged open the mule's pack and pro duced a host of things. He propped a mirror against the pack and squatted in front of it Then he passed a lit tle bottle to his brother, and Charles attended to the chin-strap mark that would have betrayed him a British of ficer in any light brighter than dusk. In a few minutes his whole face was darkened to one hue, and Charles stepped back to look at it "Won't need to wash yourself for a month 1" he said. "The dirt won't show !" He sniffed at the be tie. "But that stain won't come off if yon do wash never worry I YouH do finely." "Not yet, I won't!" said Athelstan, picking up a little safety razor and be ginning on his mustache. In a min ute he had his upper Up bare. Then his brother bent over him and rubbed in stain where the scrubby mustache had been. After that Athelstan unlocked the leather bag that had caused Ismail so much concern and shook out from it a pile of odds and ends at which his brother nodded with perfect under standing. The principal item was a piece of silk forty or fifty yards of it that he proceeded to bind into a turban on his head, his brother lending him a guiding, understanding finger at every turn. When that was done, the man who had said he looked In the least like a British officer would have lied. One after another he drew on native garments, picking them from the pile beside him. So, by rapid stages he de veloped into a native hakim by creed a converted Hindu, like Rewa Gunga one of the men who practice yunani, or modern medicine, without a license and with a very great deal of added superstition, trickery and guesswork. "I wouldn't trust you with a ha'pen ny!" announced his brother when he had done. "The part to a T." "Well take these Into the fort for me, will you?" His brother caught the bundle of discarded European clothes and tucked them under his arm. "Now, remember, old man ! We've got to hold the Khyber, and we can't do It by rid ing pell-mell into the first trap set for us! Be a coward, if that's the name you care to give it You needn't tell me you've got orders to huut skirmish ers to a standstill, because I know bet ter." "How d'you know better?" "Never mind I I've been seconded to your crowd. I'm your senior, and I'm giving you orders. Hit hard when you have to, but for God's sake, old man, ware traps !" "All right," said his brother. "Then good-by, old man 1" "Good-by, Athelstan !" They stood facing and shook hands. Where had been a man and his reflec tion in the mist, there now seemed to be the same man and a native. Athel stan King had changed his very na ture with his clothes. He stood like u native moved like one ; even his voice was changed, as if like the actor who dyed himself all over to act Othello he could do nothing by halves. " 'By, Charles !" Officers in that force are not chosen for their clumsiness, or inability to move silently by night His footsteps died in the mist almost as quickly as his shadow. Before he had been gone a minute the pass was silent as death again, and though Athelstan listened with trained ears, the only sound he could detect was of a jackal cracking a bone fifty or sixty yards away. CHAPTER IX. King repacked the loads, putting everything back carefully into the big leather envelopes and locking the empty handbag, after throwing in a few stones for Ismail's benefit. Then he went to sit in the moonlight with his back to a great rock and waited there cross-legged to give his brother time to make good a retreat through the mist. When there was no more doubt that his own men, at all events, had failed to detect the lieutenant he put two fingers In his mouth and whistled. Almost at once he heard sandals come pattering from both directions. As they emerged out of the mist he sat silent and still. It was Darya Khan who came first and stood gaping at him, but Ismail was a very close sec ond, and the other three were only a little behind. For full two minutes after the man with the sore stomach had come they all stood holding one another's arms, astonished. Then "Our sahib King sahib where is he?" asked Ismail. "Gone !" Even King's voice was so completely changed that men who had been reared amid mutual suspicion could not recog nize it. "But there are his loads! There is his mule!" "Here Is his bag!" said Ismail, pouncing on it, picking it up and shak ing it "It rattles not as formerly! There is more in it than there was !" "His two horses and the mule are here," said Darya Khan. , "Did I say he took them with hira? asked the hakim, who sat still with his back to a rock. "He went because I came! He left me here in charge 1 Should he not leave the wherewithal to make one comfortable, since I must do his work? Hah! What do I see? A man bent nearly-double? That means a bellyache I Who should have a belly ache, when I have potions, lotions. balms to heal all ills, magic charms and talismans, big and little pills and at such a little price I So small a price! Show me the belly and pay your money ! Forget not the money, for nothing is free except air, water and the Word of Godl I have paid money for water before now, and where is the mullah who will not take a fee? Nay, only air costs nothing! For a rupee, then for one rupee I will heal the sore belly and forget to be ashamed for taking such a little fee!" "Whither went the sahib? Nay- show us proof 1" objected Darya Khan ; and Ismail stood back a pace to scratch his flowing beard and think. "The sahib left this with me!" said King, and held up his wrist The gold bracelet Rewa Gunga had given him gleamed in the pale moonlight "May God be with thee I" boomed all five men together. King jumped to his feet ,so sudden ly that all five gave way in front of him, and Darya Khan brought his rifle to the port "Hast thou never seen me before?" he demanded, seizing Ismail by the shoulders and staring straight into his eyes. - "Nay, I never saw thee !" "Look again !" He turned his head, to show his face in profile. "Nay, I never saw thee!" "Thou, then! Thou with the belly! Thou! Thou!" They all denied ever having seen him. So he stepped back until the moon shone full in his face and pulled off his turban, changing his expression at the same time. "Now look I" "Ma'uzblllah I (May God protect us!)" "Now ye know me?" "Hee-yee-yee I" yelled Ismail, hug ging himself by the elbows and begin ning to dance from side to side. "Hee- yee-yee! What said I? Said I not so? Said I not this is a different man? Said I not this Is a good one a man of unexpected things? Said I not there was magic In the leather bag? I shook it often and the magic grew ! Hee-yee-yee ! Look at him ! See such cunning! Feel him! Smell of him! He is a good one good !" Three of the others stood and grinned, now that their first shock of surprise had died away. The fourth man poked among the packs. There was little to see except gleaming teeth and the white of eyes, set in hairy faces in the mist But Ismail danced all by himself among the stones of Khyber road and he looked like a bearded ghoul out for an airing. "Hee-yee-yee ! She smelt out a goo-' one! Hee-yee-yee! This Is a ma;. In a i-c. ...j Whole Face Was Darkened to One Hue, and Charles Stepped Back to Look at It after my heart! Hee-yee-yee! God preserve me to see the end of this! This one will show sport ! Oh-yee-yee-yee 1" King watched the faces of the other four men. ne saw them slowly waken to understanding of what Ismail meant by "worker of spells" and "magic in the bag" and knew that he had even greater hold on them now than Yas minl's bracelet gave him. "Ma'uzblllah I" they murmured as Is mail's meaning dawned and they recog nized a magician in their midst. "May God protect n !" "May protect me! I have need 4 of it!" said King. "What shall my new name be? Give ye me a name! Khan Is a title of respect Since I wish for respect, I will call myself Khan. Name me a village the first name you can think of quick !" "Kurram," said Ismail, at a hazard. "Kurram is good. Kurram I am! Kurram Khan is my name hencefor ward! Kurram Khan the dakitar!" "But where is the sahib who came from the fort to talk?" asked the man whose stomach ached yet from Ismail and Darya Khan's attentions to it "Gone 1" announced King. "He went with the other one I" "Went whither? Did any see him go?" "Is that thy affair?" asked King, and the man collapsed. It is not considered wise to the north of Jamrud to argue with a wizard, or even with a man who only claims to -be -one. ' This was a man who had changed his very nature almost under their eyes. "Even his other clothes have gone I' murmured one man, he who had poked about among the packs. "And now, Ismail, Darya Khan, ye two dunderheads! ye bellies without brains! when was there ever a daki tar a hakim, who had not two assist ants at the least? Have ye never seen, ye biinder-than-Dats now one man holds a patient while his bolls are lanced, and yet another makes the hot iron ready?" "Aye! Aye!" They had both seen that often. "Then, what are ye?" They gaped at him. Were they to work wonders too? Were they to be part and parcel of the miracle? Watch' ing them, King saw understanding dawn behind Ismail's eyes and knew he was winning more than a mere ad mirer.'' He knew it -might be days yet might be weeks before the truth was out but it seemed to him that Ismail was at heart his friend. And there are no friendships stronger than those formed in the Khyber and beyond no more loyal partnerships. The 'Hills' are the home of contrasts, of blood feuds that last until the last-but-one man dies, and of friendships that no crime or need or slander can efface. If the feuds are to be avoided like the devil, the friendships are worth hav ing. There is another thing ye might do," he suggested, "if ye two grown men" are afraid to see a boll silt open. Always there are timid patients who hang back and refuse to drink the medicines. There should be one or two among the crowd who will come forward and swallow the draughts eagerly, In proof that no harm results. Be ye two they!" Ismail spat savagely. "Nay! Bimlllahl Nay, nay! I will hold thetu who have boils, sitting firmly on their bellies so or between their shoulders thus when the bolls are behind! Nay, I will drink no draughts! I am a man, not a cess pool I" And I will study how to heat hot irons I" said Darya Khan, with grim conviction. "It is likely that having worked for a blacksmith once, I may learn quickly! Phaughghgh! I have sted medaceen ! I have drunk ADsin (Epsom salts)." ;e spat, too, in a very fury of remi- .s.oence. "Good !" said King. "Henceforward, then, I am Kurram Khan, the dakitar, and ye two are my assistants, Ismail to hold the men with boils, ajad Darya Khan to heat the irons both of ye to be my men and support me with words when need bel" "Aye!" said Ismail, quick to think of details, "and these others shall be the tasters 1" "We will not drink the medicines!" announced the man who had a stom ach ache. "Nay, nay!" But Ismail hit him with the back of his hand in the stomach again and danced away, hugging himself and shouting "Hee-yee-yee I" until the Jackals joined him in discontented chorus and the Khyber pass became full of weird howling. Then suddenly the old Afrldi thought of something else and came back to thrust his face close to King's. ' "Why be a Rangar? Why be a Raj put, sahib? She loves us hillmen bet ter!" "Do I look like a hlllman of the 'mils'?" asked King. "Nay, not now. But he who can work one miracle can work another. Change thy skin once more and be a true Hlllman!" "Aye !" King laughed. "And fall heir to a blood-feud with every second man I chance upon ! Better be a converted Hindu and be despised by some than have cousins in the 'Hills'! Is that clear, thou oaf?" "Aye J Thou art more cunning than any man I ever met!" The great Afridl began to rub the tips of his fingers through his straggly beard In a way that might mean any thing, and King seemed to draw con siderable satisfaction from It, as If it were a sign language that just then he needed a friend, and he certainly did not propose to refuse such a useful one. ' "And," he tdded as if it were an afterthought, instead of his chief rea son, "If her special man Rewa Gunga is a Rangar, and is known as a Ran gar throughout the Hills, shall I not the more likely win favor by being a Rangar too? If I wear her bracelet and at the same time am a Rangar, who will not trust me?" True!" agreed Ismail. 'True! Thou art a magician !" But the moon was getting low and) Khyber would be dark sfnln in half an hour, for the great rags in te dls- "Kurram Kahn Is My Name Hencefor ward! Kurram Khan the Dakitar I" tance to either hand shut off mors) light than do the Khyber walls. The mist too, was growing thicker. It was time to make a move. King rose. "Pack the mule and bring my horse!" he ordered and they hur ried to obey with alacrity born of new respect Darya Khan attending to the trimming of the mule's load in person instead of snarling at another man. It was a very different little escort from the one that had come thus far. Like King himself, it had changed its very nature in fifteen minutes! They brought the horse and King laughed at them, calling them idiots men without eyes. "I am Kurram Khan, the dakitar, but who in the 'Hills' would believe ltl Look now look ye and tell me what Is wrong?" He pointed to the horse, and they stood in a row and stared. -"The saddle?" Ismail suggested. "It Is a government arrficer's saddle." "Stolen!" said King, and they nodded. "Stolen along with the horse 1 "Aye !" "Shorten those stirrups, then, six holes at the least ! Men will laugh af me if I ride like a British arrficer 1" "Aye !" said Ismail, hurrying to obey, "Now," he said, gathering the rein and swinging Into the saddle, "wh knows the way to Khlnjan?" "Which of us does not?" "Ye all know It? Then ye all are border thieves and worse ! No honest man knows that road ! Lead on, Darya Khan, thou Lord of Rivers ! Forward march 1" So Darya Khan led the way with his rifle, and King's face glowed in ciga rette light not very far behind him as he legged his horse up the narrow track that led northward out of the Khyber bed. It would be a long time before he would dare smoke a cigar again, and his supply of cigarettes was destined to dwindle down to nothing before that day. But he did not seem to mind. "Cheloh !" he called. "Forward, men of the mountains! Kuch dar nahln hal I" Thy mother and the spirit of a fight were one I" swore Ismail just in front of him, stepping out like a boy going to a picnic. "She will love thee ! Allah ! She will love thee ! Allah ! Allah 1" The thought seemed to appal him. For hours after that he climbed ahead In silence. Comes the big adventure for King he arrives at the entrance to Kinjan caves and learns he must prove he has slain an Eng lishman before the guard will admit him. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Hailstorm Insurance In Germany. Hailstorm insurance is more exten sively carried on In Germany than In any other country. During the last 45 years the German hail insurance companies have collected the enormous sum of 1,144,799,000 marks (mark 23.8 cents), in premiums, and have paid out 902,420,000 marks in indenl. ties. During the year 1915 the com panies realized a profit of 7,999,9711 marks, which was much In excess of their average earnings, and the busi ness of the year showed an increase in insured values of 404.00C K) marka Scientific American.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 1918, edition 1
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