Newspapers / The Franklin Times (Louisburg, … / Feb. 6, 1920, edition 1 / Page 2
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SWAM3 RAM'S REINCARNATION By FRANK fiUGHTON CoPTrifht CHAPTER IV. Pacheco*s Death. "How did you get here?" demanded the magnate. n. , "The ways of my people are not the ways of yours, sahib. Did you not give me permission to come? And who am I that I sBould presume to dlaobejr you?or the gods?"/ . "The gods?" f "Vishnu and Siva," salaamed the Hindu. "They, too, are here. Has the sahib 'never read the lines of ona. of his own people? "Par or forpot to me la near: Shadow and sunlight ar? tbe same; The vanished soda 10 me appear. And one to me are shame and fame." "But lfs Incredible," returned the mine owner. "I rode my horse almost to death?and inere were times when I had all I could do to get through." - He gased, more and more mystified, at the gaunt figure who seemed to ha v? forgotten fatigue or hunger at the mere sight of him. Jltendra was naked to his loins, which were girded with a cloth almost the same hue as his body. His legs and feet were bare, and save for a thick something swathed about his neck and his snow-white tur ban, he was otherwise nude. It was Inexplicable?and the liKongrrlty of the poetry which the Hindu had quot ed, together with his devotion, added to the Amerlcan's^perplexlty. Then his eyes fell upon tie feet of the little brown man. ~ He was conscious of a swift, re morseful throb. The feet^were bare-? feet of a man' who has plodded across the flinty surface of the open country, who has unhesitatingly kept on through chaparral, woods; streams?the feet of a man unused to unremitting pursuit. Buck Williams gulped?there was a lump In his throat. "Ynn tin VP fnlimrpd ma nil of these nine days?afoot?" he sternly de manded. "Yes, Sahib Buck," replied the Ori ental. "T~pray the sahib not to turn ?nwnv Ms fnep from thnt of his ?prv ant." "But I did not see you once." "I remembered the sahib's threat of punishment," meekly, returned Jiteu .dra. "But why?of course it's absurd even to think of It?but why in the devil didn't you work the occult stuff, Jltendra^thatjs, If you conld? I'm sorry to have caused you all this trou ble and worry. If you could send your astral body on ahead and then follow It?well, I wouldn't have cared. Why didn't you do that?" "Sahib, It Is not' permitted to In voke the powers of the gods when our own efforts will avail. Only when no other means are-at hand for deliver ance may I call upon Vishnu and Siva." There was nothing to be gained by discussion, Williams decided. Yet he could not Imagine In what manner the Oriental had anticipated his own ar rival. "You were ahead of me?" he asked; Jltendra bowed. "H<5w did, you knov this was,El Tigre? There are manj <>ther mines around these hills." The Hindu silently stretched his hand, pointing to the huge sign on the company store above tbem. The mine owner laughed. "It was a foolish question, wasn't it? I guess I'm almost too tired to think straight*. Well, we'd better be getting up to camp," continued Williams. - He dismounted stithy from the horse, and the^ other dropped lightly to the roadT meekly following In the rear. "I'm a man of my word, Jltendra; and while .I can't promise that you'll ever live long enough to resume your jour boys arrive from Cullacan. If you gel In bad, remember, I gave yon tho straight dope on this proposition, and don't blame me." A careful search of the premises dis closed no pseudo-lnsurreCtos in am bush. Williams, much relieved, permitted Jltendra to aid In carrying a supply of canned fCK)(l to his own house, a stout adobe building somewhat higher than the others, with its back against the till. His horse was picketed along side, ?hm the thl'li prnt'fi rnrpetnd the .slope, and a brook beyond obviated the necessity of fetching water up the steep ascent from the bed of the creek far below. The two ate ravenously, but Jiten dra scrupulously abstained from any thing except vegetables. He glanced at the American and fingered a can of condensed milk longingly. "Take it?there's lotsmore in the storehouse," said Williams kindly. Jltendra bowed his thanks and ripped oft the top with an opener. "In my country," he observed, "we drink thejnllk of the goat." - -8Bi?Back Williams. worn and weary, only half understood him. He relaxed In his chair and slept as sleeps a man who fe?U at last a degree of comparative safety after many perils. Once he fancied he heard the notes of a fife, bnt drpwsed off again, to dream of the invincible spirit of the men . of '76, who rebelled against op pression, laying down their lives that their descendants might enjoy the blessings of liberty. He saw vividly an army of soldiers In buff and blue, with cocked hats, marching across the muddy Rio Qrande, and before the stern and In domitable man who led them Manuel Pacheco and his ragged bandits fled precipitately. But the, dream passed; at least the phantasmagoria of the Continental army, vvith Washington at Its head, faded, wWle oddly enough, the fea tures of Pacheco persisted. Something was gripping his arms cruelly. Buck Williams tried to rise. He half leaped from the comfort able chair In which he had been sit ting. His heavy eyes widened.? Opposite him sat Manuel Pacheco himself, on his face an evil leer; and trussed- like a chicken In the comer was the Hindu, gazing mutely at him with a curiously Intent expression. "Welcome to El Tlgre, Senor Wil liams," sneered the ex-foreman. "I have been expecting you for some days." Buck Williams struggled futllely. A rawhide rlata had been looped around his elbows behind his back, throwing his shoulders so far out of place thai the pain was frightful. An other twi -t of the same lariat had angles be' -g left free. Natural : a man cf strong Impulses, Williams ceased to wrench at the in txornble thongs, but cursed his for-' mer mine foreman with expletives Of ? high dynamic quality. , Pagheco merely adjusted his heavy,' ^old-fringed epaulets and complacent ly patted away an Imaginary wrinkle in the neat blue COat he wore as he signaled to thi^ other mozoe, standing respectful# but curiously beyond the door._ , "Assist Senor Williams and his servant to horses," he curtly directed. ?It-was already snnrlse. Outside the house the (wq were securely bonnd to the animals, and the party started down the trail toward the coast. At the fork of the highway lending on the Left to Cuiiacan, they debouched to the right. "Where are you taking ns?" Im periously demanded El Tlgre's owner. ! "The commandanto at Zapatlllo de sires your presence, senor," leered Pacheco. "I'll get you for this, you greaser dog!" exclaimed the American. For answer Pacheco drove his horse between the animal Williams was rid ing and Jitendra"5rinonnt, leaned over' and struck the American a heavy blow across his unprotected face. Although half-blinded with rage at the blow, Williams an instant later felt p strange thrill of some event out of the ordinary. Pac:. co drew back, his brutish face wreathed in" a ^rin of fe rocious ?triumph; but the smile sud denly stiffened. He reeled in his saddle; a second later bis eyes al\.f-it f tari-vl irorn their sockets with asrory. His cigar-colored features grew purplish and n fleck ol foam rose to hi? rasping lips. His Bridle-liftnd relaxed; convulsive ly his legs drove the spurs on the high topped hoots into the sides of the horse he was riding. The animal reared, pawing the air with a peculiar and un accountable terror, and would have bolted had not oiie of the command grasped it by the reins. Buck WHiiams gazeflmu e outcry of the private* he scarcely heard. HP'dM not need their chorus of alarm to know that Pacheco was dying?was dead. Yet there had been nothing?abso lutely nothing?save only the quick bending of Jltendra's lean body in the captain's direction?a swift Inclination of the turbaned head at the instant following the cowardly blow. The sergeant, Jesus Corabado, vol leyed a command and tbe column halved, while the corpse of Manuel Pacheco was stripped of uniform and equipment. Following tj)e unique but simple Me?lenn Intuweeto method of promotion. Corabado donned the neat blue Jacket, with Its heavily fringed epaulets, and buckled the sword around trim. On the flame principle^ ? corporal substituted the former sergeant'*) coat tot hl^ own, and a private in his shirt sleeves pnt on the corporal's Jacket. "Volante!" cried the new captain. Tb* soldiers' closed In and the col umn moved forward. Manuel Pacheco that was lay rigid and stark on the caliche, gnzlng at the cerulean sky with fixed and sightless eyes. | Buck "William* rnrifed to~Took at Jl{endrfl- Tb^-tfrtTntar* face wag in-j si'rntnhU\ Ho was gaging straight ttH^TarTOTfflTTTTffTfEiTra'^j't^hojdtug; ni'HtO scene yet to emerge from the womb o{ time. They rode od for severa* miles, the American growing more and more per plexed. Something?from eomewiiere ?had annlhUated the man who hail vented his brutality In a contemptible blow upon the tace of one-power less to resist. Had Buck's hands been unbound, Manuel Pacheco, ex-foreman In the employ of the El Tigre mine, would never have dared to offer such ffir blTron? to its owner; no, not If he had been in the center of a regiment of disciplined troops instead of a mere company of ragged peons whose coun terfeit military air only heightened their ridiculous appearance and mag nified their ignorant swagger. They were ^banditti, not patriots; and their movements now were those of a body of half-terrified, yet revenge ful men actratcd by some intelligence superior to their own. Hie hideously sudden and unexplained death cf their previous commander had dased them. The more he thought, the more In comprehensible the whole affair ap peared to Buck Williams He knew Mexico. His acquisition of the min eral land on which El Tlgre was lo cated had been achieved during the last years of the Dlas regime. The very name of the mine itself had been derived from him. El Tigre sig nified. "The Tiger," and that name had fallen once from the lips of a thieving peon, who was overtaken and effectu ally chastised by Buck himself for stealing camp supplies in the early days of his operations. For^uc* was-named^1?*e-Ti*errt because of his Implacable fury when any attempt to victimise him was made by the subtle methods which Mexicans usually employ with a ?'gringo" un accustomed to their ways. Now "The Tiger" was bound fast to the back of a horse, en route to some tribunal of whose authority he was ig norant but of whose Judgments he could guess. Pacheo, of himself, would not have dared to presume to lay hands upon him, nor did the indolent Mexican foreman possess sufficient initiative to seize on a mining property of the mag nitude of El Tlgre unless with inspira tion from bigger minds than his. But Pacheco was dead?a bloated purple corpse?struck down almost at the in stant or his atrocious blow and hurlwl into the great unknown. Pacheco's death was, and forever would be, utterly baffling, Back WU II a ran knew?unless Jltendra could and would explain it. Ho turned to glance at the little Hin du^ with growing feeling of respect, bordering Oil' uw?.1 lie nullied llifet, while surrounding them, the soldiers were riding well away from Jltendra and himself. <1 , . The mysterious demise of their cap. tain had evidently not been withoUtltS" efTect. Buck wondered why Jltendra and himself had not been.shot down. ?I* must be becaose definite orders had been sent out both for his capture and disposition?otherwise the rifles of the bandit command would, ere this, have visited a death as.sudden, but by no means as mysterious, upon both. "Jltendra." whispered Williams. The Hindu turned. "What was It that killed. Pacheco?" "The vengeance of Vishnu, sahib," answered the other. *1 do not understand," replied the mine owner. He was a little Irritated to think that he. a .strong, lusty Ameri can, was inferior in resources for re sistance to his enemies, while a gaunt, emaciated, undersized atom bound as securely as himself to another horse, invoked apparently occult powers with such startling results. Jitendra's hands .were t?ed as were his own?he could see the flfcsh swell ing f.u the bony wrists where the taut_ rawhide was shrinking in the heat of the sun. "* . "The vengeance of Vishnu," at last he meehanicaly -r^peate.i. when th? HIndj had apparently failed to notice his remark. "Yes, Sahib Bu^'." , The squalid jjdobe structures of ZapatUlo were now clearly in vie'.7. The *tfldiers sat a ilttlr n^ore erect, olose^l theit j-atcjcd ranks into slightly stralghter Une>, aud the horses, sens ing a delayed meal, jawed forward st a swifter pace. Still J1 ten Ura did not vouchsafe any explanation.- Only at t??e gate s>t the words. He listened eagerly. The Hindu seemed to he charting, but the words were English: They reckon 111 who leave me out; When me they fly?I am the wlngt. X am the doubter and the doubt, _ And I the hymn the Brahmin sings. (TO BE CONTINUED) WANTED?A NEW HAM). The science of surgery has been de veloped to such a wonderful degree in the world war that a mother has ap pealed to the medical ?If-part men t at Frirt Sheridan to graft a notfThaml on a five months old cn'.ld t:;at war, bom * The chief surgeon reluctantly ad mits that science has not reachei that point. A new hand can not be furnish ed the little child now, hut who knows what the future may bring It? In five or ten years It T)e possi ble to amputate the stump of'tlie liv Ing rhll.l airtl graft on ti.?- han-i of a child?that has Just died. The time will undoubtedly, come when eurgloal GO TO THE STAR THEATRE ON SATURDAY FOR A FUNNY and EXCITING - PROGRAM GOOD COMEDY'S & WESTERNS Open From 2:00 O'clock Until 5:30 P. M. and 7:00 to 10:30 P. M. Watch The Poster Board in the POST OFFICE For Advanced Shows sciece will be a?le to accomplish even this wonder. During the civil war ma?y thousands of arms and legs were sawed off with out tho aid-ot an anagstnenc. Today such a thing Is never even considered. A few years ago the putting of a to^th wwas a fearful ordeal to the vic tim. Today whole sets are extracted without pain. The modern surgeon cuts a man op en. turns him inside out. cleans his or- j guns, sews mm up agaliy. and ill ft few* weeks the fellow is up and trying to 1 put one over on his competitor in busi ness. _ - . _ Tho ffnn/W?nf surgery are an great as to be almost unbelievable to the lay n>ii?di and yet it is only In Its infancy. Another great war will result in as great achievements In the development of the science as the one just closed, and It will not be at all surprising to see the hands of the dead grafted onto the shattered stumps or the living. Few things are impossible to the man of science who is determined to succeed. EXECUTOR'S NOTICE. Having this day qualified before the Clerk of the Superior Court of Frank lin County as Executor of W. L. Mc Ohee. deceased, I hereby JiQlily all per sons holding claims against said estate to present them to me withtn one year from the date hereof or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make settlement with me. This February 3rd. 102^, ?CLAUDE L. McGHEE. Executor 2'6-6t of W. L. McGhee, dec** ADMINISTRATORS NOTICE TO CREDITORS. Having qualified as administrator oi the estate of Miss Mary O. Dent, late d Franklin County, N. C., this is tc notify all persons having claims again st said estate to present them to the undersigned on or before the 3rd day of February, 1921, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted td said estate will please make immediate payment. Xhis 3rd day of-February, 1920. G. "C. SHAW, Adm'r. - 2-6-6t of Mary O. Dent. A Timely Help The face is often the first to betray a decline in strength. When you feel rundown and your fac? is colorless, the need for SCOTTS EMULSION is plainly evident Those who have tried Scoff's know its power to strengthen the body, enrich the blood and put the color back in the face. Don't be pale-faced? take Scott's Emulsion. i Jh<L?forrefiI,',n cod-IIver oil m?<| In Scott ? Emulsion fj mip*r-refitie<l In our o ton American Ijiborntoric*. Its puttty-?M*U quality iajioAurpasscj. 8cott & Bowue, Bloomfic Id, N. J. 1^-25 <~?cOlJ5i9 1VHM.4K.if.)?>! The H. C. L. and Clothes The best way to lower the high cost of liv ing in respect to clothes is to buy clothes thfft ybu know are thoroughly re'iable, from a store that has a reputation for fair and honest prices. We were very fortunate in buying our stock before the sharp advance In cunt Our present prices are not based on the higher Wholesale market today but *>n the prices we paid several months ago, with only a fair and honest margin of profit. We have a number of good values in blues, greys and mixed worsteds; it will pay you to see us before buying, because they will no doubt cost you more mo ney later. * ' OUR SPRING STETSONS HAVE ARRIVED McBrayer Clothing Co, "Everything for Daddy and the Boys" = NOTICE [and Owners! Our calls for land are over-reaching "the number of farms we have for sale. y WE WANT TO BUY LAND. ANY AMOUNT, ANYWHERE. Cash or time prices. Good prices naid. Sep RUFFIN REAL ESTATE CO. T. W. RUFFIN, Manager. Louisburg. N. C. Car reacly at all times for business The Car With a Half Million Dollar Motor. One of the easiest riding light cars on the mark et, and a car that won a silver cup on the miles made per gallon ot gas in the California Race. Cars on hand ready for immediate delivery $1.080 . .. - WANTED! A good dealer in Franklin County for these cars.' Granville Motor- Comp'y Oxford, : North Carolina
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 6, 1920, edition 1
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