nmre on the path below missed he assured them that, ridiculous though It 3 (^as not a Rangar at all, bat She, ajaA footing and fell a dozen feet, only t< ) sounded, the British were actnally 1 iow anybody can ever have mistaken get up again and scramble os If a thou willing to forgive their enemies and 1 ler for a man, even In man’s clothe* hand devils were behind her, the Ran to pardon all deserters who applied for i ind with her skin darkened, was be- gar riding her grimly, like a jockey ii 1 pardon on condition of good faith in j ond the sentry’s power to guess. He a race. Three more shocks followed the future. i or one, etc. But nobody be- of A great slice of Khinjan suddenl; T That they prayed to Allnli like little 1 leved that part of his tale. the smoke am 3 children lost and found. The women King Khyber caved in with a roar, and As Yussuf bln All said over the tuna crooned to their babies dust burst upward through the love-songs over < •ampflre up the Khyber later on, the bling crust. clear tires and the men talked— 'When she sets out to disguise her- and ^ There was a pause after that, as 1 r talked—and talked until the stars elf, she Is what she will be, and he as moons to and Romance of Adventure the waiting elements were gatherln grew big weary eyes vho says he thinks otherwise has two RlfleS minutes watche i they slept at last, to dream of khaki strength. For ten they I ougues and no conscience 1” Rewa i uniforms and karnel sahibs who knew and scarcely breathed. Gung What Is surely true Is that the four dismountinf neither fear nor favor and who said By TALBOT MUNDY gained the summit and, < >f them—Yasmlnl, the general, Cour» Copyrieht by the stood with the reins over hi 3 things that were so. It is a mad world Bobb.-Merrill Comp.ny by King i enay and King—sat up all night In * mare blown to d J to the Himalayan hlllmnn where men arm. The was too •oom In the fort, talking together, but stand and tremble. An 1 in authority tell truth unadorned with- XXI—Continued. anything vhlle a succession of sentries over- CHAPTER getting even by out shame and without consideration— condemning the lot 01 “And what does she intend?” Kin* ; King was too enthralled to do anythin i drained their ears to hear ■—13— them to endeavoring death. “An eye for the risi but stare. a mad, mad world, and perhaps tgo ex- of asked him suddenly. i hrough keyholes. And the sentries But out of the corner his eye, an' I °f otic to eye!” say the “Hills.’ “That is what a woman can do fo r be wholesome, but pleasant back delifc jin unforgiving “She? Ask Allah, who put the spin I »eard nothing and Invented very much. once or twice by looking If one of us should while the dream lasts. go back lntc in her! How should I know?” a man!" said Rewa Gunga grind: But Partan the who King saw that Ismail wa 5 his Singh, Sikh, erately, camp now he would ■ all th e OVer in the fort be tortured “We will “She set a fuse and exploded Courtenay placed ( 'arried In bread and cocoa to them at the members of his new ban' 1 Be march again, my brothers!' taking sure of that.” of it! Th B a bath nt and lent him dynamite. There were tons King’s disposal i ibout five the next and one and whispering to then King shouted, and they streamed alonj : morning, one by Breathing in one o 3 clean clothes and a razor. But he was deeply the darkness behind galleries must have fallen in, ] ’ound them still heard he said was a mystery, but a 3 him, now with no advance talking, King What they nodded, as if the dark had the other! A thousand men diggin ? not very cordial. eyes guard, but with the Orakzai Pathai i i my. “So, in my sir, there’ll talked each man looked at Kins; Ismail s opinion, they chin drove a fraction for a could never t “Tell me all the war news!” said deepei beside with ! , thousand years gt I >e no In these There’ll the more they talked the bette r into striding King’s horse, jihad parts. And his shoulder. into and the wa y King, splashing in the tub. And Cour- great hand on the saddle. Like tin Khinjan now, only je of course, but seemed. And as the da, 7 Now sporadic raids, they ye know—for all men know— out is Enrth’s Drink ! She bad e tenay told him, passing him another pleased others, he seemed decided in his mint S down i a can’t deal with. The on the more deferential 7 that lothlng brigade wore the; the entrance into 1 I cake of soap when the first was fin- Khinjan caves if that the hakim i me come and bid you goodby, sahib. leart of the war’s torn out and if wanted t > ought not to be allowet holy By midday King free to any man who can but sh e ished. After all, there was not much grew. tel! a li< much chance to would have stayed in there, :hrown there were three at least t ) without escape. to away.” dismount flinching. It is the way ou commanded me. She said, ‘Tell Kin ? tell—butchery in Belgium—Huns Just as the dawn was tin said the “You his stirrup and ten to help hie 1 a8a'ri that is tinting and “Very well,” general. hold not free. How many mer sahib love was true. Tell him I guns—and the everlastingly glori- with softest rosi my ’an go the and do know surrounding peaks ous stand that up Khyber again Join mount again. ye that have entered ant give him India and all Asia tha t saved Paris and France they a and pour Four thousand men with women am 1 never topped ridge, Khinjan la; and regiment.” returned?” were at my mercy !’ Europe. below them across the mile-wide bone But that time the tur- and baggage do not move s 1 all to the cables our men are by Rangar’s children They nodded again. It was com While the Rangar spoke there cam e “According as one man or a dry valley. And while they watched ban was on again and the tears were swiftly dozen, espe mon in swift su< going the records one better. I think knowledge that Ivhinjan was £ and the ) three more earth tremors in the “Hills,” where ? Khinjan men were beginnin; that’s dry, and It was Partan Singh who dally disciplin very graveyard of the and a thunder out of a all,” said Courtenay. presumptuous to murmur no las cession, Khinja beneath a man’ 9 (for they needed Is reckoned proud “She has set a for as if the “Hills” were t o “Then why the stiffness?” asked trap the mullah view of the to very coming There were many miles to g J She place satisfy any long am I talked to at the honor. will let him and all his men entei an end. The mare grew frantic an A King. “Why ings!) none else than Ismail rose fron , when fell am ! end of a before Khinjan night and will never let them out the summoned six men to hoi i3 tube, so to speak?” again!’ behind a rock and came to stir Rangar mullah bade them camp. He bad King’s “You’re under the “How knowest thou?” 1 her. arrest!” said Courte- This fron rup. He and hi , because would hav J tugged King backed them camp they two men, one on either over the of Khii i- nay. hand. horse until stood aparl Suddenly, right top it otherwise in any case. they together “The deuce I am done “Was I never In jan’s where the eaglf s 1” Khinjan caves?” hi “She sends this said Is upper rim, only the meal was eaten • message,” “I’m care of to When evening retorted. “Whence ever perched, there burst a column c f taking you myself came I? I am hei his mos t had been set at van mail, showing teeth in the obviate the and sentries every man, sent to water, that for a necessity of putting a sen- help trap the mullah! that the “Hills' immeasurable, huge, there came another orde peculiar grin surely on over tage point, would have all of moment blotted out the sun. It ros e try guard you.” trapped you, but foi ever witnessed. of her men the mullah. The women am r “Many “Good of I’m sure. What’s it from weary of these ‘Hills’ sheer upward, curved on itself, and fe >1 you, being and wish who have never been in the ar were to be left in nex ^ army, all about?” children camp ful to back in a million-ton on to Khinja Q go to India and be par none the less true to and she wil I deluge dawn, and to remain there until sen 1 her, “I don’t mind telling you, but I’d doned! That is I 1 and into Khinjan vnlley, hissing an d who am! That h not leave them to the mullah’s mercj for. There was murmuring at tha t how I know!” roaring and thundering. rather you’d wait. The minute you will leave the caves in a littl | the and They were word was wired down to around camp, especially amonj Their Earth’s Drink had been blocked b v sighted breath came and went sibi while, and will come up here. The; King’s contingent. But King laughed the and had found a new wa headquarters, and the general himself lantly, and the darkness was alive witl i are explosion 7 to go down Into India and be mad will “It is good!” he said. over the barrier before dow n be up here by train any minute." the excitement they thought them prisoners If the sirkar will not enlis t plunging “Why? How so?” they asked him ■ again into the bowels of the worl< I. “Very well,” said King. “Got a ci- selves too warrior-like to utter. them. You are to wait for them here. “Bid your women make for the Khy The one it made as it s gar? Got a black one? Blacker the “But what will she do then?” aske< I sky-ilung leap “Is that all her message?” Kin, better!” ber soon after the mullah marches to weight burst down a mountain wa somebody. asked him. morrow. Bid them travel down thi was to blot out foi He was out of his bath and remem- searched his and li enough Khinjan and King memory, That is none of it! This i 5 bered that minute that he had not Khyber until we they meet!” “Nay. ever, and what had been a dry, mlh a moment there came back to him i yAI_fcK> T/'vjfc her THOU SHALT IvNOV smoked a since “But—” message: wide moat was a shallow lake wit ti cigar leaving India. of the picture hurrying jezailchi hi THIS THOU ENGLISHMAN with “Please yourselves, sahibs!” Tin DAY, death’s rack and rubbish floating o 0 Naked, shaved, some of the stain had held up in the Khyber pass, anc He Said He Was Nearly Sure He hakim’s air was one of supremest in WHETHER OR NOT SHE TRUL1 the surface. removed, he did not look like a man in recollection of the man’s words. Heard “As for I ( LOVED THEE! THERE SHALL B1 trouble as he filled his with the Weeping. difference. me, leave n< The earth rocked. King was up o 1 lungs “Know he women behind me the mountains ye pot,” said, “that lonj PROOF SUCH AS EVEN THOI J smoke of a fat Trlchino- iu Ids feet in a second and faced abou saltpeterlsh threw most doubt on the tala she leave to all who ate sal sentry’s I am content.” ago gave UNDERSTAND!” poli. SJIALT The Rangar laughed. about the as the to be true to the salt? She thi golden hair. But, murmured a but gave Ismail slipped away and lost himsel f And then the general came and did They while, the: “So ends the ‘Heart of the Hills!’ sentry said, no doubt Partan Singh Khyber jezailchis leave to fight agains 1 not wait for gave the orders to their women, ant I among the men, and none of then he said. “Think of sahil >. King to get dressed but —I, .. 4- kindly her, was Jealous. King watched the women nod. seemed to notice that he had beei 1 She well 1” burst Into the bathroom and shook thought enough of you is no doubt whatever the will stand between no man and his1 There that Even as YasminI had tested him anc awav and had come again. It wras i l He hands with him while he was still laughed again and sprang on th e went back to Peshawur in the naked and general tried him before tempting him at last pardon!” little more than an hour after dawi 1 black and before coul a asked ten questions (like mare, King train at eight o’clock and that the “But will she lead a We will and the rocks were > a was she must be watching him now, foi jihad? chilled beginning t or raise n hand to him b e gatling gun) while King getting speak stop went with him in a separate not fight against her 1” warmer when the head of a on his answer Rangar even the East repeats itself. She hac grow pro was off at wondrous th B trousers, divining each speed along compartment with about a dozen hill- sent Ismail for that It was “Nay,” said King, drawing his breathi cession came out of Khinjan gate am I in the direction of the after the third word and waving the purpose. precipice Kh; men chosen from those who had in. Ismail’s chin felt like a knife! started toward them over the rest among that her course would or vallej her and India. Two of me D aside. , likely depend pass the come down with his collar and Ismail’si In all more than five hundred mei “And I King. his. If he failed, she was done witt against bone, who had come out of mounte d why am arrested, sir?” asked Kbinjan And it is was and about a hundred womei L the moment certain that before they him. If he succeeded in establishing s iron fingers clutched his arm. It emerged and spurred after him. King he could slip the to his to Dame For- and children. Then: in went King had a talk with the Bangs* strong position of his own, she woulc i time give hostage King collected his men and the won question edgewise. will down into India of In a room alone, of which converse* yield. With or without Ismail’s aid tune. “She go “Muhammad Anim comes!” shoutei I en and children. It was for the “Oh, yes, course. Try the case easy, 7 the use her influence in the matter of a voice from a here as well as tion, however, sentry reported aft- with or without his enmity, he musi and crag top. were numb from what they had wi anywhere. What does this mean?” erward that he did not overhear one control his eighty men and give th< the pardons!” They snuggled into better hiding nessed and dazed by fear. In half a n and he had to to the thou art a liar Out of his the word; go doctor slip to the mullah, and he went at onc« “I believe very great and there was no thought now of leav hour he had them mustered an a pocket general pro- with a cold in his ear at man who lacked duced a letter that that. He said about the best way to do both. indeed 1” said the part ing before the mullah should go by marching. smelt strongly of he was “The Pathan and a scent nearly sure he heard weeping; “We will go now," he said quietly of his nose. went, It needed an effort to quiet them whei i King recognized. He spread But on the other hand, those who saw “That sentry in yonder shadow has v he did not come back. What proof the mullah rose into view at last abov< CHAPTER XXIII. It out on a table, and King read. It both of them come out were certain his back turned. He has overeaten have we?” the rise and paused for a minute t< ) was Yasmini’s letter that she bad sent “If 1 down the that both were smiling. We will rush him and put good running : i “Ye have me!” said King. stare across at Khinjan before lead They reached the famishe a Khyber to make India too Khyber It is no how can I his four thousand down and on ■ hot to hold him. quite certain that Athelstaa between us and the mullah." show you proof, escape ing and were fed at Ali Masjid fort, aftt T ward. He was silent as an bu t “Too bad about said King went up the Khyber again, for Surprised into obedience, and too de you?” image, King had given a certain password an d your brother,” as to1 men the “The the official records say so, and they lighted at the prospect of action t< They all grunted agreement his roared like a river in flood am I had whispered to the officer commam I- general. body is burled. his elbow to hit Is- effort to them. How much is true never lie, especially in time of war. Hi wonder why they should obey a hakln that. King used he made no check ing. But he did not change Into El l- about the head?” the ribs. He did not dare for he had am I told him. rode a coal-black mare, and Courtenay so, they slung on their bandoliers anc mail in He dismounted, to, ropean clothes yet, and none of his fo l- King now was the time 1 “Where’s called him “Chikkl”—a “lifter.” made ready. Ismail brought up King's i speak to him; but tossed his reins to the nearest mai lowing suspected him of being an Enj she?” asked the general. Some the to horse and he mounted. And then ai for Ismail to carry information to her, with the air of an emperor. And hi i lishman. King did not answer. The general say Bangar went Delhi, his And after down cliffside withou t waited. Some say Yasmini is in Delhi. Soma King’s word all eighty made a sudder supposing that to be job. led the way the “A Rangar on a black mare has gon e Ismail rolled into a shadow like a mountaineer “I don’t sir.” say no. But it is quite certain that be- swoop on the drowsy sentry and tool a minute hesitation, striding down the pass ahead of you in a hu know, 1 him twenty men him “Ask the fore he started the him unawares. They tossed him ovei and was gone. King gave His followed noisily. ry,” they t, d him at Ali Masjid. “B e Itangar,” Courtenay sug- up Khyber King his men rest showed a brace- the cliff, too startled to scream ar minutes’ start, letting It was thirty minutes after the las t had two men with him and foo d gested. Courtenay great gold exercise their tongues. men had vanishes 1 “Where is he?” let that he had under his sleeve. Five alarm; and though sentries on eithei their legs and of the mullah’s enough. Only stopped long enough t o asked King. men saw him do it. hand heard them and shouted, thej Now that he was out of the mullah’s through the gate, and his own men ii i make his business known.” “Caught him coming down the Khy- Yasmini dozens and twenties were scattere* 1 “What did he his ber on his black mare and arrested And if that was Bewa were gone like wind-blown ghosts ol clutches—and he suspected say business is' really Ounga or in n the th" dead men before the mullah even knew would know of it within an hour asked King. him. He’s the next room 1 I hope general’s train, why was event— a he’s to be So that I can general so to him? And what was happening. two, and before dawn in any “He gave sign and said a wor d hanged. buy painfully polite in a the he added cvhy did Ismail Insist on in the They did not halt until not one ol he began to feel like a player game that satisfied us on that point 1” mare,” cheerfully. riding his “Oh!’’ said whistled to and train, instead of offer them could run another yard, Kinf ; of chess who foresees opponent King. “Can you elgm d King softly himself, accepting King’s down the the looked at him to go up the with him? trusting to his horse to find a footinf : mate in so many moves. pass?” general through Khyber half-closed One thing is very certain. King was along the cliff-tops, and to the men t< If Yasmini were to let the mullah “Surely.” eyes. and to at Jamrud?” “Go in and talk to him, Let right about the jihad. There has been find the way. and his men into the caves join “Courtenay King. would at “Yes. In there and me know the result.” ione in spite of all Turkey’s and Qep- forces with him in there, he charge growln s India tired of He had to the many’s efforts. There have been spo- CHAPTER XXII. least have time to hurry back to doing nothing.” picked King go up 'adlc “Signal down and ask him to hav e on that errand not for noth- raids, much as usual, but nothing with his eighty men and give warning. Khyber that bath for me He knew and he knew the >ne brigade could not easily deal “Whither?” one whispered to King have time to call up the Khy- ready that I spot t ing. King with, He might the 1 the caves about. Goodby.” symptoms. Without him press to the contrary notwithstand- “To Khinjan!’’ he answered; ant ber jezailchis and blockade answering he So he left Ali He went out of the room n
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