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DOUGLAS COUNTY SENTINEL. DOUGLASVILLE GEORGIA. FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1920.
Swami
Ram’s
Reincarnation
By FRANK BUCHTON
Copyright.
(Continued from last week)
! He wondered where Scotty was and I The world of strife and struggle, of np fi r j n p squaa. These will take
If he had succeeded in getting through ! bitter hate and burning discord, of , y<m t0 the yard ^ y on w m b e told that
to Culiacan along the coast route and I which he had been a part was blotted . any reasonable request of yours will
arousing the other Americans etill in 1 out. and, instead, there was only a be pran t e d. It may also be made to
that city until they realized the urgent j superlative sense of contentment, a appear 1hat ^ you are frce t0 depart.
necessity to stand together. But, even j divine peace, a sweet oblivion,
if he had, Buck could not reasonably
expect a rescue.
The time was too brief—he would
be shot at sunrise—unless Hardlnge
had lied.
Scotty might never learn where he
was until long after the execution. Be
sides that, a handful of Americans, no
matter how well armed and brave,
would have their- work cut out for
them, fighting from Culiacan to Za-
putlllio—thanks to the military organ
ization Moreno had built up with the
"All rignt! A roan about to be shot B y n( jicate’s generous subsidies.
Ian t altogether in a position to make “There’s one silver lining In all the
terms, Williams. Believe it or not— | cloudSt anyway,” mused Williams.
I can do what I’ve promised, and peo- ••p ac b* e co got his. That was a devilish ! talking about? Oh, I remember now—
plo who know me will tell you that 11 f unny thing—swift, sure annihilation. I it’s you, Jitendra, isn’t It?”
always do as 1 promise. It so happens , j wonder what killed him?” | “Yes, sahib, but delay not. The
that General Moreno will be quite will- , The door opened suddenly. An offl- night is yet young—by dawn thou must
inp to mitigate your senteuce In any j cer and a nien stood in the cor- be far from here.”
way I might request; but you don’t j ridor ! Unbelievingly the mine owner stag-
have to believe that, either, unless it, "Senor Williams!” called the man in gered to his feet. He tried to look
Butts you to do so. Weil, I’m going, i comman( ]. around the obscure interior of the cell.
‘‘Sahib Buck! Sahib Buck !”
Williams struggled in dazed fashion
to his knees.
Between his dream and the dark
ness he was so confused that he did
not realize where he was—or why.
Something cold, metallic, slender, was
forcing itself into his hands.
•There is little time, sahib,” hissed
the voice. ‘‘See—the door is open and
the gods granted thy request. Make
haste, I pray thee, and depart. Be
ware of the other who sits asleep just
within the gale of this place.”
W-w-who—what the devil are you
But. if so, be not deceived. You Will
never pass the gate alive.
“Behind, near the edge of the yard,
close to the building and directly over
an old drain, the six will stand with
rifles ready. As you near the gate you
will die by their shots. I have spoken
truth, senor, 1 swear it by the saints.”
“What is this drnin?—I do not un
derstand.”
“A very old, large, round pipe, senor,
once used to carry off waste, but now
abandoned. You may see the end
above the ground on the way to the
gate. It is not far from the enreel it
self where it comes up through the
ground, from there it runs along the
yard beneath where the soldiers stand.
Senor, 1 swear I have told you all—
will you now not take from me this
The first faint shimmer of the dawn and implacable blue eyes, upon his
was glinting the tops of the hills In the
east. The time for the execution was
near, and the Englishman determined
to observe the removal of, at least, one
possible impediment to his future
schemes.
“Five million dollars Is too big a
stake to take any more chances of
losing,” he muttered as he reached the
jail gate. “I might have known that
a resolute fighter like Williams would
be up to some trick—probably he
promised that guard enough pesos to
ferocious face a satyr’s smile of utter
contempt for danger, was riding at
the head of the cyclonic knot of men.
His smoking rifle told the story of
the Englishman’s passing.
Shrieking Mexicans scattered for
safety In every direction before that
whirlwind, tigerish assault—fleeing as
their forefathers had fled three gen
erations before when confronted by
fighting men of Anglo-Saxon blood.
With a venomous look of semisatis
faction, Buck Williams spurred his
foaming horse over Hardlnge’s corpse.
This foul air is giving me a headache.”
He turned nonchalantly away. Buck,
with a feeling of supreme despair,
tried to steady his voice for another
Question.
Williams rendered.
What do you want?” growled Buck. | Then he saw that the iron-bound oaken
“General Juan Moreno presents his , door lending into the corridor was j it to you »<
compliments and requires your pres- j open, as a draft of air cunie through, j “New, listen with care to my words
enre, with that of your servant.” j Near it two flaming points of light, j —f or on tIiein llie C1 . death for
The American squared his shoul- swaying rhythmically in the corner, , tliee » venomously hissed Jitendra,
ders, threw back his head, and strode blazed back at him. Buck stumbled to-1 i u , lv{ j n? so ( 0W tiint ids lips almost
statement impressed him as truthful, toward the open door. Jitendra. with-, ward them, groping blindly. ; touched those of the other man. “I
But he played bis last card with all out a word, rose and meekly followed, i Jltendra’s hand was on bis arm j f 0V that cigarette when 1
. with fixed, murderous the Hindu’s slender fingers bit down : <tart fol . t > u , g. lte# A nd, if I am given
d round the pair and on his biceps like steel tongs. _ I it not—well, it were better for thee
narmnge s
make him rich. If I'd been at all clever
I would have seen this thing through j straight into the jail yard,
myself, even if I had to walk that foul- j He shanily reined In the animal, a«
smelling corridor all night to make his inquisitorial eyes fell upon Jiten-
sure.” j dra’s turban. He leaped to the ground
He slipped Into the jail yard, heed-1 and picked up the discarded head
less of the glorious beauty of the new . dress.
day, just in time to see the frail figure j “Too late!” he groaned. “I was
of the Hindu as he emerged from the sure thut volley I heard was his finish,
building. | Great God! what hellish luck—five
.v*M .wu uvmv uui iu«.c nut« me im,. Jitendra was curiously calm—the I minutes more and I should have saved
strange, hideous monster with the 1 face of Buddha himself could not have , him!”
flaming eyes, ere 1 die?” | been more inscrutable, nor unmoved ; With a perplexed glance at the dead
“One more thing must I know,” Icily 1 b.v fear. He chanted something in a und dying soldiers clustered In or
replied the Hindu. “If I should ask of i low, clear tone as he passed Hardiuge , arouud the huge hole freshly gnashed
without a look of recognition. i in the earth, he remounted ajid rode
The agent for the United Kingdom | dejectedly through the gate.
Exploration company shivered. ) A man hurried up to him.
There was a quality In the timbre of i “Did you find him, Buck?”
that voice suggesting a mysterious, ! “He’s gone, Scott.v. But he evident-
malign presence—a sense of something 1 iy had company, for hell must have
hovering over and around the place of : broken loose in that jail yard—every-
death, invisible but, nevertheless, very body’s dead in there!”
reul. The words, too, were disquieting. “Gosh—that’s tough ! But why didn't
the corporal a cigarette—what then?”
“The oflicer in command would give
deta:
the coolness of a poker player who The file of i
has been called for his final chip. bayonets, c
“This other fellow, Hardlnge.’’—he the process:
jerked his rhumb toward the interior tier,
of the cell—“lie’s a British subject
and a stranger here, who thinks lie
owes me something because I pulled
him out of a train wreck near El Paso
on the way down. As a British sub
ject. yourself you won't mind notifying
the British ambassador he's hero—will
you—no matter what happens to me?”
“I certainly will not.” angrily snap
ped the syndicate agent. “What the
devil do you take me for—a nool?’’
“No,” drawled the American, with a
deliberation that brought a red flush
to the Englishman’s face, “not a fool.
Hardlnge, but a ctJd-blcoded, calcu
lating deg who will deliberately plan
to murder a rival to gain his ends.
Go cn with your fake court-martial,
you white-livered beast! I’d rather
welter in my own blood a thousand
times than give you the satisfaction of
putting over a thing like this—to rob
me and the men who have backed me
with their confidence and money.
Shoot—and be damned to you!”
He turned to savagely resume pac
ing his cell.
His furious anger at first kept him
from realizing the peril which Har-
dinge had depicted. He tried to be
lieve that such an atrocity would never
be permitted, even under the official
sanction of a provisional government,
such as the Englishman bad declared
to exist.
Then he suddenly remembered the
Indignation in El Paso the night he
had last started for El Tigre.
Men in the hotel were discussing the
latest dispatches from Washington—
ordering all Americans to leave Mex- •
Ico forthwith, after turning over to
the American consul in their locality a
list of the property they left behind.
Everyone thought the story im
probable at that time. It sounded al
together too ridiculous for belief. But
pow, in the fetid cell, with Hardinge’s
threats still ringing in his ears, the
mine-owner realized that it must be
true.
Because of this, the more he ana
lyzed the situation the more he felt
sure Hardlnge had voiced no idle
threat. If a New York gunman will
kill a man for a thousand dollars, why
Bhould HardiDge get squeamish now,
when Ills prize was five millions?
The syndicate agent had never
Bhown an oversupply of conscience,
and he would run little danger in a
country where anarchy had replaced
law and no one knew from one day
to another what might come next.
moved clown the eorri-
CHAFTER VI.
“Sahib,
Vishnu!
th
ngeance of ( t ) 1Rl .j ]CU Vi - er{ - nev0P born. If I receive j
n Y •” 1 U, and thou also obey me in what I j
He felt himself drawn forcibly aside j now
and thrust into the corridor. He j i;(R and ,
turned to glance at his friend. Two ; r , ru ,,
Strangely Set Free.
of light
than
no* to
gazed down at the
The Hindu was sit-
r of the coll, a dark-:
the gloom, save for
and ghuiming eyes.
•urMnnrtial wrs cou-
i: -lice had boon done,
•on in
been
whom
ear cf the p
“That is :
saints,
nstrate
other crimson, glaring point!
blazed back into his startled eye
these seemed suspended just abo
white turban which the Oriental
Like (' • so the mine owner had s
the cell corner, they might have
the angry orbs of the gods at
lie had scoffed.
Buck trembled. \ sjowly
A cold sweat streamed out on his f ore t j,' 0
prophecy verified in forehead. He at last realized that he ur j lS n \ 1f
was in the passage leading to the gate
be earcel, and in his hands was a
conn- rifle—the thing he had jestingly eom-
mlne- nianded the patient, little brown man
to secure for him through the exercise
of his occult powers.
“Hurry, Sahib Buck,” whispered
Jitendra ; “tarry not for me, for Vishnu
and Siva have me in their holy keep- j hereafter eoiue to tb
Ing. Go thou—and quickly!” | shirt.”
i?quire of thee—it shall be i
r to thee in the years to
.1 well, therefore, and fail
me in ah i shall commend
If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the rlain think he is slain,
They little know the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Jitendra paused, waiting meekly for
directions. The corporal in command
of the squad pointed tor,’art! the wall.
you bring him along with you last
night, Buck? The* hoys was on tho
way five minutes after we got the
news down in Culiacan yesterday aft
ernoon, and all Mexico couldn’t have
taken either you or him away from
“Your center
r word
served,
r. By the
do as yo
in the
blessed
,i have
persisted in
ibollt
n ti
ros bound to
u have sacrificed your-
following me into vli
try.” regretfully wc
owner. “I knew vh<
he trnubl
self uselessly.”
A paradoxical expression
over the Hindu’s face.
"What is to he, will be, Sahib Buck.
It is as Vishnu and Siva ordain—but
we are not yet dead.”
The reply irritated Williams,
wept
rear to
. may I depart?”
endra arose and stood be
er. The angry, crimson
orbs above the breast of the soldier
vanished, to reappear near the other
two above the Hindu’s turban.
“All men are brothers and thou art
mine.” resumed Jitendra. “To kill is
sin. Therefore, and Uecaus' thou hast
promised to do as I have commanded,
i bind upon thee the sacred symbols oi
Vishnu and Siva—that no harm may
Loose thy
senor. There is the path to the street.
The prisoner had not been bound.
! A:- the gate of the .kill yard swung
invitingly open the leering soldiers
parted their ranks, resting their rifles
; on the ground—assuming an air of
careless :rdifference, hut. nevertheless,
covertly watching the man.
! “They’re going to give him la ley
fuega,” shivered Hardiuge. ‘‘I guess
, Moreno’s got cold feet on his cotirt-
! martial sentence—don’t want to take
i chances ofl'.t iall
“I don’t know, Scotty. I was crazy,
I suppose. Ail I thought of was my
self—and getting back here to clean
up that dog Hardlnge. I remember
Jltendra’s saying something about
beating it quick, and that his gods
would keep an eye out for him.
Scotty. I can’t ever forgive myself—be
was a good scout.”
“He sure music been, Buck!” con
soled the superintendent. “But i
wouldn't—"
“Look what he did for me,” inter-
I wish V hiuUVt told ni l'b-d Williams. “He followed me al-
The cool, satiny rifle barrel sent a
thrill of madly intoxicating ecstasy
rioting through the American’s brain.
If Mr. Vishnu has any pull in this! Like the tiger, from whom he had been
precinct, I sure hope he’ll do some-j named, he padded stealthily along the
thing for you.” he sarcastically oh- short passage leading to the gate of
served. “I wouldn’t bother about send-1 the prison, filled with an angry veil
ing him any thoughtless messages,, geance.
Jitendra. If I knew Vishnu well! The sleeping sentinel was lolling in
enough I’d brace him for a good gun his chair. His weapon thudded down
and about fifty cartridges. Of course upon the head of the somnolent sol-
Moreno’s men might get me, but it dier, who rolled to the ground,
would be some satisfaction to have a Williams seized the ringed key from
little company across the river tomor- the guard’s inert fingers and thrust it
row morning. Do you suppose Vishnu
could slip us a .30-.30 in here, some-
Sahib Buck wishes a gun?”
“In the absence of anything that
will assist us both to dissolve and float
into the lock. The last barrier swin g
Inward, the soft breeze of the reful
gent night kissed his feverish face,
and he was blotted out by its protect
ing curtain.
Jalisingrao Jitendra squatted in the
, out of here through the keyhole—yes! corner of the cell from which the
—I’ll be very glad to have a gun. I’ve j American had so miraculously been re-
i heard how people in India grow plants; leased, and bent over the prostrate fig-
j from seeds under a cloth In a few min-' ure of the Mexican who had been cn
utos. Now, if you can pull off a stunt' guard in the corridor.
' like that, only grow me a gun instead; Back and forth on the breast of the
1 of a plant—one that won't miss fire or soldier, who lay rigidly upon his hack,
i j am cartridges in the magazine—I’ll swayed two sinister, menacing points
guarantee to make mighty good use of ( of crimson, and in perfect unison
it. Do you happen to have any gun-! swayed also two others upon the head
seeds or ammunition sprouts with j of the Hindu.
youT | “Wouldst thou have life?” sternly
Jitendra grew thoughtful. “Very ! demanded the little brown man of the
well. Will the sahib not first seek re- prostrate figure.
pose?”
Williams sneered.
“We’ll have plenty of sleep a little
after sunrise,” he remarked. “Why
waste the time now?”
“What says the Ancient Wisdom:
Sleep is a lake wherein the soul finds
Buck's thoughts looped back to the I fo0(1 ... po moly returned the other,
property. He recalled the covetous
lock on the face of Manuel Pacheco
the day Williams had personally fol
lowed a small “vug-bole” of ore into
a chamber which bad panned out a
cold fifty thousand—a sheer accidental
discovery made while drifting down
on the main “lead.”
No one could say how much El
Tigre would ultimately pan out.
He believed so thoroughly in the
property that he already regarded him
self as an embryonic millionaire.
‘In sleep many strange things come to
one—is it not so?”
The mine owner sat down with a
sardonic smile. Jitendra was chanting
softly. Even the proximity of death
had not changed him ki the slightest.
As Williams pondered and listened to
the regular tramp of the Mexican on
guard in the corridor, something of
the utter fatalism of life—or death—
came over him.
Why cry out or struggle against tht
inevitable? Sooner or later he must
was almost in striking distance of the j cer tainly pass from out the ferment of
five-hundred-foot level.
humanity, to lie forgotten in some
for fa 1
The groat vein was constantly wld- ; "q U i et corner. It might as well be now
enlng and growing richer. Once into
the main ore-body the values would be
fabulous.
As he thought it all over he cursed
himself for his fatuous blindness.
Pacheco had undoubt»dly been draw
ing double pay all the time he had | not be j y | n
been foreman. A Mexican is always ! lh
an uncertain, treacherous proposition.
He viil smile at you, and when you
turn knife you in the back without
warning if he thinks by so doing he
can get an extra peso to wager on a
cock-fight or spend for mescal.
“What a trio of crooks!” muttered
Buck, clenching his hands in futile
rage. “Pacheco tells Hardlnge liov
we are getting on with the develop
ment; Hardlnge goc. 7 : to the smelter,
bribes a clerk and gets copies cf our
liquidation sheets, confirming Pache
co's information; Moreno promises
Hardlnge El Tigre in return for finan
cing his revolution; Pacheco is made
a captain. All of the time I have been
digging a mine—not for Buchanan
Wiliams, liut for the United Kingdom
Exploration company—and the rain
ute I amble back here like a prize boob
I cinch the whole game for them.”
v His bitterness grew.
‘Si, senor!”
“Then heed well what I shall say,”
went on the other in cold, precise ac
cents. “If they wake to find Sahib
Buck gone, thou, instead of he, will
die. So, thou too must depart.”
He leaned closer to the man, whose
face was distorted with a hideous ter
ror. As the Mexican comprehended
the half-friendly attitude of the Hindu,
hope struggled with despair in hi6
eyes.
“Tell me, is it true that I, too, am
to die with the coming of the sun?”
The Mexican nodded. “But that,
senor, is not of my doing, nor is It in
my power to save you—unless you flee
with El Americano.”
"We shall see ” crisply returned the
Oriental. “Where is it that the killers
of men will work their evil powers
upon me if I remain?”
“In the yard of the carcel, senor.
They will tell you to go, that you are
free, and then as you near the gate to
pass through it they will fire at your
back.”
Jitendra pondered a moment, his
head inclined a little forward. He was
If he
as any other time, except for one thing
—El Tigre.
For an instant a flame of bittei
hatred blazed up as he thought of the
crafty Hardinge. Had it not been foi
that subtle, human scorpion he would debating what course to pursue.
this horrid hole, wait-; attempted to fiee now out into the
is which would terini-. night in- this unknown country, his
his ambitious life. swollen feet would be a terrible hand!-
t the M;t'.-rncss died away. cap. Even with a horse he would al-
r-dk'ge was only another puppet 1 most certainly be seen* overtaken and
a stuffed doll—like himself shot by the soldiers who swarmed
The quivering Mexican obeyed.
Something cold,' clammy, and unspeak
ably repugnant wrapped itself arouud
him.
“Thus does Siva enfold thee,” went
on the Oriental. “Never again canst
thou offeud the gods by causing the
death of any living thing.” His lithe
arm flung itself out In the darkness,
and again the shuddering Mexican ex- j
I orienced the sublimity of horror as j
his hot blood raced through his icy ,
body.
“With Vishnu, too, do I crown thee, |
brother. Now, if thou do but keep
tliy promise all will be well with thee.
But”—Jitendra paused significantly—
“ol this also he assured. If I die at
sunrise because thou hast lied, the
gods Vishnu and Siva die not with me,
but live on forever. Whither thou
goest, even if it were to the ends of the
earth, there Vishnu will pursue thee—
and Siva, too, will seek thee out 1”
CHAPTER VII.
Jitendra Disappears.
His excellency, Governor General
Juan Moreno, scowled blackly into the
sleep-heavy countenance of Herbert
Hardlnge. The two sat in the tein-
porary official headquarters of the pro
visional government of Sinaloa. It was
u little before dawn.
“Your bird has flown, senor,” he
tersely observed.
“What do you mean?” Hardlnge’s
dismayed face grew gray beneath ita
reddish tan.
Moreno shrugged his shoulders.
“I have the honor to inform you,”
punctilliously sneered the insurrecto,
“that Senor Williams escaped from bis
cell some time tonight and is still at
large. 1 have given orders that he
^hall be brought in, dead or alive. My
men are searching everywhere for him.
We learned of it an hour ago, when
the officer of the night changed the
guard? at the prison.”
“Why—it’s impossible!" gasped
Hardinge. “How did he manage to do
It?”
“We do not know. The sentry at
the gate was found with his skull
crushed and the gate open. Williams
was gone. The guard who was on
duty in the corridor, and who wa? per
sonally responsible for the security of
rhe prison
most five hundred miles after I threat
ened to shoot him if I saw him again;
he gave Pacheco the ‘Broadway House’
., iu some fashion I have never been able
"ho chilled and broke off. i ^ ‘ he 7“* n,ta "*L
Jitendra stepped lightly and without ! - lirt y s ™f, me ™
emotion toward the pate, flinging- hade! ®»<1 '“ft "'I*' fe grew his gun
over his shoulder tlie innocent smile of ! r *"t u " the middle of that cell m
a pleased child. Hardlnge heard the j there and then opened he door for me
him yesterday that this fellow claimed
to he a British subject. If he should
prove a good sprinter and they should
miss—”
off.
low command and saw a soldier start
to raise his rifle. He turned away.
A formal execution, with a man de
fiantly facing the firing squad, was
not so unusual ns to excite horror
when the condemned was a native.
But this was the epitome of betrayal
—the deliberate, cowardly assassina
tion of a man who has been told that
he is free to deport, only to fall, bullet-
shattered from behind, at the very
verge of his coveted freedom.
La ley fuega is truly Mexican.
"Will you give me a cigarette, sar?”
Hardinge whirled.
Jitendra was retracing his steps to
ward the corpora! in command. Mur
der is murder—hut. even in Mexico, it
is hard for a murderer to shoot down
a pitiful, gaunt, soft-eyed, unsuspect
ing atom oi humanity while appealing
to him for a last solace.
The oflicer sheep'shly passed over
the materials. Jitendra dexterously
nil because I dragged him from un
der that wrecked car. And then I laid
down on him like a yellow pup. I
ain’t a man, Scotty—I’m a pop-eyed,
goose-brained blob! I might have fig
ured they’d hand it to him pronto with
me gone!”
“Aw! don’t take it so much to heart.
Buck. A man can’t think of every
thing when lie’s making a gitaway. Be
sides, It ain’t all your fault If he
could git you out, why couldn’t he git
out himself? What was there to hinder
him from followin’ you?”
“I don’t know, Scotty. But I do
know that he thought of me first—
that’s what galls me—and I never
thought of him till I was half-way to
Culiacan and run into you boys.”
“Well; beefing won’t help us any.
If the little fellow’s dead he ain’t got.
nothing more to worry about He’s
better off’n we ’are, I guess, for Mo-
reno’ll git his men together and start
rolled the golden-brown tobacco In the | something if we don’t beat It for Bl
wrapper, and, Etill smiling, reached
for the mutch which was tendered
him.
He bowed bis thanks and again
walked firmly toward the gate. A few
feet further on he stooped to ignite
the match on the e.Dd of the old drain
I where it projected above the ground.
Crouching low, he sheltered the flame
with hie cupped hands.
The blazing remnant he dropped
into the hole. He rose, facing the im
patient soldiers, puffing vigorously,
then turned and walked a step or two
further in the direction of the en
trance, still some distance away, which
it was never intended he should reach
alive.
This time Hardinge knew there
would be no delay in the death-dealing
volley.
A sound, curiously resembling a
hiss, swept along beneath the surface
of the ground, almost at the English
man’s feet. It was not unlike the sub
dued "swish” of a rocket as it hurtles
through the air, or the whisper of a
serpent beneath a tuft of grass.
The corporal hod no time to recover
from his surprise. Beneath his feet
the earth suddenly uplieaved, followed
by a roar that mingled with the volley
. .. under suspicion, but 1 cf the firing squad,
found.” i A ercut cloud of smoke leaped high
"jV‘e the other prisoner escape also i above the cartel wails, carrying with
_t!ie one chiming to be a British sub- | It » shower of sun-hahefl, blood-stained
earth, mingled with fragments of flesh.
-No. j do not understand why. We i Slowly the whitish-blue wreaths set-
in the drama of ex-
bears rule over all
; on v. < ul(] be thrust back
trvnk by the Great!
of the whole fantastic
it.h, rhe wardrobe mis-
;• ive the battered au-
r e as she would claiir
of the chanting Hindi*
The drowsy American felt that he
war. frilling into the abyss of all thing- 4
—the piece from which he had sprung
Around him mysterious creatures
with calm, untroubled countenances
like Jltendra’s face, swirled on sound
less wings.
through the province of Sinaloa.
Beside, Sahib Buck must have ample
time to reach bis friends, else what he
had done for his preserver would count
for nothing. *
“Where will the men stand to slay
one who bears them no malice;” Le-
queried.
“Does tD
ound niro asleep in the cell. He an-
■ v. er.s n . questions. He will be exe-
•ateM sr rurn-ise, and Williams will be
!;M wfitrever found—those are my
tied
n or dri!
e strewn eve
i>eu.-]y mnngl
cd away. Soldiers
the ground—some
:1 corpses, others
remember how the
cel ,
“The passage through which you
were brought to this cell leads to the
carcel yard. Directly across on the
ether side is the gate to the street.
The soldiers—”
“How many?”
“Six, senor, and a corporal, make
iiiu gone, there
orilirmctory v/Mdc.-t. to 1
. Hardinge rose from hi
:muling block. With
quid at K j..-: be lo
tectum v,-:
sprawled si
oss the road for
Moreno’s bodygu
cnly and lay still.
Tigre before they rally.”
*. r CHAPTER VIIL t i!
Swami Ram Bid* Adieu!
“Listen 1”
Buck Williams held up a warning
hand.
The two score American riders trail
ing behind him baited In the cover of
the thick trees just above El Tigre
mine. Some were aching with wounds;
others reeling in their saddles with
fatlgde. But at the signal everything
was forgotten except the possibility of
another brush with Moreno’s men.
Indomitable, resolute expressions re
placed the lines which pain had paint
ed on their faces as weapons were
loosened and muscles grew taut with
the suspense of the moment
“What the devil is It?** wonderingly
demanded Billy Scott.
“Do you hear it, too?” There was
a note of relief in Buck Williams.’
voice. “Scotty, I thought for a min
ute I hud the rams again—and its
seven years since I touched a drink.
That’s the same tune I heard the night
I got back to El Tigre, when I dreamed!
Washington was leading his army (
ghosts against Pacheco’s peons. Then
I woke up to find that lousy thief had
me hamstrung for fair!”
“It’s a flute or a fife of some sort,”
averred Friday Thornton, “playing
‘Yankee Doodle,’ I guess.”
“Git out, Friday,” scoffed Tommy
Wickwire. “That ain’t ‘Yankee Doo
dle’ any more than it’s ‘Lead. Kindly
Light.’ If that ain’t ‘Everybody’s Do
ing it,' I’m a greaser myself.”
“it can’t be any of Moreno’s outfit/*
thoughtfully remarked Scott. “His
.shotgun artists newr play nothin’ but
funtun and guitars.”
“Here goes, boys!” shouted WiT-
i i Jiams, galloping his horse down tea
1 ! hill toward the building. Tbd other*-:
t j followed unhesitatingly. The piping
notes grew more ck.irly audible a**
they swept up the roau to Buck’s resi
dence.
The owner of El Tigre was first out
of the saddle. He strode into the
building, v/ith rifle reacy, Scott, Thorn
ton and Wickwire jest behind. Th'e
quuiTotte burst into the dirsng room.
Seated cross-legged on the floor ws.9
A hat I ess giuui. with yellow hail j an emaciated, bn wn-hued little man,
(Continued on last page)