.'If .. ..W...W My Ai'ifl Mil -.., a,
JMfWrirM(.inrfiaa-i.),1M,).i.)(J
Mwwwiwim ,f jii-atiras- -jum - si.-amnattuhr
c ww'.'m(i ,. ,,, -iteur -
i---"iww4Mw.rss?3rAajsw
(,., j .,- n
BED OLODD, NEBRASKA, OHXE?
K .
iH'
M
"
B
IS
ttf
J
!
IS
7!
I
K
fc
S
I
ft
l
.1
t
,i
1
l ft
rr
lMMi
ICing of the Khyber
By TALBOT MUNDY
The Most Picturesque Romance of the
CHAPTER XIV Continued.
9
Ilowa Gungn Bpoko truth In Delhi
when ho assured King ho should some
day wonder nt Ynsmlnl's danclug.
Sho beenmo Joy and bravery and
routh! Sho dnnctd a story for them
of tho things they knew. Sho was the
dawn light, touching tho distant peaks.
She was tho wind that follows It,
weeping among tho Junipers and kiss
Ing each as sho came. Sho wnB laugh
ter, as the little children laugh when
the cattlo are loosed from the byres at
last te feed In tho valleys. She was
tho scent of spring uprising. Sho Was
blossom. Sho was fruit 1 Very daugh
ter of tho sparkle of warm Bun on
snow, sho was the "Heart of tho Hills"
herself I
Never was such dancing I Nover
such an audience I Nover such mad
applause I Sho danced until tho great
rough guards had to run round tho
ureua with clubbed butts and beat
back trespassers who would havo
mobbed her. And every movement
every gracious wonder-curve and step
with which sho told her tale was ns
purely Greek as the handle on King's
knife and tho figures on the lump-bowls
and as the bracelets on her arm.
Greek I
And Bhe half-modern Russian, ex-glrl-wlfe
of a Boml-clvIIlzed hill rajah I
Who taught her? There Is nothing
new, even In Khlnjan, In tho "Hills 1"
And when tho crowd defeated the
arena guards at last and burst through
tho swinging butts to seize her and
fling her high and worship her with
mad barbaric rite, sho ran toward the
shield. The four men raised it shoul
der high again. Sho went to It like
a leaf In the wind sprang on It as If
wings had lifted her, scarco touching
It with naked toes and leapt to tho
bridge with a laugh.
Bhe went over the brldgo on tiptoes,
like nothing else under heaven but
Yasmlnl at her bewltchlngcst. And
without pausing on tho far side sho
danced up tho hewn stono stairs, dived
Into the dark holo and was gono I
"Como I" yelled Ismail In King's ear.
He could havo heard nothing less, for
the cavern was llko to burst apart
from tho tumult
"Whlthft?" tho Afrldl shouted In
disgust. "Does the wind ask whither V
Como llko tho wind and boo I They
will remember next that they havo a
bone to pick with thco I Como away I"
That seemed good enough advice. Ho
followed as fast ns Ismail could shoul
der a way out between tho frantic hill
men, deafened, stupefied, numbed, nl
. most cowed by tho ovation they were
giving tho "Heart of their Hills."
CHAPTER XV.
Ab they disappeared after a Bcramblo
through tho mouth of tho samo tun
nel they hud entered by, n roar went
up behind them like the birth of earth
quakes. Looking back over his shoul
der, King saw Yasmlnl como back Into
the hole's mouth, to stand framed In It
and bow acknowledgment. For the
space of five minutes sho stood in the
VAterf&vd
Never Was Such Dancing.
treat hole, smiling and watching the
crowd below. Then she went, and tho
guards began to looso random volleys
at the roof and brought down hun
dredweights of splintered stalactite.
Within a mlnuto thero wero n hun
dred men busy sweeping up the splin
ters. In another mlnuto twenty Zakka
Khels had begun a sword dance, yell
ing like demons. A hundred Joined
them. In threo minutes moro the
whole arena was a dinning whirlpool,
and the river's voice was drowned In
shouting and tb stamping of naked
feet on atone.
"Cornel" urged IsmalL and led the
way.
King's last Impression was of earth's
S
V
Copyright by Tha Bobb
womb on flro and of hellions brewing
wrath. Tho stalactites and tho hurry
ing river multiplied tho dancing lights
Into n million, and the great roof
hurled tho din down again to make
confusion with tho new din coming up.
Ismail went llko a rat down a run,
and It beenmo so dark that King had
to follow by ear. Ho imagined they
wcro running back toward tho ledge
under tho waterfall ; yet, when Ismail
called n halt at last, panting, groped
behind u great rock for a lamp and lit
tho wick with a common safety match,
they were In a cavo ho had nover seen
before.
"Where are we?" King asked.
"Where none daro seek us. Art
thou afraid?" asked Ismail, holding
tho lamp to King's fnce,
"Kuch dnr nahln hal I" ho answered.
"There Is no such thing as fearl"
Suddenly tho Afrldl blew the lamp
out, and then tho darkness became
solid. Thought Itself left off less than
a yard away.
"Ismail 1" ho whispered. But Ismail
did not answer him.
He faced about, leaning against the
rock, with tho flat of both hands
pressed tight against It for tho sake
of Its company ; and almost at once he
saw a little bright red light glowing
In tho distance. It might havo been
below him ; It was perfectly Impossible
to judge, for tho darkness was not
measurable.
"Flowers turn to tho light 1" droned
Ismail's voice nbovo sententlously, and
turning, ho thought he could bco red
eyes peering over the rock. Ho Jumped,
and made a grab for tho flowing beard
that surely must be below them, but
ho missed.
"Little fish swim to the light I"
droned Ismail. "Moths fly to the
light! Who Is a man that he Bhould
know less than they?"
ne turned again and stared at the
light. Dimly, very vaguely ho could
mnko out that a causeway led down
ward from almost where he stood. He
wns convinced that should he try too
climb back Ismail would merely reach
out a hand and shove him down again,
and thero wns no sense In being put
to that Indignity. Ho decided to go
forward, for there was even less sense
in standing still. So ho stooped to
feel the floor with his hand before
deciding to go forward. Thero was
no mistaking tho finish given by the
trend of countless feet. He was on a
highway, and there are not often pit
falls where so many feet havo been.
For all that ho went forward as a
certain Agag onco did, and It was
many minutes before ho could bco a
ccrtnln glowing blood-red in tho light
behind two lamps, nt tho top of a flight
of ten stone steps. When he went
quite closo ho saw carpet down the
tnlddlo of tho Btcps, bo ancient thut
the stono showed through In places;
all tho pnttcrn, supposing It ever had
any, wns worn or faded away. Carpet
and steps glowed red too. His own
face, and tho hnnds ho held In front
of him wcro red-hot-poker color. Yet
outsldo the llttio elllpso of light the
darkness looked like a thing to lean
ngnlnst, and tho Rllenco was so Intense
that ho could hear tho arteries sing
lug by his ears.
Ho saw tho curtains move slightly,
apparently In a llttio puff of wind that
made tho lamps waver. Then ho walked
up the steps and at tho top he stooped
to examlno the lamps.
They were bronze, cast, polished andl
graved. AH round tho circumference
of each bowl wcro figures In half
relief, representing a woman dunclng.
Sho wns tho woman of tho knlfc-hllt,
and of the Inmps In tho nrenu I But no
two figures of the dunco wcro alike.
It was 'tho samo woman dunclng, but
the nrtlst hnd chosen twenty differ
ent poses with which to Immortalize
his slclll, and hers. Both lamps burned
sweet oil with n wick, and each had
n chimney of horn, not at nil unllko
a modern lnmp chimney. Tho horn
wns stained red.
As ho set tho Becond lamp down ho
beenmo nwnro of a subtle, Interesting
smell, and memory took him back nt
onco to Ynsmlnl's room In tho Chnndni
Chowlc In Delhi where ho had smelled
It first. It wns tho peculiar scent ho
hnd been told wns Ynsmlnl's own a
blend of scents, llko a chord of music,
In which musk did not predominate.
Ho took threo strides and touched
tho curtains, discovering now for tho
first time that thero wero two of them,
divided down tho middle. They wero
of leather, nnd though they looked old
as tho "Hills" themselves, tho leather
wns supple ns good cloth.
"Kurrum Khnn hal I" ho announced.
But tho echo was tho only answer.
There was no sound beyond tho cur
tains. With his heart In his mouth ho
purtcd them with both hands, startled
by tho sharp Janglo of metal rings on
a rod.
So he stood, with arms outstretched,
Btarlng staring staring with eyes
skilled swiftly to take In details, but
witn a Drain mat tried to explain
formed a hundred wild suggestions
and then reeled. He was fuco to face
with tho unexplalnable the riddle of
Khlnjan caves.
i vnu icuiuer turmiuu Hiippca inrougn
his fingers nnd cloned behind him with
Tho leather curtains slipped through
- MrrlIl Compear
tho clash of rings on a rod. But he
was beyond being startled. He was
not really suro ho was In the world.
Ho wns not certain whether It was tho
twentieth century, or 55 B. O., or ear
lier yet; or whether time had ceased.
Tho place where ho was did not
look llko a cave, but a pnluco chamber,
for the rock walls had been trimmed
square and polished smooth ; then they
had been painted puro white, except
for a wldo blue frieze, with a line of
gold leaf drawn undcrncnth it. And
on the frieze, done In gold-leaf too,
was tho Grecian lady of the lamps,
always dancing. Thero wcro fifty or
sixty figures of her, no two alike.
A dozen lamps were burning, set in
niches cut In tho walls at measured
Intervals. They wcro exactly like tho
two outside, except that their horn
chimneys were stained yellow Instead
of red, suffusing everything in a golden
glow.
Opposite him was a curtain, rather
llko that through which he had en
tered. Near to tho curtain was a bed,
whose great wooden posts were
cracked with age. In spite of its ago
it was spread with fine new linen.
VtAcnf
llv--
On It, Above the Linen, Man and a
Woman Lay Hand In Hand.
Richly embroidered, not very ancient
Indian draperies hung down from It
to tho floor on either side. On It,
above tho linen, a man and n woman
lay hnnd in hand, and the woman was
so exactly llko Yasmlnl, even to her
clothing and her naked feet, that It
wus not possible for a man to bo self
possessed. They both, seemed asleep. It was
minutes before ho satisfied himself
that tho man's breast did not rise and
full under tho bronze Roman armor
and thut tho woman's Jeweled gauzy
stuff wns still. Imagination played
such tricks with him that In the still
ness ho Imagined he heard breathing.
After he was sure they were both
dead, he went nearer, but it was a
mlnuto yet beforo ho know the woman
wns not she. At first a wild thought
possessed him that she had killed her
self.
The only thing to show who ho had
been were tho letters S. P. Q. R. on a
great plumed helmet, on a llttio table
by tho bed. But she was tho woman
of tho lnmp-bowls and tho frieze. A
llfe-slzo stone statuo in u corner was
bo llko her, nnd llko Yasmlnl too, that
It was difficult to deckle which of tho
two It represented.
Sho hnd lived when ho did, for her
fingers wero locked In his. And ho
hnd lived two thousand years ngo, be
cause his armor was about as old as
that, and for proof that ho had died
In It part of his breast had turned to
powder lnsldo tho brcnstplntc. Tho
rest of his body was wholo nnd per
fectly preserved.
Stern, handsome in a hlgh-bcuked
Roman wny, gray on the temples, firm
lipped,' he lay like an emperor in liar
rtess. But tho prldo uud resolution on
his face wcro outdone by tho serenity
of hers. Very surely those two hnd
been lovers.
Both of them looked young and
healthy tho woman younger than
thirty twenty-flvo at a guess and
tho mnn perhaps forty, perhaps forty
five. Every stitch of tho man's cloth
ing had decayed, so that his armor
rested on tho naked skin, except for a
dressed leather kilt about his middle.
Tho leather was ns old as tho curtains
at tho entrance, and as well preserved.
But the woman's Bilked clothing wns
ns new as the bedding. , Yet, they both
died about the sumo time, or how could
their fingers havo been Interlaced?
And somo of tho Jowelry on tho wom
an's clothes was very ancient as well
as priceless.
He looked closer at the fingers for
signs' of forco and suddenly caught his
breath. Under the woman's flimsy
slccvo was a wrought gold bracelet,
smaller than thatrono ho himself bad
worn In Delhi and up the Khyber. Ho
raised the loose sleeve to look moro
closely at It, and the movement laid
Rifles
Decade
I
bnro another bracelet, on tho man's
right wrist. Slzo for size, this was the
same ns the one that had been stolen
from himself.
Memory prompted him. ne felt Its
outer edgo with n finger nnll. There
was the little nick that ho had mado
In the soft gold when he struck It
against tho cell bars In tho Jail nt the
Mir Khan palacol He touched the
gold. It was warm, no repeated the
test on the woman's wrists. Hers was
warm, too. Both bracelets had been
worn by a living being within an
hour
He muttered and frowned In thought,
nnd then suddenly jumped backward.
Tho leather curtain near the bed had
moved on Its bronzerod.
"Aren't they dears?" a voice said In
English behind him. "Aren't they
sweet?"
Yasmlnl stood not two arms' lengths
away, lovelier than tho dead woman
because of tho merry life In her, young
and warm, aglow, but looking like tho
dead woman nnd the woman of the
frieze the woman of tho lamp-bowls
the statue como to life, speaking to
him In English more sweetly than If
It had been her mother tongue. The
English nbuso their language. Yas
mlnl caressed It and mado It do its
work twice over.
Being dressed as a native, he
salaamed low. Knowing him for what
he was, Bhe gave him the senna
stained tips of her warm fingers to
kiss, and he thought Bhe trembled
when he touched them. But a second
later sho had Snatched them away and
was treating him to raillery.
"Man of pills and blisters 1" she said,
"tell mo how those bodies ure pre
served! Spill knowledge from that
learned skull of thine I"
He did not answer. He never shono
In conversation at any time, having
made as many friends ns enemies by
saying nothing until the spirit moves
him. But she did not know that yet
"If I knew for certain why those
two did not turn to worms," she went
on, "almost I would choose to die now,
whllo I am beautiful! What would
they say, think you, King sahib, If
they found us two dead beside those
two? Speak, man, speak! Has Khln
jan Btruck yon dumb?"
But he did not speak. He was star
ing at her arm, where two whitish
marks on tho skin betrayed that brace
lets had been.
"Oh, those 1 They are theirs. X
would not rob the dead, or tho gods
would turn on me. X robbed you, in
stead, while you slept. Fie, King sa
hib, while you slept 1" .
But her steel did not strike on flint
It wns her eyes that flashed. He would
have done better to have seemed
nshnmed, for then ho might have
fooled her, at least for a while. But
having judged himself, ho did not care
a fig for her judgment of him. She
realized that Instantly nnd shaving
found a tool that would not work,
discarded It for a better one. She
grew confidential.
"I borrow t them," she explained,
"but I put them back. I take them
for bo many days, and when tho day
comes the gods, llko us to be exact 1
You wero near death when I took the
bracelet last night The time wns up.
I would have stubbed you if you had
tried to prevent me I"
Now he spoke at last and gave her
a first glimpse of an angle of his mind
sho had not suspected.
"Princess," he said. Ho used the
word with the deference some men can
combine with effrontery, so that very
tenderness has barbs. "You might
huvo had that thing back If you had
sent a messenger for It nt any time.
A word by a servant would have been
enough."
'"You could never have reached
Khlnjun then L" she retorted. Her eyes
Unshed again, but his dtd not waver.
, "Princess," ho snld, "why speak of
what you don't know?"
no thought Bhe would strike like n
snake, but sho smiled at him Instcnd.
And when Yasmlnl has smiled on n
man ho has never been just tho sumo
man afterward. He knows more, for
ono thing. Ho has had a lesson In
ono of tho finer arts.
"I will speak of what I do know,"
sho said. "No, there Is no need, Look I
Look I"
She pointed at tho bed at the man
on the bed fingers locked In tlioso off
a woman who looked so llko herself.
Ho looked, knowing well thero was
sofhethlng to bo understood, that
stared blm in tho face. But for the
llfo of blm he could not determine
question or answer.
"What Is In your bosom?" she
nsked him.
Ho put his hand to his shirt
"Draw It out I" she said, as a teacher
drills a child.
He drew out the gold-hllted knife
witn tho bronzo blado, with which a
man had meant to murder him, Ho let
It lie on the palm of his band and
looked from it to her and back again.
Tho hilt might have been a portrait of
her modeled from the life.
"Here Is another llko it," she said,
stepping to tho bedside. She draw back
the woman's dress at tho bosom and
sbowed a knife exactly like that la
King's hand. "One lay on her bosom
and ono on his when I found them I"
she said. "Now, think ngnlnl"
Ho did think, of thirty thousand pos
sibilities, nnd of one, impossible Idea
that stood up prominent among them
nil nnd Insisted on seeming tho only
likely one.
"I saw the knife In your bosom last
night," she snld, "and laughed so that
I nearly wakened you."
"Why didn't you tako It with tho
bracelet?" King asked her, holding it
out. "Take U now. I don't want it."
She ncceptcd it and laid It on the
man's bronze armor. Then, however,
she resumed It and plnycd with it.
"Look" again 1" she said. "Think and
look ngnlnl"
He looked, and he knew now. But
ho still preferred that sho should tell
him, and his lips shut tight.
"Can you guess why I changed ay
mind about you wise man?"
Sho looked from him to the man on
the bed and back to him again. Hav
ing solved the riddle, King had leisure
to be Interested in her eyes, nnd
watched them annlytlcally, like a jew
eler appraising diamonds. They were
strangely reminiscent, but much moro
changeable and colorful than any he
had ever seen. They had the baffling
trick of changing while he watched
them.
"Having sent a man to kill you, why
did I cease to want to kill you? In
stead of losing you on tho wny to Khln
jan, why did I run risks to protect
you nfter you reached here? Why did
I savo your life in .the Cavern of
Earth's Drink tonight? You do not
know yet? Then I will tell you some
thing else you do not know. I was in
Delhi when you were I I watched and
listened whllo you and Rewa Gunga
talked In my house! I was in Rewa
Gungn's carrlago on the .train that he
took and you did not ! I havo learned
at first hand that you aro not a fool.
But that was not enough I You had to
bo three things clever and brave and
one other. The ono other you are!
Brave you have proved yourself to
be! Clever you must be, to trick your
way into Khlnjun caves, even with
Ismail at your elbow! That Is why
I saved your life because you are
thoso two things and and one
other I"
Sho snatched a mirror from a little
ivory table a modern mirror bad
glass, bad art, bad workmanship, but
sliver warranted.
"Look In It and then at him I" she
ordered.
But he did not need to look. The
man on tho bed was not so much like
himself as the woman was like her,
but tho resemblance seemed to grow
under his eyes. King was tho taller
and tho younger by several years, but
tho noses were the same, and the
wrinkled foreheads ; both men had the
same firm mouth; both looked like
Romans.
CHAPTER XVI.
"Athelstanl"
She pronounced his given name as
If she loved the word, standing straight
again and looking Into his eyes. There
were high lights in hers that out
gleamed the diamonds on her dress.
"Your gods and mine have done this,
Athelstan. When tho gods comblno
they lay plans well indeed 1"
"I only know one God," ho answered
simply, as a man speaks of tho deep
things In his heart
"I know of many I They lovo mol
They shall lovo you, too! Many are
better than one! You shall learn to
know my gods, for wo are to be.part
uers, you and 1 1"
She took bis band again, her eyes
burning with excitement nnd mysti
cism and ambition like a fever. Sho
seemed to take more than physical pos
session of blm.
"What brought them here? Tell me
that I" she demanded, pointing to the
bed. "You think ho brought her? I
Pfr-ALTt
VACeNTAJCr
"Can You Guess Why I Changed My
Mind About You Wise Man?"
tell you Bhe was th6 spur that drove
hlml Is It a wonder that men called
her the 'Heart of the Hills?' I found
them ten years ago and clothed her
and put new linen on their bed, for the
old was all rags and dust. Thero have
always been hundreds and sometimes
thousands who knew .the secret of
Khlnjan caves, but this has been a
secret within a secret. Someone, who
knew the secret beforo L sawed those
bracelets through and fitted hinges
and clasps. The men you saw In the
Cavern of Earth's Drink have no
doubt I am the 'Heart of the Hills'
come to life! They shall know thee
I'M Um within a little while 1"
.3 iaH
yTOF
She held his hand a little tighter urn.
pressed closer to him, laughing Boflly.
He stood as If made of iron, and that
only made her laugh the more.
"Tnles of tho 'Heart of tho Hills'
havo puzzled tho rnj, haven't they,
theso mnny years? They sent mo to
find the sourco of them. Me! They
choso well! Thero ure not many like
me I I havo found this one dead wom
an who was like me. And In ten years,
until you came, I hnvo found no man
llko html"
She tried to look Into his eyes, but
he frowned straight In front of him.
Ills natlvo costumo and Rangar turban
did not niuko him seem any less a
man. His jowl, that was beginning to
need sbuvlng, was as grim and as sat
isfying ns tbo dead Roman's. She
stroked bis left hand with soft fingers.
"I used to think I know how to
dunco 1" she laughed. "For ten years
I have taken those pictures of her for
my model and hnve striven to learn
what she knew. I have surpassed her I
I UBed to think I knew how to amuse
myself with men's dreams until I
found this! Then I dreamed on my
own account I My dream was true, my
warrior! Yon have cornel Our hour
has come!"
Sho tugged at his hand. He was
hers, soul and harness, If outward
signs could prove It '
"Come I" she said. "Is this my hos
pitality? You are weary and hungry.
Como !"
She led him by the hand, for tt-
would have needed brute force to
her fingers loose. She drew aside the"
leather curtain that hung on a bronzo
rod near tho bed, led him through It
and let It clash to again behind them.
Now they were In the dark together,
and It wns not comprehended In her
scheme of things to let circumstance
lie fallow. Sho pressed his hand, and
sighed, and then hurried, whispering
tender words he could scarcely catch.
When they burst together through a
curtain at the other end of a passage
In the rock, his skin was red under
'the tan and for the first time her eyee
refused to meet his.
"Why dtd they choose that cave te
sleep In?" she asked him. "Is not this
a better one? Who laid them there?"
He stared about They were In a
great room far more splendid than the
first Thero was a great fountain la
tho center splashing In the midst of
flowers. They were cut flowers. The
"Hills" must have been scoured for
them within a day.
There were great cushioned couches
nil about and two Jhrones made of
Ivory and gold. Between two couches
wns n table, laden with golden plates
und n golden jug, on pure white linen.
There were two goblets of beaten gold
and knives with golden handles and
bronze blades. Tho whole room
seemed to bo drenched In the scent
Yasmlnl favored, and thero was the
same frieze running round all four
walls, with the woman depicted on it
dancing.
"Come, we shall eat 1" she saldT leao
Ing him by the hand to a couch. She
took the ono facing blm, and they lay
llko two Romans of the empire with
tho table in between.
She struck a golden gong then, and
n native woman camo In, who stared
at King as if sho had seen "nun before
und did not llko blm. Yasmlnl nodded
to the servant, who clapped her hands..
At onco camo n stream of hlllmen,
robed In white, who carried sherbet In
bottles cooled In snow and dishes fra
grant with hot food. Ho recognized
his own prisoners from tho Mir Khan
Palace Jail, and nodded to them as
they set the things down under the
maid's direction. When they had fin
(shod eating Yasminl drovo the maid
away with a sharp word; be brought
an Ivory footstool and set it about a
yard away from her waxen toes. And
she, watching him with burning eyes,
wound tresses of her hair around the
golden dagger handle, making her Jew
els glitter with each movement
"The gods of India, who aro the only
real gods, what do they think of it all !
They huvo been j, od to the English,
but they huvo" Litd-se thanks. They
will stand nsldo now anuwCt
greater Jihad than tbeNworld has ever
seen I I lovo them, and they love me
as you shall lovo me, too ! If they did
not love both of us, we would not both
bo hero! We must obey them I"
Nono of tho East's amazing ways of
courtship aro ever tedious. Love
springs Into being on an Instant and
lives .a thousand years lnsldo nn hour.
She left no doubt as to her meaning.
She and King wero to love, as the East
knows love, and then tho world might
havo Just what they two did not care
to take from It
His only possible course as yet was
tho defensive, and there Is no defense
llko silence. He was still.
"Tho slrkar," sho went on, "tho silly
slrkar fears that perhaps Turkey rauy
enter tho war. Perhaps a Jihad may
be proclaimed. So much for fearl I
know 1 I have known for a very long
time I And I have not let fear trouble
me at all I"
Her eyes wero on his steadily, and
Bhe read no fear In his, either, for nono
was there. In hers he saw ambition
triumph already excitement the
gambler's love of all the hugest risks.
Behind them burned genius and the
devilry that would stop at nothing. As
the general had told him In Peshawar,
sho would dare open hades gate and
ride the devil down the Khyber for
the fun of it
(TO BE) CONTINUED.)
Crushed Possibilities.
Jones, the cub reporter, was fat, bat
he looked as melancholy as a fat man
can when he entered tho city editor's
office.
"Why was my atory killed?" he
asked gloomily.
"An act of mercy," said tho editor.
"You fell down on It first"
l
3
i
!
I' f
f'
r
