The Adventures of Kathlyn

en. It was early morn, and they were making solemn genuflections toward the bright sun. The water-front swarmed with brown bodies, and great wheeled carts drawn by sad-eyed bullocks th

, and sought it on the wings of her spirit. Yonder it

nly by constant application to maps and guide books had she managed to arrange the short cut to the far kingdom. She had been warned that it was a wild and turbulent place, out of the beaten path, beyond the reach of iron rails. Three long sea voyages: acros

ad beguiled her. How should he know anything about her? What was more natural than that he should wish to hurry back to his native s

irs. Absorbed in her work, her father and the care of Winnie, such young men as she had met had scarcely interested her. She had only tolerated contempt for idlers, and these young men had belonged to that category. Bruce caught her interest in the very fact that he had but little to say and sai

ts pier, she realized what a fatal mistake h

d as Kathlyn's British-India coaster did not leave till mor

passengers and climbed into a rickshaw she

know Mr.

hunter. He has shot everything, written books, climbed the Himalayas. Only last year he brough

ection. Bruce! How many times her father had spoken of him! What a fool she had been! Bruce knew the country she was going to, perhaps a

" she said simply, eying wistfully

u Colonel Hare's daughte

es

tt! And you never said anything! What a woman for a man to marry!" he laughed. "You have sat at my table for five days, and only now I find that you

d with her two small hands and woman's mind she must free him! Always the mysterious packet lay

variant emotions, to be besieged by fruit sellers, water carriers, cabmen, blind beggars, and maimed, naked little children with curi

ith her luggage pressing about her feet dir

l, then proceeded to the railway station. He had need no longer to watch and worry. There was nothing left now but to greet her upon her arrival, this golden houri from the verses of Sa'adi. The two weeks of durance vile among the low castes in the steerage should be amply repaid. In si

gely alive, exhilarated. She knew that she was not going to be afraid of anything hereafter. To enter the strange country wit

There were two howdah elephants and one pack elephant, who was always lagging behind. Through long aisles of magnificent trees they passed, across hot blistering deserts, dotted here and there by shrubs and stunted trees, in and out of gloomy d

wild-eyed Mohammedan mahouts (and it is pertinent to note that only Mohammedans are ever made mahouts, it being against the tenets of Hinduism to kill or ri

ard crossed the trail. Kathlyn seized her rifle and broke its spine.

ave put fear into their devils' hearts.

ve Kathlyn's dog t

, she saw a tree. Its blossoms and leaves w

utiful! What

Mem-sahib. It is good lu

re while Kathlyn busied with the tea over a wood fire, a tiger roared near by. The elephants trumpeted and the mahouts rose in terror. Kathlyn ran for her rifle, but the trumpeting of the elephants was sufficient to send the striped cat to other hunting-grounds. Wild ape and pi

had followed Kathly

t. This was the gate to the capital. How many times had her father passed through it? Her jaw set and

n to Calcutta. What I have

main here till the Mem-sah

return?" affected by

ce Sahib, who has a ca

Singapore!"-a quick

egram to call at your hotel and apply to you for service. Very good. I shall wait. The mahout here will take you directly to Hare Sahib's bungalow. You will find your father

Rao. I shall

e Sahib," mysterio

! A hardness came into her throat and she swallowed desperately. She was only twenty-four. Except for herself there might not be a white person in all t

imposing flight of marble steps, exultant. He had fulfilled his promise; the golden daughter of Hare Sahib was but a few miles away. The soldiers,

d magnificent brass lamps hung from the ceiling. There was a shrine topped by an idol in black marble, incrusted with sapphires and turquoises

at as soon as Umballa had passed into the throne room. The throne it

e," he said

ncil sa

hrugged. It was written. "Go," he said, "to Hare Sahib's bungalow and await me. I shall be there presently. There is plenty of time.

y had sought to overturn him, and he held them in the hollow of his hand. During the weeks of his a

son to be. Umballa gave them new minted rupees for their work, many rupees. For they knew secrets. Before the door of a dungeon Umballa paused and

olonel

nkempt, tried to stand erect and fa

the patter of rain on stone roo

u l

s a legacy of terror and confusion. You knew. Why did you return? Ah, pearl

onditions I

enly blazed forth: "Think you a white man shall sit upo

I'll tell you why. You expected to inherit on th

I admit it?

en. Take the throne. What's to hinder you

when mutiny and rebellion stalk about. Am I a pig to play a game like that? Tch! Tch!" He clicked his tongue a

to rot here, my answer will always be the same. I will not become a dishonorable tool. You have offered me freedom and jewels. No; I repeat, I will free

ter on the throne and become what the British Raj calls prince consort. She

bal

el

ged furiously at his chains. "Durga Ram, you have beaten me. State your terms an

now. I was merely amusing myself." T

. "My head, my head! Dea

*

at the animal cages of her

fath

t. One night-the second after we arrived-he wa

ave kil

me, too; but I act si

mal cages and the bungalow. There was no one in sight. She r

and flying t

aamed, with a sweeping

. Yonder urn contained his ashes. For the first time in her young life Kathlyn fainted. She had been living on her nerves for weeks,

a queen,

are

h must be obeyed. You will accuse me of perfidy when I tell you all. The

athlyn

given to me by the king made me and my descendants direct heirs to the t

the

ur dark, inscrutable faces the bewildered girl stared, her limbs numb with

ot rule over an alien race whose tongue I can not speak, whose habits I know no

said U

base trickery which had brought her here! She was very

a knew that it was not the throne so much as it was t

I do not wish to use force, but you mu

plessness, she signified that she was ready to go. She ne

was deposited in a niche. Many other niches contained urns, and Umballa explained to her that these he

ugh, he had forgot all about the incident of the lion in the freight caboose. All women are felines to a certai

hree ladies of the harem were sitting in the portico, attended by slaves. All were curiously interested at

st remain till the da

my fath

e steps by a Mohammedan fanatic.

feared imprisonment. How c

e and went as he pleased in th

deous nightmare. Mad, mad, mad! She began to laugh, and it was not a pleasant sound. A queen, she, Kathlyn Hare! Her father was dead, she was a queen, and Winnie was all alone. A gale of laughter brought to the marble lattice many wondering eyes. The white cockatoo

ing in the cornices and the cockatoo was preening his lemon colored topknot. At first Kathlyn had not the least idea where she was, but t

She was to fight in some strange warfare, instinctively she felt this; but from what direction, in what shape, only God knew

these brown men stood between. She would play for time; she must pretend docility and meet quiet guile with guile. She could get no word to her faithful khidmutgar; none here, even i

ed. A tabouret was set before her. There were quail and roast

ther, stolidly munching his chupatties

*

s small, but there was a deal of wealth in it because of its emerald mines and turquoise pits. The durbar brought out princes and princelings from east, south and west, and even three or four wild-eyed ameers from the north. The British government at Calcutta h

preceded a princeling, and so on down. The wailing of reeds and the muttering of kettle drums; music, languorous, haunting, elusive, low minor chords seemingly struck at random, intermingling a dronin

t their affairs, leaving her in peace; but they were determined that she should be no puppet in the hands or Umballa, whom they hated for his

which she was to be crowned, a hand filled wit

hib," she

possibly be real. Her feet did not seem to touch the carpets; she did not seem to breathe; she floated. It was

n: Ahmed sal

f that crown now, neither your gods nor mine could s

s Rao? Where was Bruce? What of the hope that now flickered and died in her heart, like a guttering candle light? There was a small dagger hidden in t

said to them?

m to be her consort and to him now fo

"Marry you? Oh, no! M

if a whiplash had stru

bmitted to the farce of this durbar, but that is

" moc

and the God o

the Queen at that instant. They saw th

are other things

ied proudly; "t