Bellefonte, Pa., January 1, 1982.
CHEERING SOMEBODY ON
Don't you mind about the triumphs
Don't you worry after fame,
Don't you grieve about succeeding
Let the future guard your name.
All the best in life's the simplest,
Love will last when wealth is gone,
Just be glad that you are living
And keep cheering some one on.
Let your neighbors have the blossoms
Let your comrades wear the crown,
Never mind the little setbacks,
Nor the blows that knock you down.
You'll be there when they're forgotten,
You'll be glad with youth and dawn
If you just forget your troubles
And keep cheering some one on.
There's a lot of sorrow ‘round you,
Lots of lonesomeness and tears;
Lots of heartaches and of worry
Through the shadows of the years,
And the world needs more than triumphs;
More than all the sword’'s we've drawn,
It is hungering for the fellow
Who keeps cheering others on.
A —————
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND
“Can you teach a Salukhi hound
to run by scent, or your English
setters to hunt at gaze?” the ven-
erable Maharaja of Isulmeer would
always say. ‘No more, then, can 1
hold my people by your English law.
For Rajputs”—he chuckled, and his
fierce eyes gleamed sardonically—
“for Rajputs and for all women, our
old laws are best.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! You English!
You rule India, and half the world
beside, but you are no match for
your own women. They drive you
as a wolf drives sheep. Now, we
know how to handle women. For,
mark you, your ways are based on
reason and on justice, of which wom-
en know naught and care less, while
ours take heed of human passions,
which rule all women."
True to his innate shrewdness,
when his one son died, leaving twin
orphan boys, the maharaja decreed
that Rao, the younger by a half-
hour, should be educated in England
while Bikha, heir to the throne, was
brought up, save that he was taught
the French and English tongues,
as for a thousand years had been
the princes of his house.
“Bikha shall temper the knowl-
edge of the West, which Rao shall
bring him, with the wisdom of mine
own people. So shall this land be
doubly blessed,” the old man said.
With Rao to England went young
Dick Ruttan, son of the colonel of
the superb cavalry regiment of Isul-
fer, ak lad and blond, but high-
re together they passed
through Eton and Sandhurst, return.
ing then to India, to wear the scar.
let, blue and daffodil of the Isulmeer
Light Horse. Their friendship was
Janek gy Hany trials, surviv-
ng even their desperate rivalry for
Mona Cullen, the ravishing and not-
too-disconsolate widow whom they
met on leave in Eng:and, the year
Dick, at thirty-five, became colonel
of the regiment.
Dick married her and brought her
soon to Isulmeer, which is a gaudy.
burning land on the rim of the Great
Indian Desert, installing her in that
wing of Ratangarh Palace which
since the founding of the regiment
had been its colonel's quarters.
The palace was an exquisite edi.
fice of bulbous spires and fretted
screens and sculptured terraces and
arches, set gemlike among
formal gardens in the Persian style.
Shan Singh, who built it six hun-
dred years before, might have been
inspired by Mona, so exquisitely did
she harmonize with his creation.
Mona's plans were definite and
conclusive—though she did not see
fit to tell Dick of them. A year or
So in India, for the experience, and
connection with
glamorous Rajput court, then Dick
should leave the army and devote
himself in Europe to the sophisti.
valed Ja she loved.
uc over men had .
dered her supremely confident of by
ability to achieve her end; yet, be.
for the year was gone, she realized
to her intense alarm that this task
was beyond her. For months, though
in her heart she knew it, she re-
fused to accept defeat, but after the
unlucky morning of the maharaja’s
birthday review, she could evade the
fact no longer.
As she waited in their ante
for Dick to come, this time, she felt.
she would prevail upon him. He
could not refuse under such condi-
tions, and, the precedent established,
the rest would be easy.
The long, low chamber was silent
save for the patter of the fountain
and the sentry's tramp in the outer
court. From the rose graden fra-
grances stole in through the pierced
alabaster screens, and reflected sun-
light glowed on paneled walls of
hand-carved cedar and floor of blue
tiles from Multan.
She was a slip of a creature, slen-
der and straight, yet with ripe wom.
an-contours, under the gown of
ivory Benares lace. Her head was
small and proud with clear white
skin, sullenish red lips, dusky curls
and sherry-colored eyes that hid
their glow with studied nonchalance
Fiery, that was Mona. Avid.
Never at rest. Sometimes aflame,
sometimes banked down and smol-
dering, but inevitably alive, vital
every moment to be reckoned with.
She heard Dick's spurs ring and
his scabbard clank outside, and as
he entered, picked up a vase of
moughrra blooms and buried her
face in them.
Framed in the sculptured arch-
way, he was a sight to light the
eye of any woman; a big, blond
lion of a man with gravely smiling
eyes, in the knee-length scarlet
caftan, black thigh-boots, white
breeches and the rakish red-and.
daffodil puggree of full dress. He
“Darlin Better hurry. Else
' there'll be a frightful mob for you
to drive "
thrugh.
+ She slid round in his arms
‘looked up at him. Her dark
‘did not reach the row of medals
‘his breast. As he smiled down
‘her in his quizzical slow way,
hair, mustache and brows were
‘startlingly yellow against his tan.
i “All right, Dick. I'm going at
lonce. Tell me, what day shall we
‘be able to leave for the Gore-Hamp-
sons’ 2?"
| “Oh, any time after
| thought I'd told you.”
“But I've accepted for Cup Week!
They wanted us particularly, and
have Sir Godfrey Plumer to meet
a!”
Dick's eyebrows climbed incredu-
‘lously.
“Why did you do that, Mona? I
can't possibly get away. I thought
I'd made that clear when we dis-
cussed it first.”
“Oh, I didn't suppose you couldn't
get away if you really wanted; and
when Leila said she could get Sir
Godfrey, knowing how anxious you
were to meet him, I thought you
would want to. Anyway, it's all ar-
ranged. Sir Godfrey has accepted.”
Dick was both distressed and net-
tied. “Lord! What a mess! I'm
you should not have committed me
like that. I can't possibly go. I'll
have to write and explain the whole
maneuvers;
thing.”
“Oh, now, now, now, darling!
Please be reasonable. We can't
withdraw at this hour. Why, Sir
Godfrey cut his leave short just to
meet you; and as late as this, they
won't be able to fill their Cup Week
party.” She slid a caressing finger
along the gold crown and star on his
chain.silver epaulet. ‘Please, Dick,
dear. I don't aften beg for any-
thing. I want this especially. I'll
be good forever after. Please do
it for me. It's only some whiskery
old tribesman to put off; or Major
Hanlon can do it!"
When Mona smiled as she did
now-—and it was not often—men
forgot most things. But her refer-
ence to the tribesman had assured
Dick of what he had believed all
along—he had explained before. This
was the latest of many times when
she had tried to trick or storm or
wheedle him away from something
which was his duty. Nevertheless,
he controlled his resentment and his
hurt, save for the decisive explana-
tion:
“Old Jai Singh from Harangarh is
coming in with his three sons. He
wants to swear them in himself. He
was havildar under my grandfather
and is a hundred years old. He
arranged this three months ago and
I promised to be here. anlon
won't do. For me to be absent
would be the worst kind of insult,
not to mention going back on my
promise. And I told you all this in
March, when you asked me first.”
The barbarian, the elemental Celt
in her rearea with flicked pride and
intolerant revolt.
er humiliate and disappoint me than
this old savage!”
Through Dick's distress a slow,
hot surge of anger heaved. “I'm
most dev'lish sorry that you should
reel like that, Mona. But I can't
help pointing out that you deliber-
utery brought this on yourself.”
“hen you won't go?”
“I'm very sorry. No."
The Celt was loose at last. She
paled. Her bosom heaved tempest-
uously, and she swallowed hard as
she fought for words to vent her
passion.
In the far distance a trumpet
sang, tremulous and sweet and lilt-
ing. Dick grabbed his big white
gauntlets. “By Gad! As late as that,
and I'm talking here. Excuse me,
Mona. We'll talk thhis over after.
wards.” His figure bulked in the
doorway. Then he was gone, his
spurred heels ringing as he crossed
the marble’ terrace.
When she went out, her anger had
not waned. The smart victoria with
the liveried syces was waiting by the
shallow ste before the garden
shimmering the savage heat. The
seat was baking to her touch, bely-
ing the fresh tinkle of the fountain
among the roses.
Ratangarh city lies about a low
hill, on which the palace stands.
She saw it spread before her now,
a sprawling swath of fairy domes
rand flat-topped dwellings, with the
clear squares of bazaars and cara-
vansaries among the palms where
‘the brown sands began. Immeas-
urably distant loomed the Ghaggar
‘hills, purple and dim against the
turquoise.
The sentries at the lion-pillars of
the gate saluted, and the horses
“And you'd soon-.
:
JAE
i
|
| i
i was
i
i
ih
superbly mounted.
{suit his stature, Dick waited
yellow guidons, a gleaming
eter behind him.
But the virile beauty of :
was lost on Mona. She
‘to hate the regiment, as thing
‘which stood implacably between her
‘and her desire.
The band clashed out a clangor of
kettledrums and desert flutes and
silver trumpets, and the swords and
guidons of the regiment swept down
as the maharaja's escort trotted on-
to the ground: Colonel His
the
had
the
parade
Highness Sir Bikha Mulhar Nara-
yan Karatadar Pertab Hlat Singh,
ECSILRKCBHB,A DC, Ma.
'haraja of Isulmeer, Prince of Nunar,
‘Lord of Nine Plains, Holder of all
Justice—and twin brother of Rao
and stanch friend of Dick Ruttan.
He rode slowly up and down the
waiting regiment, straight and aloof
and fearless, like the son of swords
he was, on a white, pink-nosed stal-
lion. He wore a long caftan of
ivory satin, pearl-encrusted, and
white top-boots and a yellow turban
of nodding egret plumes with pen-
dent diamonds. Horse and man scin-
tillated with jewels, and behind him
flew the black silk banner with the
gold hawk of Isulmeer.
As he rode past Mona's carriage,
his keen eyes dwelt on her, but his
expression did not change.
The regiment displayed itself.
Time after time Dick led it past, a
thundering scarlet avalanche of
hook-nosed horsemen, to rythm of
drums and high scream of trumpets,
with roar of hoofs and jingling trap-
pings, gleam of rich leather and daz-
zle of scoured steel.
And for all it was the maharaja's
review, the day was Dick's. It was
the first review since he had taken
command. He had been born into
the regiment. His father and grand-
father had led it before him.
Crowding the ground were ancient
'sowars who had served under them,
men who remembered Dick as a fat
cherub. Their own sons rode behind
Dick now, and as he led them thun-
dering past they greeted him tu-
multuously.
Dick's triumph was a lash on the
raw wounds that were already in
Mona's arrogance. She wished to
be the center of her scheme of
things, as she always had been un-
tii she came to india. At home,
men served her; women feared her
and so made her way easy.
Poor Cuthbert Cullen killed him-
self with shame and worry in his
endeavor to afford her all the things
she desired. And Dick, at home,
for all his charm, had not been
more than husband of the
Mona Cullen.
But Isulmeer had spelled defeat—
catastrophe for her. Dick was the
colonel, great and loved in the land,
friend alike of the king and of the
people, while she was--the colonel's
woman,
As she drove home, the streets
seethed with excited Rajputs. Ap-
proaching the palace road, suddenly
the crowd went wild. a
forest of tossed arms she saw three
horsemen gayly canter by, one in
glittering cream and two in scarlet:
Bikha and Rao and Dick, state
duties over, cantering home togeth.
er. The crowd roared greetings.
It was the last drop in her cup of
bitterness. She knew she could en-
a—
dure it no longer. She would end
it all. She would. She must!
But how? As the horses moved
slowly with the crowd her mind
worked desperately. She knew now
that her belief that she couid im-
pose herself between Dick and the
regiment was folly. He held that
it was his sacred duty, that his life
was dedicated to the things his for-
bears had created, and it would be
unthinkable to him to leave it till
his soldier's career had run its
| course.
With alarm she had come further
to realize that she dared not let him
know Ser attitude toward it. She
wore the mantle of a simple man's
ideal, he imantle place in his regard
as the woman he believed she was.
.And to violate this, to reveal that
she hated him for his popularity and
did not care a rap for what he held
ito ‘be his duty, or for anything on
‘earth except herself, would destroy
‘what held him to her and, as well,
her hope of winning to her desire.
In her present mood she was
capable of leaving him unceremoni-
since morning.
go out past where she was, she lay
there quietly, waiting. From the
city below the hill came the throb
of distant drums and the chant of ferent.
Her form, slender and exquisite in
that in the gathering dusk Dick was
past before he saw her. But
You'll be
on
wore the scarlet forage coat
mess, his honors clinking on
breast, with golden swan-necked
spurs and a gold stripe down the
blue trousers.
She answered guilefully, “I don't
feel well enough to go.”
“My dear! Why didn't you tell
me? I'd no idea!”
“I didn't want to spoil your eve-
ning, Dick. It's nothing but a lit-
tle fever.”
“But that wasn't kind. You can't
be all alone here, seedy; and tonight
of all nights! We shall all be at
Donley's by half past nine, to
dance.”
“No please.
quiet.”
He bent and
I'd like to stay
ran his fingers
through her hair. His voice was
deep with tenderness—no shadow
from their quarrel seemed to be be-
tween them.
“As bad as that, dear? Then
won't you let me call ayah and get
you off to bed? Please!” He cross-
ed and struck the gong. “Run
along now; and I'll go over and tell
Jane Harlon. I know she'll come
and keep you company. I'll come
back the minute dinner's over—the
Donleys'll have to let me off. Here's
ayah, now. Off you go. Il be
back in a minute!”
The jingle of his spurs went down
the path between the roses. In a
perverse way his concern and ten-
derness were fuel to her anger and
her chagrin.
Janki, her ayah, a gentle creature
in a white sari, approached. ‘Mem-
sahib palan taire hai.” The bed of
Madame is ready.
Mona flashed round on her savage-
ly. “Nahin mungta. Jao!” The
frightened woman scuttled off, as
Mona's impotence gave vent hyster-
ically to tears.
Thus she did not hear Rao as he
strolled up to the doorway. Dark
was fast closing; Shan Singh's mar-
ble terrace flooded with the weird
incandescence of the afterglow that
casts no shadows. The heavy scent
of jasmine drenched the air. Rao
heard her sob and stopped short.
His was the true Rajput figure,
slender and tall, with wide shoulders,
a bit awkward when afoot but
splendid in the saddle. His face
changed with concern as he realized
that she was crying, and he crossed
to her quickly.
She looked up, genuinely startled,
to see his big brown eyes burning
down on her. His face was less
dark than many an Englishman's,
lovely hawkish and fine and ardent, with
- gm ~tved.lips and wavy black hair. .
“Mona! You're crying!
the matter?”
In his concern, the keen fame of
his soul shone from his face, im-
petuous sympathy was in his voice.
She was reminded vividly of the
fierce passion with which he had paid
court to her in England, and of the
night she told him she had accepted
Dick-—his despair, his hurt and his
gallant loyalty to both of them.
The Rao of that day she had not
seen again; but now she saw him
gazing at her with hungry eyes that
seemed to envelop her in tenderness.
It was like the answer to the
question that obsessed her: how she
might be free of the odious shackles
she herself had locked; a revelation
whose impact was a shock at which
the tension in her brain gave way
with the most exquisite feeling of
relief.
“I'm—Ilonely, Rao.” There was a
universe of meaning in her tone.
“But aren't you dining at the
Donleys' 7?"
“I was, but I begged off.
couldn't have stood them. Don't
you see, Rao, it's not that kind of
loneliness 7"
Neither of them saw the man who
had come after Rao and now stood
in the doorway, watching. In his
uniform as colonel-in-chief, Bikha
was like his twin as one coin is
like another.
Rao dropped on a lean knee be-
side her. “Oh, come; buck up,
I can do? You
What's
Mona. An
know, old girl, if there's anything,
any darn thing—"
She put out her hand to his;
smiled up at him as Eve smiled up
at Adam in his innocence, and with
like intent.
“Thanks, Rao. Thanks more than
clattered down the steep slope from ously, had she been able to do so. I can say. Just stay close and be
the palace into the crooked streets;
houses of dingy white or pink or
turquoise-blue, with balconies and
shutters of carved cedar, and love- on her the need to marry, and led differently,
zenana to her selection of Dick as the man the smile of Eve; and of Jezebel,
from best suited to her requirements. At Circe, Delilah and the wife of Poti-
ly forged-iron grilles before
windows. A fierce sun glared
a translucent sky, and a parched
desert breeze swirled in.
| But she was penniless. It was the
imminent expiration of the orn of
| Cullen's fortune which had thrust
| the thought of how great had been
her blunder, her anger reared again. |
kind to me. You've helped already.
Oh, why is life so difficult? Why
can't we see ahead? We'd do so
wouldn't we?” Again
phar, straight into Rao’'s heart.
It startled and puzzled him. He
The entire populace streamed with There was guest-night in mess to said, in a quiet voice: “why, what
her toward the maidan, for the Raj-
put dearly loves a military show.
They filled the narrow streets,
marching shoulder to shoulder be-
| side the carriage, the lithe, tall,
swaggering men of Rajputana, war-
riors all in the old days, gay in their
gaudiest silks and velvets, oiled and
The sun blazed on the swirling
flood of them, and the breeze wafted
her a reek of dust and bhang and
goats and camels, and the rank at-
tar perfume the dandies used.
She hated it all. Hated the sun,
swashbuckling moh. She was avid
for the smell of tarred roads in a
milder sun, and for the theatre
crowds in streets glistening in the
lights on a wet night.
The carriage swung onto the mai-
dan, framed by the gay-colored mass
of people, and entered the place re-
| served for her. The other officers’
perfumed, and armed to the teeth.
the smells, the garish scene, the gay, |
end the day-—another
| galled her, as did any
‘gathering of the men.
|dine with the other women at the
| bungalow of Donley, a married cap-
a uBio oe
wal ’ i
her she could not endure it. |
She excused herself for the eve- |
She wanted |
alone, to think by what means |
might bring Dick unknowingly
do her will. |
agrant loveliness of |
chambers,
their
gowned herself with care in a neg-
ligee of daffodil chiffon. Then she
lay in a long chair in the anteroom
as fr inset began to blaze behind the
palace spires.
She heard Dick come in at the
other entrance; heard him shout for
his man and sing as he bathed and
ch 1
ange not been alone with him |
thing that
sequestered |
o
She was to made
d’you mean, Mona?”
She sat up,
a ring gesture. “Oh,
nothing. Nothing at all. I shouldn't
have said that. Forget it, won't
you? I'm ill. This climate doesn't
suit me.”
Footsteps rang outside, and Dick's |
g Swi came in cheerily. “Why, hul-
0, in
Thty turned, to see Dick's splen-
did figure join the lanky one of
Bikha in the doorway.
In his precise cli
walk over with you, Dick. Rao ig
within.”
She wondered how long Bikha had
been standing there.
They came in,
brought lamps. .
“Mona's feverish,” Dick explained.
“Jane will be over in half and hour,
dear. She said she was glad to
dodge the crush.”
as a chokidar
he swung around, to bend above her king
ting his hand, then
i pped English, |
she bathed and Bikha said, “We strolled down to the dark.
Knowing he would) Bikha had stepped close to Mona
‘and was looking down. For
physical resemblance to his brother,
the essential man showed very dif-
ie afer parry In
i la no c .
Fria he wore a still detach-
‘the long cane chair, was so still ment, and inscrutable small smile
that seldom . He was all
‘Rajput warrior, all eastern and all
Mona's interest in him was acute,
‘but his manner to her, impeccable,
‘but aloof and completely cold, af-
forded her no satisfaction. Yet she
was aware he was by no means in-
different to her.
Time after time she would discov- |
er his gaze on her, balefully con-
templative, like a tiger's in a cage.
It caused terrifying movements at
her heart, which she could not un-
derstand. Certainly, she was aware, |
she was not indifferent to him. But
the nature of her feelings she could
not determine.
Of his private life she knew noth- |
ing save that he was monarch abso-
lute of Isulmeer, ruling in person in
the tradition of his house and living |
in semi-barbaric state in the pri-
vacy of Shan Singh's ancient edifice.
She knew that the exquisite south
wing, with its high, sheer, castel-
lated walls, was his zenana, and she
often had wondered what manner of
women those impassive barriers im-
prisoned.
Bikha turned to Dick. “I should
ino! worry, Dick. She has no fever.”
It was as if he discussed an ailing
horse, and her feelings toward him
crystallized into hot resentment.
“How's that, sir?” Dick was puz-
zled, and a shade resentful.
“1 said she has no fever, Dick.
There are aliments, you must know,
not of the body. But we intrude,
Rao. Shall we wait outside?” He
led his brother out.
When Jane Harlon came,
watched the three tall
the short scarlet jackets merge into
the gloom; Bikha, the kin, between
his brother and his friend. The
clink of spurs and the bass’ murmur
of their voices waned and ceased.
On a sweltering June night six
weeks later, the blue-tiled anteroom
“beheld the fruition of her purpose,
born that day.
Dick was away inspecting his res-
sala at the Ghaggar wells.
In a week the regiment was to go
north for maneuvers, and Mona to
Simla for the rest of the hot weath-
er.
Rao sat opposite her; leaned for-
ward tensely, his ardent eyes on her
in the dusk. “Don’t dear,’ he plead-
ed. "Don't say such things. You
can never take them back, however
much you want to.”
“I tell you it's true. I don't care
for him. He's different from what
I thought. Must I go through life
tied to a man I've come to hate, who
doesn't care enough for me to move
a step out of his path to make me
happy?” His dark face was an-
guished, but before he could speak
she rushed on, “Why try to go on
any longer? It's you I want, Rao,
you whom I love.”
At the words, he caught his
breath. His eyes widened. He sat
staring before him. In the silence a
lizard on the wall said, “Tchk-tchk-
tchk-tchk.”
At last he said, “Then we must
tell Dick; ask him to let you go.”
She laughed, bitter and short.
“Do you think he ever would? 1
thought you knew him better! No!
There's only one thing we can do,”
she urged. “We must go away,
start fresh somewhere, you and IL”
He answered slowly: “Sneak away
like a pair of thieves? Shame Dick
and betray him? Make his name a
joke in every mess in India? Could
we be happy with that behind us?’
He answered his’ own query with the
passionate declaration; “No, I tell
you, no! If that's the only way,
then we must go on and face the
music. Face it and keep faith. If
you do that, it comes right in the
end. It always does, if only you
don't fail.”
She turned on him witheringly.
“So you're just another of
Men are all
=
Mona
You've both said
you love me till I'm sick of hearing ceive
it. Then, first Dick showed me |
how much his word was worth, and |
now you, you, who swore this min-
ute you would do anything for me,
are afraid to make it good!”
In his distress he sprang to his
feet, and she rose with him. He
seized her arms and gave her a lit- |
tle shake, as one shakes a sulky
child. : i
. “You say that to me, Mona, when
‘all these months since I came back
I've been in torment.. I've prayed
and fought for some release from lit. |
‘It's made a furtive thing of me,
I've wished that you or he or I
were dead. I've loathed myself for
visions that I've had of Dick deadin
‘some fight. I've even found mur.
der in my heart—and you can say |
I do not love you!”
She swayed toward him with a
whimper. “Oh, Rao! Please for.
‘give me. Don't be so hard. I'm
‘so tried and lonely. Help me. Take
'me away, Rao. Oh, take me awa '
Let's begin fresh.”
Losing himself in her tearful eyes,
he swept her into his embrace; but
at once with a supreme effort re-
leased her, thrusting her off atarm's
length. She felt his arm shake vio-
lently.
“No! You hear me, Mona? We
can't do this. It's too beastly.
We'll have to see it through. I'll
| get leave for a year and go away.
' Old Dick, to drag him through the
‘mud like that!”
He swung away and plunged into
She heard his footsteps
| die, and for all his nate re-
nunciation, it seemed to her thatall
| went well, ;
| That was a pig-sticking time in
| Isulmeer, when thakurs and sowars,
| princes and the officers of the regi-
iment strove for the maharaja’s
them! kneel
‘eral F. A. Tilton has again
‘warning, and also an appeal
‘tention of the postal
trophy. The Fates had it that
| Dick and Rao should reach the final
| together. Everyone turned out tc
watch
state of supreme uncertainty
discontent. She was sure that Rao
would capitulate before the
just this day. Then he would be
gone for six weeks with the regi-
ment—and she knew he had applied
for a year's special leave.
Through her meditation, she heard
Bikha say, ‘See, the father of all
pigs!”
Out from the rugged slopes before
the beaters trotted an old boar, griz-
zled and lean and scarred, with mas-
sive shoulder and razor hump slop-
ing to corded, grey-hound quarters.
When he had gone two hundred
yards or so, the umpire gave the
signal, and Rao and Dick, on a bay
and a rawboned dun respectively,
charged out from the rocks in a
cloud of yellow dust.
The boar turned at the sound.
bristled and lowered his head, but at
the sight of the two horses tearing
down on him he wheeled. Then
they were between him and cover.
and he was headed for the yellow
plain.
(Concluded next week.)
————————— A ———————————
PILGRIMS KNEEL AT SPOT
WHERE UniiST WAS BORN
Afoot, mn donkey carts and in lux-
urious umousines, pugrims stream
into the roy City waay to cele-
brate the most solemn mass in
Canstendom.
The noise of new arrivals and the
chatiering in many tongues failed
to shatter the peace that for two
days a year envelops this little
town. The sober robes of the East
blended with the severe garb of the
West.
Here millionaire and pauper, lady
and shop-girl mingle to pay homage
at the birthplace of Christ.
Prelates of the old world, their
institutions steeped in the tradition
of centuries chatter with American
colleagues who preach from pulpite
still new and glistening.
The Arabs and Mohammedans
alone stand aloof from the celebra-
tions, yet evince a passive interest
in the ceremony. All is “Peace on
Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”
Among early arrivals the Latin
patriach, who comes in state from
Jerusalem. More than 5,000 pil-
grims accompany him, the proces-
sion being augmented as it passed
forced to stoop as
basilica by a diminutive door,
feel their way to the nook 3
the Virgin Mary spread her mats in
a subterranean chamber, half hewn
and hollowed in rock. .
A marble manger has replaced
She dd, A silver star shines on
e rand twinkl candles stab
the darkness. At digs stab
orful congregation is assembled, The
nave is in almost complete dark-
ness; huge candelabra electrically
wired only in recent years, however,
throw light on the t
and
public eye, a few
the chancel Hy Breas, to see
the ceremonial robing
Here again the simplicity of the
architecture : dominates. the , congre-
i
gation. Women in expensive
, beside farm lasses . in
clothing before the same
i
priest.
UNCLE SAM WARNS 3
STA ; :
Eagerness of stamp i to
ursue their hobby may } to their
ng and prosecution for criminal
Removal lf i I =
pecially those or rare de-
sign, from matter in the mails has
long been indulged in by ardent hob-
, much to the aggravation of
the Post Office department and the
individuals receiving mail from
which stamps have been removed,
since the recipients are likely to be
charged with pe _ due,
Third assistant Postmaster Gen-
that all
such instances be brought to the at-
authorities.
The offense is punishable by a fine
or imprisonment or both.
WHY RING ON FOURTH FINGER
In the British Apolio (1708) to
the inquiry “Why is it that the per-
son, to be married is enjoyned to put
‘a ring upon the fourth finger of his
spouse's left hand,” it is answered:
“There is nothing more in this than
that the custom was handed down
to the present age from the practice
of our ancestors, who found the left
hand more convenient for such er-
naments than the right, in that it's
ever less employed; for the same
reason they chose the fourth finger,
which is not only less used than the
rest, but is more capable of rv.
ing a ring from bruises, ha this
one quality peculiar to itself, that it
cannot be extended, but in company
with some other finger, whereas the
rest may be singly stretched to theh
full length and straightness.”— De:
troit News.