Show TUfflE Of A 6ODc III f BY W A FRASER Copyright 1898 by W A Fraser When the strong arm of the law r reachetiroutfor Motins Ouray and gathered I I f gath-ered In HpaThit Instead It was this way The gray Burmese night was thick I when Hpo Thit glided like a snake up the steps of the police bungalow and told Valentyne thel superintendent that HOURS Ouroy had opiummany balls of ithidden avras in his house When he spoke of Moung Ouray Val entyne started a little for Ouray was MI Mras hlrotner and Mi lira she was but this Is a story of Hpo Thit How do you know of the opium asked Valentyne Did you put the beastly stuff there yourself and then come to cackle of the eggs of your own laying No sir Abdul who is a dog of a Mussulman saw Moung Ouray take it off the fireboat which goes up the river riverDid Abdul who Is a Mussulman see where Ouray hid the opium No sir but will not a Burman put his jewels In the strong box that he i t keeps near his bed t There was a soft rustle just beyond f the plaited bamboo wall close behind Valentynes head It was the soft rustle of Bilk as MI Mra wrapped the lemon colored scarf about her throat and slipped like a gentle shadow down the I back steps of the bungalow f Valentyne gave a toss In his chair and coughed long and lustily That was diplomatic r dip-lomatic for jungle men like Hpo Thit have sharp ears In and out among the mangoe trees t the girls slight figure flitted as she sped swiftly through the grove toward Moung Ourays little bamboo house The Thaklne who makes Mi Mra r f laugh asked Hpo Thit if he had laid f the eggs In brothers box Perhaps he t did we shall seeha ha ha and her teeth which were pink from the juice of the suparl gleamed like coral beads Valentyne pondered for a few mo I r i i tt t f 1 1 jrc ji r i Knocked the Ruby Out of the Alabaster Ala-baster With His Dah r ments over what Hpo Thit had told r him His duty was straight enough butbutIts a putup job he muttered r mut-tered to himself Its the same old bazaar trick of ruining a man And also was not Moung Ouray MI Nras brother I suppose Ive got to help this blackguard black-guard in his villainy though he thought and calling his orderly told him t i bring the sergeant and a couple of police from the jail I Together they marched down the metalled road between the peepul I trces just where a sweet scented cham I pac grows opposite the Beda pagoda i they stopped Moung Ourays bungalow bunga-low lay just beyond Not got opium sar said Ouray in I his knockkneed EnlIsh when the police po-lice filed into his little room and Val i entyne told him what was wanted 1 When the box was unlocked on top 1 lay his handsome silk gown then one after another the jaunty little jackets and divers other things were laid on 1 lliU JlVVfi < In the bottom was a big round lacquer lac-quer box When the sergeant lifted i < the lid there were four balls there four oval white balls as unlike onium f as they could well be for they were eggs Now Moung Ouray knew that h3 had not put the eggs there he did not make a pantry of his clothes box Also c had not lip Thit left them The balls he had slipped into the lacquer box while Moung Ouray was down at the play were round and black not at all like eggs The two Punjabi policemen were grinning from ear to ear Valentyne gave a sarcastic little laugh and asked Hpo Thit il that was the opium he had I seen Moung Ouray carrying off the steamer Here is not got afim said the sergeant ser-geant and asked If he should search further Before Valentyne could answer a fiendish uproar smote upon his ears t It was as though the play and the whole clash of bazaar noises had been suddenly emptied into the compound of the Phoongye Kyoung across the road It was a proper oriental babel the p cry of Thief cutting through the general i gen-eral noise J ke a sharpedged knife rc The bazaar budmashes blackguards black-guards are killing someone said the 151 sergeant Well nave to go and look Into that first said the superintendent Well come back here and finish the search t after You must come too Ouray so that this devil cannot say that you had a chance to hide anything I I F That also was diplomatic but It was the little slip of losing track of Hpo Thit that gave the Nahts spirits j chance to work more mischief I I f Somebody Is murdering a Phoongye I priest he said to the sergeant as they ranched the road i i L Hushing into the pagoda he found i i the Phoongyes in the temple clustered I I t aboUt the big Buddha the Beda Buddha I Budd-ha as it was known I F The priests were prostrated at the I feet of the great image raving and lamenting and shrieking in despair t Whats tho matter asked Valen tyneA I nA thief has stolen the Beda the eye of the god the ruby V And they pointed to a great hole In I I i the forehead of the Buddha where the r i sacred Beda Ruby had been for 12 I centuries I I How calm and dignified the alabaster god seemed sitting there with his ft nd I I retting in his lap Through 12 centuries I I > of strife and passion and blood and carnage had It looked with calm serenity seren-ity upon the struggles of the little men 4 who had come and gone Twelve hundred years before had King TJzzana given it to the Talooas of Panja Vzznno the son of Mienzaim and Poasa the Chinese princess T King Uzzana given nIJe to the Talopins which Uzzana founded gained him I great mert so that when he died the I Beda Buddha worked miracles And row for 1200 years had the I sacred eye the Beda Ruby done even soThe mad frenzy of the priests seemed like the petulant temper of children their thin brown bodies draped with tie sscrcjd yellow robe swayed and rocked In the weird light of their flickvrinc earthoil lamps as they called the curse of their offended godhead upon the sacrilegious thef who had stolen the 1 ruby taken the sacred Beda c Valentyne was horrorstruck at the f audacity of the thief for the Beda Buddha was the most sacred Image In all Burmah PlIgrims came from allover i all-over the Burmese empire to strike with the stags horn the crescentshaped seng hanging at Its side and then plead with forehead prone on the cemented ce-mented floor In front of the god for the t 1lit l r7t J intercession of the Beda with Buddha I i Gautiama I The Phoongyes watched it night and I day and how anyone had managed to steal the ruby Valentyne could not understand un-derstand I In the meantime Hpo Thit had glided silently back through the crotons and Into the bugalow once more I gi cuWO i The very air was full of demoniac reuses as Hrx Thit slipped Into the i house for the crows aroused by the Phoongyss uproar were screaming and shrieking in a big tamarind that towered tow-ered high above the chamDac I Within all was quiet and Hpo Thit lost no time In making his way to the box they had so lately searched for the I ODlum The little lamp was still burning so I he could see just where to put the small I round Docket he took from the roll In his cloth at his waist He nut it down in a corner of the I teakwood box then actuated by a sudden sud-den resolve he picked It up unrolled the little piece of yellow cloth In which i it was wrapped and took a long loving look at it As he rolled it in his hard near the flickering cotton dip the little room seemed bathed in a flood of warm bloodred light Great rubytinted rays shot hither and thither until the dazzling daz-zling brightness lighted up the uncertain uncer-tain gloom and It was as though red wine had been thrown high in the bright noonday sunshine It was the stolen ruby and night was being made hideous with the din across the road In the Pboongye Kyoung There was so much of terror so much of menace in the hoarse roar of the Phoongys and the crowd of Buddhists wh had been attracted by their cries that his heart failed himhe dropped it again in the box and passed silently si-lently swiftly out into the Burmese night As he disappeared a small figure glided out from behind a Penang mat which served as a curtain to a doorway door-way and kneeling over the box searched search-ed for that which Hpo Thit had put there It was Ml Mra Ho ho Hpo Thlt because Moung Ouray told Mi Mra that you are always smoking at the opium and because of that Ml Mra would have nothing to do with you you would have Valentyne Thakine make a thief of Moung Ouray Then she disapepared behind the curtain cur-tain again and the oil dip flickered lower and lower and only the outside clamor crept into the houseIt was so stillSoon there was a steady tramp tramp of men that are accustomed to marching and once more the superintendent superin-tendent and the sergeant and the police came up the steps and also were Moung Ouray and Hpo Thit and the Phoongys and others there We shall find the opium Hpo Thit was saying or else Moung Ouray has given ft to some one to some of the opium eaters to steal the ruby for him the great ruby which was in the forehead fore-head of the God Beda If the opium Is gene we shall find the ruby If the ruby is not here we shall find the opium I do not know all things like the Thakine but that is the way of our people I think that this is no end of a fools game said Valentyne to the sergeant but we might as well finish our search while we are at it Where shall we look firstIn the box Thakine eagerly interposed Inter-posed Hpo Thit If the opium is not there and he has the ruby there shall we find it So once more the sergeant continued his interrupted search of the box There was nothing beyond a poir of Chinese patent leather shoes a palm leaf Buddhist Bud-dhist Bible and Moung Ourays silken head dresses many of them packed away in the bottom There is nothing here Hpo Thit said the superintendent brusquely What I really ought to do is arrest you Hpo Thit for a dangerous lunatic to that tomorrow In the but Ill see I meantime sergeant just beat ID the surrounding country for the budmash r that has taken the ruby That the ruby was gone was a facer I to Hpo Thit first the balls of opium had disappeared but that he had aWl = buted to Moung Ouray now tne ruuy had vanished and Moung Ouray had lw > n with thu 011 II I he In Then he saw something which gave him a clue It was an Innocentlooting circlet of Jassamine flowers lying In front of the box It was such a circlet their hair and it as the girls wore on hadnt been lying there when they searched the box before Of a certainty Mi Mra has taken the ruby murmured Hpo Thit and has rone to the house of San Shwe who is her father If San Shwe will keep It there will it rest but if his heart fail him then will he tell her to take it to the police Thakine There was no time to be lost for it would be discovered that he had stolen it and he would also lose the ruby His opportunity to steal toe jewel had come to him just as he was leaving Moung Ourays house after having put the opium in the bos For some unknown un-known reason probably owing to the poay he had found the temple deserted for a few minutes and had knocked the ruby out Qf the alabaster with his sword Then the sudden fear and the chance to implicate Moung Ouray as the thief his other scheme having failed led him to put it in the box Now he knew that Ml Mra must have seen him put it there and as he would be accused of stealing it anyway he meant to get the ruby back Slipping away from the others as they came out of Moung Ourays house he quickly sped to San Shwcs bungalow bunga-low As he approached cautiously he could see Ml Mra and her mother and father sitting on the bamboo floor ear ncsty diheusslnn something TheY will decide I will wait he muttered squatting his heels at the side of the road > j I Then Mi Mra came out and started I I off across the dried maidan toward the j superintendents bungalow That was Hpo Thits chance I If you tell about jt he said as he left her I will swear that you and Moung Ouray stole It and gave it tome to-me Then the judge Thakine will ask I how you should know that I had It if you had not given it to me Mi Mra went back to her fathers I house She wanted to thinkwanted i to do that which was the least trouble In the morning she told Valentyne I about it and in an hour he and the sergeant and a file of police were chasing after Hpo Thit But Hpo Thit had gone One more dacoit had been created His brother the Thuggies gun had gone with him The ThuggIe i i didnt know that for Hpo Thit had i I stolen It It was an oldfashioned i muzzleloading musket 1 I It is difficult to run down a Burman i in the jungle and it was the next day I before they came up with their quarry I He had a couple of shots at them in a blundering sort of way with the old i I musket without hitting anybody but I just as Valentyne charged In ort him at the head of his police Hpo Thit fired again at close quarters and the i I superintendent went down shot in the I shoulder Only for the sergeant Hpo Thit would have been carved up into regulation slices only for the sergeant and Val entyne too for he bEllow out Dont kill him Take the beast alive j I Bring him here and search him at I once said Valentyne who was sitting sit-ting up now though feeling deuced I groggy and while the sergeant bound up his wound they stripped Hpo Thit I clean as a whistle But there was no rubynothing but much tattooing discovered dis-covered What have you done with the rod stone asked the superintendent but Hpo Thit wouldnt answer Then they got back to Thayetmyo as I quickly as they could carrying Valen tyne on an improvised dhooly In the o f 1I tI shape of a charpoy which they got from the woon of a neighboring village by the gentle art of compulsion When Hpo Thit was brought back by the police he was met by a reception ommlttee composed of orthodox Buddhists Budd-hists who were gathered together with the avowed object of honoring him with the crucifixion To guard against his attaining Nirvana I I NIr-vana by a fluke as it were he was to be crucified head downward I I Valentine who was very weak by this time had great difficulty in explaining I ex-plaining to them that the government could not allow such a thing to take place I placeHave patience good friends he said we must be merciful and he I I talked cheerfully of the lifelong years I of living hell Hpo Thlt would surely get on the Andaman Islands for his part I I In the little circus j I In a general sort of way the sergeant I I explained to them that they who knew i little about such things could only I I j make lIpo Thit wish he had not done this thing for a very few minutes at I I i the outside But the Thakine who was j I the government could cause Hpo Thit l i j to revile the day eu was projected Into I the world by a thief of a jackal for I years and years II So Valentyne was taken to the hospital I hos-pital and Hpo Thit was put in a cage behind Iron bars just like the mangy I tiger they had seen down at Rangoon Ill have the bullet out of you in a I jiffy said the civil surgeon to Valen tyne as he rolled up his sleeves and I opened his case of shining instruments Damned if I can understand it though he said as he probed away for the jiffy time had gone by and he hadnt even touched the bullet yet It must be one of those infernal skewgee Tr eIt i I I slugs of theirs that he has pumped into I you It seems to have struck you under the arm as you were flourishing that II sword of yours and then traveled on down alone your ribs God kno vs where I it is now for I cant find it Youve lost enough blood over it for just now anyway any-way but if there seems to be any complication com-plication setting in Ill have another try for it The surgeon saw It was about time to desist for Valentyne was looking pretty well used up Then Hpo Thit was brought up before the deputy commissioner for a committal commit-tal hearing as it were charged with stealing the sacred ruby and with attempting at-tempting murder of the superintendent superintend-ent But the priests were clamorous for the ruby eye of their Buddha for the matter mat-ter of Valentyne dying or not they did not bother their headseven they would let Hpo Thit go free so be it they could come by the sacred gem again The Burmese archbishop the Thathana baing had come down from Ava to see about the recovery of the stone They begged the deputy commissioner to give Hpo Thit promise of pardon if he would only disclose where he had hidden the Beda I ccnt do that he said for the wounded sahib may die the doctor has fished for the bullet and cant get it and it looks bad for the superintendents superintend-ents life If he dies Hpo Thit will have to swing But if the Beda might be recovered they would pay to Valentynes family his full value In good English sovereigns sover-eigns The deputy commissioner was as anxious anx-ious to recover the jewel as they were so he promised Hpo Thit that if he would tell where it was it would help him much when the time of his sentence sen-tence came I will tell said Hpo Thit because it will be easy for the Thakine to get it and then the Thakine will remember at the time of the sentence The priests craned their thin shaven buzzardlike heads eagerly forward even the deputy commissioner was intensely in-tensely excited for If he should recover tlls sacred Beda it would be well If not the papers all through India would have their fling at it and his life would be made miserable answering inquiries from the government I The court was as silent as the graven Image of Buddha Itself as they waited I for Hpo Thit to speak Putting the palms of his hands together I to-gether in front of his face in the form I of supplication Hpo Thit said The I red stone which I took from the l < young i even from the forehead of Buddha is I I in the police Thakines body I fired It I from my gun the last time because I had no bullets and because if it could I work a miracle it would stop the police that I might get away enemy Idleave the service first I Of course the deputy commissioner had to report it to the commissioner and he to the chief commissioner j i The report read That the sacred I Beda the famous ruby had been I stolen from the forehead of the image i of Buddha in the pagoda there by a I hill man Hpo ThiL Hpo Thit had been i captured and the ruby traced to the possession of the superintendent of police po-lice Mr Valentyne That It appeared from Hpo Thits evidence that he had firei it from a musket into the superintendents super-intendents body but as to whether Hpo Thits evidence could be accepted and the superintendent held to be in innocent possession of the stolen goods or not or whether he should be arrested ar-rested as a receiver of stolen goods he was not prepared to say That must rest with the higher authoritIes to de cfde He suggested that it might be better to refer it to the Judicial commissioner com-missioner Valentyne in the meantime had to bo guarded at the hospital for Mi Mm discovered that the Phoongyes had seta set-a scheme on foot to kidnap him and Incidentally carve him up to find the Ir sacred stone There were many reasons why they should recover it as soon as uossible Their Buddha had lost all prestige since his maltreatment and no pilgrims came now to lay their generous offerings at his great square feet The pagoda had ceased to do a paying business for Uz zanas ruby had been a drawing card It had been a good investment that for 12 centuries had gone on making money for the priests Valentyne applied for and obtained sick leave handicapped with an order that he must not take the ruby out of the jurisdiction of the Burmese courts It was a splendid bit of judicial ruling rul-ing that and the deputy commissioner smiled grimly when It passed through his hands The surgeon swore like a trooper when he heard about it for he had ordered or-dered Valentyne off to Darieeling for a change You cant stop here he said because If you dont die of fever I theyll murder you sure By JoveI I Your body will be worth something for dissecting purposes though if they dont get the first slash at you But Valentyne steadily improved The wound was healing up nicely the ruby seemingly giving him no trouble whatever what-ever As soon as he was able to sit up and move about he discovered a new source of anoniyance Devout Burmans were constantly coming and prostrating themselves at his feet touching their foreheads to the ground and muttering their prayers What does it all mean he asked Moung Ouray Sar they are worshiping the Beda which you by the grace of God and I that wicked Hpo Thit have got This is intolerable thought Valen tyne I am a ruby mine and a Burmese I Bur-mese god and a receiver of stolen goods all in one As he got better the beauty of his I new life was further enhanced by the deluge of official correspondence that commenced to pour In upon him I By order of the chief commissioner he was asked to explain how he meant to make good to the pagoda the value hs d fnl I of the ruby he was still retaining on his person It was cheerfully pointed out I I that if I half his salary was escheated I for this purpose It would take at least 40 years to make up the value of the jewel A delay of this sort would hardly be fair to the Phoongyes besides in that uncertain climate his salary might cease at any moment At any rate under un-der the 55 years senIce rule he could I not retain his position In the service for that length of time and his pension would be barely enough to live upon I The civil surgeon was raked over the coals for not acting upon the deputy I commissioners suggestion and probing i I the matter to the bottom as It were I for not making another effort to recover re-cover the jewel It was in vsilh1 that he wrote in answer an-swer that the superintendents life would have been endangered by another an-other operation His answer only brought another literary lit-erary wigging in which he was curtly i reminded that the British government expected its officials to do their duty Irrespective of personal feeling or considerations I con-siderations of personal safety Hang them for a lot of bloodthirsty j swine exclaimed Corbyn for that was the surgeons name they mean to I I I 4J I I i i ritI I 1Yt v IIE EVEN GOT ACSUSTOHED 10 SEEING THE ITATIVJiS LP j DOWN IN FBONT OF HIM AND PRAY I i I This statement took away the breath of the court The silence was unbroken for a full minute then the chief Phoon gye said Hpo Thit is telling lies he has hid it We mutt swear him Yes said the deputy commissioner he must make oath to that forthings were better done judicially He ordered the clerk to swear him on the aimleaf Burmese Bible No Thakine said the priest interrupting in-terrupting he is not a disciple of Buddha He is a jungle man and we must swear him on a branch of the leopan But after the oath it was the same the red stone was in the police Tha kines body I think it is the truth said the deputy dep-uty commissioner j It is true said the priests and the police Thakine must give up the Beda i BedaVell well see what can be done in the matter answered the deputy commissioner I com-missioner and Hpo Thit was remanded to await developments j I i i By Jove said the surgeon when he j j I heard about it that accounts for the i > infernal thing taking that corkscrew course Youll have to get Itout of hIm someway some-way said the deputy commissioner I for it Is worth about two lakhs of rupees i pees and besides It wont be healthy for Valentyne to live in Burmah with I the eye of a Buddhist god in him Look here Grey said the surgeon I I am jiggered if I probe for the cursed thing again I nearly let Valentynes j I life out of him the other day for fear of poisonous consequences for I thought it i was a slug But if its a good clearcut I ruby it will probably never hurt him and Im not going to take any chances The deputy commissioner was In despair de-spair The Phoongyes headed by their archbishop haunted his office and his bungalow night and day clamoring for i i the ruby for their sacred Beda for I the eye df their Buddhist god I But the surgeon was obdurate Valentyne Is a friend of mine he said and Im not going to murder him I to please any yellow robed Phoongye I wouldnt do It even If he were t a m i i have the rubv out of Valentyne even if It costs him his life i Then the Phoongyes got up a monstrous I mon-strous petition signed by all the Buddhists I Budd-hists living and dead In the whole Burman empire It was cleverly worded 1 word-ed having been drawn up by a young Burman barrister who was the gold medalist of his year in England The petition was to be forwarded to I the viceroy through the chief commissioner I commis-sioner and prayed that the superintendent superin-tendent of police Valentyne should be delivered over to them that they might regain the most sacred relic In all the Buddhist empire They were willing to pay an indemnity indem-nity to his family but the ruby they mus have j I For a time it looked rather blue for Valentyne for the viceroy was a man who had great Ideas about the rights I of the natives in fact he went in for it very much as a baboo plays lawn I tenniswithout much science In the game but with his whole soul and I ponderous body dead on the ball I The papers at home took It up and a t nice gentleman one evening at Exeter hall pointed out to the B P that evidently evi-dently It was another case of oppression oppres-sion of the poor native One of their temples had been desecrated one of their most sacred idols violated a jewel to which they attributed miraculous mirac-ulous powers stolen and the Jewel was now in the possession of one of the government superintendents of police There was a cockandhull story he said about It having been shot Into his body but even If It were so they could not set a whole nation of Budd hiss by the ears for the sake of one man In common honesty they must give the jewel up and if this man couldntpart with It why he would have to go with It that was all I The viceroy seemed Inclined to look at It in this light too and It really seemed awkward for Valentyne I In the meantime a civil suit to recover i re-cover the value of the ruby had been J I Instituted In the courts in general and I Valentyne In particular Luckily for Valentyne the secretary t of state vas a hardheaded man not I iJW II B I much given to nonsense and he said in I equivalent official language that hed I be damned If hed see an Innocent Englishman Eng-lishman deliberately cut up to recover j any fetish bauble I I But all the saint the s superintendent I would have to be retired on half pay j for his usefulness was gone The two could not be combined the dual posl i I tion of Burmese god and superintend i ent of police for the natives still persisted i per-sisted in reverencing him though ready as soon as the word was given to cut i him up J Just when he thought his troubles i were at an end and he might go home they applied for an Injunction to prevent pre-vent him from moving the ruby out of Burmah They showed to the court on medical authority that there was every possibility that the stone might work I itself out some day and so be mccoy ered but If I Valentyne were allowed to I leave the kingdom the chances of the i rightful owners ever becoming possessed pos-sessed of It were very slim indeed I They undertook to pay Valentyne a salary of 10000 rupees a year so long I as he remained In Rangoon and all they asked in return was the privilege I of coming to worship the Beda at certain j cer-tain periods and that a medical of j ficer appointed by them should have i free access to Valentynes person with I i a view to keeping track of the perambulations i peram-bulations of the ruby and that when I it made its appearance near the skin j anywhere so that it might be extracted ex-tracted without danger to him that j he would relinquish all claim upon it and allow the surgeon to hasten Its appearance I Valentynes counsel seeing which I way the wind was blowing agreed to accept this ruling of the court only stipulating that Corbyn be appointed surgeon for the nether stone had suffered suf-fered most in the grind and Corbyn was out of the service One little formality the court demanded de-manded That was that the archbishop and three or four of the chief Phoon gyes should go on a bond for Valen tynes personal safety So the superintendent was lodged In a beautifully furnished bungalow and was treated very much like a distinguished distin-guished state prisoner Life went very pleasantly with him and It did not seem such a bad affair after all Mi Ira was living In Rangoon too as i happened and Hpo Thit in consideration con-sideration of his turning queens evidence evi-dence against himself re the ruby was let off with two years In jail and was then busily engaged in pushing a conservancy con-servancy cart about town with a I clanking chain running from his waist I to either ankle by way of ornament i The Europeans in Rangoon with oriental ori-ental playfulness bestowed upon Val entyne two or three names expressive of his occupation He was known down at the Gym as the Burmese god Beda and the Jewel Merchant The fellows were never tired of offer ing him as security swearing roundly that he was worth two lakhs of rupees dead or alive One or two playful attempts on his life relieved the monotony of his ex istence but as these laudable efforts were usually frowned down both by the Phoongyes and the officials and as one of his assailants caught a cold steel in his right lung they ceased altogether after a timeand he was leading a comparatively I com-paratively happy life He almost began to wish that the ruby would stay where i was Were I fixed for life he said to Corbyn if j this Beda ruby doesnt turn up I II must be more careful of myself 11 must stop riding for the shaking up j may dislodge the Infernal thing and I start It working out He had even got accustomed to seeing see-ing the natives plump down in front of him and fall to praying Strangers always took him for the II j chief commissioner when they saw this I sort of thing going on and many were I the mistakes made in consequence j Once he received an offer from Bar num at a salary which made his paltry I ten thousand look like pin money The enterprising American guaranteed to I smuggle him out of Burmah also and pay all legal claims too I After he had been in the business I about two years he began to feel a pain in his back He confided his fears to his attendant physician Its working out Im sure he said sorrowfully And so it appeared for a distinct lump was forming just below the shoulder shoul-der blade The Phoongyes were notified and there was great rejoicing among them I They came and bent tomtoms all nightlong j I night-long In front of Valentynes bungalow I This was to drive the Nahts away so I that they would not steal the Beda I again Valentyne was loaded down with presents I I pres-ents and feasted like a bullock for the sacrifice sacrifce I shall be a rich man he said to I Corbyn If the thing holds off for a I time I But the Incessant drumming and song I prayer making about his bungalow was i driving him nearIymad for want of I sleep I I Then one day Corbyn made a discovery discov-ery I was only a boil the result of mangoe eating The Phoongyes were In despair t Just about that time Hpo Thit walked into his bungalow one day and bump insr his forehead on the floor begged I Valentynes forgiveness for wounding him He had served his time and was i I going away I he remained in Burma I they would Jclll him for stealing the I Beds so he was going to some other country I And that was the last anybody ever I saw of Hpo Thit in Burnia Three years more of playing Buddha I at the rate of ten thousand a year I j I passed and this time there could be no i i mistake about i so Corbyn said The 1 ruby was coming right enough this time It was coming not far from the place where the boll had been in fact It was the irritation of the Beda that had most likely caused the boll It was the same old thing over again I tomtoms and poays and presents and much praying and the working of I charms to keep the Nahts away only stronger than Before for they were sure of it this time r Corbyn could take his fingers and push It aho under the skin and the grim butternutcolored faces of the Phooncyes relaxed when they realized how close they were to getting the heavensent relic Even the officials were pleased pleased with Valentyne pleased with themselves and with the way they had managed the affair The Phoongyes would have their ruby hack again and Valentyne would have donewell out of the deal In fact he might be reinstated I rein-stated In the service if this spirit of I Buddha were cast out of him The chief commissioner generously extended his patronage to the extracting extract-Ing of the stone Apart from all this It had a great surgical Interest All the medical fraternity fra-ternity In Rangoon asked Valentynes permission to be present I he had chosen to charge an admission of 10 rupees a head he might have had his I compound filled at that price the day Corbyn summoned the Phoongyes to be present to take delivery of the ruby I Everything was in readiness The archbishop had brought a sacred dish I that was supposed to have at one time belonged to Buddha Gaudama to receive I re-ceive the BedaV In I Valentynes back was bared Corbyn made an incision with his scalpel pressed gently with the forefinger of his right hand downward and In a second i lay In his left hand He gave jt n JIttle rinse in a bowl of warm water he had ready and held It up to the expectant gaze of the many craning heads It was a piece of oblong leada slug Hpo Thit had lied that was all and had the ruby away with himat least It was never found |