Show 0 2 MOLD Au flior oaf ahe carpe f kronid da the place f on edmo 0 n s e c cy 4 Y CHAPTER 1 east la is eat it began som borneo embere hero in the middle of the world at it a forlorn landing on the west bank of the muddy tribu lent Irra maddy remembered by man only so ao often koftun as tt it was inas for the flotilla boat to cull call for paddy a visiting commissioner anxious to got away or ti a family homeward bound on the east side of tile tho i ilott over there was wab a som semblance Bomb lunce blance of civillia tion that la is to say bay nion men wore white linen avoided murder and frequently paid their gambling debts blut on oil this west eldo aide stood blood wilderness not tile the kind one reads about as being eventually conquered by white man no the real grim desolation where the ax cuts but leaves no blaze tho the pioneer disappears and few or nono none follow it was not tile wilderness of tho the desert of the jungle rather the tragic hopeless hup olesa state of a settlement that neither progressed sued retarded retard td nor stood blood still between the landing and the settle anent itself there stretched a winding broad road arid and and treeless perhaps vao two miles in length it announced don laia bitely that its end was futility tile lust dust hung like a fog above it riot not only ifor for this day but for all days between n the he big rains when the gods goda or the elements or providence arranged the world as it a tit lit habitation for man india and burma were mado made tho the dust dual bills and as water finds ands its ito levels so BO will dust earthly and human the quick and the dead along the road walked two men phantomlike one saw their heads dimly and still more dimly their bodies to the knees of legs there was nothing visible occasionally they stepped aside to permit some bullock cart to VMS pass one of them swore not with any evidence of temper not viciously but la ill a kind of mechanical protest protect which from long usage had bacomo a habit lie he directed those epithets 1 never liever at anything lie he could by wo n tal or physical contest overcome he wore sore at the dust at the heat beat at the avind wind at the sun the other wayfarer with the kinhei nt patience of his bis blood said nothing I 1 and nd waited setting down tho the heavy hut lilt bog bag and the canvas valise his own when the way was free again rhe he would sling the kit bag and the aleso over his shoulder and step buck back into the road read ilia his turban once white was as brown with dust duat and sweat ill ilia khaki uniform was rent anil and the raged ged canvas shoes oboes spurted little spirals lot af pf dut dust as a he be walked james was eurasian half european halt half indian having his bis place twixt heaven and hell boll which Is to say nowhere lie was faithful willing and butiong and as a carrier of burdens took look his plate beside the alio tir tireless cless ullock and the elephant ile ho was a methodist why no one could find dud lu cid ld answer anador ty dy dint of inquiry ills hla master had bad letu learned tied that james looked upon his bis baptism and conversion in ili methodism as a corporal would have looked upon the acquisition ot of a V C tice during fever and plague he bo had saved his master a lito ike with the of tho oriental Orlon liU ho he con 1 dared himself blin responsible for hilj hid master in all future instead of paying oft a debt he had acquired one treated as he was kindly but always firmly ho he would have surrendered bia life cheerfully at the beck of tile the bito bite man warrington was an american ho was also one of those men who acer held bold misfortune in contempt outlook wherever it roamed was waa tol 01 ol rant crant ile ho had patience tor for the weak patk jre resolution solution for the strong and a ft A or ar less amiability toward nil all lie ile was as like the st bernard don dog nory ery dlin cult to arouse it Is the nuy with all men are strong mentally and ph si cally ile he was tall and broud broad and deep under tho the battered pith helmel mel hla his face was aas as daik as the eurasians Eur Eura asians but the eyes inere b blue lue bright and small pupated pupi ted is as thy they aro are with ith men who liso iho out of doors who are compelled of necia necta alty sity to note things moving at distances tho iho bosq was as largo large and veil mell all framed in a tangle of blood blond wild and mustache which if hii thing added to the general of his up ap li pt arance taranco lie ile too moie lili ahl but bul with the addition of tan tall riding log leg aings gings which had bad seen ail thing but st EI alco aho man ia wui i ellow from the top of alq helmet to the soles of his bis slid alues as outside for the rest ho he wan aa a in abter mB story ter to janus to all who alto thought they know hini him nud and most of all to himself blin solf A an outcast a fugitive from the bloodless blood bloo loaa dloss hand band of the abo luw law a gentle gentleman nian bom boin once upon a time a clubman college collage bred a contradiction a puzzle for abich there was mas not any eo solution lution not even in tho the hidden cornara of the man a heart ills ilia name war rington arington ring ton and he had rubbed elbows with the diega of hu humanity mAulty and still looked you straight in the eye because he h had bad come through inferno without bringing any of the defiling dealing pitch from time to time be paused to re his bla cheroot tha to bacco was uns strong ana bitter ana suing stuns hla parched lips but tile tho craving f tor or the tang of the smoke on his tonica was not to be dulled under ills his linn arm lie ho carided can led a small iron cade cabe patterned something like ilka ft a rat trap it contained contain cd ix a paira keit not much larger larer than a robin but possessor of a soul bout no na nerce fierce us that of palladia ln minus however the smoothing influence of chivalry lie ile had acen born under tho the bancs of 0 the scarlet palace in ili jaibur so ills his history ran but the proximity ot of indian princes had bad left him untouched lie he had neither chivalry politeness nor diplomacy lie he was in fact thor hughly and consistently bad round and round he went over and over top bide aide down side aldo restlessly for at this moin moment nt he watt mas hearing those familiar evening bounds which no human buman ear can call discern tho mutterings rings of the du da birds about to sock seek coyer cover tor for tho the night in ili tile the field at the right of the road stood blood a lonely tree it was covered with mith brilliant scarlet leaves and blossoms and justly the natives call it the plume of the jungle A flock of 0 small birds ft were ere gyrating above it jah lah jab jahl jah lah jah ja jaan a a h hi I 1 cried the imitating the burmese mese bell gong that calls to prayer instantly he followed the coll call with a shriek so piercing as to tiling the cur car of the man mail who was aab carrying him you little son BOH of a gunt gun he laughed a do you pack au away ay sit all that noise there waa mas a strange bond between the big yellow man mail and this little alle green bird the mid aliu did not suspect it but the man knew the pluck the pugnacity and the individuality of the feathered comrade bad been an object lesson to tile the man at a time when he be iad had been on tho the point of throwing up the light fight jah jab j jah all jahl jab I 1 jah jah ja a n h hi I 1 the bird began its interminable som bom pre aults pausing only to reach fol foi the tantalizing finger of the man who again as aa he withdrew the digit la in time for six years he had bad carried the bird with him through india and dur bur ma and malacca and not yet had he won a sign of surrender there wore were many scars on his forefingers it was waa amazing with one pressure of ill his a hand he could have crushed out the life of the bird but over its brave un conque conquerable table spirit he had no power and that is ia why he loved it far away in the past they bad met lie ile remembered the day distinctly y and bitterly he had boon been on tho the brink of self coif destruction fever and poverty and terrible loneliness had battered and beaten him flat into the dust from which this athla time he had no wish to rise lie he had walked out to the ballway station at jaibur to avit w it ness the arrival of tile the tourist train froin alit n the tin natives tives surged about the train with an all tique articles arli clon of mar larfate warf fate aio tiger hunting knives accompanied by fairy tales skins and silks q hero beggars bog beg gaia gais holy men gildea and fakirs fakiri squatted in the dust beffie tho the door of a alist class cair lage its a solomia solo mii inn blomn man in fit and clout eahl exhibiting b performing lyer forming it jag halah hairis IRIS s tut n ile he fired a canpon cannon turned through a little steel hoot ole opened ild a tiny heat took out it four anna alina ale ukie ce carr carried ld it to tits hia ni niia ia toi tei and la in exclia exchange nie receded coine decd thereupon he w addled resentfully back to the iron cage opened the door closed it behind him and began to mutter war I 1 ington for ti to 0 straight hours whon when ho be returned to its hla sordid ovll evil that night lie pas the pariot and ami four rupees mid and sat oat up tho HIP gloater enter pint pait of the night trying to ninko make the bird perform ills his tricks tile tho idea ot of suicide no longer hini him trifling trough it was as lie ho had round an all interest in life iko and on tile tho mairow row cunio came thu the Cui Bui aslan astun who mile trust lulb warrington overy every coln coin that ho he could serape scrape often in ili tho the dreary heart itchy achy db da 9 that followed weeks passed ore ere he bit tile the face of it a white man mail when he hail had to combat opium and alibang and laziness in tho matises under him tile bird and tits his funny tricks had saved lvin hm hom or in lamp ho he savo gave rajah much free freedom doru its wings being flipped jud and nothing pleased the little rebel so BO much as to claw ilia hla guv up to his gaiters mai shoulder sit vitro there and mabb tha ilia pi pio presa ogress of the mith intermittent I 1 ja cawing jawing wing ing I 1 at ilia his own reflection la in the cracked b hiag d up and doar tho the Irra wadd add at the rost houses on oil the boats to thoai of a jocel it 11 turn of mind the three were known as parrot co arring ng tong tou a andalI lItY afteu misled the tha various bround cla with mith whom lie he was at times forcel force I 1 to A man who mho stalled smiled most of tile the time and talked hindustani to a parrot nas not to be accorded much courtesy artil one day warrington had settled all distinctions and primordially with the square of hla his fists after that he went on ills hla way may unmolested having soundly trounced one of the biggest bullies in the teak timber ards at rangoon lie he made no fi lends bends lie be h bad no con coil fi dences to exchange nor did ho he otter offer to become the repository of other mens katits out but he would share hla his bread and his rupees when he had them with mith any who asked many tried to dig into hla his past but he was as as granite it takes taken a woman moman to find out what nhat a man la in find and has haa been and warrington went about ft omen in ili a wide circle in a vay he was the most baffling kind of a mystery to those who know knew him ho he frequented the haunts of men took a fri friendly cudly drink played cards for small email sums laughed and jested like any other auch anchorless orless man inan in the last cast men are given curious names they become known by phrases such as the man who talks mr once upon a lime the one Onel rupee lupee man arid and the like As warrington wan angton never received any ally mall mail as lie he never entered a hotel nor spoke of the past he bo be balno 1 ahe I lie man alan who never talked of homo 1 I sy say james old sport no more going up and down this batty bally old river we well 11 go on to rangoon tonight it if we can call find a berth yes yea sahib this business busi nesa very piffle padlo replied the eurasian without turning his head two to things he dearly loved to acquire a bit of american slang and a bit of english siler lie ile was invariably changing rupees into shillings and warrington could not con convince vine him that he was always losing in the transaction thea tramped on through the dust tile the sun dropped A sudden chill began to penetrate tile the haze hae the mill white to man puffed tits his cheroot its ita wrapper dangling the servant hummed bummed un an urdu lullaby the parrot com complained plaine unceasingly wallington laughed and shook the dust from his braid it its a great t 4 two Ru james jamas paused and turned world james a great wonderful world I 1 ve just two rupees myself in other words we ue are busted two rupees james paused and turned wh sahib you have three hundred thousand rupees in ili our pocket I 1 cut but not worth an anna until I 1 get to rangoon dida t those duffers give you anything for handling lug gage the other day I 1 not a pice sahib it takes taken an englishman to lo turn a small trick like that well well act there were extenuating circumstances they had sore heads no man mail likes to pay three bundled thou sand for something he could have bought for ten tell thousand and I 1 made them come collie to mo me jumas to roe me I 1 made theiu come coine to this bod forsaken hole just because it pleased my fancy I 1 bellove believe lin I 1 m heaven born after all tho the lord hates a quitter and so do I 1 I 1 nearly quit myself once eh rajah old tup top hut dut I 1 made them como come to me that s the milk in ili the tha cocoanut coco CoLo anut the curry on oil the rice they almost had bad nio me two q wo rupees it truly is a greit world jab jail jah bihl jah jab jih jaath the pariot I 1 cha loot loo go on oil that a tile the ticket if I 1 beio it a V a ing billau this would be the binic for it izreo hu hundred ildred thousand 1 ahe I lie ni man an looked at tile llie far horizon ns as if ile bo would force his gaze beona into the delte table land the aden out of which mitch lie be had ditcu driven james I 1 owe ou ell bundled ru pits and I 1 atu aiu going to add seven wore morti ee been lighting this old top for six yeary years hr and you vo ve bet bee it a good bom sonant ant mid and a good tilma and ill take ou ith tile me as aa far as this athla tot tune v will ill go if i lu u say the word all ali sahib I 1 am much borr but delill delhi calls and logo A thousand ru pt aies es will mill make much business for me in tho the Chand tuy ncy presently they became becaro purple shades shade la in a bro brown brou U jolla CHAPTER 11 II A man with a patt the oriental night air was rles it was mas it it became a labor and not an all to breathe it A pall pal of dust rolled abao and about the llie irr add flotilla boat which buffeted by the strong irregular cu curlent rient r trained at its ita cables now at the bow bom now tit at the stern not to the las laa rock ing of a deserted dener ted swing this ainsa tion was nas quits quite perceptible to the girl who ho leaned oler the bow rail her f to her nose and gazed at the steep bana baix up and down which ule tle w eating coo lies s BW armed like gargantuan rats A doben torches were stuck into the ground above the crumbling ledge she eho saw the flames as one sees bees a buining buin liK match cupped in a smokers builds bands shedding light upon nothing save that which stands immediately behind it she choked a little her eyes smarted her lips were slightly cracked and cold cream creain seemed only to provide a BUC r resting place for the imp ImI alpar alpa ble dust it had bad penetrated through wool and linen and silk bilk lati intimately tit til baths it a day had |