Show THE JEM JEll I had bad been ill with fever They tell tel me one that it was a severe illness an and that the outcome was for many days in doubt Twice they said my feet pressed press ed on the vergo of the tho dark valley ant and was I drawn back I know little of this personally For two weeks o or more I was waa either delirious or scions Then one one bright May morning I came camo back from the land of shadows shado It It seemed to me as I 1 lay there ther thamy that tha my my mind was unnaturally acute I fancied fan fan- tied ced that my enfeebled physical condition condition condi condi- tion accentuated the action of my brain It Jt seemed as if the rest I 1 had given it it- it the rest est at least from lucid action- action Lad had reinvigorated it I 1 remember that I threw a great deal of thought into tho the construction of the first connected sentence sen sen- fence tence I 1 addressed to my man This is what I 1 said Any letters George Georgo He started up hastily z Letters sir siri Yes sir letters and a telegram Read Rend the telegram I 1 said after S of thought Ho tore open the yellow envelope Just heard of your illness Start for home today Mary Mary is my promised wife I recalled t that she was at Colorado Springs with her invalid mother when I fell feIl ill I looked at George Ho must have read my question Ho seemed to make a n momentary momentary momentary mo mo- calculation If all goes well sir she ahe should hould be beher hero her today Mary was com coming ng The thought acted acted net act ed on me mo like a tonic tonio I 1 wanted to throw aside the blankets and leap to the floor noor Gods And I T couldn't even raise my arm Get flowers George I 1 murmured Let in the sunlight Hide Judo these bot hot ties Ho lie smiled and smoothed the blankets above me Everything shall be as presentable as ns possible sir he said As presentable as possible That note of exception must mean mo me Never Ner mind Mary was coming Mary loved loyed zoo 2110 too well to take tako at my changed appearance I 1 said the tho world ia still outside there here I Read Head tho news news paper He read to me for fo- half tin Ill hour or h snore more read the news just as it came camo to hand hand Iland ph local political For S 'S a time Hm his v cice lus as' as simply a u lulling effect Then I bt began au to take notice of tho the substance of cf what he be read When I I. I Lad bud heard beard all I wanted I bade him stop top and let tho the substance of his reading reading read read- ing filter through my brain As I 1 to recall it all there thero was an all item that seemed my fancy in a peculiar way It was vas a telegram which told that thata a n nizam of fur far Hindustan had been robbed rob- rob bed of au an almost priceless diamond which it was vas understood he meant to present to Queen Victoria at the tho time of the coming cODling jubilee This story I Isay say seemed to fascinate me the me-the tho diamond of tho the nizam filched from front its oriental owner gleaming mayhap from tho the dusk dusky corner of some somo squalid hut but when it ft should be Le eclipsing ng the jewels of a queen And Mar Mary was coming What a no gift for Mary that diamond would be beMary beMary be- be S. S Mary my I There was a strange humming bumming ing iu in my head but out of it all nil came camo one clear thought thought thought-I I would get that diamond and give it to Mary When I IlIad had determined ned on this I seemed seemed seem seem- ed to grow v cool am and calculating I 1 realized realized real real- bed how bow helpless I l was physically but my will power vcr thank God was still left me mo I 1 would concentrate my mind mindon on the thief I 1 would will him bim to come cometo cometo to tome me I had luid rend read somewhere that the soul soule soulin e in n a body purified by the fire of disease J rises s above tho the restrictions of common not soul I It clay Was my so purified t fixed my thought upon the tho the d din dia a w mond mend Red Bed clouds rolling rapidly out of them a n touch of blue sky a whirl of yel of yellow yellow yel yel- low dust a n sun fun that beat down fiercely V from the tho walls of a city a aS S city with queer minarets and towers and palaces a city with a lingo hugo gateway through which passed in and out a motley array of strange garbed people bullocks and carts and then a t lumbering elephant and red coated soldiers sol diers and white turbaned men with brown faces And the tho air nir was hot and dry and a strange odor came to my nos Then in iu a corner b by the tho huge buge portals I noted a crouching figure figure figure-a a turbaned native with strange rings in his ears and on nn eye that gleamed with a startS startling start start- S ling whiteness And on him my thought centered Then Ehen he lie arose from his bent position and slunk fo foth forth tb As Its Asbo ho bo passed amid the snarling dogs that rou fought ht and yelped beyond the tho city walls I noticed that in the tho folds of his garments he ho held a long keen knife Ever and anon he looked ov over r his shoulder shoulder der as ns ho he slouched along And the sun glared and tho the desert spread before him and the tho dust arose in yellow puffs Then came two native soldiers ridin riding on an weary horses and they cried criM out at light tight of the tho footman And when they to seize him the knife I f flashed Bashed and one ouo soldier lay silent at his lis feet and nud the other fled fied across tho the gleamIng gleaming gleam gleam- ing lug desert and tho the knife was red 4 There bere were clouds nod avd co confused fused I scenes scene and out from them all tho the man 1 nith ith tho the f ted red d knife presse pressed on i in his I 1 1 ira J t 1 M 7 c t I C l t X c. c f J eyes a strange light a gleam half ball aU terror ter fr- r halt half desperation the loot look of i tt et haunted man whose fate impels Dim J iril forward Then Ihen another city a city o of whitewashed walls valls and many many huts lints am and few palaces and stretches of the sea am and the masts of ships The swish of waves an and tho the roaring of the wind and the tho rattle of cordage and in the tho midst of tho the ship the tho brown faced man mau calmly indifferent to the tho tempest More clouds and long Jong blanks of cha cha- otio nothingness My eyes find themselves themselves themselves them them- selves gazing at the tho wall of my room and presently it opens and through i it steps the tho man who crouched by the tho city gates Step by step he comes to my bedside bedside bedside bed bed- side and his eye ye glistens and his knife is red and my eye cye never leaves his Then he pauses and bends v low with his bis arms out outstretched Sahib he murmurs and his voice is singularly low low- and gentle I am nm here The diamond I I hoarsely murmur He removes his turban and slowly unwinds its many folds As ho he does so the room seems filled with the rustle of o garments and a strange sweet perfume comes comes' to me There are whispers too and a sound like a stifled sob Slowly the stranger unfolds his turban turban turban tur tur- ban and suddenly out of it leaps a n great white whito pebble He lifts it before me betwixt his lean brown thumb and forefinger and I 1 know that in his bis other hand he hc holds the tho red knife The diamond of the nizam sahib h ho he murmurs As ho speaks a sudden ray of sunlight sunlight sun suu- light falls alls upon the white whito pebble and a mighty glory seems to fill the room My ily eyelids drop before that glare J I 1 Isee see the brown face of the Indian bend lower lo I see his fingers clutching at his knife The room grows dark and yet yel yet darker dark I 1 seem to be slipping away slipping away awny John I Is that my name Is somebody calling call call- ing fag me What is this that holds my hand and draws rao me back I No o no let me Dle go t I John I Surely somebody is calling mo mc I open my eyes slowly so slowly Across the level Jevel of my bed I Ieee see the face of George leaning forward his features in the shadow his bis eyes gleaming with frightened anxiety in his hand a tiny medicine glass that catches catch s a dazzling ray of sunlight Somebody else is there thero somebody who wh holds my hand band tightly somebody who calls again John dear I raise my eyes a little higher Another Another Another An An- other face is bending over mo me a white tear stained face John It is Mary MarYI And so 1 came carne back W. W. W R. R rca Hero in Cleveland Plain Dealer DenIer |