Show the he adventures adventure S of kathlyn kathl y n by HAROLD MACGRATH Must illustrated rated by Pic pictures tupes from fron the X moving ang P caupe doduc t on oft of the sell selig 9 po scope co copyright ajr harold MaaG Muo Oreth continued contin led from last w belk eik ei k if I 1 lead you to the mem sahib it adust be alone f you say that you alone know where she isal Is I 1 meant that I 1 alone will lead you to her and you must decide quickly f durga ram tor for even now they are A preparing for flight and this time they f will twill go tar far i lead on I 1 i send the guards back to the palace i made a sign with hia his i and band but another with his eyes the 1 guards tell fell back to the palace steps understanding perfectly that they and j others were to follow unseen only once during the journey did he speak pundita pundits remember it if you have lied you till mill be punished durga ram I 1 have not lied I 1 ave pave promised to lead you to her and lead ead you to her I 1 shall I 1 durga ram he mused she did not give him his title of prince in deed she never bad had she vas mas really t ithe rightful heir to this crown but her forbears had legally fore fores sworn morn ali h the colonel sah sall b s camp good ai afe fe knew now that in kathlyn s es caie ate he had the tile man ahmed to reckon ath alth presently I 1 she Is there D dirga irga ram and what morea more ironically his ills coolness caused her some un easiness as had he lie b means unknown to her signed to the guards to follow cimballa tim balla entered the ithe living room of 0 the bungalow it was apparently deserted he ile cast a quick glance about the curtains trembled suspiciously and even as he noted it bruce Raja ahal find and alured sprang forth c e crying ropes ui aballa a dash for the door doot but they were quick for him struggling he was seized and bound but all the while he was laughing in ardly did the dream of trapping him in this chil dif by now 0 or 30 of his paid men were draw ng a cordon about the can p all of hem should pa the he full penalty for athis this act nhat hat mattered matt mattei bied ed a few ropes f ofle fie was rather hufled as to the th rea son of their leaving I 1 Is right arn aril free next the curtains w mere ere throw n back d kati katl lyn stood revealed near her a leopard strained impatiently on the leash eyed her wonderingly irined she was like the woman oman m alu ml 6 had bad ar rived weeks behs ago and yet to him she deemed less beautiful thin when he paid five thousand rupees for her in n the slave mart he lie waited write an order tor for my if father s release 1 and if I 1 refu refue e wanted to gain time you shall be liberated at the same ime line as this leopard you have hane had experience with mith leopards do you not recall the one my father killed saving the life of your benefactor 1 I 1 will free him in exchange for your iwhite self write she offered the pen p en to him I 1 he shrugged and made no effort to ta take ke it very well said kathlyn leave kis once alone she said can you arun r u as fast as this cata cat 9 she ap broached and began at the knots of 0 ithe the ropes I 1 1 he ile saw sam by the thin determined line of her lips that she meant to do ex factly acely as she threatened he ile concluded ithen then to sign the paper his ills men would arrive before a messenger could reach the city I 1 will sign he said for the pre pres ent you have the best of me but what of the afterwards I 1 we are going to hold you as hos tage J when hen my father ar rives we me intend to escort you to the frontier and there leave you I 1 t give me the pen his men were draw dram ing nearer and nearer he Ile signed the order of release he ile knew that even if it reached the council it would not serve lacking an essential kathlyn joyfully caught up the or ler and called to her friends ra babat smiled and shook his head it was mag not enough he said he ile took the jeweled triangle from front caballas Un UA ballas tur ban t go said kathlyn tender all at once go bring my father back to me rest assured that if aught happens to you shill pay with his head supplemented bruce look not go fo eagerly toward the west your troopers wll will t az A j remain at ali alie e edge ot me IE gea earIng ET they have been informed that a sin in gle misstep on their part and t their h air I 1 master dies sat up stiffly in the chair they had beaten him by a point the heat of his rage swept over him like fire and he closed his eyes passed the guards giving tl cm ern additional warning to remain ex acely where they were mere the captain shrugged it m was as all in a day days s work m ork and women were always leading or driving men into hell when appeared before the council he d d 0 o proudly he ile sa as etiquette required however and extended the written order tor for colonel hare s release at first they refused to regard it as auti antle ra mabal produced the jeweled triangle the prince has made this order IM pera operative lve tive he said colonel hare will proceed in my custody where is durga ram at the bungalow of colonel hare where he found the daughter ah ali that cleared up everything urn uin balla had some dafin te plan in re leasing ceasing colonel hare it would con fuse the e who mho had been given to understand that the hunter was dead but they would claim that it was an laffaira affair of state in no wise mise concerning the populace so colonel hare was brought up instantly sig ralpd him to smother his joy but it was am not necessary for the colonel to pre end dejection lie ile was so pit pitt ably weak eak that he could scarcely stai star d ai d only vaguely understand that he was mas to follow this man wl om orn he d d not recognize con pre hending mg his plight gave him the support of his arm and together they left the palace so far all had gone smoothly thu the council had no su pinions twenty men had fol followed lomed durga ram and without doubt they were at this moment with him free breathed the colonel as ra mabal beckoned to a public litter hush you are suPpo supposed hed to be my prisoner make no sign of jubile tion helped the broken man into the litter and bade tt tl e coolies to I 1 lurry elephants will be ready to start tl ti e moment we reach your camp this time I 1 believe we me can get away la in safety and Um balla hall shall go with us as I t costage but Uli balla d d not go with them as hostage on the contrary the moment they left him alone be he quickly A ka tey started south at top speed lidid his bonds he ile tiptoed past the leopard which flew at him savagely aping the post from its socket and i reeking the bar barl un spared tor for this stroke leaped brough the window followed by the amperes leopard it would mould have gone I 1 with even then had not ome keepers rushed for the leopard a the ensuing confusion es aped he lie Is gone cried bruce ahmed st eibi ra a rui rut rier to warn ramabhai to ead for my campt camp quick get the i let lei hants ready come kathlyn j come pundita he ile hastened them toward the elephants made his escape east it will take him some minutes to veer round to bis his men lome come aliel ahe waited at bruce druces s camp an hour A litter was seen swaying to and fro with coolies on the run ah ali med ran forward and hailed it A in moment later kathlyn and her father ere reunited in god gods s name bruce let up get out of this damnable country I 1 am dying for want mant of light air food they lifted the colonel into a how dah and started south urging the elephants at top speed no sooner had they left the river than some native boats landed at the broken camp glee fully picking up things which had been left behind in the rush our troubles are over father perhaps so long as I 1 remain in india there Is that curse ah all I 1 once laughed at it but not now at length found his captain follow rollow me he cried in a fury he lie led them back to the colonel colonels a camp but those he sought had flown he ile reasoned quickly the trail led toward the camp of bruce sahib and along this he led his men arriving in time to find the native boatmen leav ing tor for their boats A hurried question or two elicited the direction taken by the fugitives commandeered the boats there was mas some protest but threatened death to those who opposed him and the frightened natives surrendered the soldiers piled into the boats boat and began poling down stream rapidly A mile or two below there was mas a ford and to go south the pursued must cross it later pursuer and pursued met and a real m warfare began m with ith a death toll on both sides bruce and ahmed kept the elephants going but in the middle of the ford a bullet struck kathlyn and she tumbled headlong into the water the curse had not yet lifted its evil hand f CHAPTER XI three bags of silver it was the shock of the bullet rather than the seriousness of the wound mound that had toppled kathlyn into the river in the confusion the rattle of musketry the yelling of the panic stricken pack coolies who had fled belter better tor for the jungle the squealing of the ele chants she had forgotten to crouch low in the howdah there had come a staggering blow after which sky and earth careened for a moment and be came black then the chill of water and strangulation and she found herself struggling in the deepest part of tia tl ford a strange deadness in one arm she bad had no distinct recollection 1 1 of bf hat took place her one thought was to keep her head above balei instantly the firing ceased on one side elde because there were no more car bridges on the other for fear ear of ot hitting the one person who had made this pur buit necessary kathlyn struggled between the ele pliant which carried and pun dita and the boat or barge which held the eager and his soldiers fhe mahout terrorized had slid off and taken to his heels ingloriously thus could do nothing to aid Iv athlyn nor could the ele elephant phat ri rid d den by the colonel and bru bruce ice b be ma man n aged was quick to see his addan tags lage and laughing he urged hie his men toward the helpless girl the colonel raised his rifle and aimed at but there was no report only a click w aich to the frantic man s ears sound cd ed like the gates of hell cloning la in behind him form forward ard shouted she was his again he would have the pleasure of taking her from under the very eyes of her father and lover III ills star never faltered bruce stood up in the howdah ready to dive but the colonel restrained him don t waste your life I 1 my god we cant help her hert not a bullet in either gun gods curse on all these worth les le 1 s stones men call guns there he hes a got her not a shell left leftt kit kit kitt the colonel broke down and cried like a child As tor for himself hot irons could not have wrung a tear from his eyes but kit in the bands hands of 0 that black devil again colonel said bruce I 1 in going to get some cartridges he ile realized then that kathlyn a 8 fu fir ture depended upon him alone the colonel was a broken man so he struck the elephant which lumbered ashore the moment kathlen was safe in the barge would ably give orders to resume firing he could do so now with impunity the soldiers drew kathlyn into the tho barge saw that she waa wai wounded in the fleshy part of the arm quickly he snatched off the turban of 0 one of the soldiers unwound it and began to bandage kathlyn s arm the man for all his oriental craft ness was still guileless enough to ex hect some sign of gratitude from her but as he touched her she shrank in loathing his ills anger flamed and he lung flung her roughly into a seat suffer then little fool i meantime the colonel and bruce dis mounted and tried to stem the tide of 0 fleeing coolies but it m was as no more et ef than blowing against the wind they found however an abandoned pack ack containing cartil cartridge dge cases and hey they filled their pockets calling to lazabal and pundita to follow them along the river in pursuit of 9 barge which was now being rapidly pol ailed upstream they might ale i to alek ott enough soldiers ing to make it in possible to nun man the tile barge they were both dead shots and the least they could do would be to put the fight on a basis of 0 equality so far as numbers were concerned the colonel forgot all about how weak he was the rage and despair in his heart had once more given him a fictitious strength the curse the curse always the curse don dont t you believe that colonel it I 1 la only misfortune now I 1 in going to rot that tha t will simplify every thing without a head the soldiers will be without a cause and they 11 f desert kathlyn as quickly as our coolies deserted us where Is ahmed ahmed I 1 had forgotten all about him I 1 but we e cant can t wait now nw hell have to look out tor for himself hark squealing and trumpeting and thun derous crashing in the distance ulla lid elephant elephand cried the colonel the old impulse wheeling him round gut but the younger man caught hold ot of his arm significantly the soldiers poled diligently but against the stream together with the clumsiness of the barge they could not make headway with any degree ot of speed it was mas not long before bruce could see them lie ile raised bis his rifle and let go and vid in the boat felt bis his turban stir mysteriously the report which instantly followed was enough to convince him that he in par nicular was being made a target he ile crouched behind kathlyn nathlyn while two or three of the soldiers returned the shot aiming at the clump of scrub from which a film of pale blue smoke Is sued they waited tor for another shot aut but none came cane the reason was mas this the herd of wild ild elephant which bruce and the colonel had heard came charging al most directly toward them smashing oung young trees and trampling the tough underbrush some of them made tor the water mater directly in line with the passing boats kathlyn keenly alive to the fact that here was mas a chance lumped jumped overboard before bruballa Uru balla could reach out a staying hand to kathlyn there a as only death in the path of the elephants to remain on the barge was to face eventually that which was mas worse than death her arm throbbed painfully but in the dee des energy with which she deter mined to take the cl ance she used it quite qui te contrary to her expectations her leap was the best thing she could have done most of the barges were upset and the great beasts were mere blundering across the river between her and the barges i bruce witnessed kathlyn Hath lyns s brave at tempt and dashed into the water after per her it took him but a moment to silas bring her to land where her father clasped her in hie his arms and broke down aela agabi i bjur if isam dad dad she whispered don dont t you see our god ie is est I 1 be lieveld I 1 m a as going to be trampled to death and here I 1 am with you once more they hurried back as fast as kath hath lyn s weakness would permit to where they had left their elephants doubting that they should find them consider ing that it was quite probable that they had joined their wild bret brethren fren but no they were standing shoulder to shoulder flapping their ears and curling their trunks bruce ordered one of them to kneel doubtfully but the big fellow obeyed the command docilely and the colonel and bruce helped the exhausted girl into the howdah the colonel followed fol lomed while bruce took upon his own ders the duties of mahout pundita got into the other howdah and imitated bruce the elephants shut shuf fled of olf away from the river for the time being neither bruce nor ramabhai gave mind to the compass to make pursuit li ii impossible was the main busl bust nea nes lust then later dulled and stupefied from his Im immersion merdon stood on the shore with but nine of the twenty sol diers he had hoed brought with him EH evi dently his star had faltered very well he would mould send tor for the |