Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 122: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

lah, let Hunsa by, for, being alone, I ave need of him.” __ The soft, dark eyes pleaded stronger than __ the girl’s words, and the guard yielded, half reluctantly. To the young Pindari, he said, ~ Go you with these two, and if the jamadar is for cutting off their heads, say that those in the street pulled me from the doorway, and these slipped through; 1 have no fancy for the compliment of a sword on my neck.” In the dim hallway two men stood guard- ing the door to the chief’s chamber, and when the man who had taken the Gulab explained her mission, one of them said, “Wait you here. I will ask of Kassim his pleasure.” Presently the guard returned. “ The commander will see the woman, but if it is a matter of trifling let the penalty fall upon the guard below. The mingling of women in an affair of men is an abomina- tion in the sight of Allah.” When Bootea entered the chamber she gave a gasping cry of horror. The chief lay upon the floor, face downward, just as he had dropped when slain, for Kassim had said: “Amir Khan is dead, may Allah take him to his bosom, and such things as we may learn of his death may help us to avenge our chief. Touch not the body.” Her entrance was not more than half ob- served, for Kassim at that moment was questioning the Afghan, who stood, a man on either side of him, and two behind. He was just answering a question from the commander and was saying: ‘I left _ your chief with the peace of Allah upon both our heads, for he gripped my hand in ellowship, and said that we were two men. y should I slay one such who was ver- a soldier, who was a follower of vho had brought Barlow up to an when he came for the audience, mmander, I left this one, the 1 the chief, and took with e short gun: he had no ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ain passed teat | thou audience with the chief one and at night risa ght here—what was the Barlow hesitated. A might save his own life would clare himself as a sahib and his aa but he felt sure that the chief had been murdered because of this very thing, that somebody, an agent of Nana Sahib had waited hidden, had killed the chief and taken the paper. To speak of it would be fo start a rumor that would run acrogs India that the British had negotiated with the Pindaris, and if the Paper weren't found there—which it wouldn't be—he wouldn’t be believed. Better to accept the roll of the dice as they lay, that he had lost, and die as an Afghan rather than as an Englishman, a spy, who had killed their chief. “Speak, Patan,” Kassim commanded: “thou dwellest overlong upon some lie.” “There was a mission,” Barlow an- swered. “It was from my own people, the people of Sind.” “ Of Sindhia?” “No; from the land of Sind, Afghan- istan. We ride not with the Mabrattas: they are infidels, while we be followers of the true Prophet.”’ “ Thou art a fair speaker, Afghan. was there a sealed message?” *“ There was, Commander Sahib.” *‘ Where is it now?” “J know not. It was left with Amir Khan.” There was a hush of three seconds, Then Kassim, whose eye had searched the room, saw the iron box. “ This has a bearing upon matters,” he declared; this affair of a written message. ‘‘ Open the box and see if it is within,” he commanded a Pindari. “ How now, woman?” for the Gulab had stepped forward. ‘“ What dost thou here— ah! There was talk of a message from the chief. It might be, it might be, because - his leonine face, full whiskered, the face of a wild rider, a warrior, softenec as he looked at the slight figure—‘ our noble chief had spoken soft words of thee, and the order that thou wert Begum, Slight hope that And = 2 i ES comicbooks.com