Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 146 No. 4 — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

or the men that have the fire powder and throw it upon the thatched roof of a hut in the way of a visitation from the gods, because this ape will not leave us in peace for our mission until he is subdued.” In obedience, as Hunsa and the yogi moved toward the village, the patil cried, “Where go you?” “We go with a message from the gods to you who offer insult to a holy one,” the yogi replied. The villagers, armed with sticks, retreated slowly before the yogi, dreading to offer harm to the sainted one. Muttering his curses, his iron tongs clanking at every step, the yogi strode to the first mudwall huts, and there, raising his voice, cried aloud: “Maha Kali! Consume the houses of these men of an evil heart who would deny the offering to Thee.” Then, at a wave of his skeleton arm, the two men threw upon the thatched roof of a hut a gray preparation of gunpowder which was but a pyrotechnical trick, and imme- diately the thatch burst into flames. “There, accursed ones, unbelievers! Kali has‘spoken!” the yogi declared sol- emnly, and turning on his heels, went back to the camp. The headman and his men, with howls of dismay, rushed back to stop the confla- gration. And just then the jewel mer- chant arrived in his cart. The curtains of the canopy were thrown back and the fat Hindu sat blinking his owl eyes in con- sternation. At sight of Ajeet he descended, salaamed, and asked: “Has there been a decoity in the village? Is it war and bloodshed?” Ajeet assumed the haughty, condescend- ing manner of a Rajput prince, and ex- plained, with a fair scope of imagination, that the patil was a man of ungovernable temper, who gave protection to thieves and outlaws, that the village itself was a nest for them. That two of his servants, having _ gone into the village to purchase food, had —_ set upon, beaten and robbed; that the ; agration had been caused by the fire n a gun that one of the debased villagers id. pokec oot a hole in the roof to — As my ny name a Ragganath, it is a visi- CASTE. B41 tation upon these scoundrels,” the mer- chant declared. “It is, indeed, sethjee.” Ajeet had diplomatically used the “ seth- jee,” which was a friendly rendering of the name “ seth,” meaning “a merchant,” and the wily Hindu, not to be outdone in cour- tesy, promoted Ajeet. ~ “Such an outrage, Maharaja, on the part of these low-caste people in the presence of the sainted one, and the pilgrims upon such a sacred mission to Mother Gunga, has brought upon them the wrath of the gods. May the village be destroyed, and the patil when he dies come back to earth a snake, to crawl upon his belly.” ‘The headman even refused to give the holy one the gift of silver, tendering in- stead threats,” Ajeet added. The merchant spat his contempt when he heard this. ‘““'Wretches!” he declared, “‘ debased as- sociates of skinners of dead animals, and scrapers of skulls! Bah!” and he spat again. “ And to think but for the Presence having arrived here first I most assuredly would have gone into this village, and per- haps have been slain for my—” He stopped and rolled his eyes appre- hensively. He had been on the point of mentioning his jewels, but, though he was among saints and kings, he suddenly re- membered the danger. ‘We would not have camped here,” Ajeet declared, “‘ had we not been a strong party, because this village has an evil repu- tation. You have been favored by the gods in finding honest men in the way of pro- tection, and, no doubt, it is because you are one who makes offerings to the deity.” “And if the Maharaja will suffer the presence of a poor merchant, who is but a Shopkeeper, I will rest here in his protec- tion.” Ajeet Singh graciously consented to this, and the merchant commanded his men to erect his small tent beneath the limbs of the deep green mango trees. The decoits watched closely the trans- port of the merchant’s effects from the cart to the tent. When a strong iron box, that was an evident weight for its two carters was borne first, their Siu fel ike Taois|