Part 38 (1/2)

CHAPTER XVI

THE RED WOLF

With the assistance of the shepherd Kathlyn went down the rope agilely and safely Once firmly on her feet, she turned to thank the wild-eyed hillman But her best Hindustani (and she was able to speak and understand quite a little by now) fell on ears which heard but did not sense what she said The h, for all his wild eyes, shrank back, for no woman of his kind had ever looked like this Kathlyn, with a deal of foreboding, repeated the phrase, and asked the way back to the hunter's rest house He shook his head; he understood nothing

But there is one language which is universal the world over, and this is sign language Kathlyn quickly stooped and drew in the dust the shape of the rest house Then she pointed in the direction from whence she had come He smiled and nodded excitedly He understood now

Next, being unarmed, she felt the need of some sort of weapon So she drew the shape of a rifle in the dust, then produced four rupees, all she had The shepherd gurgled delightedly, ran into the hut, and returned with a rifle of nified that it was useless to him because he did not kno to use it

He took the rupees and Kathlyn took the rifle, vaguely wondering how it came into the possession of this poverty-stricken hill she was certain; it had becoh violence of his own or of others She examined the breech and found a dead shell, which she cast out The rifle carried six cartridges, and she loaded skillfully,the butt to her shoulder and fired up at the ledge where the panthers had last been seen

The hillman cried out in alarain Kathlyn esture, and he approached timidly Once more she pointed to the dust, at the picture of the rest house; and then, bythe way back sufficiently clear to Kathlyn, who smiled, shouldered the rifle and strode confidently down the winding path; but also she was alert and watchful

There was not a bit of rust on the rifle, and the fact that one bullet had sped smoothly convinced her that the weapon was serviceable Some careful hunter had once possessed it, for it was abundantly oiled To whonified nothing It lishman, a Frenchman, or a Russian; more likely the latter, since this was one of the localities where they crossed and recrossed with their note-books to be utilized against that day when the Bear dropped down froo down to the very bottooat path, no matter where it wound, for this ultimately would lead her to the rest house As she started up the final incline, through the cedars and pines, she heard the bark of the wolf, the red ho hunted in packs of twenty or thirty, in reality far er or a panther, since no hunter could kill a whole pack

To this wolf, when hunting his kill, the tiger gave wide berth; the bear took to his cave, and all fleet-footed things of the jungles fled in panic

Kathlyn climbed as rapidly as she could She dared not o on The bark, or yelp, had been a signal; but now there careat forests at home It was the call of the pack that there was to be a kill Sherend the dead, but theon upward, catching a sapling here, a li Once she turned and fired a chance shot in the direction of the howling Far away came the roar of one of the mountain lions; and the pack of red wolves becaood use of this interval But presently the pack raised its howl again, and she knew that the griin

She reached the door of the rest house just as the pack, a large one, ca Pundita, as at the fire preparing the noon meal, seized Kathlyn by the ar the door The wolves, arriving, flung theely But the door was stout, and only a battering-ram in human hands could havewhen the men-folk would return fro the wolves would lay siege

The toanie to the wolves, for the available cracks were not at sufficiently good angles An hour went by, Kathlyn could hear the wolves as they crowded against the door, sniffing the sill

The colonel, Bruce, Ramabai and Ahmed had found the horses half a dozennatives soundly and instilled the right kind of fear in their breasts At rifle point they had forced the natives back to the rest house The crack of their rifles soon announced to Kathlyn that the dread of wolves was a thing of the past She wisely refrained froh

After a hasty an in earnest

Uular track They were now coht have been made in three days, they would be lucky now if they reached the sea under five Thewatch whenever they made camp, and Kathlyn nor Pundita had time for idleness They had learned their lessons; no ilance from now on

One day, as the pony caravan ed promontory, they suddenly paused Perhaps twenty miles to the west lay the emerald tinted Persian Gulf The colonel slipped off his horse, dragged Kathlyn froan to execute a hornpipe He was like a boy

”The sea, Kit, the sea! Home and Winnie; out of this devil's cauldron!

You will co else to do,” Bruce sazed at Kathlyn, who found herself suddenly filled with strange ee have no place Heretofore she had lance from her eyes had told her secret Now that the door to civilization lay but a fewmantles over her, and she felt ashamed And there was not a little doubt Perhaps she had mistaken the look in his eyes, back there in the desert, back in the first day when they had fled together from the ordeals And yet!

On his part, Bruce did not particularly welcoht be another man somewhere No woman so beautiful as Kathlyn could possibly be without suitors And when the journey down to the sea was resumed he becaly heavy

The colonel was quite oblivious to this change He swung his legs free of the primitive stirrups and whistled the airs which had been popular in Ahtness in the expressions of Ramabai and Pundita They were about to lose these white people forever, and they had grown to love, nay, worshi+p them More, they must return to face they knew not what

As for Ah unconcerned

He had made up his mind not to return to America with his master