Jewel Weed

He put out a great paw, and Mr. Early grasped it weakly, feeling that he

was in the position of one who has started an oil "gusher" and can not

control its flow. He might have to light it to get rid of it.

To his own room went Ram Juna, occasionally nodding his head in his

serene manner. He carefully locked behind him the door which connected

his wing with the rest of the house. A few moments he paused listening,

then he crossed his bedroom and the narrow passage that opened on the

garden and entered the little unused room beyond. Here all was dark,

inky dark, for the heavy shutters on the street side of the room were

closed and barred and the shades on the garden front were drawn,

shutting out what dim rays the departed sun had left the night. The

Swami apparently had no need of greater light, for, neglecting the

electric button near the door, he groped quietly about, struck a match

and lighted a single candle, with which he returned to the hallway and

opened the garden door, standing for a moment with the taper flickering

in the rush of cold air that poured in from outside. When he stepped

back and closed the door, there stood beside him another man,

clean-shaven, lean, sharp-nosed and ferret-eyed, whose footstep was

almost as light as that of the Swami himself. Neither of them spoke

until they reached the smaller room and the door was locked.

"You shiver, my friend," said Ram Juna. "The night is cold."

"Freezin', an' so'm I," said the other shortly. "You keep me waiting a

devil of a time."

"Business, oh my friend, business. Can I utter a word to the ears of

your nationality more convincing? I was necessitated to converse with my

host, the rich and amiable Early. Ah, the nature of humanity is

eternally interesting."

His companion grinned.

"Which means, being interpreted, you've got some lay, I suppose. What is

it!"

"Abruptness is to me foreign," said the Swami, waving his great hand

with its combination of fat palm and taper fingers. "It disturbs me.

Perhaps, some day, I shall need tell you. The amiable Early is as are

all mankind. On the one side he gropes among infinities. Do we not all

so? On the other side he is tied by this body of clay to the groveling

earth. Are we not all so? Am not even I myself?" The Swami turned

benevolently toward the other.

"You bet! And you can sling language about it!" said the man, and he

opened his rat's mouth and laughed without noise. Even Ram Juna's face

relaxed into its Buddha smile, calm, inscrutable, as the two gazed on

each other. Suddenly the younger drew himself together.