CHAPTER IX 



The Kheddah 



'T^HE broad valley lay silent in the dawn of 

 -'- a February morning, On every side the 

 forest-clad hills encircled the landscape, brilliant 

 with the tender green of the young foliage, 

 accentuated here and 

 there by masses of 

 white blossom where 

 some tree, more eager 

 than its fellows, had 

 prematurely responded 

 to the call of spring. 

 The scattered clumps 

 of bamboo had lost 

 the vivid colouring of 

 the winter months, and their leaves showed a 

 yellow tinge which told of the approaching 

 heat. Through the valley a river flowed 



