The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-12-24

have done. told him should inform the
no,;ce. and he would be hanged; to which
he replied, 1t is the will OF God. What
must be, must be"
And here admit there is q gap in my
story; that at this point my conduct APP
pears questionable and unaccountable. MY
duty was clearly to rouse the other SER
wants. send for the police, and give the cul-
prit into custody, but did nothing OF the
kind. and 7 have no recollection OF now
cot back to bed but when did get there,
7 fancy. with the terrific heat and reaction
from intense excitement, must have either
tainted or fallen ut once into profound
sleen. When I awoke the sun had just
topped the horizon, and in the daylight my
conree seemed plain enough. arose, or
dered nv horse, and rode over to the magis-
trate's. He was in his verandah, sitting
with several officers, oil my friends, taxing
his little breakfast. | suppose that | looked
queer, for he greeted me with:
"Why, Gunner, what's the ROW. You
look "a if you had seen the devil"
"Do II" I replied. "Well' perhaps
They all laughed and began to chaff me ;
but Lawes, seeing was serious, took me
aside and asked if anything was really the
matter. told him my story, and, as l had
expected, he smiled and said: deg.
aYou have had bad night, and no mis-
take
"Well," said I, pulling off shoe and
sock, and showing my scratched 1oot'
-"what do you say to this, and this 7" pro-
ducing from my pocket the spear-head,
with dried blood upon it. :,
He started on seeing the latter, and
taking it in his hand, remarked thought
fully: J.,
at must have been with something OF
this kind that the woman was stabbed"
"At all events, it could not have been
With that" said I, for it was only turned
out of my workshop yesterday"
"Well,n said he, "you SO home; don't
say ANYTHING to the man: and I'll come
over and breakfast with you at the hour OF
eleven"
/ waited patiently enough for the hour,
and had the breakfast ready on the table as
the buggy drove into the compound. Lawes
sat opposite to me, and Hingun stood, as
usual, behind my chair. Like most Of
his class, though he could not talk Eng
lish, he understood it sufficiently to fol-
low the drift Of an English conversation.
Lawes, who, I noticed, purposely spoke
slowly and distinctly, began by observing
that the police had o clue to the ayah's
murder that it was said that she had a
lover, and that he was the suspected man !:
that the police wonld arrest him during the
day, and that at that moment they were
searching his house. AS Hingun moved
round the table to bring the dish | had
asked for, I noticed his face certainly paler
than usual and as he held me the dish his
hand was decidedly unsteady. Breakfast
over, called to Hingun to bring light for
my cheroot. While holding out to me the
lighted cotton it almost dropped from his
hand when Lawes suddenly addressed
him: Khitmutgar, how came you with
that wound on your arm
/" Ehodalound, it is nothing the sahlb
knows how it is DONE"
" Yes" said Lawes, "the sahib says ne
did it; but how came you to be in his room
in the middle of the night !? y
"Morib par1ra, your slave was sitting
outside his door-tor the night WAS hot
when, seeing no light in the sahib's room,
l ran to the house, for | said The de-
colts have come again.
"Then who was the woman your master
saw 7"
"Woman /" he said with start, and in
an excited tone. "There was no woman.
The sahib followed me to my house, and
then discovered that he was asleep. |
led him back to his bed, and he never woke
until long past his usual hour. Woman
How should the sahib see woman?"
Enough" said Lawes to him; "you
can CO."
And then turning to me, with smile:
You see, 10y dear fellow, it's as clear as
mud. You have been doing little SOM
nambulism." While he spoke, his head
policeman entered, and said quietly that
they had searched Hingun's house, and
nothing whatever had been found to impli-
cate him. "Good-bye, Gunner; don't dis
tress yourself. Take little blue pill );
these hot winds are enough to upset any
ones liver. I shall say nothing of this, II
you prefer it, >.
"Ihauk you," said I. g Yes, keep it
dark, or I should be bullied 'out Of my
life.''
He drove off, and left me feeling rather
foolish and Il little obstinate. 1t was GER
tainly more probable that | had been walk
ing in my sleep than that | had seen
ghost. But SO wildly was every circum-
stance impressed on my mind that could
not eject it from my memory as mere
dream. 1t haunted me by day, and night
after night saw it SO unVaryingly reenact-
ed in nv dreams-not once, but in every
period of sleep-that its constant repetition
had the effect of numbing my senses like
the monotonous sound of ticking clock or
of dropping water. More familiarity with
it seemed to quicken its recurrence, and
condense its action, until at last 1t would
pass through my brain focused, as it were,
into q mere minute Of time, like page OF
print photographed to o speck. And may
as well at once-for l am no propounder of
problems for psychologists, and therefore
dismiss my feelings-ssJ this state of
things went on seriously affecting my
health until the denoue,nent, if l may SO
call it, of the mystery. -a .s
TWAS about fortnight after the linguistic
rial breakfast that fret noticed a change in
Hingun. l had watched him land he knew
it, with the keenness Of batiled suspicion
but all had hitherto noticed was that he
appeared to rouse himself with an effort to
do what he had previously done with a
reader volition. Nolo he certainly looked
bad. There was a jaundiced look in his
face, which looked thinner, and his languid
manner was in stronger contrast than ever
to his former brisk activity. l said no.
thing but the doctor ian old friend) coming
one day, had Hinguu in to be examined
"Oh," said he, its clear enough he's
got spleen it's as common as babies among
these people, and he will probably die"
This sounds like light and unfeeling re-
mark, but it was not SO meant for q