The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-09-17

Afer generation, the successors OF the three Brah-
minis watched thier priceless Moonstone, night
and day. One age followed another, until the
frst years Of the eighteenth Christian century
saw the reign Of Aurungrebe, Emperor Of the
Moguls. this command havoc and rspine were
let loose once more among the temples Of the
worship Of Brahmah. The shrine Of the four
handed god was polluted by the slaughter Of
sacred animals; the images Of the deities were
broken In pieces; and the Moonstone was seiled
by an officer Of rank In the army Of Aurunglebe.
Powerless to recover their lost TREASURE by open
force. the three guardian priests followed and
watched II in disguise. The generations sue
eccded each other; the warrior who had COM
mitted the saerilege perished miserably; the
Moonstone passed carrying its curse with it)
from one lawless Mohammeian hand 10 another;
still. through all chances and changes, the
SUCCESSORS Of the three guardian priests kept their
watch, waiting the day when tho viii Of Vishnu
the Preseryer should restore 10 them their sacred
gem. Time rolled on from the first TO She last
years Of the eighteenth Christian century. The
Diamond fell into the possession Of Tippco, Sui
tan Of Seringspatam. who caused Il TO be placed
as an ornament in the handle Of dagger. and
who commanded Il 10 be kept among the choicest
treasures OF his armory. Even then-in the
palace Of the Sultan himself-the three guardian
priests still watched In secret. There were three
officers Of Tppoo's household, strangers to the
rest, who had won their masters confidence by
conforming or appearing to conform, TO the
Mussulman faith; and 10 those three men report
pointed as the three priests in disguise.
III.
So as told In our camp, ran the fanciful story
Of the Moonst0ne. IL made no serious impress
Of
Of the marvellous induced him to believe II. On
the night before the assault on Seringapatam he
was absurdly angry with me, and with others,
for treating the whole thing as a fable. A fool
ish wrangle followed, and Herncastle's unlucky
temper got the better Of him. lie declared. in
his boastful way, that we shonld see the Dia-
mond on his finger II the English army took
Seringapatam. The sally was saluted by q
roar Of laughter. and there, as we oil thought
that night, the thing ended.
Let me now take you on to the day Of the as
sault.
| My cousin and were separated at tho onset.
I never saw him when we forded the river; when
| we planted the English flag in the first breach !;
| when we crossed the ditch beyond; and, fight
ing every inch Of our way, entered the town. Ii
was only at dusk, when the place was ours,
and after General Baird himself had found the
dead body Of Tippoo under heap Of the slain,
that Herncastle and met.
We were each attached to party sent out by
the generals orders to prevent the plumber and
confusion which followed our conquest. The
camp-followers committed deplorable excesses !;
and. worse still. the soldiers found their way, by
| an unguaried door, into the treasury Of the pal
aoe, and loaded themselves with gold and jewels.
II was In the court outside the treasury that my
cousin and met TO enforce the laws Of discipline
on our own soldiers. Herncastle's fiery temper
had been, as could plainly see, exaspsrated TO
kind Of frenzy by the terrible slaughter through
which we had passed. He was very unfit. In my
opinion. 10 perform the duty that had been in
trusted to him.
There Was riot and confusion enough In the
treasury, but no violence that Isaw. The men
if may use such an expresson) disgraeed
themselves good humorcdly. All sorts Of rough
tests and catch words were banded about among
them and the story Of the Diamond turned up
again unexpectedly, in the form Of q mischievous
| iokc. 'swho's got the Moonstoner' was the
rallying cry which perpetually caused the plum
dering as soon as Il was stopped in one place TO
break out In another. While was still yainly
trying to establish order heard frightfal yell
| ing on the other side Of the courtyard. and at
once ran toward the cries, In dread Of finding
some new outbreak Of the pillage in that direc-
ton.
got to an open door, and saw the bodies Of
two Indians (by their dress, as guessed, officers
Of the palace) lying across entrance dead.
A cry inside hurried me into room, which
appeared 10 serve as an armory. A third Indian,
mortally wounded. was sinking at the feet OF q
man whose back was toward me. The man turn
ell at the instant when came in, and saw
John Herncastle, with torch in one hand and
dagger dripping with blood in the other. A
stone, set like pommel, in the end Of the dag
gers handle, flashed in the torch.light, rs he
turned on me, like CLEAN Of fire. The dying
Indian sank to his knees, pointed TO the dagger
In Herncastle's hand, and said in his native Ian
guage "The Moonstone viii have its vengeance
yet on you and yoursl' He spoke those words,
and fell dead on the floor.
Before | could stir in the matter the men who
had followed me across tha courtyard crowded in.
My cousin rushed 10 meet them, like mad
man. 'Clear the roomr' he shouted to me,
sand set guard on the doorl' The men fell
back as he threw himself on them with his torch
and his dagger. l put two sentinels Of my own
company on whom I could rely, to keep the
door. Through the remainder Of the night
saw no more Of my cousin.
Early in the morning, the plumber still going
on, General Baird announced publicly by beat
Of drum that any thief detected in the fact, be
he whom he might, should be hung. The pro-
vost marshal was In attendance to prove that the
general was In earnest and In the throng
that followed the proclamation Herncastle and
met again.
lie held out his hand as usual, and said.
..Good-morning."
Iwaited before gave him my hand in return.
r.n. a I A. - O.
the armOry met his death, and what those last
words meant when he pointed to the dagger in
your hand"
s'The Indian met his death, as suppose, by
mortal wound" said Herncastle. .'What his
last words meant know no more than you do"
lookei at him narrowly. His frenzy OF the
previous day had all calined down, determin-
ed 20 give him another chance.
els that all you have to tell me ?" asked.
lie answered, "that is ALL"
turned my back on him and VIC have not
spoken since.
Ibes II to be understood that what I write
here about my cousin (unless some necessity
should arise for making IL publicly is for the In
formation Of the family only. Herncastle has
said nothing that can justify me in speaking to
our commanding officer. He has been taunted
more than once about the Diamond, by those
who recolloct his angry outbreak before the as
sault; but rs may be easily imagined, his own
remembrance Of the circumstances under which
I surprised him in the srmory has been enough
to keep him silent IL Is reported that he means
to exchange into another regiment, avowedly
for the purpose Of separating himself from me.
Whether this be true or not, cannot prevail
upon myself to become his accuser-and
think with good reason IL made the matter
public. have no evidence but moral evidence TO
bring forward. have not only no proof that
he killed the two men at the door; cannot even
declare that he killei the third man inside-for
cannot say ths, my own eyes saw the deed
committed. II Is true that hesri the dying
Indians words; but II those words were pro-
nounced To be the rawlings Of delirium. how
could contradict the assertion from my own
k,ovleiref lie. our relatives, on either side,