Middletown transcript., 1871-05-27
Srlrtt sturn,
THE CHALLENGE.

The following story was told to me ll
an officer belonging To- one OF IL. Is. "
regiments stationed in the East, as wc
paced the deck Of the llylIsp's, cac !inc
night. while on the passage lroH Calcutta
to London present It to my readers IN
the words of the narrator, Il tall, we'll
built mun. whose oliyc-like complexion
indicated long residence in tropical cimcs.
When ] frsl received my commission
as En.irn in tac British army, ! wa ga
c,tcd to thc--th roginart tttu IL lAijnt
and ns the + aud o. Company did not
exist in those days, t ok passage yia tn
Cape of Good Hope
ln due course Of time arrived ut Ma
iras aul joined my regiment, in which |
remained only ;hree years, however; tor,
At the expiration Of that period, | pur-
chased my lieuicnaney, and etehangal
into ,he--gl which VI, Stationed up tn
countfy.
Until man gets thoroughly used to
it, there is nothing 81 monotonous as all
officers liz. in mn isolated locality, in India
There is routine in everything; in duty,
in lounging, eating. smoking, sleeping.
reading aud billiards or cari.playing, aud
this is only varied if. hy lucky chance, he
happens 10 be in district where pig
sticking. elephant or tiger hunting is ub.
tainabic At times. >pccially fila
dies are with the regiment amateur hops
are in favor. aud occasionally n hop i
improviscd but the climate is 30 encr-
vating that neither officers nor men Of any
] Al i.
| length Of time in the country, feel gery of
ten disposed to exert themselves to pro.
+ vide amusement for their comrades.
/ Thc--rd had been sis years in India,
and in consequence. al the members oi
that corpse were afflicted with las.iudc
that had almost become chronic There
was n great dcar,li of fowalc society ha'
sine qua non of pleasnrable existcnee--.aud
the hunGug had been pronounced by those
old stagcrs. who considered themselves
genuine shikarrics, To be niernally bad
therefore, when it was announced tha, n
| neg Collector had been appointed to sue
ceed the i;yelless old curmudgcon who,
for seventeen years. had held office in that
district. aud n noia bche was added. assert
ing that he was the fortunate possessor ol
an extremely beautiful wife. every one
was on the 9ui rice to receive him. Much
to our Disappointment. however. he ar
rived alone. having LEFT his spouse 20 en-
joy tue society of her friends in Calcutta
for few weeks, after which she was tc
follow him with her only child Mr.
Norman Fraser was a man about thirty
five years of age, tail, Muscular, and pre-
emincntly handsome; moreover, he wa
highly educated, and possessed OF such
powers of pleasing tina, won his way to al
our hearts, and he soon became univcr
sal favoritc.
He infused new life into cur little cot
erie, and many were the lamentations
whenever his genial countennnce did no
beam across tho mess table. Our colo
ncl's two hard featured daughters regular
garrison girls. who had ilir,ed success
fully with every sub whom they had me
during the last ten years-wcre cntrancct
by him, aud openly lnmentcd that he wa,
already Benedict, for, though he wa
only a civilian, they would have beer
glad enough to have had the ghost Of
chance 10 ensnare him in the silken mesh
cs Of matrimcny,
Il was a custom in those days for Of
fccrs to remain over the mess-table lonl
after the cloth had been removed, and un
less man possessed strong head he wa
pretty certain TO retire to rest in lament
ably bcfogeed condition. One night. whci
wc al had been indulging pretty freely
the conversation turned TO billiards--ai
interesting topic, for most Of us were goo'
players.
\" Have you soon Fraser play He bea
] Webb easily to-day; and I'll back bin