The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-03-30
THE CHALLENGED OFFICER
BY WALTER A, ROSE.

THE CHALLENGED OFFICER.
x BY WALTER A. ROSE.
The following story was told to me by
an officer belonging to one Of II. b. NJ.
regiments, stationed in the East, as we
paced the deck Of tho H daepe., one fine
night, while on the passage from Calcut'
tn to London. l present to my readers
in the words Of the narrator, a tall, well
built man, whose olive like complexion
indicated long residence in tropical
climes:
When I first received my commission
as ensign in the British army, I was ga.
zetted to the -th regiment, then in In.
dia, and as the p. and O. company did
not exist in those days, took passage
via the Cape of Good Hope.
In due course of time arrived at Mad.
ras and Joined my regiment, in which l
remained only three years, however
for at the expiration Of that period, l
purchased my lieuterantcy, and ex.
changed into the -rd, which was sta.
toned up country.
Until man gets thoroughly used ia
1t, there is nothing so monotonous as an
officers life in an isolated locality in
India. There is routine in everything
in duty, in lounging, eating smoking,
sleeping, reading and billiards, or card
playing, and this is only varied il, by
lucky chance, he happen. to be in dis
trict where pig sticking, elephant or
tiger hunting is obtainable. At times,
too-especialIy if ladies are with the reg.
iment--amateur theatricals are in favor,
and occasionally "hop" is improviset
but the climate is so enervating that
neither officers nor men of any reg.
ment-that had been q considerable
length nf time in the country-felt very
often disposed to exert themselves ia
provide amusement for their comrades.
The -rd had been six years in India,
and, in consequence, all the members OF
that corps were afflicted with lassitude
that had almost become chronic. There
was great dearth of female society
that sine qua non Of pleasurable exist.
ence-and the hunting had been pro-
nounced by those old staaers, who con
sidered themselves slliknrries, tu he III.
formally bad; therefore, when it WAS
announced that u new collector had been
appointed to succeed the liverless old
curmu,igeon who, for seventeen years,
had held office in that district, asserting
that he was the fortunate possessor of an
extremely beautiful wife. every one was
OH the qui vive to receive him. Much to
our disappointment, however, he arriv.
ed alone, having left his spouse to enjoy
the society Of her friends in Calcutta for
few weeks, after which she was to fol
low him with their only hid.
Mr.. Norman Fraser was man about
thirty five years Of age, tall, muscular,
and pre-eminently handsome; moreover,
he was highly educated, and possessed
sach powers Of pleasing that he won his
way to all our hearts, and soon became
q universal hvOrlte.
He infused new life into our little cot.
erie. and many were the lamentations
whenever his genial countenance did
not beam across our mess table. Our
Colonel's two Manufactured daughters
regular garrison girls" who had fiirted
successiveIy with every sub whom they
had met during the last ten years
were enchanted by him, and openly la
mented that he was already Benedick
for, though he was "oniy civilian" /"
they would have been glad enough to
have had the ghost of chance to en-
snare him in the silken meshes of mat
rimony.
1t was custom in those days for Off.
GERS to remain over the mess table long
after the cloth had been removed, and,
unless a man possessed very strong
head, he was pretty certain to retire to
rest in a lamentably befogged condition.
One night, when we all had been in.
dulgins pretty freely, the conversation
turned to billiards-an interesting topic
for most of us were s. cd players.
"Hara you coon Fr~cor riaJ: He
beat Webb easily to day, and III back
him against any man in the regiment .
said Captain Raper, who considered
himself an authority on matters con.
nected with games of skill.
II always give Webb points, and
won't shrink measuring cues with the
collector, though he certainly plays f,
very good game" / Ireplied.
Fraser, old fellow, Lieutenant Hol
royd thinks he is your equal at billiards
Will you let me back you for game p
Rapel cried, across the table.
The collector. who was "halfscas
over" promptly expressed his willing
ness to at once engage with me, SO I reg
istered a bet Of one hundred rupees will
Captain Raper, and we adjourned to TIL
billiard room. l had practised grea
deal in my leisure hours, and knew my
self to be steady player, while, from
what had seen of Fraser's play,
Judged that he became nervous and irri
table, If luck went against him ever s.
little; therefore, did not hesitate to az
cept q few other bets offered by admir-
ers of my opponents brilliant style.
We had got about halfway throug
the game, and our scores were nearl
equal, when made three most palpabl