The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-06-07

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time knelsnd. "a lie White hest 81 Ksr
wrath, had thrown her lsxions into the
Hindqstan jpneles, and the sWarfhy dew
iIs we're sent bowling to tho mountains,
or distributed over lie. surrounding coun-
trysffom the throa:s o. her cannon, while
Mana Sahib slipped acroes the noFthefni
boundary, Into Thibet, where he seems 70
hsys vanished forever from human pur.
suit. e#sl
II was during the early summer of 1857,
when the lurid dres Of i6sufFecfidn famed
for hundreds of miles along tie Upper
Ganges, that the banking firm Of Bore
man & Brother, Of Calcutta, became
much exercised over the non arrival Of .
messenger of theirs that had started from
AHahahad, In the month Of May. This
city lies on the Ganges about 800 .mtfes
from Calcutta, in the very heart Of the
mutinous district. p
Boreman Il Brother had purchased the
famous Singee diaI l0nd in Allahabad. at
an enormous price, the draft having been
forwarded by their messenger. In the
early part of May telegram was re-
celved from the parties from Hbqfh the
gem was purchased, saying That tie draft
was in their hands, and the diamond hal
been turned over to Nuddee, the meesen-
ger, who had starred homeV4kd On the
day preceding. IN II. n
This was well enough ~ ough their. man
was fully fortnight late, due, no doubt,
to the disturbed state If the reeion through
which he was travelling. JuEt one week
later came dispatch in cipher from
Nuddee, stating chat he had reached
Bcnares. and would leave again in the
course of few hours, the diamond being
safely in his possession. This telegram
was delivered to BOremsn & Brother so
soon after being sent that they Immediate
1y replied, advising their agent In case he
found himself in personal danger to con
ceal the jewel in some SECURE place, tele-
graphing them at the same time cipher
directions how they should find it.
This message was returned from the
Calcutta Office with the information that
it could not be forwarded. as the telegraph
wire had just been cut east of Benares,
which WIS in the hands of the mutineers.
Some months must yet elapse before any
Roadway could be made against the Be-
poys, during which it is we'll known that
they were guilty of massacres and atr0ci-
ties unI aralleled in savage warfare.
Foreman 81 Brother could only wait in
the hope that the shrewdness and cunning
of their agent would bring him and his
jewel through in safety. There was SO
much anguish and apprehension in Cal
cutta, and indeed through all England at
that day for the thousands exposed to the
fury of the mutineers, that it was Tot
likely the bankers would have received
much sympathy, great us was the financial
stake involved.
Nuddce carried two thirds of their en-
tire wealth about him in the shape of that
wonderful brilliant diamond, and it was
natural that they should feel solicitous
There seemed to be good reason to hope
for the best. The agent was 3 native, who
had travelled up and down tie Ganges for
the preceding ten years in the interest CT
the bankers, and no one could be more
familiar than he with his owgcpunry and
people.
The peril lay, perhaps, in this very fact.
Nudtlee had been in the busifess Sd long
that there must be- many whe knew it,
aware, too, that he frequently carried the
most valuable kind Of property about
him. Beside this, he was y devouf Hin:
doc, wherein lay the unknown QUANTITY,
as it may be called, 1t was not al all i'm
possible that he would be swept 6way by
the rush and swirl of the insurrection, in
which event the diamond would be sure to
gowith him.
Benares lies AGO miles from Calcutta,
and in the state of broken COM
munication, and the rebellion surround
ing the city, the bankers concluded that
fortnight. at the utmost, ought to bring
him home, especially as fully half that
distance could be made by public convey
ance. f'p ~ .1fsr y
But three weeks had come and gone,
and not a word had been heard from
Nuddee, who. they began to suspect, was
robbed, killed, or drawn into the ranks Of
the mutineers.
CASH, the Splendid-as the name
Benares signifies has been regarded for
ages as the hottest of the holy cities Of the
Hindoos, and its stationary population
twenty years ago was over half a million.
During certain festivals it is three and
four times as great. Here is the famous
: temple, Visweswar or Bisesar, dedicated
to silva, the destroyer, before whom for
ages the most bloody sacrifices OF idol.
airy had been made. The European pop.
ul 'tion mainly dwell in the suburb of
Scroll, several miles from'tbe main city.
There was no trouble with the troops
Of Benares through the month of May.
Early in June, however, there was mutiny
in the LooLiana Sikh Regiment, which,
fortunately, was suppressed. About the
same time a number of incendiary fires
broke out in the environments, a short d is
lance from the city. Col. Neill attempted
to disarm the insubordinate Thirty seventh
Regiment on the 4th, when a bloody con-
fiict occurred. Without attempting, how
ever, TO give an account of the siege of
Benares, we havconly to say that it was
. at the very gloomiest period that Mud
dee, the messenger, made his way out the
city and resumed his journey toward Cal
cutta.
As matter of precaution he assumed
the character of amember of the Loodiana
Regiment, mounted on horse stolen from
murdered English officer, and carrying
secret message from Mana Sahib to Pat
ma, where he hoped to make trouble. He
counted on his intimate knowledge of the
county, but he was little-uHeasy lest he
should meet party who would recognize
him and go for the property he carried
about his clothes. l7S IS
Nuddee debated The question more than
once of burying1 the diamond, but after
the perfection of a little artifice of his he
was not convinced of the necessity Just
yet, and SO he pushed ahead, hopeful that
II the worst should come he would be able
to hide the, precious jewel somewhere
about his person where the prying fingers
and eyes of his enemies would fail to
find 1t.
There must have been . tumpltuous
struggle In the heart Of the swarthy Hin
doc, wien he saw the multitude of his
fenatical couBtrymen rushing into the
mutiny as If !" to q festival" but, to his
credit be II said, he remained faithful 10
his employers, and used all his wonderful
ingenuity, skill and daring, in hurrying
toward Calcutta. iS141G
Such q servant ought to have succeeded,
and yet before he was out of sight of Ben
ares he was stopped by squad of native
cavalry, the leader of which Commanded
him to hand over the Singee diamond
which be knew was in his possession.
Nuddee did mot hesitate to lie point blank
and assert that he hid no va!uables about
his person, inviting them at the same time
to search him. This, of course, they in.
tended TO do, and they did 'itthorouehly !:
bit from head to foot there was nothing
found worth their while to take, and the
examination Of The 'rappings Of his horse
was equally fruitless.
The search was repeated, and still the
robbers were baffied. Tie leader seemed
to tiihk-h he had made 3 mistake, and was
about tosall0w the messenger to paSs, when