The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1884-03-27
gsIeetsa Story.
THE Haunted POOL.
-O-
BY DAVID kER.

The sun was setting over theGangc'
one bright summer eveningin 1871
The day had been a hot one even fol
India, and it was an unspeakablt
relief to everyone when the scorch
ing sun began to decline at last
and the lengthening shadows OF
the, tall palms along the river-banl
told that night was at hand.
And now the Hindu inhabitants
of the neighboring village, who had
been lying motioniess all afternoon
under the shade of their reed d-thatch'
| ed roofs, or of the vast overarch'
ing banyan trees around them, came
trooping down to the water in q
! body.
Instantly the whole bank of the
great river-so lovely and silent all
through the long, burning day
became all alive with noise and
hustle. Children padded. in the
broad, still pools, or chased each
other in and out of the tall, feath-
cry bamboo clump that grew along
the bank. Women filled their earth.
en- pitchers from the stream, or
washed their threadhare clothes.
Men began to scour their brass
lotahs drinking yessels,) or to kin
die fires for the cooking of their
meals; while a little farther down
the stream, a group of young girls,
wading out into the shallow water,
fell to splashing each other with
might and main, amid shouts of
merry laughter.
To any one accustomed to the
ways of India, it would have seem
ed strange enough to see, upon the
wrists and ancles of nearly all the
girls, and many of their mothers
likewise, heavy bangles of solid
silver, which any western lady
might have been proud to wear.
But the Hindu peasants, to whom
saving banks are utterly unknown,
have no way of keeping their money
safe except by carrying it about
with them in this fashion-a some
what hazardous plan, it must be
owned, in O country swarming with
the most expert and daring thieves
in the world. --- ..
Suddenly one of the girls, who
had ventured a little farther out
into the stream than the rest, dis
appeared under the water with a
piercing shrek, as if dragged down
by some overpower;ng force. A
few bubbles that rose suddenly to
the surface we're the only token Of
her fate, while her terrified compan-
ions turned and rushed back to the
shore as fast as possible, scream
ing: ,.a.:--.s --
"a crocodilet a crocodile %
Several days had passed before
any Of the village women dared to
approach the scene of this terrible
mischance. At length, one bolder
than the rest, ventured in again,
and the others, seeing that no harm
came of her daring, began to fol-
low her example. More than a
week passed without any accident,
and everything was beginning to
60 on as usual, when, one evening,
a second girl disappeared IN pre-
cisely the same manner as the first.
The: terror was now universal,
and all the best hunters of the vii
lage set themselves with one ac-
cord to get rid of this destroying
crocodile. Bats were laid, traps
set. men posted along the bank
with loaded guns to keep watch for
the monster; looking for him as
they might, but nothing could be
seen of him.
Several days later the wife of one
of the villagers was washing her
white wrapper on the bank Of the
river when it slipped from her
hands and foated slowly out into
the wide, still pool formed by the
bend of the stream. The woman
at once ,waded after it, and had just
succeeded in clutching it, when she
was seen by those on the bank to
give a sudden start, throw her arms
convulsively into the air and disap.
kpear under water just as the other
two had'done: before. '...
X 4 y X X
About three days after this last
catastrophe, Mr.. Henry Sparks, the
British Commissioner for the Dis
trict of Jungleywallah, was at work
| in his Office amid 8 perfect mound