The Red Cloud chief., 1884-03-28
TIE HAUNTED @ o

The sun was setting over the Ganrcs
d bright summer evening i'm 1871.
The day had been 4 hot one even for
indra, and il WAS IN unspeabable relief
to every n when the ~scorchinr sun be-
gan to decline at last. and the length
ening shadows of the tall palms along
the riyerbank told that night was at
hand.
And now the Hindu inhabitants of
the neighboring village, vino had been
lying motiOnlesS ali the afternoon under
the shade of their r~eed-thatchcd roofs,
or OF the vast o,crarching banyan trees
around them, came trooping down %
thewater in Il body.
rlver-R lovely and silent all through
the lor~~ burning day-became all alive
with noise and hustle. Children pad
5sed in the broad. still pools, or chased
spes Sxether in and out of the tall,
M sbamboo clump that grew along
ftheS4nk. Women filled their earthen
pitchers from the stream, or washed
their threadbare clothes. Men began
TO soour their brass lotahs drinking
vesseis), or to kindle fires for the cook
inc of their evening meals: while a little
farther down the stream. a group of
yaung girS. wading out in the shallow
water, feIlto splashing each other with
might antmain, amid shouts of merry
laughter,
rs anyone unaccustomed to the WAYS
of Ind;at would have seemed strange
euough.o see. upon the wrists and
ankles I nearly all the girls. and many
of thcibnothcrs likewise. heavy bangles
of solicsilver. which any Western lady
might ave been proud to wear. But the
EindrpeaSants, to whom savings-banks
ere ,vprly unknown. have no way of
lee;ng their money safe except Ey
.arSiig it about with them in this
fashoi-a somewhat hazardous plan,
i. must be owned, in 4 country
Sswarming with the most expert and
daring thieves in the world.
, Suddenly. one of the girls. who had
venturcd a little farther out into tia
speam than the rest, disappeared under
water with a piercing shrek. as if
dragged down by some oycrpowering
force. \ few bubbles that rose s~ullcnly
to the surface were the only token of
her fate, while her terrified companions
turned and rushed back to the shore -
fast as possible, screaming:
"A crocodile! a ~crocodile!"
Several day passed before any of the
village women dared TO approach the
scene of this terrible mischance. st
length one. holder than the rest. Ven
tlrcd IN again, and the others. seeing
that no harm came of her daring, began
O.. fgIou- To- nxnnna N.r, th,, an
week passed without any accident. and
everything was beginning 10 60 on As
usual, when. ore evening, a second girl
disappeared in precisely the same man
ncr as the first.
The terror was now universal. and all
the best hunters of the village SGT them
selves with one accord to get rid of this
DESTROYING crocodile. Bats were laid,
traps set. men posted along the bank
with loaded gums TO keep watch for the
monster; but. look for him as they
might. nothing was TO 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 foate,i
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 q
Sudden start, throw her arms convul-
sively into the air and disappear under 1
water Just as the other two had done
before. F,
About three DAYS after this las: catas-
A--l- NJ H~- N,o,l. ,Lo l,,;-L
Commissioner for the District OF
Jungleywallah, was at work in his Office
amid a perfect mound of papers. halt.
ing every now and then to wipe his
streaming face (Which, despite the
enormous punkah. or swinging-fan,
worked by his native servant outside
with a cord passed through a hole in
the wall, looked very much like a half
melted snowbalD, when he was sudden
ly disturbed by a knock at the door.
Gene in" cried he. snappisiilv. ex-
pecting the entrance of some Hindu
farmer or peasant with a complaint Is
long and unintelligiblc as an ASsyriaD
inscription. But 1T the first glimpse Of
the person vino entered his face cleared
at once.
The visitor was 4 tall native, with the
handsome features and stately bearing
of a Mahratta. His figure, nearly six
feet in height, was SO gaunt and sinewy
that il seemed To be made of pin-wire.
and his piercing black eyes looked ont
from beneath the folds of his white tur.
ban with the quick. keen, watchful
glance of 4 practical hunter.
In truth. Ismail, the Mahratta, was
well used to tracking other game beside
deer or tigers. Over and above his &C.
equations as scout, hunter and Govern
ment courier. he was in constant re
quest as q detective, and. for tracking
down eithcr.a wild beast o. a criminal,
he had no equal in Bengal.
Gliding into the room as noisclcssly
as a shadow. he made a low salaaJn.
and said in his own language:
May the humbleSt of his ervants
speak TO the Sahih?' (master).
There was nothing particularly hum
BILE. IL ,nust be admiited- in the speak