News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-12-09
A PERSIAN PRINCE,
How He Convicted the NIurderers OF an
Englishman.
from the st. James's Gazette.1

On the side OF the high road to Shi
raz, thirty miles before the city i
reached, going north, stands a bar
| pole. This mark the place where tn,
body of Sergeant Collins was founC
after his murder
Sergeant Collins was an inspector O
the telegraph line, a man of great per
sonal bravery. Accompanied by hi
wife, two servants, and two muleteers
he started on his inspection duty Col
Inns was hardly conyalescent from fevel
attack when he started, and he ha0 NJ
choice in travelling but TO lie on a mat
tress flung on a loaded mule.
At early dawn one day a muletee
suddenly cried, ".>ahIb, they have
blocked the road :" and, looking ahead
the Sergeant some men in front who
were covering him with their guns. Al
the same moment these men ordereG
him to dismount. Now, the Sergean
was the best shot in Persia. ''Be off p
he shouted, firing his revolver twice.
The robbers rushed in, firing as they
came; and Collins was hit In two places
death being instantaneous. AT er beat.
ing the lifeless body with their iron
headed sticks, the robbers blindfolded
and carried off the wife and the two
servants, detaini g them in dell Till
after midnight.
At the persistent instigation of the
English Minister at Teheran, the Per.
sian authorities arrested tn. three PIN
cipal robbers. Another of them com
mitted suicide to avoid capture; another
had died from a gunshot wound, appa-
rently inflicted by Collins. But the
Persian authorities, though they had
got the criminals in Jail, seemed very
10th to bring them to justice. But at
length Mira Hassan Ali Khan, @. S. L,
our agent at Shiraz, succeeded in goad-
ing the Prince Governor, H. r. H. I'll
es-Sultan, into trying the prisoners.
The proceedings were very curious.
There was no doubt of the guilt of the
men, but there were no witnesses of the
murder The Sergeant was dead; his
wife and his two servants had been
frightened out of their wits, and the
muleteer declared that he could remem-
Der nothing. The lilies Sultan, finding
that the English Minister would not re-
main satisfied, ordered the robbers to
be brought before him. The Prince
Half a dozen courtiers lolled against the
wall, their arms respectfully crossed
upon their breasts. Seated on silk
mattress in a corner of the room, his
back supported by gold embroidered
cushions, the young Prince twiddled his
moustache, or played with the jewelled
hiIt of sabre, or tOyed with the buckle
of priceless brilliants which formed the
central ornament of his plain leather
waist belt
The three men were dressed as vii
layers usually are, in tall felt hats and
eng tail coats When they were hustled
into the hall of audience they were still
heavily ironed, for these men are often
desperate criminals, and would not hes
itate for a moment to murder their
jailers if they thought they would there
by secure chance of escape. On enter
ing the royal presence they bow almost
to the ground "Salaam!' they shout
in kind of chorus; your villager or
tribesman never speaks, he always shouts
How do you like prieon?" says the
Prince, nodding to them with a smile
In reply the bandits assert their limo
cence, calling at every sentence upon
Heaven and the Prophet. '',re we not
harmless trlbesmen, we who live in your
Royal Highness's shadow! MAY we be
your sacrit1cesm i he Prince still smiles
blandly. ''Ah, my friends says he,
II, too, am Mussulman. We are all
and-and, in fact, an
unbeliever more or less doesn't much
matter You have truly done a good
deed. shall not really punish but re-
ward you. That you killed the Feringhi
there is, Of course, no doubt; and so l
must punish you nominally. What l
propose to do is to cut off joint of one
finger of each of you. But what is that2
ready. You will put them on and be
instantly liberated. And now, my
says the smiling Prince,
tell me all about it. How did you
manage 1t, ehp'
The astonished prisoners received
his speech with a burst of Joy. All
shouting at once, they fastened TO give
the Prince full particulars.
The European fired twice from one
pistol may we be your sacrifice ! and
hen we all fired together, rushing in on
him. He was but a European--may
your shadow never be less We trust
n the clemency of your Royal Highness!
May we be your sacrificei'
J he smile faded from the face of the
young Prince Governor, his likeness to
he Shah, his father, becoming very APP
parent as his countenance darkened in
o ferocity. He had got at the truth;
md, without more ado, nodded with
appropriate significance to his chief of
police, the Farrash-bashi, burly black
bearded man who stood behind the
criminals. The prisoners were removed;
hey were hurried into the public square,
n which the palace stands, and there
heir Threats were cut. The bodies lay
exposed till sunset, a terror to evil
loers.
A red granite tablet in one of the
Christian churches at Julia, subscribed
or by the engineer officers and nCn-
.omm ssioned officers in Persia, COM
nemorate the death of Collins.