The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-03-12

ers of sszch iffexa1are Bat IS shall 30
wSkh the rest. A. fsxoiy
with this be left me to digest the
impressions created b. this singular
rsnconsre-
Shortly SITTER The Abbess retarn.
H again put Ia an appearances. 4
carried out my appointed pavf, and
after soxsse expressions Of regret from
the Ab1e II the temporary he In
ferrEd- loss of his future convert.
the matter was settled as H. = had
propsse<i-
On the war 10 rejein the column,
81 - Was verv taciturn, and. after q
few fraisless attempts TO draw him
into conversation. I fell n with his
no0d, and we rode along Ia silence on
chr Bhooten ponies. From what
could esther, be was preoscEpIad as
to his fature. On our arrival In camp.
his appearance. dressed a. he Of course
stJa was Ia Thsh@tan, attracted very
little attention. which w3s exactly
what be desired.
Three days marching with the col
zmn brought rs In view o. ThIDetan
outposts On the tenth morning after
We had Joined the column We weye
face % face with the defenders OF the
little erection set up by the IhiDesans
20 oppose The passage OF traders 70
and from India. H. had no BUSH
ness 20 beat the front ON this occa-
sion AZ al. bat he stuck TO me, and
did not Ike 20 exert ny authority 10
order him back, as he was so bent on
coming. Our advance was up a rather
steep incline. The path was too mar
row 10 be OF much use 70 many of u.s.
ard those on either side of the path
had rough-4nd-tumbie scramble over
rocks, bosilders and loose stones. No
sooner had We come within range OF
their primitive fiint-l0cks than the
Thibetsns opened ire Their weapons
were inaccurate, or their aim was bad,
or perhaps both were IN our favor,
for their fire did comparatively little
execution Still sepoy dropping DOW
and again sufficiently reminds Us OF
the fact that this gas 50 sham tight with
blank cartridge. The strange whirr Of
the ThitEtan balls. too tvery unlike
the ping OF our rife bulIets} as they
ricochefed on the loose stones around
rs, left US no illusion as to the real ma
ture of the contest. H was now
provided with the rifle OF fallen Sc
poy, and was blazing away with all
the enthusiasm OF volunteer in his
first skirmish. The Thibetan fire be-
gan 10 sIacken noticeably a we drew
nearer and nearer. We had shrewd
suspicion that they were yacat.ng the
premises by the back door" which
suspicion was amply justified later on.
Still they might have been withhold
ing their fire for our final rush, they
having nothing but old obsolete muz-
zle-loaders. requiring considerable
time to charge them. so We had to
proceed with circumspection. A de-
suifory fire was still kept up by the
Thibetans, so the place was certainly
not entirely evacuated. ltmight be
full of the enemy for all we could see-
H. was now IN the highest OF
spirits. His Anglo-Saxon instincts had
complete possession of him, and had
dissipated every depressing thought
and every care. We are scattered
about, each man advancing from such
cover to such cover as he could find.
The available ground, however, was
very limited, so we were we'll In hand.
Our final rush was to take place on
the bugle sounding the charge.
H, close TO me, could hardly con-
trol his impotence. when are we
10 get at shem7 Why doesn't the gen
eral let US go? HON mani pami HON!
But this to me is Lii" Those we're
the last words that H ever uttered.
His sentence, if completed, was COM
pieted elsewhere. A ball struck him
in the forehead and he fell almost at
my feet Twas indeed life and death
TO him; and thus was that mystery
concerning his future tragicaliy solved
the attempted solution. OF which had
been causing him anxiety ever since
we left Pedong.
There is but little mere to tell.
Needless to say that / respected his
wishes and kept his secret. We
buried him that night, as Thibetan
ally and | read the service over him
standing alone by his grave ON that
wild ana rugged Thibetan mountain
side. such was the real end OF poor
H, and SO TO ended all chance of
any more OF his ''pesthumous"
Christmas stories ever appearing.
Ibid | ever tell his friends? Only
one. The reception my story met
with on that occasion convinced me
that, in the absence of all corroborative
evidence, | had better hold INV
tongue. If did not fancy an outburst
OF family Indignation eliminating in
one. or several, breaches of the peace.
No, | don't tell his friends. / lind
strangers more sympathetic, at all
events, they don't threaten To horse
whip me il dare to repeat the wicked