Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-07-25

I
what other sahib, ron swineG Speak
at once and don't stop to tell me a lie.'
He is over there" answered Gunga
Dass, pointing to burrow mouth about
four doors to the left Of my own. "You
| can see for yourself He died in the
burrow as you will die and will die, and
a. ali these men and women and the one
child viii also die"
"For PHYS sake, tell me all you know
about him. Who was he? When did he
come and when did he die9"
This appeal was a weak step on my part.
Gunga Dass only leered and replied: 81
viii not-unless you give me something
| first"
| Then I reeollected where / was and
struck the man between the eyes, partially
stunning him. He stepped down from the
| platform at once, and cringing and fawning
and weeping and attempting to embrace
my feet, led me round to the burrow
which he had indicated.
II know nothing whatever about the
gentleman. Your God be my witness that
do not. He was as anxious to escape as
| you were and he was shot from the boat,
though we all did all things to prevent
him. He was shot here" Gunga Dass
laid his hand on his lean stomach and
bowed to the earth.
''Well, and what them Go on"
"And then-and then. Your Honor, we
! carriad him into his borsa and erara h;r,
water and put wet cloths on the wound,
and he laid down in his house and gave up
the ghost"
I'm how longg In how longF"
'tAbout half an hour after he receiyed
his wound I call Yishu to Witness" yell
ed the wrctched man, ''that did every
hing for him. Everything which was
possible, that / did"
He threw himself down on the ground
and clasped my ankles. But I had my
doubts about Gunga Dass's benevolence,
and kicked him off as he lay protesting.
Il believe you robbed him of everything
he had. But | can find out in a minute OF
two. How long was the Sahib hersi"
Nearly year asd half l think he
must have gone mad. But hear me swear,
Protector Of the Poor! Won't your honor
hear me swear that L never touched an
article that belonged to him? What is
Your Worship going to dor
had taken Grnga Dass by the waist
and had hauled him upon the platform OPP
posite the deserted burrow As | did so ]
thought of my wretched fellow prisoner j
unspeakable misery among all these hor-
rows for eighteen months and the final
agony of dying like rat in hole, with a
bullet wound in the stomach. Gunga
Dass fancied I was going to kill him and
he howled pitifully. The rest of the popu-
lation, in the plethora that follows fuH
flesh meal, watched us without stirring.
'Go inside, Gunga Dass," said I, "and
fetch it OUT
I was feeling sick and faint with horror
now. Gunga Dass nearly rolled off the
platform and howled aloud
''But / am Brahnlin, Sahib-a high
caste Brahmin. BY your soul, by your
fathers soul, do not make me do thisn'
"Brahmin or no Brahmin, by my soul
and my fathers soul, in you go!" | said,
and selling him by the shoulders I cram
med his head into the mouth of the bur-
row, kicked the rest of him in, and sitting,
covered my face with my hands.
| At the end Of few minutes / heard a
rustic and creeak, and then Gunga Dass,
in sobbing, choking whisper speaking to
himself; then soft thud-and / uncover
cd my eyes.
THE MUMMIFIBD CORPSE.
The dry sand had turned the corpse in
trusted to its keeping into yellow brown
mummy | told Gunga Dass to stand of
while examined it. The body-clad in
an olive green hunting suit much stained
and worn, with leather pads on the shoul-
ders--was that of man between thirty
and forty, above middle height, with light,
sandy hair, long mustache and rough,
unkempt beard. The left canine of the
upper jaw was missing and portion Of
| the lobe of the right ear was gone.
On the second finger Of the left hand was
a rlng--a shield shaped bloodstone set in
gold, with monogram that might have
been either ''B. K" or "B. L." On the
third finger of the right hand was IA silver
ring in the shape of coiled cobra, much
worn and tarnished. Gunga Dass deposit
ed handful Of trifles he had picked out OF
the burrow at my feet, and, covering the
face of the body with my handkerchief l
turned to examine these. | give the full
list in the hope that it may lead to the
Identification Of the unfortunate man.
l. Bowl of a briarwood pipe, serrated at
the edge; much worn and blackencd;
bound with string at the screw.
.. Two patent lever keys; wards of both
broken.
3. Tortoise shell handled penkniie, silver
or nickel, name plate, marked with mono
gram "B. K.'
a. Envelope, postmark undecipherable,
bearing Victorian stamp, addressed to
"Misa Mon" crest illegible)-" "ham'
mt"
8. Imitation crocodile skin note book,
with pencil. First forty five pages blank;
four and a half illegible; fifteen Others fill
cd with private memoranda relating chiefly
to three persons-a Mrs. L.. Singleton
abbreviated several times to 'Lot Single"
"Mrs. s. May" and "Garmison" referred
to in places as GERRY" or Jack"
6. Handle of small sized hunting knife.
Blade snapped short. Bucks horn,
diamond cut, with swivel and ring on the
butt; fragment Of cotton cord attached.
II must not be supposed that in.
Yentoried all these things on the spot as
] have here written ths1l down. The
notebook first attracted my attention, and
put it in my pocket with view to study
ing it later on. The rest of the articles |
conveyed TO my burrow for safety's sake,
and there, being methodical man, I in
ventoricd them. / taen returned to the
corpse and ordered Gunga Dass to help me
carry il out to the--river front.
While we were engaged iu this the ex-
plodcd shell of an old brown cartridge
dropped out of one of the pockets and roll
ed at my feet. Gunga Dass had not seen
it; aud fell to thinking that man does
not carry exploded cartridge cases, es-
peciaiiy "browns" which will not bear
loading twice, about with him when shoot
ing. In other words the cartridge case
had been fred inside the crater. Con-