Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-07-25
THE FAklR'S CURSE.
A Prophecy of Evil That Came True with
Crushing Eject.


James Mass, the traveller, tells this story:
ut was about 5 o'clock in the evening" and
Col. Yeager and | sat on the veranda Of
the Vicullah hotel. in Bombay, and on the
edge of the native city, which is called vi
cullah, and not Bombay. The colonel is
dead; all that he once owned and saved Is
gone. He was expecting his wife and
daughter who had been out to England
on a years VISIT and the vessel was to ar
rive at Calcutta next day, willis re were
going to get the bungalow ready to receive
them. The colonel was in the best of spir-
its. He joked and laughed and told old
stories of love and war; how he was nearly
captured and murdered by the renowned
Nana-Sahib, at Cawnpore; of his vast poppy
plantations, and the revenue he derived
from the opium he distilled every year.
Finally we started to walk to where we
had our horses stabbed, and then for can
ter over the beautiful roads to the bunga-
low fifteen miles away. We had to 20
through Vicullah to reach our destination.
What a Kaleidoscope that native city
Is! The burrah-wallah water carrier,
wearing nothing but a breech clout, and
the male body servant, with his red turban
and long white jackets; Jews from Pales-
tine, Parsees or fire worshipers, who trav-
eled 5000 miles over desert and mountain
from Persia and carried their sacred fires;
all picturesque, all in white bordered with
red or other bright colors.
well, in turning a corner in Vicullah
we found crowd being harangued by one
of the best known fakirs in India. l had
heard him spoken of as one who could put
blight upon you. People called him
Sadi-Saib, Sadi, my master. Col. Yeager
pushed through the crowd to within few
feet of the fakir, to whom he said some
thing in Hindostanese. 1t seemed to en-
rage Sadi, who jumped from his little
platform in front of Yeager, saying:
'Englishman, be careful, or blight may
fall upon you and yours. Tread not upon
the smallest thing Buddha has created, or
it may turn and sting you
Before could turn and stop him the
colonel had cut the fakir across the face,
and with an oath had shouted, Out of the
way, you Hindoo pgp
"The fakir with blazing eyes said:
'Englishman, you will not meet your
wife. You will not meet your child Your
plantations will be devastated; your craven
heart will wither within you. You will
die
"The fakir's words were prophetic l
lelt IL JHeH, anu dlSO Jnllh Jne colonel
did. We reached the bungalow and were
! soon in bed How | slept that night l
don't know. The words, 'Englishman, be-
warer were continually ringing in my ear.
Next morning | went into the breakfast
room and l shudder when think of it.
The colonel was there walking up and
down with a telegram in his hand, his face
drawn, and he looked twenty years older
than he did the night before. With tears
in his eyes he handed me this message;
Steamship Fiago went ashore at the mouth
of Hoogaly. Your wife and child drowned.
l have never seen the colonel since, but
| have watched his career His poppy
crop was failure that year and it ruined
him, his bungalow was burned by either
accident or design, and Yeager died within
"A twelvemonth OF IA broken heart. '-Phila-
delphia Inquirer.