Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-28
By RUlNH12D MPZMC:
Alive or dead-there is no other way.-Natipe

Alive or dead-there is no other way.-Natipe
Prouerb.
There is, as the conjurers say, no decep-
ton about this tale. Jukes by accident
stumbled upon village chat is we'll known
to exist. though he is the only Englishman
who has been there. A somewhat similar
institution used to flourish on the outskirts
of Calcutta, and there is story that if you
60 into tie heart of Bikanir, which is in the
heart Of the Great Indian Desert, you shall
come across not village, but town, where
the dead who did not die but may not live
established their headquarters.
And, since it is perfectly true that in the
same desert is wonderful city where all the
rich money lenders retreat after they have
made their fortunes fortunes so vast that
the owners cannot trust even the strong hand
of the government to protect them, but take
refuge in the vaterless sands). and drive
sumptuous C-spring barouehes, and buy
beautiful girls and decorate their palaces
with gold and ivory and Minton tiles and
mother-o'-pearl, I do not see why Juke's tale
should not be true.
He is a civil engineer, with head for
plans and distances and things OF that kind,
and he certainly would not take the trouble
to invent imaginary traps. He could earn
more by doing his legitimate work. He
never varies the tale in the telling, and
grows very hot and indignant when he
thinks of the disrespectful treatment he re-
ceiyed. He wrote this quite straightfor-
wardly at first, but he has since touched it
up in places and introduced moral refec-
tIons, thus:
MR.. JUKES BEGINS.
In the beginning it all arose from a slight
attack OF fever. My work necessitated my
being in camp tor some months between
Pakpattan and Mubarakpur-a desolate,
sandy stretch of country, as everyone who
has had the misfortune to 60 there may
know. My coolies were neither more nor
less exasperating than other gangs, and my
work demanded sufficient attention to keep
me from moping had 1 been inclined to so
unmanly a weakness.
On the 23d December, 1884, felt little
feverish. There was a full moon at the time,
and, in consequence, every dog near my tent
was baying it. The brutes assembled in
twos and threes and drove me frantic. A
days previously had shotone loud mouthed
singer and suspended his carcass in terrorem
about 30 yards from my tent door. But
his friends fell upon, fought for and ulti-
mately devoured the body, and, as it seemed
to me, sang their hymns of Thanksgiving
afterward with renewed energy.
The light headedness which accompanies
fever acts differently upon different men.
Nv irritation gave way after a short time to
fixed determination to slaughter one huge
black and white beast who had been tore
most in song and first in flight throughout
the evening, Thanks to a shaking and a
giddy head had already missed him twice
with both barrels of my shotgun, when it
struck me that the best plan would be to
ride him down in the open and finish him
off with O hog spear. This. of course, was
merely the semi-delirious notion OF fever
patient but 1 remember that it struck me
at the time as being eminently practical and
feasible.
THE START.
Therefore ordered my groom to saddle
Pornic and bring him round quietly to the
rear of my tent. When the pony was ready,
stood at his head prepared to mount and
dash out as sooD as the dog should again lift
up his voice. Pornic, by the way, had not
been out of his pickets tor couple OF days;
the night air was crisp and chilly, and I
was armed with a specially long and sharp
pair of persuaders with which l had been
rousing sluggish cob that afternoon. You
will easily believe, then. that when he was
let go he went quickly.
In one moment, for the brute bolted as
straight as die, the tent was left far be-
hind, and we were flying over the smooth,
sandy soil at racing speed. In another we
had passed the wretched dog, and I had
almost forgotten why it was that had taken
horse and hog spear.
The delirium OF fever and the excitement
of rapid motion through the air must have
taken away the remnant of my senses. I
have a faint recollection Of standing upright
in nv stirrups and of brandishiDg my hog
spear at the great white moon that looked
down so calmly on my mad gallop, and of
shouting challenges to the camel thorn
bushes as they whizzed past Once or twice,
I believe, 1 swayed forward on Pornic's
neck, and literally hung on my spurs, as the
marks next morning showed.
The wretched beast went forward like a
thing possessed over what seemed to be a
lImitless expanse of moonlit sand. Next, 1
remember, the ground rose suddenly in front
of us, and as we topped the ascent saw the
waters of the Sutlej shining like silver bar
below. Then Pornic blundered heavily on
his nose and we rolled together down some
unseen slope.
must have lost consciousness, for when
recovered was lying on my stomach in a
heap OF soft white sand, and the dawn was
beginning to break dimly over the edge of
the slope down which had fallen. AS the
light grew stronger saw that was at the
bottom of horseshoe shaped crater of sand,
opening on one side directly on to the shoals
of the Sutlej. My fever had altogether left
me, and, with the exception of slight dizzi-
ness in the head, felt no bad effects from
the fall over night.
IN THE CRATER.
Pornic, who was standing q few yards
away, was naturally a good deal exhausted,
but had not hurt him self in the least. His
saddle, a favorite polo one, was much
knocked about, and had been twisted under
his belly. 1t took me some time to put him
to rights, and in the meantime had ample
opportunities of observing the spot into
which 1 had so foolishly dropped.
must describe it at length, inasmuch as an
accurate mental picture of its peculiarities
will be OF assistance In enabling the reader
to understand what follows.
Imogine, then, as have said before, a
horseshoe-shaped crater of sand with steeply
graded walls about 35 feet high. (The
slope, fancy. must have been about 65o.)
This crater enclosed level piece of ground
about 90 yards long by 80 at its broadest
part, with rude we'll in the center.
Round the bottom of the crater, about
three feet from the level Of the ground
proper, ran a series of S3 semi-circular,
ovoid, square and multilateral holes, all
about three feet at the mouth. Each hole
on inspection showed that it was carefully
shored internally with driftwood and bam-
boos, and over the mouth wooden drip
board projected, like peak of a Jockeys
cap, for two feet.
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