St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-10-18
THE FAx,R.s CURSE.


4 Prophecy Of Evil That Game Truo WITH
Crashing Eject.
James Mass, the traveller. tells this
story: 1T Was about five o'clock in the
evening. and Colonel Yeager and sat ON
the veraada Of the Viduliah Hotel in
Bombay. and ON tho edge'of the native
city which is called vicullah, and not
Bombay. The Colonel is dead; all that
hc once owned and loved il gone. lie
was expecting his wife and daughter.
who had been out to England ON . years
visit, and the vessel WAS to arrive at
Calcutta next day, while we were going
to get the bungalow ready 70 receive
them The Colonel was In the best OF
spirits. He jokcd and laughed and
told old stories OF love and war; how he
was nearly captured and murdered by
the renowned Nana-Said at Conpore; Of
his vast poppy plantations and the rev.
enue he derived from the opium he dis
titled every year. Finally we started
to walk to whore we had our horses sta
bled, and then for canter over the
beautiful roads to the bungalow fifteen
miles away. We had TO 60 through VII
cullah to reach our destination. What
kaleidoscope that native city Is! The
burrah-wallah water carrier. wearing
nothing but breech clout, and tho
male body servant, with his red turban
and long white jackets Jews from Pal
estine. Parsees. fro worshipefs. who
travelled 5000 miles over desert and
mountain from Persia and carried their
sacred fires. all picturesque, all in whita.
bOrdered with red or other bright col.
Ors. . = at
"Well. in turning q corner in vicul.
lah we found . crowd being haranged by
one Of the best known fakirs in India.
had heard him spoken Of as one who
could put blight upon you People
called him Sadi-Saib. Sadi, my master.
Colonel Yeager pushed through the
crowd to within few feet Of the fskir,
to whom he said something in IIindo-
stanesc. 1t seemed to enrage Sadi. who
jumped from his little platform in front
Of Yeager. saying:
'EnglishMah, be careful, or bliQht
may fall upon you and yoara Tread
not upon the smallest thing Buddba has
created, or IL may turn and sting you"
Before could stop him the Colonel
had cut the fakir across the face, and
with an oath had shouted: Out Of the
way. you Hindo0 pig! nf.r eef
''rhe fakir with blazing eyes said:
".Englishman. you will not meet your
wife. You will NOT meet your child.
Your plantationA will b devastated:
your craven heart will wither within
you. You will die.'
+. Tho fakir's words were prophes3c. I
felt 1t then, and also think the Colonel
did. We reached the bungalow, aud
were soon in. bed. How I slept that
night i don't know. The woeds sRa-
glishman. BEWARE wero continuously
raging in my ear. Next morning went
into the breakfast room, snd shudder
when think Of it The Colonel WAS
there walking up and down with tele-
gram in his hand, his face drawn. and
he looking twenty years older than hs
did tho night before. With toars in his
syes he handed me this message:
Steamship FiAgo went ashore at tho
mouth Of the Hoogaly. Your wife and
;hild drowned have never seen the
Colonel since. but I have watched his
'areer. His poppy crop was q failure
hat year and Il rufaed him, his bungs-
ow was. burned BY either accident or de,
Ign. and Yeager died within . twelve
month Of . broken heart"-Philadel-
~ L. l.