New-York tribune., 1890-01-12
THE OAK BUNGALOW.
A GHOST STORY.
BY MRS. JOHN CROKER.
Author Of Proper Pride" Pretty Miss Neville"
some one Else " Diana Darlington" etc.

on three days journey all Dy yourselves III
! bullock tonga, to spend Christmas with your
The sneaker was Mrs. Duff, the wife of our
| deputy commissioner. and the TWO en'erprlslng
/ young women were Mrs GOOdchlld, tie wife OF
the police officer of the district, and myself, wife
Of the forest officer We were the only ladies' IN
/ KarwasSa, little up-country station, more thah
a hundred miles from the line OF raii harwassa
WAS pretty place. an oasis Of civilization amid
leagues and leagues of surrounding forest ana
jungle; it boastcd posloincc, puDhc sardems I
kent shady roads, and hall dozen thatched
bungalows. surrounding by luXurlant gardens.
/ I'm the hot weather all the community were AT
/ home under the shelter of their own rooi'trees
| and pNnkahs and within reach Of lce-for we
/ actually boastcd an cc-machlnc During these
hot months We had 50 10 speak. our season. ne
deputv commissioner forest officer, police officer,
doctor and engineer were all in, and our
/ gayctics '.ok the form of tennis at daybreak,
moonlight picnicS whist parties, httIe dinners
worthy trees
II IS WHISPERED that in small and isolated sta
! tions the fair sex are either mortal enemies or
| bosom friends | am proud 10 be in a position
to state that We ladies OF harwassa came under
the latter head. Mrs. Goodchlld and | were
| rspccially intimate; we were nearly the same
| age we were young. we had been married in the
| same year and tasted our first experiences of
1 India together, we lent each other books. we read
each other our home letters helped to compose
/ one anothcr's drZec-made costumes and poured
| little condolences into one anOtherS ears. We
! had unafh numerous JOINT tAulSlpHS III the cOhl
season, had been out IN the same camp Tor q
month at a time and when our husbands were in
| a malarious or uncivizcd district. had iourneycd
on horseback or IN bullock tonga and Joined
| them at some accessible spot. IN the regions OF
dak bungalows and bazaar fowl.
Mrs Dun stout elderly and aycrse 10 Ocomo-
tion, content"d herself win her cGmioriahle
! bungalow at KarwasSa, her weekly budget of
letters from her numerous OHFe-DrancheS III
England and with adventures and thrilling cX-
pcricnces NJ secondhand.
] And t.fa ttlfp
addressing herself 10 Mrs Goodchlld. " | suppose
you know where you are going
" Yes returned my companion promptly, un-
folding a piece of foolscap as She spoke: " | had
"a letter from Frank this morning, and he has in
closed a plan copied from the ID. I. w. map We
90 straight along the trunk road for two days,
stopping at korai bungalow the first night and
kuiar the second. you see: then turn of 10
tie left on the Ola JubbuipoIc Road and make
a march of twenty-five miles. hal'ing at place
called Chauda; Frank and Mr. Lloyd viii meet
rs there ON Christmas Day.
"Chanda-t handa, rele"'ed Mrs Dnh with
story about bungalow near thrr-that is un-
hcalthy-or hauutcd-or somcthing?"
Juiia Go"dch'd and | glanced at one another
Significantly Mrs Dun had Set her face against
our expedition al along; she wanted Us to re-
main IN the station and spend Christmas with
her, instead OF going This wild -go1s,' case into
s part of tine district We had never been nm he
fore. She assured us that We would be- short Of
hulloclls. and wpula probably have {, walk
miles size had haranGucd us on the SUBJECT ~
s,lemnly against docolts, and now size was
hlufIu- at Ghosts.
Frank says that the travellers bungalows
after We leave tie main road are not IN very
good repair The road is So little used now that
thc new railway line come, within twenty miles;
hut Lc >lfS tie one no htuot l> very decent, ana
wc VIII push ON there. returned Julia firmly
Julia WIS nothing II not firm. she particularly
prldcd herself ou uetcr s"rr,ln- from any hNed
resolution or plan. We t.N" uN bullock tonga
ard Nr. Lu}dS pcou Abdul ssh" is "a trc1>i,r r. aS
,ou know. De- can cook. interpret, forage fer
PROVISION, and drive buIoeks l the worst comes
10 the worst
iourncy-a hundred miles II ~ yard ~ inquired
Mrs Du1 sfrrastcally.
"Ch. tie bazaar master las sent on chu-
prls>c oud five natives. and Wo shall t' p1lr
every five miles ~ thc usual stages AS - food,
Nr are taking ten. bread. plenty ot tinncd stores
and the plum pudding W. shall have "a capital
o.tlu-. ! assure you. ami ] only " 81 we couII
have persuaded Nou into coming with us.
Thank Nou. my dcHr." s.l Mrs Dun with
pa'rouilng smile. lm too od, and hope too
,au,l '.-. 20 take 70 Trip OF a hundred miles Iu
bullock tonga. r,kire fever and dacoits and dak
BUNGALOW, lIIl oi baudico1i>, just for the senil-
mental pleasure Of eating 70 pudding with my
husband. However. You are both young and
hardy and full of spirits. amt wish you happy
Christmas. speedy journey and "a safe return.
Mind fou take plenty Of q.lnlnr and revolver,
and with thi, cheerful parting suggestion, She
conducted us INTO tie front ycranda and dis
missed Is each with o. KISS. that was at once "a
rciuuustraucc' and yalrdIrtlon.
IFlud 3 the neat mornluL ai sunrise jogging
o''. hchiud % PAIR OF hi- white bullocks, I'm the
highest spirits. In the front set oi the tonga W"
had slowed wcl-hllcd unn basket. TWO clad
stone bags. our blankets and pillows. "a hamper
Of provisions. and last. not least. Abdul. Jua
and and Julas dog Boss occupied the back
seat, and as We rumhcd past Mrs. Dun's bunsa-
low. With lts still silent compound and closed
ycuctaus. We mutually agreed that She was "
silly old thing that Size would have far more
enjoyment Of life if She was as cnterprisins as
Wc were.
oar first DAYS journey went oI without
hitch Fresh and Wcl-hchaycd cattle punctually
awaited uS ~ every stare. h" country We
passed t.roulh wus pictures iuc and well wooded
doves pcIroc ks and squirrels cullFcncd the roads,
bic black faced monkeys pccrcd ~ us from among
ihr crops that they were raNaEinE within
stones throw Of our route. re haunt OF
well known mau-catiug tiger WaS lmprcsSlNcN
pointed ont 10 us 10y our cicrronc, Ahdul-thls
beast resided in some dense Jungle. that W'S uu-
pleasantly close 10 human trtilIc.-Nornue ana
attcrIoon wore away speedily, and at sundoWn
wc found ourselves n front Of the very neat
travellers BUNGALOW ~ korlL The Interior was
scrupulOusly clean. and contained the usual lur-
niturc: TWO beds two tables. four chairs, lamps,
baths. motley collection of teacups and plates,
and hst not least. tie framed rules Of the cStab-
llshmcut and visitors book The khanSanah
cooked Ms excellent dinner for travellers
bungalow and. tired out, soon went to bed
and slept the sleep of the Just. The second day
was the same the irst-highly successful III
every respect.