Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-11-20
BEYOND THE PALE


sudden, alien nor unexpected.
This is the story of a man vino willfully
stepped beyond the safe limits Of decent
every day society, and paid for it heavily.
He knew too much in the first instance,
and he saw too much in the second. He
took too deep an interest in native life, but
he will never do so again.
Deep away in the heart OF the city, be-
hind Jitha Megii's bustee, lies Amir Mathis
gully, which ends in dead wall pierced
by one grated window At the head Of the
gully is big cowbyre, and the walls on
either SHE Of the gully are without win
dows. Neither Suchet Singh nor Gaur
Chand approve of their women folk look
ing into the world If Durga Charan had
been of their opinion he would have been
a happier man today, and little Bisesa
would have been able to knead her own
bread Her room looked out through the
grated window into the narrow, dark
gully, where the sun never came and where
the buffaloes wallowed in the blue slime.
She was widow, about Is years old, and
she prayed the gods day and night to send
her lover. for she did not approve Of liy-
ing alone.
One day the man-Trejago his name was
tuAp sAliAA -tAAAh : kAAAe va Rh aAtt
less wandering, and after he had passed
the buflaloes stumbled over a big heap Of
cattle food.
Then he saw that the gully ended in a
trap, and heard little laugh from behind
the grated window. IL was pretty little
laugh, and Trejago, knowing that, for all
practical purposes, the old Arabian Nights
are good guides, went forward 20 the win
4 a..I % ttrIho
Love Song Of Har Dyalp which begins:
Can man stand upright In the face Of the
naked sun; or a lover in the presence of his be-
iovedi
II my feet fail me, o heart Of my heart am to
blame being blinded by the glimpse Of your
beauty
There came the faint tchinks of WON
ans bracelets from behind the grating, and
little voice went on with the song at the
fifth verse;
Alasi alas can the moon tell the Lotus Of her
love when the gate II heaven Is shut aud the
clouds gather for the rainss
They have taken my beloved, and driven her
with the pack horses 10 the north.
There nre iron chains on the feet that were set
on my heart
Call 10 the bowmen 10 make ready
The voice stopped suddenly, and Trejago
ing who in the world could have capped
1.-THE Love Song of Har Dyal'' so neatly.
Next morning rs he was driving to Office
an old woman threw packet into his dog.
cart. In the packet was the half Of a
broken glass bangle. one flower Of the blood
red dhak, a pinch Of bhusa or cattle food
and eleven cardamoms That packet was a
letter-not a clumsy, compromising letter,
Int fai Iigilttn lnxarfa
epistle.
Trejago knew far too much about these
things. as | have said. No Euglishma
should be able 10 translate object letters
But Treiago spread all the triaes on the
lid of his Office box aud began 10 puzzle
them out.
A broken glass bangle stands for Hin
doc widow all India over; because, when
her husband dies, woman's bracelets are
broken on her wrists. Treiago saw the
meaning Of the little bit Of the glass, The
flower Of the dhak means diversely de
sire" comb " write, or danger" ac
cording 10 the other things with il. One
cardamon means jealousy" but when
any article is duplicated in an object letter
it loses its symbolic meaning and stands
merely for one of a number indicating
time, or, il incense, curds, or if saffron be
sent also, place. The message ran then:
"A widow-dhak flower and bhusa-at II
o'clock" The pinch of bhusa enlightened
Treiago He saw-this kind of letter
leaves much to instructive knowledge
that the bhusa referred TO the big heap Of
cattle food over which he had fallen in
Amir Mathis gully, and that the message
must come from the person behind the
grating. she being a widow. SO the mes
sage ran then, "A widow, in the gully in
which is the heap of bhusa, desires you to
come at II o'clock"
Trejago threw al the rubbish into the
fireplace and laughed. He knew that the
men in the east do not make love under
windows at II in the forenoon, nor do
women fix appointments a week in adj
vance So be went that very night at II
into Amir Mathis gully clad in boorka,
which cloaks a man as well as "a woman.
Directly the gongs in the city made the
hour the little voice behind the grating
took up ''The Love Song of Har Dyal" at
the verse where the panthan girl calls
upon Har Dyal to return. The song is
really pretty in the vernacular. IN English
you miss the wall of it. 1t runs something
like this.
Alone upon the honsetops TO the north
turn and watch the lightning ia the sky;
The glamor Of thy footsteps ia the north,
Come back TO me, beloved. OF / die,
Below my feet the still bazaar IS laid.
Far far below the weary camels lie.
The camels and tho captives OF lay raid;
Come back 20 me. beloved. or die,
My fathers wife is old and harsh with years
And drudge of all my fathers house am /;
Ny bread is sorrow and my drink is tears;
Come back to me, beloved. or die.
As the song stopped Trejago stepped up
under the grating and whispered: Il am
here"
Bisesa was good to look upon.
That night was the beginning OF many
strange things, and of a double life so wild |
that 1rejago today sometimes wonders if
it were not ali dream. Bisesa or her old |
handmaiden, who had thrown the object |
letter, bad detached the heavy grating from |
the brick work of the wall: so that the |
window slid inside, leaving only square |
Of raw masonry into which an active man |
might climb.
In the daytime Trejago drove through |