Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-28
TIE RlsARA OF PoOREE.
little lind fish, thou art marvelously wise,
Little blind fish, VINO put out your eyesg
Qper thy ears while l whisper my wish
BID lg me lover, thou little bind fish.
nh n. 81 Ill

inch temple sapphire is. Others that 1t
was made at the Devll-shrine of 40
Chung in Thibet, was stoien by hafir,
from him by Gurkha, from hin again
by Khitmatgar, and by this latter sold
to an Englishman, SO all its virtue was
lost; because to work properly, she Bisara
of Pooree must be stelen-with bloodshed
if possible, but, at any rate, stelen.
These stories of the coming into India
are all false. 1t was made at Pooree ages
since-the manner of its making would
ELL a small book-was stolen by one of
the temple dancing girls there, for her
own purposes, and then passed on from
hand to hand, steadily northward, till it
reached Hanla, always bearing the same
name-the Bisara of Pooree In shape it
is tiny square box of silver, studded out
side with eight small balas rubies. In
side the box, which opens With a spring,
is a little eyeless fish, carved from sort of
dark, shiny nut, and wrapped in shroud
of faded gold cloth. This is the Bisara
of Pooree, and it were better for man to
take a king cobra in his hand than to
touch the Bisara of Pooree.
All kinds of magic are out of date and
done away with except in India, where
nothing changes in spite Of the shiny, toy
scum stuff that people call civilization"
Any man who knows about the Bisara of
Pooree will tell you what lis powers are
always supposing that it has been honestly
stolen. 1t is the only regularly working,
trustworthy love charm in the country,
with one exception.
THE other charm is in the hands of
trooper Of the Nizam's Horse, at place
called Tuprani, due north Of Hyderbad.
This can be depended upon for fact.
Some one else may explain it.
If the Bizara be not stolen, but given or
bought or found, it turns against lis owner
in three years, and leads to ruin or death.
This is another fact which you may ex-
plain when you have time. Meanwhile,
you can laugh at it. At present the Bisara
is safe on an ekka-pony's neck, inside the
blue-beaded necklace that keeps off the
evil eye. If the ekka driver ever finds it
and wears it or gives it to his wife, l am
sorry for him.
A very dirty, hill-cooly woman, with
goitre, owned it at Theog in 1884. 1t
came into Simla from the north before
Churton's Khitmatgar bought it and sold
it for three times its silver value to Chur-
ton, who collected curiosities. The SER
want knew no more what he had bought
than the master; but a man looking over
Churton's collection of curiosities-Ch
ton was an Assistant Commissioner by the
way-saw and held his tongue. He was
an Englishman, but knew how to believe,
which shows that he was different from most
Englishmen. He knew that it was dam
gerous to have any share in the little box
when working or dormant for unsought
love is terrible gift.
Pack-"Grubby" Back, as we used to
call him-was, in every way, nasty little
man, who must have crawled into the
army by mistake. He was three inches
taller than his sword, but not half so
strong. And the sword was a 50-shilling,
tailor-made one. Nobody liked him, and
/ suppose it was his wizenedness and
worthlessness that made him fall SO hope
lessly in love with Miss Hollis, who was
good and sweet, and FIVE foot seven in her
tennis shoes. He was not content with
falling in love quietly, but brought all the
strength of his miserable little nature
into the business If he had not been SO
Objectionable, one might have pitied him.
He vapored, and fretted, and fumed, and
trotted up and down, and tried to make
himself pleasing in Miss Hollis big,
quiet, gray eyes, and failed. 1t was one
of the cases that you sometimes meet,
even in this country, where we marry by
code, of really blind attachment all on
one side, without the faintest possibility
of return. Miss Hollis looked on Pack
as some sort Of vermin running about the
road. He had no prospects beyond cap
tain's pay, and no wits to help that out by
one anna. In large-sized man, love like
this would have been touching. In
good man it would have been grand He
being what he was, it was only nuisance
You will believe this much. What you
will not believe is what follows: Churton,
and The Man Who Knew what the Bisara
was, were lunching at the Simla Club to-
gether. Churton was complaining of life
in general. His best mare had rolled out
of the stable down the hill and had
broken her back; his decisions were being
reversed by the upper Courts more than an
Assistant Commissioner of eight years
standing had right to expect he knew
liver and fever, and, for weeks past, had
felt out of sorts. Altogether, he was dis
gusted and disheartened.
Sirnla Club dining room is built, as all
the world knows, in two sections with an
arch arrangement dividing them. Come
in, turn to your own left, take the table
under the window, and you cannot see
anyone who has come in, turned to the
right and taken table on the right side
of the arch. Curiously enough, every
word that you say can be heard, not only
by the other diner, but by the servants be-
yond the screen through which they bring
dinner. This is worth knowing; an echo
ing room is a trap to be forewarned
against.
Half in fun and half hoping to be be-
lieved, The Man Who Knew told Churton
the story of the Bisara of Pooree at rather
greater length than | have told it to you
in this place, winding up with sugges-
ton that Churton might as well throw the
all his troubles would 60 with it. In
ordinary ears-English ears-the tale was
only an interesting bit Of folk lore. Chur-
ton laughed, said that he felt better for
his tiiiin and went out. Pack had been
tifiining by himself to the right of the
arch and had heard everything. He was
nearly mad with his absurd infatuation for
Miss Hollis, that all Simla had been
laughing about.
1t is curious thing that, when man
hates or loves beyond reason, he is ready
to go beyond reason to crafty his feelings.
Which he would not do for money or
power merely. Depend upon it, Solomon
would never have built affairs to Ashtaroth
and all those ladies with queer names if
there had not been trouble of some kind
in his zenana and nowhere else. But this
is beside the story. The facts of the case
are these Pack called on Churton next
day when Churton was out, left his card |
aud stole the Bisara of Pooree from its |
place under the clock on the mantlepieoe |
Stole it like the thief he was by nature. |
Three days later all Simla was electrified |
by the news that Miss Hollis had accepted |
Pack-the shriyeled rat, Pack Do you
desire clearer evidence than this? The |
Bisars of Pooree had been stolen, and it
worked as it had always done when won
by foul means.
There are three or four times in mans |
life when he is justified in meddling in
other peoples affairs to play Providence.
\. ~ 1