The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-01-15

his terror. lie raced to the veranda and
fell down. the blood squirting from his
nose and his face iron gray. Then ne
gurgled: Il have seen the Mslnsamb!
have seen the Memsahibr'
"Wheret" said Dumoise.
"Down there, walking on the road to
the village. She was in blue dress,
and she lifted the veil Of her bonnet and
said, Ram Dass, give my salaams to the
Sahib. and tell him that shall meet him
next month at Nuddea Then | ran
away because l was afraid. "
What Dumoise said or did do not
know. Ram Dass declares that he said
nothing. but walked up and down the
veranda all the cold night, waiting for
the Memsahib to come up the hill and
stretching out his arms into the dark
like madman. But no Memsahib came,
and next day he went on to Simla, cross
questioning the bearer every hour.
Ram Dass could only say that he had
met Mrs. Dumoise, and that she had lifted
up her veil and given him the message
which he had faithfully repeated to Du-
noise. To this statement Ram Dass ad-
hered. He did not know where Nuddea
was, had no friends at Nuddea, and
would most certainly never go to Mud
dea, even though his pay were more
than doubled.
Nuddea is in Bengal, and has nothing
whatever to do with doctor serving IN
the Punjab. 1t must be more than
twelve hundred miles from Meridh.
Dumoise went through Simla without
halting, and returned to Meridki, there
to take over charge from the man who
had been officiating for him during his
tour. There were some dispensary ac-
counts to be explained, and some recent
orders of the surgeon general to be noted,
and, altogether, the taking over was
| full days work In the evening
| Dumoise told his locun tenens, who was
an old friend of his bachelor days, what
had happened at Bagi; and the man said
that Ram Dass might as well have
chosen Tuticorin while he was about it.
At that moment a telegraph peon
came in with telegram from Simla or
dering Dumoise not to take over charge
at Meridki, but to go at once to Nuddea
on special duty. There was nasty out
break of cholera at Nuddea, and the
Bengal government being shorthanded as
usual, had borrowed surgeon from the
Punjab.
Dumoise threw the telegram across the
table and said, "Well?"
The other doctor said nothing. Itwas
all that he could say.
Then he remembered that Dumoise
had passed through Simla on his way
from Bagi, and thus might, possibly,
have heard first news of the impending
transfer.
He tried to put the question, and he
implied suspicion into words, but Du-
noise stopped him with: "If had de
sired that | should never have come
back from Chini. | was shooting there,
| wish to live, for have things to do
but l shall not be sorry"
The other man bowed his head and
helped III the twilight to pack up Du
noises just opened trunks. Ram Dass
entered with the lamps.
"Where is the Sahib going" he asked
"To Nuddea," said Dumoise softly.
Ram Dass clawed Dumoise's knees
and boots and begged him not to go
Ram Dass wept and howled till he wa
turned out of the room. Then he wrap
ped up all his belongings, and came bacl
to ask for character. He was not go
ing to Nuddea to see his Sahib die, an'
parhanS to die himSelf
So Dumoise gave the man his wage
and went down to Nuddea alone, th'
other doctor bidding him good-by as on
under sentence of death.
Eleven days later he had joined hi
Memsahib, and the Bengal governmen
had to borrow fresh doctor to cop
with that epidemic at Nuddea. Th
first importation lay dead in Chooadang
Oak Bungalow. -Rudyard Kipling.