Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1891-02-02
The Crater City.

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"And you look as though you were
seeing some of them," answered,
smiling at his abstraction.
$50 l AMIN my mind. l see a
sand crater facing river in India.
Inside of this dismal hole is miser-
able village, peopled by miserable in
"There is no escape, no hope for
them-they are dead But wait; you
shall hear the story. l have a notion
for telling it tonight.
He threw away his cigar and was
silent for some moments, while his
wife, a slight, dark woman. moved to
seat by his side and laid one hand
caressingly on his.
Andrew had married her abroad
and had never revealed her national
ity.
81 will tell you of strange adven-
ture which befell "a friend of mine
Hal Andrews. 1t happened while
he was stopping at Benares, the sa-
cred city of the Hindoos and the
stronghold of idolatry and supersti-
ton, when making a lazy pl easure
tour through Asia.
''Benares had peculiar fascina-
ton for him, as the oldest known
habitation of man on the globe, and
the Ganges, the sacred river, was
especially attractive.
''More than once he watched the
burning of bodies upon the funeral
pyres along the river. These pyres
are of log-the bottom ones five feet
long, with shorter ones across until
they reach the height of three feet
then the naked body is placed there
on, more logs are added, and all is
set on fire. When burned, the ashes
are carefully collected and thrown
into the Ganges.
"Widows were formerly burned
alive with their dead husbands, but
it is now matter of choice, and
strange as it may seem-many choose
that horrible death to that of being
without caste or friends, as widow
must.
Zone morning as he was watching
funeral preparations, the corpse sud-
denly showed signs of life. Instant
| ly there was startled commOtiOn
among the bowling relatives.
''Mud was hastily thrust into nose
and mouth, but still the ungrateful
maiden would not die.
cat last she sat upright, and the
relatives fled, the spectators shrugged
their shoulders and turned away,
and four native police advanced and
bound the maiden in spite of her
cries and entreaties.
g will they kill her?' Hal asked,
Indignantly, of bystander.
4" ooh, no.? was the Indifferent an
swer. 'She is already dead, and
must go to the Crater City
8 is there, then, city of the
dead where unfortunates who escape
the pyre are kept until death really
claims them?' asked Hal again.
& There is.
@ where is it?' persisted Hal.
" No one can tell
9 The answer was given reluctant
ly.
'''You mean no one will tell me
but will find OUT cried Hal, hotly.
1T is shame-an outrage
g very likely
"And with another shrug of the
shoulders the man turned away, after
giving Hal last few words of adj
vice:
" Don't say too much about it
while you stay in India.
s'But the scene haunted Hal. The
maiden was young and beautiful, for
Hindoo women are among the most
beautiful on earth.
q what horrible death in life =
he unused, as he mounted his horse |
and rode out into the surrounding
country, followed closely by Bahia,
his native servant boy who was de-
votedly attached to him.
''He followed along the course of
the Gauges, and his thoughts were
with the lovely maiden, who had re-
covered from the semblance of death |
to meet worse fate than the funeral |
pyre.
"Suddenly his horse SHE'D and
dashed madly ahead, regardless of
all efforts which Hal made to control
him.
'sBaba uttered a cry of dismay,
and dashing along as fast as possible
tried to keep him in sight.
'On rushed the frightened horse,
while Hal tried in vain to check him
up a sloping sandy ridge, then
along the rise, until-Hal gave a low
cry of incredulous surprise-the
horse snorted, and turned to fec. the
sand gave way under his feet, and
| Hal knew no more after the fall.
"When he recovered conscious
ness enough to feel an interest in his
surroundings, he saw wretched vii
lage surrounded by natural barrier
of sand on three 81 les, and by the
river in front.
''A number of half-naked people
crowded curiously around him, and