The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1891-01-28
THE CRATER CITY.


And you look as though you were
seeing some Of them, i answered smil-
ing 81 his abstraction
SO l amin my mind. ] see a sand
crater facing 4 river in India INSIDE Of
this dismal hole IS a miserable village
peopled BY miserable inhabitants be
went on, soberly. There Is no escape,
no hope for them-they are dead But
wait you shall hear the story. have
notion for telling it tonight
He threw away his cigar and was sent
for some moments, while his wife, a
slight, dark woman, moved to seat BY
his side and laid one hand earressingly
on his.
Andrew had married her broad and
had never revealed her nationality.
Il viii tell yoG Of strange adventure
which befell IA friend of mine-Hal
Andrews, 1t happened while he was
stopping at BenAres. the sacred city Of
the Hiudoos and the stronghold Of idol
airy and superstition, when making
lazy pleasure tour Of Asia.
@Benares had peculiar fascination for
him, as the oldest known habifationof
nan on the globe, and the Ganges, the
sacred river, was especially attractive.
More than once ne watched The burn
ing Of bodies upon the funeral pyres
along the river. These pyres are Of logs
the bottom one five feet long. with
shorter ones across until they reach the
height OF three feet, then the naked body
IS placed thereon. more logs are adsed,
snd all Is set on fire. When burned the
ashes are carefully collected and thrown
into the Gangss.
Willows were formerly burned alive
with their dead husbands, bat It Is now
a matter Of eoice, and-ssrznge as il may
zeem-rnany Of them choose that horrible
death TO that Of being without caste or
friends, as q widow must
zone morning as ne was watching the
funeral preparations, the corps sudden
Iy showed signs Of life. Instantly there
vas startled commotion among the
bowling relatives
Mud was hastily thrust into the nose
and mouth, but still the ungrateful mai
den would not die.
AT last she sat upright, and the rela-
tises fed, the spectators shrugged their
shoulders and turned away, and four na-
tive police advanced and bound the
maiden, in spite Of her cries and en-
treaties
@'Will they Kill her Hal asked, in
diguantly, Of a bystznder-
oh, no. vas the Indifferent answer.
She Is already dead, and must 20 to the
Crater City
Is there, then, city Of the dead
where unfortunates who escape the pyre
are kept until death really claims them q
/. asked Hal again
There Is.
The answer was given reluctantly
~Where Is itE persisted Hal
No one can tell
~The answer vas significant and de-
eisive.
You mean no one viii tell me but
I viii find out cried Hal, hotly. Its
a shame-an outrage
Very likely
And with another shrug Of the should
ers the man turned away, after giving
Hal a few last words Of advice.
Don't say 100 much about It while
( ron stay in India
Bot the scene haunted Hal The
maiden was young and beautiful, for
HindoO women are among the most
beautiful on earth.
hat 2 horrible death IN life = he
mGsed, as he mounted his horse and rode
oat into the surrounding country, follow
ei closely by Baba, his native servant
+ boy who was jevotediy attached TO him.
He followsd along the course Of the
Ganges. and his thoughts we're With the
/ lovely maiden, WIN had recovered from
the semblance Of death 70 meet worse
fate than the funeral Pyre-
{ suddenly MS horse SHE'D trd dashed
madly ahead, regardless OF al efforts
which Hal made to control him.
~Baba uttered a cry of dismay. and
dashing along as fsst as possible, tired to
{ keep him in sight
@On rushed the frightened horse, while
Hal tried in vain TO check him-up a
I sloping, sandy ridge. then alone the rise.
until-Hal gave low cry ofincredulous
surpgise-the horse snorted, and turned
to flee, the sand gave away under his feet
and Hall knew no more after the fall
when he recovered consciousness
enough to feel an interest in It's surround
ings, he saw wretched village surround-
cd By 4 natural barrier Of sand on three
sides, and By the river in front.
a number Of half-nAked people crowd
ed curiousIy around him, and among
them WAS the maiden ofthe funeral pyre.
He was in the city Of the dead
The day passed slowly enough, and
night came
As Hal was neditating upon the
chances Of escape, soft voice near him
said, in broken English and Hindoo, Of
which he knew enough to understand
the meaning:
do you wish 70 escape It Is useless
This IS the city from which none ever
return.
There is-there must be some way Of
escape cried Hal, impatiensly.
@sThe sand barrier prevents all escape
BY land and see the maiden continued,
leading him to the river bank.
-sThe river was filed with numbeFless
erocodiles-grezt, wicked-sooking Great
ures-waiting vieiously for any attempt
az escape and besides these hideOus sen
tinels, boat 6lled with native s5ldiers
was anchored BY.
You understand . said the maiden,
significantly. Is Hal sank back with a
groan-
Two days passed. Hal made desper-
ate attemps 70 scale The sandy val. but
in vain, as the maiden watched hin with