Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-03-19
BY WORD OF MOUTH.

tThs author Of this story. Radyard Kipine, d .
young Enslishman who has lived most OF his life
m British tr,dia- his stories Of thai coslntv.
wriffen during personal contact with iis Iea,,ie
and the Britiah army. have recenfiy astract,-l a
great deal Of attention both In England al.J
Amerfca-l
This tale may be explained by those
who know how souls are made. and
where the bounds Of the possible are put
down. ! have lived long enough In this
country to know that IL is best to know
nothing. and can only write the story as
1t happened
Dumoise Gas our civil surgeon at
Meridki. and we called him 'sDormouse, y
because he was round little. sleepy lit
tie man. He was a good doctor. and
never quarreled with any one, not even
with our deputy commissioner, who had
the manners of a bargee and the tact OF
. horse He married girl as round
and ~ sleepy looking rs himself. She
was q Miss Hillardyce. daughter Of
'Squash" Hillardyce OF the Berars, who
married his chiefs daughter by mistake
A honeymoon in India Is seldom more
than week long; but there is nothing
TO hinder a couple from extending 1t
over two or three years. This Is n de-
hghtfl country for married folk who
are wrapped up in one another. They
can live absolutely alone and without
interruption, just as the Dormice did.
These two little people retired from the
world after their marriage, and were
very happy They were forced, Of
course, 10 give occasional dinners, but
they made no friends hereby. and the
Station went its own way and forgot
them. only saying occasionally that Dor
mouse was the best of good fellows,
though dull. A civil surgeon who never
quarrels is rarity, appreciated as such.
Few people can afford to play Robin
son Crusoe anywhere-leasto Of all IN In
dia. where we are few in the land, and
very much dependent on each others
kind Offices. Dumoise was wrong in
shutting himself from the world for a
year, and he discovered his mistake
when an epidemic of typhoid broke ont
In the station in the heart Of the cold
weather. and his wife went down. He
was q shy little man, and five days were
wasted before he realized that Mrs.
Dumoise was burning with something
worSe than simple fever, and three days
more passed before he ventnred TO cali
on Mrs. shute. the engineers wife, and
timidly speak about his trouble. Nearly
every household in India knows that
doctors are very helpless in typhoid.
The battle must be fought out between
daasl ASA Aha ,t.,~..,s,s r.
and degree by degree. Mrs. Shute al
most boxed Dumoise's ears for what she
called his s'cfiminal delay, and went of
at once to look after the poor girl. We
had seven cases OF typhoid in the station
that winter, and as the average of death
Is about one in every FIVE cases, we felt
certain that we should have TO lose
somebody.
But all did their best. The women sat
mp nursing the women. and the men
turned to and tended the bachelors who
were down. and we wrestled with those
typhoid cases for fifty-six days. and
brought them through the valley OF the
shadow In triumph. But, 5sssss when =;.ss:s ;sFss =s
thought all was over, and were going to
give dance 10 celebrate the victory,
little Mrs. Dumoise got relapse and
died In a week and the station went to
thefuneral. Dumoise broke down utterly
Mt the brink Of the grave. and had TO be
taken away.
After the death Dumoiss crept into his
own house and refused TO be comforted.
He did his duties perfectly. but we all
felt that be should go on leave, and the
other men Of his own service told him
90. Dumoise was very thankful for the
suggcstion--he was thankful for any
thing In those days--and went TO Chini
on walking tour. Chfni Is some twenty
marches from Simla. In the heart Of the
hills. and the scenery is good II you are
IN trouble. You pass through big, still.
deodar forests. and under big. still cliffs.
and over big, still grass downs swelling
like q womanis breasts. and the wind
across the grass and the rain among the
deodarz says, Hush--hush--hush." So
littas Dumoiss was packed off 30 Chini
70 wear down his grief with . full plate
camera and rifle. He took also a use
less bearer. because the man had been
hia wife's favDrite servant. He was idle
&At0 y txzxt4s uAh kkN1AuI5H Ef4AkSu every
thing TO him.
On his way back from Chini. Durnoise
turned aside 10 Bsgi, through the Forest
Reserve which 10 on the spur Of Mount
Huttoo Some mep who have Travelled
more than littie say that the march
from Kptegarh TO Bagi IL cneof the finest
in creation. 1t runs through dark wet
forrest. and ends suddenly in bleak, nip
ped hui szds and black rocks. Bagi daiS-
bungalow Is open to al winds and Is Bit
terly cold. Few people 20 to Baei-
Perhaps that was this reason Why Du.
NOISE went there. He halted at in the
evening. and hts bearer went down the
hin side to the village 70 engage coolies
for the next days march. The sun had
set, and the night winds were beginning
10 Groom among the rocks. Dumoise
leaned on the railing of the veranda.
waiting for his bearer 70 return. The
znau came back almost Immediately af.
Tar be had disappeared, and at such =
rate that Dumoise fancied be must have
crossed bear. He was running a. hard
as he could up the face OF the hili.
| But thare was no bear 10 account fos