Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-10

for sport and not for food that rose at
the child's hands. They were SO clear a
ozark that did not even look when l
closed; and they were SO small that though
my jaw rang true-I am sure or that-the
child drew them up swiftly unhurt. They
must have passed between tooth anu tootn
those small white hands. / should have
caught him crosswise at the elbows, put
as l said 1t was only for sport and desire
to see new things that 1 rose at all. They
cried out one after another In the boat anu
presently l rose again to watch them. Ihe
boat was too heavy to push over. They
were only women but he who trusts a wo-
man will walk on duckweed In pool, as
the saying is; and by the Right and Lett
of Gunga that is TRUTH
"Once a woman gave me some dried skin
from fish," said the jackal. IT had hoped
to get her baby. but horse food Is better
than the kick of a horse, as the saying Is
And what did that woman do?'
'She fired at me with short gun or a
kind l have never seen before or since. Five
times, one after another the mugger must
have met with an old-fashioned revolver;
land l stayed open mouthed ana gaping,
my head in the smoke. Never did / see
such a thing. Five times as swiftly as
wave my tail-thus."
The tackal who had been growing more
and more interested in the story, had Just
time to leap back as the tall swung by ike
scythe.
Not before the fifth shot," said the mug
ger, as though he had never dreamed of
stunning one of his listeners-"not before
the fifth shot did sink. and rose in time
to hear a thief Of a boatman telling all
those white women that / was most GER
tainly dead. One bullet had gone under
neckplate Of mine. know not If 1t Is there
still, for the reason cannot turn my head
Look and see, child 1t will show my tale
Is true"
..I?' said the jackal. "Shall an eater of
old Shoes a bone cracker, presume TO doubt
the word of the Envy Of the River! May
my tail be bitten of by blind puppies II
the shadow of such a thought have crossed
my humble mind. The Protector OF the
Poor has condescended to inform me- his
slave, that Cnce in his life he has been
wounded by a woman. That Is sufficient,
and 1 will tell the tale to all my children,
asking for no proof"
"OvermuSh civility Is sometimes no bet
ter than overmuch discourtesy, for, as the
saying is, one can choke guest with Gurus,
do not desire that any children of thine
should know that the mugger of Mugger-
Ghaut took his only wound from woman.
They will have much. else to think of If
they get their living as miserably as their
father"
1T is forgotten long ago! 1t was never
saidi There never was a white woman!
There was no boat! Nothing whatever hap
pened at all!'
The jackal waved his brush to show how
completely everything was wiped out Of his
memory and sat down with an air.
Indeed, very many things happened"
SdlQ the nluSSeT, Eealen IN MS second
tempt that right to get the better of his
friend. Neither bore malice. however. Eat
and be eaten was fair law along the river
and the jackal came in for his share of
plumber when the mugger had finished a
meal) Il left that boat and went up
stream, and. when 1 had reached Arrah and
the back waters behind 1t, there were no
more dead English. The river was empty
for while. Then came one or two dead.
in red coats, but of one kind all-Hin1oos
and Purbeeahs-then five or six abreast,
and at last, from Arrah to the north be-
yond Agra, 1t was as though whole villages
had walked into the water They came out
Of little creeks one after another, as the
logs come down In the rains. When the
river rose they rose also in companies from
the shoals they had rested upon; and the
falling flood dragged them with it across
the fields and through the jungle by the
long hair. All night, too. going north. I
heard the guns, and by day the shod feet
Of men crossing fords, and that noise which
a heavy cart wheel makes on sand under
water. and every ripple brought more dead.
At last even / was afraid, for I said, II
this happen to men how shall the mugger Of
escape" There were boats,
too. that came up behind me without sails.
burning continually as the cotton boats
sometimes burn, but never sinking"
"Ahv said the adjutant. Boats like
those come to Calcutta Of the south. They
behind them with a tail. and they"
Are thrice as big as my village. My
boats were low and white; they beat Up the
water on either side Of them. and were no
larger than the boats Of one who speaks
truth should be. They made me very afraid,
and 1 left water and went back to this, my
river, hiding by day and walking by night,
when l could not find little streams to
help me. I came to my village again. but
I did not hope to see any Of my people
there. Yet they were blowing and sowing
and reaping, and going to and fro in their
fields as quietly as their own cattle"
Was there still good food In the river"'
said the jackal.
More than 1 had any desire for. Even
land do not eat mud-even I was tired,
and, as I remember, a little frightened at
this constant coming down of silent ones.
l heard my people say In my village that all
the English were dead, but those that came
face down with the current were not Eng
lish, as my people saw. Then my people
said it was best to say nothing at all, but
to pay the tax and pillow the land. After
a long time the river cleared, and those
that came down 1t had been clearly drowned
by the floods, as ! could well see; and.
though it was SO easy then to get food.
I was heartily glad Of 1t. little killing
here and there is no bad thing-but even
the mugger is sometimes satisfied. as the
saying is"
Marvellous! Most truly marvellous" said
the jackal. Il have become fat through
mel ely hearing about SO much good eating.
And afterward what, II 1t be permitted to
ask, did the Protector of the Poor DOR
Il said to mySelf-and by the Right and
Left of Gunga locked my jaws on that VOW
I said would never go rowing any more.
So 1 lived by the ghaut, very close to my
own people, and I watched over them year
after year; and they loved me SO much that
they threw marigold wreaths at my head
whenever they saw 1t lift. Yes, and my
Fate has been very kind to me, and the river
is good enough to respect my poor and in
firm presence, only"
mo one is all happy from his beak to his
TAIL" said the adJutant, alphabetically.
What does the mugger Of Mugger-Ghaut
need more?"
THAT little white child which I did not
get" said the mugger, with a deep sigh.
"He was very small. but I have not for
gotten. I am old now, but before die 1t Is
my desire to try one new thing. It Is true
they are a avy-footed. noisy and foolish
people, and the sport would be small but ]
the old days above Benares, and
Il the child lives he will remember stu. It