Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-10-24


present case was not inappropriate
On the following day l strolled
over to tho temple, which was
not far distant, and was invited by the
priest to come in and rest myself
which invitation accepted. After par.
taking of some fruit and finishing 6
drinking cocoanut led the converse.
tion up to the mysterious well, and il
q hushed and solemn voice the priest
gave me the following account of what
he believed was the cause of all the
trouble
priest of the temple, who was a man
well advanced in years, conceived the
idea of building tomb for himself and
accordingly selected site on the sum
NIT Of the Cund near the well. Afte1
some trouble, for the natives have su-
perstitious horror of carrying out such
work, a Mussulman named Abdul, q
notorious rascal. undertook for good
wages to do the work. Accordingly he
excavated tho space necessary for a
chamber 10 feet square, with passage
leading into it some 8 or 10 feet
long, the idea being to brick up the
chamber after the depositing Of the
body, leaving the passageway, which
again should>be closed at the entrance.
The work was accordingly carried out,
but when called upon to finish the roof
in the domelike form usually affected
Abdul struck for higher wages and re.
fused to go on.
The priests, who considered Abdul's
request extortionate and, moreover, sa-
voring of sacrilege, took advantage OF
his being one day within the tomb tc
fasten the entrance and told him that
there he should stay until he agreed te
complete the work. The old chief priest
was rapidly declining, and it was i'm.
portant that the work should be pushed
on without delay, and they thought tc
bring the mason to his senses. Day
after day be was kept in this horrible
prison, fed with little rice which
was pushed through an opening, but he
was obdurate, actually raising his de.
mand for the completion of the tomb.
at length one morning the poor old
priest was found dead ON his mat, his
throat cut from ear to ear. He had been
foully murdered. Suspicion was Of
course directed to Abdul, and though
they could not understand how he got
out the people clamored for his blood.
The tomb was searched and although
the passage was blocked up as the
priests had left it there was no Abdul
there. He had got out somehow, though
when and by what means no one could
tell. After the excitement subsided the
funeral took place, and the old mans
body was laid in the resting place he
had designed for it.
Time went on, and the incident was
forgotten, when suddenly people bega1
to say that the well by the tomb was
haunted and naturally assumed that il
was the spirit of the murdered man anC
did their best to conciliate it with offer
ings of food. The terror of these pool
villagers was extreme, for to see it was
death. One man rushed into his hut,
saying he had met it face to face. The
next night he was discovered in his bee
dead, with thin blue line round his
neck, the starting eyes and protruding
tongue indicating that he had beer
strangled. A child one day ran to its
mother, saying that it had seen the
spirit at the well. The next evening the
poor little body was found murdered
like the other. Several similar Incl
dents satisfied the people that it was
the old priest demanding vengeance on
his murderer, and they believed that
any one interfering would surely die.
From what heard I made up my
mind that some rogue was at work, and
connected the murders and robberies
in the district with this SO called spirit
and was determined to capture it. Ac-
cordingly I resolved to see it for myself
first Of all, and fearing to alarm any
one with my actions announced thai ]
was going to ride over to q neighboring
post, but after darkness had set in ]
cautiously returned by another route,
and tying my pony up i'll a clump OF
trees a quarter Of a mile off I reached
branches. From where I sat I could see
the well, with the little saucers Of
rice left there by the priests. The time
passed very slowly. Never did the
hours drag as they did then, and was
beginning to get horribly sleepy when
a jackal commenced bowling not far
from where l was. I was just wonder
ing how it was that nature had endow-
ed it with SO unmelodious a voice when
it suddenly stopped, and in the dead
silence that ensued SO abruptly my at
tention was attracted to an extraor-
dinary sound that came from the well.
First I heard splash of water and then
a long, deep drawn sigh. Ye gods!
What was it? The sound at such an
hour and under such conditions startled
me most horribly, and l was conscious
Of a decidedly creepy feeling along my
backbone, eliminating in the stiffening
of the hair of my head, and I felt as
Smith told me he had felt himself, in
blue funk. Acting upon my first i'm.
pulse, had drawn my revolver but
not wishing to repeat Smiths failure
restrained any inclination to use it ana
quietly to see what would hap
pen.
In few moments shadowy form
arose from the we'll and appeared to
stand on the low wall that surrounded
It. In the dim light could make out
hat it was something resembling a gi
gantic man, but with some sort of head
lress resem Bling horns.
For some minutes it stood there
without moving, as if making sur
vey of the surroundings; then, ap-
satisfied that there was no one
alound, the ghost form squatted down
On the wall, and l saw it was man.
Putting up its arms it removed its head
dress, which had given it the appearance
Of SO great q height and which was evi
IDENTIFY assumed to deceive any villager
who might happen to como that way.
Reaching forth to the plates Of food, it !
amptied them into q bag produced from
under his garments.
The dawn was now breaking, and 1
could distinguish the features of this
strange visitor Undoubtedly it was
the Mussulman Abdul, as his features
were not those, Of a Burman, and his
head had been shaved not long since
after the manner of his sect He was
a villainous looking specimen, with a
great bull neck and q pair Of shoulders
that would have done credit to a prize