The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-01-27
TT was nv mothers horse. She has

1T was my mothers horse. She has
been dacoited with beating and blows.
and now it is so thin" He held his
hands an inch apart. my father is
at the tar-house sending tars. Imam
Din will cut off all their heads. 1 de-
sire your saddle-cloth for 4 howdah to
my elephant. Give it me-"
This was exciting, but not lucid. I
went to the telegraph office, and found
Strickland in a black temper among
many telegraph forms. A d~ishevelled,
one-eyed groom stood in a corner
whimpering at intervals. He was Il
man whom Adam invariably addressed
a. ."Be-shakl, be-uki, be-ank'-ugly,
stupid, eyeless. 1t seemed, according
to Strickland, that he had sent his
wife's horse up to Dalhousie by road, q
fortnight's march. This is the custom
in Upper India. Among the foothills
near Dhunnera or Dhar, horse and
man had been violently set upon in
the night by four men, who had beaten
the groom (his knee was bandaged
from knee to ankle in proofO had in
cidentally beaten the horse, and had
robbed the groom Of the bucket and
blanket, and all his money-eleven
rupees, nine annas, three pie. Last,
they had left him for dead by the way
side, where wood-cutters had found
and nursed him. Then the one-eyed
man hoyled with anguish, thinking
over his bruises. They asked me If
was Strickland's Sahib's servant, and !,
thinking the protection of the name
would be sufficient, spoke the truth.
Tl,no fhnr hnnf ~ rrfnxv011c1'
Him. said Strickland. I thought
they wouldn't dacoit as a business on
the Dalhousie road. That is meant fol
me personally-sheer badmashi Qmpu-
dence.) All right"
In justice to a very hard working
class, it must be said that the thieves
of Upper India have the keenest sense
of humor. The last compliment that
they can pay a police officer is to rob
him, and if, as once they did, they can
loot 4 deputy inspcctor-general of po'
lice, on the v of his retirement, OF
everything except the clothes on his
back, their joy Is complete. They
cause letters Of derision and kilograms
Of coincidence to be sen to the victim;
for, Of all men, thieves are most com.
PEELED to keep abreast Of progress.
Strickland was a man Of few words
where his business was concerned. !
had never seen a police officer robbed
before, and I expected some excite
ment, but Strickland held his tongue.
He took the groom's disposition. and
then retired into himself for a time
evolving thieves. Then he sent Kenne.
dy, of the Pathankot charge. an official
letter and an unofficial note. Kenne.
dy's reply was purely unofficial, and it
ran thus: This seems Il compliment
solely intended for you. My wonder
is, you didn't get it before. The men
are probably back in your district by
this time. The Dhunnera and foot-hill
people are highly respectable cultivd.
tors, and seeing my assistant is an TN.
licked pup, and I can't trust my in.
spector out Of my sight, I'm not going
to turn their harvest upside down with
a police investigation. I'm run off my
feet with vaccination police work,
You'd better look at home. The Skub,
kudder gang were through here a fort.
night back. They laid up at the Am.
ritsar Serial, and then worked down.
No cases against them in charge, but
remember you Jagged their malik for
receiving in Prub Dyal's burglary
They owe you one"
Go be Continued.)