The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-03-10

much--and good deal more which there
/ is no use in repeating here.
The Protector of the Poor has claimed
kinship How can remember the precise
degrees Moreover. we eat the same food.
He has said it, was the jackafs reply
That made matters rather worse. for
what the lackal Einted at was that the
mugger must have eaten his food on that
land march fresh. and fresh every day.
instead of keeping il by him till II was in
a fit and proper condition. as every self
respecting mugger and most Wild beasts
do when they can Indeed. one of the
worst terms of contempt along the river
4 bed IS eater OF fresh meat" IL is at out
is bad as calling a friend cannihal would
be among human beings
That fooS was eaten thirty seasons
ago." said the a6jntant quietly. IF we
talk for thirty seasons more IL viii never
come back Tell as now what happened
when the good waters were reached after
thy most wonderful land journey. IL we
listened to the bowling OF every jackai
the business Of the town would stop. as
the saying is
The nugger must have been grateful
for the interruption. because he went On
with a rush:
by the Right and Left of Gunga. when
l came there never did 1 see such wa
terS."
Were they better. then, than the big
flood of last season. said the jackaI
Better, That food was no more than
comes every five years.. handful OF
drowned strangers. some chickens. and a
dead bullock in muddy water with cross
currents. But. the season think of. the
river was low. smooth and even, and as
the gay!ai had warned me. the dead En-
glish came down touching each other. I
got my girth in that season. my girth and
Il
the broad waters of Allahahad--"
.Oh. the eddy that set under the walls
OF the fort at Allahabad" said the adju-
tant. They came in there like widgeon
TO the reeds. and round and round they
swung-thus.'
again. while the jackal looked on envtous-
". He naturally could not remember the
year of the mutiny they were talking
about. The mugger continued:
Yes by Allahabad. one lay still In the
slack water and let twenty go by to pick
one: and. above all. the English were not
numbered with iewelry and nose rings
and anklets as my women are nowadays.
To delight In ornaments Is to end with a
rope for necklace. as the saying Is. All
the muggers of all the rivers grew fat
then, but 1t was my fate to be fatter than
them all. The news was that the English
We're being hunted into the rivers and by
the anu Lett Oh NxuhEa we pelleteQ
II was true. So far as went south be-
lieved II to be true. and i went down
STRAIN beyond Monghyr and the tombs
that look over the river
81 know that place." said the adjutant
"Since those days Monghyr is lost city.
Very few live there now"
Thereafter l worked up stream very
slowly and lazily. and a little above
Monghyr there came down boatfui of
white faces-alive! They were, as I re-
member. women. lying under cloth
spread over sticks. and crying aloud.
There was never a gun fired at US watch
ers of the fords in those days. All the
guns were busy elsewhere. We could
hear them day and night inland. coming
and going as the wind shifted. rose up
full before the boat, because had never
seen white faces alive, though I knew
them well-otherwise. A naked white
child kneeled by the side of the boat, and.
STOPPING over he must needs try to trail
his hands In the river. 1t is pretty thing
to see how a child loves running water.
had fed that day. but there was little
untitled space within me. Still. IL was for
sport and not for food that I rose at the
child's hands. They were so clear a mark
that / did not even look when I closed;
and they were so small that though my
jaws rang true-I am sure of that-the
child drew them up swiftly unhurt. They
must have passed between tooth and
tooth-those small white hands. should
have caught him crosswise at the elbows
but, as I said, It was only for sport and
desire to see new things that rose at all.
They cried out one after another in the
boat, and presently I rose again to watch
them. The boat was too heavy to push
over. They were only women, but he who
trusts a woman will walk on duckweed
in a pool, as the saying Is: and by the
Right and Left of Gunga that is TRUTH
eOnce woman gave me some dried
skin from a fish," said the jackai. II had ,
hoped 10 get her baby, but horse food IS
better than the kick of a horse. as the
saying Is. What did thy woman dog"
''She fired at me with a short gun of
kind have never seen before or since.
Five times. one after another (the mug |
ger must have met with an old-fashioned |
revolverl: land / stayed open-mouthed |
and gaping. my head in the smoke. Never |
did I see such a thing. Five times, as |
swiftly as wave my tail-thus!'
The jackal, who had been growing more |
and more interested in the story. had just |!
time to leap back as the tail swung by /
like scythe.
mot before the fifth shot" said the |
mugger as though he had never dreamed |
of stunning, ono OF his iisteners-''not |
before the fifth shot did / sink, and |
rose in time TO hear a thief of boatman |
telling all those white women that was /
most certainly dead. One bullet had gone |
under neckplate or mine. / know rot |
IL Ii Is there still, for the reason that I |
cannot turn my head. Look and see,
child 1t will show my tale Is true"
'T?" said the jackal 'Shali an eater |
of old Shoes. bone-cracker presume |
20 doubt the word of the Envy OF the |
River? May my tail be bitten off by |
blind puppies IL the shadow OF such a |
thought have crossed my humble mind. |
The Protector OF the Poor has conde- |
scended TO inform me. his slave. that once |
In his life he has been wounded by a |
woman. This is sufficient. and / will tell |
the tale TO all my children. asking for no |
proof"
''Over-much civility Is sometimes no |
better than over-much discourtesy for |
as the saying is. one can choke n guest |
with curds. I do not desire that any
children of thine should know that the |
mugger OF Mugger-Ghaut took his only |
wound from a woman. They will have |
much else to think OF IL they get their |
living as miserably as does their father" |
ut is forgottea long ago. It was never |
said There never was a white womani |
There was no boat. Nothing whatever |
happened 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" |
said the mugger. beaten I'm his second |
attempt that night to get the better OF |
his friend. fNeither bore malice, how |
ever. Eat and be eaten was fair law |
along the river. and the tackal came In |
for his share of Dllfnder when ~ yroi~par