Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-04-25

an iron box and sent it by trusty
servant who, under the guise of meI-
chant, should take it to the fort at
Agra, there to lie until the land is at
peace. Thus If the rebels won he would
have his money, but II the company
conquer his jewels would be saved
to him. Having thus divided his
hoard he threw himself into the cause
of the Sepoys, since they were strong
upon his borders. By doing this, mark
I you sahi5, his property becomes the
due of those wLo have been true to
their salt.
( "'This pretended merchant, who
! travels under the name of Achmet, Is
now in the city Of Agra, and de-
sires to gain his way into the fort. He
has with him as travelling companion
I my foster-brother Dost-Akbar, who
| knows his secret. Dost-Akbar has
promised this night to lead him to
side-postern of the fort. and has chosen
this one for his purpose. Here he will
come presently and here he will
| find Mahomet Singh and myself await
| ing him The place is lonely, and none
| shall know of his coming. The world
shall know Of the merchant Achmet no
more, but the great treasure Of the
rajah shall be divided among as. What
say you to-it, sahib?'
"In Worcestershire the life of man
seems great and a sacred thing; but
! it is very different when there Is fire
and blood all round you and you have
been used to meeting death at every
| turn. Whether Achmet the merchant
| lived or died was thing as light as air
| to me, but at the talk about the treas
ure my heart turned to it, and / thought
of what might do in the old country
with 1t, and how my folks would stare
when they saw their ne'er-do-weu COM
ing back with his pockets full of gold
moidores. / had, therefore, already
made up my mind. Abdullah Khan,
however, thinking that / hesitated,
| pressed the matter more closely.
Consider, sahib," said he, that II
this man is taken by the commandant
he will be hung or shot, and his jewels
taken by the government, SO that no
man will be rupee the better for
| them. Now. since we do the taking of
| him, why should we not do the rest as
as we'll? The jewels will be as we'll
with us as in the company's Golfers.
| There will be enough to make every
one of us rich men and great chiefs.
| No one can know about the matter. for
| here we are cut off from all men.
| What could be better for the purpose?
| Say again, then, sahib, whether you
are with us, or If we must look upon
you as an enemy
"I am with you heart and SOUL"
said l.
"Tt Is WELL ne answered, handing
me back my firelock. You see that we
trust you, for your word, like ours, Is
not to be broken. We have now only
to wait for my brother and the mer-
chant
"'Does your brother know, then, of
what you will do?' I asked.
1.-The plan is his, He has devised 1t.
| We will go to the gate and share the
| watch with Mahomet Singh
1.-THE rain was still falling steadily,
for 1t was just the beginning of the
wet season. Brown, heavy clouds were
drifting across the sky, and it was hard
| to see more than a stone-cast. A deep
| moat lay In front of our door, but the
water was in places nearly dried up,
and 1t could easily be crossed. 1t was
strange to me to be standing there
with those two wild Punjaubees watt
ing for the man who was coming to his
death.
Suddenly my eye caught the CLINT
of a shaded lantern at the other side of
the moat. 1t vanished among the
mound-heaps, and then appeared again
coming slowly in our direction.
"'Here they arer exclaimed.
"'You will challenge him, sahib, as
usual whispered Abdullah. Give him
no cause for fear. Send us in with
him, and we shall do the rest while
you stay here on guard. Have the
lantern ready to uncover, that we may
be sure that it is indeed the man.
"The light had flickered onwards,
| now stopping and now advancing, un-
til could see two dark figures upon
the other side of the moat. let them
scramble down the sloping bank,
splash through the mire, and climb
halfway up to the gate, before I
challenged them.
"'Who goes thereP' said / in a sub
dued voice.
" Friends came the answer. l un-
covered my lantern and threw flood
of light upon them. The first was an
enormous Sikh, with a black beard
which swept nearly down to his cum
merbund. Outside of show l have
never seen SO tall a man. The other
was a little fat, round fellow, with a
great yellow turban, and a bundle in
his hand done up In a shawl. He
seemed to be all in q culver with fear,