Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-06-27


of the Presence hath kept his word
Behold! bring 10 you Faizullah Khan
Belooch of BfokZai, alive, not dead.
4 sudden hush fell on the ioStlins
crew as the prisoner raised his fettered
hands in grave 0beisance, and then
solemnly, vigorously, spat TO right md
left ere he began: Snakes gorged tC
impotence by their own greed. Bull
locks with but one set OF eyes TO seven
stomachs. Listen. while l recount the
tale of your infanlies to the bar I ms
wise Judge Huzoor, | am Faizullah
husband Of the virtuouS Haiyat
mother Of my son. dwelling content in
the house Of my father. Yea, it is
true. For her Jewels sake her father
in-law bound me by promises when be
found me caught in the meShes. So
for her sake l stayed in a strange land,
and tie fields and the jewels We're as
his. Then the old man yonder, .ier
uncle, wroth at the marriage, set his
son to beguile her; SO / beat her till she
had no heart to be beguiled. For all
that they would not cease from evil
ways Therefore said | to her father
in-law: Let me go, for surely if
stay thy daughter-in-laW will have to
die some day, and then her hlood-kin
will claim all. Let me go IL peace
with the Core of my Heart; but keep
thou the Jewels, for | have no need of
them So in the night he conserving,
| crept away with her in my arms, for
she had eaten her full of the bamboo
that day and could not walk. The
Presence knows what came neXt-hOw
they called me murderer and thief, Ter
blood-kin claiming the land, her father
in-law denying that he had the jewels
and | nursing her to health in the
mountains! Huzoor! the sahiblogues
are like eagles. They look at the Sun
of Justice and see not the maggOtS it
breeds in car1ion like these men. Yet
what cared I, away in the hills, What
men called me here, save that my
house wept for her jewels and | knew
not how to get them; for the reward
was heavy and oaths are cheap in your
land. Then came word that the armies
IF the Lord of the Universe were to
march on this slaves village, and L
said, What is life to me? | will Try
and speak them fair The Presence
knows what came next. When the
paper concerning the 1,2O0 rupees had
been writ, | knew that my house
would have her rights anyhow, even
if the eyes OF the just judge were
blinded by false OathS, or that l came
dead into the Presence. SO l said by
message to the carrion: Dispute no
longer among yourselves. Let me buy
the jewels at the price We have put On
them. Let one take the money and the
other the land, or half-and-haff. Only
give me the jewels, and say in the
court of justice, IO. we were mis-
taken. Faizullah hath not killed lis
wife. He nursed her back to life, and
she hath a right to the jewels and her
son after her But the land is ours by
agreement And to this they said
YES guilefully. But when l went to
the village, trusting them not at all,
they seized me and brought me hither
for the reward not knowing that the
Presence had deigned to cast his
eye on this poor man before, and that
the reward was for me, or my son. 1t
is spoken. Let the Presence decida!'
Nothing is more surprising than the
rapidity with which a got-up case
breaks down when once the judge is
seen to have an mixing of the truth.
Sauve qui peut is then the motto; es-
pecially when nothing more is to be
gained from consistency. Haiyat'S re-
lations professed themselves both as
tonished and overjOyed at her return
to life, and before the inquiry was
over had arranged for the discovery of
the jewels, which were found carefully
hidden away in the house of Haiyat
Bibi's female attendant who had died
of cholera the year before, an ingen-
ious incident productive of injured in
nocence to all the living.
TT has not emptied the purse of the
great queen after ALL said Faizullah
with a broad smile, as he stood beside
the deputy commissioner on the crest
of a hill, and pointed to terraced vii
lage on the opposite side of the val
ley. Nor hath the house of the poor
suffered for the dwelling of this slave
will not burn
The Jewels were in a bundle under
his arm, and he was taking leave OF
the expedition he had accompanied so
far. He turned to go, then suddenly
saluted in military fashion. IF this
dull-like one might give freedom to his
tongue for a space, the wisdom OF eX-
perience might reach the ear OF those
above it. Yea, of a surety the pa
thence of the Presence is beyond praise
Huzoor! if the reward writ in the pO-
lice stations had been for me, alive or
dead. peace would have been beyond
my fate, for the great mind OF the Pro-
tector of the Poor will perceive that a
man hath no power against false oaohs
when once his own tongue Is Sulled by
death; and that even the justice OF
kings ayaiLs little when the case Las
been decided already. Let this mem
DRY remain with the sahibs, Peace
| bringeth Plenty, and Plenty brlngeth
| Power So it comes that false oaths
! are easy under the rule OF the Pres.
! ence.'
! That was his farewell.
The snow still lay low, but the or
! chards were ablaze with blossom as
next morning. the little force led by
! white faces struggled peacefully along
! the cobbled lodges of the steep village
! lane On either side strips OF garden
! ..1 ,,-loro tho bnaIrf-Shanod leaves