The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-11-26
LISPETH.

Aiishii tltN w III NllC. ollc NtskI llltlE
maize failed, and two bears spent the night
in their only poppy field just above tho
Sutlcj valley on the Kotgarh side, so next
season they turned Christian and brought
their baby to the mission to no baptized.
Tho Kotgarh chaplain christcncd her Eliz-
abcth, and ''Iiispcth" is tho Hill, or
pahari, pronunciation.
Later cholera cumc into tho Kotgarh
valley II carried off Sonoo and Jadch,
and Lispcth became half servant, half
companion to the wife of the then chaplain
of Kotgarh. This was after tho reign of
the Moravian missionaries, but before
kotgarh had quito forgotten her title of
mistress of tho Northern Hills"
Whether Christianity improved Lispcth
Or whether the gods of her own people
would havc done as much for her under
any circumstance l do not know, but she
grow very lovely. When Hill girl grows
lovely, she is worth travelling 90 miles over
bad ground to look upon. Lispcth had u
Greek facc-ono of those faces people paint
SO often and SEQ so seldom. She was of q
pale, ivory color, and, for her race, OK
trcmcly tall; also sho possessed eyes that
were wonderful, and had sho not boon
dressed in the abominable print cloths
affected by missions you would, meeting
her on tho hillside unexpectedly, have
iCNS' hhi VIC OiiSllIal Dllllh VI l!lt
Romans going out to Stay. Lispeth
took to Christianity readily and did not
abandon it whcn sho reached w%omanhood.
as do some Hill girls. Her own people
hated her because she had, they said. be-
como q mcmsahib and washed herself
daily, and the chaplain's wife did not
know what to do with her. Somehow ono
cannot ask II stately goddess, 5 foot 10 in
her shoes, to clean plates and dishes. So
she played with tho chaplain's children
and took classes in tho Sunday school and
read all the book In tho house and grew
moro and moro beautiful, like tho prin-
cosscs in fairy tales. Tho chaplain's vito
said that tho girl ought to take service in
Simla rs a nurse or something 'gontcol.' -
But Lispcth did not want to take service.
Sho was very happy where sho was.
When travelcrs-thcro were not man;
In those years-came IN to Kotgarh, Lis
pcth used to lock herself into her own
room for fear they might take her away to
Simla or somewhere out into the unknown
world.
One day, q few months after she was II
years old, l4ispoth went out for u walk.
She did not walk in the manner of English
lndics-119 miles out, and u ride back
again. She covered between 20 and 30
miles in her little c-onstitutionals, all
''iu tHN H'pIt, DtlN CtI unu
Narkunda. This time she camo back Mt
full dusk, stopping down tho breakncck
descent into kotgarh with something
heavy in her arms. Tho chnplain's wife
was doing in tho drawing room wheI
Lispcth came in, breathing hard and very
exhausted with her burden. Lispcth put
it down or the sofa and said simply:
This is my husband. found him on
the Engi road. He has hurth himself. We
will nurse him, and when he is we'll your
husband shall marry him to me"
This WAS the first mention Lispcth had
ever made of hor matrimonial views, and
tho chaplain's wife shrickcd with horror.
However, the man on the sofa needed at
tontion first. He was Il young Englishman.
and his head had been cut To the bono by
something Jagged. Lispcth said sho had
found him Town tho khud, so sho had
brought him in. He was breathing queer
ly II was unconscious.
lie WAS put To bed and tended by tho
chaplain. who knew something of mcdi-
cine, and I.ispcth waited outside tho door
in case she could be useful. She explained
TO the chaplain that this was tho man shc
meant To marry, and tho chaplain nnd his
vito lccturcd her severely on the impro-
pricty of her conduct. I.isrcth listened
quietly and repeated her first proposition.
1t takes a great deal of Christianity to
wipe ont urcivili2cd eastern instincts,
such as falling i'll love at first sight. LIS
pcth, having found the man she worshipcd,
did not SEQ why shc should keep silent as
to her choice. She had no intention Of
being sent away other. She was going to
nurse that Englishman until he was well
enough TO marry her. This was her little
programme.
After u fortnight Of slight fever and in
flammation tho Englishman recovered CO.
hcrencc and thanked the chaplain and his
vito ard Lispcth, especially Lispcth, for
their kindness. He was IA traveller i'm tho
east, he said-thcy never talked about
"globo trottcrs" in those DAYS. when tho
Z. and u. fleet was young and Swaziland
had COMO from Del.ca Dun to hunt for
plants and butterflies among tho Simla
hills. No II at Sinla, therefore, knew
anything about HIM. llc fancicd he must
have fallen over the cliff while stalking n
Tern on a rotten tree trunk, and that his
coolies must have stolen his baggage and
fled. He Thought ho would go back to
Simla WHOM nc was u little stronger. He
desired 10 moro mountaineering.
Iio madc mail haste to goaway and re-
covered his strength slowly. Lispoth OBJ
Icctcd to being advised either by tho chap
lain or his wife, so tho latter spoke to the
Englishman and told him how matters
stood in Lispcth's heart. lIo laughed n
good deal and said ii was very pretty and
romantic, n perfect idyl of the IIimaiayas,
but rs ho WAS engaged to II girl mt home ho
tancicd chat nothing would happen. Ger
Ainly he would behave with discretion.