Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1895-09-05

There were many friendly bur-

iuese ~ huHBOon at TINS time, deScrterS
from Dallah, shrewd fellows who had
foreseen safety in British ascendancy,
and, being mostly fishermen, had offered
themselves for "Inglee' muskets for
the nonce, with sharp eye to profit
able nets thereafter. Indeed, not few
OF these calculating traitors had taken
to their old trade already, and were
busy plying their poles and hooks from
crazy canoes at the mouth Of Kemmen-
dine creek. 1t was not long before
some OF them, hailed by old Duxsoo,
the bearer, came alongside with, as he
said, fish for the Mem Sahib his mis-
tress. On these occasions he conyersed
with them in Burmese, and whoever
watched narrowly the astonished and
anxious faces of the fishermen must
have observed that neither the fresh
ness nor the price Of their fnny prizes
formed any part Of the discussion
1t was dark night, no moon and
cloudy sky; all hands had gone below
and turned In" some hours since. The
officer Of the deck, night-glass In hand,
paced the bridge" or leaned over the
rail and watched the lights ashore,
while the quartermaster patrolled tho
rangways. But these were not alone
on deck' on the bullring Of tho after
gun the pale and fearless widow sat
still as q shadow, and peered through
the darkness shoreward towards where
the Eighteenth's lights cleaned from
the Golden Dragon. Such was her
nightly wont, and officers and men had
become so accustomed to 1t that she
sometimessat there till after midnight,
unheeded and forgotten,
The young officer still chased with
his eyes the restless lights, and
dreamed dreams the while Of home
and OF n sweetheart the gruff old
quartermaster paced up and down, and
thought Of prize-money and the 'old
woman Neither had eye nor thought
for the poor lady, they were SO used to
her lonesome why's, dye see, else they
might have found something unusual
in the anxiety with which she watched
singular object in tho water astern--
only an empty canoe drifting toward
the shipl Not drifting, ether for now
that point them out to you, you can
SEQ two black heads, with long hair
twisted in harbaric knot behind,
peering warily above the water in
front of the boat, which seems to fol.
low thcm.
The love-lorn youngster, or the gruif
old quartcrnastcr on prize money IN
tent, did look toward the bullrine Il
little later, and saw nothing; the
lady was gone. Whittier? To her
cabin? No, she coul not have pa ssed
them unoblervel, l;ut that wus easy
to decide; her light still burncd; her
state room was open and unoccupicd
Where then was She? Good heavens!
II could not Be; an yet IT must--poor
lady Poor babyl They gave hcularm;
they roasad the ship; gun was fired;
n search was made, in vain; alasl II
must be so. "Shc has gone TO JON her
husband.'
Irue' but not that way, gruif old
quartermastcr's mate. Stop thinking
about her; have ears and brains for
your duty What was that shot on
shore2 And, bark, now another, and
another, and anotherl the alarm is
given in the British lines the sentrics
have discharged their pieces and run
inl See! the place is all ablaze with
lights; every poonghee house Is ilum-
mated; you Gun discern the great
porch of the Golden Dragon, with Its
griffin warders, from here They ure
beating to arms, the trumpet sounds
the assembly" What could that first
and solitary shot have been?
Ali my nautical friends, while your
sapient pates were busy guessing that
pair of barburic black heads have
drifted unl1r the stern again, and the
same canoe has drfted with theln-nor
empty this time, for, look again, and
you will sec that her light is no longer
burning, and her statcroom door Is
closed, though the window is opea;
and-yes, you do hear her breathing.
Wait spare your heads the guessing;
1t will all be cleared UP for You one
day. Wait till you dare to ask Norah
Fallon why she makes so much Of that
withered white rose,
Cen Godwin's next dispatch to the
governor general contained u curious
passage; ION the night Of the 18th
the environments were thrown into dis
order by II false alarm caused by the
mysterious discharge Of u pistol In the
lalipot grove, which Enclosed the grave
Of the late Adjt Fallon, who fell
ylorionsly in the attack Of the Dragon
pagoda; the spot Is close to the Sepoy
lines of II, NJ, Eightieth. My men
maintained good order, answering the
assembly call with remarkable celebrity,
mo In complete equipment
AT daybrcas a Scpoyof Mai Ainsllcs