Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1896-11-28
BLESSED MOSQUITO

BLESSED MOSQUITO
"Blame those mosquitoes!" ! eX-
claimed aloud, in a burst of indigna-
ton; whereupon my guide and servant,
Mat, a CHEEKY and intelligent Malay,
calculated a contirnatory "Tuan"
(which means master" but is fire.
q%uently used as an affirmative in CONVEX
sation by the Malays, as if he thought
he ought to agree, although, as a son
of the country, the exasperating little
insects had not the power to prosecute
him as they did Inc.
! had taken n few days leave after
some weeks of hard work, and had
started on a journey of discovery across
some unknown jungle country, hoping
TO bag some game en- route and fetch up
at a friends bungalow, who was dis
trict officer in the state adjoining my
own. We had trudged far, and had
made a fair bag consisting of some
snipe, wild pigeon, and jungle fowl. In
trayersing the paths through which at
times we had been obliged to cut our
way, we had seen tracks of deer and
bigger game, but the underground was
TOO dense to follow them. And noS we
had spread our mattresses and set up
our curtains, intending to settle down
TO rest for the night. Twas so tired that
| should have slept, in spite of high
temperature, but for the incursions of
these worrying pests that had made
their way by some strategem under the
frame of my netting-hence the exple-
tive which had escaped me and called
forth reiteration from my follower, Mat.
| have slumbered through a heavy thun-
derstorm and an earthquake, and even
the frantic yells of a wakeful infant
have failed to disturb me when once |
was safely in the arm of Morpheus;
but the ping of a persistent %proboscis-
armed monster has 4 peculiarly 1ous-
ing effect upon my nerves, and in
somnia reigns supreme.
After a short wrestle with the two in
vaders of my privacy and a vain attempt
at slaughter, l sat up in a spirit OF resig-
nation and proceeded to fill and light my
pipe, at the same time addressing space
or my faithful Mat, if he happened to be
awake.
~ have always been taught, from the
years of my earliest childhood, that
every creature OF Gods earth was Gre
ated for some good and useful purpose.
VIII any human being tell me what's
The use of a m~osquito?'
To which remark / received an unex-
pected reply. Mat crawled from under
his curtain and approached quite near
to where l lay; then squatting on his
launches, he said, solemnly, in his ma
tive tongue:
81 have heard that question before,
Tuan (Master), and once l found the
answer"
well, Matt, tell me. What's the good
Of them, them"
Its a long story, but l will tell Tuan
If he likes to hear"
"Tell on. I'm all attention"
And this is the tale that he told me.
l had often seen the heroine of it (his
wife) passing to and fro across the back
premises attached to my residence. She
was a pretty young Malay woman,
aged about 20 years, with a particular
ly bright and pleasing manner.
"Tuan knows my wife, Katijah; she
was a widow when l married her. When
we were quite small we lived in the
same village near Malacca, and we
played together, and / was very fond OF
her. Then we grew up, and l went to
be n servant to a European, and her
father married her when she was IA to
n rich man, who was a cattle dealer and
had plenty of money. He was old, per.
haps 40 years of age. 'Tijah could not
care for him. lie took her away to a
place on the coast, where he lived with
his brother and sister-in-law, and l did
not see her again for many days and
weeks. Her husband, Sleiman, used to
go away very often to Singapore on
business, and every now and then came
back home to 'Tijah, bringing the re-
suits of his sales with him.
AT last one day, when he had been
absent or about three weeks, TRIAL
knew he would soon come again. Hell
heart was sad, for she always dreaded
his coming, as she did not love him. He
was old and ugly, very ugly. He had
only one tooth which hung down ovel
his under lip like q tusk, and which
gave him a repulsive appearance
'Tijah hated him. Well, she wa,
sitting idly on the seashore, behint
some rocks, looking ver the Sc,
and wishing she could get into the kolel
(~native boat) which lay moored clos,
by, and row across the water to her oil
home where she had been so happy.
Suddenly she heard steps, and be
came aware Of voices conversing in al
undertone on the other side of the rocks
which, projecting seward, concealed
her from view, and she recognized tina
the persons talking were her brother
in-lnw, Tong and his wife. She hear,
that the two were plotting away Slei
mans life. Tong said that he had new
that his brother would come tomorrow
and that he would have about $500 witt
him. They would kill him, and con
ceal his body, but how to accomplish !
without letting 'Tijah know? At tn
mention Of her name, she betrayed he
presence by q low cry. In a second tn
two were upon her asking her what sh
did there, and whether she had hear
what they had said. Terrified of tn
wretches, she guspcd out that she wa
sleeping and their voices startled hel
but that she knew nothing Of what the,
had been saying. Tong grasped he
by the shoulders and told her il sh
was speaking the truth It was we'll 70
her; but II not, she had better keep he
mouth shut, or he would blsjar