The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-11-14
tina Tub LES5E b NJ 3 IJITO


!. Blame thoss mosquitoes. ~ Il ex-
4 cIa;snad aloud, IN q b1srst Of ;ndigna-
tir,1i; where's pc,, N guide and ssenvant
Nat, 4 ch ecry aud aint TEL ,igent Malay.
calculated q couhrna tory ,l,ian"
{vhioh means .masttEs" but is fire..
qnent NV ueed as an afii r1native ID CONVEX
sa:ion 81 the Atalsys, 40 il he thought
he ought to agree, although, as 9, son;
OF the country, the exaSPerat;ng little.
i insects hal not the. power TO persecute
Il him as they did me.
5 l had taken q few days leave after
some weeks of hard work, and had
started on a journey 81 discovery across
some unknown jungle country, hoping
to bag some game en- route and fetch up
at friends bungalow, who was dis.
trict officer In the state adjoining my
own. We. had tr,1dged far, and had
made fur bag consisting OF some.
sndpe, wild pigeon. and jungle fowl. In.
traversing the paths through which ct
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 now we
had spread our mattresses and set up
our curtains, intending to settle down
to rest for the night. / was so tired that
should have slept, in spite Of high.
tempera ture, 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 reitefation from my follower, Mat.
/ have slumbered through heavy thun-
derstorm and an earthquake, and even
the frantic yells Of a walceful infant
have failed to disturb me when once I
was safely in the arms Of Morpheus;
= but the ping of FL persistent proboscis-
armed monster has a peculiarly rous-
ing effect upon my nerves, and in
somnia reigns supreme.
After short wrestle with the two in
vaders of my privacy and a vain attempt
at slaughter, l sat up in spirit Of resig-
nntion and proceeded 70 fill and light my
pipe, at the same time addressing space
or my faithful Mat, il he happened to be
awake. H.
II have always been taught, from the
years of my earliest childhood, that
every creature on Gods earth was Gre
ated for some good and useful purpose.
Will any human being tell me what's
the use of a mosquito?"
To which remark received an unex-
pected reply. Mat crawled from under
his curtain and approached quite near
to where lay; then squatting on his
launches he said, solemnly, in his ma
tive tongue: Z.
II have heard that question before.
Tuan MASTERY, and once found the
answer"
"Well, Matt, tell me. What's the good
Of them, then?"
"Its long story, but I will tell Tuan
IL he likes to hear"
'Tell on. I'm all attention" :.
And this is the tale that he told me.
I had often seen the heroine of it CHS
wife, passing to and fro across the back
premises attached to my residence. She
was q pretty young Malay woman.
aged about 20 years, with a particular
: ly bright. and pleasing manner. y
"Tuan knows my wife, 'Katfjah;. she
was 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 I went to
be servant to d European, and her
father married her when she was "A to
rich man, who was cattle dealer and
had plenty Of money. He was old, per-
haps 40 years Of age. Tijah could not
care for him. He took her away to q
place on the coast, where he lived with
his brother and sister-in-law, and 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 'Tijak, bringing the re-
suits of his sales with him.
"At last one day, when he had been
absent or about three weeks, 'Tijah
knew he would soon come again. Her
heart was sad, for she always dreaded
his coming, as she did not love him. He
was old and ugly, very ugly. He hnd
. only one tooth which hung down over
his under lip like a trsk, and which
gave him .repulsive appearance.
'Tijah hated him. Well, she was
sitting idly on the seashore, behind
some rocks, looking over the sea
and wishing she could get into the koleh
(native boat) which lay moored close
by, and row across the water to her old
home where she had been so happy.
Suddenly she heard steps, and be-
came aware of voices conwersing in an
undertone on the other side Of the rocks,
which, projecting seward. concealed
her from view. and she recognized that
the persons tallting were he,. brother
in-lnw, Tong and his wife. She heard !,
that the two were plotting away slei-
mans life. Tong said that he bad news
that his brother would come tomorrow,
and that he would have about $500 with
him. They would kill him, and con-
ceal his body, but how to accomplish it
without letting 'Tijah know? AT the
mention Of her name, she betrayed her
presence by.a low cry. Ina second the
two were upon her asking her what she !:
did there, and whethe she had heard
. what they had said. Terrified OF tie
wretches, she gasped out that she was
sleeping and their voices startled her,
but that she knew nothing Of what they
had been saying. Tong gTasped her
by the shoulders and told her If she
was speaking the truth, it was well Tor
her; but if not. she had better keep her