Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-06-27

dust and thatch flying about, he was
unobserved, for Shere Bahadur, now
careless of Bully's assault and certain
of his man, was diligently searching
the debris. But he found nothing
but brass vessel, which he savagely
flung at the dog; then he carefully
stamped on the hut and reduced every
thing to chaos. In the meantime Sri
Ranabir, unconscious that the pursuit
had ceased, ran on as if he was wound
up like clock-ran until his foot
slipped, and the Maharaj Admiral
rolled into soft bed of mullah, and
lay there with his eyes clos ed, utterly
beaten, and careless whether the death
he had striven SO hard to avoid came
or not.
Then there was a buzzing in his
ears, and everything became blank.
BLESSED be Vishnu! He liveth"-
and the Vizier helped his fallen master
to rise, aided by the heir apparent, in
whose heart, however, there were
thoughts far different from those which
found expression on the lips of the
Nawah Juggan Jung, Prime Minister
of Kalesar. The sympathetic, if some
what excited, court crowded round
their king; and little in the distance
was the whole population of Kalesar,
armed with every conceivable weapon,
and keeping up their courage by beat,
ing on tom-toms, blowing horns and
shouting until the confusion of sound
was indescribable.
"Come back to the palace, my lord.
They will drive the evil one out of
him and the Vizier waved his hand
in the direction OF the crowd, aud
pointed to where, in the distance,
'5here Bahadur was making slowly and
steadily for the hills. But the Ma
haraj Admiral would do no such thing.
"Ryful lao," he roared in his vernac.
ular; "Gimme my gnn," he shriekod
IN English. There was no refusing.
A double. barreled gun was thrust into
his hands; he scrambled on to the
back of the first horse he saw, and,
followed by his cheering subjects and
the whole court, dashed after the ele-
plant.
"Mirror of the Universe, destroy
him not" advised the Vizier, who
rode at the princes bride hand.
"The beast is worth 5000 rupees, and
cannot be replaced; the treasury is
almost empty, and we shall want him
when the Lat Shaib comes"
The Maharaj was prudent if he was
brave, and the empty treasury was
strong argument; besides, they were
getting rather close to Shere Bahadur,
and outpacing the faithful people.
But he gave in slowly.
"What is to be done?" he asked.
taking pull at the reius.
"The people will drive him back"
replied the Vizier, "and we will chain
him up securely. He is but must,
and in a month or so all will pass
away.
Shere Bahadur had now reached an
open plain, where he stopped, and,
turning round, faced his pursuers.
eco on, brave men!" shouted the
Vizier; "athousand rupees to him who
links the first chain ON that Shaitan.
Drive him back Drive him back |"
There is the courage of numbers,
and this the people of India possess.
They gradually formed a semicircle
round Shere Bahadur, cutting off his
retreat to the hills, and attempting by
shouts and the beatings of tom. toms
to drive him forward. But they kept
at safe distance, and the elephant
remained unmoved.
"Prick him orwards," roared the
Vizier. "Are none OF ye men? Be.
hold! the Light of the Universe
watches your deedsl A must ele-
plant !-Pah what is it but an ami
mal?"
"By your lordship's favor, answered
voice, she is not must, only angry
There is no stream from his eve.
Nevertheless I will drive him to the
lines, but am but dust of the earth.
and thousand rupees will make me
king" Then a red.turbaned man
stepped out of the throng. 1t was
the low-caste cody who had been put
to attend to the elephant on Aladin's
death. He was armed with short
spear, and he crept up to the beast on
his hands and knees, and then, rising
warily, dug the weapon into the
elephants haunch. Shere Bahadur
raped his trunk on the ground, gave
a short, quick trumpet, and, swinging
round, made for the man. He did
this in slow, deliberate manner, and
n pt uo1lx, o1l1uol hso, - H.
crowd; then he flung up his head with
screech, and dashed forward.
Crack !--.crack! went both barrels
of Sri Ranabir's rifle, and two bullets
whistled harmlessly through the air.
The panic.struck mob turned and fed,
bearing the struggling prince in the
press. The elephant was, however,
too quick, and to his horror, Sri
Ranabir saw that he had charged
home.
Then Sri Ranabir also saw some.
thing that he never forgot. Not
soul did the elephant harm but, with
a logged persistence, followed the red
turbap. Some, holder than the rest,
struck at him with their thin talwars,
some tried to stab him with their
spears, and one or two matchlocks
were fired at him, but to no purpose.
Through the crowd he steered straight
for his prey. and the crowd itself gave
gave back before him, in a sea OF
frightened faces. At last the man
himself seemed to realize Shere BAHIA.
dur's object, and it dawned like an in.
SEPARATION on the rest. They made
road for the elephant, and he separated
his quarry from the crowd.
At last! He ran him down on a
plowed field and stood over the wretch.
The man lay partly on his side, look
ing up at his enemy, and he put up
his hand weakly and rested it against
the foreleg of the elephant. who stood
motionless above him. So still was
he that wild thought of escape must
have gone through the vretch's mind.
for. with the resource born OF i'm mi
nent peril, he gathered himself to.
gether inch by inch and made rush
for freedom. With an easy sweep of
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