The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-08-11

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There was not, so we spoke OF other
things, and my spirits rose. for
CHASTITY fear was taken off my mind.
That evening l succeeded in pulling
myself together Dick, too, was in
high spirits, Our anxieties had all
been groundless, and after dinner felt
fit to join in game of cards which
lasted till midnight Then, event to,
bed, after seeing the doctor deposited
in a hammock slung in the tent in
which Freddy Martingale passed away.
III. tt.&sAt.
In the morning rose as usual, early,
feeling better than l had done since
Wrottesley died. I reused Valley, and
then went to the doctor to wake him;
but he lay so sound asleep that
thought it kinder to let him rest after
his long ride. So drew back and went
with Dick to battle. We took our time,
and returned to find the doctor still
abed; whereupon we entered his tent.
AS passed the opening noted that
he had not altered his position since
had looked In two hours before. I hap
pened to catch Dicks eye as / gaze at
the figure in the hammock We Meth
er spoke, but going to the sleeper. my
companion laid his hand on the doctors
brow Then he uttered one word, with
out anything of surprise OF comment:
"Deadn
So it was that the third victim of fate
ID had passed away. The circumstan-
ces were an exact repetition of those
that had accompanied his predecessors.
No mark or sign of violence; no tell
tale weapon. The man had gone to
rest in the prime of life hale, hearty
and in perfect health. Now he lay
dead. And that was all
1t would prolong my story unneces-
sarily were 1 to detail all the incidents.
of that day. We realized that we had
beheld a fresh victim to the awful, the
inscrutable vengeance which was being
hurled at us by some unseen hand. We
knew that, as with the others, O medi-
natural cause of death. We believed
in our hearts that the truth, could we
only discover it, would point a very diff
ferent tale
How were we to test our theories?
How bury mystery meath the flood of
truth? We drew up the report we
| knew SO well, and sent it off. And
then we held council of war. 1t was
evident that the murderer--if murderer
there were-must be astute, must have
a secret means of infiicting death I'M
known to medical skill, and sought to
work his will on white men wherever
he found them, SO that they were alone
| The two nights when nothing had hap
pened had been those when Valley and
had kept together. We agreed that
had we separated then we should have
met our fate. The question remained
what means could we take to remain
together while our mysterious enemy
should believe US to be apart? We dis
cussed the problem at length, and at
dusk retired to rest each to his own
tent, leaving the patrol outside in igno-
rance of our intentions. AS soon as l
| had closed the entrance. and fastened
it securely, too, lay down on my
| stomach, and by dint of much strug-
Cling succeeded in forcing my body I'M
| derneath the double skin of canvas at
the back of the tent and, after having
ascertained that ] was not being
watched l turned to Valleys quarters
and wriggled under his canvas, until
stood by his side, We had already
agreed as to our course of action If
I had succeeded in evading the unseen
eye that we felt convinced was watch
| ing u.s. It was probable that an attempt
would be made on the supposed solita-
ry occupant of one of the tents. If 1t
CHANGED that Valleys tent was the
one visited, one Of us was bound to see
and deal with the Dacoit, thug, or
whatever he was. We had. carefully
| loaded our revolvers, and had agreed to
4 take 1t in turns to watch and sleep.
We had pledged ourselves not to make
4 a sound during the night, unless it be-
| came necessary to rouse the sleeper.
AS soon as I Joined Valley he extin-
guished the lamp It was a clear
night, and it was possible to distin-
guish the furniture and various objects
/ in the tent distinctly. In consideration
Of my weakened state I was to have
| the first rest accordingly lay down
on the bedstead, while VALLEY sat on
his camp-stool. was tired out and
soon fell into dreamless sleep Wal
| ley told me subsequently that 1t took
| quite five minutes to wake me when
my time was up; but speedily pulled
| myself together, and rose to allow of
! his taking his turn of bed. 1t occurred
| to me as moved to the seat he had oc-
cupied that his position had been far
too prominent for our purpose. 1t was
| absolutely necessary, If our vigil was
! to have any chance of success, that airy
intruder should not see that he was be-
| ing watched as soon as he entered the
| tent. l shifted the stool on one side,
| and carefully moved the drawers and
bath away from the side of the tent, so
| as to leave sufficient space to conceal
| myself between them and the canvas
| Then, with spare rug to lay on, and a
kit-bag for my back, ! slowed myself
behind the furniture. fairly concealed,
but able to command a view of any
thing that might transpire.
There is nothing more trying or more
exhausting than a solitary vigil. One
soon tires of keeping the faculties on
the alert, and hears all sorts of imagi-
nary sounds. sees all kinds of non-ex-
istent things. AS I lay wedged in that
eighteen inches of recess, fancied !
could discern all sorts of hideous out
| lines, and kept hearing whispered
voices and mysterious breathings. But
my judgment prevailed, and 1 re-
| strained my impetuosity. And so the
minutes sped on, seeming hours, and
nothing happened. Then a new terror
struck me. / felt that l was being
watched. 1 could not see anything.
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