The Somerset reporter., 1896-05-14
STORY WITHOGn END.
MYSTERY OF TWO BEINGS WHO
CROSSED TIE Nk6GAToR,S PATH.

Whose Knife Was Stained with Blood.
The Young Girl Who Presented = Silver
RinG-Were the Two Connectede
1t was on the 2d Of january, ia.
that General Roberts lcft Ha2ar flr
Ziarat to sahdue Tire Khcst district an
unsophisticatcd country where the roy
enue had hitherto been collected in COP.
per, and up to this date the semblance
of the rupee had not been lnaWn.
Hazar Pr Ziarat (the shrine If IA
thousand saints-literally cid mem was
hardly even Il village. and only the day
preceding some six or seven had been
added to the number Of saints, as a
batch Of murderous marauders had been
executed, and dying IN the faith, shout
ing the fatnah and acknowledging
nothing but piety IN their attempts ON
intidel life, their corpses had doubtless
rendered their graves sanctified ground
aud so added to the Ziarat-in these
parts a holy grove, generally of olive
to fell which is Dissertation.
AS the Tenth hussars spread cheerily
into order covering the advance, their
bright pouch belt buckles(the last glitter
left after even stirrups had been dulled)
sparkling i'll the bright sunlight as they
threaded among the camel thorn sprin-
killed. over the plain, the writer DIVORCED
from the advance, having to convoy
with a small escort Of cavalry and i'll
fantry a long train of some 900 empty
camels ordered 10 the advance base to
fill up with supplies My way lay among
hills bordering the right bank Of the
Kurrum river, and | soon lost sight OF
the force moving ON Matoun and fin
ished the days march without any ad.
venture On the Sd of January the in.
cidonts befell which | now seek to mar
rate.
In lonely valley Il party of my Sikh
infantry brought before me Il Pathan
prisoner, saying: Here is man whd
has been caught concealing his arms. 1t
has been ordered by General Roberts
that all such shall be dispatched May
we kill him.
Now, this was hard saying
The young man appeared by his head
gear to be Il Waziri, not unflicndly
tribe. which, however, furnished not
few lawless dcpredators. His only arm
was the long Afghan knife, necessary
for his own protection perhaps, and il
the cold weather it appeared not unnat.
ural that he should wrap himself i'll his
thin outer colorcd scarf, worn somewhat
after the fashion of plaid His face
was handsome, open and fearless, but
such was the micn of all Afghans-otten
seen on the most cold blooded fioslds.
l could not, however, though de
termined to fulfill the spirit of instruc-
tions, at once hand him ovgr II the bay
onet and, saying, "Oh, his lmifc i only
fer harmless use or protection. | took
it from him and drew il. TWAS thiebly
coated with fairly fresh bleed.
For moment | could have handed
him over to death but reason told ne
that this was no additional evidence Of
murder He might have slam goat or
sheep, he might have met an enemy in
fair Neutrality-suspicious. of course were USE
less. Finally, with some misgivings as
to whether l was strictly obeying orders
and amid the scoWls and murmurs of
the Sikhs, who We're quite strange to my
command, | gave the young man back
his knife and sont him ON his way.
He left gracefully and courtcously,
showing neither i'll his smiling face nor
in his elastic gait one single sign Of
guilt or fear and soon his erect figure
was lost to my view over the brow Of u
low hill
Some hours of march followed, and
the care of massing the long, unwieldy
line of camels in Il column on each small
plain, before again filing the next pass,
precaution necessary to enable my rear
guard to be within hail in case IF attack
ON so tempting and easy a plcy, fully
absorbed me and drove the preceding in
cident clean from my head.
Suddenly l became aware of young
Pathan girl running beside my horse
and holding up to me silver ring set
with turquoise. This seemed to me "a
very unusual act from Mussulmm
and Il Pathan, where Seclusion is so
strictly the rule, and | had no idea as to
the meaning she wished to convey, my
Pushtoo being unequal to the dialect she
spoke, and indeed scanty enough at all
times. However, seeing that | was
meant to take the ring, | did So the
girl, about II, showing that she meant
| should take it from her. Even then
she made no effort to leave, and SO,
imagining perhaps that she wanted mon
ely for some purpose, offered her a few
rupees, which she refused petulantly. |
turned to the Hindoo sowars who rode
behind me and asked what it all meant,
but they only laughed unpleasantly, as
if to say, "What can Il Mussulman and
IA woman mean except what is cOntemp-
tiblc?" SO that, angry at their scorn and
possible misconceptions, | flung the girl
back her ring and babe her begonc. She
left, muttering and apparently still anx-
ious to explain, but troop of horsemen
now appeared on the plain, and whirl-
ing their long lances round their heads
cantered shouting toward us The Sikh
infantry closed their files and prepared
to receive them, and went forward to
recnnoiter them more closely.
They turned out to be a friendly cir
gah, - or doputation seeking General
Roberts, but this fresh incident drove
The last agdIu IN M my thoughts, and
latirtn ! concluded my march without