Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-05-22
STORY WITHOUT END.
MYSTERY OF Two BEINGS WHO
CROSSED THE NARRAToR's PATH.

/ CROSSED THE NARRAToR's PATH.
The Ha.Aseos Young F.sAa. Psiss.sr
whsss Ennb Was ssaa.sa WIN Haesd.
ne Yoasg ORR Who Presented . suv,r
Ring-Were the Two Connected.
It was on tbs I'd Of January, 1879.
that General Roberts left Hazar Pr
Ziarat to subdue the Khost district, an
unscphisticated country where the rev.
enue had hitherto been collected in cop
per, and up to this date the semblance
OF the rupee had not been known.
Hazar Pr Ziarat-(the shrine Of q
thousand Enthusiastically old men) was
hardly even q village, and only the day
preceding some six or seven had been
added to the number Of saints, a. q
batch Of murderous msrauders had been
executed, and dying in the faith, shout
ing the fasmah and acknowledging
nothing but piety in their attempts ON
infidel life, their corpses had doubtless
rendered their graves sanctified ground,
and SO added to the Ziarat-in these
parts q 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
sparkling In the bright sunlight as they
threaded among the camel thorn sprin-
killed. over the plain, the writer diverged
from the advance, having to convey
with small escort Of cavalry and in
fantry long train of some 900 empty
camels ordered to 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
cidents befell which / now seek to mar
| rate.
In a lonely valley party Of my Sikh
infantry brought before me q Pathan
prisoner, saying: ''Here is o man who
has been caught concealing his arms It
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 Waziri, q not unfricndly
tribe, which. however. furnished not a
few lawless depredators His only arm
was the long Afghan knife, necessary
for his own protection perhaps, and in
the cold weather it appeared not unnat-
ural that he should wrap himself in his
thin outer colored scarf, worn somewhat
after the fashion Of a plaid. His face
was handsome, open and fearless, but
such was the micn Of all Afghans-often
seen on the most cold blooded fien.is.
I could not. however. though de.
tcrmined to fulfill the spirit Of instruc-
tions, ut once hand him over to the bay
onct, and, saying, "Oh, his knife is only
for harmless use or protection, took
it from him and drew it. 1t was,thickly
coated with fairly fresh blood.
For q moment I could have handed
him over to death, but reason told me
that this was no additional evidence of
murder. He might have slain goat or
sheep, he might have met an enemy in
fair fight-questions Of course were use
less. Finally, with some misgivings as
to whether was strictly obeying orders
and amid tho scowls and murmurs of
the Sikhs. who were quite strange to my
command. gave the young man back
his knife and sent him on his way.
He left gracefully and courteously,
showing neither in 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 q
low hill.
| Some hours Of march followed, and
the care Of massing the long. unwieldy
line Of camels in column ON each small
plain, before again filing the next pass
aprecaution necessary to enable my rear
guard to be within hail in case Of attack
on SO tempting and easy q prey, fully
absorbed me and drove the preceding in
cidert clean from my head.
Suddenly became aware Of q young
Pathan girl running beside my horse
and holding up to me a silver ring set
with turquoise. This seemed to me a
very unusual act from o Mussulman
and q Pathan. where seclusion is SO
strictly the rule, and had no idea rs 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 I was
meant to take the ring, did so, the
girl, about II. showing that she meant
should take it fiom her Even then
she made no effort to leave, and SO,
imagining perhaps that she wanted mon-
ey for some purpose, offered her 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
il to say, "What can Mussulman and
o woman mean except what is contemp-
tible?" so that, angry at their scorn and
possible misconceptions, flung the girl
back her ring and babe her BECOME. She
left muttering and apparently still anx-
ious to explain, but q 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
reconnoiter them more closely.
They turned out to be q friendly 'sjir.