The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1896-02-13
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: A STRANGE STORY. :
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bridge, Il ~rensioncd-off native soldier
Early every morning he arrives there,
and, throughout the day, sits on a
small wooden stool which he brings
with him. On the approach of foot
STEPS, however, he stands erect, swelIs
out bis chest and puts on q military
air, and the stick he uses as a crutch
he brings sharply to his side at the
word Of command, "Tion!' given by
himself. If you are liberal and offer
him some money, he gladly accepts it,
but | have never yet heard him ask
any one for aims.
/ one day | placed a coin in his hand,
and, to my surprise, he did not salaam
and blees me, Is other beggars do.
The usual way is for the beggars to re-
ceive the money, then look up to heav-
ell and humble
MAY you live long, Sahib, have
plenty of money, a young wife and a
houseful of children"
1t is very often that the man who is
thus prayed for is already married and
his wife old.
Well, as l was saying, 1 was sur
prised the man did not bless me, and l
was about to resent his GOODNESS, as 1
thought, when he slowly brought his
stick to the shoulder, then to the
front, and gave me the Royal Salute"
| learned afterward that he invariably
did this to those who presented him
with aims. In a little while he and !
became great friends, and | never pass
him by now without a "Well, Tommy,
how are youT" His usual reply is: "In
good health; Allah be praisedv' Some
thing told me that this man had Il his
tory, and to learn it, l longed. One day
the opportunity to do presented itself.
1t was raining, and SoOleman, or, as
he is better known, Tommy" had
crept underneath for shelter; 1 was
driving by at the moment and saw
him. | stopped the carriage, paid the
driver his fare, and followed after the
old soldier. He was delighted to see
me and gave me his stool to sit on,
while he made himself comfortable on
a large stone near me.
After a few minutes conversation 1
asked Tommy to give me an account
of his life while a soldier.
"Sahib,' replied he. 81 have no objec-
ton to do so, but so uninteresting has
that portion of my life been that | will
but weary you by speaking of it. True
1t is that / have fought in not a few
bloody battles, and have received med
ais; but l did but my duty. If I fought
well 1t Is not for me to tell of II. But
listen now, and you'll have something
better.
81 was born in Hyderabad, and the
very morning that | came into this
world my mother died. My father had
loved her much-aye! so true was he to
her memory that he took to him no
new wife to fill her place. Consequent
ly, | was his only child. My father, he
too, died when ] was about twenty
years of age. He left me a small for
tune-some 10000 rupees or more.
With this / set out for Bombay, in
tening to trade with and multiply my
small fortune there.
One morning early | arrived at the
Byculla station. / was at a loss what
to do next. / knew no one, nor had I
been to Bombay before. My heart
within me sank.
81 gave in my ticket at the door and
walked out. A couple of pOrters car
ried after me my luggage. Striding up
and down, in no easy frame of mind,
In the compound at the back, was a
well dressed Mohammedan. / went up
to him and asked him if he could rec
ommend to me a good boarding house.
ga boarding houseF he exclaimed;
of course l can; ! keep one myself.
Young man, just now / was thinking
I would be ruined if no new boarders
We're to come to me shortly. See how
good Allah is!'
"'Yea. he is good! / am a stranger
here, brother, and he has sent you to
me. to befriend me- | replied,
Gle answered not. but hailed a
C1,orryr fnalinp nf lictr,,Si ,rn,+
over me when l caught his greedy eyes
noting the contents of my po~cketbook,
when / opened it to pay the porters.
Afterward | put it down to his being
very much in want of money; and rs
we drove away |, by roundabout
means. discovered he was in monetary
difficulties. l offered him a few hun
dred, but he refused to accept even Il
fraction of that money. Thinking |
might veX him, l did not press him to
accept the gift.
~ was taken to a large building sur
rounded by a compound. A room was
shown me, and when | had arranged
my things | lay down on my bed and
went to sleep.
about 2 o'clock I was awakened by
q servant, who told me some food was
prepared for me. l washed and
dressed myself, then followed the SER
want to the dining room. | noticed
table was laid for three only.
"'Not many bOardersY l ventured to
inquire of the servant.
HE laughed.
"Not the season. he peplied. when
the Bombay races are on. my master
generally manages to get in a number
Of MohammedanS.'
81 thanked him. and was about sit
ting down at the table. when the own
e. Of the house made his appearance,
followed by a young woman.
Il was surprised; but Yoosif, the
oWrc" of the house, told me he was not
particular, and did not at all mind his
sister. Ayesha. mingling in male socie-
ty. Yea, Allah! What a beautiful
wOmGn she was. she came and sat
ncar NE ard convorscd pleasantly.
tell Won what l said to her.
foolish, | know, for I fire.
que0tly caught ner brother laughing.
"N1hen we had eaten, fair Ayesha
asked me to come and converse with
Der in the sitting room. and |, nothing
lCath. accepted her invitation. We
were alone, for YoOsif had left us. Be
@oing out he said to his sister:
Now, Ayesha, entertain our guest
we'll. He is Il stranger to Bombay: so
tell him Hll YOU know about it-any-
thing that will, you think. interest
him. And you. sir this to me, make
yourself quite at home
u was hlindly in love with the girl.
first SIZE encOura ged me: but after