The morning times., 1896-03-15
THE WANDERINGS OF A NOBLE SOUL

| so stopped him. IL was, hawever,
only nomentary halt. for a commanding
voice cried out: Make way, make way for
| Gholab Singhl' The High Priest was one
| of the leaders of the crowd, and as Grass
| passed by him lie saw that the fish had only
one eye, and consequently must have been
| the recipient OF the soul of his late master
| Whether ii was the voice of the High Priest
| or the mention of the name of the late dread
! ed monarch, does not signify, but at the
| sound of that name the crowd parted as If
| by magic; some fell on their knees as if to
| supplicate for mercy, some on their faces
| faces as If in supersulious fear that Gholab
| Singh might not be dead after all.
The two friends soon passed through the
! narrow streets and came to the wide
| path by the river; passed the burning CHAT
| where dedeCeaSed Cashmeerees were night
| ly roasted, TO have their ashes cast into The
| Jhcium in the carly morning; aud, followed
| by the whole crowd, headed by the High
Priest, came mp TO their bungalow. On their
arrival. the whole of their servants fled:
they understood the vnicesin the crowd and,
anxious to save themselves, made off.
Mean while time wore on, and Grass and his
fricndbcgan 10 obeanX iOuS a bout thcirdinner.
The weather lad cleared up, and ii was as
fine an evening as possible.
Il suppose those beggars won't come
back said Grass. we shall have to cook
our own dinner"
hequeStiOn was, what was there tecaok?
After much search. all the friends could find
was some timed soup. and this was declared
not enough for two hungry men.
Suppose we cook the fish," said one of
them.
How is it To be done? ] don't kno W how
to cook the beast"
''0h. split him open and roast him on wood
ashes
The houses in Cashmere were not pro-
vlded with Kitchens; all the cooking took
place in the little gardens behind the houses.
The fire had been made up for the prcpa-
ration OF the evening meal before the
servants ran away, and it wanted but
little rcpleniShing before the requisite
quantity OF wood ashes lay red and glow
ing IN the evening light.
Meanwhile the crowd-high priest, priests.
NoghiS, fakirs, and all-had moved round
from the front to the back of the house
They formed a circle round the fire and
waited and watched 10 see the end Soon
they saw Grass come out of the bungalow
with the fish. They saw him place it on
the ashes ana sit down md watch. Was he
going to crenIate Gholab? Perhaps that
was his idea II was true that the former
body of the dead king had been cremated,
not with gorgeous suttec of many wives
that rite the unbelievng dogs Of English
had long ago prOhibitcd-but in Il different
way. The ashes had been collected ana
placed in jar, ready for the time when
they would be taken 10 the GangeS ana
cast into the sacred stream itself But il
he intended cremation, why did he So con-
siantly lift the fish up? Why was he
Amounting il with butter? Surely not ta
make 1T burn better! For they saw that
he carefully Stifled every little attempt
of a flame 10 rise up among the glowing
smoiderins ashes. Their curiosity was
soon arrest. Gage came ont with plates ana
knives and forks, and joined his friend
They saw the fish lifted from the fire,
and-horror upon horror!-thcy saw the wo
Enghshmen catit up. Silently as they had
come, SO thc crowd of onIookers melted
away, till the two friends were the only
inha hitantS Of the garden. Soon aftcrward
the servants returned 10 the house. and all
was as quiet as if nothing out of the ordi-
nary had occurred