The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-11-12
THAT BLEB5ED MOSQUITO

>.s--@AA~~A SASNos ~ - O4OU VI A0uu8uUr
llpn, whereupcn my guide and servant,
Nat . chesEy end intslligent Malay,
sjaculated 1 conArmatory "Tuan"
(which means MASTER" but IL fire.
quently used a. an affirmative in conver-
sation by the Malays, a. II he thought
be ought to agree, although, as Q son
cf the country, the exasperating little
lnsects had not the power to peasecute
him as they did me.
had taken . few days' leave after
some weeks Of hard work, and had
started on q Journey Of discovery across
some unknown Jungle country, hoping
10 bag some game en- route and fetch up
at . friends bungalow, who was dis
tr1ct officer In the state adjoining my
own. We had trudged far, and had
made fair bag consisting Of some
snipe wild pigeon, and Jungle fowl. In
traversdng the paths through which at
times we had been obliged to cut our
way, we had seen tracks Of deer and
bigger game, but the underground was
too dense TO follow them. And now we
bad spread our mattresses and set up
our curtains, intending to settle down
to rest for the night. Iwas 20 tired that
! should have Glept, In spite Of high
tempesature, but for the incursions OF
these worrying pests that had made
their way sby come st<ateeem under the
6rams pf my netMnG ~hence the exple-
Are which shad ,sscaped me and called
forth reitesaMon from my follower, Mat.
/ have Numbered through q heavy thun-
dorstorm and an earthquake, and even
the frantic yells Of . wal1eful infant
have failed to disturb me when once
was safely In the arms Of Morpheus;
hut the ping Of persistent proboscis-
armed monster hes . peculiarly rous-
iav sd6ect upon my nsrveA and In
somnia reigns supreme.
After . short wrestle with The two In
vadezs Of my privacy and q vain attempt
At slaughter, I sat up In spirit Of resig-
nation and proceeded to fill and light my
pipe, ct the same time addressing space
o. my faithful Mat, II he happened to be
owak0.
II have always been taught, from the
years Of my earliest childhood, that.
every creature on Gods earth was Gre
sted for some good and useful purpose.
Will any human being tell me whaS'H
the use Of . mosquito?"
To which remark I received an unex-
pected reply. Mat orawled from under
his curtain and approached quite near
to where I lay; then squatting on his
haunoheA. he said, solemnly, In his ma
tive tongue:
II have heard that question before.
Tuan (Iaster), and once found the
answer."
"well, Matt, tell me. What's the good
Of them, them"
"1t's long story, but I wfll tell Tuan
II he likes to hear"
"Tell on. I'm all attention"
And this y the tale that he told me.
I had often seen the heroine Of 1t (his
wite) passing to and fro across the back
premises attached to my residence. She
was pretty young Malay woman,
aged about 20 years, with particular
ly bright and pleasing manner.
"Tuan knows my wife, Katijah; she
was a widow when I married her. When
We were quite small we lived In the
same village near Malacca, and we
played together, and was very fond Of
her. Then we grew up, and I went TO
be servant to q European, and her
father married her when she was II to
rich man, who was a cattle dealer and
had plenty Of money. He was old, per
haps 40 years Of age. 'Tijah could not
care for him. He took her away to a
place ON the coast. who're he lived with
his brother and sister-in-lsw, and did
not zee her again for many days and
weeks. Her husband, sleiman, used to
20 away very often 70 Singapore on
business, and every now and then came
baAe homo to 'Tijah, bringing the 10
suiAs Of his sales with him.
'At last one day, when be had been
ahssok or about three weeks, "Tjah
lmsv he would soon come again. Her
heart was sad. for ahs always dreaded
his coming. - she did not love hiNaH
was old and ugly, very ugly. 4S
only ons tooth which hung dow8s1l
hi under Zip Ike tualr. and rltt
gave him repulsive appeaS1A9e
"T1jsh hated him. Well, she sai
sittins IDLY on TIE seashore, bsAim4
some rocks. looking over the ssaa
and wishing she could Get into tho kolsh
(native boat ieAs ley sSaoezsd eloel
By. and row acfo1s Aheswater to her old
homo where che had been 80 happy.
Suddenly she beard steps, and Be
came aware Of soices conweE.ing in n
undertone on the other side Of the rochs
which. projecting seward, concealed
her from view, and she recognized tha1
the persons talking were her brother
in-law. Tong and his wife. She heard
that the two were plotting away Slei
man's life. Tong said that he had new
that his brother would come tomorrow
and that he would have about 5000 with
him. They would Kill him, and con
ceal his body. but how to accomplish i
without letting Tijah know? At tht
mention of her name, she betrayed hel
presence by low cry. In q second tn
two were upon her asking her what sht
did there, and whether she had hears