The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-24

crow flies. AS he called attention to 1t
another camel appeared. and then a man.
Against the clear sky they. looked gigan-
tic. The camels seemed the most weird
and diabolical creatures seen out of
dream, while the man appeared at least
ten feet high and OF gigantic dimensions.
A truly uncanny sight. In a moment
more they dropped over the ridge.
The point at which they appeared
showed that they had changed their
route little, and that by daring dash
across a difficult and little-used sheep
track the pursuers could drop into the
plain of the ravines before or at the same
time as the Waziris. The question was
whether the horses could survive that
awful scramble and gallop afterwards.
But blood was up, and without word
they all tried for it,
> To get to the top of the neck was not
very difficult but the descent. Facilis
descensus Averni. But this was far 9TH
erwise A yawning precipice of about
two hundred feet deep on the bride
hand, and a path consisting entirely Of
powders, which goats might jump or a
man scramble over, on the very brink,
was almost too much for the horses.
These gallant creatures had far weaker
nerves than their riders, and, though
each man dismounted and led his horse,
walking in front with the bridal reins
behind his back, the agony of fear made
failed to do. 1t was painful TO see the
fear-dstended nostrils, the glazing eyes
and the tremble of every muscle in their
hard-knit frames.
The clash of the hoofs and the ominous
slide as the hard iron hit the unrelenting
bowlder made both man and horse thrill
with absolute terror. 1t was simply
awful. Nothing but the lust of blood.
when man hunts MANTLE greatest and
most exciting hunt of all-could have
steeled the hearts of the pursuers. Moth
ing but the blind trust in company, which
drives the war-horse into the dead
ly charge-the hideous companionship of
perfect fear-could have enabled the
horses. to succeed in this awful enter
prise. Their groans sent cold shudder
down the spines of the men. Tears start
ed to Bakshan Khan's eyes at the agony
of his beloved mare. He vented his feel
ings IN curses. and SO did his white
brother. The passage did not last twenty
minutes. 1t might have been twenty
hours.
All reached the plain safely. But the
horses were spent with terror. The cam
els were seen not half mile ahead,
making for the ravines as fast as blows
could urge them. The Englishman pulled
out his flask, and, pouring few drops
on his handkerchief, wiped the horses
nostrils. Then he mounted. Bakshan
Khan breathed into his mares nostrils,
and Gurdit Singh mounted and spurred.
WaZir Khan, calling aloud on Allah.
mounted, too. At first trot-feeble and
uncertain; then, as they felt good, firm
ground, a gallop. The horses regained
courage with pace. The camels neared
the ravineS as the purSuerS raced hard
for them. In that supreme moment there
was nothing known of race, or creed, or
color The Biluch, Sikh, Pathan and
Englishman, each swearing indiscrimi-
aft for
Another three hundred yards. A cam
| els leading rope breaks and the jaded
brute stands still. A yell of joy from the
pursuers. A couple of shots from the
l-Waziris. Bakshan Khan pulls up and is
| off his mare like streak of lightning.
A shot from his rifle hits the man who is
| striving to drive the camel on. The rest
! sweep on with yell! Another two hun
| dred yards to cross, They have them.
| No! s7Go
They reach the brink of the first ra-
| vine to find nothing In a way incon-
| ceivable, except TO an actual beholder,
| there remains only solitary camel and
| a dying man bleeding from a bullet
wound IN the back of the neck. The
rest are as clean gone as if the earth had
| swallowed them uD.
| 1t is hopeless to search those endless
ravines. The horses were quite done up.
Eight hours hard going across that
| dreadful country at an average of five
miles an hour made it far more desir-
| able to make for home as quickly as
possible. So they loaded the dead NAH
| sud on the camel, and, after resting a
| couple of hours, began to wend their
| weary way home by the easiest ways
known. The horses found water and
| grass about nightfall, and the seven
weary and hungry men forgot all differ
| ences of race and religion in considering
| their safety and relief in that dangerous
4 J, III x-icf<
| on a fiat rock, and then, under cover of
| the dark each went alone and took his
| share. The Mussulman drank from the
| English flask, the Sikh ate. the Mussul-
mans chupatties. the Englishman took
| and smoked a pill of the blessed opium.
Surely GOO sent that drug for mans
| solace in his hour of utmost need.
1t was nearly noon next day when the
pursuers returned TO the post After
| taking six hours dead sleep it was time
to attend to business. Habibullah had
recognized his camel, and also the dead
man as man he had met on the road
near Mir Ali Khel, who had said he was
a coolie on the road The great ques-
| ton now was how to get the remaining
eight camels back. AT the instigation Of
| Bakshan Khan the following device was
adopted: A rope was hung from one of
| the big beams supporting the roof of
| the gate, and Bakhtawar, mounted on a
| CHI box, was placed with the moose
| round his neck. 4s
In this position he was told before his
| fellow prisoner that unless the camels
| returned safe and sound before the third
| sun set his corpse would be burned on
| the dunghills below the post. The other
youth was then stripped to garment
! doing duty for a shirt. soundly fogged
and then hunted out of the post defense
less. 1t had previously been ascertained
that the two were cousins, and that
| Bakhtawar was the son of man hay-
ing some influence The dead mans
corpse was not to be burned unless the
| c6mels failed to return. He was also an
| influential Derson-or had been.
All that now remained was to wait and
| trust that the camels would be restored.
Ii was a game of brag. The young NAH
sud bore himself with'a calm indifference
to his fate. He even pretended that he
| was a Ghazi. and as such could not
| burn. One could not but admire his
| courage. None the less was he care
| fully guarded under a Sikh guard, no
Mussulman being allowed TO approach
him, for the faith of Islam il as the faith
| of Freemasons, and the oath of the
Sikh is as strong as the sword that
baptizes him.
On the afternoon of the day that was
to end Bakhtawar's life an old man came
into the post He was Bakhtawars
| father. Gray, broken-toothed. scars on
his face and arms from countless fights,