The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-30
Ks. while at biz knee ranI small naked

his nocks. while at his knee ran small naked
cupids"
The types Of which the English army is
largely composed are represented by the
Three Musketeers''-"c collectively the worst
men in the regiment so far as genial black
guardism goes - Mulvaney, "old in war,
SCARED. reckless. resourceful and in his
pious hours an unequaled soldier" Learoyd,
six and a half feet of slow-moving heavy
footed Yorkshirelnan. born on the wolds,
bged in the doles and Ortheris. "a fox
terrier OF q cockney'' from London. Occa-
sionally these three tell story as a trio.
but more often Mulvaney talks while the
others vouch for his statements or deride
them. He is never tiresome, whether he is
telling how he courted Dinah Shadd, what
he might have been 'av 1 cud have kept
ous av wan big dhrink month";" how he
had tanned an elephant that had went
sheer damn, slam. dancin', lunatic, double
shuttle demented," or how one dark night
he and four and twenty others, led Ty Lieu
tenant Brazenose, stripped and swan the
Irriwaddy. and, without stopping to think
that they had mot much as wud dust
foife betune 'em all in the way of clothin',"
had attacked and taken the town Of Lung
tungpen.
WOMAN AND LOVE.
In many of these stories. though the shad-
ow Of war and other evils may hover near,
woman and love play an active part; and in
many more of them their influence is WELD
ed. III the story of Ameera the passion Of
love is the constant theme. She was a
Mussulman's daughter-brought from her
mother by Holden, an Englshman-and she
wss all but all in the world in his eyes"
But there was alloy in the Joy of his love
while she lived. and poison in his cup of
sorrow when she died; for theirs was a mar
rage unsanetioned, and 10y is hardly less
a burden than sorrow, when 1t must be kept
secret. Ii the Conversion of Aurelan Nc
Goggin" is tract" as Kipling terms it,
the love story OF Holden and Ameera is a
sermon. Still, as he says in the case of
George Porgie and his Burmese wife, THE
mon who run ahead of the cars of decency
and propriety and make the jungle-ways
straight cannot be judged in the same man.
ner as the stay-at-home folk
Miss Vezzis is another and very different
native type. She is "black as a. boot" and
''hideously ugly" but the thought of her is
an inspiration to black Michele in a time
of stress.
In each OF the two novels ''The Light
That Failed' and 1.-The Naulahka" there
is girl who has life work. that does
not include man as an individual. But
Maisie flies to Dick when the light in his
eyes fails, and Kate eventually concen-
trates her efforts for mankind on one man.
There are many other women including
the Venus Annodomini who never grow
old; Clever. witty, brilliant Mrs. Hanks
bic, possessed of many devils of malice
and mischievousness," eager for the scalps
Of many men; the charming Mrs. Van Suy-
then. who cared but for one scalp-that of
her husband-aDd who thereby brought
deep discomfort to other man who wanted
to be scalped; the fair hill-girl Lispeth.
worth travelling over fifty miles of bad
ground to look upon,' and last, but not
least, William the Conqueror." who, I'M
like most Of Kiplings women, usurps not
only a mans name and the title of the
story, but large portion of the action.
1t may be, as some will have it, that
Kipling's work has not the quality of long
life. If not, am thankful that it has lived
at all. and that its life and mine have come
together. Still, I have q fancy that our
children's children will read to their chill
dren the stories of Mowgli, of Little Tomai
of the Elephants, and of Riki Tiki Tavi;
and that they themselves will take the
train with Scott and William the Con-
queror and go down into the FLAT red India
of palm tree. Palmyra palm and rice In
spite of the famine there will take a staff
and climb with Purin Bhagat into the
Himalayas; will hunt pig in a patch of
jungle grass where there Is frightful
bubblinE we'll: will go to the front with
Jakin and Lew: will march through the
night with the Lost LEGION will go down
the Jakko road to see the Phantom Rick
shaw; will go to the House of Sudhoo to
sec Black Art: will be present when Ortheris
settles the question of His Private
Honor" viii go tn Renares to witness the
Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney;" will
hunt dacoits with Brazenose and with the
Infant; and will hearken to the voice that
calls:
Come you back to Mandalay
Where the old fotilla lay;
Can't you ear their paddles chunkin' from
Rangoon to Mandalay?
on the road TO Mandalay
Where the flynn fishes play,
An the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China crost the bay"