The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-22

suspicion, and once alarmed would | fight desperately. However, by setting part of them to furnish my clerk with an account of the affair-an account | which was afterwards highly esteemed as a specimen of impromptu lying and plying the others with questions | as to the direction taken by the all | legged assassins, we managed to lull suspicion and divide the party into | groups. Then, at a given signal We l threw them and tied them securely, to their intense amazement and disgust. | We did not move from the grove till daylight began to die out. Hosein had the whole detachment busy for some hours cutting a number of short bam- boo sticks and boring holes in their ends, through which short lengths of cord were run. He had way of hold ing his tongue until questioned, and, moreover, liked to have his plans ma | tured before being called on to explain them; so let him proceed unquestion- ed until saw he was ready.
 What are these things for?' I then asked him.
 Food for the Thugs, sir he re- piled. When they taste these they are silent
 Then perceived that the mysteri- ous articles were gags.
 They will come across the ford to- night continued Hosein. We will be in waiting, and as they land one by one seize them and stop ther voices
 How can you be sure they will cross?' said I.
 Shall I not tempt them?' he an- swered. Shall I not light a fire and send a cry across the water as these would have done if God had not deliv- cred them into our hands?'
 How many of them are there?"
 CT should say from thirty to forty"
 And we must leave a guard with the prisoners. We shall have our hands full I sad cautiously.
 ''I know this ford so well,' respond ed Hosein; only one man can land at a time. If the sahib will permit, I will stand by the bank and assist them out singly. It will be dark tonight, and there will be rain. Some of your men must leave their coats and dress like | Thugs, and as I hand over the first | of the robbers two of them shall seize | him, fill his mouth with the wood, and | tie him up so that he makes neither | sound nor motion. In like manner with the others The jungle and the rain will help us.'
 Ut was a simple, daring scheme It seemed one moment to be absolutely impracticable. and the next to have no real defect. Its very audacity was it's strength. Of my two sepoy sergeants, to whom I explained the idea, one was certainly dubious; but he was always somewhat jealous of Hosein the other was an optimist of the first class, and would just as cheerfully have tackled the job in broad daylight with half the force. In the end I consented. It would be great feather in our capsi it | succeeded.
 When the time came we moved noiselessly down to the ford, leaving | six of our party with the prisoners in the grove The night had settled in wet and starless. The jungle thicken- | ed towards the river. I had no diffi- culty in closely following Hosein, who | guided us. He tucked the low branch | es and squirmed through the thick un- | dergrowth like cat. A score of chat | tering creatures scurried away at our | disturbing footsteps. A swift hare ran right across our guides path, at which he stood stock-still and trembled
 "'The worst of omens,' he whisper | ed: it means failure and death
 TO Thugs?' I queried.
 l "'Yes.'
 | Then push on,' replied; it means failure and death to your friends across the river
 He was heartened at once, and went on. My first indistinct view of the ford renewed my previous distrust of Hoseins good faith. It seemed the last place one would select for pass age. The banks were ten or twelve feet high, and rose sheer out of the wa ter. By looking closely, however, I made out large, flat rock standing about five feet out of the stream and close to the bank. forming natural if somewhat difficult step. The bank was only attainable by first climbing the rock. All my distrust vanished; Ho- sein's plan fitted the place like the l bark on a tree.
 Our dispositions were quickly made. The signal-d fire was lit, and, after the l proper interval, extingushed; and we lay down in silence to wait for the | next move. The smell of the Indian night was an oppression; the rain was bringing out hundred heavy fra l grances from the plants, and a steamy 1 cold moisture seemed to cover us as we lay. AS the minutes passed and the noise of our approach ceased, the voices in the jungle were again mani- l fest.
 "At last we saw the answering fire. Hosein let himself down to the step ping-stone and stood erect {. At the same moment the shtfeks of a jackal close at hand made me jump to my feet. From across the river the cry was repeated, and then I knew 1t was the second signal.
 At I stood I saw how hazardous 1 Hosein's position was. He had only a narrow and wet fotthold, and at the first glimmer of suspicion might be dragged off and murdered before any one could get to his assistance. I ad- vanced a step with the view of better ing the arrangement, but Hosein, hear ing the sound turned, raising his hands 1 warningly with a whisper, 'Choopi' | and I lay down again. A minute or two of extreme tension followed, and then, l above the whipping sound of rain on the river, I could just hear the careful | splashing of the waters. Soon the head