Morris tribune., 1899-06-03
HEHFR#H8
| THP ESfl1 AN RIDE 8 :A|
r. SMORROWBIE JUKES. !
; YqG7TFteBAnD x'plr ling. .5:: ... :=:.:
~

! There is las the eonjprPrs sa Y, no ade1
/ ception about this tale. 4sIniess by 1aGciH
DEM stumbled upon aovillage7 that il
well known ,toooexist, thongh- he is the
only EngHshman: who. has been there
A somewhatssimilar institutionrused to
flourish on the on tslsirts of Calcn ttas.
andthere is a story that il you go into
the heart of Bikanir, which is in the
heart of the great Indian desert, you
EhalIAcome across not a village, but a
town. where the dead, who did not die
but mayanot live have established their
headquarters, And since it. is perfectly
truetthat in the same desert is Won
derful citywhere an the #Ffch money
| lenders retreat after they#have made
their3fortunes {fortanes seyast that the
owners cannot trust even the strong
hand off, the government to protect
them, but take refuge int he wa terless
sands and drive 5s1Jnaptsoas e spring
baronches andAbuy beaatifRlA girls and
decorate their PALACES with gold and
ivory and Minton tiles and mother of
pearl. | do moi. see why eJukes'5 5taie
should not be r+4e.#Hee. is atScivil Nj
ginaer, with head forhlans and els
tanees and things Of that hind, ana he
certainly would not take the trouble to
invent imaginary traps, He could earn
more by doing Ills leg5timat ework. .Hei
never varies. the tale. in. the. telling and
grows very, hot and Indignant. when, he.
thinks Of the disresnectful Treatment has
received, He wrote this quite straight
forwardly4 at first but he has since
touched it up in Idaeessand introducedi
moral reflections, thus: .. -..-.,..s. Il
Ii the beginning II "A all # arose fTotn az
slight attack Of fever My work neces- u
stated my being in camp for some
months between, Pakpat tau and Muba n
rakpurssa- desolate, sandy stretch Of
country, as eEeEEa one yhoh has, had the=
misfortune to go there may know: 4saNi5sP
coolies We're neither more nor less ex-
asperating than other gangs and my
work demanded sufficient attention1tO'
keep me from moping had IL been an
chned to SO unmanly. a weakness, lE=3
ION the. 23d. December, 1884, I felt a
little feverish. There was full moon at
the time: and in consequence every dog
near my tent was baying it. The brutes
assembled in twos and threes and drove
me frantic. A few days previouslyLI
had shot one loud mouthed singer and,
suspended his carcass in terrorem about
so yards from my tent door. But his
friends fell upon fought for and ulti7t
mately devoured the body and, as it
seemed to me, sang their hymns of
thanksgiving afterward with renewed
energy. &~@7" ~ ~ .~i- I'll! r <@i
The light medicines which accom-
panies fever acts differently on different
men, My irritation gave way after a
short time to a fixed determination to
slaughter one huge black and white
beast who had been foremost in song
and first in flight throughout the even
ing. Thanks to a shaking hand and a
giddy head, I had already missed him
twice with both barrels of my shotgun,
when it struck me that my best plan
would be to ride him down in the open
and finish him off with a hog spear
This, of course, was merely the semi t.
deliriGus notion of a fever patient, but
/ remember that it struck me at the
time as being eminently practical and
feasible. i.~ ~@~--'. .--. .t'=z g.. $50.
I therefore ordered my groom to sad
die. Pornic and bring him round quietly
to the rear of my tent. When the pony
was ready. I stood at his head prepared
to mount and dash out as soon as the
dog should again lift up his voice. !
Pornic, by the way, had not been, out
of his pickets for couple of days. The
night air was crisp and chilly, and II
was armed with specially long and
sharp pair of -persuaders with which l.
had been rousing sluggish cob that
afternoon You will easily believe, Z.
then, that when he was let go he went
quickly. In one moment, for the brute
bolted as straight as die, the tent was
left far behind, and we were flying over
the smooth, sandy soil at racing speed. /
In another we had passed the wretched !
dog, and had almost forgotten why 1t
was that had taken horse and hog
BPeart 1e12eDI9w - HI. .Es.s5.=E ali GA
l. The delirium of fever and the excite.
ment Of rapid motion through the air !
must have taken away the remnant of !.
my senses have faint recollection
of standing upright in my stirrups and
of brandishing my-hog spear at the
great white moon that looked down so
calmly on my mad gallop and of shout
ing challenges to the camel thorn bushes
as they whizzed past. Once or twice,
| believe swayed forward on Pornic s
neck and literally hung on by my spurs
-4as the marks next morning showed.
THE Hwretched beast went forward
like thing possessed INV erIwhat seemed
toegbe "a limitless- expansenofl 'E1oop1it |
sand Next, I remember, the ground
rose suddenly in front of~us,,a and as we
toppri the ascent sawthe3waters Of
the Sutfej- shining like ~a"silyer-z bar be-
low. Then Pornic blundered heavily on
his nose and we rolled together down !
some unseen slope 9 arz.5- . 32l9ts --l
r must have lost consciousness, for !!
when I recovered was lying on my
stomach in a heap of soft white sand,
a1d the dawn was beginning to break
dinly over the edge Of the slope down