The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-09-06

gentleman. Your God be my witness
that do not. He was as anxious to es-
cape as you were, and he was shot from
the boat, though we all did all things to
prevent him from attempting. He was
shot here Gunga Dass laid his hand
on his lean stomach and bowed to the
earth.
"Well and what then? Go on''
"And then-and then. your honor,
we carried him into his house and gave
him water and put wet cloths on the
wound. and he lay down in his house
and gave up the ghost. -
..In how long? In how long?'
''About half an hour after he re-
ceived his wound. I call Vishnu to wit
ness" yelled the wretched man, "that
I did everything for him. Everything
which was possible, that didl''
He threw himself down on the ground
and clasped my ankles But I had my
doubts about Gunga Dass' benevolence
and kicked him off as he lay protest
ing.
81 believe you robbed him Of every
thing he had But I can find out in a
minute or two How long was the sahib
here?"
'sNearly a year and a half I think
he must have gone mad. But hear me
swear, protector of the poor! Won't
your honor hear me swear that I never
touched an article that belonged to
him? What is your worship going to
dof''
had taken Gunga Dass by the waist
and had hauled him on to the platform
opposite the deserted burrow. As I did
SO I thought of my wretched fellow
prisoners unspeakable misery among
all these horrors for 19 months and the
final agony of dying like rat in hole
with bullet wound in the stomach.
Gunga Dass fancied I was going to kill
him and howled pitifully. The rest Of
the population, in the plethora that
follows a full flesh meal, watched US
without stirring.
go inside, Gunga Dass,'' said I,
''and fetch it out. !"
I was feeling sick and faint with
horror now. Gunga Dass nearly rolled
off the platform and howled aloud.
"But I am Brahman, sahib-a high
caste Brahman By your soul, by your
fathers soul, do not make me do this
thing''
"Brahman or no Brahman, by my soul
and by my fathers soul, in you go!' 1
said, and, seizing him by the shoulders,
I crammed his head into the mouth of
the burrow, kicked the rest of him in,
and, sitting down. covered my face
with my hands.
At the end of few minutes I heard
rustic and creak, then Gunga Dass
in sobbing, choking whisper speaking
to himself, then a soft thud-and I un-
covered my eyes.
The dry sand had turned the corpse
intrusted to it's keeping into yellow
brown mummy. I told Gunga Dass to
stand off while examined it. The body
clad in an olive green hunting suit
much stained and worn, with leather
pads on the shoulders-was that Of a
man between 80 and 40, above middle
height, with light. sandy hair, long
mustache and a rough, unkempt beard.
The left canine of the upper jaw was
missing, and a portion of the lobe Of the
right ear was gone. On tie second fin
ger of the left hand was ring-a shield
chapel bloodstone set in gold, with a
monogram that might have been either
"B. K" or 1'B. L." On the third fin
ger of the right hand was silver ring
in the shape of a coiled cobra, much
worn and tarnished. Gunga Dass de-
posted a handful of trifes he had pick
ed out of the burrow at my feet, and,
covering the face Of the body with my
handkerchief, turned to examine these.
l give the full list in the hope that it
may lead to the Identification of the un-
fortunate man:
1. Bowlof brier wood pipe, serrated
at the edge, much worn and blackened,
bound with string at the screw.
2. Two patent lever keys wards Of
both broken.
3. Tortoise shell handled penknife,
silver OF nickel name plate, marked
with monogram 'tB. X
4. Envelope, postmark undecipher-
able, bearing a Victorian stamp, ad-
dressed to ''Miss Mon"-(rest illegi-
ble)-"ha1n %
5. Imitation crocodile skin notebook
! with pencil. First 45 pages blank, AZ
illegible, Is other filed with private
memoranda relating chiefly to three
persons-a Mrs. L. Singleton, abbrevi-
ated several times to "Lot Single, "
"N1rs S. May and "Garmison, re-
ferred to in places as Jerry or
"Jack -
6. Handle of small sized hunting
knife. Blade snapped short. Buck s
horn, diamond cut, with swivel and
ring on the butt; fragment of cotton
cord attached.
It must not be supposed that inven-
toried all these things on the spot as
L. -,