The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-06-09

camels in the night from Okara station
to this place, and they propelled me
from the top to the bottom, and the
other two succeeded and | have been
here ever since, two and half years
Once | was Brahman and proud man
and now | eat crows.
"There is no way of getting out9'
"None of what kind at all When |
first came, ! made experiments fire.
quently, and all the others also, but we
have always succumbed TO the sand
which is precipitated upon our heads.
But surely" broke in at this
point "the river front is open, and it
Is worth while lodging the bullets,
while at night
had already matured q rough plan
of escape which a natural instinct Of
selfshness forbade me sharing with
Gunga Dass He, however, OWNED my
unspoken thought almost as soon as it
was formed and, to my intense aston
ishment gave vent to long low chuc-
kle of derision-the laughter, be it I'M
derstood. of superior or at least of an
equal
"You will not"-he had dropped the
sar completely after his opening SEN
tence-" make any escape that way
But you can try. have tried. Once
only "
The sensation Of nameless terror and
abject fear which | had in vain at
tempted to strive against overmastered
me completely. My long fast-it was
now close upon 10 o'clock. and | had
eaten nothing since tiiiin on the previous
day-combined with the violent and
unnatural agitation of the ride, had ex-
hausted me. aud | verify believe that
Cor few minutes / acted as one mad.
hurled myself against the pitiless sand
slope | ran round the base of the era
! ter, disappearing and praying by turns
crawled ont among the sedges of the
river front. only to be driven back each
/ time in an agony of nervous dread by
the rifle bullets which cut up the sand
round me- for | dared not face the
death of mad dog among that hideous
crowd, and finally fell, spent and raw
ing, at the curb of the well. No one
had taken the slightest notice of an ex-
hihition which makes me blush holly
even when | think of il now.
Two or three men trod on my pant
/ ing body as they drew water, but they
were evidently used to this sort of
thing and had no time to waste upon
me- The situation was humilating.
Gunga Dass. indeed, when he had
banked the embers of his fire with sand,
was at some pains TO throw half cup
| full Of fetid water over my head, an at
tention for which | could have fallen
on my knees and thanked him. but he
was laughing all the while in the same
mirthless. wheezy key that greeted me
on my first attempt to force the shoals.
And so in q semicomatose condition
lay till noon. Then, being only man
after all. felt hungry and intimated
as much TO Gunga Dass. whom | had
begun to regard as my natural protector
Following the impulse of the outer
world when dealing with natives, put
my hand into my pocket and drew out
annas The absurdity of the gift
struck me at once, and | was about to
replace the money
Gunga Dass, however, was of diff
ferent opinion, "Give me the money,
said he; "all YOU have. or l will get
help, and we will kill youl' All this as
if it were the most natural thing in the
world
A Briton's first impulse, believe, is
TO guard the contents Of his pockets.
but u moments reflection convinced me
of the futility of differing with the one
man who had it in his power to make
me comfortable and with whose help il
was possible that might eventually
escape from the crater, l gave him all
the money in my possession-9 rupees,
& annas and pie-for | always keer
small change as backsheesh when ! am
in camp. Gunga Dass clutched the
coins, and hid them at once in his rag.
to something diabolical as he looked
round to assure himself that no one had
observed us.
"Now l will give You something tC
eat, said he
What pleasure the possession of my
money could have afforded him l an
unable to say, but inasmuch as it die
| Blfb nam 60 AAiNhA hNlAShb a W 40 ~
sorry that l had parted with it SC read
lily, for | had no doubt that he woult
have had me killed if l had refused
One does not protest against the vaga
ries of den of wild beasts, and my
companions were lower than any beasts
While devoured what Gunga Dass ha(
provided, coarse chapatti and cup
ful of the foul well water, the peopl,
showed not the faintest sign of curiosity
that curiosity which is so rampant
as a rule in an Indian village,
could even fancy that they despiset
me. Al all events they treated me will
the most chilling indifference, ant
Gunga Dass was nearly as bad. plieC
him with questions about the terrible
village and received extremely unsat
isfactory answers So far as l coulC
gather, it had been in existence from
time memorial-whence / concluded