Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1899-06-03
3
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no bad effects from the fall overnight. 8.
Pornic, who was standing a few
yards away, was naturally a good deal
exhausted, but had not hurt himself in
the least. His saddle, favorite polo
one, was much knocked about and had
been twisted under his belly. 1t took
me some time to put him to rights, and
in the meantime I=had ample opportu-
mites Of observing the spot into which
[ had SO foolishly dropped. r.-.--, .-.s. e..
At the risk of being considered tedious
l must describe it at length, inasmuch
as an accurate mental picture of -itg
pecuharities will be of material assist
ance in nabling the reader to under
stand what follows. ....-.-..,.
Imagine, then, as have said before,
a horseshoe shaped crater of sand with
steeply graded sand walls about 80 feet
been about IS degrees. This crater in.
closed a level piece of ground about so
yards long by 80 at its broadcast part,
with rude well in the center. Round
the bottom of the crater, about three
feet from the level Of the ground proper,
ran a series Of SO senicircular, oyoid,
square and multilateral holes, all about
three feet at the tmouth Each holeaon
inspection showed that it was carefully
shored internally with driftwood and
bambO and over the mouth a wooden
drip board projected, like the peak of
y, hCVgC If
life was visible in these tunnels, but a
most sickening stencil pervaded the en-
tire amphitheat eT-a stencil fouler than,
any which my :wanderings in Indian
villages have. introduced me to. s.5c~ ~,
Having remounted Pornic, who was
rode round the base Of the horseshoe to
find some place whence an exit would
be practicable The inhabitants who
ever they. might be, had not thought fit
to put in an appearance, SOL was left
to my own devices. Ny first attempt to
rush Pornic1 up the steep sand banks
showed me that had fallen into trap
exactly on the same model as, that
which the ant lion sets, for its prey. At
each step the shifting sand poured down
from above in tons, and ratified on the
drip boards of the holes. like small shot
A. couple of Intellectual charges sent us
both rolling down to the bottom, half
choked with the torrents of sand, and l
was constrained to turn my attention
to the river bank. q Q5G9 -G9lG H&|
! sHeree7erything seemed easy enough.
This, sand, hills ran down to, the, river
edge it is true, but there were plenty
Of Shoals and shadows, across which I
could gal1op Pornic and find my way
back to terra frma by turning sharply
to the right or the left AS ] led Pornic
over the sands I was startled by the
faint pep Of rife across the river, and
at the same moment bullet dropped
with a sharp s:w:hit'' close ito Pornic'sf
ne ia4QG1-.G @fR at>. :n81I cE ,8ar@hH=f G9@.
There was no mistaking the nature
of the missile-a regulation Martini
Henry picket. % About 500 yards away
a country boat was anchored in. mid
stream and; a 1jeti=of smoke drifting
away from it's bows in the still MORN
ing air showed me whence the delicate
had come Was ever a re-
spectacle gentleman in such an i'm i
passe The treachereus. sand slope al
lowed no escape from. "a, spot which J.
had visited most involuntarily, and a
promenade on the river frontage was
the, signal. for "a bombaFdmenta from
some insane native in boat. I'm
afraid that 1 lost my temper very much,
indeed. 7@ 1913 g 1851 '@ vi. S'."7i 4
Il Another bullet reminded me that +
had better save my breath ITO cool my.
porridge, and I reiterated hastily up the.
sands and back to the horseshoe, where
I saw that the noise Of the rifle had
drawn IS human beings from the badger
holes which 4 had up till that point !
to be Qntenanted. ! found
myself in the midst Of a crowd Of spec 4
40 men, 30 women and
one child who could not have been more
thanr5 years old. They were all scantily
clothed in that salmon colored cloth
Which one associates with Hindoo men
dieants and at first sight gave me. the
of "a. band of. loathsome IA
kris. The filth, and responsiveness Of the
were beyond all description, |
and I shuddered to think what their
life j the badger holes must be-, o,1
Even in these days, when local self
has destroyed the greater
part of a natives respect for a sahib,
] have been accustomed to certain
of -ciVility from my interiors,
and on approaching the crowd naturally
expected that there would be some rec
ognition Of my presence. AS matter
of fact there was, but it was by no
means@wllat i had looked for. 5l0@
The ragged crew actually laughed at
laughter 4 hope ! may never
hear again. They cackled, yelled, .whis-
tied and howled as walked into their
midst, some Of them literally throwing
themselves dcwnon' the ground in con-
of unholy mirth. In moment
had let go Pornic's head, and, irritat-
ed beyond expression at the mornings
adventure, commenced cutting those
nearest to me with all the force could. |
The wretches dropped under my blows
like ninepins, and the laughter gave
place to walls for mercy, while those