The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-11
II HINDOO MYSTERY.

begged hard to be permitted 10 retain this
charm. but Il was taken away with the
other articles
Chiika remained IN jan over night and
was thea brought into court for examina-
ton He denied knowing that the coin
HaE worthless. but as several others Ike
Il were found I'm his pockets. he was re
manGed 20 iail 10 await trial. He asked
Tor The pink stone. explaining that It was
charm against fever. and IL vas given
him. The story of the mans escape
from the guardhouse had reached the
j2iler. and though he laughed at II. he at
the same time locked tie prisoner up in
cell by himself When his supper was
carried in the Hindoo was staring al the
stone. Two hours later he was missing
from the cell II vas strong cell In
strong prison. II was so utterly impossi-
bic Tor man 10 have left this cell ard
the prison, locked In and guarded as he
was. the officials stood confoGnded.
Search was made for hours. and thea
the watchman IN that corridor was put
under arrest. II was asserted that unless
ne had unlocked the cell and two cOrri-
dor doors Chilka could not have escaped
lie made an indignant denial. and the
singular ncydent was the talk OF the
iowE and was published in the newspa-
pers. The affair would have died oct On
a week bur for the reeapture Of the Hin
doc Two or three days later. He was
seen and recognized In 4 village about
twenty miles away. and was arrested
and returned to jail. He would make no
explanations. He was offered a sum OF
money and his freedom If he would be-
tray the guard. but he was silent. No
importance was attached 10 the pink
stone, hut Il was taken away from him
when he was locked up.
For two days the man was quiet and
sullen. Then he began 10 shout and
scream and rave. and TO quiet him the
stone was restored. AS soon as Il was
placed in his hands the fellow was like a
lamb. 1t was given him about o'clock
In the afternoon. The corridor in which
he was confined contained eight cells. AMI
in each cell except his there we're two
prisoners. There was a barred window at
one end OF the corridor and an Iron door
AT the other. A guard sat at this door
and had control of the lever unlocking all
the cells. He was own brother TO the
sheriff and his integrity could not be I'M
pGgned. His orders were 10 look into
Chilka's cell every hour, and at ( o'clocl,
he looked in and found the man apparent
ly asleep. At 5 O'clock he looked In, to
find the cell empty. There had been no
movement to alarm him and the other
prisoners had heard nothing. Before un-
locking the cell the guard called in the
Jailer. and never was Official so dun
founded. The Hindoo had vanished. But
how could he have gone In the flesh?
There Hra ha ra
teen prisoners to back him up. and though
the jailer was a hard-headed man he was
forced to believe in the supernatural
This third queer escape caused no end
of talk Europeans who reside in India
see so many strange things that they be-
come tainted with superstition. There
were a few who shook their heads and
limited that the jailer knew more than
he dared tell. meaning that chllka had
dealt with him, but the great majority
put it down that the pink stone was the
fetch which had caused all the trouble.
In order TO clear themselves OF ridcule
the officials determined that Chika should
be recaptured at any cost, and messen-
gers were sent out in every direction. and
a large reward offered. In about ten days
he was found 100 miles away. The first
move of his captors was to take the pink
stone away from him. He was brought
back to Haidarabad and Jailed. and he
was offered various sums OF money II ne
would give up the secret Of his escape.
Not a word OF explanation would he make,
and for four days he refused TO eat or
drink. He begged for the pink stone. and
F, IL was finally decided TO give II TO him.
| The stone had been taken TO lapldaries
| and jewelers., but no one had been able TO
give ii a name. or to recall having ever
! seen one like y.
When the charm wss -rrned over 10
Chiika he wept for Joy and called for
food He was now taken to a corridor
in which there we're four cells and all
empty The only window was boarded
up. two guards stationed at the door, and
cell on each side of the HindoO was oc-
cupied by a guard. The jailer himself
was the guard on the inner side or the
door. The charm was passed over TO
Chilka just at supper time. He ate his
food and lay down on the straw as IL TO
sleep. At quarter past 6 the jailer look
ed into the CELL and the man was there.
so at half past and a quarter to T. At
O'Clock he was gone. Smile IL you will.
but the HindOo had taken his departure
out of an iron cell. with four guards at
hand, and not the slightest trace Of him
could be found The guards in tho cells
had heard no move On his part. His cell
door remained locked, and there was the
impress of his form on the straw. You
can't say those four men were fools. You
can't deny in the face Of all the talk and
newspaper articles and affidavits that he
vanished on the different occasions as [
have related. Indeed. the public inyesti-
cations called out doctors. guards. sol
diers. and attorneys. and they were not
men who could be ridiculed. Chilka sim
ply vanished as a spirit. The stone was
the charm which accomplished IL. He
was never found after his last escape.
The authorities didn't want TO find him.
He was not only spirit OF evil. but his
escapes had a bad moral influence on the
Hind00 community You may turn and
| twist the matter as you will. but you
can't get over facts, and the main fact IN
the case was that the fellow could dis
solve his earthly body into nothingness.
Copyright. 1908. By C. B. JsSia)