The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1900-10-18

had reached the jaller. and though he
laughed at 1t he at the same time
locked the prisoner up In cell by him
| self. When bis supper was carried In.
the Hlndoo WAS staring at the stone.
Two hours later he was missing from
the cell 1t Was so utterly impossible
for the man to have left the prison
that the officials stood COMPOUNDED.
Search was made for hours. and then
the Waterman in that corridor WAS put
under arrest. 1t was asserted that I'M
less he had unlocked the cell and two
corridor doors Chilka could not have
escaped. He made an indignant denial,
and the singular incident was the talk
of the town and was published In the
newspapers. The affair would have
died out In a week but for the recap
ture of the Hindoo two or three days
later. He was seen and recognized in
a village about 20 miles away and was
arrested and returned to Jail. He
would make no explanations. He was
offered a sum of money and his free
dom II he would betray the guard. but
he was silent. No Importance was at
tached to the pink stone, but 1t was
taken away from him when he was
locked up.
For two days the man was quiet and
sullen. Then he began to shout and
scream and rave, and to quiet him the
stone was restored. AS soon as 1t was
placed In his hands the fellow was like
a lamb. 1t was given him about 8
| -. Il.
In which he was confined contained
| eight cells, and In each cell except his
there were two prisoners. There was
u barred window at one end of the
corridor and an iron door at the other.
A guard sat at this door and had con-
troll of the lever unlocking all the cells.
He was own brother to the sheriff, and
his integrity could not be impugned
His orders were to look into Chilkas
! cell every hour and at o'clock 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 unlocking the cell the guard
called In the jailer, and never was Off
cial so dumfounded. The Hindoo had
vanished. But how could he have gone
In the flesh? There was the guard and
there We're II prisoners to back him
up, and. though the jailer was 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
become tainted with superstition. There
were few who shook their heads and
limited that the jailer knew more than
he dared tell, meaning that Chilka had
dealt with him. but the great major
| ity put it down that the pink stone
was the fetch which had caused all
the trouble In order to clear them
selves of ridicule the officials deter
mined that Chilka should be recap
| tured at any cost. and messengers were
sent in every direction, and large re-
ward was 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 If he would give up the secret
of his escape Not word of explana-
ton would he make, and for four days
he refused to eat or drink. He begged
for the pink stone, and 1t was finally
decided TO give ii to him. The stone
had been taken to lapidaries and jew
elers, but no one had been able TO give
it name or to recall having ever seen
one like 1t.
" hen the charm was turned over to
Chlka. he wept for joy and called for
food. lie WAS now taken to corridor
in which were four cells and all empty.
The only window was boarded up, two
guards were stationed at the door
and cell each side of the Hlndoo was
occupied by guard. The jaller him
self was the guard on the inner side
of the door. The charm was passed
over to Chilka just at supper time He
ate his food and lay down on the straw
as If to sleep. AT quarter past the
jailer looked into the cell, and the man
was there. So at half past and a quar-
ter to 7. At o'clock he was gone
Smile II 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 the cells had
heard no more 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
atfidavits that he vanished on the diff
ferent occasions as have related. In
deed, the public Investigations called
out doctors. guards, soldiers and at
torneys, and they were not men who
could be ridiculed. Chilka simply van
ished as spirit. The stone was the
charm which accomplished 1t. He was
never found after his last escape. The
authorities didn't want to find him.
He was not only a spirit of evil, but
his escapes had a bad moral influence
on the Hindoo 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 dissolve his earthly body
into nothingness.
An Odd EpItnph.
In "Antiente Epitaphes," Thomas f.
n ch n n