Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-08-15
AN ADVENTURE
NORTHERN INDIA.
BY DAVID KER.

broken pillars and heaps or fallen
stones down in the dark cellars of
ruined house in the Hindu fort of
Fati-Ghur, in northern India.
1t was a gloomy place-black, lone
some, dreary-and just the spot where
you might expect a wildcat or a poi
sonous snake to pop out upon you at
any moment; but Harry and Nellie
did not seem to mind it a bit, and
went scampering and laughing
through the dim archways and dark
ghostly vaults as merrily as if they
had been in a kindergarten.
1t was certainly very strange
place to choose for playground, and
it was stranger still that they should
be playing and laughing at all, with
the shadow of death deepening day
by day over themselves, their fathers
and the whole garrison of the fort.
War was raging throughout the en-
tire district, and all around Fati-Ghur
lay encamped a great host of fierce
Hindu warriors, vowlng never to
leave the place until the had taken
the place and killed every living thing
within its walls
Three times had the besiegers made
a furious attack on the fort, but each
time they had been beaten off with
heavy loss, and did not seem inclined
to try it again.
But all day long-and sometimes at
night-they kept banging away at
the walls with their cannon and mus
lot q
battlements for fear of being shot
dead, and the sick and wounded men
OF the garrison were quite worn out
witt. this ceaseless din.
Worse, still, food was beginning to
run short, and they would soon be
forced to surrender or starve to death
unless some one cane to the rescue;
and there seemed to be little hope for
chat, for it would have taken a large
army, as well as brave one, to cut
through the forest of white turbans
and colored robes and dark, fierce
faces and glittering weapons that
hemmed in the doomed fortress on
every side.
And we've helped to defend the
fort, too," said Harry to Nellie as they
paused to rest, after running them
selves quite out of breath, Il heard
Capt. Mrrkham say so myself, while l
was helping woman to scrape lint
for those soldiers that were wounded
last night"
And I've torn up whole lot of
rags for bandages. replied Nellie
proudly; and I'm going to tear up 4
lot more this afternoon. | do wish,
though, they'd give over fighting. I'm
SO tired of those guns banging away
all night long, and it's so horrid see
ing the poor soldiers brought in all
Cut and bleeding. There's poor Ser
geant Bennet, who made all those
pretty toys for me, has got such a
terrible hurt all along one side OF his
head, where bullet hit him the
other day; and it's SO sore that he
can't sleep a bit"
Never mind," answered Harry, as
suming quite a fatherly air, in vir-
tue of his being six months the older
of the two; Just you wait two or
three days more, and then you'll see
General Rose and his men come up
from the other side of the river and
send all these black fellows flying"
But l heard papa say yesterday"
said Nellie, with a rather grave look
on her round, rosy little face, that
General Rose has only few hundred
men with him just now; and surely
they can't fight a Whole army at
once"
Cant they?" cried Harry, disdain-
fully. Didn't Lord Give thrash Co.
D00 of them at Plassey, with only 5000
men of his own? And didn't the Duke
of Wellington send the rajah's whole
army scampering with only two regi-
ments? Just you wait and see, that's
all. l say, let's have another game.
You go and hide, and I'll hunt for
you"
Away went Nellie instantly right
into the gloomiest and loneliest part
of the ruins, bent upon discovering
some place where even Harry himself
would not be able to find her.
Fearlessly she picked her way in
almost total darkness through one
black and dismal vault after another
for the roughest soldier in the gar
rison was not braver than our little
golden-haired Nellie-and at length
she came to spot where two great
masses of masonry had fallen in such
way as to lean against each other,
forming kind of low arch very much
like the mouth of a cavern.
Harry will never find me here, said
she to herself, triumphantly, as she
crept into the hole; and finding ii
not large enough to let her stand up
right, she lay down upon the ground
and remained as quiet as mouse
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