Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-06-14


tie fellow hobbled painfully away from
the nullah in the direction whence he
had appeared. On and on he went I'M
til he at length came to standstill at
the foot of hill, where a little stream
came splashing down in a miniature
cascade from the rocks above. Then
Grantham realized the meaning Of the
little mans action. Stretched out be-
side rock was the tall figure of man.
Like his companion, he presented
miserable appearance. His clothes, ii
clothes they could be called, were In
rags, his hair was long and snowy
white, matching his beard, which de-
scended to within a few inches Of his
waist. His eyes were closed, and for
moment Grantham thought he was
dead. This was not the case, however,
for upon his companion approaching
him he held out his hand and inquired
whether he had discovered the man
who had fired the shot?
To Grantham's surprise the other
made no reply in words, but, taking
ferrous moveme nts upon it with his
fingers, whereupon the latter raised
himself to sitting position.
''My friend tells me that you are
an Englishman," he said, in voice
that shook with emotion. I'm glad
we have found you. / heard your
rileshot and hailed you. We are in
sore distress, and have been through
such adventures and such misery as
soned my foot, and am unable to
walk any further. AS you can see
for yourself l am blind, while my
companion is dumb"
This statement accounted for the
smaller mans curious behavior and
the others closed eyes.
"You have suffered indeed" said
Gran than, pityingly. "But how did
it all come about?"
eve were traders, and we fell into
the hands of the Chinese" the taller
man answered. with their usual
anna bility they set to work to tor
ture US. My companions tongue they
cut out at the roots, while, as have
said, they deprived me of my sight.
After that they turned us loose to
90 where we would. We have wan
dered here, there and everywhere,
living On what we could pick up, and
dying a thousand deaths every day.
1t would have been better if we had
died outright-but somehow we've
come through. Can you take US to
a place where we can procure food?
We've been living on jungle fruit for
an eternity. My foot wants looking
to pretty badly, too"
well do all we can for YOU" said
Grantham. That's if we can get you
down to the ford, which is about five
miles away"
you'll have to carry me, then,
for I'm too far gone to walk"
81 think it can be managed" said
Grantham. SAT any rate we'll try"
Turning to the little Shan he dis
patched him with a message TO
Handiman, and when the other had
disappeared, knelt down beside the
tall man and set to work to examine
his injured foot. There could be no
doubt that it was in very serious
condition. Tramping through the
|
and had been unable to apply the
necessary remedies. Obtaining some
water from the stream Grantham
bathed it tenderly, and then bound it
up as we'll as he could with his hand
kerchief.
THAT'S the best I can do for you
for the present" he said. ''We must
leave it as it is, and, when we get
you to the station, we will see what
else can be managed"
He looked up and saw the little
mans eyes watched him intently.
There was a look of almost dog-like
affection in them for his companion,
that went to the young soldiers
heart.
SPY Jove," he said, 'I'm sorry for
you fellows. You must have suffered
agonies. The Chinese are devils. But
yours is not the first case we have
heard of. We only come up here for
a month al a time, but the man we
relieved told us strange. tale about
another poor beggar who came into
the station some two months ago.
He had been wandering in the jungle,
and was nearly at deaths door"
The blind man gave a start, while
the little man seized his hand and
made a number of rapid movements
upon it with his fingers.
MY friend wants to know if you are
aware of that mans name?' he said
eve lost a companion, and he thinks
that he may be the man. For heav-
ems sake tell us what you know.
You have NO idea what it means
to u.s."
s'Since you are so interested in him
| am sorry to have to say that I do
not know very much. You see he had
very little to do with US. AS I have
said, he turned up while our prede-
cessors were here. From what I
heard about him from Gregory, he
gathered that he was tall, thin
man, who had come through from
Picking by way of Yunnan."
"A1e you sure it was from Yum
nan?"
"Tbat's what thew told me-" said