The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-02-22

ly, since reading is not in nv line. l
only know what saw with nv own
eyes. Our plantation was at place
called Muttra, near the border of the
northwest provinces. Night after
night the whole sky was alight with
the burning bungalows, and day after
day we had small companies of Euro
peans passing through our estate with
their wives and children, Oh their way to
Agra, where were the nearest troops
Mr.. Abelwhite was an obstinate man.
He had it in his head that the affair
had been exaggerated, and that it would
blow over as suddenly as it had sprung
up. There he sat on his veranda,
drinking whisky pegs and smoking
cheroots, while the country was in a
blaze about him. OF course we stuck
by him, | and Dawson, who, with his
wife, used to do the bookwork and the
managing. Well, one fine day the
crash came. l had been away on a
distant plantation, and was riding
slowly home in the evening, when my
eye fell upon something all huddled
together at the bottom of steep
nullah. 1 rode down to see what
it was, and the cold struck
through my heart when 1 found
it was Dawson's wife, all cut
into ribbons, and half-eaten by iackals
and native dogs. A little further up
the road Dawson himself was lying
on his face, quite dead, with an
empty revolver in his hand and four
Sepoys lying across each other in front
of him. | refined up my horse, wonder
ing which way | should turn, but at
that moment l saw thick smoke curl
ing up from Abelwhite's bungalow and
the flames beginning to burst through
the roof. | knew then that 1 could do
my employer no good, but would only
throw my own life away if l meddled
in the matter. From where | stood
| could see hundreds of the black
fends, with their red coats still on
their backs, dancing and bowling
round the burning house. Some of
them pointed at me, and couple of
bullets sang past my head; so 1
broke away across the paddy-felds, and
found myself late at night safe within
the walls at Agra.
"As it proved, however, there was no
great safety there, either. The whole
country was up like swarm of bees.
Wherever the English could collect in
little bands they held just the ground
that their guns commanded. Every
where else they were helpless fugi-
tives. 1t was a fight of the millions
against the hundreds; and the cruelest
part of it was that these men that we
fought against, foot, horse and gun
ners, were our own picked troops,
whom we had taught and trained.
handling our own weapons, and blow
ing our own bugle calls. At Agra there
were the Third Bengal Fusiliers, some
Slkhs, two troops of horse and battery
of artillery. A volunteer corps of
clerks and merchants had been formed.
and this I joined, wooden leg and all.
We went out to meet the rebels at
Shahgunge early in July, and we
beat them back for a time but our
powder gave out and we had to fall
back upon the city. Nothing but the
worst news came to us from every side
which is not to be wondered at for if
you look at the map you will see that
we were right in the heart of it, Luck
now is rather better than a hundred
miles to the east, and C@wnpore about
as far to the south, From every point
on the compass there was nothing but
torture and murder and outrage.
The city of Agra is great place,
swarming with fanatics and fierce
devil-worshipers of all sorts. Our hand.
full of meh were lost among the mar
row, winding streets Our leader
moved across the river, therefore, and
took up his position in the old fort of
Agra. don't know if any of you gem
tlemen have ever read or heard any,
thing of that old fort, 1t is a very
queer place-the queefest that ever
was in, and have been in some rum
corners, too First of all, it is enormous
in size. | should think that the inclos-
ure must be acres and acres. There is
modern part, which took all our gar
rlson, women, children. stores and
everything else, with plenty OF room
over. But the modern part is nothing
like the size of the old quarter, where
nobody goes, and which is given over to
the scorpions and the centipedes. It is :
all full of great deserted halls, and
winding passages, and long corridors !
twisting in and out, SO that it is easy
for folks to get lost in it. For this rea-
son 1t was seldom that anyone went
into it, though now and again party
with torches might go exploring.
The river washes along the front of ,
the old fort, and SO protects it, but on
the sides and behind there are many |
doors, and these had to be guarded, of
course, in the old quarter as well as in
that which was actually held by our
troops. We were short-handed, with
hardly men enough to man the angles
OF the building and to serve the guns.
1t was impossible for us, therefore. to
station a strong guard at everyone of
the innumerable gates. What we did
was to organize a central guardhouse
in the middle of the fort, and to leave
each gate under the charge of one
white man and two or three natives. |
was selected to take charge during GER