Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-11-10
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Treasure of India.


eSIlmateu at SlOO,OOO,OOO.
In 1858 l was on a commission of
three officers. headed by Mr.. Grant,
to inspect the temple at Bheeta, the
government Offering to rebuild it, Be
fore reaching the place it was reported
to us that spirits had taken possession
of the ruins. Strange lights were seen
at night. and the sound of stones be-
ing moved was heard. We paid no
attention to these stories and camped
near the desolated town.
The site was covered with shrubs
and grass and vines, and here and
there were groves of young trees No
tigers had been seen in that neighbor-
hood for years, but the place looked
like a paradise for panthers, wolves,
hyenas and serpentS. That evening
while we We're settling down in our
new quarters, number of stones from
unseen ASSISTANTS were suddenly
thrown with great force ut one of the
natives who had strayed beyond the
limits OF the camp hitting him on the
head and knocking him insensible for
several minutes. The missiles came
from thicket between us and the
first ruins of the town, and after we
had located the direction we fired
volley from our guns and put an end
to the disturbance. The native serv-
ants were thrown into q state of great
CONSERVATION. believing and arguing
that our presence had offended the
spirits keeping guard over the ruins,
and but for Mr.. Grants threats the
crowd would have bolted and left us.
II think 1 see into this business he
explained to us after the servants had
been quieted down. These ruins have
either been taken possession of by
band of robbers or there is a party
here hunting for treasure. In either
case our presence is undesirable, and
that demonstration was to drive us
away. Wen try to make it n bad job
for them, whoever they are"
Soon after daylight one of the ma
tives, who now had recovered Il portion
Of his natural courage, inspected the
shrubbery and found plenty of evil
dence that it had been occupied by men
during the night Some of the stones
thrown at us were found to have been
freshly broken from large blocks.
After breakfast the five of us moved
down on the head of the village, leav-
ing the camp in charge of the natives.
Opposite the ruins of the temple we
entered the thicket, Mr.. Grant leading
and the rest of us following in Indian
file. We had not advanced hundred
feet when we heard sobS and means
from both sides of us, and one would
have sworn that Il dozen women in dis
tress were wandering about.
The sounds appeared quite close to
us, yet we could not detect the pres
ence of human being. Suddenly as
we continued to push ahead the thicket
echoed such screams and shrieks that
my knees gave out, and had to clutch
a limb to support me. l expected to be
ridiculed for my exhibit, but the others
came to halt. with serious faces, and
the engineer said:
I'm blessed If the sounds don't give
me a chill. though l know it's all a
blooming trick of the gang to keep us
out. There must be a lot of men in
there"
A block of stone which seemed to be
four feet long. q foot thick and three
wide was lying in the grass within
four feet of us as we stood in group.
This block suddenly stood on end, rose
into the air fully six feet and then fell
to the earth with a jar which made
things tremble. 1 tell you simply what
five of us saw or thought we saw.
What sort OF jugglery it was l don't
pretend to say, but it was jugglery of
some sort, of course. Directly after the
stone fell four or five large pieces of
rock came crashing about our ears,
and all beat Il speedy retreat.
A messenger was dispatched at once
to Bheeta, which is q military post,
but it was three days before the sol
diers came up. There were ninety of
them, and though we heard nothing
further from the treasure hunters
while waiting we felt sure they were
still among the ruins. The troops en-
tered from three different directions,
having orders to shoot down anything
they sighted, but the whole place was
beaten up and only one native found.
He was lying among the ruins of the
temple with a broken leg. He was a
Sholaga from the hills. and after hav-
ing been carried to camp and his in
iuries attended to he talked freely.
The party had numbered fifty men
and had been working for two weeks
when we appeared. The leader had
been told of the existence of a cavern
under the ruins of the temple. and they
had labored hard in their efforts to
reach it. AS we afterward saw for
ourselves, they had moved at least a
thousand tons of debris before opening
the cavern. Their appliances were OF
the rudest sort, and everything had
been accomplished by main strength.
The cavern was found the day the SOL
diers came, and in opening it this ma
tive had been hurt His friends had
abandoned him deliberately, but he
bore them no grudge. On the contrary,
he was gratified to know that the treas
ure had escaped the English. When
asked as to its value, his eyes sparkled
| joyously, and he answered: