Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1902-01-04
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
THE j i aBs Soy
G<A1AG< Couple
BY CALDWELL LIPSETT

II no steals my WINDOW curtains
4 When traveller come, no curtains
my windows, and I very much
shame IL you, great burra sahib
not wish speak, what can do r.
Having entirely exhausted the re,
sources Of his English vocabulary
the OAK bungalow khansamah paus-
ed for breath and to see. what effect
the extent and variety of his ac-
quaintance with our tongue would
have upon me- The speech, how
! ever, was mere flash IN the pan,
carefully committed to memory for
the occasion, and I had to have re-
course to the Yefnacular to learn the
history Of his woes. 1t appeared
that there was an old sahib, a very
/ old sahib, who lived in a house in
the woods close By, and whenever
the khansarnah .put up new curtains
he came and took them away, and
| if the khansamah tried to prevent
him he got beaten, for he was 4
| very fierce old man and had been a
great bahadnr IN his day.
What did the man want the cur
tains for?"
For clothes"
GLOW long had he lived II the
| woods ~
"Oh, a very long time perhaps a
hundred years.
That was all that I could learn
about the matter. / told the khan
sanah to lock up the curtains in
future and only to bring them out
when some traveller was in the
bungalow. | would speak to the sa-
hib about it when I saw him, and
then I straightway forgot the whole
episode.
It was two or three mornings aft
erward that I was out for a stroll in
the woods soon after sunrise. 1t
was late autumn, and here in the
temperate Kulu valley the fierce In
dian sun does not reach its full in
tensity. There was a crisp fresh
mess in the air almost like an Eng
fish morning, and after the bare,
brown, sun stepped plains of the
51'unjab, from which / had lately
come, the lush green of the under
.ro.9th was cool ard refreshing to
he eye. The large rosy checked
IuEn apples cleaned through the
branches Of the orchards. But for
the bite already latent in the slant
ing rays of the sun | might have
been IN DeYonshire.
Presently ] was aware of a curi-
Gus figure approaching me. It was
"a tall old man with bent shoulders
and long white hair falling about
the collar Of his coat. His clothes,
though neatly made, were Of cheap
white calico so largely in use among
the natives, and his shoes were of
untanned cowhide. His hat was
of plated straw. Everything about
him was evidently homemade ez-
cept one thing-round his waist
was wound a red cummerbund,
which gave him the air of a stage
brigand of venerable aspect.
'Ha, sir" said he, following the
direction of my gaze as he came
near, "the. scarlet, the grand old
scarlet! II reminds me ofsthe good
old days when | wore her majestyss
uniform in the Crimea before ever ]
came to this country" As5I looked
closer ] recognized the pattern Of
the red rep of the curtains in the
OAK bungalow. This was the khan
samah's enemy.
| thought the scarlet might be 9
tender subject, SO ! spoke of other
things. It appeared that he was
specially interested in the mineral
wealth of the valley.
tsThere is gold in those hills he
said. There is gold at the sources 1
of this stream which flows beside
our feet. But | have not the means
to reach its Businesses nor the ma
chinery to pluck it from the bowels
of the earth"
AS he talked I had leisure to OBJ
serve him more closely: In a land
where the fierce heat Of the sun
dries up the marrow of mans Vi
tally and shortens his life by a
span, where at sixty even a strong
man is at the end Of his life, he was
evidently the age he claimed. His
eye was already growing lusterless
and his step losing the firm tread Of
health. His hands were scanned
with toll, but he had a fine head,
the arched brow and the inward
seeing eyes of the dreamer, and he
spoke Like man who, even in this