The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-12-12
CAPTAIN FYFE
" OF THE SIXTH
BY ]. M. LYALL
cOprsAt. 1901. WAS nchwd,Oa.


When the Indians of the United
ltates begin the ghost dance, the army
prepares for an outbreak. In India
when new prophet comes down from
the Himalaya mountains and begins to
stir up the people orders are issued to
suppress him at once. lie is either cap
tured by the military and banlshed
from the province or arrested by the
civil authorities and immured in dun
geon until forgotten. The English In
India are arbitrary and autocratc.
They realize that they are living over a
volcano which may spout flame and
death any hour They move quickly
and strike hard
The coming Of prophet means pop.
ular excitement. plots and conspirncics,
rellindling of the flames of hatred, dan
ger to the English rule. Strong hands
must be laid on the holy man at once.
Perhaps there will be resistance, and a
score Of natives will be killed, and the
resistance may even grow into an in
ciplent rebellion, but the English put II
down. bury the dead and give out moth
Ing for publication. TO rule India
without gloves of steel would be 10
lose her in year
When the Prophet Rajmahal came
down to the province of Bchar from
his mountain retreat, in which he
claimed to have slept and dreamed for
twenty years, intense excitement fol
lowed In his track. He headed straight
for Moorshedabad, on the Ganges, to
visit the ruins Of an ancient temple
and the tombs of his long dead ances.
tors, but he was headed Off sixty miles
to the north of that place. A lleuton-
ant in the sixth rifles had been detailed
with half the troop on this special duty.
While Il is true that most of the SO
called prophets and holy men wander.
ing about India are fakirs of the worst
sort, who stir up excitement and sedi.
tiOn for the money there Is I'm II, II Is
also true that a few Of them are
earnest and conscientious and should
be dealt with harshly only after argu.
mcnt has been exhausted. The lieu.
tenant found the Prophet Rajmahal Ia
Ing man. His age must have been
eighty years or more, and yet he was
sturdy and upright and had voice
like Il clarion. lie was fluent speak.
en- full of argument, reason and ap
peal, and he was lighting fame Of
zeal I'm every village he passed through
He utterly refused any cash contrbu
tions, lived on what the dogs would
hardly eat and addressed the people
without fear OF consequences. He
had dreamed of emancipation and a
new ruler. II was seditiOn straight
from the shoulder, and in less than q
month he could set the whole province
In rebellion.
When the lieutenant came face "a
face with the prophet, he resolved IA
try reason and argument The officer
could but yield respect and did not de-
sire 10 see him dragged around the
country, disgraced and degraded
Rujmahal was for defiance at first,
and he bad enough adherents in his
train to have eaten the troops ten
times over, but after an interview
lasting for hours he recognized the
force OF English logic and announced
that he would return 20 his mountain
lair
The prophet was as good as his
word, but his return was slow. This
was caused solely by the crowds
blocking his way and eXhortlng him
TO defy the government. lie had not
yet made fifty miles on the backward
track when Captain Fyfe came on
with the rest OF the troop. The lieu,