The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-09-25
A EAKIRlS REVENGE
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1870 Gunga Gee Of the province Of NY
derabad was the most prominent He
was holy man ana one who ala
strange things. Having caused the
death Of his father by accident he
blinded one Of his own eyes, cut OF a
finger from his left hand and toe
from his right foot and vowed to carry
out certain things
In tie line Of jugglery Gunga Gee
could do wonderful things. ana the
English were awed and the natives
made afraid. One day he gave an ex-
hibition IN the suburbs of Hyderabad
and performed such wonderful feats
that General Cluet, commander Of the
military post. decided to imprison him
and destroy his prestige. He was
charged with being a yagrant and a
nuisance and dragged off to jail, and
after he had been locked up for a cou-
pie Of days he was offered his liberty
If he would leave the province. lie re-
fused and was defiant
In some mysterious way word got
out that on a certain hour of a certain
dny Gunga Gee would leave his prison.
in spite of his guards, and when the
time arrived 10000 natives We're gath
cred In the streets. General Cluet had
turned out four regiments of infantry
|. to preserve order At the Jail the fakir
was loaded with irons and put in the
strongest cell, and sixteen armed men
stood between him and liberty. Prompt
ly at the hour named the man ap-
peared amid the mob in the street and
was at once hustled away When his
cell was unlocked his irons We're found
on the floor He had passed out Of the
cell and into the street like a spirit.
If the reader Is inclined to doubt that
this thing happened he can find corrob-
GRAFTON in the civil and military rec
ords Of Hyderabad The matter deifled
the fakir in the estimation of the ma
tives, and the English became alarmed
| Charges were preferred against the
! guards. the governor Of the jail lost
his place, and it was pretended that a
| conspiracy was unearthed AS a mat
ter Of fact, however, the affair was
| perfect mystery and could not be ex-
planned in any other way than to credit
Gunga Gee with supernatural powers.
Notwithstanding that large reward
was offered, the falir was not recap
tured lie went into hiding somewhere,
and the excitement finally died out.
Three months after Gunga Gees es-
cape a grand military review was held
at Hyderabad. There We're eight regi-
ments in environments there, and many
high officials were present to witness
the maneuyers. General Cluet had
won bis way by means of pull" rather
than by merit. He was pompous, AFRO
CANT and tyrannical and was nc. favor
lite with officers or men 1t was an oc-
casion for him to show Off, and he
meant ID make the most Of it.
1t was estimated that there were 10
600 people massed ON the grounds when
the umpets sounded for the review to
begin AS a preliminary the general
was to ride up and down along the
front Of the regiments, followed by his
staff He had just started out, while
the band struck up and the regiments
prepared to cheer, when Il native ran
from the crowd and barred his way.
1t was Gunga Gee He was recog-
nized BY thousands, and after one
great shout a silence fell upon the muI-
titude A dozen troopers rode to drive
the man back, but he motioned them
away and stood for a moment looking
thC general in the eyes. Then he raised
his hand above his head and muttered
something, and the people witnessed a
thing unparalleled. The general de-
seended from his horse, unbuclded and
threw away his sword and went
through numerous antics. He stood on
his head he rolled over and over, lie
moved about on his hands ana knees
and barlzed like dog. He even kissed
the bare feet Of the falSir.
The affair did not last above five min
utes, and you may wonder that it last
ed SO long. The English seemed to be
dazed, and hundreds Of men rubbed
their eyes as IL to clear them. The ma
tiyes were silent as death Here was
another marvellous exhibition Of the
powers OF God, and they watched ev-
cry motion and hardly breathed.
When the general who had impris-
oned him had been degraded before all
that multitude Gunga Gee walked back
among bis people aud was swallowed
up IN an instant. while Che general
continued his antics ana was jeel IA by
thousands The spell was not broken
until his officers laid hands on him.
when he at once retired to bis quarters
and another led the review The affair
Of course created a tremendous local
sensation, and for several days the fa-
natieal natives were ready for d riot.
The generals humiliation was com
plete, and military circles were unit
in agreeing that his resignation must
be rendered to wipe out the disgrace.
IN month he was on his way home 10
England, looked upon almost As d pa
riah
Could Gunga Gee have been found |
the English would have wreaked |
vengeance upon him. He was searched
for high and low, and the reward was
doubled and trebled, but he was never
again heard of, although he doubtless
lived for many years under some dis