The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1903-09-14
Sleuthing of NiCky Fidge
By JONI DOUGALL REID

II was al dCCtpNeu lNlDS, not only
throughout his company, but the
whole regiment at large, that Nicky
Fidge generally got there" BY the
officers and non-coms, he was re-
garded with a certain interested Gu
ricsity, as in some sort a phenomenon,
while with his comrades of the ranks
awe was substituted for or rather
added to the interested curiosity, as
one who, if not actually in league with
the devil, had at least a noding ac-
qu%aintance with that potentate.
Knock me funny" calculated n
fellow one day as he came into the
bungalow with eyes like saucers, IF
i don't think that there Nicky Fidge
oughter t o be locked up at onctl
They've no call to let one like him go
m~ozzyin' round-'e amt 'uman, blimy
If e isl" B
whats e bin up to now Ted?"
came the collective question.
well you know that Burmese toff
as goes ridin' round on the white 'orse
i'm as is a native magistrate?"
yes"
We'll, it seems as the other day e
reported Nicky for laughin' at i'm an
Nicky got a jawin' from the colonel
over it. The yellow 'eathen's as full ov
|Iinpftxy nc - IL ~ Got ~ fHn 'o.-o ;r
as bad as e is ITSELF. Well, outen'
revenge Nicky took a bet with Dab
Pratt that the next time the pair on
'em came UP ere ed make 'em dance
a balky 'ornpipe in the river goin'
'ome. Well, o may believe or not
as you like, boys, but on my immort-
al soul. 'es done it,"
MOP" Get OUT" "When?"
Not, an our agone. A lot ov us
were on the bank above the river
when we seed is nibs the Burman
come ridin' down slow and solemn,
with is nose in the air. AS you know
is amt much ov a river, nothing like
the n it runs into, only stretches oY
footdeep water with sandy splits be-
tween EN-. Well, the 'orse went across
the first stretch as if it was goin' to
a bloomin' funeral but soon's it got
on the first sand-pit it stopped an
began to carry on like it was tryin'
to dance a 'ighland fling, but 'ad got
too drunk to remember the steps. The
bloke on its back looked struck all ov
a cap for a Bit, an then begun to
larrup it with a stick, but that only
made it worse. | never seed anythin'
like the oily circus they made across
that spit-dancin', buckin'. squealln',
yellin', an weltin-till by the time
they got into the middle ov the next
stretch ov water the Burman was
'angin' on to the brute's neck an hol-
lerin' murder, with the water splatter-
in yards Ugh over the pair oy 'em.
Us blokes on the bank was runnin
down to 'elp i'm when the 'oIse emp
tied i'm into the river an was outer
sight in five minutes. We got the
old bloke out, an 'e's away ONE in
a ricksha. e says as 'ow a devil as
entered into the 'orse an 'ow ell ave
it killed. l think myself as 'e's right
only the devils name is Nicky
Fidge."
his listeners were in full accord
with the speaker. and the mystery of
the thing impressed them greatly. Yet
it was not much of a mystery after
all, as would nave been made plain
had the horse been examined by any
competent authority, instead of being
dispatched out of hand. as it suisse
quentIy was. While +" lis nibs'' was
engaged in the cantonment Nicky had
surreptiously rubbed powdered quick
lime into all of the beasts legs and of
course as soon as the water got in
touch with them they took fire so
to speak-that was all there was III
it
~ "oo - NAAh6 " NOf "a I'm
cruelty of an act was not of itself suf-
~icient to deter Nicky Edge from com.
hitting it. although, to do him JUS
tice, he never took such a course il
any other way was open.
The story of his bet with Dab Pratt
spread among the privates, and, filter
ing among the lower ranks of the
non-coms, finally came to the ears If
the sergeant-major. That worthy
thought the matter worth N ltioning
to the adiutant, with the result that
one fine morning Nicky found himself
up at the green table,
He did not deny making the bet;
with Dab Pratt and some others in
evidence that would have been use
less. But what he did do was to main
taiL a strictly don't know attitude
AS IN what eaused the ,sircuS in tha