Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-04-22

my sepoys without your aid, and III
give you front place on the platform
where you can take in the whole and
make a grand account of 1t for your
friends in the seats of the mighty
How much more he intended or could
have accomplished | don't know. Pos
sibly he could even have found way
to give me Balaya's medicine. He was
ominously civil and kept me close to
him on the raised platform.
"Balaya was blindfolded and bound
to post little to our right AS far
on our left stood a line of regulars and
in front of them one poor sepoy, his
cap, covered with deep, white pug
gerry which almost hid his face and
fell In heavy folds over his shoulders
and around his throat, the native in
sigma Of mourning The sepoy regi-
ments were drawn up next. to receive
the full force Of the object lesson, and
behind them the home regiments.
THE colonel made a brief address,
and not bad one, on the duty Of the
soldier to defend the queen and en-
press even against his own father and
mother. Then the poor sepoy in white
stepped three PAGES forward and threw
his rifle to his shoulder We could
only see his eyes through the folds Of
his puggery, but they were riveted on
the colonel. watching for the signal,
| when he counted three and dropped his
andkerchief-which was to be the
| fatal sign.
1T was fiendish-hideous. And the
eyes of that poor sepoy seemed to fash
| fire through the white folds of the pug
| gerry. | thought of the woman and
| looked about for her. but she was not
| there. 1t would have been dangerous
for her to have spoken then. | thought
how fortunate that she had realized it;
more likely that what she said to me
was but the poetic imagery of oriental
fiction. Yet cold perspiration dripped
| from my forehead, and l shut my eyes
as the colonel said Three" and drop
ped the handkerchief.
THE report Of the rifle was followed
by groan, a heavy fall on the raised
! platform and a gasp of horror from
those about me. | opened my eyes to
see the colonel shuddering In death ag-
ony at my feet and, like the hand
writing on the wall. to hear again:
The voice Of woman will speak to
him. He will hear it. and he will heed
it. He vii! bow his forehead in the
dust to me- Verify, he heard and
| needed.
Before q soul could recover from the
shock, Khabeer Khans savage followers
burst upon our rear with their blood
curdling battlecry. Led by the khan they
had crept up close. under cover of the ex-
u citement
I'VE were foNunate In being able to
make successful retreat with only a
heavy loss to report Balaya, his wife
snd brother disappeared l simply re-
ported the colonel among the dead. II
was quite sufficient
"Quartermain was promoted for valiant
conduct, which he foolishly credited to
the reports which / sent home. The con-
duct was his Nothing but the reports
was mine.
Not another soul knew that 1t was
Balaya's beautiful wife disguised as his
sepoy brother. who fired the shot. and
did not see It, My eyes were shut. There
would have been no sense In my raking uI
the ungodly facts as i knew them. II
would only have reused Ill timed indigna-
ton at home The colonel was dead. and
he alone was TO blame.
"Quartermain deserved promotion. as he
las shown ever since. 1t wss the voice OF
a woman that saved him, II he was really
In danger. and you can tell him said 30.