The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-01-05

peace of mind nor immunity from
phys cal danger.
| lookej at him Keenly, but did
no, interrupt him.
Il will have to go long way
back to begin my story, Mr.. Reyn-
ods-a hundred years back to an
Indian mutiny in one of the back
provinces. one of my ancestors led
small party who sacked the pal
ace of the Rajah Do.-Hunda, and
put his harem to the sword.
There are all sorts of mad le-
gends about that bloody affair;
some of them false enough, dare
say; but even the mlldest, most
charitable construction put upon
the behavior of my respected for
bear wouli hardly ! fear, bear the
garish light of day. The best au'
thenticated story tells tragically of
how he put the youngest wife OF
the rajah to torture to make her
ed out frenzied curses on the Eng
bands treasure; of how she died
under the brutal treatment, and of
her mooher, an aged hag, who howl
ish soldiers and the English off
Ger especially until they tired of
her clamor and flung her, still liv.
ing, ami.N the flaming ruins of the
rajah's palace.
My ancestor went home to his
young wife well laden with jew
els and gauds and wealth beyond
his maddest dreams. But he found
his child-bride, the on.y thing on
earth he loved better than gold,
dead, from sheer terror, while her
infant, prematurely born, walled up
on her icy bosom. The women who
attended upon her last moments
told of being summoned to her
room by shrieks of terror, and find
ing on her breast a giant spider,
the largest ever known or dreamed
Of. When his child was born twelve
hours later there was a horrible
mark upon its bosom-the form OF
gigantic spider.
1T was not hard for those SUI
perstitiously inclined to connect the
frightful blow which robbed the cru
ell officer of his young wife with
the curses of the old Indian hag.
1t is perhaps most probable that he
himself did so.
TRANSFORMATIONS passed. Chill
dren were born, grew up, married
and died Some OF them bore the
spider birth mark more did not
Those who did not wore out their
humdrm lives and went to their
graves in peace. The others"
He turned and looked across the
peaceful. rolling brown fields lying
in the winter sunlight
The Indians are very peculiar,
revengeful race. Mr. Reynolds, as
perhaps you know, and the young
wife of the rajah was widely con
nected with some of the more saw
age tribes of India. SO the blood
hatred descended from father to
son, and sooner or later every
bearer of the fatal oLrth mark came
to a bloody end at the hands Of
the descendants of the rajah's wife.
There is a very well authenti-
Gated tradition that a singular af-
fection existe,1 between my great
grandfather and one of the race
which had been so fatal to our
house Dowie-Las saved my grand
fathers life more than once. They
became as brothers for my grand
father hid the secret of the birth
mark so well that Dowie-Las, al
though they had drunk of the same
cup and shared the same couch for
months did not suspect the truth.
One day, however, the Englishman
was stricken with delirium. then
unconsciousnesli RlI.l the native
learned the truth. He plunged a
dagger in the white mans heart
that night and through hardships
increditable carried the body of the
man who had loved and trusted him
back to his widow. And that night
Dowie-Las sought oeath by( the