The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1912-12-06
A NARROW ESCAPE.


Terrible Danger.
4 One Of the strangest incidents of
the sepoy rebellion is told by vii,
. liam Forbes Mitchell in his "Rem
iniscences of the Great Mutiny."
Mr.. Mitchell, who was sergeant of a
highland regiment, had the misfor-
tune during a battle to lose the
greatc6at which every soldier car
ried folded in what was known as
a -"Crnncan rolf and strapped to
the shoulders in such a manner that
it crossed the breast:
Many a man owed his life to the
fact that bullets became spent in
passing through thece rolls. 1t hap
lpened that in the heat of the fight
my roll was cut right through where
the two ends were fastened togeth-
er by the stroke of keen edged
Itulwar, which was intended to cut
me.
AS the day was warm, l was rath-
er glad to get rid of it, but by 10
O'Clock at night there vas a differ
ence in temperature, ard when l
was relieved from patrol duty and
wanted 10 lie down to sleep | felt
the co !, wet grass anything but
comfortable, for a kilt is not the
most suitable article of dress on a
cold November night in upper In
dia.
Ny company was encarlpcd in
and about the tomb OF the first king
of Oudh. y lar~e inclosure sur
rounded the building of the tomb
itself, and on the inside of this
were small rooms built for the ac-
Tcommodation Of pilgrims. When I
entered the inclosure l noticed
these apartments and asked permis-
sion to sleep in ore of them, but
was refused. | had to make the
best OF my position, but was too un-
comfortable to sleep.
1t strucl nc that some of the Sc
poys might have dropped their
blankets in their hurried departure.
With this hope ! went into one Of
the rooms where lamp was burn
ing, took it off the shelf and walked
to the door of the great domed
mosque or tomb.
/ peered into the dark, but could
see nothing, so | advanced slowly,
holding the lamp over my head,
looking cautiously around until l
was in the ccn>er Of the great vault,
where my pro css was opstructed
by a BIG black Leo about four or
five feet h;ch, whici. felt to my feet
like loose s;l
l lowered my lamp an1 discover
ed | was stard.ng ankle deep in
loose rnnnowdcr. AboHt forty hun
dredvciglt of t iav under my nose,
and a hast gidnce around showed
me tweatr ~ ;a.rty barrels of the
same Substance. over Il hundred
eight~inch sle's, al loaded and
with fuses fixed, and profusion Of
spare fuSe> AID slow motches lying
about.
took il ny cancer at a glance.
There - NJ II ,ny knees nearly
IN gunpowGer, with a naked light
in my hand. NJ h&ir literally stood
on end, and lay knees knocked to
gether. Cold pcrspiration broke
out all over re. I he'd ncithe:
cloth nor handkerchief IN ny pock-
ct with which to eXt.nguis,l my
light, and the next moment might
be my last, for the overhangine
wick already threatened to send the
smoldering red top to my feet, with
consequences too dreadful to con
template.
Quick as thought I PCT my left
hand under the down dropping
fame and, clasping it firmly, slowly
turned to the door.
Fear so overcame all other sem
sation that l felt no pain of the
burn until l was outside. Then it
was sharp enough. | poured the oil
from the lamp into my burned
hand. Then | knelt down and
thanked God.
Next | s aggcred to Captain Daw-
son and told him. He did not be-
lieve me and told me l had wakeI
up from dream. | showed him the
powder still sticking on my wet
feet. He instantly reused the sleep
ing men AID quenched every spark
of fire on the premises.
4