The herald., 1913-08-21
A Mystery
of India
By GROVER J. GRIFFIN


lures about it that assure me that it Is
not altogether improbable.
Edgar O.dcrshaw, "A lieutenant in an
Irish regiment. went ont to India with
his command. He was a great favor
tie with the Indian people and min
| pled with them as much as # Lot more
! than with his own couutrymcn So
| great was his influence upon them that
| before he WAS twcuty-'.y" be was Civ
en- command of a native battalion.
| Oldcrsnaw fell in love with Eura-
! sian girl. the daughter of an English
! woman and an Indian uauob. She had
F, been brought mp under Indian intlu-
! cuccS: but being of two races. it was
easy for her To incline 10 either. Ncy-
| erthcleSs she was more Indian than
! European. one thing was certain
! that she was very handsome girl
1 fascinating creature combining Eu-
ropcan manners with that peculiar
mysticism pcrvadIug all India.
OlderShaw married the girl, but
within few weeks after the marriage
. !
| geous of the British army could not
| make out what was the matter with
| him. He was man of excellent con
stitution. temperate in his habits, and.
so far as could be detected, each one
of his organs was in a healthy cOndi-
ton. Nevertheless he seemed to be
| under the influence of some disease.
Some of his European friends were
inclined to believe that his wife was
holding him under a spell. But there
was no evidence Of this. Indeed, Mrs.
Oldershaw seemed To be very much
attached To her husband and greatly
troubled about his condition. The only
reason that his friends had for consid-
ering her to be Il possible cause for
this condition was that her English
mother had died a few months after
the daughters birth. and her death
had never been satisfactorily explain
ed This was no reason at all. 1t
no faith in Indians.
OlderShaw was a long while ailing.
Some one noticed that whenever he
was ordered off on some service where
his wife could not go with him he
gradually recovered his health and
that when he returned to her he re-
lapsed into his former condition. This
was talked about among Oldershaw' 5
| army associates. or rather their wives,
but no one had the courage to speak
Of it to the colonel. 4 friend suggest
ed to the invalid's medical adviser to
bring the matter before him, but the
surgeon politely declined.
Colonel Oldershaw lived year after
his marriage then died. having grad
ually succumbed to some influence
weakness or mental trouble. No one
could give any definite cause for his
death. An autopsy was ordered. and
tests were made for poison. but with
out throwing any light as TO the cause
Of his death. This eXOnerated his
, wife, IL indeed she needed exoneratiOn
| for every one who knew her intimately
declared that she sincerely mOurned
her husband and was especially anx
ious that the cause of his strange i'll
. ness should be determined.
+ Two years after this the Widow
Oldershaw married an American, one
/. Edmond Baxter. a business man Of
Calcutta No one expected that she
would long remain single, for she wa:
only twenty-One at the time of Older
shawS death, and besides being beau
tifuI she was rich.
A month after his marriage Baxte
went to America on important bust
ness, it was said, leaving his wife il
! Calcutta. He never returned o
course after awhile tongues began t.
wag, people wondering If he might no
have discovered the secret Of his pred
!. ecessOrs death. Be this as it may
he remained in America, while hi
wife lived in India. No one eve
heard of any divorce between the two
but Mrs. Baxter did not take anothe
husband till news came from America
nine years after her second marriage
that her husband had died of an or
binary disease.
The widow was still handsom
! woman. not much over thirty and rich
Time had somewhat erased the earl.
: reports of some malign influence upol
the men she married. She took q thir,
husband. this time an Indian. II
lived six years. when he died a pei
fectiy natural death-at least. so rea,
: the certificate.
1t seems that a young assistant SUI
geon of British regiment, hearing o
the case of Colonel Oldershaw, resolv
= ed TO hunt up an explanation of tn
mystery. How he learned what he di
would take too long to tell. When
little girl, her mother having died, tn
subject of this story fell to the care o
woman who made a poison girl o
her-that is, she gave the child sma'
doses of poison. increasing them I'll
she could bear to take a large quar-
e tity and her breath was poisonous t
another. The outrage had been dis
covered and stopped, but not befor
the child had partially become infected
Each of the cases pertaining to he
b husbands was then accounted fol
When she became the wife of Colont
OlderShaw the poison she had take
A was effective. When she married
= second time it had largely passe
away. Quite likely, by the time sh
married the Indian it had died out a
J, topether