The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-10-03
A Mystery
" Of India
By GROVER J. GRIFFIN

This story was told me by q retired
colonel of the British army. l do not
vouch for 1t, but there are certain Tea
lures about it that assure me that M u
not altogether improbable.
Edgar Oldershaw. q lieutenant In an
Irish regiment. went out to India with
his command. He was a great favor
lite with the Indian people and min
g,ed with them as much as II not
than with his W c~ountrymen. So
great WINS his influence upon them thai
before he was twenty-five he was CIV
en- command Of a native battalion.
Oldershaw fell in love with q Eura-
sian girl. the daughter Of an Eng1sh-
woman and an Indian nabob. She had
been brought up under Indian tn1u-
ences; but. being of two races. 1t was
easy for her to incline to either. New
ertheless she was more Indian than
European. One thing was certain
that she was a very handsome girl,
a fascinating creature. combining Eu-
ropean with that peculiar
mysticism %pervading all India.
Oldershaw married the girl, but
within a few weeks after the marriage
began to look pale and thin. The sur
geons Of the British army could not
make out what was the matter with
him. He was a man Of excellent CON
stitution, temperate in his habits. and.
so far as could be detected. each ono
of his organs was in a healthy condt-
ton. Nevertheless he seemed to be
under the influence of some disease.
Some Of his European friends were
inclined to believe that his wife vas
holding him under a spell. But there
wal 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 a 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 a ut all. 1t
merely indicated that Europeans had
no faith in Indians.
Oldershaw was a long while ailing-
Some one noticed that whenever he
was ordered OF 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's
army associates. OF, rather. their wives,
but no one had the courage to speak
Of 1t to the colonel. A friend suggest
ed to the invalid's medical adviser to
bring the matter before him. but the
surgeon politely declined. u
Colonel Oldershaw lived q 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. II indeed she needed generation,
for every n who knew her intimately
her husband and was especially anx-
ious that the Of his strange Ill
ness should be determined.
Two years after this the Widow
Oldershaw married an American. n
Edmond Baxter. q business man OF
Calcutta. No n expected that b
would long remain single. for she was
only t%wenty.one at the time of Older
shaw's death. and besides being beau
.iful she was rich.
A month after his marriage Baxter
went to America on important bust
ness 1t was said. leaving his wife in
Calcutta. He v returned. OF
course after awhile tongues began to
wag. people wondering IL he might not
have discovered the secret Of his pred
e~cessor's death. Be this as It may,
he remained in America. while his
wife lived in India. No n ever
heard Of any divorce between the two.
but Mrs. Baxter did not take another
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 a handsome
woman. not much owe thirty and rich.
Time had somewhat erased the early
reports of some malign influence upon
the men she married. She took a third
husband. this time an Indian. He
lived six years. when he died a per-
fectly natural death-at least. 30 read
the certificate
It seems that a young assistant sur
geon Of q British regiment. hearing Of
the case Of Colonel Oldershaw. resolv-
ed to hunt up an explanation OF the
mystery. How he learned what he did
would take too long to tell. When q
little girl. her mother having died, tho
subject Of this story fell to the care OF
a woman who made q poison girl OF
her-that is. she gave the child smaH
doses Of poison. increasing them TIN
she could bear to take a large guam
tity and her breath was poisonous to
another. The outrage had been .dis-
covered and stopped. but not beSoro
TIM ohlON h~N ~n~klnl1~ hnna-A& n0nnhSA Ft