Courier Democrat., 1916-08-17
The Specter
CT Goruckpoor
By NJ QUAD
By NJ QUAD
Copyright, 1.1G. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate

The garrison of Goruckpoor, in the
province of Oudh, India. in the year
lSi;- consisted of 1000 men, and about
hat of these were split up into small
detaehmcntS and stationed here and
there in the north to keep order among
the hIilnen anC punish raiding dacoits.
Dacoi,s are bands of robbers under
command of chief who holds a reli-
@iouS influence over them. and they
ar" yet the pests of India along the
foothills of the uimalayas. They are
daring men and hard fighters, and very
few British soldiers who fail into their
hands are spared
We We're in the midst of what seem
cd to be peace when the government.
dispatched a large train of treasure
and military supplies from Goruckpoor
for Ghoorka. Colonel kemble. who
had been ordered to take command of
the garrison at the latter place. being
just back from a years leave Of alb
sence in England. was with the train
and The whole was escorted by 25O
cavHll'ymen. The route for the train
brought it past our station. where it
rested for Il day and then moved on.
In i letile fifteen miles to the north
Of us it was ambushed by over Il thou
sand dacoits and suffered q severe mis-
fortune. There was not only Il heavy
loss in killed and wounded, but the
treasure and a portion of the supplies
were captured and run off by the da
colts.
The remnant of the train returned to
US and went into camp until re-en
forcements could come up, and the
bullet headed, tyrannical Colonel KEN
bic, whose obstinacy and recklessness
had brought about the disaster, pro-
ceeded to make it red hot for every
body. 1t was well populated coun-
try, with hundreds of loyal natives to
be picked up, but the colonel proceeded
to look upon each and every one as
guilty Of having had hand in the at
tack on the train. More than score
were shot or hanged offhand, while
many were whipped at the post or or
dered out Of the district. 1t was a
reign of terror for three weeks, and
the end was a fitting one.
My own detachment one day brought
in mere boy whom we had found
covering in a thicket The colonel
hu!ido%cd and browbeat him and final
ly ordered his execution on the ground
that he was a spy. 1t was only when
he knew that he must die that the
young fellow braced up and showed
his courage, and as he was being led
away TO execution he said to the colo
mel:
''Sahib Colonel. | am innocent, and
you will be punished for my death.
You may shoot me and bury my body,
but my spirit will follow you to the
grave"
Ealf an hour later he was dead, but
he was the last one to bc executed.
At midnight that night the colonel
with white face and trembling voice
and The perspiration standing out on
his forehead. he said:
Man, do you see that boy sitting on
the chest?'
Il see nobody. sir" replied the SEN
t;nel.
He is there, I tell you! He follow
ed me to mess and back, and he has
been here in plain sight all the even
ing. Take him away"
But there's nobody here, sill"
And there wasn't The sentinel call
ed in two officers. who looked and
searched in vain and assured Colonel
Kemble that no boy was present. He
tried to turn it off with a laugh, but
in less than twenty-four hours every
man in camp knew that the colonel
was haunted by specter. He made a
brave effort to bluff it out. but it was
useless. The specter followed at his
heels by day and sat by his bedside at
night, and in week the strong, ag-
gressive man was becoming a mental
wreck. He turned to US for pity and
sympathy, but we had little to give
He had been brutal and without mercy
in his vengeance.
The surgeon looked upon the case at
first as some disorder Of the brain, but
later on acknowledged that it was
something beyond his medicine. No
one else could see the specter. The
colonel would say that it sat beside
him or stood in the door, but there was
nothing for the eyes to rest upon. He
would draw his sword and cut and
slash and thrust at the specter, but he
could not harm it. By the surgeons S
advice the colonel returned to Goruck-
poor. 1t was reported as a case of
breaking down over mental anxiety,
but hundreds of people came to know
better. The specter followed him back
followed him to the house of a friend,
sat with him through every night and
dogged at his heels through every hour
Of the day. He could no more shake
it off than he could change the color Of
his eyes. He made the gamest sort of
fight, knowing that his future career
was at stake, and at length all men
came to pity him-pity him and avoid
him as one accursed. He was medical
ly treated, given brief furloughs and
every effort made To b11i11 him I'M hr1t