The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1919-08-29
A NARROW ESCAPE.
Presence of Mind In she Face Of .
Terrible Danger.

terrible Danger.
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
highlaai regiment, had the misior-
tune during a battle to lose tie
greatcoat which every soldier car
ried folded in what was known rs
"Crimcan roll" and strapped 10
the shoulders in such manner that
it crossed the breast:
Many a man owed his life to the
fact that bullets became spent in
passing through these rolls. 1t hap
pened tina. in the heat of the fight
my roll was cut right through wher.s
the two ends we're fastened togeth-
er by the stroke of keen edged
tulwar, which was intended to cut
me.
As the day was warm, was rath-
er glad to get rid Of it, but by 10
o'clock at night there was d differ
ence in temperature, and when l
was relieved from patrol duty and
wanted io lie down to sleep / felt
the cold. 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 cncamped in
/, and about tho tomb Of the first king
Of Oudh. A large inclosure sur
: rounded the building of the tomb
: itself, and on the inside of this
E we're small rooms built for the ac-
i commodation Of pilgrims. When ]
: entered the inclosure / noticed
! these apartments and asked permis-
sion to sleep in one Of them, bns-
q was fused. / had to make the
] best OF my position, but was too un-
j comfortable to sleep.
y 1t str~ck me that some Of the Sc
e poys night have dropped their
4 blankets in their hurried departure
g Wit this hope l went into one Of
d the rooms where a lamp was burn
la ing, took il of the shelf and walked
IS to the door of the great domed
J. mosque or tomb.
E, i peered into the dark, but could
9 see nothing, so | advanced slowly,
o holding the lamp over my head,
looking cautiously around until /
was in the center Of the great vault,
where my progress was oDstructed
e by a big black heap about four or
: FIVE feet high, which felt to my feet
like loose sand.
/ lowered my lamp and discover
!, ed l was standing ankle deep in
!. loose gunpowder. About forty hun
s dredweight Of it lay under my nose,
? and a hasty glance around showed
Z me twenty or thirty barrels Of the
? same substance. over hundred
B eight-inch shells, all loaded and
( with fuses fixed, and a profusion Of
e spare fuses and slow matches lying
about.
: i took in ms dancer ri a glance.
: There ! was, ny 70 ny knees nearly
In gunpowdcr. wi,A a naxe1 light
in my hand " heir literally stood
on end, anA ny Icc' knocked to-
gether. Cod rogV'ration broke
out all ovcr r'c. : had neither
! cloth nor haulkcrch'cf "a my pock-
. ct with which % eyiin.l IA ny
hight, ana ilr next iaomea' Tni-ht
be my last. for tho ogc.a anging
vicl; already Threatened % -cnd the
smoidering red top TO rae feet. with
, consequences too dreadial to con-
, template.
! Quick as thought | put my left
hand under the down dropping.
fame and, clasping it firmly, slowly
turned to the door.
Fear so oyercsme all other sem
sation IL | felt no pain Of the
. burn until l was outside Then it
was shaxp enough. ! poured the oil
from the lamp into my burned
. hand. Then / knelt down and
thanked God.
Next staggered to Captain Daw-
son and told him. lie did not be-
lieve mo and told ne / had walked
up fror: n dream. l showed, him the
powder stll sticking on my wet
feet. He Instantly reused the sleep
ing men ord quenchel every spark
Of fire on tie premises.