Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13

In the evening I despatched the boy
to Mangeshe RAGS. The Brahmin was
not at home. I gathered that he had
been arrested, but / could not make up
my mind whether this was a reason for
satisfaction or fresh concern.
Y X y X
IN my memory of these anxious hours
one irrelevant incident remains as
vivid as IL 1t had been the center of the
whole trouble. During the brief twi-
light, when the moon was already shin
ing, I was smoking a cigar on the We
randa when I perceived a shadow NOV
ing near the garden gate. At first I
thought this of no importance, but at
length I called Panya.
Going to the gate, the boy brought
back with him a child who stood looking
at me In silence. She was a girl of about
10, clad In a red srnock. Her hair wa
loose, and from her general aspect h
must have belonged to one OF the lower
castles.
with Panya's aid I learned the history
and the wishes of this late visitor.
With a hidden shudder I looked upon
her with very different eyes when l
knew that a few days previously she had
become q mother.
THOSE only who are familiar with the
frequency OF such occurrences in tropi-
cal India could have credited the fact
without establishment. This child
mother had come from a riverside VII
lage to ask my aid. She had mistaken
INV house for the missionary settlement.
This is the night of love in her VII
lage," explained Panya. This child
has run away in terror"
Panya took the young mother TO the
| mission school, and I was left alone
with the cicadas in the brilliant moon
lit night-the last night in India 1
can distinctly remember, for when day
next broke I stood beside the dead
body of Mangeshe Rao.
I recall mounting my horse IN n
gray of morning, buttoning my coat
as I rode, and becoming aware that
I had forgotten my sun helmet. I re-
member thinking that on my way back
T should need to be careful to keep
In the shade; and I remember n
strange tones Of Panya's voice as he
spoke to my horse. running his hand
IN the bride. He had just cried to
me In that same strange voice: The
Brahmins have poisoned Mangeshe
Rao!"
It wa not yet quite light when We
reached the dead mans house. The
well beaten clay in front of the We
randa was damp with dew; some white
goats were tethered to the fence; the
foliage of the palm trees rustled IN
the morning breeze. I heard a monot-
onous lamentation; signs following one
another breath by breath. My first
thought was: He Is not dead after all;
I shall still see him alive.
Around the door Of the death cham
Der dark figures were lowering. ! look
ed into the to see, close by the
-f~A~.~x In~wv aAv,ah an ryhiNh tho
morning glimmer wa falling, greenish
and pale, like that Of an almost eX-
hausted electric torch. Beneath white
draperies I could discern the twisted
outlines of q human form. One hano.
or rather q clenched fist, had escaped
from the coverings. Waxen in tint,
it was thrusting upward in the hvld
light Of dawn.
I drew back the shroud. but instantly
replaced it over the distorted counte-
nance. The deadly poison to which the
Brahmin had succumbed was unmistak-
able in its effects, and manifested the
malice Of those who had brewed the po-
ton In the name of their deitieS. de-
graded now to the level of spiteful
idols.
AS I turned AVA T met Panya's eyes.
and when he caught sight of my face
he threw himself on the ground as
If felled by q blow, and broke into
an animal-like howl.
X X X X !
TN the bazaar the motley life Of the
l. new day had begun. A Mohamme-
dan trader from whom I had promised
to buy some ginger to take home with
me followed me a long way. Beside
the temple, where a white wall was
reflected in a pool, a pilgrim was
preaching. The streets had just been
watered, and the vapor that rose from
them was charged with the reek OF
oxen. The sun was aglare; the palm
trees lowered TRANQUILITY above the hustle
of the street and the fiat white roofs
of the houses. 1t was growing hot.
When we reached the avenue OF
tall palm trees leading down to the
sea, and when the murmur Of the city |
had been replaced by the splash OF
the waves, I dismounted, sent Panya
home with the horse and STROBE for
ward alone. Lassitude, leaving body
and soul as with a stream Of bitter
waters, ~overpowered me for a space.
I closed my eyes, leaning against a
tree trunk. I;
In a vision I saw a village Of my
German homeland in the calm even
tide. An elder tree was poisoning IN
the hedge; there had been a shower,
and the air wa moist and cool. Perch
ed on the gable Of a farm house, a
blackbird was singing in the rays OF
the setting sun, and the clear sweet
ness of the tones filled with happiness
the quiet countryside.
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