Year: 1872



 do not profess to be lover oi adven ture. A lite of romance and excitemen may suit one of those eccentric character who speak of roughing it" as somethin, delightful; but, as for me, the comfort of civilized life are far more desirable thar all the prairies, jungles, night encamp ments, and narrow escapes in the world It was all very well for Cswper to lonl for a lodge in some vast wilderness. som, boundless contiguity of shade;" but I an certain that if he ever had succeeded + finding such a spot, he would have beater a rather nasty retreat out of it.

 Perhaps, my reader, you may think il rather strange that such matter. of fact sort of person as am should have an ad venture to tell you about But truly "this life is difficult riddle;" for, with out wishing to be & hero, became one.

 You wish to hear how this happened We'll, then, wait till have lighted cigar and ensconced myself comfortably in the easy chair, and I will spin you such { yarn as will quite astonish you, particu. larly when you remember that it comes from a sober individual like me.

 It was in the days when railways had not yet made their appearance in India that l thought of taking a trip from Madras to Hyderabad. Of course, when made known my intention to some friends and relations of mine, they were quite shocked at the idea, and warned me very seriously of the peril attending such ar undertaking but, strange to say, nothing could dissuade me from my purpose and SO, after making the necessary arrange. ments for a journey by land, found my. self en route to Hyderabad.

 The first few days of my Journey were spent very pleasantly. enjoyed the scenery, stopped at every travellers bungalow, helped the cid butler-a pen. | stoned sepoy-to catch chicken for my breakfast, smoked, drank sweet toddy shot at the monkeys that scampered along the sides of the road and, in fact, did any, thing and everything that would tend to make the time pass agreeably.

 had already completed the greater part of my journey, and was quite elated with myself at having travelled so safely when one night" Sahibl Sahib [" cried the Oriental driver, and he jabbered away in Hindustani to the effect that gang ot robbers were rushing down the road tc attack us.

 The first thing did on hearing this in telligence was to grope in the darkness for my rife; but lol it was nowhere tc be found, and then it struck me that must have left it at the last traveller. bungalow. Here I was in a very un. enviable predicament-thed driver had dis appeared, and l was alone, unarmed and in danger of being murdered by rob bers On came the Indian brigands and without any hesitation, bounced on what little property I carried with me, bound my hands together, and dragged me along with them, till they arrived at 0 miser able hut i'll the heart of the forest whiol bordered the road. The first sight thai greeted me sent thrill of horror all ovel my body The skulls and bones of slaugh tered men were scattered all over the place. It was then only that perceived the extent of my danger and my sus picions regarding the villains intentions towards me were too we'll founded. overheard conversation, in which they spoke of making nse O sacrifce 10 Meia idyI!

 By the time had reached the interior of the hut l was in a state of desperation What was to do3 How was to escape These were questions that greatly per, plexed me. But suddenly hope beamed in my heart. Among the few things brought with me in the transit was pret. ty large sized box of opium, which I had anticipated selling to Hyderabad mer, chant. We'll, 1 guessed the robbers had a peculiar liking for this commodity, from the appearance of their bloodshot eyes and unnatural thickness of speech. Here was ,he very thing. If could only dis cover where the article in question was l might yet be all right. I scanned the interior of the hut, and in particular the heap of things which the robbers had taken from the transit, when, to my de. light, l beheld the box of opium, I was looking for. Without losing moment addressed the robbers in their own Ian. guage, telling them that among my things there was box of opium, and that, as did not feel very well, should feel obliged if they would hand me a small quantity to swallow. As soon as they received thls piece of information, the whole gang of them-there were ten ltogether-rush ed to the box indicated, and attacked it. contents in the greediest manner possible It was quite evident that they had no touched their fsvorite narcotic for Ions time. One by one they gradually fel back in state of stupefaction, at firs smiling quite benevolently on each other and finally sinking into deep slumber.

 Now was the time to act. Cautiously rising from my seat, contrived, by dint of searching to find knife, with which riddled myself of the ropes which bound me. In one corner of the hut found 6 clumsy iron instrument, resembling ham. mer; this l picked up, and with it aimed a blow at the strongest of the crew. But 1 had not been cautious enough. Another gang of robbers-evidently com rades of those I had been captured by happened to pass the hut when delivered my blow; and seeing what was about rushed in, brandishing their swords, all bent on revenge.

 Although l was aware of my peril, determined to make stand and defend myself. Welding the iron instrument about, l struck right and left, at every blow knocking down one of my assailants. But they seemed to muster strong, and felt that could Rot hold out much longer. Gradually my strength failed; and, with one final blow of my ponaerous imple, ment of warfare, Isank down exhausted my head was swimming-I felt the sharp edge of sword on my back, and then knew that all would be over, when-bang bangl reoollect nothing more-only waking suddenly as if from dream, and finding myself in the residence of the police inspector attached to the district l had been travelling through. A doctor was standing near me.

 "Don't move," said he. "You have been severely wounded; but, by careful attention will soon be all right"

 Presently the inspector himself came up, and then learned from him that, on the very night 1 had been attacked, he was