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The old man looEed up sharply,
“There comes to every human being
under the sun,” said he, “in one shape
or —----- another the ‘tide in his affairs
which, though it may not lead on to
fortune, nor yet down to ruin, proves
him, shows what is in him, brings out
anything worth counting that may be
latent in him, and exposes his weak¬
nesses, too, often enough. That tide
came to me in the Terrible Y’ear—in
’ 57 —which found us English folk, lit¬
tle handfuls cf us, isolated, almost de¬
fenceless, facing the brown millions
who for on.ee were banded together
against us by hate and wrath. I was
an assistant deputy commissioner in a
God-forsaken district in India, and had
been so long alone among the natives
that I could not speak half a dozen
sentences of my own language without
slipping in a word or two of Persian
or Hindustani. I prided myself upon
having my fingers that'district. on the pulse of na¬
tive life in Things were
going forward of which I could not
get the hang. There was mystery in
the air; you felt it, yet could find to
it no key.
“During those months I knew what
it is to be possessed by a demon of
fear. I told myself that it was all
fancy, that Asia was playing the devil
with me, that I was losing my nerve.
“I was in the deepest folds of the
Dark Valley when Harold came up
A MUHAMMADAN BUTCHER SEIZED THE REIN.
my district’ to shoot, bringing his wife
and sister with him. I did not know
him from Adam, and I had net seen a
European lady for over three years, so
I was a bit bothered by the intrusion.
I felt shy and awkward in the com¬
pany of ladies. I was only too glad
to ship the party off into a corner of
the district where game was plentiful
as soon as I could contrive to make tho
necessary arrangements. I did not care
much for Harold, nor yet for his sis¬
ter, but Mrs. Harold charmed and fas¬
cinated me. Harold was a cran! y sort
of beggar and his sister turned up her
nose at most things, including me. Mrs.
Harold was—well, just everything that
a woman can be! Beautiful, with a
sort of glory of beauty that yet had in
it a certain dainty dignity that held
her worlds above you, and good—you
could see the goodness looking out of
her eyes—and kind, in thought and
deed.
“The Harolds had been gone a mat¬
ter of some three weeks when the news
reached me of the outbreak down coun¬
try. I was sitting on my veranda,
smoking my pipe and dreaming, when
Haji Muhammad Akhbar, one of the
leading natives of the place, came to
me suddenly out of the luminous dark¬
ness of the night. He was shaking
with excitement as he told me of the
mutiny of our triops down south and
of the rapidity with which the disaf¬
fection was spreading.
“ ‘The disaffection spreadeth fast.
This very night it is known in our
bazaars: to-morrow the villages also
th save Allali, the Merciful, the Com¬
passionate?—the Raj of the Cahib-log
will have its ending in blood, as in
blood ib also had its beginning, nor will
it be the turn of our women folk to be
made chattels for the pleasure of new
husbands.’
“At that word fear left me and a
great wrath alone remained. I rose
from my chair and in an instant I nad
him by the throat.
“‘Have a care, dog!’ I cried, as I
shook him to and fro while lie gasped
and whined and struggled. ‘The Raj of
the Sahib-log is not yet ended, and if
blood is to be let, see that it be not
thine! In this district I am the Raj of
the English.’
“I threw him from me, half stran¬
gled, and In a moment he was all ab¬
jectness and entreaty.
“’Be gone!’ I cried, spurning him
with my foot. He gathered himself to¬
gether and, whining excuses, dropped
back into the darkness.
“When he had gone I stood for an
instant dazed in a world that had of a
sudden been shattered about my head.
I realized the disproportion of the
white man’s numbers in India to those
of the people of the soil.
“The words which Haji Muhammad
Akhlar had spoken, hinting of the
fate that awaited English women in
India, flashed across my mind, and
"'•itb them the thought of the cne
into the hearts of his hearers. He
was foretelling the downfall of the
British Raj.
“I glanced ever my shoulder at Har¬
old, and I saw that he had grown
white, white to the lips, and that his
bridle-hand was trembling.
“A native in the crowd yelled some¬
thing in a raucous, falsetto voice, and
1 caught the words at once.
“ ‘Your fellows down country have
mutinied and killed their officers,’ 1
cried to Harold, ‘Did you hear what
that man said?’
“ ‘God help us, God help us.’ ho ex¬
claimed in that same hoarse, tense
voice. ‘Let us get on—to the fort—to
the fort.'
“A great strapping Muhammadan, a
butcher in a red turban, leaped from
the crowd and seized tlio rein of Mrs.
Harold’s horse with one hand. The
other held a meat chopper. Tlio horse
reared. I rose in my stirrups, raised
my loaded riding crop and brought the
butt down full between the fellow’s
eyes. He dropped like a log.
" ‘Get on to the fort, Harold, in God’s
name, and take the ladies with you,’ I
cried breathlessly, for now I was lay¬
ing about me with that heavy butt, and
the people, screaming with fear, were
tumbling over one another in their
eagerness to get beyond the reach of
my arm.
“I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Har¬
old’s face, flushed with excitement, her
eyes flashing with enthusiasm and a
sort of fierce delight.
“‘Oh, how splendid of you!’ she
cried. ‘How splendid!’ and then she
and Harold and his sister were off, at
a gallop up the hill toward the fort,
Harold leading.
“The crowd had fallen back before
me, and I rode straight at the Muham¬
madan preacher. I hit him, as I had
hit the full between tlie
woman in India who mattered—of Mrs.
Harold. With that thought came also j
the necessity for action, and when a j
man is called upon to act he is relieved
from the curse of thinking.
“Harold’s camp lay some thirty miles
to the north of my station. As soon
as the news spread the lives of Harold
and his wife and sister would not be
worth a minute’s purchase.
“I slipped oat of the bungalow, went
to the stables, found and saddled my
mare, locked the stables securely be¬
hind mo and rode out into the dark¬
ness. I took a path which soon led
me clear of the town, and directly I
was in the open country I put the mare
into a hard canter and headed for tlie
Harolds’ camp. The time for dream¬
ing and for fear was ended, and I
knew it. The time for action had
come and with it a sort of intoxication
cf recklessness that filled me with a
fierce joy and pride.
"It was only a little after midnight
that T reached my destination. I con¬
trived, not without difficulty, to arouse
Harold. I led him away from the
tents, and told him the news that had
come in.
“ ’You mustn’t lose a second,’ I said.
‘The one chance of safety lies in Mrs.
Harold and your sister getting to the
fort as soon as may be.’
“ ‘And do you seriously belieye all
this rubbish?’ Harold inquired, stand-
ing there in his pajamas, his face urn,
naturally white in the moonlight.
“ ‘I do,’ I said.
“ ‘On no better grounds than mere
native gup?’
“ ‘On that and on a hundred and one
things that have gone before and that
now have a new meaning,’ I replied.
“ ‘Well, I don’t believe a word of it,’
he said sneeringly. ‘We’ll talk it over
in the morning,’ he said with a yawn,
stretching himself insolently.
“‘You will do nothing of the sort,’ I
said, and I could hear my voice vibrat¬
ing with anger. ‘You may think 1 am
a coward, if you like. I’m responsible
for what happens in this district, and
by God, man, you have got to do what
I say.’
“ ‘Well, I do think that you are a
rather nervous person, hut we’ll see
what my wife says.’
“ ‘Let me speak to her, please,’ I said.
‘As you will,’ ho answered with a
shrug.
“We walked back to the tent in si¬
lence, and presently Mrs. Harold came
out to us, her tall, slim figure wrapped
in a white dressing gown.
“ ‘Your husband thinks that I am an
alarmist,’ I said, ‘but I have informa¬
tion of a general mutiny of our troops
down country, and I know that the
news is true. I have left my post in
a moment of extreme emergency in or¬
der to bring you all in to my fort,
which is the nearest approach to safety
that I have it in my power to offer
you. Everything depends upon my get¬
ting back before daybreak and before
the .natives know that 1 have left the
place; but I won’t go without you.
Will you come—now, at once?’
“ ‘Yes,’ she said simply, bending
those grave, true eyes steadily upon
me. ‘We will come, of course. And
thank you. You have risked a great
deal to come to us, we understand that,
and we are grateful.’
“‘Of course,’ chimed in Harold,
grudgingly. ‘No doubt you did what
you thought right.’
“Miss Harold joined her brother in
his scoffings at the news and at its
bearer, but I cared little enough for
that. I knew the event would prove
me right; Mrs. Harold had thanked me
and had shown that she understood. 1
asked for nothing more.
“I rode at her side during the whole
of the remainder of that night. The
sense of my proximity to her, and my
knowledge of the fact that her safety
must largely depend upon me, upon
my efforts, upon my wits, upon my
courage, infused into me a new en¬
thusiasm and energy, and fixed my de¬
termination to come out on top or die,
solid as a rock.
“Just after daybreak we came to the
outskirts of the town. A Muhammadan
mendicant ij; a long green gown was
exhorting th people. His face, livid
with < hfc: it and contorted with en
thusi; rfi, v ; straining heavenward,
and h hlte beard flew back over
hi 3 si s he poured out a stream
of fler s and jibs that bit deep
AMONG WILD BEASTS.
Crocodiles, Lions and Hippopotami
Endanger Lives of Railway
Builders in Africa.
The building of tho bridge at Vic- 1
toria Falls and the Capo to Cairo
has suddenly and necessarily
brought a great many people together ;
at this spot, where there was previous¬
ly but an occasional traveler or hunter.
Besides the birds and the butterflies
and the fish, the chief living animals
were lions, elephants, hippopotami,
crocodiles, jackals and hyenas.
The crocodiles were found to be so
numerous—as many as thirty being
seen together sometimes—that they
have had to be killed in great numbers
for the safety of the people at work.
One giant saurian killed a man and a
woman, and was itself killed only af¬
ter seizing another man. A native
woman was taking water from tho
river when the crocodile knocked her
in With its tail, seized her in its hor¬
rid mouth and dragged her away. Her
husband was close by, but was power¬
less to save her. lie determined to
be avenged, however, and for several
flights waited in a canoo with a load
fed gun. He, too, disappeared, and it. is
/thought tho crocodile knocked him out
of the canoo as it had knocked his
wife off the hank, and taken him to its
' ole.
A week later it got another man, but
Instead of taking him into its hole, it
carried him to an island. Hero its
victim got hold of the reeds and strong
grass, and held on so tightly that (lie
crocodile could not get away with him.
Of course he screamed with all his
might, and a gang of men with crow¬
bars went to rescue him. This they
and I felt the bono shatter beneath the
blow.
“ ‘You dogs!’ I cried. ‘You dogs who
dare to bark because fools tell you
that the Raj of the British is ended,
get to your kennels like the whipped
curs you are. And when sense re
turneth to you, come to mo at the fort
craving pardon, lest I send word to the
government of the wickedness in your
hearts, and the hide bo stripped from
you in punishment. Go!’
“And then, why then, and it brings
tears to my eyes when I recall it, for
they are men, these Muhammadans of
India, though like children they be
easily led astray or aright as a man
may chance to lead them—the crowd
set up a throaty shout, not of rage or
defiance, but of approval and admira¬
tion.
“ ‘It is well done!’ cried many voices.
‘It is well done, and behold our Sahib
is a man. Let the Raj stand or fall
elsewhere, here the Raj and our Sahib
are ^ one; and see, the Sahib ---— stands
while the fool who spoke vain _ things truth ]
lies yonder in the dust. It is in
well done.’
“I turned my horse slowly and
walked him up the hill to the fort. For
me at that moment the world held only
one thing—Mrs. Harold’s face—and
that too said, ‘It is well done,’ and I
think also ‘thank you.’
After that there came some anxious
times, hut in the end mine was one of
the districts that had no mutiny his¬
tory. Harold’s nerve ha^^cnshalcen
by that scene in ^Ej
worst of it was that ^ ^ rit
back and that his w
At last it was safe for them to leave,
and I thanked God for it, though life
didn’t seem to offer much to me when
she had gone out of it. Anyhow, I
knew it was the only thing for me, if
I was to avoid making a fool of my¬
self, and she—well, she was everything
that a woman ought to he.
“The evening before they were to go
I came her in tho
veranda cf my bungalow—we had
moved out of tho fort ages before, in
spite of Harold’s frenzied protests—
and she began to speak of all, sho was
pleased to say, they owed to me.
“ ‘Don’t,’ I said. ‘It is 1 who owe
a debt—to you. It is you who have
helped me, helped mo to play tlie man.’
“ ‘I don’t think you wanted much
help to do that,’ she said very seriously.
“In a moment wo were on our feet,
facing one another, and her hands were
in mine. I knew then, 1 know now,
that I might have kissed her. But—it
would have hurt her.
“Instead I stooped and kissed her
hands.
“ ‘Goodbye and Cod keep you,’ I said,
and turning, left her.
“That, I know now, was my greatest
rr PP kiM
.JUNGLE FIGHT.
moment of all—a moment that might so
easily have been spoiled for her, for
me.
“So now instead I have my memories
—memories of things done, and one
priceless memory of a tiling left un¬
done; and now, as I sit here waiting
for the end, they give me all I ask of
happiness and of contentment."—Cora
hill Magazine.
Never Wore Pajamas.
At a function on Main street a bash¬
ful young lady was taken in to dinner
by an elderly professor who was a bit
deaf. To start conversation, she said;
“Professor, do you like bananas?” “Yes,
my dear lady,” he answered, “but I
tbink I prefer tbe old fashioned night
shirt.” I
Hud a Strong Breath.
An Irishman leaned over the coun¬
ter in a jewelry store and raid to the
clerk, “Give me one of your best wed
j j was ding asked rings. “No, “Eighteen ating onions, karats?” but he i.3
1 it any of your infernal business?”
in doing, and also in slaying
dangerous monster. These croco¬
are so ravenous that it is not. pos¬
oven to keep dogs with safety,
parents living near the river are
constant dread of losing tlieir chil¬
A Lion Terror.
One of the lions killed had also filled
the measure of its iniquity ere it
its doom. The scene of its depre¬
was a native village some dis¬
north of the Falls. The native
are very slender, being built
mainly of reeds. In such a hut a wo¬
man was sitting when the lion pushed
aside tho door, walked in and seized
her, carrying her away to his lair in
the dense hush. Then ho had an ox.
This was in the enclosure with other
cattle and donkeys.
The lion, failing to get into (lie en¬
closure, so frightened the animals with
his attempts that they rushed in a hud¬
dled, terrified mass muss from end tuu to wj end uim,
( , n( j tlieir weight upon the palisading
broke it down. They rushed out
through the opening, which was jus!
what the lion wanted, for ho had now
nothing to do but to taka his choice.
After the ox, he selected a donkey on
his next visit, and then a sheep, and
finally another ox. At last the natives
became panic stricken until some white
men reassured them, telling them they
would sit up all night for the lion and
shoot him. The lion camo and got
a vay with another ox, for tho white
men, tired with tho watch, had fallen
tudeep. However, they were able to
track him.
It was important that having prom¬
ised to kill the lion they should do r.<
for that is the secret of tho whin
man’s power over the native—never to
break his word. So they set off to lb<
thick hush half a mile away, whither
the lion’s traelm led them. There they
came upon him and killed him with
one bullet, that entered tho right nos¬
tril. This was what big game hunt¬
ers consider a good kill, as the bullet
did not disfigure tbe lion nor injure
his skin. Near by was tho carcass or
an ox, and a little further in the bush,
in a sort of tunnel of impenetrable
thorn, were the gnawed bones—the re¬
mains of some of hi 3 former victims.
Tame Baby Hippopotamus.
A young hippopotamus, riding on its
mothers' back when she was shot, was
saved and cared for by one of the
men. Theso animals aro very danger¬
ous to canoe men, for in returning to
the surface to blow they often come
up right under the canoo and upset it.
Sometimes they give chase to canoes,
and then the native paddlers do all
they can to reach the bank, unless a
white man with a rifle is with them.
The baby was thriving very well when
last heard of. He escaped from his
enclosure on*e, but came back very
hungry, as was evident, from the rav¬
enous way In which he applied him¬
self to his food.
A Literary Kieker.
Charles Lamb once heard a burglar
breaking In his house. He drew on
Ms heavy hunting boots and with a
candle went down stairs and con¬
fronted him in the act of putting the
silver from tko breakfast table Into
his bag. “What are you doing?” de¬
manded the author. “I am hungry and
was just getting something to eat,” hes¬
itatingly replied the thief. “T-take a
1-leg of 1-lamb," stuttered the author,
as he kicked liim down the cellar stairs.
Another Version.
Mary had a little mule,
It followed 1 r one day to school,
The teacher got behind that mule
And hit it with a rule,
Like a to .'.—
And after that—no school!
COFFEE
DOES
HURT
Make the trial yourself—leave off
Coffee 10 days and use
POSTUM
FOOD COFFEE
in its place.
That's the only way to find oift.
Postum is a sure rebuilder and when yon cutout the
coffee and use Postum instead, you get a taste of
health, for the aches and ails begin to leave.
You may THINK you know, but you don’t
until after the trial. ■>-•■ Remember
‘‘There’s a Reason. 0
Cot tho little book, *'Tho Road to Wellsville* 1 * 1n each r>kc«
THE RACYCLE SPROCKETS
Like No. 2 Grindstono are Hung Between the Bearings
=2
A° 1 ( jy>c/cks) (lf( j^ifyt’fc)
Which Stone will Turn Easier?
Tho Raeycle Rides Further with one-quartor lass work
OS SAMI—CYCLE & MFC. CO.
MIDDLETOWN, OHIO.
OLDS MOBILES THE CAR
for 1905 THAT GOES
Highest Workmanship. Lowest Prices.
Cars for Immediate Delivery.
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DETROIT, MICH. ■mnnmJ
International Harvester Co.
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International Harvester Co. of America
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7 Monroe Street Chicago, 111., U. S, A*