THE PHANTOM TONGA.

Evening Star, Issue 11610, 21 June 1902, Page 2

THE PHANTOM TONGA.

[Bt Kismet.] We were standing on the Kbandalla joad one quiet evening, The son had just sot behind the mountain range before ns, and night was darkening a lurid sky with the rapidity peculiar to tropical parts. The early stars began to twinkle at the skyline, and myriads of insects chirruped out their usual concert. Presently we heard _ the faint rumble of carriage wheels in the direction where the mountain road was lost to view as it rounded a precipitous slope, from which point a rockv ravine fell almost sheer a thousand feet belw. “ Rather late for a gig to he out on such a dangerous road,” I casually remarked. “ It’s not a gig. That is—the —phantom tonga*,” my Companion agitatedly replied. as she clutched my hand. Her breath came heavy and fast, and although the evening was still warm and close, her bands were deathlv cold. ,•?****** It is an old story, yet one of such tragic interest that even to this day it is related with bated breath. The Mahratta country, or the land of the Pcishwas, had always, from the early days of its conquest, been a constant source of anxiety to the old East India Company, who found it necessary to station a considerable military force at Kirkee, a small town within easy reach of the capital, Poona. At the time of my story the troops were under the command of Co*onel Dale, a martinet of the old school, who earned a widespread notoriety for his. severity to officers and men alike. Haughty and autocratic in manner, repellantly proud of lus good birth and exalted connections, it was only a favored few who received the colonel’s patronage and were admitted to that very select circle called Poona society. One or two commercial magnates gained admission to it, but the outer world, represented by all who did not fill important Government jiositions, was rigorously excluded. Regimental officers of lower rank gained im entry if they possessed a fortune or a stainless pedigree, but those unfortunate enough to boast of neither were ostracised as being mere adventurers, trafficking for fortune with a sword. Those who were the recipients of the colonel’s hospitality condoned his harshness and forgot his daily tyranny in the constant round of gaiety which he furnished the ' garri. cm. The outcasts, however, who were debarred from participating in the social revels, hated him wiih malignant bitterness. The colonel’s unpopularity was minimised in a measure by the affection and admiration with which his daughter Nell was regarded by everyone within the lines. As simple and unaffected as she was beautiful and charming, Nell’s radiant smile and piquant nod of recognition were looked for by even the most humble subaltern with expectant eyes and quickened pulsed The soldiers almost worshipped her: junior officers thought her as divine as her father was fiendish; and her friends saw in each other a rival to her affections, too dangerous to he trusted. Amongst civilians and military men alike, no subject evoked such interest and enthusiasm a.s Nell Dale. Happy, and seemingly unconscious of being queen of her litle world, Nell had been vigorously wooed by successive suitors, who sometimes with her father’s approval, but more often without, had vainly striven to win her heart. One after another had been given his conge in a manner so sweet and delicate that the mere remembrance of her final words sent a thrill cf pleasure through many an aching and disappointed heart. Some spoke of Captain Burton as the probable winner, for the persistency with which he endeavored to wear all obstacles d6wn, but others shook their heads as they revived rumors of secret meetings at the Kala Ghat - -of Nell’s grey mare grazing riderless under the shadow of the huge banyan tree; of penniless Lieutenant Monsterrat and his handsome, resolute face—finding some significance in the fact that he had been attached soon after to a military depot sufficiently far from Poona to keep Nell out of harm’s way. One day, about the beginning of June, Jack Monsterrat, (o everyone’s amazement, unexpectedly returned. As he walked across the maid an- to the colonel’s office, carelessly nodding to his old acquaintances, conjecture was rife as to what business had brought him back to interview hig old chief and arch enemy. Later on, when the colonel galloped past with a black, scowling visage, Moneterrat’s detractors smiled, and remarked that the meeting must have been a stormy one. The same day Monsterrat disappeared. In an Indian military station gossip dies hard. For a week Monstenat’s sudden appearance was discussed with knowing looks and suggestive smiles. Some averred that Nell’s smile wore a strain of sadness, and

thttt her merry laugh had lost its old ring. Burton became more assiduous in his attentions, but did not deign to discuss Monsterrat. Stories of the Kala Ghat had made him wince once, but his confidence fortified him'against unpleasant deductions. The colonel shortly afterwards organised a hunt. In India the jackal takes the pmce of the fox, and is found to be an excellent substitute as quarry for a pack of fox bounds. To everyone’s disappointment Nell did not tnm up at. the meet. In response to inquiries the colonel growled out that, she . was unwell, and was confined to her room. , . Tffe hunters did not return till late in the afternoon. When the party rode on to the parade ground, hot and tired after a long run; a syce ran up to the colonel, and, holding bis horse’s reins, whispered something to his master. For a minute the colonel looked puzzled and increda.oas,-uind then,' Springing bolt upright in his saddle, fiercely glanced along the red, dusty Trunk rciad, which skirted the cantonments. “ Burton,” he shouted to the travelstaitlod and tired captain, who was standing a few yards off, “ are you prepared lor another long ride?” ■ “Is the matter emergent T” Burton inquired, startled by his chiefs angry but woe-begone expression. “ Yea, very emergent 1 There has been fouhfplay. Nell is not to be found, and thisAnau swears he saw her enter a tonga and drive off with some scoundrel in the direction of the Bhore Ghaut.” ‘‘Monsterrat!” exclaimed Burton, with a mattered malediction. “Yea, I’ll ride with you., I’d chase that scamp to the gates of trehiisana if I thought 1 would ran him down at last t”

In’ the meantime the fugitives, in a tonga, drawn by two swift Deccani ponies, had placed a good number of miles ol dusty road between them and their pursuers. About five o’clock they had reached the toot of the gentle rise which commences at the verge of the tableland and brings the traveller to the summit of tb'j Bhore Ghaut, where a panorama of rugged mountains clothed in brushwood and forest, and interspersed with ravines of tremendous depth and grandeur, is\scen stretching away to the blue of the distant sea. Here a fresh tonga was waiting, and after a short rest Monsterrat and Nell resumed their swift flight towards Bombay, where the good ship, Phoebus was preparing for her long voyage'back to England. *tne sky, which had looked lowering and troublous all thg afternoon, now began to show certain indications of a severe storm. Monsterrat felt some uneasiness as he anticipated what he knew was the bursting of the south-west monsoon, which generally occurs in June. In no district does this phenomenon attain the awful suhlHmly and terrific aspect as it assumes oa the Western Highlands of India. The day had been dull and sullen, but now fierce gusts of wind began to blow thick clouds of dost along the road, half blinding the lovers. Birds rose .and circled in the air in their efforts to breast the breeze, and in various startled notes and cries heralded the coming storm. The sun, whenever it peeped out of a rift in the thick bank ol black .cloud, diffused a peculiar flickering greenish light, involving everything in an air of- weirdness and mysticism. Nell nestled closer to her lover as he surveyed the ominous sky, but she did not break the silence which he had observed from the eommcnceraent of their flight. On- and on rushed the hardy and fleetfooted ponies, incessantly jaded by the lean, gaunt-looking native driver, 'o cover as much ground as possible befora nightfall. 'The wind was still risin . unJ presently big, heavy drops of rain began to fall. The sky became completely overcast, and a gloom like; twili dit fell over the tumultuous scene. Loud rolls of (huuder reverberated in the distant hills, and flashes of sheet lightning momentarily illuminated the dark masses of cloud, which, breaking away from the congested horizon, swiftly scudded overhead. “Will the Sahib still go on?” asked the driver, “The night is fast approaching, and the storm is at band, and the road is now becoming cianeerous.” ir Yes ; go on !” Monsterrat shouted. The dangers-of the rfiad were as nothing compared to being overtaken by an irate father. He had scarcely spoken when a fearful crash of thunder, seeming to rend the very Vaults of heaven, brought the ponies to a ston- Almost instantly q heavy deluge of rain 1 began to fall. They had been caught in the path of the monsoon, and further progress appeared to be useless. “Ghulno” (proceed) roared Monsterrat. The driver , plied whip and rein, but the. ponies jibbed and shied, and endeavored Jo turn back. Poor Nell now broke down. The fatigue of the journey uad exhausted her endurance, and the horrors- of the storm made her plucky little heart fail. She implored Jack to desist from further efforts to proceed,

and wait in some sheltered spot until the storm had lost its violence.

“The fates are against me,” Monsterrat muttered between his clenched teeth. Jumping from his seat, be assisted the driver to lead the rearing ponies under the lee of a cutting in the mountain road.

, ******* I Hour after hour sped slowly by. The storm, instead of abating, had increased in fury. Loud crashes of thunder played the deeper notes in the wild chorus of roaring wind, rushing waterfalls, and the swaying and groaning of giant trees, strained to 1 their very roots. Incessant .flashes of lightning forked from the sky’s zenith to the horizon,, making a tourbillion of light too vivid and impressive to contemplate unmoved.

Under the shelter of a mango tree, which over-arched the road, Monsterrat marched np and down, a restless sentinel, starting at every new sound to hastily glance along the road he had just traversed. The ponies had been unharnessed, and the tonga placed in a comparatively dry spot. Within it, on a hastily-improvised bed, Nell was sleeping as soundly and calmly as a tired child. The native driver, wrapped up in his goat hair shawl, gat with bis back against the wheel, and with true Oriental stoicism, was also asleep. Monsterrat felt somewhat relieved in mind. Nell was quietly slumbering, and his pursuers hud apparently been obliged to temporarily abandon the chase. It was almost midnight before a lull oame. The rain gradually ceased, and now and again the stars peeped throucrh a gap in the thick mantle overhead. The thunder crashed less frequently, but the lightning still forked with fearful distinctness. Alarmed that his pursuers would take advantage of the break in the weather, Monsterrat resolved to push forward at once, and walked over to the tonga to awaken Nell.

Sho was breathing softly and regularly, unconscious of the world of strife around her. Her lover stood a moment beside her, feeling something akin- to awe as he speculated whether he should allow her to rest on or rouse her to the perilous journey be (Wished ber to undertake. ' Ho had scarcely time to decide when he heard a faint halloo, and then the uumistakeuble sound of trotting horses. There was not a moment to lose. Pulling the native driver to his feet he ordered him to get the pouies between, tha shafts at once. Hours seemed to elapse before all was ready. The harness was troublesome, and tbe native dazed and bewildered. Every moment was precious. The sounds of the approaching horsemen became more distinct with every breath, and in a perfect agony of mind Monsterrat sprang into the tonga seat and yelled out to the driver to clash off' “What, to my death, Sahib?” was the quavering reply. “No, Sahib. Take my ponies—take my tonga, but leave nre to my wife and little ones. Here are the ro'ns. I cannot go further,” and the native jumped off. From that moment all self-control left tho infuriated and excited lieutenant. Gathering up the reins he gave the ponies one cruel cut with the whip, and with a bound the frigli-tened brutes rushed madly into the darkness. Half rising from his seat Monsterrat firmly held the reins. He had no ears for anything bnt the quickening gallop of the fodowing horsemen. A fierce exultation was in his heart now the flight had commenced. Tho rush of tho wind in his face stirred him to greater efforts, and he lashed the ponies again and again. It might have been a minute—perhaps a. little more—when their headlong and hitherto straight career reached a very sharp bend in the mad. Then came a sudden stop. The ponies reared and plunged forward, stopped, and then tried to struggle back. It was an awful moment —one of those moments when every sense seems painfully and abnormally acute. Monsterrat, with demoniac strength, puled at the reins. Fur down in the ravine below he could hear the rush of a hundred waterfalls, and the roar of the wind as it swept up the gorge. From the height above came the sad wailing notes of a solitary night bird, the drip of the rain from the sodden loaves, and (he soughing of the branches. He could hoar the ponies pant and struggle. He heard his sweetheart’s appealing ciy—the beatings of his own heart. He did not think of death as ho mode, one final effort lo extricate the tonga—-not death, when one pony had slipped and fallen, and the other, though struggling bravely, was slipping downward fast. ♦ * * * * * *

A few minutes later the colonel and -Burton rode up, wet to the skin, and thoroughly exhausted. They carefully turned the bend and proceeded a little distance before they pulled up. “ Very strange,” snapped the Colonel. “Where can the tonga bey We were close behind it before we turned that bend, and we should be within earshot of it now.”

'* We ‘were farther : than wo imagined,” said Burton, a fearful thought to which he dared not give expression entering and chilling his heart. “We had better wait for daylight now. I’m dead heat.” Perhaps the colonel caught the peculiar inflection in Burton’s voice, or possibly a similar thought discomposed him, for he turned round and replied:. “Yon are right, we shall not proceed further. But, Burton,” he whispered hoarsely, “ I should like to turn back a little.’’ . They rode back to the bend m silence, and both, prompted, by the same impulse, simultaneously stopped. The colonel dismounted, and with bowed head walked to thi side of the road. ~ ~., "3ly God!” exclaimed the old Mahratta veteran in a pitiful, hopeless voice, as the thunder rumbled and echoed from many a beetling cliff and wind-swept ravine, and a lightning flash disclosed him with bare head and haggard features Straining to search the depths of the vast and merciless cud* : “Mv God, has it. come to this? My child—my 'Nell. All that I had to remind me of the Nell of long ago. Heaven forgive my pride—my hardness of heart—forgive me for the murder of my own child. Oh, Nell. Neil,” he repeated in lingering accents, his voice wafting on the gale like the wail of a heart-broken woman, “ would that you were safe in our happy old Essex home, and that I were sleeping down there this wild and pitiless night!” * A ravine or precipice.