A Scion of the Kumpani Bahadur*

Hastings Standard, Issue 235, 1 February 1897, Page 4

A Scion of the Kumpani Bahadur*

A TALE OF INDIAN SPORT

[Specially wrtttktn for the Hastings Standard.] By F. D A. C. De Lisle. (All rifihtfs reserved /»/ the author.) Chapter V.—First Blood. "II n'if a que deux chimes, la funeuc et la hi Utuie" So the lighter hearted Bohemians of the Paris ateliers gaily define the entities. But there was once a man, born cycles before the advent of the barefooted Trilby, who took upon himself to assert with the wisdom of the sage that the only things with real existence were woman, love, and self ! The entities of Mahomet were God and self, for did he not assert that " There is but one God and Mahomet in his prophet!" Major Bruce had two entities. Firstly self! then woman. He was absolutely without creed, being an atheist of the first order. He was the most positively sellish man in existence, and he had an immense admiration for a handsome woman. All else of feeling fell subservient to those two primary characteristics. He was a splendid soldier only because his pride was flattered by the praises of the world. He gambled heavily to keep himself in funds to provide for creature comforts. And as " griffins " were plentiful in India, Major Bruce was always in funds. At school his headmaster had described him as "a beast of a boy ! " and he had always retained the qualification attributed to him.

He married his wife for no earthly reason but an absurd infatuation to possess the tiny mass of glowing, creamy flesh, lustrous eyes, fluffy, curly brown hair. Six months of possession sufficed to satiate him, and then with brutal indifference he had turned his attentions to others. He had never been liked in the regiment, but his sterling qualities as a soldier had always kept him in favor at headquarters. His wife was a bonnie, winsome little woman, as lovely as a butterfly, and as good as gold. Six months after marriage he commenced to treat her brutally, with a species of cold, cruel refinement of brutality; and, although the little woman never let on, yet everything leaked out among the ayahs in the officer's quarters, and soon became general gossip. " The Major used to lick his wife ! " that's what the Eesseldar's better half told every native woman in the cantonments. " Major Bruce, of the 28th Bengal, is the biggest cur unhung ; he 'aramers that gentle lidy who is his wife. By in action, he'll be found dead, shot from behind, so 'elp me Gawd !" that's what the soldier said to the girl. All this and more reached CarrJones's ear from different sources, and oh, how he pitied the poor little woman. And from pity he turned to downright love. Deep, furious, hot, smouldering passion that racked his soul with bitterest anguish. But though he never spoke his love, the otherwise icily-colcl young subaltern gave himself clean away by his untiring devotion to her. Finally the Major grew jealous, and from jealousy he turned to the fiercest hatred when Jones saved his wife from drowning. It happened about a month after the Assault at Lahore. For all that time nothing had passed between CarrJones and Mrs Bruce but the most trivial commonplaces. Content to be near her and to see her, the young subaltern became her slave, and only by his untiring attendance upon her betrayed to his fellow-officers his fierce passion. She on her part seemed content to remain on at Pindi, treating her husband with a cold reserve, which caused his anger to boil over repeatedly, and then he thrashed her brutally. The other woman remained at Pindi, and like Mephistopheles in Faust, prompted dissension in the Bruce household. One day the Bruccs went out in a budgerow fishing. The sky was calm and clear in the morning but about ten a cyclone came racing along, and within one minute the river was lashed into foam. The Major had iished steadily on oblivious to the warnings yelled by the natives on the banks, until the hurricane burst with a roar not to be mistaken. The Major discovered this when it was too late too late to reach the bank. The budgerow was dashed to niatclfcwood. Major Bruce, fighting for himself, reached the bank in no time. But his wife, botiyed up by her dress, floated four miles down the river with great rapidity. Lieutenant C'arr-Jones had been out snipe shooting, when he was overtaken by tin- storm. Running back to quarters with his gun at the trail, he reached the river bank just as the cyclone burst over him. Masses of wreckage and ruin at once came floating past him. A crowd of howling natives followed him. ami they witnessed as they thought an act of insanity when Jones stripped to the " buff" and plunged in to rescue a wretched " pariah " dog that was too exhausted to reach the rivt r bank. After this he Ashed out two native women who came floating by ; and then with a cry of horror ho plunged in after a well-known blue and white muslin dress. Lithe as a mountain cat, he raced along after it, doing the " India canoe " stroke—turning from side to ?ide at every stroke. Hand over hand he went until with one terrific plunge he grabbed thy drv-ss and turned to the batik. I'pon reaching the bank Jones handed up the small i»>d) now unconscious. to some nat \■ woven who were upon the hank, then swimming up-stream he reached hi- ilothes, put I £Ol4 £ast India Company.

them on in hot haste, and raced back to where Mrs Bruce lay. A few sharp directions in awful Hindi sent a messenger tearing back to Pindi, and a hastily-contrived doolie or stretcher was made for Mrs Bruce. Tenderly placing her in this, Jones marched along by her side as two natives carried the doolie towards Pindi. Half way there the regimental ambulance was met with Dr Armstrong, who proceeded to restore the unconscious little woman, while the natives jabbered volubly to the crowd that had rushed out from Pindi on hearing of the accident. And this is what it came to later. Mrs Major Concannon, than whom a more malicious or more spiteful creature it would be difficult to find, on meeting the Commissioner's half-caste spouse out driving in the evening said : "Oh ! vn/ dear, hare you heard ? The Bruces were fishing this morning when the cyclone broke and their budgerow was upset, and Mrs Bruce actually left her husband, who was fighting for his life, and floated down to where Lieut. Carr-Jones was bathing, stark naked Yes, realli/, stark naked, my dear ! And he swam out to her and brought her ashore, and there they were on the bank t<><H'ther. They were *••<'« thore by some natives. And would you helicre it, my dear! they are trying to make out that it was an accident, and that he saved her life. Isn't that rich ?"

And the ghastly half-caste chuckled lasciviously and grinning like a ghoul made answer.

" I always thought my lady was not so pious as she looked. J know something my tli saw one evening. It was while Major Bruce was doing his weekly service at Dooli. Somebody was seen through the purdah in her bedroom—in her hnh-oom, my dear !" Oh ! hagdom, hagdom, of such is the kingdom of the greatest entity !

And the other woman taunted the Major with the gallantry of his " sub," and lauded his chivalry and love to the skies ; and Major Bruce snapped his teeth like a snarliug dog and swore he would be even with Carr-Jones.

And so the scandal grew and grew ; and the Major acted like a fury, and .Tones' life on parade was a hell to himself and his troopers. So much so that everybody said that either -Jones or the Major would have to exchange. But Jones was not the fool he looked. On the contrary, he possessed an acuteness simply devilish in its intensity, and dire woe often fell upon the man who attempted to take advantage of the seraphic youth. He began to- plan a subtle revenge on the Major, who had singled out the Subaltern for his special opprobrium. And,to quote poor little Jones, he gave him ' particular ——! ' on parade. Now, this sort of thing was not calculated to do Jones any good in the regiment, but,nevertheless, he was a hero with his men, who sat with flashing eyes chewing their fierce black moustaches, whenever Major Bruce got on the 'slang-wang,' and gave the little man ' once rouud.' For this inoffensive little lightweight was as dashing a rider as ever crossed a horse, and he was pluck to his boots. Every trooper in the 28th knew what he had done, and they worshipped him for his big heart. He had only been six weeks in quarters when a Burmese rifleman ran " a mo/,- " on the parade ground at Pindi one morning. After killing, or laying out, two Resseldars, one Havildar, and three privates he made straight for Jones, who was slowly walking towards his barracks. The Burmese charged down on Jones like a madman from behind, and but for a warning yell from the sentry on guard—l should not be writing this story. The little fellow turned like a shot just as the madman was upon him. The long, ngly kukri flashed in the air, a spot of warm blood splashed in his face, and then five regiments to a man saw the " new sub." let drive like a piston-rod straight from the shoulder. He caught the Burman on the point of the jaw, and the man turned a complete somersault backwards. Discipline and all else was for the moment forgotten. The Royal Welsh

Grenadiers led oft" with a roar that was heard three miles away by the Commissioner, who thought another mutiny had broken out, especially as it was followed immediately by a yell from the 2nd Goorkhas, a howl from the Borderers, and a charging " Hurrah 1" from the 28th 8.L., who had broken their ranks and who came racing to his rescue like a whirlwind. The wretched homicide was cut to pieces, and Jones, as cool as a cucumber, stood stroking his sandy moustache while his Colonel loaded him with praise. This incident rather opened the eyes of his brother-officers, and presently it was found that Carr-Jones had for three years held the amateur lightweight boxing championship of England. No wonder his men thought well of him. There wasn't a buckjumping ' waler ' in the regiment that he had not broken into the perfect troop horse, and he won the Grand Military Cup at the Assault at Lahore. [To be continued.]