TALES OF SAHIB LAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 69

TALES OF SAHIB LAND.

By F. DA. 0. De L'lsle.

(For the Witness.) (All Rights Reserved.)

No. X —WHEN THE MOGUL SCORED. " II ny a que deux ckoses, la femme el h bituroe !" So the light-he \rted Bohemians of the Paris ateliers gaily denned the entities. But there was once a man, born cycles before the advent of the bare-footed Trilby, Mho took upon himself to assert, with the v,isdom of a sage, that the only things with real existence were woman and self ! The entities oi Mahomet were God and self: for did he not a&sert that "There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet'!" Major Brace had two entities. Firstly self, then woman. He was absolutely without creed, being an atheist of the first order. He was the most positively selfish man in existence, and he had an immense admiration for- a beautiful woman. All else of feeling fell subservient to these two primary characteristics. He was a splendid soldier only because his pride was flattered by the praises of the world. He gambled heavily to provide himself with creature comforts. As "griffins"' were plentiful in India, Major Bruce was always in funds. At. school, his headmaster had d>escribed him as "a beast of a boy!"' an-1 he had remained a baast to manhood. He married his wife for no earthly reason but an absurd infatuation to pocsess the tiny mass of glowing, creamy flesh, lulstrous eyes, and fluffy, curly brown hair. Six months of possession sufficed to satiate him, and then, wiih brutal indiffer&nce, he had turned his attention to others. His wife was a bonnie, winsome little woman, as lovely as a butterfly, and as good as gold. Six months after ma mage he commenced to treat her brutally, with a species of cold, cruel refinement of brutality ; and although tl:9 little woman never let on, yet everything leaked out among the ayahs in the officers' quarters, and soon became general gossip. '• The Major Sahib beats his wife with his closed hand .' " the JRessaldar"s wife told every ;>vah and di in the cantonments. "Major Bruce, of tlie 28th 8.L.. is the bisrgest cur un'ung ! '£ "ainniers that gentle lidy who is 'is wife! If ever I sees "im in front o' me in action, 'ell be found dead — shot from be'ind ; so "elp me Gawd !" said Tommy Atkins to the Eurasian nursegirl when he hugged her under the mango tree All this, and more, reached t-be ears of Lieutenant Malaquin {commonly called the Mogul) from different sources, and oh, how he pitied the poor little woman. Everybody said that Malaquin was a misfit in the army. He was a large-eyed, deepfouled dreamer — a visionary of higher ideals than the everyday fighting man. One could well have imagined Malaquin as a Crusader, a knight of the Holy Cross, gazing wide-eyed, souL'ully, from the heights outside Jerusalem on to the spot where was the sepulchre of "the world's ransom !" But as the polo-playing, race-riding, pegdrinking India.ii sabrcur of half a hundred tribal wars, lie most decidedly didl not impress one. Of his courage no one could doubt. Five medals in four years' active service, and the "Distinguished gallantry" amongst them, conclusively gave the lie to any doubt on that point. But he did not "fit" in the 28th, and was the "bucking horse" of Major Bruce, who hated religion in the army. Mrs Bruce was one of the priinest favourites among th& officers and men of the 28th, a-nd her sympathy for Malaquin was dioep, true, and most apparent whenever be got into trouble with Major Bruce. From pity, he learned tc love this doveeyed woman with the love of a d»og — faithfid, devoted, and chivalrous. He never by word r»r deed betrayed his passion, but liis dog-like devotion to Mrs Bruce was unmistakable. Finally the Major grew jealous, and from jealousy he turned to fiercest hatred when Malaquin saved' his wife from drowning. Nothing had ever passed between Lieutenant Malaquin and Mrs Biuco but the most trivial commonplaces. Content to be near her, and to see her, the young soldier became her slave, and only by his untiring attendance upon her betrayed to his fellow officers his fierce passion. She on her part seemed contented to remain, on at Biradook. treating her husband with a cold reserve that caused hia anger to boil over repeatedly, and then he tin-ashed h-pr brutally. * One day th.3 Braces went out in a b-nd'gerow,' fishing. The sky was calm and clear in the morning, but about 10 a cyclone came > jacing along, and within one minuie the river was lashed into foam. The Major fished steadily on, oblivious to warning cries of "Khubbar dar! Khubbar dar ! Ban ata hai !" from the natives on the banks, until the hurricane burst with a roar not to be mistaken. The budgerow was dashed to matchwood. Then Major Bruce, fighting for himself, reached the bank after a short struggle. His wife, buoyed up by her dress, was carried! down the river with gi-eat rapidity. Lieutenant Malaquin had been out gathering specimens. He was an enthusiastic- ornithologist, and very well up in tbo sciences. Running back to quarters, through the "bursafc " he leached the river bank just as the "ban," or tidal wave, swept past, with its attendant masses of wreckage and rain. A crowd of howling natives followed bun, and they witnessed, as they thought, an act of insanity when Malaquin threw off his light shoes and patrol jacket and plunge J in to rescue a wretched' "pariah dog that was too exhausted to reach the river bank. After tha-t he fished out two natives who came sinking by ; then, with a cry of horror, h« plunged ill after a well-known

blue and white dress. Lithe as a mountain cat, he raced along after it, doing the '"Indian cano?" stroke ; hand-over-hand he went, until with one terrific plunge ne grabbed the dress and swam k> the bank Upon reaching the bank Malaquin handed up the small body, now unconscious, to some native women who were upon the bank, then, swimming upstream, recovered his shoes an-1 jacket, and raced back to where Mrs Bruce lay. A few sharp directions in Hiudui sent a messenger off in hot haste to Bundook for help. A hastily-contrived doolie or stretcher was made for Mrs Bruce, and placing her tenderly on it, Malaquin marched along by its side, while two natives carried it towards the cantonments Half way there the regimental ambulance was met, with Dr Armstrong, who proceeded t-o restore the unconscious little vroman ; the natives jabbering volubly to the crowd that had 1 rushed out from Bundook upor. hearing of the accident. Thib 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 oiit driving in the evening, said to her : I " Oh. my dear, have you heard the news? j The Braces were fishing this morning, v. hen tbe bursat came, and their budgerow was upset, and Mrs Bruce actually left her husband, and lioated down to where Lieutenant Malaquin was bathing ! Yes, really, my dear ! And he swam out to her and brought her ashore; and would you believe it, my dear, they are trying tojuake out that it was an accident, and that he saved her life ! Isn't that rich?" So th<? scandal thus set going grew and grew, and Major Bruce acted like a fury, and the Mogul's life on parade and duty was a hell to him. So much so that everyone said that Malaquin or the Major would Lave to exchange. The climax came on the night of the Scouts' kill. Few of the 28th B.L. excepting the most central figures in the episode kr.ew of the fateful events of that night : events which culminated in the loss to the regiment of one of its most promising junior officers. The Scouts had newly come into cantonments from Malta., and they were giving a "barracks warming" to celebrate their arrival. Being new to Bundook society they sent out their invitations lavishly, and consequently the gathering v^as more "mixed" than is usually the rase at a cantonments ball. The big rooms of the Scouts' mess wera densely crowded with military visitors, who in their dazzling uniforms lent a charming touch of colour to the brilliant j scene. Their line regimental bind played out on the verandah and dancing was going on with spirit when Lieutenant Malaquin entered the first ballroom. Captain PolJiill at once took charge of him. "Now then, my boy, come and dauce. You've got to do duty, ye know ; these Scouts are awful duffel's at the game Here's a splendid partner for you — Miss Annas, handsome as paint in spite of a touch of the 'tar brush ! She is worth j.ikhs ; her father, old Annas, was an Armenian merchant. She was solo heiress ! " The introduction was quickly made, and Malaquin swung the supple-figured halfcaste into the mazy waltz. She was as light as a feather, and she danced divinely. Malaquin, also a fine- dancer, guided her through the very crowded ballroom in quite a masterly manner. "Urai myee ! kow nice you dance!" cried the dusky heiress as she shot a glance of fiery admiration at the wiry Lancer, who was backing her down the room with a gentle yet powerful arm. "I never so enjoyee myself as at this ball ! Whyee for you not take another waltz with me?" " Pleasure, I'm sure !" replied the astonished Lancer, his language sounding grandiloquent after the "chee cheo bat " (broken English) of the Eurasian heiress. "Supposing w ? say the tenth, which I know id a waltz?" " Thank you ! You are verree good. Not like the other Belati ka pultun [British officers]. What say if we go sit it out now, in the compound? I make it verree hot. What you say?'' said Miss Annas, appealing!?. " Pleasure, I'm sure !" again gasped Malaquin, stunned by her elan. They sat clown on a garden seat cleverly placed in a group of plantains, where everything was in a dim half light, and where the glare of the bailrconi appeared far away. The lustrous-eyed Armenian placed her pouting mouth within an inch o± Malaquin's face, and her glowing eyes burnt Avith tropical fires as she proceeded to spoon him with a vengeance. She fell back against his shoulder, and unconsciously or instinctively his arm went round her waist. Bui a tall figure, with another following, stumbled into the dark recess, saying : " Run to earth at last ! Here he is, Bertrand. You are wanted in the ballroom, Mogul — the chief has been sending for you everywhere. Oh, bag pardon, Miss Annas. I'm awfully sorry to spoil your tete-a-tete." Captains Pc.lhill and Bertrand were the intruders. "You big nuisance — see!" petulantly cried the Armenian heiress ; and Malaquin. getting a vk^ent dig in his "right-front." lose hurriedly, and offered his arm to Miss Annas. After leaving the dusky beauty by the bide of her mahogany-coloured mamma, who was fat, forty, badly powdered, and who breathed steiterously, Malaquin made his way to the vestibule, where stood his rescuers. "Thanks, much'j'!" he muttered. "She a« o-ood as proposed +o me." "We saw her trailing you away to the compound, and organised a rescue," answered Polhill. "Be nviie caivful in future, Mogul, or you'll fall in. Wvniny not always be en the spot '" Malaquin his brother officeis ; heartily, and up to the tenth dance did steady duty work with impossible, though amorous, elderly ladies. He dexterously avoided a second tete-a-tete with the beautiful Armenian half-caste, who tried to rush hhii inlo the compound again, and found himself the partner of Mrs Bruca for

the dance before suppc-r Without doubt Mrs Major Bruce was an exceptionally good dancer, and Malaquin did hU> utirost to make the most of such a partner. Unlike liis other partners, Mrs Bruce never spoke during the whole dance, but she closed Itr eyes and waltzed as if in dreamland, and the Mogul almost fancied 1 that he heord a sob when the last lingering notes of the "Geliebt und Verloienx"' waltz died away. "Where to now?" aski-d Mnlaquin, P9 they made for the cool verandah. " Oh, anywhere !" said the little woman, dreamily. "Anywhere away from here.'' There was a note of pain in her voiceand 1 a startled look in her eyes. "I know a bank whereon the wild plantain grows. I have bean thcr" once already to-night with tlie exquisite Miss Annas,' said the Mogul. " With that woman !" said Mrs Bruce. "With her— yes. But I'm safe, thanki to Polhill. Here we are. and the cosy corner is disengaged. Now, then, what can I get for you?" An ice, simkin, or coffee? or will you go to supper at or.cc? Recollect that I have ihe first extra, which will start in about ten minutes." Mrs Bruce was about to reply, when footsteps sounded on the footpath by tho alcove, and a man and a woman stopped \ti the entrance, speaking in low but distinctly aujible tones. "I am going back io Doo^!, but you shall not come and see me while she is here!'' said the woman fiercely. " What earthly difference dees .t make, Rita?" asked the man, and ri did not require the awful start of Mrs Brucs to inform Malaquin that the speaker was Major Bruce. "Well, I won't have it, that's all! You told nif; that she was going to Oarjeenag till November, didn't you? And, besides, I've not had this month's allowance vet, and you are not going to fool me. You ar3 spending it in letting her gad about, wlulo T have to vegetate in barracks !'' cried the woman. '' Th's is intolerable!"' wtispcicd Mrs Bruce. "Hush'" said Malaquin, "there are others coming."' As additional liituidcis came on, Major Bruce and his tompamoi walked on into the darkness. "Let us go!'" said Mrs Bruce, and, placing- a trembling hand on the Mogul's aim, she rose and walked out of the alcove. "Upon my soul, I feel this bitterly, Mrs Bruce !"' cried Malaqmn, in anguish. "'I could kill " " Don't speak of it, for heaven's sake don't!" said the- little woman. "The pain and disgrace cc awful!" They entered the ballroom just as the first extra was commencing. It was the "Blue Himalaya Waltz,'' one of the most exquisite of the musical compositions of that order. " Shall we dance?" asked Malaqnin, "'or would you care to sit down alone?" " Let us dance," was the reply. "I wish, if only for a moment, to forget." To his dying day the young Lancer never forgot the wild, delicious passion of thati dreamy 'dance. When it was over, they parted without a word. Only one look. On her part of mute misery, of an unutterable shame ; on his side full of sympathy and restrained passion. "Come here, Fraser," said Malaquin, as he dragged that festive subaltern out of a. very crowded supper room. "You are ruining yjur internal ecoDomy with too much gluttony. Suppers are only for woman. Come out and smoke: I want to talk." "Ah, ha! I thought you would not get out of this without an intrigue. I can see it in your face. Young fellow, you'restruck. Now, own up," said Fraser, proceeding to light an enormous and unhealthy looking Burmah cheroot. " You'll be struck, and in the region of that idiotic jaw of yours, if you try any chaff with me!'" replied the Mogul. "It'a r«o adventure, old man. I only wish to ask you, in a'i seriousness, if there is skeleton in the regimental cupboard? I'vj been away on active service so long that i really know little or nothing, of ours." The senior lieutenant looked grave. — "What do you want to know?" he askecß "I was the unwilling listener to a con

versation between Bruce and a lady he called Rita just a little while ago, m an clcove in the compound " "And you were with?" quickly asked Fraser. " Mi's Bruce," replied the Mogul. "Oh, good heavens! how awkward!" said Fraser. "I really feel confoundedly sorry for the little woman. Brace is a brute to carry on wifh that woman — a vulgar variety artiste, who married a non-com, in the Blanksliire, during a drunken spres, two years ago. She is pretty, and fetching, and all that ; but still it's brutal of Bruce to do it. Hang it, I could swear all night j over it!" "Do you think that to-night was the first time tint Mrs Bruce knew of it?'' asked Malnquin. " Oli, no ! They quarrelled over it 12 months ago when Bruce drove the woman all over Calcutta during his Dewali furlough. Mrs Bruce left the cantonments and went to the Hills. Bruce promised to reform, ' and that is why she leturned 1 . But I suppose this affair to-night will upset everything. Was the conversation pretty plain?" asked Fraser. " About as plain as it well oould be in its beastly selfishness I" replied' the Mogul. "What would happen if I were to give Bruce a good thrashing, eh?" "Court-martial — dismissed the service!'' laconically said Fraser. "Don't do that, old chap." " Then it's impossible to interfere?' 1 j "Impossible!" answered Fraser. " Humph ! I feel the deepest pity for Mrs Bruce. No man but a despicable cur would treat her so, and I'd like to break his neck !" growled the Mogul. "** " I would do it for fun, but the service rules forbid it. There's the second extra.. I'm engaged' to Edith Fane. Go and have some supper and calm your ruffled f&elings," said Fraser, rushing away. " Hang supper !" growled the Mogul us he, too, passed into the ballroom. Major Bruce, General Falmouth, Colonel Cleeve, and a brigadier were stauding by the door together. "Well, Malaquin, what do you thing of the dance?" asked Colonel Cleeve. "I like it very much," replied the Mogul, •'though to be frank, sir, I've had some queen adventures to-night. I've been approached upon marriage by a coloured millionairess " A roar of laughter came from th* group. "By Jove! she doesn't waste time!" said Colonel Cleeve. "You said adventures, Lieutenant Malaquin,?" querieJ General Falmouth. " \' es, I've liad a really startling adven • ture with the wife of a non-commissioned officer, who has been on the stage, and all that sort of thing," answered the Mogul, looking hard at Major Bruce. The latter turned purple, and the vicious glare of his eyes showed his anger plainly. "Make hay while the sun shines, youngster!" said the brigadier, with a sigh. "How I wish I were your age again." " There seems to be* a pretty mixed lot here to-night," said General Falmouth. "I don't think they'll find themselves on tha visiting list of the Scouts later on." At length the ball was over and the vast assemblage of dazzling uniforms dispersed all over Bundook. The first glint of dawn was peeping over the tall pepul trees and the minarets and domes of the mosques to the eastward of the city. The muezzin came borne on the cool morning breeze, faintly chanted from the cupolas of the Mussulman quarters : "Allah ! Illallah ! Bismilkh!" The bugles were soundiiiig on the rnaidans, and companies of regiments wera rousing and fallinor in everywhere. Bugles sound, take your ground, Fall in, fall in, don't look armind. And hark ! the familiar revally : Oh, -vraken! oil, waken 1 oh, wa_K©n! dump cut of bed! Jump out of beet! The cook begins to crow Everybody seemed to be shaking hands and saying good-bye to everybody else. Out in the compound Major Bruce, trembling with passion, had addressed the Mogul. "We'll be quits yet, my young cockerel," he snarled. 'If you force your society np«n my wife any further I'll settle you !" "Your brutal conduct to her is unworthy of a man, an officer, and a gentleman. I've told you so ; I mean what- 1 say," said the Mogul, white-faced, wide-eyed. "Then you shall give me satisfaction ; you owe it me for the insult !" hissed Major Bruce. Suddenly a wild yell broke on the hum of parting friends. A rifle shot followed, then a gurgling cry, as a native peon went plunging to the ground in his death agony. Out from a company of riflemen mustering at the end of the compound had plunged a bhang-maddened Burmese infantryman intent on murder. His random rifle shot, fired straight into the crowd of guests, had found its billet in the unfortunate peon's chest. After killing or laying out two Ressaldars, a Havildar, and three privates with his bayonet, with his ugly kris flashing in his hand he came plunging madly towards the paralysed group of guests standing unarmed and helpless on t-he verandah of the Scouts' quarters. ''My God ! we're done for !" It was this horror-stricken ejaculation of Major Bruce that caused tbe Mogul to start just as the madman charged down on them from behind. An agonising scream from the women on the verandah reached his ears just as !he turned. The Burman was upon them. The' long, ugly kris flashed in the air, a spot of warm blood splashed in Malaquin's face ; then all the gathered guests and regiments on the maidans to a man saw the junior lieutenant let drive like a piston rod straight from the shoulder. Ha caught the Burman flush on the point of the jaw, and the man turned a complete somerI sault backwards. Discipline and all else was for the moment forgotten. The Royal Welsh I Grenadiers led off with a roar that was heard three miles away by the Commissioner, who thought another mutiny had .broken ooutt t especially as it was followed ;

immediately by a yell from the Second Gurkhas, a howl from the Borderers, and a charging "Hurrah !" from the 28th 8.L., who had broken their newlyforming ranks, and came rushing to the rescue of their officer. The wretched homicide was secured, and the Mogul stood stroking his moustache, while every officer present loaded him with praise for his pluck and self-posses-sion. There was a peculiar look in his eyes, a vacant, startled look, and his brother officers suffered him to return to his quarters by himself. Gerard Malaquin had found himself face to faoe with his soul, and he found it was near to being an ugly business. The startling temptation to place Major Bruce between himself and the maniac running amok and so to get rid of his enemy and secure his safety and later happiness had come upon him with desperate force. He had actually hesitated for a moment, as the pros and cons flashed with incredible rapidity through his brain. But he thanked his God, sitting alone in his quarters, reflecting upon his narrow escape, that he had flung the temptation from him with the same effort that he had upset the rushing madman, and had saved himself the public opprobium of the coward, and in his own heart the lifelong accusation of being a murderer. After many days aaid much thinking, the Mogul resigned his commission in the army, to the great regret of his brother officers of the 28th 8.L., who always point to his as having been a great and brilliant though a short career. And they never tire of relating his exploit with the mad Burman rifleman when the Mogul scored.