A THRILLING STORY

Southland Times, Issue 18968, 15 June 1923, Page 13

A THRILLING STORY

ABDUCTION OF MISS ELLIS. HOW SHE WAS RESCUED BY MRS. STARR. Graphic details from Kohat of the outrage and the abduction and rescue of Miss ■ Ellis are now available, states Reuter • I Simla correspondent in a message publishe in the Daily Telegraph. The tragedy was. enacted early in the morning of 14th April by the abductors, who were assisted by a combination cf lucky circumstances, chiefly a violent storm and wind, which caused the doors to bang and the branches of the trees to crash and creak, drowning Miss Ellis’s efforts to raise an alarm. Having seized Miss Ellis, the miscreants made off to the east in the direction of Khush Algarh, and reached the hills east of Kohat ’and Kotal and south of the Peshawur-Kohat road. The captive girl was half carried and half driven up the steep rocky path till dawn. The whole day the unhappy Miss Ellis was surrounded by vile brutes, fearing murder at the bidding of a sudden whim. At nightfall food, including hot milk, was given to the girl, and the journey resumed through the night. The next four days and nights were a nightmare of alternate travelling and hiding, with ever-grewing exhaustion and agony from bleeding feet, added to the hopeless feeling of being taken further into the unknown, with no gleam of hope yet visible. Despite all these circumstances, the spirit of the girl was undaunted. On the sixth day her captors brought her to their home at Tirah. All the time scarce a soul was seen. A party of Afridi and Orakzai Jirghas set out to rescue the girl, entirely ignorant of her whereabouts. On the 20th Kuli Khan, Political Assistant at Khurram, accompanied by a Tirgah, reached Kanki Bazaar, the home of the famous influential Mullah, Mahmud Akkundzake. It is to Kuli Khan’s credit that by the time of the arrival of Mrs Starr he j had succeeded in securing the reluctant I admission that the girl was in a mounI tain fortress eight miles away. As a i result of tribal pressure Kuli Khan succeeded in sending a parcel of comforts and a letter of encouragement to the girl, who had meanwhile been reasonably treated by her captors’ womenfolk. Mrs Starr, escorted by Mughal Baz Khan, the gallant risaldar of the Chief Commissioner. assisted by friendly tribesmen, had reached the heart of the Orakjai country, where they found clear signs that their intrusion was unwelcome Mughal Baz. however, heeded not I the Mullah’s message enjoining him to turn I back, and refusing to receive Mrs Starr, j reached Khanzi Bazaar. i Consequently on the pressure put upon him, the Mullah reluctantly acquiesced, and Ajab, the leader of the gang, agreed to transfer the captive to the Mullah’s house lest she should die of exhaustion or be forcibly taken by other tribesmen. Kuli Khan proceeded to the , fortress, and had Miss Ellis carried on a ; man’s shoulder to the Mullah’s house. | Mrs Starr was allowed on the morning of 22nd April to see the captive girl, but j the danger and anxiety were by no j means over, for, while both women conversed, the abductors stood round, fierce and unrelenting, making it clear that the girl was still their captive. At this stage the miscreants learnt that an Afridi rescue party was actually attacking their homes. Incensed, Shahazanda, the murderer of Mrs Ellis, laid hands on Mrs Starr and hustled her frem the room, and uttered threats menacing the safety of both women. The Mullah, enraged at the insult to the sanctity of his roof, publicly cursed Shahazanda and his companions. In this dramatic fashion was the balance finally tilted over and the surrender of Miss Ellis swiftly arranged. The demands for ransom and the concession of pardon were abandoned, and early on 23rd April, Kuli Khan and Moghul Baz Khan, accompanied by Miss Ellis, hurried to Shinwara, a twenty-seven miles’ journey, at the end of which they were welcomed by the Chief Commissioner, Sir John Maffey, and the Kohat district officers.