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Strangely Betrothed

Strangely Betrothed image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
September
Year
1876
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

'' 'iioing out, Ellen, are "yöu ?" Md my ;a'jüer, as he tigh tened th ïein of his jfcurdy hill-pony. " Well, well, my dear, I have to face the heat, too, and shall envy you the shade of your favorite trees, beside the big tank. Tkat Malabar headman I spoke of, who has just brought over a gang of fresh cooliesfrom the mainland, haa pïomised to meet me in front of the joss-houso in the Nal Tantee village, to see i f w cm eome to terras. I shall be back be ré fiffin time, I hope." And, with a kindly nod and sïnile, he rode off at a brisk trot ; his i rsekeeper, a barefooted Cingalese lad, easily keeping paoe with the pony, and running swift and silent, like a brown shadow, beside his master's stirrup. Times had changed, and for the worse, since Mr. Travers had been reckoned amoüg the most thriving coffee-plantors in Oeylon. Our once-famous piantation, called Travers after the family that h&á possessed it for two generations, was not now the source of proflt that, in my grandfathsr's time, it had been. The rich soil, worn out by cropping and neglect, no longer yielded its heavy harvest of red-brown berries ; while to ! claim fresh land from the jungle was both toilsome and costly. The estaje gave na the means of mawitenance, and little more. I was an only child, and my father was a wdower, so that our actual necessities, ia that cheap and frugal country, were easily provided for ; nor should I have had a care in the world, save for the old, old story of love, the course of whieh hard circumstances would not I suffer to run smooth. Our nearest neighbor - and Christian neighbors.with white faces and English-speaking tongues, were scarce in Northern Ceylon - was Mr. Forster, a planter, by far j wealthier than we were. Now Oswald ] Forster and I were plighted lovers, bat the very idea of an engagement between his only son and the daughter of liia embarrassed neighbor was gall and wormwood to Oswald's father, a proud, willed man, who managed his thriving property so w to extract from every beegah of atablo land its utmost yield of süver rupees. Desirous to efface from OswaM's mind the idea of marrying pOor little Ellen Travers, Mr. Forster, with his wife's concurrenco, proposed to eend his son to Europe, confident that foreign travel and change of scène would soon oblitérate from his memory the image of the lonely little girl beside the great Tank of Minary. And now a word concerning the Tank itself, the name of which, I fear, conveys to European readers but a very inadequate conception of the stupendous reality. ThO Tank of Minary, justly reckoned among the tnarvels which the island of Oeylon has still to show, is perhaps the largest of the artificial lakes ever planned by mortal engineer. Moï-e than two thousand years have passed since, before the Christian era, a Buddhist king bad his subjects toil to erect the raassive walls of hewn stone and toügh chunam, that environ that vast sheet of water, twenty-five miles in circumf erence. With the Minary Lake, or Tank, which lay close to my own house, I nad beea, from childhood, familiar; and I dearly loved the mirror like eXpanse of its calm waters, studded with floating islands of the crimson-blossomod lotus of India, the red flowera and green leaves of which covered many thousaJid acres of the surface. Strange fish, of brilliant colors, glided in glittering shoals through the deep, dear water, rarely disturbed by prow or paddie; bright birdg, of every siae, from the scarlet flamingo to the tiny oriole or the to wering adjutant, haunted it; and all around grew in dense profusión the mighty trees and flqwering creepers of the virgin forest, whence came at times the complaining cry of the mountain cat, the beliing of the deer, the panther's snarl, or the crashing of the eane and sapling, as wild elephants forced their way through the trackless recesses of .he jungle. I am bound to admit that there were other tenants of lake and forest less at;ractive than the bright-plumaged biïds, and the pretty little lizards basking in. he patches of yellow sunshine. Alligators were very common, snakes plentiFul, and the scorpion, the centipede and the treeleech were of ten to be met with in the more swampy and tangled tracks of the woodland. But we, who were colonial-born, leam a disregard of the creeping things that surround us, which astonishes a new arrival from Europe, and I had never in my Ufe known wtiat it was to feel real fear of beast 01 repcile. I watched my father's retiring iigure until it disappeared amid the feathery bamboos that lined the path, and then, turning my back on the white house with its green verandahs, walked on, under the shadow of the great lorest trees, till I reaohed the embankment of the Minary Tank. Half an-hour's walking brought me to within sight of a ruinous summer-house, built on the edge of the lake by some former Dufcch proprietor, and yet surmountcd by a large ball of gilded pith, perched on a pole. Ne.ir this summer-house it was my custom to meet Oswald. And it wouid be but very seldom that we were to meet, henceforth, since, poor fellow, he was to sail by the Lord Dalhonsie, expected at Polnt de Galle on the 31st of the month. On my way I paused now and then, familiar as was the prospect, to gaze upon the wide expanse of the lake, (.he silvery waters of which rolled away so grandly that it was hard to conceive that whatseemed almost entitled to take rank as an inland sea could be actually the work of human hands. Flocks of wild fowl, with white wings and shrill scream, hovered above the swarmof gorgeouslytinted fish that swam around the huge weed-beds, while here and there among the red lotus blossoms appeared what might have been easily mistaken for H floating log, but which I knew to be an alligator, drowsily basking in the glad sunshine. The heavy heat seemed to ronder ezertion, even for the natives, diificiilt, for I saw no fisher, as usual, paddling liis light canoe or preparing his tough nets of cocoanut fiber; and the very Cingalese woodcutters had desertod their work, leaving behind them a great heap of hewn timber, in front of whioh, imbedded in the spongy wood of a cypress, four or five .short, bright axes reinained sticking. Some few paces f rom this heap was the ruinous snmmcr-house, and beyond it there towered aloft the giant talipot tree, with ifcs vast serrated leaves, that serve the Oingalese for sai! and thatch and screen, beneath whioh Oswald and I were aecustomed to meet. To mj surprise, and perhaps chagrín, I did rot at first see liim for whom I jookeii, and beg'.n to fear that lio had forgotten to keep his wnted tryst; but on dWiwing nearer, I beheld a sight that f or the moment f roze my vëry veins with horror, and caused the cry of anguish that rose to my lips to die away Oswald, lying on the turf among the roots of the gigantio palm tree, seemed to be asleep, overeóme, probably, by the unusual heat, while aroimd him was loosaly coijed something that resernbled a stout 'rope, curiously streaked with black, and orange, and white - something that caused the withered letives and crisp grass to ruStle ás ifc stirred, writhing. 1 had never seen a living tic pahmga, but I knew at the first glance that the snake before my eyes was no other than a Jarge specimen of that dreaded reptile, which in Cey Ion takes the positioa that in Continental' India belongs to tlïe cobra, j for the bite of which there is no known remedy. Twice within the last three j years, laborera oh my father's plantation had been brought in, dying, from the venom of the tic pahinga, but in each instante the skill of the native snake-cïiarmers had led to the capture of the reptile, and it was not believed that any of this species, rare as well as'dangerous, had been left alive in our immediate neighbörhood. This, however, was rmquestionably a tic palunga, many feet long, and it had wrapped its coils, as tbough in hideous sport, around Oswald's limbs as he lay there, 1 scious. The great flat head of the enormous snake rested on the ground, among the flowers and ferns. I could see its eyes, bright as jewels, fixed upon me. It showed for the moment, however, no particular sign of anger or of distrust, but contented iteelf with 'quietly contemplating the intruder upon its haunts. As I stood, gazing on my sléeping lover and the monstrous creature that lay, wakeful but quieseent, so near to him, all the stories of snakes that I had ever heard or read carne crowding in upon my quickened memory. ï knew that the tic palunga, in common wil h most of the venoTtious varietiea of its race, seldom employed its poison-fangs unless when attackèd or aLnoyed; but I also knew that the hardiest elephant-huhter of tlie forests would soonei-eonfront the charge of a.hepd cf incensed tuskers, than face : the lance-like dart and rancorous bite of i this dread denizen of the jungle. The tic palunga, unlike the boa and i the python, rarely, if ever, preys upon i the largér animáis, such as deer or cattle, i conflning its diet, for the most part, to I birds, and írogs, and lizards. Some Capricöj most likely, had caused it to twine a part of its supple convolutions j : around Oswakl as he lay, and, so long i I as he ïemained asleep and motioilless, there was littlo probability that the i pent would barm him. My great fear i : was lest he should awake, and in I ing, by some hasty movement, arouse the ire of the resistiess f oe. Öswald was i brave and strongt but it was a mockery - to apeak of strength or courage when so '. terrible an antagonist was in question. i Suddenly, as if it had been a whisper ; from heaven, there came into my mind i a thought that promised hope, even in : that dü-e eXtremity of need. I had of ten : seen hanuless enakee kept tame in colonial households, and was aware of their ; habils, and of their love for certain kinds : of food, and, above all, for milk. Could I but bring to that spot a supply of milk, and piace it, before Os wald should awake, : temptingly near to the tic palunga, all might yet be well. And .yet to desert hiin- poor fellow - in such terrible oompany, seemed cruel; yet it was for his sake. and I feit that I must go. Very slowly, the, lest my footsteps should disturb the sleeper or irrítate the huge reptilo that kept watch beside him, 1 1 stole away, and, when at a safe distance, flew, rather than ran, along the for est path. The nearest European dweiling was Os wald 's o-ra home. There were Cingalese huts nearer, no doubt, where dwelt some of Mr. Forster's hired men, but I should not be able to procure what I sought, save from the planter's house, j At another time I should not have willingly trespassed on the domains of Oswald's father; but this was no occasion for scruple or punctilio. Life and death, as I knew, depended on my speed. There, at length, rose up before me the milk-thorn hedge, the impenetrable thorns of which are often usef ui in keeping out leopard and jackal, which surrounded the planter's homestead, and, passiag through an open - gate, I entered the compound. The tirst servant that I met, and who lif ted his hand to his white turban with a polite "Salaam!" and a smile that showed the white teeth between his bearded lips, was a man whom I knew, a Mahratta groom, who had formerly been in my father's service, and whose child I had nursed through an attack of the Cey Ion fever. " Lall Singh !" I gasped out, panting for breath, " do me a kindness for the sake of oíd bread and salt. Get me some fresh milk quickly, for the love of God, but ask no questions - bhai !" Something in my tone impressed the Mahratta, for without a word he hurried off and soon returned, bearing a jar of milk and a drinking vessel, or Iota, which would contain something lesis than a pint, and which, at a sign from me, he flUed with milk. This very act, slight as it rnay seem, was nosmall compliment, for it wa3, doubtless, his own drinking-cup that Lall Singh was giviug me, and should any lip not belonging to one of pure Hindu descent touch its burnished rim, it would hereafter fee nnflt for use. However, I scarcely waited to utter a word of thanks, but snatched up the brass Iota and darted out. "It may be thought singular that I had not given the alarm to the household at Mr. Fcrster's plantation ; but I laad resolved that I would not, if I could do my errand unquestioned, créate a turmoil which might biing about the very evil I against which I was striving. Oswald's mother and sisters loved him, but their nerves were not of the strongest, and their outcries, had they heard the news, would have had the effect of surnmomng a score of servants and coolies, and to sealOawald's fate by sen ding a posse of volunteers to tho place where he lay at the sn.'ike's mercy. Aa if on winged feot, yet carrying the precions draught of milk with jealous care I hurried back to the spot where, at tho foot ef the huge talipot tree, lay Oswald, yet asleep. The snake, holvever, as though uneasy, was beginning to stir. lts' monstrous head wagged slowly from side to side among the white wild flowers, and its slender tongue protruded from between its grim jaws. But I was in time, and, as I poured the milk, or rather a portion of it, on the grouod, Ro that a long trall should lead to the spot where I set down the brass drinking-cup, with what of its contents remained, I was careful to avoid, by any abrupt gesture, incensing the tic palunga. Then carne a minute or two of agonized expectancy, and thfcii, to my great joy, I saw tlie reptile slowly uncoil himaeli', evidentJy making for t,he milk. First one wreafch and then another of the snake's limber was untwiued, and tlio great serpent, brushing tlirough the forest grass and flowerets, stooped its broad liead to drink. As I saw Oswald tlms freed, and the unsuspected foe draw farther and farther away from the place where ho reposed, Í feit the streligth whieh had hithèrto snpported me becomo weakness. My nerves being no longer braced by the sense of Oswald's mortal peril the instihetive terror and disgust which I had from ohildhood feit for the serpent tribe overpowered me, and I grew giddy and weak, and could eöarceïy stand and ëcarcely see. What was 'this before iny dita. oyes? The well-known porch of the Dutch colonist's summer-house, overgrown by trailing creepers, and all but ohoked by tall weëds. Meehanically I entered, and sinking down on a moldering wooden seat, once decked with silken eushions and gold leaf, I gradually regained the physical strength which had deserted me, and with it the capacity for thought. It ia curions how, jn such cases of extreme exhaustion, the benumbed mind slowly resumes some train of abandoned thought, and thus it was with me. By degrees I remembered Oawald's danger, my own efforts to save him, and - What was that rustling arnong the sterns, and leaves, and buds of the luxurious plants that festooned the shattered windows of the summer-house, in all the rank profusión of their tropical growth? Surely - surely not the rippling, uuduMing Motioü with whieh a hiige snáke drágs himself through the brake and jungle grass ! Yes; my fears were but toó true, for there in the open window space- the broken trellis-work of which had been replaced by wild vines and dangling orehids- appeared, at a height of six or seven feet above the ground, . the hideous head of the serpent that liad lately menaced öswald, and now confronted me. And then it flashed upon me that the deserted kiosk was probably the reptile's actual home, and that, as though in the very irony of terror, I had ventured to intrude into the lair of the terrible creature, from the sight of which I had- once that Oswald's safety seemed assured - reeled dizzily away. I had often heard of the strange taste which snakes evince for an abandoned human d welling, and liow f requently they haunt the outbuildings of Europeans' abodes and ihe huts of the nativos ; and yet here had I rashly strayed into the lurking place of the deadíy guardián of the Oeylon jungle. That the snake was perturbed there cóuld be no doubt. It curved its graceful neck like that of a swan, and hissed slightiy, while its broad jaws were partly opeñed. T fancied that I could see the curved poison-fangs - more to be dreaded than ever was Malay créese or Moorish dagger - while the jewel-bright eyes glistened ominously. One wild, piercing shriek I could not repress ; and then the futility of resistanee or of flight f orced itself upoü me, and I stood, motionless as a marBle statuo of embodied fear, gazing at the emeraldine eyes, flxed with so pitiless a stare on mine. The subtle, suffocating odor which largo .serpents exhale, when angry, reached me ; but already I gave myself up for lost, and waited passive till the tic palunga should make his fatal dart. The sibilant noise from the snake's haif-shut jawf had grown louder, and the bright, baleful eyes more menacing, while the grim head towered high aloft, ready to strike - when, suddenly, something bright flashed through the flowering vines of the creeping plant, and the snake's hideotis head and iithe laody disappeared, as if by magie. Then f olio wed the sounds of a flerce struggle, repoated blows, trampling feet, and snapping boughs, and the accents of human voices ; and then Oswald came leaping through the doorway, clasped me in his arms, and bore me out into the broad light of day, where lay - writhing yet; - the carease of the dead snake, hewn through by the sharpcutting ax which Oswald still grasped in his right hand. " Shabash !" exclaimed Lall Singh, whose swarthy face gleamed with delight, as he spurned the body of the van quished reptile. " It was well that first blow -went home, or it would have fared but badly with the young sahib when this accursed slayer of men ttirned on him. Wah ! I'd sooner have faced a tiger." To Lall Singh I was, indeed, in no slight degree indebted for my safety. Oonvinced, from the agitation of my manner, that something was wrong, he had followed me, and was in the act of arousing Oswald from his slumber.when the piercing shriek which fear liad wruñg from me re-echoed through the woodf, and calléd attention to the imminence of the peril. Then Oswald had snatched up one of the keen, short axes which the native wood-cutters had left sticking in a tree-trunk, and had boen fortúnate enough to disable the snake at the flrst blow. My story is now told, and I have only to add that I was overwhelmod with praises and caresses by the Torster family - hitherto so cold - and that, on the following day, Mr. Porstcr himself rode over to my father's house to entreat Mr. Travers, from whoin he had of iate been estranged, to accept his renewed friendship, and to ask for my hand on behalf of his son. Oswald lost his passage on board the homeward-bound pteamer that was to touch at Point de Galle ; and when he did visit Enrope he took with him Ellen Travers as his wife. We have long been happily settled - far from tropic jungles and their dangerous inhabitants - but never have either my husband or myself forgotten those few instante of bitter anguish and alarm beside the Tank of Minary.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus