m TIGER'S REMARK
v \J Rural Postman Ou)
r Strange Friendship
I wish that you had not to go out
today," said the runner's wife, as she
prepared him some cakes for the Journey;
"I had such evil dreams last night
that my heart misgives me for your
safety. Can you not get a substitute,
for today at least?"
"Not at such short notice," said Tulsi
Ram. busily sorting out the letters
which had been given him for Thakore.
"But what is it that you fear?
It is some months now since Govind
Naik encountered that wandering
leopard?and his hurt was but small.
All this time I have passed daily between
Kerail and Thakore, and have
seen naught more dangerous than
sambur?though, indeed," added the
runner, reflectively, "the spoor of
larger beasts has been visible on the
path at times. Now, were there dacolts
on the road?"
The road to which Tulsi Ram referred
was a foot-worn track connecting
the villages of Kerail and Thakore.
For about one half its length it
wound through some of the wildest
country in Rajputana.
"Yes," continued Tulsi Ram, "it is
too late to secure a substitute today;
and these mails must be carried to
ThAkore without fail, if I am to retain
my employment. But, lest your
dreams portend evil, wife, I shall sharpen
my spear and keep a very good
watch going and coming. The rest is
with the jrods!"
"To whom I shall make proper offerings?111
though we can afTord the
cost," said his wife, impressively, "if
they preserve you from danger." She
then handed him a small packet of
cakes, which he placed in a pocket of
his tunic.
Tulsi Ram next proceeded to whet
the blade of the short spear with which
postcarrlers in the country districts
are armed. Before he left his wife,
with the notion of averting misfortune
from him, she passed her hands
down his face, cracking her knuckles
and uttering an intercessory prayer
to Vishnu.
At an easy jogtrot the runner passed
through the fields outside of Kerall
and was soon out of sight in the scrub
land beyond. With only an occasional
halt to remove a thorn from his foot,
or, perchance, to alter the position of
the bag slung over his left shoulder, he
trotted, slackening to a fast walk
where a hill Intervened; and today he
was careful to nurse his strength, lest
he should be suddenly called upon to
exert all his powers in flight or in
skirmish. In about an hour's time he
had climbed to the edge of the forest
land, wherein danger to life might be
more reasonably expected to occur.
Here, in the shade, he halted for a few
minutes in order to refresh himself for
the smart run he proposed to take
through the forest.
"I fear the stream," he muttered; "It
is so cool and inviting that it is
thereabouts a wild beast is most likely
to lurk. And it is there that one must
needs go slowly and carefully with an
eye to muggers (alligators), and the
staff to feel for unusual depth of water
owing to a distant freshet. However,
" * - - " ??**- ? -s- ?? ~
11 IB all Willi llie sous, n?r 51u111.ru,
and, having girded afresh his loins,
sought the path once more.
With every mile the inclosing jungle
grew denser and quieter, the vista at
every turn greener, coloring the very
sunlight that filtered through the foliage
overhead. The soft "pat-pat" of
the runner's hastening feet awoke little
sound, and he was careful to tread
between or stride over such dried litter
as had fallen along the path.
Bravely did he jingle his bells, especially
as he approached those bits of
adjoining shrubbery which had always
appeared to him likely lurking places
for felines on the watch for the smaller
game that frequently used the open
path in preference to the forest ways,
with their deadly possibilities.
After he had gone about three
miles Tulsi Ram arrived at the ravine
which intersected the path and formed
a kind of boundary between the areas
of the fcrest it divided olT.
A gloomy place is that ravine. It is
some 50 feet deep and about 100 yards
wide, and in its hollow runs the drainage
of the adjoining hillsides?a stream
perhaps 30 paces wide in the hot
months, but a raging, impassable torrent
when the rains fill it from bank
to bank with sudden freshets. Its
shores are strewn with loose pebbles,
which slide away under foot with uncanny
loudness; the water's edge is
lined with clumps of overgrown reeds,
and the stream itself is dark with reflections,
with many a deep hole where
the mugger lies ever watchful.
Here it was that Govind Naik's predecessor
vanished, mail bag and all, a
victim to a patroung alligator; it was
here that Vovind Naik himself startled
a leopard into attack as the brute was
returning from the water's edge dragging
a foolish barking deer.
It was here that Tulsi Ram's wonderful
experience began with a short,
grating tiger roar that held him spellbound
even as he was about to enter
the stream. So sudden and so unexpected
was the sound that he could
not for the life of him say whence it
came. He stood motionless as the
stream murmured noisily past, his
faculties completely numbed. Then
there was a crashing noise in a reed
clump not two paces from him, followed
by a loud splash, and he saw an
alligator dive hurriedly for the higher
reaches of the stream.
The reptile must have been lying in
wait for some unwary deer or pig, and
had been driven by the tiger's growl
into abandoning its situation in order
to betake itself into an element where
it would have all the advantage in defense
or attack.
The occurrence served to arouse the
runner, and he now realized that he
had by a hair's breadth only escaped
destruction from the mugger. But this
was poor consolation anyhow, for he
believed he had merely exchanged one
form of death for another equally
cruel.
It has been said that the unfortunate
man did not know where the tiger
was. For this very reason retreat
was as open to danger as an advance,
and the remaining course of action left
him?to seek the nearest tree and
climb it?had in it as much peril as
another. He accordingly determined
upon an advance, feigning unconcern,
and trusting to it to discourage an attack.
So, reversing his spear, which he
ABLE DEVOTION m
ed His Life to the jp
of a Wild Beast. Tr
used to sound the ford at every step
and scanning the clear water for further
signs of the mugger, he crossed
With many a furtive glance he climbet
the pebbly shore, and, loudly jangling
his bells, entered the forest.
The runner, at a smart jogtrot, hai
trnno a limit 900 varils from tht> strenrr
when a slowly forming suspicion thai
he was being followed crystallized intc
a conviction. He threw a glance ovei
his shoulder and came almost to a
stop.
Not thirty paces behind him a large
tiger followed, easily keeping pace witli
him
Automatically the terrified Tuls
Ram continued to run, and for a space
his brain refused to plan coherently
By the time the man recovered from
the shock occasioned by his discovery
he had traveled some distance. He
straightway threw another fleeting
glance backward to see whether the
tiger still followed, and, if so, whethei
it had diminished the distance which
had originally separated them. To his
immense relief, he perceived that, as
well as he could gauge, the space had
not materially altered. But then there
came an assailing fear that the brute
was merely "marking time" until he
was near enough to its lair to suit its
convenience. The bare notion set him
sprinting, but he soon fell back to his
usual pace, being painfully conscious
that if he were compelled to slacker
to a walk he might encourage his pursuer
to immediate attack. So, praying
fervently that he might encounter another
warfarer or a traveler by cart
whose presence might serve to turr
back the tiger, he continued to jog
along, jingle-jangling his bells.
And all the time the tiger followed
keeping pace with him. As mile after
mile went slowly by without producing
any alteration for the worse ir
his situation, Tulsi Ram began tc
lose his fear of attack, though his
nerves were sorely tried.
Presently the forest began to thin
to be gradually replaced by a belt ol
undulating scrub, wherein were scattered
huge bowlders. By this time tht
mental strain was beginning to materially
affect the runner's endurance
Judge, then, of his elation, when, fagged,
he resolved to risk breaking into e
walk, and halted upon a rise in the
path to take breath, a backward loofc
showed him the tiger about to leavs
the path in the direction of some deer
shade on the right. His relief very
nearly caused a collapse. He grounc
his teeth, however, and walked on til
he dropped utterly exhausted in hit
tracks. He lay there by the roadside
in the shadow of a bush to which ht
had dragged himself, completely indifferent
as to his position, until with
returning energy came a dread of delay,
when he resumed the Journey tc
Thakore.
A local marwarri acted as postmaster
for the people of Thakore. Befort
his store gathered those who expectec
communications from the outer world
together with the idlers and gossips
This would be about noon, when th<
runner was due to arrive. But it lacked
nearly half an hour to the usua
time when at last a far-off jingling o
post-bells betokened his approach.
"He is early today!" was the bana
remark of many. "It must be som?
special communication," hazarded one
And the marwarri's curiosity brough
him waddling into the street, to gather
the sooner some notion of the reasoi
for such earliness on the runner's part
"I was followed by a tiger!" pantet
out Tulsi Ram in reply, and by degree!
gave his story to the excited crowd
Some believed him, and were aston
ished; others pooh-poohed it. aud th<
marwarri laughed ponderously.
"Do you think I am a child?" h<
said, derisively. "To think that a tigei
was content to follow without attacl
for such a distance!"
"It is true, maharaj," protested Tuls
Ram.
"Tut-tut, man! The sun has cause<
you to see a phantom. Take som<
medicine before you fall ill."
The news spread quickly through th<
village, and many were the witticism!
Tulsi Ram had to suffer when he pre
pared, later, to set out for Kerail.
Mind that his lordship is not waiting
In uannrt vnn Imck " ahmitprl unmp nni
after him. This last suggestion haunt
ed Tulsi Ram.
"Suppose that the brute is then
when I return," he said to himself
"Can I hope to escape with my 1 if*
again?" There was, also, his younj
wife to consider.
He had resolved to return and tel
the postmaster that he would not rui
alone to Kerail that day, and was ac
tually retracing his steps, when re
flection showed him how such an ac
tion would cause him to fall in th<
general esteem of all; even his wif<
might privily believe what other:
would assuredly say?that he had con
jured up a phantom, and, childlike, hac
then grown afraid of it. Besides, th<
memory of the jeers he had alread;
suffered rankled within him. More
over, if he found no one willing to ac
company him, and the post was no
carried that day, would not his credi
with the government be prejudiced
His dismissal might very easily ensue
and times were hard. So he turnei
again up the trail to Kerail.
It will be remembered that the tige
had. upon the edge of the forest, turn
pd off the nath and soueht a shadei
knoll on the right, which was in ful
view from the path. As he arrived ii
the vicinity Tulsi Ram scanned th
knoll for signs of the brute, recklessl;
jogging on, with a jingling of his bells
And his sensations may be easier im
agined than described when he saw th
tiger reclining in the shad- watchini
the path to Kerail.
As the man came into line the brut
rose lazily to its feet, stretched itsel
with a hideous yawn, and slunk dowi
toward the path. Poor Tulsi Ram pre
pared for death.
But he would die fighting, he swore
and gripped his spear. Yet he con
tinned to run, for an inarticulate hop
was his that the tiger might be con
tent merely to follow him, as before.
At every step he expected to run int
the tiger?every bush, to his excitei
fancy, held the brute. With each sue
cessive disappointment the inentu
strain grew inure acute, and more thai
once he almost stopped, determined ti
challenge the issue.
It was fortunate that Tulsi Ran
I did nothing of the sort; for presently,
to his utter amazement, he realized
that the tiger was content to merely
follow him. And follow him it did to
' the stream, where it laid itself down
upon the bank and watched him cross!
Warned by his recollection of the
manner in which his story had been
received in Thakore, Tulsi Ram was
careful not to repeat it heedlessly to
the people of Kerail. His wife was filled
with awe and gratitude to the gods for
their intervention, and made haste to
fulfill her vows. The danger was past,
she assured him, nor would it threaten
again. So it was with an easy heart
that Tulsi Ram set out the next morning.
I Rut as he arrived at the stream the
runner became aware of a foreboding
' of danger. Strong, however, in the
j conviction that the gods would pre(
serve him, he continued, yet not witht
out uneasy and furtive glances backward.
Scarcely fifty paces had he gone
from the ford when once more the tiger
appeared upon the path behind
, him, and with a groan of despair the
( runner prepared to endure the horror
and uncertainty of the previous day?
I if not death.
Marvelous to relate, the procedure
of the previous morning was adhered
| to in practically every detail.
, The wits of Thakore had been
, sharpening their jeers, and Tulsi
, Ram's arrival was the signal for a
[ roar of rough chaff that goaded him
. into swearing "upon his string" that
[ the tiger had again followed him that
( morning.
The sacredness of the oath silenced
I
I outward expressions of disbelief, yet
, many were there who hailed eagerly
any suggestion that they should try to
gain a sight of such a miracle, and in
( the end they determined to go into the
( forest and to take up before dawn
i such positions as wuld command the
, path?all this out of hearing by Tulsi
! Ram, lest it might seem that they still
doubted his wonderful story.
, And the gods were good to Tulsi
' Ram. In the perverseness of things
these spectators might well have been
[ denied proof of the runner's story till
, they tired of the early rising and trouble
which seemed essential to success.
Perched upon trees, with bated breath
' the men of Thakore beheld for themselves
the marvel repeated.
In the course of time Tulsi Ram
( grew so used to being accompanied by
I the tiger that he became convinced
that the animal embodied his tutelary
spirit, and he felt uneasy when the
' exigencies of its existence caused its
absence on hunting excursions, and left
, him to run alone through the forest.
On one such occasion he had barely
forded the stream than a vicious grunt
above him, on the bank, apprised him
i of a danger he had barely time to
, avoid by learing aside.
' A boar, unable to arrest its trucu|
lent charge, splashed into the stream.
' Before it was out Tulsi Ram, holding
, his bells that they might not jingle,
I was fleeing up the path, trusting to
I make some easy tree in time. The
( boar was after him, though, giving him
no opportunity.
[ The runner, in a fleeting glance, beheld
it almost upon him. He swerved
( sharply and it rattled past, grunting.
In a flash it had turned, and the man
) again avoided its deadly rush. But
how long could he maintain the game,
especially after a seven-mile run? At
4 IIIC IICAl t'llttlgc, IUCICIUIC, lie OIUUU
I firm till the boar almost had him, then
stabbed and just escaped the fatal collision.
j Quicker still?the pain inflaming its
rage?the boar wheeled to charge
! again. As he turned the lithe, striped
f form of the tiger?Tulsi Ram's tigerflashed
out from behind a bush. The
I n?xt instant the combatants were los'
in the dust, while the air throbbed with
squeals and snarls. Petrified the runt
tier stood, watching.
Hither and thither dashed the boar,
i grazing against trees to rub off his
assailant. But the tiger's hold was
j perfect, and his talons sank cruelly into
the bristly body he held. Presently
a paw shot out and sank in a grip
around the pig's snout. Some moments
a they paused thus, straining, the one to
prevent and the other to achieve the
a dislocation he had worked for. But
' the boar was tough, and bravely sustained
the strain of the powerful leverage
exerted. Suddenly "Stripes" let
head swung to the right, but the tiger
j was quicker and darted at the exposed
a throat.
The boar ceased to grunt. In a few
seconds it was tottering. It fell, and
9 the tiger drank its blood pantingly.
Thus long Tulsi Ram waited. Then,
lest the fierceness of the battle had
changed his guardian's disposition to'
wards Iiim, he stole away, made a detour
and ran towards Thakore.
One more extraordinary incident of
these months awaits narration to com,
plete this true account of an unfortu?
nate man's experience.
r Whenever it was in the neighborhood
the tiger accompanied Tulsi Ram.
j So secure did the runner become in
1 his belief that it haunted the track
only to protect him that he had no
scruples in asking a friend to act as
substitute on a certain happy occasion
p in his family. Nor did Hari Chan fear
to meet his friend's "guardian angel."
s Alas, for their confidence! That day
the mails did not reach Thakore, nor
^ did Hari Chan return alive to Kerail.
They found him dead in the path, a
, few yards from the stream?struck
V
down from behind. But no attempt
had been made to eat him. He had
t paid the forfeit of strangeness only.
t Thereafter?needless to say? Tulsi
, Ram got no other substitute. If he
[ was ill the post accumulated, or if the
j mail was important, then half a dozen
men armed with axes and scythes escorted
the bag to Thakore and back.
But the next hot season was pro3
longed beyond recollection?even the
j forest stream dried?and the game fled
;1 to high lands. With them went Tulsi
Ram's tiger, never to return.?Wide
v nunu luaea^iuc.
I.
Walking Sticks.?Of all people pere
haps none are more fond of canes or
more skilled in their use than our fellow
citizens of Porto Rico. The walking
stick in that island would seem to
e
mark social distinctions among men
as fans do umong women. Every
Spaniard has a cane, the well to do
own several, and the gilded youth often
have a small arsenal of walking
sticks. The term "arsenal" is used
advisedly, as the Porto Rica lis, like
the Spaniards, have quite a fondness
for sword canes and dagger canes and
they make these with remarkable
0
j skill. The blades of the liner specimens
come from famous smiths in To.
ledo and other Spanish cities and are
forged from the finest steel. Some
1 are damascened and others are inlaid
a with silver and gold, some have worked
upon them the name of the owner
and others the name of a patron saint
1 ?Philadelphia Record.
Without Codrt Martial
Tt was half-past six on a winter's
evening, and four or five fellows were
sitting In the mess gathered around
the ante-room fire. They were discussing
life in general and young officers
in particular, and as they could
all speak with from eight to fifteen
years' experience the general tone
about second lieutenants was that of
kindly contempt.
"They don't get the shaping they
used to," said the senior subaltern
meditatively, pressing the bell.
"No, that they don't, one of the
others agreed; "not in these days of
unbridled license for the half-penny
press and consequent searching war
office inquiries. Why, it is more than
a regiment's life is worth to fall back
on the old methods for shaping young
blood."
"Gad! I remember when I Joined," \
the senior subaltern continued?"Gin ;
and bitters, waiter. Have another,
Major? As you were? Bring two, '
waiter"?When I joined the regiment ,
was at Plndi, and old Billy Murphy
was senior subaltern. I didn't do a
lot of bucking my first twelve months, 1
I can tell you!" ,
"Ah! that was abroad," said Major
Murphy, sipping his drink, "where !
we could just have a quiet subalterns' ,
court-martial and settle things In a
gentlemanly manner. It didn't take i
three years of successive bad confl- j
dential reports to get rid of a fellow ,
then. No, by"?he stopped short, for <
at that moment a youth of about 20
came into the mess.
The newcomer's appearance might (
be mildly described as "Jaunty." Hi? '
cap was pulled over one eye; he wore 1
a long coat slit well up the back and
partitioned off by small checks into
many colors; he had thrust both his
hands into the capacious side pockets
of his coat; from the one pocket
there protruded an evening paper,
from the other dangled a dog whip.
He edged his way through the group
by the fire and sat down on the high
leather fender facing them.
"Can you reach the bell, Flint?" he '
asked.
The senior subaltern obligingly
stretched himself and did what was
required. The youth pulled the evening
paper from his pocket.
"That cursed horse Zephlr ran
second today, and I only backed it for
a win," he said, addressing himself to
the room in general.
No one answered him, the original
conversation had stopped, and one or
two had taken up papers and were
rtading them. The senior subaltern
fidgeted.
"You rang, didn't you?" he said to
the youth, who had bent over his paper
quite regardless of the waiter
standing near him.
"Oh, yes. Any one have a drink?"
No one answered. "Hello, every one
taking the cure? Bring me a cocktail,
waiter."
A silence had fallen upon the room;
not just a lull in the conversation, but
a real awkward, embarrassing silence,
such as would have made any one not
endowed with the thickness of skin
possessed by the Bog Rat (for this
was the name by which our young
friend was known among his brother
officers) strongly suspicious of its
cause. But not he, or if he was suspicious
he was equally indifferent, for
he gayly broke the silence by reading
out the day's winners, starting prices
and jockeys followed by his own detailed
forecast for events the next
day. He then finished his drink and
left the room, taking enroute Major
Murphy's outstretched legs, over
which he stumbled.
"How long has that been with us?"
asked a man in the corner, who had
only joined the regiment from service
abroad that evening.
"Three months," said Flint, wearily.
, "Bit of a nut, isn't he? What has
he done? Won the National?"
"No; as far as we have discovered
his only connection with sport, barring
his clothes and conversation,
consists in a mongrel Dachshund,"
growled Major Murphy from behind
hlu nonor
i "You have been neglecting his edu!
cation a bit, haven't you?" said the
Man from Abroad, whose name was
Warren, to Flint.
"You are forgetting where you are
i ?ld chap," said the senior subaltern.
"You are not in a hill station in India,
1 you're within an hour's train journey
1 of a war office whose nerves are already
in an overwrought condition
from three ragging cases, ventilated
throughout the kingdom by the halfpenny
press"?
"And who will assuredly break the
olonel and the adjutant of the regiment.
to say nothing of ail the subal1
terns that are concerned in the next
one," the major chimed in.
"Hut can't you talk to him?" said
the Man from Abroad.
"Talk to him!" the senior subaltern
echoed. "I've crooned over him and
I have shrieked at him till I am
hoarse. Xo, there is more hair on his
heels than will ever come off with a
pair of clippers."
"Why not get rid of him?" Warren
asked, still puzzled.
"Try," said the senior subaltern laconically.
"Why, only last week I
held my face an inch off his ugly nozr
zle in this very room and told him to
take himself and his tyke and all that
was his from out of the regiment's
sight, and never come back again for
anything except his own funeral.
The man opposite shrugged his
shoulders.
"Oh. our Bog Rat is a bit of a sea
lawyer." Major Murphy explained.
"He knows he's got three years on
, probation before the war office can
clear him out, and that we had rather
1 whitewash the smudges he makes on
the regiment's reputation than cause
a public scandal by kicking him out.
He knows well enough how he is
nlaced. You can only do that sort of
thing when both parties to the eon
tract are agreeable to remain quiet."
It had grown late, and the group
broke up to go to their quarters and
change for dinner. The Man from
Abroad thought deeply as he dressed,
and finally pulled on his red mess
jacket with a vicious jerk that made
the three miniature war medals and
the small bronze cross "for valor"
i iangle together as though echoing his
. opinion of the breed of Bog Rats.
Three months passed, and still the
: Pog Rat stayed on. a thorn in the happy
family of brother officers. Outsiders
often wondered that his presence
was tolerated?even recognized?in
so fine a regiment of the line; those
of them, that is, who did not understand
that the very fact of his holding
I a commission in it silenced comment
while he should continue to do so?
for it is not the custom of officers to
1 speak unkindly of one another, even
o their own women folk, much less
fd Ktrnneers
However, it did happen that one af-|
ternoon when Warren was drinking
tea with the Colonel's daughter,
whom by the way. though no one
knew it. he was some day going to
marry that, exasperated more than
1 usual by a fresh freak of fancy of the
Pog Rat's, he blurted out something
about "that infernal young cub."
The Colonel's daughter had longre1
trarded the Pog Rat with "a wondering
h ite " and took advantage of War.
ren's mood to find out all about him.
"Put why do you all stand it?" she
asked after listening to a long catalogue
of his iniouities.
Warren explained to her as best he
could.
"I see." she said slowly "He doesn't
eare what you think or say. and
he knows very well what you can't
do."
"Rvactly." he sighed.
"Of course, if you?if you did anything?"
"Tlie Pog Rat would run squealing."
he replied shortly.
"And the squeals would attract at- :
tention." she added. i
"Of course. If we could only stifle '
the squealing." said the Man from
Abroad longingly, "it would be the
only kind ot resistance the Bog Rat
would make.
"He wouldn't stay for anything if ,
he knew It was really coming?" she
asked.
"No, the devil of it is he knows it I
really can't," he answered.
It was the night of the regimental
ball. A kaleidoscope of gayly oloreU
people seethed about the doors of <
tne gymnasium engrossed in the absorbing
topic of who should dance (
with whom. The Colonel's daughter
was looking radiant; beside her stood '
the Man from Abroad, scowling. I
"Puppy," he muttered to himself; |
then to her: "I can't understand how ,
you could do It?"
"Well, he asked for them," she an- '
swered.
"Deuced cheek," the man growled. ,
"You see, when he camo up to
know if I had any dances left 1 told 1
him 1 had and which they were?6,
14, 15?and he asked for the lot,"
she explained sweetly.
This account was quite true but a
little misleading. The Bog Rat had
come up and asked her if she had a
dance left, and she had replied, "No.
6." While he was putting this down
she added, "I also have No. 14 and
No. 15," a hint which even a Bog Rat
could not be rude enough to ignore,
though, coming as It did from the
Colonel's daughter, It was in the nature
of a compliment which he readily
attributed to the effect of his own
irresistible charms.
The band struck up the sixth tune
of the evening, the Bog Rat rose
languidly from his chair In the smoking
room, and saying, "Well, I suppose
I must go and do my duty,"
strolled out.
The Man from Abroad, who was
poking the Are, broke the particular
piece of coal he was engaged upon
Into several small fragments with
one well-aimed prod; he then sat
down.
As a matter of fact, the Bog Rat's
duties for the evening were quite
light. Nobody had seemed to have any
dances left when he asked them, so
that he was really looking forward to
dancing with the Colonel's daughter.
At any rate, he thought, she knew
how to pick her partners; she had
Viim rlonooo llo
to himself as he remembered the way
in which she had told him the numbers?obviously
she had meant him to
ask for them.
The Bog Rat came back to the
smokingroom after the sixth dance
like a Roman emperor entering the
capital after a conquest. The Colonel's
daughter was undoubtedly in
love with him; she had been quite unable
to conceal it. What guardian
angel prevented him from announcing
the fact, heaven knows (Warren
was sitting>smoklng in a corner;) it
must have been some unwonted sense
of chivalry, for his normal course under
the circumstances would have
been to give to the room in general
an intimate account of the different
symptoms from which he had deduced
his good fortune.
The fifteenth dance came slowly
and luxuriously to a close, and the
Bog Rat led his blushing captive from
the room (the Colonel's daughter's
color had been gradually rising since
the beginning of the fourteenth
dance.)
"We'll go to a nice quiet spot, eh?"
the Bog Rat whispered to her as they
left the room.
She just perceptibly inclined her
head.
He took her to a sofa that had been
put in a small dressing room, a delightfully
secluded sitting out place
for two. They sat down.
"Not much wrong with this, eh?"
he said, drawing close to her. ,
TVia + A ( A MA. '
i lie V/Uiwnci a uauguici uiu nui i cply;
it was some while since she had j
last spoken. The Bog Rat turned |
toward her and looked at her with a ,
melting eye. Enough light came (
through the half open door for him ,
to see her clearly. She was gazing at <
the ground, her hands folded in her
lap; she had grown a little pale. ,
He was enchanted by her discompo- (
sure. As he put it to himself, he rather
liked them when they took It
this way; then he thought he would (
help her out a bit.
"Just one," he said, suddenly put- ,
ting his arm around her waist and
leaning forward till his Hps nearly
brushed her cheek. I
"Oh!" cried the Colonel's daughter, |
springing to her feet, turning round (
on him, her eyes blazing with fury. ,
"Oh, how dare you?"
His past experience of the feminine ]
nature was not of much use to him ,
on this occasion, but it was all he had ]
to go by, so he acted on It. He deft- ,
ly kicked the door to with his foot, at
the same time catching her by the |
wrists. I
"Please!" he entreated. "Come, ]
come, you must! I won't let you go," ,
he continued with an air of would-be ,
playful banter. I
She kept perfectly calm, merely |
stiffening the imprisoned arms.
"It may interest you to know," she .
said, "that I am engaged to marry (
Capt. Warren." I
Her captor let go her wrists and ,
stepped back, or, to be quite accurate,
leaped back to the door, from which |
point he regarded her, utterly at a
loss for words with which to express ;
his feelings. Then, because he was a |
Bog Rat, he stammered out what .
came to him most naturally:
"You?you won't tell him?" he ,
Dleaded. ,
The Colonel's daughter gazed at .
him frigidly. 1
"I keep nothing from him," she
said.
The Bog Rat squirmed. j
"Especially in this case," she con- \
tinued; "how could I, with you in the ,
same regiment; it would haunt me all i
my life."
She scrutinized him calmly. He had j
opened the door, letting the light fall ;
upon his face. He was not a pretty <
sight. j
"Possibly." she said, half relent- <
ing?"possibly, if I was never going |
to see you again."
"Perhaps you won't," whimpered ,
the Bog Rat. ]
"Well, in that case it might be dif- j
'erent," she concluded, as she left i
him. i
That night he locked himself into i
his room and pondered. There were <
all sorts of stories about the Man <
from Abroad when he was roused: i
they said something or other had up- i
set him when he got the V. C.
By the morning the Bog Rat had (
evidently come to a definite conelu- i
sion, tor he went down to the Ordeily i
Room with two applications: one ,va* (
for leave to resign his commission. (
the other was for a month's leave <
pending acceptance of his resignation, i
The Colonel was surprised out ]
granted both requests without q'tes- t
tion.
The Man from Abroad very rarely ]
speaks to the Colonel's daughter of *
the Bog Rat. When he does sh? i
smiles quietly to herself: she keeps t
her promise and does not tell him; i
for though they have been married ?
some while now. he is still too fond
of her to be able to understand the
joke.?Truth.
Stopping the King's Mail.
The great steamship wavered; the
screw revolved more slowly, and
gradually ceased to turn. There is
something uncannily disquieting
about an unmoving ship in the middle
of the ocean; and, for a few moments.
there were fearsome rumors
among the second and third cabin
passengers. The steerage, being nearer
to the heart of things, understood
what was going on.
The deck stewards went about explaining:
and us they explained, the
passengers moved to points of vantage.
Then all was very quiet?quiet
even for the sea.
A man whom the first cabin passengers
knew to be a famous bishop
stepped down from among them. A
heavy, clumsy, grewsome bundle was
brought up. Over it the bishop, with
bared and reverent head, intoned the
service for those who are buried at
sea. As the bishop spoke the words
of committal, "We therefore commit
his body to the deep, to be turned
into corruption, looking for the
resurrection of the body, when the
sea shall give up its dead." a door in
the bulwarks was lifted for the bundle.
and let down again; the ship began
to move, sluggishly at lirst, then
smoothly as was its wont: the passengers
went back to their games,
their books, and their love-making.
The greatest event in the dead
stoker's career was over. He had
stopped his majesty's mail.?Chicago
Tribune.
JUiscfUancous Sfatlini).
MOUNTAIN GIRLS SHOT TO KILL.
Daughters of Kentucky Moonshiner
Gave Battle to and Defeated a Revenue
Posse.
When the circuit court convenes In
June to hear the pleadings of such offenders
against the law of the sovereign
state of Kentucky as Pike county
lias produced 'tween sessions, two girls
rrom the mountains will be put on
trial for murder. They are Fannie
Tackitt, aged 15, and Bettie Tackitt,
aged 18?sisters.
A new-made mound In the burying
ground back of town marks the place
ivhere lies the body of Charlie Smith
?Charlie, the deputy marshal?with
a bullet still embedded in the muscles
jf his heart. The sisters are charged
ivith killing him. One or both may
idmlt it, which is different from confessing,
and one or both will tell the
story of a tragedy such as even Pike
lounty, schooled alike to civic and official
quick trigger, has not seen since
he last feudist slid from his horse in
:he shadows and died like a snake in
the first warmth of the dawn.
There is no harm in being strictly
fair to the Tackltts. Revenue nostrils
which catch the scent of stewing
mash, even as a cow finds a salt-lick,
Jiscovered a still on the side hill in
which corn was being converted into
whisky in violation of at least seven
pages of government statutes, and of
course it had to be raided. The Job
was assigned to Deputy Marshal J.
Mart Potter, who picked Levi Smallwood
and Charlie Smith for such
moral support and physical participation
as the occasion might require?a
rio of men with nerve. They crept up
he gulch while the scrub oak and wa!luts
were still dripping with dew, and
tame to a mountainside clearing at
midday.
"Uncle George" Tackitt, head of the
family, was away ? unimportant
where. Charlie Tackitt, who learned
flow to coil a worm for a still and vaporize
spirits before he could bound
Kentucky, was earrvine watpr from
the spring, and in the direction of the
mashtub. Mother Tackitt was in the
kitchen, Fannie sat in a swing screechng
a song about some one who loves
me ever true, and Bettie was busy
ivorking a yellow cupid on a red tidy
jn the porch.
In an instant this domestic scene
shifted. Charlie Tackitt, down In the
?ulch, cried, "They're coming!" and
the three revenue men emerged from
the roadside brush. Two of them
grappled with young Tackitt, who at
20 was as strong as a bull, and as unmoved
by fear as the mountain pines.
Three to one is a losing game and the
nippers were snapped on Tackitt's
wrists.
Smallwood and Smith ran around to
the rear of the house, expecting to
capture Uncle George. They came
face to face with Mother Tackitt, who
was carrying an armful of stove-size
wood in from the shed. They laid a
hand on her and she defended herself
well and ably with a bullet. Much
occurs in an incredibly short time on
occasions of this kind?action is swift,
Intermission brief. There was a pistol
shot and Mother Tackitt's hair became
crimson. A bullet had coursed
ilong her temple, Just breaking the
ikin. Then another bored Its way into
her shoulder, and she sank'on the
threshold.
Kentucky history wouldn't be what
It is if more than two shots were to
be fired by one side In a controversy
without a formal reply in kind. Pike
county folk know the rules?men and
women alike?and, all things considered,
it's well that they do.
The next puff of smoke came from a
rifle, the muzzle of which showed unJer
the kitchen window sash. Fannie
Tackitt's finger pressed the trigger.
The bullet opened an airhole in the
crown of Deputy Smallwood's hat, one
inch above his thinking machinery,
which he ducked naturally, knowing
the revenue method.
Charlie Tackitt had been thrown on
the grass by the deputies after he had
been handcuffed. They expected him
to lie there, but he didn't. As the
conflict became warmer the deputies,
recognizing in him a noncombatant,
massed for the larger struggle. Then
Charlie crawled to a protected place
behind a rock where he could make
iigns to his fighting party.
Two shots cut finger-size holes in
the window pane, and Smallwood
backing away toward a tree, was reloading
when a bullet from another
li'inilnur onto hia loft o**m u/hlnh
supported his rifle. He knotted his
handkerchief above the wound and returned
the flre.
Mother Tackitt was at this moment
at the back door yelling for help.
Charlie pointed with double Angers In
the direction wher a good aim would
;ount. Deputy Smuh was the target.
Bettie Tackett now took her place at
the porthole in the fortress, armed
with a late model shotgun. She fired
at Deputy Smith, but the window falling
threw the gun out of line and the
shot simply riddled his loose blouse.
Mother Tackitt had by this time
crawled Into the house. Her hand was
gashed in a half dozen places. Marshal
Smith had beaten her with the
butt of his revolver, she moaned.
There was no time to dress her
wounds, no time to carry her to bed.
*he lay upon the floor, feebly trying
lo stop the flow of blood with the
crumpled folds of her apron. And the
fight went on.
All three of the deputies now had
positions affording some protection.
Marshal Potter was at the edge of the
winter cut of cordwood. Smith with
i tree between him and danger, and
Smallwood, from a point to the left,
blazed away over a stump.
There's no earthly use of being a
mountaineer if you haven't guns aplenty
and no use having guns without
immunition. Pike county knows the
rule, too. The Tackitt home was an
arsenal. Three shots to the minute
was the average of fire from both
tides. Smallwood was not in good
thape, the deep wound in his arm
trickling blood at his finger tips each
time he raised his gun.
Growing bitter as the fight advanced,
Bettie Tackitt threw open the door
to the end that her aim might be direct.
A bullet from without passed
iver her shoulder and plunked into the
rupboard. Bettie's gun was at her
shoulder in an instant. Before Smallwood
could lower his weapon she
pressed the trigger. The shot went
rue. It tore the finger from the hand
that held the gun. A man twice shot
Pas the status of a dead man, so far
is warfare effectiveness is concerned,
to Small wood's rifle became silent and
he ficht was now two to two men
igainst women?and one wounded on
?ach side, a man and a woman.
And so. for a full half hour, shots
'rom the open were answered by shot
Vom the house. Marshal Smith was
ncllned to belittle the bravery of the
mountainside garrison. He wanted to
:ake It by storm. Creeping out from
lis sheltered spot he advanced with
fun muzzle moving like a side-playng
pendulum to cover both windows,
ffe saw a girl at one window and momentarily
forgot the other. A spit of
ire was the answer. Smith dropped
tnd never moved.
Marshal Mart Potter didn't wait for
hat. He hurried down the gulch and
he fight was over. Later in the day,
vhen the shadows had settled on the
mountain, he came back for Charlie
tmlth, who was lying open-eyed and
jnconscious where he had fallen. Poter
dragged him on a pine bough along
he bank of the laughing brook and
nto valley civilization. The country
loctor did what he could for Smith,
vhich was nothing at all. The rifle
tullet had cut into the muscles of his
leart and there was no hope and no
leed of drugs or advice. The riddled
leart pumped on slower and slower
or four days, and stopped happily on
tunday.
Mountain folk have an abiding hared
for "revenues" and. strange to
lay, a sort of respect for peace-officers
>f a county's choosing. Deputy Sheriff
Xsborne and a posse went later on to
he Tackitt home. Charlie Tackltt was
tot there. A sharp tile had cut the
it eel hands that held his wrists torether
and he had become a fugitive.
>ut the girls were there and ready to
five themselves up. They were taken
o Pikevllle and arraigned before
'ounty Judge Fud. The town and
ountryside turned out to see them;
some to applaud, none to condemn;
for Pike county admires bravery and
has rude respect for women.
The girls were bound in bonds of
12,000 each for appearance at court.
Freeholders stood ready to become
surety for them. The girls rode out
of town through thin lines of interested
folk and back to their home hanging
on the clifTside. There, in the very
setting of the tragedy, your correspondent
saw and talked with them.
Fannte, whose 16th birthday will
come on June 12, while she is on trial
for her life, is a mere child, buoyant
and happy. She doesn't quite understand
how the law views what she is
accused of doing. Possibly she doesn't
care.
"1 don't suppose any one could
much blame us for what we did," she
said, sitting in the swing and with little
toe kicks swaying back and forth.
"We fought for our poor old mother,
who is lying In the house now, and we
fought bravely, as girls or their mother
should under the circumstances.
The revenues treated her brutally.
They beat her. Think of It! Men
beating a poor old woman. Why
don't the revenues deal with men? We
want to live under the law, like other
people, but if the law puts us In prison
I don't know what we might do
next."
And these things she said as a girl
might say them?Innocently and without
boldness or bravado.
"Because I could shoot and shoot to
the spot," she continued as she lead
the way to the house, "I lost ho time.
Some one had to come to mother's
rescue. I was" nearest. We killed
the officer; that we don't deny. We
will outlive and outgrow the charge
that the Tackltt girls are murderers."
The elder girl was spreading the table
for dinner, and your correspondent
was asked to sit by. He did, with
a girl at each elbow. The meal was
plain, well cooked, well served. After
dinner the girls went Into the open
and the photographer posed them just
as they were. In simple frocks.
Marshal Potter says he was lucky
to escape with his life at the mountain
fight.
"I escaped without a scratch," he
said, "but shots flew thick and fast
around my head, and more than once
It seemed that I would have to retreat.
nuwcvci, aiici uiy ucat iiiu.ii, v^ua.i uc
Smith, was shot down I thought li
best to get out. I did so, and after
everything calmed down I went back
and carried the wounded man to the
home of a physician and had hia
wounds dressed. Smallwood was hurt
but little. Charlie Tackitt escaped,
and I have not heard from him since.
The Tackitt girls are certainly brave."
J. Mart Potter is considered one ol
the bravest officers In the south. For
seven years he has been in the service
of Uncle Sam, and more than twice he
has shot off moonshiners who fired
upon him. Today he is baffled at the
thought of Kentucky's brave girlhood;
of having to fight them in battle aa
he did the Tackitt girls?and yet he
says, as almost every one else, he admires
the bravery of the Tackitt sisters.
"I will never stand and fight them
again," said Potter to your correspondent.
He meant it. too. It is said thai
Uncle Sam will offer a liberal reward
for the arrest of Charlie Tackitt,
brother of the Tackitt sisters, who if
yet at large. Potter says he will not
want the reward.?Sergent (Ky) Cor
New York World.
CUTTING MAHOGANY.
Hard Work to Find, Fell and Transport
the Tree Trunks.
In Mexico, Honduras and Central
America the contractor gives )5 for a
mahogany tree. This seems cheap, but
it Is the expense of getting it out, saya
a writer in the New Orleans TimesDemocrat,
that makes mahogany ar
expensive lumber, he tree stands deep
in the forest in the midst of an almost
impenetrable Jungle. There are no
groves. The trees are scattered, perhaps
not more than two to an acre,
and it may be that there is no water
course at hand on which the logs can
be floated to port.
The tree has to be found by the
"hunter," whose business it is to roam
through the forest In search of mahogany
trees and to blaze a way to them,
so that they may be found again.
Then the workmen must cut their laborious
way to the tree, using for the
purpose the machete, which is both the
ax and the weapon of the American
tropics, and in time the men reach the
tree.
It is a beautiful growth, tall and
shapely, with the lowest branches at
least sixty feet from the ground.
At the bottom is a huge swelling, after
the manner of the cypress. The
tree has to be cut above it. six or
eight feet from the roots.
The first work to be done is the
building of a platform around the
trunk, so that the cutters can stand
upon it and wield their axes, but the
work is slow and laborious. Nevertheless
in due course the monarch
comes crashing down through the
thick growth around it.
The workmen trim oft the limbs, cut
the trunk into suitable lengths and
manage to get them hauled and rolled
to the nearest creek. There they must
await the floods of the rainy season,
which will lift thorn and carry ihe-r.
down stream and on to the ocean port,
Inora a ro nilpH nn thp hPflPh
to wait for a vessel. When it comes
they are rolled back into the water and
rafted and pulled out to the vessel's
side, always a dangerous undertaking,
for the water is usually rough.
When the logs are once beside the
vessel the derricks are put to work
and the logs lifted over the side, one
by one, and lowered with much difficulty
into the hold.
Ten million feet a year come into
New Orleans and are partly manufactured
there. The saws in the mahogany
mills of Louisiana rub day and
night In winter. During the twentyfour
hours 60,000 feet of lumber are
cut by some of the mills.
There is no such thing as bringing
the logs in ballast. They compose
the ship's entire cargo, and the average
is about twenty cargoes a year. A
great many ships are engaged in the
enterprise.
? The coronation of King George V.
of England, took place on June 22.
.t.na MFontlntr t r\ molfP thp Qnl
emn and impressive ceremony one long
to be remembered, not only throughout
the country, but in every corner of the
great empire. The coronation passed
off without untoward Incident, in
marked contrast with the coronation
of King Edward, nine years ago, when
the king was weak and suffering from
a recent operation and the archbishop
of Canterbury was so weak from old
age that he placed the crown on the
king's head backward and afterward
fainted. Never before In history has
the imperial note been struck in such
a magnificent manner. Its imperial aspect
undoubtedly has been the most
remarkable feature of the coronation.
George V. more than any sovereign of
the past, represents the embodiment of
the imperial idea. He only of all his
predecessors on the throne traveled
through his vast dominions, and thus
acquainted himself at first hand with
the needs and aspirations of all the
various peoples of the empire. By
happy coincidence the imperial conference
sitting at the time of the coronation,
enabled all the representatives
of the king's over-seas dominions to
participate in the significant ceremony
at the opening of the new reign, which,
if the hopes of those attending the
conference bear fruit, will bring all
parts of the empire into closer and
more intimate relations. The elaborate
ceremonies, which are the aftermath
of the coronation, will continue
until some time in August.
WAYS OF THE SHOW ANIMALS.
Each Has Its Own Peculiar Tempsramsnt.
Ellen Velvln, who by virtue of her
vocation as wild animal trainer knows
a lot about beasts of various kinds,
says that no two, even of the same
species, are alike.
"Study four lions, tigers, bears or
elephants." she says in McClure's,
"and you will find that each has its
own ways, Its own moods, its own
temperament. Lions are peculiarly
unlike one another in disposition.
"It Is generally acknowledged that
a very quiet tiger, one that does not
growl or snarl, is far more dangerous
than one that Is perpetually showIno
alfftiu s\f (II lomnAs A st ..11 *?
>116 n?6"? in iciiijici. n, .niaj inifi uger
gives warning; a quiet one will
steal up behind Its keeper or trainer,
flat on Its stomach, and shou'd the
trainer turn round, It will stop dead
and appear to be looking off into the
distance!
"There Is, for Instance, or was a
few years ago, a celebrated tiger purchased
from the King of Oudh for
the Zoological Gardens at Belle Vue,
Manchester, England, who toward his
keepers maintained a very quiet and
docile demeanor. And yet, this was
the great "fighting tiger" who was
never happy unless he was fighting,
and who always appeared relieved
and refreshed after he had had an
opportunity of almost killing another
of his species.
"Jaguars are more noted for their
deceit, craftiness and treachery than
all the other treacherous members of
the cat tribe. Slyness, stealth and
cunning are written In the quick, keen
glances from their wicked eyes; In
their soft, llghtnlng-IIke movements,
' and above all in their moments of
deadly quiet.
"The most deceitful of all his de
celtful kind Is Lopez, the well known
Jaguar In the New York Zoological
| Park, who has been living there now
i for eight years. A well grown, finely
: developed animal, he is noted for his
beauty of form and coloring, his grace
or movement ana nis villainous per'
sonallty.
! "Elephants too have their lndivtd1
ual peculiarities. In the Barnum &
i Bailey show there was a short time
i ago, an extremely clever performing
I elephant named Sultan. His chief
> act was sitting on a stool with uplifted
forepaws, on each of which sat a
i little dog while a third dog sat on
> his head. When performing Sultan
was the most gentle and docile of ele'
phants, but downstairs in his stables
he had his whims and moods,
i "He greatly disliked to have any
stranger come to his stables. One
day when in order to propitiate him
> he had got a pail of some good warm
i mash, and I stood watching him; he
> stopped eating for a moment, looked
t at me with his tiny eyes and then
deliberately threw it all over me.
"In one of the large animal shows
It became evident one evening that
the chief performing elephant was too
sick to do his act This meant that
no elephant performance could be
given, since he led the others. The
trainers gave him a dose of hot whlsI
ky and onions, a favorite medicine
with elephants.
k "He sucked up a large pailful of
: this mixture, and evidently wanted
i more. He was so much better In an
hour that he was able to perform as
usual. But after this he would never
i give a performance without his dose
> of hot whisky and onions. No threats
or persuasions could induce him to go
on without It.
' "Supplying the elephant with a
pailful of whisky twice a day proved
, to be so expensive that the proprietor
. finally had to cut his act out altogether.
In his quarters, when he was
1 not called upon to go into the arena,
the elephant never appeared to think
qf the whisky.
caouona tut; U51 j iciupvicu, ? 1
clous and treacherous animals, and
very few show much affection even
, for those who have cared for them for
years. Very little has ever been done
In the way of training them; trainers
generally fight shy of them.
> "Bears are particularly interesting
1 animals to study. Most bears are
very conceited, and this Is the reason,
1 I believe, that they respond so well to
1 training and make such excellent performers
when trained. One little bear
I knew was taught to climb a ladder,
pull a string which let loose an American
flag, and then Jump to the floor
and turn a somersault. But the public
did not know that in loosening the
flag he also let loose a lump of sugar.
"In time the proprietor of the show
was obliged to cut out that act because
the little bear would never wait
( for his signal. The minute he entered
the arena he would go straight up
1 the ladder, pull the string and get the
I sugar, and since this was arranged as
( the climax of the entire bear act he
spoiled the whole thing. Punishments
had no effect on him, he did not even
1 resent them; he went straight after
1 the sugar. Even after his act was
taken away from him he would always
willingly do any tricks that
necessitated the climbing of a ladder.
I "One of the most interesting bears
I T have ever seen is Silver King, the
huge polar bear that was captured by
Paul J. Rainey and presented by him
1 to the New York Zoological Park in
September, 1910. His capture took
place at Kane Basin In July, 1910,
and he Is. I believe, the first bear that
1 has ever been caught by ropes or lasi
sos and the largest polar bear ever
I kept In captivity. He weighs more
' than 880 pounds.
"For strength, endurance and savageness
Silver King Is not to be
equalled. From the moment of his
, capture to the present time he has
always been furious, either In wildest
rage and despair or sunk In sullen,
morose resentment against everything
and everybody. No coaxing with
dainties, no kindness has any effect
on him."?New York Sun.
Postal Business Methods.?The
press bureau of the postofflce department
has been working overtime lately,
in throwing bouquets at Postmaster
General Hitchcock and his assistants
in conducting the affairs of the department.
It gravely announces that
the postal deficit, which heretofore has
existed in the department, has been
wiped out, owing to the improved business
methods inaugurated by Mr.
Hitchcock. These methods consist of
appropriating 3,800 mail apartment
cars, furnished by the short line railroads
at their own expense, without
the government paying a penny for
their use or maintenance; in compelling
these same roads to deliver the
mail from the cars to the postoffices
free, a service that would cost the
postofflce department, according to
their own statement, over four and
one quarter million dollars annually,
If the government employed contractors
to do the work, also in computing
the weight of the mail to determine
the compensation for four years, by
dividing the weight carried six days in
a week by seven, thus arbitrarily reducing,
by one-seventh, the amount
the railroads are entitled to receive.
In verification of these statements. It
is only necessary to consult the annual
report of Mr. Hitchcock for tne year
1910. This report shows that while
the revenue of the postofflce department
increased $20,566,274 for the year
ioin nimr Ola vpnr 1909. the railroads
of the country, which performed the
hulk of the service essential to enable
the government to earn the increased
revenue, received $352,759.74 less In
1910 than in 1909. A further perusal
of the report shows that Mr. Hitchcock
increased the payroll of his employees
over seven million dollars for
the year 1910. In these circumstances,
with the revenue of the postofflce department
increasing by leaps and
bounds, at the rate of $20,000,000 per
year, with the Just pay due railroads
hithheld, little wonder is there that
Mr. Hitchcock is enable to wipe out a
five million dollar deficit, increase the
pay for figurehead postmasters, and
equip his offices with extravagant and
high-priced furnishings.