AN EPISODE OF THE INDIAN MUTINY. [To THE EDITCIR or
THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIE,—As your Poetry Editor I often receive interesting and curious letters from poets. Here is an extract from one which has just come from India, and which may interest your readers as much as it did me. Although it refers to a well-known incident, it is a vivid piece of first-hand evidence.—I am, " I must apologise for this intrusion on your privacy, but I have ventured to publish a little volume of verse, and the amiability of your critiques on poetry in the Spectator has encouraged Me to approach you for a criticism on my little book. I think, however, that I shall have a better chance of attracting your notice were I to succeed in interesting the critic in the author. . . . I was with my parents in the siege of Lucknow during the Mutiny. . . .
Among the most extraordinary incidents in the siege were the raids on the Royal treasures of Oude. These, curiously enough, had been sent for safe custody to the Residency, the fortress being besieged. They had been hurriedly packed in wooden boxes. The temptation was too much for Mr. Thomas Atkins and the predatory Sikh. The bayonet was called into action : the woodwork gave way and out poured jewelled rings, ropes of pearls, barbaric splendour and gold. These jewels were hawked about the garrison, the currency being bottles of brandy. The secret, however, could not be kept long from the Chief, and he fulminated dire penalties both against the thief and the receiver of the stolen property.. Many tempting offers were made to my mother. But my father put his stern reto on the deal. 'My dear,' he said, 'if we have the luck to escape with our lives, I do not wish to have my future career in the service blasted _by being detected as the receiver of stolen property.' But our neighbours the X's had no such qualms. Mrs.Idealt largely in this ware, her speciality being rings heavy with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Her collec- tion was more than three pounds in weight. She used to carry them about in a cotton bag, and often showed them to my mother. But one had to be on the alert, as the Chief used to order raids into the quarters, sudden and disconcerting, in search of the stolen jewels. One morning Mrs. X rushed Into my mother's room.- The search-party,' she said, ' is coming. I have not the time to hide the jewels. Please hide them for me in your room. They will be safe here, as you are not suspected.' Naturally enough my mother objected, and while they were disputing the search-party was seen approach= leg. Mrs. X; in her despair, hung the cotton bag on a nail in the wall which was complaining of having nothing to do. The search of my mother's room was made. Boxes, bedding, and every nook and cranny was examined. The nail did not attract attention to itself by giggling like a child in a secret. The cotton bag was accordingly not examined, and Mrs. X escaped. This is fact, but the fiction you will find in -Edgar Allan POC'S "Purloined Letter." The X's, however, did not prosper, as a dishonest friend deprived them of their board
• nd complain they could not, as they dare not disclose in court the secret of the acquisition.
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