Show M j u w f h IF v SLEUTHING OF NICKY FIDGE JohnDod1Reid I S r h It was an accepted thing not only throughout his company but the whole regiment at large that Nicky Fldge generally got there By the officers and noncoma he was regarded re-garded with a certitln Interested curiosity cu-riosity ns In some sort a phenomenon I while by his comrades of the ranks awe was substituted for or rather I added to tho Interested curiosity as one who If not actually In league with the devil had at least a nodding acquaintance ac-quaintance with that potentate Knock me funny ejaculated one I fellow one day as he camo Into the bungalow with eyes like saucers tt I dont think that there Nicky Fldgo oughter he locked up at onct Theyve no call to let one like 1m go mozzyln1 roundo aint uman bllmy It e Is What e bin up to now Ted 1 came the collective question i Well you know that Burmese ton 2 as goes rid In round on the white orse f Mm as IB a native magistrate W t Yes Well It seems as the other day e reported Nicky tor laughln at Mm an I I Nicky got r Jawln from the Colonel I I over It The yellow pathens as full ov dignity as e Is ov fat an the orse Is i as bad as e Is Msself Well outen revenge Nicky tok a bet with Dab Pratt that the next time the pair on od make dance em came up ero em r bally ornplpe In the river goln ome Well you may believe me or not na you like boys but on my Immortal soul cs done IU No Oct out When 7 Not an hour agone A lot ov us were on the bunk above the river when we seed Ms nibs the Burman come rid In down slow an solemn with Ms nose In UK air Aa you know It aint much ov a river nothing like the one It runs Into only atrclches ov fooldeep water with sandy spits between cm Well the orse went across the first stretch as It If It was goln to a bloomln funeral fu-neral but soons It got on the first sandspit It stopped an began to carryon carry-on lee It was trying to lance a Igh lund fling but ad Rot too drunk to remember the steps The bloke on Its back looked struck all ov a cap for a I bit an then begun to larrup It with J a slick but that only made It worse I never seed anythln like the oly circus cir-cus they made across that spit danc In buckln squealln yellin an welt J IntIll by the time they got Into the middle ov the nexl stretch ov water the Burman was nngin on to the brutes neck an ollerln murder with the water splatlcrln yards igh over 1 the pair ov em Us blokes on the bank was runnln down to elp Mm I when the orse emptied Mm Into the r river an was cuter sight In five mln Its We got the old bloke out an es away ome in a ricksha E says as ow a devil as entered Into the ore an ow ell ave It killed I think mrself as cs rightonly the devils name is Nicky Fldge 3 His listeners were In full accord with the speaker and the mystery of the l tiling impressed them greatly Yet It WAS not much of a mystery after nil na would have been made plain had the horse been examined by any competent com-petent authority Ihutcad oC being dispatched dis-patched out of hand as Il subsequent ly was While Is nibs wan engaged In the cantonment Nicky hart nurreptl lloutly rubbed powdered quicklime Into all the beaata ICRH and of course as soon us the wator got In touch with them they took fireno to sptak that was all there was In It l was a cruel thing to do but tho cruel oC an act was not of Itself sufficient suf-ficient to deter Nicky Fldgo from committing com-mitting It although to do him Justice Jus-tice ho never took such n course If any other way wart open Tho story of his bet with Dab Pratt spread among the privates and filtering filter-ing through the lower ranks of the noncorns finally came to the car oC the Bcrgcantmajor That worthy thought the matter worth mentioning to the Adjutant with tho result that one fine morning Nicky found himself up at the green table I He did not deny making tho bet with Dab Pratt and some others In evidence that would have been useless use-less 1 But what he did do was to maintain main-tain r strictly dont know attitude as to what caused the circus In this river nor from that altitude was It possible to move him Well my man there Is no evidence against you so I suppose youll have to get off said the Colonel at lhst But I may ns well tell you that I cant take your word for II that you dont know all about thin I believe you do know that you brought the I thing about though how the mischief I you did It beats me Its a lucky thing for you that the carcass of the horse was thrown to the alligators In the main river ns If wo had been able to get at It It might have infltircd you a courtmartial You may go and next time you feel like playing the wizard see If you cant do It to pome useful purpose I youd go up to Jhnrl and settle the sentry killer It would suit you better than monkeying round here The lust sentence was uttered more as l grim joko than anything else but to the surprise of all present It was not PO received There was positive face and eagerness In the prisoners nee voice ns with a quick salute he answered an-swered Thats wot Id like sir morn anything any-thing l youll send me up to Jhari Ill settle that Job for good There was no mistaking the mans earnestness and the sincerity of his I offer and for 1 moment there was silence I si-lence Then with a sort of brusque j I Irony the Colonel said You krjow how to form a high opinion opin-ion of yourself at any rate Are you aware that mnch more clever men than you can honestly profers to be have been baffled by this business already tr dunno what other folk ave done sir was the quiet answer but if you let me try to lay out this sentry klller or killers If theres more than oneIll do ltLli get there Ive half a mind to give you a trial Ive 1 the Colonel said slowly and keeping Ills keen eyes fixed on the prisoners face From what Ive heard of you youre bad to beat and havo your OM ways of going about things What do you say gentlemen 7 to tho aHem bled officers Shall wo glvo him n chance The answer WUH C general assent Very well you can go up and nee what you can do said the Colonel addressing ad-dressing Nicky I you can stop tho hellish work that going Qn at Jhari I cnn give you my word that tho nor vlco will not be forgotten But remember re-member you tuko your life In your own hands my lad and uro more likely like-ly I to lose It than not Oh thatH all right sir replied the soldier almost aa It seemed cheerfully cheer-fully There wouldnt bo any fun in tho Job only for that Early next morning Nicky with Dab Pratt for companion and with a ser lcr geunt named Ferial In charge of both net out for Jhari This Htatlon thirty miles distant from their starling point was far within the old Burmese frontier fron-tier line and lay In the heart of n wild Jungle country the Inhabitants of which had never taken kindly to British rule but had remained from the first In n state of chronic disaffection disaffec-tion Dacolty was rife all round It and the Frontier horse Junjabl regiment regi-ment and R A F battery forming Its garrison had and were having n lively time even with the native police to help them This state of matters hat been bad enough but about a month or so before be-fore the date of this story n new complication com-plication had appeared dwarfing all that gone before Certain sentries for the most part men of the Punjabis had been found dead on their posts The murders had been confined to no one guard or place but were widely scattered scat-tered round the station and had Invariably Inva-riably talcen place at night Seven men In all had been killed and It was remarkable that the cause of death in each case was the snme dislocation of the neck Another noteworthy clrcum stance was that in no one Instance were the arms of the dead soldiers carried ofta thing that effectually precluded the Idea of the slaughter being the work of dncolti as In their case possession pos-session of the arms would have constituted consti-tuted almost the sole motive for the murders No sound or alarm had at any time been given nor were the utmost ut-most efforts o the keenest wits in the garrison European and native alike able to solve the mystery any more I than their most elaborate precautions scorned to avail to stop the murders i So to this hotbed o suspicion fear and rage Sergt Farral and his two men rode toward sunset making straight for tIme quarters of Col Dan vcrs who on reading the letter which the sergeant presented glanced up with a hopeful look replacing on his face the worried expression It had hitherto hith-erto worn Which of you two Is Private Fldgc he asked I am sir said Nicky saluting The Colonel looked at him earnestly an Inspection that seemed productive of satisfactory results for the hopeful look grew stronger Well my lad youd better see the Commandant at once he said and to self save time Ill take you to him my Better not sir put In Nicky as the speaker rose from his chair The sergeant and Dab Pratt gave a sort of collective gasp while the Colonel Colo-nel turned on the bold speaker n face haughty surprise Its this way Hlr went on Kicky before the Colonel l could speak If a single native In or about this ere garrison gar-rison gets a notion ov wot weve come for the games up The only chance Is ito i-to let em spec nothingan for a gentleman I gen-tleman like you to bo Been walkln with tho likes ov uswell them Bur mesa aint fools sir Youre perfectly right my lad and I wao wrong said tho Colonel frankly frank-ly l Ill send for the Commandant und he rang a bell while youro waiting youd better have something to eat entB tho time the three soldiers had I finished their something the Commandant Com-mandant had arrived and they were summoned back to tho Colonels room Like the latter the Commandant seemed to think favorably of the new project He auked D mimber ot leading lead-ing questions ending up with Now my lad 1 you want to say anything Ie or ask anything out with Well sir have the sentries been doubled Theyve been doubled for a week An as anybody bin killed since then thenYes Yes two men On the same post No on two separate posts In each case the man killed had been the patrollIng pa-trollIng sentry The stationary one was not attacked Well sir the only thing I want to do tonight Is to go round all the places where the men were killed I you would send one or two of the artillerymen artillery-men with us as guides an If we start nt once we could do It afore dark Why artillerymen 7 asked the Commandant Com-mandant curiously Cause theyre tho only white men on the station an Id like It to look Just like we were a lot of old chums takln 1 walk The Commandant nodded his head Jn emphatic approval Youl do he said You have ahead a-head on your shoulders and that Is everything Col Danvers you will see that his wish IB carried out The Colonel assented and In less Coloncl than twenty minutes afterward the three accompanied by a bombardier and a gunner set out on their round of Inspection As there was yet more than an hour o daylight remaining they did not hUrry but strolled along In very leisurely fashion talking oven the one topic of Interest that the moment mo-ment had for Jhari that IP I four of them did for Nicky Fldge might almost al-most as well have had no tongue at all for all tho ute he made of It He stalked along In silence and the only time he opened his mouth was when I Just beyond the lines they met a stout oilyfaced Burman Jogging along I on a downcountry cob with I doncount wih a servant ser-vant trotting behind Whos thai asked Nicky suddenly I sudden-ly 1 his eyes following the gayly dressed figure on the cob Who that Burmese cove0 replied the gunner Interrogatively Oh that Ilia something or other hanged If I can get any tongue round them Berman names He used to be a big peg hereabouts here-abouts in old Theebaws time but since our lot came up hes had to be content with his riches The natives oall him the boh Nicelooking old cuss nini he1 he1He He Is assented Nicky and asked no more questions From that point onward the successive posts were taken one after another There was little or nothing to see or at least the sergeant and Dab Pratt thought 50 although their mental vision was considerably broadened when after they had parted from the two artillerymen the sergeant asked tho question Well Nicky have found Vei you any thing I havejust What 1 eagerly Well didnt you notice that all the posts where them blokes J0gt poor es were killed arc near trees an mighty big trees too some on emthat post where the three were done for Is I nigh under a whole clump Well It was from them trees that the attacks came If It ad been done by men on the ground they couldnt have taken the sentry always on the op but from the trees It ud be different Just cause the poor chap wouldnt be looking for an enemy there thereBut But said the sergeant In utter bewilderment be-wilderment a man in a tree couldnt do much harm to a man on the ground I mean in the way of breaking his neckNo No said Nicky slowly buta trained ape could Great goodness ejaculated the sergeant ser-geant as the horror of the thing brol < eon e-on him while the hair of Dab Pratt rose on his head Its right said Nicky In whose eyes a dull red fire had kindled I know the thing can be done cause I saw nape n-ape as ad bn trained to fight In a show In Leeds an Ive seen two since I came to India I only needs their trainers tin an theyll do anything One on ems as strongs three men When Col Danvers and the commandant I command-ant were Informed cf the conclusion reached by Nicky they were at first Incredulous not to say derisive But calmer consideration led them to change I their minds somewhat and to admit that there might be more In the contention conten-tion then they had thought possible The proximity of trees to all the posts Ion I-on which men had been killed the utter absence of footprints or indeed any traces of struggle and abo c all the circumstance of the arms of the slain sentries remaining untouched all these pointed to the attacking agent being no common ono and gave weight to the queer prlvater words The result was that the latter got 0 free hand In the matter of making what arrangements ho chose Those wcre not complicated and were all finished by sunset on the following day Choosing the post at which the three men had been killed Nicky had three shallow rllle pits dug In the sand with Intervals of three yards between them Each of the pits was capable of concealing ono man and the line of the whole was distant from tho tope or clumps of trees about ten yards The next thing was to borrow the uni form and accoutrements down to the very rule and bayonet of one of the Punjabis and out of them construct the moat skillful counterpart of a sentinel senti-nel possible and the third and last thing was that the subahdar command Ing that special guard furnishing the post received certain very definite Instructions Up till 10 oclock that night the post was held by the usual two sentries but with the relief at the hour named one of these was withdrawn and the effigy substituted Its supporting pole 5 firmly fixed In n prepared socket that the figure stood upright In the most I natural manner possible Indeed so lifelike was It that even In a bet l light that that given by the dim and waning moon nine out of ten looking at It would have pronounced It a rather ra-ther sleepy nalive sentry standing at ease As for the other and real sentry sen-try he kepi pacing slowly up and down with the rifle pits between him and the trees And in the two pits to the right and left of the dummy sentry sen-try bayonets fixed and ready lay I Nicky and the sergeant while in the one farther off Dab Pratt who was a dead shot and had different work to do did not bother about bayonets but with his rifle thrown forward lay staring star-ing Into the darkness under the trees What seemed an eternity of waiting dragged away and It was getting near midnight when Nicky suddenly I raised his head listened and uttered Q low I hiss I Instantly the patrolling sentry paused In his aimless walk stretched himself yawned and then called to his supposed comrade that ho thought hed better go out to his front a bit Just to make sure that all was right adding the warning advice to the other to keep a sharp lookout Then a he turned away the sergeant and Nicky made ready for r spring while Dab Pratts finger closed on the trigger as ho trod to locate some dim object moving In the gloom below the trees Although they had been fully expecting ex-pecting I yet the appearance of the destroyer was so swift and noiseless when It did come that the three men were almost taken by surprise A huge Indistinct form seemed to launch Itself out of the very heart of the nearest tree and falling soundlessly on the ground dart at the supposed sentry sen-try One great hairy arm across the shoulders the other under the chin and with a wrench that would have broken the neck of an ox the head of the effigy was torn away the stout I I pole snapping lee n twig And at I nearly the same Instnnt Nicky sprang out of the pit and drove his bayonet to I the hilt between th ribs of the hideous thing almost throwing It down But I though so terribly Avoundod the ape I which was one of th largest of Its I kind wni anything but done with for with a horrible shrieking It turned on I Its asrallant nnd but for the desperate 1 I energy with which the sergeant plied his bayonet might have added another to Its already long list of victims Presently Pre-sently however it was brought to its last kick and then they became aware that Dab Pratt and the Punjab gentry had ceased firing and were shouting to them from the depths of the wood Hlllo hlllo sergeant Hlllo Pratt Hit any Tivo both stone dead an the sentry here says one on ems the bob I I was the boh whose unreasoning attempt to revenge his lessening of dignity had thus ended In leaving him none ojt all But his death with those of his human and brute assistants had 1 scored one for Nicky Fldge who as usual Press had got thereNew York f |