The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Cl ‘stolen from the royal crown of ’sion things p O . 9 . 9:. s 0:. aazm oz... 0:0 t 0:0‘ 02"... ".W '.“‘o’ ‘ . Q Lucky Ruby 0f » ‘ 6 go“ o o o"-.. Boh Yoh ‘ O O 9 o o e o o 0 'e o. . .' v¢$go$o¢tuo~goso.o-o..‘o;<~..ov. 5 6 '0 oo‘ Rumford, a distinguished officer, who formerly Colonel Angloâ€"Indian commanded a Ghoorka regiment, has a magnificent ruby which always hangs around his neck, inside the shirt, attached to a small gold chain. According to a legend _widely believed in Burmah, this ruby brings the best of good luck to its wearer. It is said to have been originally Theebaw, who lost his kingdom to the British soon after the jewel disâ€" appeared. Theebaw’s crown has never been found since the occupation of the Golden Palaceâ€"it was stolen by some of the troops and therefore, it cannot be ascertained whether Col- onel Rumiord’s ruby belonged to it. But whatever may be the ruby’s origin or virtue, it is a fact that has always had good luck since it Came into his possesâ€" .sion’in 1887. No Angloâ€"Indian oili- cer has had more wonderful escapes from death in frontier campaigns and on hunting expeditions. And throughout the service-hisescapes are put down to the credit of the charmed ruby. The manner in which the colonel acquired it was as strange and romantic'as anything in ICipling’s dacoit stories. It was told to the writer by Lieut.â€"Col. .John Mncflregor, a._ brother officer of Colonel Itumford's. ' ‘After the conquest of Burmah, Capt. Rumford, as he then was, had command of a small flying squadron of Goorkhas, and was entrusted with the task of putting down dacoitry in the province of Khaniyat. The counâ€" try was very lawless at that time, and .. the Angloâ€"Indian troops were kept busy for years afterward hunt- ing down outlaws. Indeed, that work is not yet finished. ‘A murder- ous scoundrel named Boh Yoh, the original of a similar character, used by Kipling, was the principal dacoit leader in that province, or, indeed, in all Burmah. He had been born and reared in the uplands of the Ruby Mine mountains, and he beâ€" came an outlaw in his boyhood. .When he fought his way up to be the chief of a band be levied blackmail on the villagers for many miles along both banks of the Irrawaddy. It Was paid to him with great reguâ€" larityâ€"far more regularly than taxes had been paid to King Thee‘oaw. .While that monarch reigned, 'lloh Yoh had a good time. Theebaw was a feeble, as well as a cruel, ruler, and he allowed the great dacoit chief to be real king over a large part of the country. ' But. when the British took possesâ€" changed. The villagers ruled the colonel heard. that justice once more in the land, and they mustered up courage to refuse Boh Yoh his tri- bute. He took his revenge promptly. Reports of burned villages and cruciâ€" fied men and women came in so thick and fast to the British authorities that his capture, dead or alive, he- came at once the ambition and desâ€" pair of seve‘al young British ofiicers -who were sent after him; but of none more than Captain Rumford. Yet it seemed impossible to catch the Bob. Month after month he was chased, but he always managed to escape. He grew bolder and holder in his British Ilumford, column of raids on the villages under protection, - and with his Captain little flying Ghoorkas, toiled after him vainly through jungles, across torrential rivers, and over mountains. “Thakln,” said Luang Thorn, the Burmese guide with the column, to the captain one day, “you may as well give up. Boh Yoh has the lucky ruby, and it is no use going after him, for you will never be able to catch him while he wears it.” “If that’s your best excuse for not finding out where he is, I'll hang you to a tree as a traitor. when we return/t said the captain, sternly. 'And he. meant it, too, for those were grim days in Burmah. “Lucky ruhy'?’ What on earth has a ruby to do with his luck?" “Oh, yes, Thakin (the Burmese equivalent of ‘Sahib’). He stole thel lucky ruby that was in the king‘s crown, and ever since then the king has been going down and Bob Yoh has been rising." “Look here, Luang! You just guide us to the place where we can! find Boh Yoh, and we'll soon showi you how much good his lucky ruby will do him." “The. lucky ruby does many things? for him, they say,” the guide Went on. “It will even change him into: another man when he likes, Thakin.”i “I fancy this would change him in‘ double-quick time, too," said the: captain, pulling his revolver from his! belt and cxgmining it. “Yes, thisi would soon enough change lloh Yohi if he would get within range offi him." i “But has not Thakin heard of the! lucky ruby?” persisted the Burmest “No, Luang. I'm ashamed to sayi my education has been neglected in. that, matter. What about it?" i “Not heard of the ruby of Allom-‘ pm? I thought everybody in Bur-i mah knew the story.” I “Tell me the story." ‘ “Well, ’I‘hakin, long ago there wnsi a brave man named ‘Allompra, and he, was a mighty hunter of the beam, the boar, and the tiger. As he was} hunting one day, he met an old phoongce (llnds’sfst monk) in the forast with his yellow gown and. w ______.___â€"___________._â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€" shaven head, and because he was so brave the phoongeeâ€"asked him what he would like to be. 1'. ‘I would like to be a king.’ said Allompra. “ ‘Only a king, when you might be a great saint?’ said the monk. “ ‘Well, a king will do for me,’ rc- plied the worldly huntsman, think- ing all the time that the ~phoongee was only jesting with him. “But the phoongce led him into the heart of the forest, and there pre- sented him with a beautiful ruby, saying: . “ ‘Allompra,I know your heart is very brave, for I have seen you hunting the bear, the boar, and the tiger; and I give you this ruby as a charm for your protection. If you turn your attention to men and keep this ruby, you will yet be a king, and so, will your posterity after you as long as they do the same.’ “Allompra went hdme with the ruby and pondered much the strange words the phoongee had said to him. He looked at the ruby again and again, and the morehe looked the more Wonderful it grew. It was of real pigeonâ€"blood color. When he turned it in his fingers and gazed at it, castles and soldiers and battles moved in panorama before his eyes. Allompra was braveâ€"none braverâ€"- but he was frightened by this wonâ€" derful sight. “ ‘I’ll give it back to the phoou- gec,‘ he said to himself. ‘The nats (devils) are inside it, and I shall come to no good if I keep it.’ “And so the next day he returned to the forest with the ruby, but no trace of the phoongee was to be found. Even where he had stood and walked there were no footprints. “Then Allompra made a great re- solve. The King of I’cgu and 'his Taline followers had overrun the country and taken the royal city of Ava. He, the lowly huntsman, wellld recapture the city and free his coun- try, on the strength of the ruby which had been so strangely given to him. "This he truly did, and from a simple peasant became the greatest king that ever ruled in Burinah. His (lescendants reigned aftc‘ him, until King Theebaw lost the lucky ruby from his crown, and the British came in. “That is the tale of the lucky ruby, and if lloh Yoh has really got it, people say, you cannot catch him, Thakin.” “You find out where he is, Luang, and trust us to catch him," replied the young Englishman, interested in the story, but not impressed by it. By this time it was nearly dusk. and thoucolumn pitched camp for the night. Suddenly there was a little commotion in the camp, for the arâ€" rival of a “friendly” who knew some- thing of the whereabouts of lth Yoh was announced. He was immediately taken to the commanding oilicer, before whom he their respectfully sat, Burmese fashion, you his knees, with both hands clasped in front of him. He was soiled with travel, and Icoked as if he had been very badly used. "Well, my man, what have to say for yourself?" the officer demanded. “The Thakin is great, and the friend of the poorâ€"â€"-” began the naâ€" tive. “Yes, yes; I know all about that,” Capt. llumford interrupted, tartly. “But what about Bob Yoh?" “Boh Yoh!" hissed the stranger, in what appeared to be a tone of conâ€" centrated hate. “I know where he is. He and all his badmashes are encamped behind the Lushai I’agoda. He made me prisoner, and was going to crucify me. But now I will guide you where he is, and thus be re- vcngcd on him.” 'And the native grinned in pleasurable anticipation. The hearts of the English officer and his bloodthirsty little Ghoorkas arose. At last they were going to board the robber in his den. rl‘he men lay down on the bare ground, and slept all the more soundly because they were going to fight next 'day. That some of them would probably be kill-ed was a matter of no account in comparison with the good shikar before them. The camp was soon hushed into silence. The night wasvery dark, for, it' was at the beginning of the monsoon. The mosquitoes were trou- blesome, especially to Capt. Ilumfard who was not so us0d to their inces- sant biting and buzzing as the Ghoorkas .Were. ll‘is rest was disâ€" turbed. The. snoring of the men and the noise of the insects worried him, and he tossed uneasily for some time on the mackintosh sheet on which he lay. At last he fell asleep and began to dream. Thisâ€"mind youlâ€"is the cap- tain’s own story, as he told it to his friend, Colonel Mac-Gregor, and if it seems almost incredible, he must bear the blameâ€"not the writer, who merely tells the story as it was told to him. I-le dreamed that, a spy had come into his camp unobserved, and was crawling towards him on his hands and knees. Spellbound, he could neither move hand nor to protect himself. Nearer and nearâ€" or the murderer crept, with his duo in his hand, ready to plunge it into his breast. With a great ofl'ort and a. shriek the oillcer find his left hand gripping the throat of a native, while his right was in- stinctively searching for his revolver beneath his pillow. The scoundrel shook himself free with a violent effort, leaving a part of his scanty l on (1' dress behind him, and disappeared into the darkness. Two or three in- cll'ectual revolver shots sent after him only served to awaken the sleep- ers, who immediately sprang to (“11153. llui. there was no enemy in sight, and no attack was made on the foot- awoke at lastâ€"to] camp. Rumiord felt extremely vexed thatvhis would-be murderer should escape from him sectâ€"free, and Wes half inclined to think that the whole affair must have been a nightmare, till it was discovered that the friend- ly stranger had unaccountably disâ€" appeared. “I thought so," muttered the young officer, “So it was not onâ€" tirely a dream, after all." It was soon broad daylight, and the men made their simple break- fast of beef and cocoa. As they were eating it, the captain’s orderly pick, ed up a piece of string from the ground, with a large knob in the middle of it. ".Dekho, sirl’) he said. caste string!" “It can’t be," said the captain, for he knew that, as neither the Bur- mese nor the surrounding tribes have any caste, they could have no need of caste-strings around their necks. He took the string and opened the knot in the middle. Imagine his sur- prise when a magnificent ruby dropâ€" ped out of it on to the ground. It sparkled with unexampled lustre, and with a play of colors impossible to describe. Luang Thorn was for a moment dumb-founded, but he. soon recovered his wits ‘sufilciently to declare That this must be the lucky ruby, and Bob .Y oh must have been the stranger who made the night attack. The troops were put in motion at once, and they fell on the track of .Boh Yoh's band’sooncr than they expect- ed. Frequent escapes had made the dacoits lessvigilant, till at last they fell a prey to their own temerity, for it had become quite a craze with them to play pranks in the Camp of the enemy. ' ‘ When they were cornered at last, they fonght pluckin enough, but the superior arms and resistless dash of dekho, I-quoor (Look, “Here is the loocha’s the Ghoorkas soon prevailed. Gap- tain Ruml'ord was among the first to break into the enclosure. of stones and bushes in which they had en- trenched themselves, and he (.une face to face with the treacherous n: â€" tivo who had fled after trying to kill him in his sleep. lie. rushed at him, and Bob Yonâ€"for it was indeed heâ€" accepted the challenge manfully. 'l‘hey fought handâ€"toâ€"hand f01“,.1‘t few moâ€" ments, and then the inglishman stunned his foe by a crushing Now with the flat of his blade. When the dacoit recovered consciousness. a capâ€" itive at last in the hands of the men he had so often defied, he was heard to mutter: “My rubyâ€"where is my ruby? If I had not lost it-â€"â€"â€"â€"-!" So he kept on, day after day. sub- mitting patiently to his captivity, in the feeling that fate had decided against him. Great was the rejoicâ€" ing among the industrious and peace- ful inhabitants of the Province of Khaniyat, when they heard that worst scourge was a_prisoner at last. _ “I remember very well the CXCCll-, tion of Boh Yoh on the maidan out- side the walls of Mandalay, along with 'tho'most important of his comâ€" rades who were captured with him,” said Lieutenantâ€"Colonel MacG reâ€" gor. “Although I did not take part in Rumford's expedition, I witness- ed the execution. It occurred in 1887. “It was at first intended to hang him. But as nobody doubted 13011 Yoh’s warlike qualities, whatever else might be his feelings, he was given his choice of shooting or hanging, and he chose the former. He him- self, with the callous cruelty so raâ€" tural to Asiatics, had not even scrupled to crucify his captivas. Many of them might be seen danglâ€" ing, bare skeletons. from the teak trees of the province. ‘ "Before his excution he confessed his insane and fatal escapado in which he lost the talisman he treas- ured so highly. Emboldened by preâ€" vious successes, he had fearlessly en- tered the Ghoorka camp in the guise of a captive who had escaped from his own band. His purpose was to lead the troops into an ambuscado, from which none of them could have escaped. But, after his interview with Captain Rumford. an irresistiâ€" lble desire to kill the officer in his sleep took possession of him, and so be spoiled liis'own'game. "It was a solemn sightto see Tloh \'oh and his chief lieutenant tied to trees, with their haxuls..pinioned to their sides. As the command to tire was given to the executing party, and the bang of the rifles followed, the dacoit was aloud: "The rubyâ€"the ruby!’~â€"â€"after which he dropped his head on his chest and died." WILLIAM THORP. heard to groan .____+_....__.. 'lTT‘lLlCGIlAI’IIING TO SHIPS . The, British postâ€"oii'ico has entered {into an agreement with the Marconi Company whereby message-s are now received at any telegraph office in the United Kingdom for transmission from the wireless coast stations to ships_at sea fitted out with the Merâ€" coni apparatus. rlhe cost is sixâ€" pence a word, but no message conâ€" sisting of less than 1.2 words is acâ€" cepted, making the minimum cost for a message (is. (id. No one can use a uirelessâ€"telcgraph system in Great Britain without. authorization by the 1:ostmasterâ€"gcneral. The discussion over Johnny’s fail- ings had reached the stage of perâ€" sonalities. “It’s easy to see, mad- am," vociferatcd Mr. Chugwater, “which side of the house the boy gets his temper from." "It is, Josâ€" him,” replied Mrs. Chugwater; “and it's likewise easy to see where he gets his inability to "control it.” r.» r. .' Ma‘nfiMzovfiwfiMfisfiofibfitefi‘fiptfl‘05! with ago; his clean collar, and 3‘ 3?. 5. g s 3, 0 5 oz. l .;. e A E g Q» ‘0 V O O O O O O Q O O O “c “35.0%..we’go'ofi ¢.og§.o$o.¢%b.¢% 9.09396 It was half-past four o‘clock, what time the shinyâ€"hatted stockbroker, with athletic instincts, strides his Wellâ€"creased" trousers along the Strand, west vard, and all the city was beginning to assume its nightly air of going home for comfort after work Well done, writes W. Holt White. Then it was that I passed by that dreary waste which generations yet unborn will some day know as Aldâ€" wych, and looking up beheld a giant notice-board erected by the Church Army, on which it was set forth that persons of benevolent intent might, by stepping up to the “work-tents," procure little books of tickets costing twopence each, which would procure for some needy man a meal, and afâ€" terwards a bed. After buying a little boak, I lookâ€" ed within the tent. and there Were abont a hundred men Squatting on little stools and chopping chunks of wood into the shape of lireâ€"lighters. I looked round and thought: Who in this city shall I find so woebegoue and starve-d that I shall have the audacity to approach them and oil'cr them charity to the extent of two- pence? ‘ I wondered vaguely if 'it were as awkward to beg twopence as to have twopence to give away to someone whom one did not know. But lookâ€" ing round I found the answer to my thoughts, for a few feet away there stood looking at me witha gaze that plainly said, “Dare I speak or not?” a young man with a, rather pleasant face. I took one of the little tickets out of my pocket and placed it in his hand. He read it, and the tears filled his eyes. Then, before I could say another word, 1 was learning all his storyâ€"how he was a doctor's son and how, as an etch-er, he had held a good berth in the Midlands. But he liau quarrelcd with his people, and, desiring to leav‘e home, had come up to LondOn, there to make his f01'i.lllll0. But he had starved in- stead. . Murmurinzg a few words of sympaâ€" thy I turned away and wondered where I should find the next recipiâ€" ent of my twopenny bounty. I found liim ere I had gone half a, dozen steps. As he lurclicd along, the people .lllOVCfl aside with horror on their faces, and some turned to look at aim. As he passed I held out to him the soupâ€"ticket. ; ~ He grabbed it, looked at it, and a wolfâ€"look? " crept eyes. Then he licked his horrid 'beard noisily, and with a grunt of thanks turned the corner and shnfllcd quick- ly up the passage to the “workâ€" tents.” ' With a little shudder I left the Strand and made my way down to the Embankment, where are supposed to guiher all the liungricst men in London. (3'11 the first bench I came to there sat a man, very seedy in appearance, but with a merry eye. Beside. him a battered spaniel dozed uneasily. I sat nic dmvn on the bench and looked at the man with the ranghisli eye; and he looked at me. ,. “Don't lial')'p_eir~ to know, I sup~ pose," lie sai‘d";””“of anyone who wants a, carter?” 1 said tl‘at I did not, and then, in that easy way in which. people of his kind make confidences, he. told me that. six months before, the horse he had been driving had run away and smashed his van. For this he had been discharged, and since that time had been unable to get work. “Me. and the old dog,” he said, “we starve most of the time, but we gets about and picks up a penny here and ,twopence there, and rubs al’ong somehow. It’s a. bit of a handicap fl having the old girl with me, but I wouldn't part with her for much.” One of my remaining tickets exâ€" changed company. He thanked me naively and then scratched his head. “ll'ond-er," he said, “if they’ll let the old dwag in as well. Anyw I’ll {:0 and see.” ‘ A little further along I spied a draggled but yet jaunty you'lh' lean- ing against a lamp-post. Between his lips there rested the unlit stump of a dirty cigarette. I said, "Are you hungry?" The jaunty youth passed a filthy hand thoughtfully across his stomach. “Try me," he said. So .I handed him a ticket. “Much oblxiged,” he answered, as he,eyed it. "But I’ve just had in, g/inâ€"andâ€"l'fiitters, and am feeling a bit peckish. So I'm off to Carlile's Hotel do WorkJI‘ents.” And with a concluding “Much obliged, gm,”- nor!” he moved away. Hal fâ€"way l l p No rthumb er] an dâ€" avenue I found a, queer old man leaning weakly against the wall. I stopped and asked him if he were ill. He, looked at me in a dczcd way and said: “It's only that I'm too old. I’ve been up and down stairs, up and down stairs, all day long, and they always say: ‘You're loo old.’ And I‘ve been a clerk now fifty years, man and boy." I looked at. his seedy but wellâ€" bruslied top hat, his coat tightly buttonrd across his chest, but green into his forbidding »â€"_â€".-.â€",.f A...:.._....»_._c.~’..,_. .,_,,.__ _. . , rs; dowmatdhecl boots. He evfidtntly felt my eye upon him. "Alf," he said, “but they can't say I don’t look well. I have to Blimp in dossâ€"houses, but all the same I keep tidy. Vulcan-ite collar that; wash it every morning myself. And you can always borrow a brush." “Might I offer you one of these?" I said gently, handing him a ticket. “That's really too good‘of you," he said; and there was real gratiâ€" tude in his bleared old eyes. Then he added, with an appealing look: “Tell me, do you tliink I look so old?” Having shaken the old gentleman by the hand, I passed up the street and stood at the corner, holding the remaining ticket in my hand. 1 wan not over well-dressed, and this [.reâ€" sumath accounts for What followr-d. A burly navvy came. up to me and touched me on the arm. Then. he pointed to the ticket. D'you want that? (.lawd lunnne, guv’nor, if you're tliat'hunga'y, pawn yer waistâ€" coat and give me the ticket. I ain't got nothing left to pawn." Without a. word I gave him my last remaining slip of paper, and the navvy wrung my hand. Then I turned liozncwarids, and was not a little saddened to think that within the space of half an hour 1' should have found six men in the wealthiest streets of ' London (a whom twopennywortli of soup and bread was an imperative necessity. _____.+__ TOBACCO SMUGGâ€"LERS ’ TRICKS ..â€"_.. How -Contraband Goods Are Gar- ‘ ried Into France. 'A great effort is being made by the French customs officials to break up the organization of smugglers which has lately been carrying an a. lucrative and ever growing trade in contraband between Belgium and France, says the London Express- During the last fortnight the French customs officials have had several important successes. The first was the capture of a Belgian fishing smack in the Straits of Dover. ’ The vessel carried £1,009 Worth of tobacco. This contraband cargo was confiscated, the vessel seized and the owners were fined .81,- 025. On the same night a. smug- glers’ haunt was raided at Dunkirk and goat quantities of tobacco were seized. One of the latest devices was that employed by a man who disguised himself as a priest. He was in the habit of.journeying from a Belgian frontier town into France every day with a large quantity of tobacco con- conic-d under his cassock. ' Iic returned to Belgium, not a. portly priest, but a very 109.11., ema~ eiated individual. The capture of the fictitious priest led the authorities to suspect a num- ber of nuns who daily crossed the frontier into France. A careful sca‘ch had been organized, and in four cases the supposed mm was found to be a smuggler with many pounds of tobacco and cigars hidden beneath her heavy black skirt. Suspicion next fell upon the driv- ers, firemen and guards of the trains running between Brussels and Paris, and for some days eVery train has been carefully searched. Hundreds of pounds of tobacco have been found hidden among the coal on the tea~ ders' In one case the cushions of a car~ riage were found to be stuffed with tobacco. In another, a passenger, who was well known as a regular. traveler on the line, was searched, and found to be loaded with contraâ€" band. In a third case an invalid, re- posing on air cushions, was found to be no invalid at all and the cushions held tobacco instead of air. Perhaps the most gruesome discov- ery was made when a coffin, supposâ€" ed to contain the body of a French- man who (lied in Belgium and was being brought back to be buried in his native country, was searched. It was found to be full. of cigars. 'At the frontier towns on the roads several ingenious tricks have been discovered. "l‘hree days ago a peasant was stopped when driving across the border with a load of vegetables and an aged relative. The relative was found to be a dummy figlll‘n stuffed with tobacco, and the vegetables had their centers cut out and replaced with tobacco. ._.._.+..___..._ A FRIEND OI“ BILL ADAMS. William Bowsprit, aideâ€"bodied sea- man, had just returned from a. voy- age in a cocoanut ship, and was reâ€" tailing his adventures to his pals. "We Were loading up with nuts at a little island," said be, “when our diver, who had gone down to ,1ch some winkles for tea, reported that the sea had washed away the underâ€" part 0’ the island, an' it was only held down by a few roots. Our skip- per at once had it cut adrift; an’~ takin’ the blessed island in low, we started oil' with it, cokernut trees, monkeys, on’ everything. “The cap’n’s idea Was to bring the island home an’ anchor it in th': Thames, or somewhere, an’ exhibit it at a dollar a time, as a sample 0’ th’ British Dominions beyond th' seas, as you might say." “Lor’, lunnne!” gasped one of the listening lubbers. , “We got as far as th' Bay 0' lisâ€" cay all serene," went on the mariner, “when wot. should we meet but the. Baltic Fleet, an’ thinkin’ it w'as u. disguised Japanese crooser we had in tow, I’m hanged if them drunken loonatics didn't How our littin cokcrnut island into smithuc-szo with a torpedo! llough luck, \varn’t it?"« « A w H.- gal-J ~A' . ._-4}‘a"VP(;'%=§'mi§Mgtl<Â¥t/: F33 ' “AU-\‘A-‘lv‘u ‘2. ~ / . ‘v “V "'3‘." l 1. "r- y'I‘A‘JNr‘VA' , .- . a .. c ..~w~awvy~‘~ “."x- ‘2'“v“.‘-{' ‘VW”A”\‘=vTaij-w~lf V 9"» div“; 'V'W w l ’ .&.»uv.\_wi‘,;uÂ¥~xww. fl