n't
believe in ghosts, how can it be a story of something you could not
account for by the light of nature?"

"You will see when I have done," the colonel said. "It is rather a story
of what the Scotch call second sight, than one of ghosts. As to
accounting for it, you shall form your own opinion when you have heard
me to the end.

"I landed in India in '50, and after going through the regular drill
work, marched with a detachment up country to join my regiment, which
was stationed at Jubbalpore, in the very heart of India. It has become
an important place since; the railroad across India passes through it,
and no end of changes have taken place; but at that time it was one of
the most out-of-the-way stations in India, and, I may say, one of the
most pleasant. It lay high, there was capital boating on the Nerbudda,
and, above all, it was a grand place for sport, for it lay at the foot
of the hill country, an immense district, then but little known, covered
with forests and jungle, and abounding with big game of all kinds.

"My great friend there was a man named Simmonds. He was just of my own
standing; we had come out in the same ship, had marched up the country
together, and were almost like brothers. He was an old Etonian, I an old
Westminster, and we were both fond of boating, and, indeed, of sport of
all kinds. But I am not going to tell you of that now. The people in
these hills are called Gonds, a true hill tribe--that is to say,
aborigines, somewhat of the negro type. The chiefs are of mixed blood,
but the people are almost black. They are supposed to accept the
religion of the Hindus, but are in reality deplorably ignorant and
superstitious. Their priests are a sort of compound of a Brahmin priest
and a negro fetish man, and among their principal duties is that of
charming away tigers from the villages by means of incantations. There,
as in other parts of India, were a few wandering fakirs, who enjoyed an
immense reputation for holiness and wisdom. The people would go to them
from great distances for charms or predictions, and believed in their
power with implicit faith.

"At the time when we were at Jubbalpore, there was one of these fellows,
whose reputation altogether eclipsed that of his rivals, and nothing
could be done until his permission had been asked and his blessing
obtained. All sorts of marvellous stories were constantly coming to our
ears of the unerring foresight with which he predicted the te