TURNING THE TABLES 



visit, and while the latter was inside, formulating a plan 

 for his arrest, surrounded this house and captured him 

 instead ! 



Having him now completely at his mercy, he told the 

 inspector that he was going to kill him but that he must 

 first provide his own funeral feast, and placing him in a 

 cart guarded by himself and one or two followers with drawn 

 swords, they proceeded to a liquor shop in the village of 

 Pimpulneer. 



Here the inspector was forced to alight, and accompanied 

 by his captors, who had now been joined by others of the 

 gang, taken into the shop, where liquor being ordered, the 

 party sat down to drink. They had been drinking for 

 some time when Tulia, to have both hands free to take hold 

 of the liquor jar, unthinkingly laid his sword aside. 



Now was the inspector's chance, and promptly and 

 pluckily he took it. Leaping up suddenly, he sprang at Tulia, 

 and seizing him with both hands by the hair, pressed his 

 head to the ground and shouted loudly for help. 



Two or three constables, who on hearing the capture of 

 their officer had come up, and were hovering about 

 outside on the chance of being able to rescue him, now 

 rushed to his assistance and soon secured the prisoner, for 

 his friends so far from assisting him, had fled at the first 

 alarm. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to 

 seven years' imprisonment. 



Soon after the completion of his sentence, he was 

 appointed as a watchman on a West Khandesh road, where 

 he did very well for a time, until a charge of rape was 

 brought against him, when he absconded again. 



He had been absconding for some months, all attempts 

 to recapture him having failed, when one day as Probyn was 

 driving along the Selbari road, he suddenly came out from 

 behind a babul tree and gave himself up ! He climbed 

 quietly into the dogcart and was driven at once to the 

 District Magistrate's camp, where he was tried again, and 

 being committed to the sessions, was finally convicted and 

 sentenced, this time to transportation for life. Thus ended 

 the career of as remarkable a criminal as the Presidency 

 had produced up to that time, about the year 1875. But 

 though so noted a criminal he owed his notoriety rather 



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