by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER IX.
Dr. Wade was sitting in the veranda smoking and reading an English paperthat had arrived by that morning's mail, when Isobel returned.
"Good morning, Doctor. Is uncle back?"
"Not yet. He told me he might be half an hour late, and that I was tocome round and amuse you until he came back."
"So in my absence you have been amusing yourself, Doctor. I have beenround at Mrs. Hunter's; she is going to have a juggler there thisevening, and we are all to go."
"Yes, I got a chit from her this morning. I have seen scores of them,but I make a point of never missing an exhibition when I get the chance.I hate anything I don't understand, and I go with the faint hope ofbeing able to find things out, though I know perfectly well that I shallnot do so."
"Then you think it is not all quite natural, Doctor?"
"I don't say it is not natural, because we don't know what all thenatural laws are, but I say that some of the things I have seencertainly are not to be accounted for by anything we do know. It is notoften that the jugglers show their best tricks to the whites--they knowthat, as a rule, we are altogether skeptical; but I have seen at nativecourts more than once the most astounding things--things absolutelyincomprehensible and inexplicable. I don't suppose we are going to seeanything of that sort tonight, though Mrs. Hunter said in her note thatthey had heard from the native servant that this man was a famous one.
"There is a sect of people in India, I don't mean a caste, but a sortof secret society, who, I believe, claim to be able by some sort ofinfluence to suspend altogether the laws of nature. I do not say thatI believe them--as a scientific man, it is my duty not to believethem; but I have seen such things done by some of the higher class ofjugglers, and that under circumstances that did not seem to admit ofthe possibility of deception, that I am obliged to suspend my judgment,which, as you may imagine, my dear, is exceedingly annoying to me; butsome of them do possess to a considerable extent what the Scotch callsecond sight, that is to say, the power of foreseeing events in thefuture. Of that I am morally certain; I have seen proofs of it over andover again. For example, once an old fakir, whom I had cured of a badlyulcerated limb, came up just as I was starting on a shooting expedition.
"'Do not go out today,' he said. 'I foresee evil for you. I saw you lastnight brought back badly wounded.'
"'But if I don't go your dream will come wrong,' I said.
"He shook his head.
"'You will go in spite of what I say,' he said; 'and you will suffer,and others too;' and he looked at a group of shikaris, who were standingtogether, ready to make a start.
"'How many men are there?' he said.
"'Why, six of course,' I replied.
"'I see only three,' he said, 'and three dull spots. One of those Isee is holding his matchlock on his shoulder, another is examining hispriming, the third is sitting down by the tire. Those three will comeback at the end of the day; the other three will not return alive.'
"I felt rather uncomfortable, but I wasn't, as I said to myself--I was agood deal younger then, my dear--such a fool as to be deterred from whatpromised to be a good day's sport by such nonsense as this; and I went.
"We were going after a rogue elephant that had been doing a lot ofdamage among the natives' plantations. We found him, and a savage brutehe turned out to be. He moved just as I fired, and though I hit him, itwas not on the fatal spot, and he charged right down among us. He caughtthe very three men the fakir said were doomed, and dashed the life outof them; then he came at me. The bearer had run off with my second gun,and he seized me and flung me up in the air.
"I fell in a tree, but broke three of my ribs and one of my arms;fortunately, though the beast tried to get at me, I was out of hisreach, and the tree was too strong for him to knock down. Then anotherman who was with me came up and killed him, and they got me down andcarried me back, and I was weeks before I was about again. That wassomething more than a coincidence, I think. There were some twenty menout with us, and just the four he had pointed out were hurt, and noothers.
"I have seen scores of other cases in which these predictions havecome true, especially in cases of disease; though I grant that here thepredictions often bring about their own fulfilment. If a native is toldby a fakir, or holy man, that he is going to die, he makes no struggleto live. In several cases I have seen natives, whose deaths have beenpredicted, die, without, as far as my science could tell me, any diseaseor ailment whatever that should have been fatal to them. They simplysank--died, I should say, from pure fright. But putting aside thisclass, I have seen enough to convince me that some at least among thesefanatics do possess the power of second sight."
"That is very extraordinary, Doctor. Of course I have heard of secondsight among certain old people in Scotland, but I did not believe init."
"I should not have believed in it if I had not seen the same thing herein India. I naturally have been interested in it, and have read prettywell everything that has been written about second sight among theHighlanders; and some of the incidents are so well authenticated that Iscarcely see how they can be denied. Of course, there is no accountingfor it, but it is possible that among what we may call primitive peoplethere are certain intuitions or instincts, call them what you like, thathave been lost by civilized people.
"The power of scent in a dog is something so vastly beyond anything wecan even imagine possible, that though we put it down to instinct, it isreally almost inexplicable. Take the case that dogs have been known tobe taken by railway journeys of many hundred miles and to have foundtheir way home again on foot. There is clearly the possession of a powerwhich is to us absolutely unaccountable.
"But here comes your uncle; he will think I have been preaching a sermonto you if you look so grave."
But Major Hannay was too occupied with his own thoughts to noticeIsobel.
"Has anything gone wrong, Major?" the Doctor asked, as he saw his face.
"I have just learnt," the Major said, "that some more chupaties werebrought last night. It is most annoying. I have questioned several ofthe native officers, and they profess to have no idea whence they cameor what is the meaning of them. I wish we could get to the bottom ofthis thing; it keeps the troops in a ferment. If I could get hold of oneof these messengers, I would get out of him all he knew, even if I hadto roast him to make him tell."
"My dear uncle," Isobel said reprovingly, "I am sure you don't mean whatyou say."
"I don't know," he said, half laughing; "I should certainly considermyself perfectly justified in taking uncommonly strong steps to tryto get to the bottom of this business. The thing is going on all overIndia, and it must mean something, and it is all the worse if taken inconnection with this absurd idea about the greased cartridges. I grantthat it was an act of folly greasing them at all, when we know theidiotic prejudices the natives have; still, it could hardly havebeen foreseen that this stir would have been made. The issue of thecartridges has been stopped, but when the natives once get an idea intotheir minds it is next to impossible to disabuse them of it. It is atiresome business altogether."
"Tiffin ready, sahib," Rumzan interrupted, coming out onto the veranda.
"That is right, Rumzan. Now, Isobel, let us think of more pleasantsubjects."
"We are to go into the Hunters' this evening, uncle," Isobel said, asshe sat down. "There is going to be a famous juggler there. There is anote for you from Mrs. Hunter on the side table."
"Very well, my dear; some of these fellows are well worth seeing.Bathurst is coming in to dinner. I saw him as he was starting thismorning, just as he was going down to the lines, and he accepted. Hesaid he should be able to get back in time. However, I don't suppose hewill mind going round with us. I hope you will come, Doctor, to make upthe table. I have asked the two boys to come in."
"I shall have to become a permanent boarder at your establishment,Major. It is really useless my keeping a cook when I am in here nearlyhalf my time. But I will come. I am off for three days tomorrow. Av
illager came in this morning to beg me to go out to rid them of atiger that has established himself in their neighborhood, and that is aninvitation I never refuse, if I can possibly manage to make time for it.Fortunately everyone is so healthy here at present that I can be verywell spared."
At dinner the subject of juggling came up again, and the two subalternsexpressed their opinion strongly that it was all humbug.
"Dr. Wade believes in it, Mr. Wilson," Isobel said.
"You don't say so, Doctor; I should have thought you were the last sortof man who would have believed in conjurers."
"It requires a wise man to believe, Wilson," the Doctor said; "any foolcan scoff; the wise man questions. When you have been here as long asI have, and if you ever get as much sense as I have, which is doubtful,you may be less positive in your ideas, if you can call them ideas."
"That is one for me," Wilson said good humoredly, while the otherslaughed.
"Well, I have never seen them, Doctor, except those fellows who comearound to the veranda, and I have seen conjurers at home do ever so muchbetter tricks than they."
"What do you think of them, Mr. Bathurst?" Isobel asked. "I suppose youhave seen some of the better sort?"
"I do not know what to think of them, Miss Hannay. I used to be ratherof Wilson's opinion, but I have seen things since that I could notaccount for at all. There was a man here two or three months back whoastounded me."
"Mrs. Hunter said that the girls had had no opportunity of seeing a goodconjurer since they came out, Mr. Bathurst. I suppose they did know thisman you are speaking of being here?"
"He was only here for a few hours, Miss Hannay. I had happened tomeet him before, and he gave me a private performance, which was quitedifferent to anything I have ever seen, though I had often heard of thefeats he had performed. I was so impressed with them that I can assureyou that for a few days I had great difficulty in keeping my mind uponmy work."
"What did he do, Mr. Bathurst?"
Bathurst related the feat of the disappearing girl.
"She must have jumped down when you were not looking," Richards said,with an air or conviction.
"Possibly," Bathurst replied quietly; "but as I was within three orfour yards of the pole, and it was perfectly distinct in the light of mylamp, and as I certainly saw her till she was some thirty or fortyfeet up in the air I don't see how she can have managed it. For, evensupposing she could have sprung down that distance without being hurt,she would not have come down so noiselessly that I should not have heardher."
"Still, if she did not come down that way, how could she have come?"Wilson said.
"That is exactly what I can't make out," Bathurst replied. "If it shouldhappen to be the same man, and he will do the same thing again, I fancyyou will be as much puzzled as I was."
After dinner was over the party walked across to Mr. Hunter's bungalow,where, in a short time, the other officers, their wives, and all theother residents at the station were assembled. Chairs were placed in theveranda for the ladies, and a number of lamps hung on the wall, so thata strong light was thrown upon the ground in front of it. In addition,four posts had been driven into the ground some twenty feet from theveranda, and lamps had been fastened upon them.
"I don't know whether the juggler will like that," Mr. Hunter said, "andI shan't light them if he objects. I don't think myself it is quitefair having a light behind him; still, if he agrees, it will be hardlypossible for him to make the slightest movement without being seen."
The juggler, who was sitting round at the other side of the house, wasnow called up. He and the girl, who followed him, salaamed deeply, andmade an even deeper bow to Bathurst, who was standing behind Isobel'schair.
"You must have paid them well, Bathurst," Major Hannay said. "They haveevidently a lively remembrance of past favors. I suppose they are thesame you were talking about?"
"Yes, they are the same people, Major." Then he said in the nativedialect to the juggler, "Mr. Hunter has put some posts with lamps behindyou, Rujub, but he hasn't lit them because he did not know whether youwould object."
"They can be lighted, sahib. My feats do not depend on darkness. Anyof the sahibs who like to stand behind us can do so if they do not comewithin the line of those posts."
"Let us go out there," Wilson said to Richards, when the answer wastranslated; "we will light the lamps, and we shall see better there thanwe shall see here."
The two went round to the other side and lit the lamps, and the servantsstood a short distance off on either side.
The first trick shown was the well known mango tree. The juggler placeda seed in the ground, poured some water upon it from a lota, and coveredit with a cloth. In two or three minutes he lifted this, and a plantfour or five inches high was seen. He covered this with a tall basket,which he first handed round for inspection. On removing this a mangotree some three feet high, in full bloom, was seen. It was againcovered, and when the basket was removed it was seen to be covered withripe fruit, eliciting exclamations of astonishment from those among thespectators who had not before seen the trick performed.
"Now, Wilson," the Doctor said, "perhaps you will be kind enough toexplain to us all how this was done?"
"I have no more idea than Adam, Doctor."
"Then we will leave it to Richards. He promised us at dinner to keep hiseyes well open."
Richards made no reply.
"How was it done, Mr. Bathurst? It seems almost like a miracle."
"I am as ignorant as Wilson is, Miss Hannay. I can't account for it inany way, and I have seen it done a score of times. Ah! now he is goingto do the basket trick. Don't be alarmed when you hear the girl cryout. You may be quite sure that she is not hurt. The father is deeplyattached to her, and would not hurt a hair of her head."
Again the usual methods were adopted. The basket was placed on theground and the girl stepped into it, without the pretense of fearusually exhibited by the performers.
Before the trick began Major Hannay said to Captain Doolan, "Come roundwith me to the side of those boys. I know the first time I saw it doneI was nearly throwing myself on the juggler, and Wilson is a hot headedboy, and is likely as not to do so. If he did, the man would probably gooff in a huff and show us nothing more. From what Bathurst said, we arelikely to see something unusual."
As soon as the lid was put down, an apparently angry colloquy took placebetween the juggler and the girl inside. Presently the man appeared tobecome enraged, and snatching up a long, straight sword from the ground,ran it three or four times through the basket.
A loud shriek followed the first thrust, and then all was silent.
Some of the ladies rose to their feet with a cry of horror, Isobel amongthem. Wilson and Richards both started to rush forward, but were seizedby the collars by the Major and Captain Doolan.
"Will you open the basket?" the juggler said quietly to Mrs. Hunter. Asshe had seen the trick before she stepped forward without hesitation,opened the lid of the basket and said, "It is empty." The juggler tookit up, and held it up, bottom upwards.
"What on earth has become of the girl?" Wilson exclaimed.
As he spoke she passed between him and Richards back to her father'sside.
"Well, I am dashed," Wilson murmured. "I would not have believed itif fifty people had sworn to me they had seen it." He was too muchconfounded even to reply, when the Doctor sarcastically said: "We arewaiting for your explanation, gentlemen."
"Will you ask him, Major," Richards said, as he wiped his forehead withhis pocket handkerchief, "to make sure that she is solid?"
The Major translated the request, and the girl at once came across, andRichards touched her with evident doubt as to whether on not she werereally flesh and blood.
There was much curiosity among those who had seen jugglers before asto what would be the next feat, for generally those just seen were theclosing ones of a performance, but as these were the first it seemedthat those to follow must be extraordinary indeed.
The n
ext feat was the one shown to Bathurst, and was performed exactlyas upon that occasion, except that as the girl rose beyond the circleof light she remained distinctly visible, a sort of phosphoric lightplaying around her. Those in the veranda had come out now, the jugglerwarning them not to approach within six feet of the pole.
Higher and higher the girl went, until those below judged her to be atleast a hundred and fifty feet from the ground. Then the light died out,and she disappeared from their sight. There was silence for a minute ortwo, and then the end of the pole could be seen descending withouther. Another minute, and it was reduced to the length it had been atstarting.
The spectators were silent now; the whole thing was so strange andmysterious that they had no words to express their feeling.
The juggler said something which Mr. Hunter translated to be a requestfor all to resume their places.
"That is a wonderful trick," the Doctor said to Bathurst. "I have neverseen it done that way before, but I once saw a juggler throw up a ropeinto the air; how high it went I don't know, for, like this, it was doneat night, but it stood up perfectly stiff, and the juggler's attendantclimbed up. He went higher and higher, and we could hear his voicecoming down to us. At last it stopped, and then suddenly the rope fellin coils on the ground, and the boy walked quietly in, just as that girlhas done now."
The girl now placed herself in the center of the open space.
"You will please not to speak while this trick is being performed," thejuggler said; "harm might come of it. Watch the ground near her feet."
A minute later a dark object made its appearance from the ground. Itrose higher and higher with an undulating movement.
"By Jove, it is a python!" the Doctor whispered in Bathurst's ear. Asimilar exclamation broke from several of the others, but the jugglerwaved his hand with an authoritative hush. The snake rose until its headtowered above that of the girl, and then began to twine itself roundher, continuously rising from the ground until it enveloped her withfive coils, each thicker than a man's arm. It raised its head above hersand hissed loudly and angrily; then its tail began to descend, graduallythe coils unwound themselves; lower and lower it descended until itdisappeared altogether.
It was some time before anyone spoke, so great was the feeling ofwonder. The Doctor was the first to break the silence.
"I have never seen that before," he said, "though I have heard of itfrom a native Rajah."
"Would the sahibs like to see more?" the juggler asked.
The two Miss Hunters, Mrs. Rintoul, and several of the others said theyhad seen enough, but among the men there was expressed a general wish tosee another feat.
"I would not have missed this for anything," the Doctor said. "It wouldbe simple madness to throw away such a chance."
The ladies, therefore, with the exception of Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Doolan,and Isobel, retired into the house.
"You must all go on one side now," the juggler said, "for it is only onone side what I am now going to do can be seen."
He then proceeded to light a fire of charcoal. When he had done this,he said, "The lights must now be extinguished and the curtains drawn, sothat the light will not stream out from the house."
As soon as this was done he poured a powder over the fire, and by itsfaint light the cloud of white smoke could be seen.
"Now I will show you the past," he said. "Who speaks?"
There was silence, and then Dr. Wade said, "Show me my past."
A faint light stole up over the smoke--it grew brighter and brighter;and then a picture was clearly seen upon it.
It was the sea, a house standing by itself in a garden, and separatedfrom the water only by a road. Presently the figure of a girl appearedat the gate, and, stepping out, looked down the road as if waiting forsomeone. They could make out all the details of her dress and see herfeatures distinctly. A low exclamation broke from the Doctor, then thepicture gradually faded away.
"The future!" the juggler said, and gradually an Indian scene appearedon the smoke. It was a long, straight road, bordered by a jungle. Anative was seen approaching; he paused in the foreground.
"That is you, Doctor!" Mr. Hunter exclaimed; "you are got up as anative, but it's you."
Almost at the same moment two figures came out from the jungle. Theywere also in native dress.
"You and Miss Hannay," the Doctor said in a low tone to Bathurst,"dressed like a native and dyed." But no one else detected the disguise,and the picture again faded away.
"That is enough, Rujub," Bathurst said, for he felt Isobel lean backheavily against the hand which he held at the back of her chair, andfelt sure that she had fainted.
"Draw back the curtains, someone; I fancy this has been too much forMiss Hannay."
The curtains were thrown back, and Mrs. Hunter, running in, brought outa lamp. The Doctor had already taken his place by Isobel's side.
"Yes, she has fainted," he said to Bathurst; "carry her in her chair asshe is, so that she may be in the room when she comes to."
This was done.
"Now, gentlemen," the Doctor said, "you had better light the lamps againout here, and leave the ladies and me to get Miss Hannay round."
When the lamps were lit it was evident that the whole of the men were agood deal shaken by what they had seen.
"Well," Mr. Hunter said, "they told me he was a famous juggler, but thatbeat anything I have seen before. I have heard of such things frequentlyfrom natives, but it is very seldom that Europeans get a chance ofseeing them."
"I don't want to see anything of the sort again," Major Hannay said;"it shakes one's notions of things in general. I fancy, Hunter, thatwe shall want a strong peg all round to steady our nerves. I own that Ifeel as shaky as a boy who thinks he sees a ghost on his way through achurchyard."
There was a general murmur of agreement and the materials were quicklybrought.
"Well, Wilson, what do you and Richards think of it?" the Major went on,after he had braced himself up with a strong glass of brandy and water."I should imagine you both feel a little less skeptical than you did twohours ago."
"I don't know what Richards feels, Major, but I know I feel like a fool.I am sorry, Bathurst, for what I said at dinner; but it really didn'tseem to me to be possible what you told us about the girl going up intothe air and not coming down again. Well, after I have seen what I haveseen this evening, I won't disbelieve anything I hear in future aboutthese natives."
"It was natural enough that you should be incredulous," Bathurst said."I should have been just as skeptical as you were when I first came out,and I have been astonished now, though I have seen some good jugglersbefore."
At this moment the Doctor came out again.
"Miss Hannay is all right again now, Major. I am not surprised at herfainting; old hand as I am at these matters, and I think that I haveseen as much or more juggling than any man in India. I felt very queermyself, specially at the snake business. As I said, I have seen thatascension trick before, but how it is done I have no more idea than achild. Those smoke scenes, too, are astonishing. Of course they could beaccounted for as thrown upon a column of white smoke by a magic lantern,but there was certainly no magic lantern here. The juggler was standingclose to me, and the girl was sitting at his feet. I watched them bothclosely, and certainly they had no apparatus about them by which suchviews could be thrown on the smoke."
"You recognized the first scene, I suppose, Doctor?" Bathurst asked.
"Perfectly. It took me back twenty-five years. It was a cottage nearSidmouth, and was correct in every minute detail. The figure was that ofthe young lady I married four years afterwards. Many a time have I seenher standing just like that, as I went along the road to meet her fromthe little inn at which I was stopping; the very pattern of her dress,which I need hardly say has never been in my mind all these years, wasrecalled to me.
"Had I been thinking of the scene at the time I could have accounted forit somehow, upon the theory that in some way or other the juggler wasconsc
ious of my thought and reflected it upon the smoke--how, I don't atall mean to say; but undoubtedly there exists, to some extent, the powerof thought reading. It is a mysterious subject, and one of which we knowabsolutely nothing at present, but maybe in upwards of a hundred yearsmankind will have discovered many secrets of nature in that direction.But I certainly was not thinking of that scene when I spoke and said the'past.' I had no doubt that he would show me something of the past,but certainly no particular incident passed through my mind before thatpicture appeared on the smoke."
"The other was almost as curious, Doctor," Captain Doolan said, "forit was certainly you masquerading as a native. I believe the other wasBathurst; it struck me so; and he seemed to be running off with somenative girl. What on earth could that all mean?"
"It is no use puzzling ourselves about it," the Doctor said. "It may ormay not come true. I have no inclination to go about dressed out as anative at present, but there is no saying what I may come to. Thereis quite enough for us to wonder at in the other things. The mango andbasket tricks I have seen a dozen times, and am no nearer now than Iwas at first to understanding them. That ascension trick beats mealtogether, and there was something horribly uncanny about the snake."
"Do you think it was a real snake, Doctor?"
"That I cannot tell you, Richards. Every movement was perfectly natural.I could see the working of the ribs as it wound itself round the girl,and the quivering of its tongue as it raised its head above her. At anyother time I should be ready to take my affidavit that it was a pythonof unusual size, but at the present moment I should not like to give adecided opinion about anything connected with the performance."
"I suppose it is no use asking the juggler any questions, Hunter?" oneof the other men said.
"Not in the least; they never do answer questions. The higher class ofjugglers treat their art as a sort of religious mystery, and there isno instance known of their opening their lips, although large sums havefrequently been offered them. In the present case you will certainly askno questions, for the man and girl have both disappeared with the boxand apparatus and everything connected with them. They must haveslipped off directly the last trick was over, and before we had the lamplighted. I sent after him at once, but the servant could find no signsof him. I am annoyed because I have not paid them."
"I am not surprised at that," Dr. Wade said. "It is quite in accordancewith what I have heard of them. They live by exhibiting what you maycall their ordinary tricks; but I have heard from natives that when theyshow any what I may call supernatural feats, they do not take money. Itis done to oblige some powerful Rajah, and as I have said, it is only ona very few occasions that Europeans have ever seen them. Well, we may aswell go in to the ladies. I don't fancy any of them would be inclined tocome out onto the veranda again this evening."
No one was indeed inclined even for talk, and in a very short time theparty broke up and returned home.
"Come and smoke a pipe with me, Bathurst, before you turn in," theDoctor said, as they went out. "I don't think either of us will belikely to go to sleep for some time. What is your impression of allthis?"
"My impression, certainly, is that it is entirely unaccountable by anylaws with which we are acquainted, Doctor."
"That is just my idea, and always has been since I first saw anyreally good juggling out here. I don't believe in the least in anythingsupernatural, but I can quite believe that there are many natural lawsof which at present we are entirely ignorant. I believe the knowledge ofthem at one time existed, but has been entirely lost, at any rate amongWestern peoples. The belief in magic is as old as anything we haveknowledge of. The magicians at the court of Pharaoh threw down theirrods and turned them into serpents. The Witch of Endor called up thespirit of Samuel. The Greeks, by no means a nation of fools, believedimplicitly in the Oracles. Coming down to comparatively later times, theworkers of magic burnt their books before St. Paul. It doesn't say, mindyou, that those who pretended to work magic did so; but those who workedmagic.
"Early travelers in Persia and India have reported things they saw farsurpassing any we have witnessed this evening, and there is certainly asect in India at present, or rather a body of men, and those, as far asI have been able to learn, of an exceptionally intelligent class, whobelieve that they possess an almost absolute mastery over the powers ofnature. You see, fifty years back, if anyone had talked about travelingat fifty miles an hour, or sending a message five thousand miles in aminute, he would have been regarded as a madman. There may yet be otherdiscoveries as startling to be made.
"When I was in England I heard something of a set of people in Americawho called themselves Spiritualists, some of whom--notably a young mannamed Home--claimed to have the power of raising themselves throughthe air. I am far from saying that such a power exists; it is of coursecontrary to what we know of the laws of nature, but should such a powerexist it would account for the disappearance of the girl from the topof the pole. Highland second sight, carried somewhat farther, and unitedwith the power of conveying the impressions to others, would accountfor the pictures on the smoke, that is, supposing them to be true, andpersonally I own that I expect they will prove to be true--unlikely asit may seem that you, I, and Miss Hannay will ever be going about innative attire."
By this time they had reached the Doctor's bungalow, and had comfortablyseated themselves.
"There is one thing that flashed across me this evening," Bathurst said."I told you, that first evening I met Miss Hannay, that I had a distinctknowledge of her face. You laughed at me at the time, and it certainlyseemed absurd, but I was convinced I was not wrong. Now I know how itwas; I told you at dinner today about the feat of the girl going up andnot coming down again; but I did not tell you--for you can understand itis a thing that I should not care to talk much about--that he showed mea picture like those we saw tonight.
"It was a house standing in a courtyard, with a high wall round it. Idid not particularly observe the house. It was of the ordinary nativetype, and might, for anything I know, be the house in the middle of thisstation used as a courthouse by Hunter, and for keeping stores, andso on. I don't say it was that; I did not notice it much. There was abreach in the outside wall, and round it there was a fierce fight goingon. A party of officers and civilians were repelling the assault of abody of Sepoys. On the terraced roof of the house others were standingfiring and looking on, and I think engaged in loading rifles were two orthree women. One of them I particularly noticed; and, now I recall it,her face was that of Miss Hannay; of that I am absolutely certain."
"It is curious, lad," the Doctor said, after a pause; "and the picture,you see, has so far come true that you have made the acquaintance withone of the actors whom you did not previously know."
"I did not believe in the truth of it, Doctor, and I do not believe init now. There was one feature in the fight which was, as I regret toknow, impossible."
"And what was that, Bathurst?"
Bathurst was silent for a time.
"You are an old friend, Doctor, and you will understand my case, andmake more allowances for it than most people would. When I first cameout here I dare say you heard some sort of reports as to why I had leftthe army and had afterwards entered the Civil Service."
"There were some stupid rumors," the Doctor said, "that you had gonehome on sick leave just after the battle of Chillianwalla, and had thensold out, because you had shown the white feather. I need not say that Idid not give any credit to it; there is always gossip flying about as tothe reasons a man leaves the army."
"It was quite true, Doctor. It is a hideous thing to say, butconstitutionally I am a coward."
"I cannot believe it," the Doctor said warmly. "Now that I know you, youare the last man of whom I would credit such a thing."
"It is the bane of my life," Bathurst went on. "It is my misfortune,for I will not allow it is my fault. In many things I am not a coward.I think I could face any danger if the danger were a silent one, but Icannot stand noise. The
report of a gun makes me tremble all over, evenwhen it is a blank cartridge that is fired. When I was born my fatherwas in India. A short time before I came into the world my mother had agreat fright. Her house in the country was broken into by burglars, whoentered the room and threatened to blow out her brains if she moved;but the alarm was given, the men servants came down armed, there wasa struggle in her room, pistol shots were fired, and the burglarswere overpowered and captured. My mother fainted and was ill for weeksafterwards--in fact, until the time I was born; and she died a few dayslater, never having, the doctor said, recovered from the shock she hadsuffered that night.
"I grew up a weakly, timid boy--the sort of boy that is always bulliedat school. My father, as you know, was a general officer, and didnot return home until I was ten years old. He was naturally muchdisappointed in me, and I think that added to my timidity, for it grewupon me rather than otherwise. Morally, I was not a coward. At school Ican say that I never told a lie to avoid punishment, and my readiness tospeak the truth did not add to my popularity among the other boys, and Iused to be called a sneak, which was even more hateful than being calleda coward.
"As I grew up I shook off my delicacy, and grew, as you see, into astrong man. I then fought several battles at school; I learnt to ride,and came to have confidence in myself, and though I had no particularfancy for the army my father's heart was so set on it that I offered noobjection. That the sound of a gun was abhorrent to me I knew, for thefirst time my father put a gun in my hand and I fired it, I fainted, andnothing would persuade me to try again. Still I thought that this wasthe result of nervousness as to firing it myself, and that I should getover it in time.
"A month or two after I was gazetted I went out to India with theregiment, and arrived just in time to get up by forced marches to takepart in the battle of Chillianwalla. The consequence was that up to thattime I literally had heard no musketry practice.
"Of the events of that battle I have no remembrance whatever; fromthe moment the first gun was fired to the end of the day I was as oneparalyzed. I saw nothing, I heard nothing, I moved mechanically; buthappily my will or my instinct kept me in my place in the regiment.When all was over, and silence followed the din, I fell to the groundinsensible. Happily for me the doctors declared I was in a state of highfever, and I so remained for a fortnight. As soon as I got better I wassent down the country, and I at once sent in my papers and went home. Nodoubt the affair was talked of, and there were whispers as to the realcause of my illness. My father was terribly angry when I returned homeand told him the truth of the matter. That his son should be a cowardwas naturally an awful blow to him. Home was too unhappy to be endured,and when an uncle of mine, who was a director on the Company's Board,offered me a berth in the Civil Service, I thankfully accepted it,believing that in that capacity I need never hear a gun fired again.
"You will understand, then, the anxiety I am feeling owing to theserumors of disaffection among the Sepoys, and the possibility of anythinglike a general mutiny.
"It is not of being killed that I have any fear; upon the contrary, Ihave suffered so much in the last eight years from the consciousnessthat the reason why I left the army was widely known, that I shouldwelcome death, if it came to me noiselessly; but the thought that ifthere is trouble I shall assuredly not be able to play my part like aman fills me with absolute horror, and now more than ever.
"So you will understand now why the picture I saw, in which I wasfighting in the middle of the Sepoys, is to me not only improbable, butsimply impossible. It is a horrible story to have to tell. This is thefirst time I have opened my lips on the subject since I spoke to myfather, but I know that you, both as a friend and a doctor, will pityrather than blame me."
