CHAPTER XXXVI.
At the head of the advance, which consisted of my thousand splendidhorsemen, I was the first to cross the river, now fordable, and weencamped on its further bank, in the same spot we had occupied scarcelyfive months before, almost doubled in numbers, and with the prospectof a brilliant foray before us. I shall not speak of how we traversedthe Rajah of Nagpoor's territories, or penetrated through junglesand forests which till now had hardly ever been traversed by armies.We suffered often sad straits for the want of water, but all bore upnobly; and at last our horde rushed upon the fertile plains of thenorthern Circars, and everything fell before it. Mercy was shown tonone. Our army spread itself over a tract of country many miles inbreadth, and every village in its route was sacked and reduced to ashes.
On we rushed, at the rate of ten and fifteen coss daily; neithermountains nor rivers impeded us: in the language of hyperbole, wedevoured the former and drank up the latter. Troops there were none tooppose us, and if there had been any, they would have been trampledunder the feet of our victorious squadrons. Yet we had no dispositionto fight; it was no part of our plan. If we heard of resistance likelyto be offered, we diverged from the spot, for what would have beenthe use of exposing ourselves to encounters, in which, though sure ofvictory, we should have lost many of our men and crippled our futureoperations?
After some days we reached Guntoor, where we knew there was a largetreasure collected, the revenue of the province we had desolated. Togain this was an object on which Cheetoo had set his heart, as he hadheard it amounted to many lakhs of rupees, and it belonged to thedetested Europeans. My men rushed with yells more like those of demonsthan men upon the devoted town. To restrain them would have been vain,and I did not attempt it. It was thoroughly sacked in the presence ofthe British officers, who confined themselves to a building in whichwas the treasure; and I must say they defended their charge nobly. NoPindharee could show himself near the spot without being a target fora volley of musquetry; and though I importuned Cheetoo to allow me tostorm the building at the head of my Risala, he would not hear of it.He had been deceived, he said, about there being troops to defend it;and though I always thought there were but few, yet he exaggeratedtheir numbers, and relinquished his determination.
In revenge, however, for our disappointment, we plundered the houses ofthe officers, broke all their furniture, and set fire to many of themafterwards, in the hope that this would draw them from their post, andexpose them to the charge of the horse. They were too wise, however,to venture forth, and reluctantly we left the place from which we hadpromised ourselves so large a booty; not, however, that what we did getwas inconsiderable, though many were disappointed.
I was not so. I had, with my own Thugs, seized upon arespectable-looking house, which we defended against the Pindhareeswho attempted to enter, and we despoiled its inmates, a large familyof rich Hindoos, of all their wealth and ornaments, to the amount ofnearly thirty thousand rupees. We did it too without torture, for Inever permitted it, though we were obliged to use threats in abundance.
Laden with our spoil, we left the town in the afternoon, and by nightthe straggling army was again encamped at a distance of nearly tencoss from it, secure against any pursuit. We crossed the Krishna, andpenetrated nearly as far as Kurpah, where he heard there was moretreasure belonging to the English government. But we were disappointedin this also. The officers who guarded it were on the alert, and thestation was guarded by troops; we therefore avoided any collision withthem, and directed our course towards Kurnool. Here also we were beatenoff; but we crossed the river, and again entered the Nizam's territory,closely pursued by a body of English cavalry, who, however, did notcross after us. A consultation was now held, and it was determinedthat our Lubhur should separate into three bodies, both for the sakeof destroying and ravaging a larger tract of country than we could dounited, and of more easily evading the troops which now watched ourmovements in every direction. One body therefore took a western coursealong the banks of the river, another an eastern one, and a third amiddle course.
That which took the eastern road was the one with which Cheetooremained, and with it were Ghuffoor Khan and myself. We were to passthrough the country to the eastward of Hyderabad, and regain theNagpoor territories by the great north road through Nirmul. I was nowthe sole companion of Ghuffoor Khan; so long as the other leadersremained, he was mostly in their company, but now their absence drew ustogether, and I may almost say that we lived in the same tent, if tentit could be called, which served to shelter us from the excessive heatof the weather. Need I mention that I was a constant witness to hiscruelties? They were of every-day occurrence, and to show you the man'snature, I shall relate one, as a specimen of thousands of a similarkind that he committed.
We reached a town, the name of which I forget, nor does it signifynow; as usual, it was entered pell-mell by the horde, and the work ofdestruction commenced. Why should I conceal it? I was as busy as therest, and not a house or hut of any description escaped my followersand myself. Ghuffoor Khan was busy too. I had completed my work; I hadtorn ornaments from the females, terrified their husbands and fathersinto giving up their small hoards of money; and having got all I could,I was preparing to leave the town in company with my Thugs, who neverseparated from me. We were passing through the main street on ourreturn, when our attention was attracted to a good-looking house, fromwhich issued the most piercing screams of terror and agony.
I instantly dismounted, and bidding my men follow me, we rushed intothe house. Never shall I forget the scene which met my eyes, whenwe reached the place from whence the screams proceeded. There wasGhuffoor Khan, with seven or eight of his men, engaged in a horridwork. Three dead bodies lay on the floor weltering in their blood,which poured from the still warm corpses. Two were fine young men, theother an elderly woman. Before Ghuffoor Khan stood a venerable man,suffering under the torture of having a horse's nose-bag full of hotashes tied over his mouth, while one of the Khan's followers struckhim incessantly on the back with the hilt of his sword. The miserablewretch was half choked, and it was beyond his power to have uttered aword in reply to the interrogations which were thundered in his ear bythe Khan himself as to where his treasure was concealed. Three youngwomen of great beauty were engaged in a fruitless scuffle with theothers of Ghuffoor Khan's party; and their disordered appearance andheart-rending shrieks too well told what had been their fate previousto my entrance.
What could I do? I dared not openly have attacked the Khan, though Ihalf drew my sword from its scabbard, and would have rushed on him;but he was my superior, and had I then put him and his men to death,it could not have been concealed from Cheetoo--and what would havebeen my fate? So checking the momentary impulse, which I had so nearlyfollowed, I approached him, and endeavoured to withdraw his attentionfrom the horrible work in which he was engaged.
"Come, Khan Sahib," I cried, "near us is a house which has resistedmy utmost efforts to enter: I want you to aid me, and, Inshalla! itwill repay the trouble, for I have heard that it is full of moneyand jewels, as the family is rich." I did not tell a lie, for I hadendeavoured to break open the gate of a large house but desisted when Iwas informed that it was uninhabited.
"Wait awhile," said he; "I have had rare sport here; these fools mustneeds oppose our entrance with drawn weapons, and I got a scratch onthe arm from one of them myself. But what could they do--the kafirs!against a true believer? They fell in this room, and their old mothertoo, by my own sword. My men have been amusing themselves with theirwives; whilst I, you see, am trying to get what I can out of thisobstinate old villain; but he will not listen to reason, and I havebeen obliged to make him taste hot ashes."
"Perhaps he has naught to give," said I; "at any rate, he cannot speakwhile that bag is over his mouth; let it be removed, and we will hearwhat he has to say."
"Try it," said the Khan; "but we shall make nothing of him you willsee."
"Remove the bag," cried I to the Pindharee who was behind him; "let himspe
ak, and bring some water; his throat is full of ashes." The bag wasremoved, and a vessel full of water, which was in a corner of the room,was brought and put to his lips; but he rejected it with loathing, forhe was a Hindoo and a Brahmin.
"Drink!" cried the infuriated Khan at beholding his gesture; "drink, orby Alla I will force it down thy throat. Kafir, to whom the urine of acow is a delicacy, darest thou refuse water from the hands of a Moslem?"
"Blood-thirsty devil," said the old man in a husky voice, "water fromthy hands, or any of thy accursed race, would poison me. I would ratherdrink my own son's blood, which is flowing yonder, than such pollution."
"Ha! sayest thou so? then, in the name of the blessed Prophet, thoushalt taste it. Here, Sumund Khan, get some up from the floor; yonderis a cup--fill it to the brim; the old man shall drink it, as he wouldthe wine of Paradise."
"Hold!" cried I to Ghuffoor Khan; "you would not do so inhuman an act."
"Nay, interfere not," said the Khan, setting his teeth; "you and I,Meer Sahib, are friends--let us remain so; but we shall quarrel if Iam hindered in my purpose; and has he not said he preferred it to purewater?"
Sumund Khan had collected the blood, and the cup was half filled withthe warm red liquid--a horrible draught, which he now presented to themiserable father. "Drink!" said he, offering the cup with a mock politegesture; "think it Ganges water, and it will open thy heart to tell uswhere thy treasures are."
Ghuffoor Khan laughed loudly. "By Alla! thou hast a rare wit, SumundKhan; the idea should be written in a book. I will tell Cheetoo of it."But the old man turned from them with loathing, and his chest heaved asthough he were about to be sick.
"There's no use wasting time," cried Ghuffoor Khan; "open his mouthwith your dagger and pour the draught into it."
It was done; by Alla! Sahib, the two did it before my eyes--fiends thatthey were! Not only did they pour the blood down the old man's throat,but in forcing open his mouth they cut his lips in a ghastly manner,and his cheek was laid open.
"Now tell us where the gold is!" cried Ghuffoor Khan. "Of what use isthis obstinacy? Knowest thou not that thy life is in my power, and thatone blow of my sword will send thee to Jehanum, where those fools aregone before thee?"--and he pointed to the dead.
"Strike!" cried the sufferer, "strike! your blow will be welcome; I amold and fit for death. Why do ye delay?"
"But the gold, the treasures!" roared the Khan, stamping on the ground."Why, are you a fool?"
"Gold, I have told ye, I have none," he replied; "I told you so atfirst, but ye would not listen. We gave you all we had, and ye were notsatisfied. Ye have murdered my sons and my wife, and dishonoured mydaughters. Kill us all, and we will be thankful."
"Hear him!" cried the Khan, savagely; "he mocks us. Oh the wilfulwickedness of age--is it not proverbial! One of you bring some oil anda light; we will see whether this humour can stand my final test, whichhas never yet failed."
By this time the house was full of Pindharees, and, if I had wished it,I had not dared to interfere further. I stood looking on, determinedto let him have his course; he was only hastening his own fate, and whyshould I prevent it? The oil was brought, and a quantity of rags weretorn from the dhotees, or waist-cloths, of the murdered men. They weredipped in the oil, and wound round the fingers of the old man to asgreat a thickness as was possible.
"Now bring a light," cried the Khan, "and hold him fast."
A light was kindled, and the man held it in his hand. "I give you alast chance," said the Khan, speaking from between his closed teeth;"you know I dare say, the use your fingers will be put to; be quick andanswer, or I will make torches of them, and they shall light me to yourtreasures, which I warrant are hidden in some dark hole."
"Do your worst," answered the old man, in a desperate tone. "Ye willnot kill me; and if my sufferings will in any way gratify you, even letit be so; for Narayun has given me into your power, and it is his willand not yours which does this. You will not hear me cry out, though myarms were burnt off to the sockets. I spit at you!"
"Light the rags!" roared Ghuffoor Khan; "this is not to be endured."
They were lit--one by one they blazed up, while his hands were forciblyheld down to his sides to accelerate the effect of the fire. Alla,Alla! it was a sickening sight. The warm flesh of the fingers hissedunder the blaze of the oiled rags, which were fed from time to timewith fresh oil, as men pour it upon a torch. The old man had overratedhis strength. What nerves could bear such exquisite torture? Hisshrieks were piteous, and would have melted a heart of stone; butGhuffoor Khan heeded them not: he stood glutting his savage soul withthe sufferings of the wretched creature before him, and asking him fromtime to time, with the grin of a devil, whether he would disclose histreasures. But the person he addressed was speechless, and after naturewas fairly exhausted, he sank down in utter insensibility.
"You have killed him," I exclaimed. "For the love of Alla, let himalone, and let us depart; what more would you have? Either he has nomoney, or he will not give it up."
"Where be those daughters of a defiled mother?" cried he to hisfollowers, not heeding what I said to him. "Where are they? Bring themforward, that I may ask them about the money, for money there must be."
But they, too, were dead! ay, they had been murdered also; by whom Iknow not, but their bodies were found in the next room weltering intheir blood. The news was brought to the Khan, and he was more savagethan ever; he gnashed his teeth like a wild beast--he was fearful tolook on.
The old man had revived, for water had been poured on his face and onhis fingers: he raised himself up, looked wildly about him, and thengazed piteously on his mutilated hands. Were they men or devils by whomhe was surrounded? By Alla! Sahib, they were not men, for they laughedat him and his almost unconscious actions.
"Speak!" cried the Khan, striking him with his sword, "speak, kafir!or more tortures are in store for thee." But he spoke not--he was morethan half-dead: misery and torture had done their utmost.
The Khan drew his sword. Again he cried "Speak!" as he raised theweapon above his head. I fancied I saw the old man's lips smile, andmove as though he would have spoken; he cast his eyes upwards, but noword escaped him. The sword was quivering above his head in the nervousgrasp of the Khan; and seeing he got no answer, it descended with itsfull force on the old man's forehead, almost dividing the head in two.Need I say he was instantly dead! I was satisfied; Ghuffoor Khan's cuptoo was full; for my own determination was made on that spot,--I sworeit to myself as I looked at the dead, and rushed from the house.
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