CHAPTER XV
DEAREST-LADY
For two whole days the little party was too weary even to attempt amove. They had some provisions with them, and Tumbu, as good as hisword, brought in more and more marmots; for being unaccustomed to dogs,they were easily caught.
The death of Old Faithful weighed upon the spirits of all, and for thefirst twelve hours or so the Heir-to-Empire was inconsolable for theloss of his beloved cat; for Foster-father had found it impossible tocarry Down farther, and she had remained behind in the snow, protestingpiteously. It was a terrible grief, and the child had almost wepthimself sick, when, to every one's surprise and delight, Mistress Downwas seen walking sedately across the flowers, her bushy tail carriedvery high, not one hair of her silky white coat awry. She took no noticeof anybody, but passed to the fire, sat down beside it with stiffdignity, curled her tail round her paws, yawned and then began to purrgently. It was as if nothing had happened. And she certainly was nothungry, for she turned up her dainty nose at Tumbu's marmot bones.
"Cats," said Head-nurse, who had just awakened from a long sleep of manyhours, "are not to be counted as other beasts. Having nine lives, theycould afford to lose one; but they never do. They always fall on theirfeet. It is the way of the world; the more you have the more you get.Still, I am glad she has returned; and I wish there were a chance ofothers turning up also," she added with a sigh.
The Heir-to-Empire looked up gravely. "But Faithful can't come back, youknow. He went to help Grand-dad to help us."
"Hark to the innocent," cried Foster-mother, half in smiles, half intears, "but it is true. If ever poor mortals were watched over by saintsin Paradise, we were; and for my part if ever I get to Kabul, my dutyshall be paid to the tomb of Firdoos Gita Makani--on whom be peace."
"Amen!" added her husband devoutly; "but for the memory of that good manwe should not be here now."
It was on the third day that leaving Meroo in charge for a few hoursFoster-father and Roy set off to explore. They were fortunate in findingsome shepherds' huts within a walking distance for even footsore women,and returned ere nightfall with a skin bag of fresh milk.
Early next morning, therefore, they all set off, Roy girding on deadFaithful's sword from the sledge that was wanted no more, and from thatmoment feeling himself indeed bodyguard to the Heir-to-Empire.
Once they had reached safety from starvation in the shepherds' huts, agreat desire for rest came upon them all; and for three whole days theydid nothing but eat, and sleep, and rejoice in the early springsunshine, and the early spring flowers. For the late snap of extremecold had passed and every green thing was hurrying to be ahead of itsneighbour. Bija made endless cowslip balls out of the beautifulrose-pink primulas, while Roy and Mirak, following the shepherds' boys,came back with their hands full of young rhubarb shoots and green ferncroziers, which they ate like asparagus. But this sort of thing couldnot last long, since they were close to the caravan route from Kandaharto Kabul; and sure enough, no sooner had the snow on the uplands meltedthan travellers began to pass through.
Thus news that the little party had escaped death soon filtered frommouth to mouth, till it reached the Captain of the Escort, and ere longFoster-father found himself and those in his care once moresemi-prisoners on their way to cruel brother Kumran; all the more cruel,doubtless, because King Humayon had already begun the siege of Kandahar,believing his little son to be still within its walls.
Now Kumran was a far cleverer fellow than his brother Askurry; but therewas in him a love of deceit for deceit's sake, which spoiled all hiscleverness, for it made him uncertain what he would do in the end. Thisindeed is always the case with deceitful people. They know that whatthey say and do is _not_ straightforward and true, and so they are likesailors without a compass. They have no fixed pole by which to steer.
And, in addition, Kumran liked to be considered clever; so he was alwaysoutwardly very courteous, very polite, very charming; but what he waswithin none could say for long.
Thus Foster-father's heart sank within him, when in the distance, downthe rocky ravine through which the Kabul River dashes, and along whichthe caravan road took its high-perched way, he saw the battlemented wallof the city, cresting the low hills on which the town was built. It wasa fully fortified town through which the river ran, and at its extremeend, commanding the wider plain below, stood the citadel called the BalaHissar or High Fort. To reach this the travellers had to cross the ironbridge and wend their way through the narrow bazaars.
Such wonderful bazaars as they were, too! Crowded with tiny dark archedshops, like caverns, full to the brim with Persian silk carpets, fursfrom the north, turquoises and all kinds of precious stones fromout-of-the-way places with unpronounceable names. And there were such aquantity of cats! Grey Persian cats and white ones, and tabbies andblack cats who sat on the balconies and stared at Down as she lay onHorse-chestnut's broad, wavy back. For the Captain of the Escort hadfound out what an excellent creature the old pony was, and had broughtit along with him.
The High Fort was a huge place with great gardens within its battlementsand several separate palaces. Here, to Foster-father's unboundeddelight, they found that Prince Kumran was himself away, having gone outwith a small body of men to the Kandahar frontier, where King Humayon'sarrival had aroused loyalty. But what was still more cheering was thenews that he had left orders for the Heir-to-Empire and his sister to behanded over on arrival to the charge of Dearest-Lady! Foster-fathercould hardly believe his ears; for Dearest-Lady (as she was alwayscalled by all her family, by all her nephews and nieces, by all hergrand nephews and nieces, and cousins, and every one who was luckyenough to belong to her) was simply--Well! what was she not? Wise, andgentle, and good, and clever--all this and more. She was the sort ofDearest-Lady who lived so long in the hearts of those who knew her,that, years after she was dead they would say, if there was anydifficult point to be settled--"We wonder what Dearest-Lady would havesaid?"
She was old, of course, for she was Babar the Brave's elder sister; thesister to whom he had been devoted, who had always been to him also "hisDearest-One." Now, when you come to think of it, boys and girls, thatis a nice sort of fame to have--to remain for--let me see how manyhundred years?--nearly four--Dearest-Lady, or Dearest-Gentleman to allthe world.
This Dearest-Lady was, of course, the Heir-to-Empire's grand-aunt, andthe mere sound of her name was enough to calm Foster-father's fears.Even Head-nurse, though she sniffed a little and said she had heard tellthat the Khanzada Khanum was a trifle careless of ceremonials, wassatisfied. There was no doubt that she was the Highest-Born-in-the-Land.
As for little Prince Akbar himself, he only opened his big, grave eyeswidely when the tall white figure clasped him closely in its arms andkissed his hair softly.
"So like his grandfather," she murmured, "so like! so like!--the veryhands, the very feet--so strong, so shapely." And both in turn felt thetouch of the soft old lips. "And thou, too, small maiden," she continuedkindly, "welcome to one who has never yet let it be said in her hearingthat God made women weaker than man! Thou shalt learn here to be proudthou wast born a girl. And you also, Nurse! Bring cooling sherbets,slaves, while she tells me all that has happened."
Then she sat and listened while Head-nurse told the tale of what hadhappened, and her faded, gay, old face flashed and sparkled and grewgrave by turns.
"But where is Tumbu?" she interrupted, "and where is Down? Bring themhither, slaves! Lo! I love all animals, as my dear brother did!"
And she laughed over their doings, and wept over Old Faithful's death,while Bija and Mirak sat cuddled up close beside her, listening also andenjoying the tale of their own adventures as if they had happened toother children!
"Surely," she said softly when Head-nurse ended, "my dearest brother--onwhom be peace--must have protected them! Lo! Mirak! and Bija--for Ishall call you naught else since they are sweet kindly names, betterthan fine sounding titles--this very afternoon ye shall come with me tothe garden he loved
, and where his earthly form lies at rest, and layflowers on his grave for thanks. Since he loved flowers as he lovedeverything."
So that evening, about an hour before sunset time, they were all carriedin litters to the Garden of the New Year, about a mile beyond the city.It was a most peaceful, lovely spot, right up on the hillside with asplendid view from it of valley and mountain and river. A fresh bubblingspring ran through it, and beneath the Judas trees, whose leaflessbranches were flushed with pink blossoms, stretched great carpets ofspring flowers.
"Pluck him yonder tulips, Mirak," said Dearest-Lady with a smile. "Heloved to count their kinds and those--as he wrote--are 'yellow, double,and scented like a rose'!"
And the boy who was to grow to be a greater man even than hisgrandfather, though he could scarcely be a more lovable one, plucked aposy of the tulips and laid them on the plain marble slab which borenothing but the words, "Heaven is the eternal home of the EmperorBabar." And when Bija, with many a little feminine ceremonial, haddeposited her nosegay of sweet violets, and Head-nurse and Foster-motherhad offered up their respects, they all went and sat down on a grassyspot, and Dearest-Lady, who was always full of youthful curiositiesconcerning all things, began to question Roy, who as a mere lad had beenallowed to come with them, as to what he could remember of the timebefore he was picked up in the desert.
"Hold my hand, child, and think," she said at last, "mayhap it may cometo thee then. The touch of kinship has power, and if I do not mistakeme, there is that in thy blood that is in mine--royalty!"
So she clasped Roy's slim long-fingered hand and held it tight, and theboy's face changed, his eyes grew startled, he shivered slightly.
"Yea!" he said, "now I do remember. Mother was like you, and she told meI had the mark of Kingship strong enough, for all the rebels mightsay--" As he spoke, he drew down his loose garments, and there upon theclear olive of his breast, just above the heart, showed a small darkstain.
Dearest-Lady bent close to look at it. "What is't?" she asked.
"Mother said it was the sign of uttermost truth, and that we all hadit," he replied, speaking dreamily.
"But who were we?" persisted Dearest-Lady, her kind eyes on the lad's.
Just at that moment, however, Tumbu, who had, of course, accompaniedthem, burst out with a series of shrill, short barks, and Roy was on hisfeet in a second, his hand on Old Faithful's sword, lest any newcomermight bring danger to his little master. But as it turned out Tumbu wasonly excited by a water-rat! All the same the interruption preventedDearest-Lady's question from being answered, for the spell was broken.
"Yea! thou wilt be true to the very uttermost, of that I am sure," saidDearest-Lady, half pleased, half amused at the young Rajput's quick leapto arms, "and so long as I have charge of the Heir-to-Empire thou shaltbe his esquire. So go call the litter-men, boy, it is time we returned.I must remember I am gaoler as well as grand-aunt."
The Adventures of Akbar Page 18
