Tara: A Mahratta Tale
Page 27
CHAPTER XXV.
While search was being made for the kullal, Fazil's thoughts revertedpainfully to his father and sister. He could not leave Bulwunt withoutexposing himself to further suspicion; but he might at least send newsof his safety, and his application to the Duffadar for a messenger waspromptly acceded to.
"Surely, Khan," was the prompt reply, "I could hardly refuse your goingyourself, if you asked; but it is better you stayed. Men's tongues arebad, and I am only a humble man. Verily I will send my own son Ashruf,and he will do the errand carefully. He is gone--that is, my sonAshruf--my lord, to see the barber home, and will be here directly. Abrave youth, O Khan, and with a large heart. Does my lord remember theFriday's fight with the Moghuls in the plain by Allapoor? Well, in thatmy boy did good service, and in killing one of the enemy got a sharpcut himself over the arm, but he did not care for it; and was he notfighting on the strength of the King's salt?"
"Indeed, I remember it well, Duffadar," returned Fazil, "for I wasbeaten down, and wellnigh killed myself, when this poor friend of minehere rescued me. How, Bulwunt! was it not that day?"
"Ay, Meah, that very day," he said faintly; "the last battle BulwuntRao will ever see in thy service. I am very faint, Meah. These filmsbefore my eyes seem to precede death. I pray thee leave me not here."
"Nay, fear not," replied Fazil; "the barber said there was no danger oflife. Be of good heart, Bulwunt--no bones are cut; and though there ismuch weakness from loss of blood, you will soon be well. Get to sleep,we shall not leave before daylight."
"I do not fear, Meah. Death has no pain or regret for me. My only wishwas to die in the service of your house. I am the last of my race, andhave no one to mourn for me like thee, Meah! I would live for thee ifit be the will of God; and but for this, death would be welcome."
"Peace! do not speak, friend," returned Fazil; "go to sleep, and thouwilt be strong ere morning. Does not the barber, I tell thee, say thereis no danger? so be comforted."
"None perhaps of life, Meah; but this arm, which was all I had to livefor, it will never hold sword more, Meah--never, never!" and he sobbedlike a child.
"Fear not," cried the Duffadar cheerily; "I have worse wounds on methan that, Rao Sahib, and yet my arm can strike a blow for the Shah; sobe comforted, and get to sleep."
Bulwunt sighed. "If I had only slain him," he said, "and revenged thedead, then I could have died; or if this arm had gone for that, itsbest service in life would have been done. I shall never have sucha chance again, Meah. But the gods have need of him, and he has theprotection of Devi. He and Sivaji Bhoslay both have it, as ye will seehereafter, Meah. Who can resist them?"
"This is the youth of whom I spake, Khan Sahib," said the Duffadar; "abrave boy--a brave boy he always was."
And truly there was much in the appearance of the youth to corroboratethis. An open, dare-devil, good-humoured countenance, with brightmerry eyes, which, as he spoke, seemed to close up till two brightsparks only were visible; and a wide bow-shaped mouth, about which fun,and perhaps some mischief, played in perpetual smiles, conveyed animpression of recklessness of danger, as a lithe rapidity of movementdid of extreme activity of body, and perhaps endurance.
"A brave youth, doubtless, Duffadar Sahib," said Fazil; "his eye speaksfor him; a boy to be proud of. How sayst thou, lad? Wilt thou do anerrand for the son of Afzool Khan?"
"Ay will I," replied the boy promptly, while he presented hissword-hilt to the young Khan, as his father had done; "and gladly too;and if my lord will pardon me for saying it, I have long known him. Whodoes not know the brave son of a brave father? Ah, Meah Sahib! if I hadonly been on a horse when Afzool Khan's Paigah dashed into the Moghul'sthat Friday, I would have struck a blow with you. I watched you as yourode by close to the standard-bearer. Then there was a fierce fight,and men said you were cut down. Ah! I was only on foot, for we are toopoor to ride; and I was--a little wounded," he added, dropping his eyesmodestly, "and father led me away. But for that, Meah Sahib, I wouldhave been with you, even on foot."
"Boldly spoken, and with a true heart, Ashruf!" exclaimed Fazil; "andif you do this errand carefully and quickly for me, you shall rideever after with me in my troop--that is, if your father will permitit. Afzool Khan's stables have enough horses to find one for you. Ofthat, however, more hereafter. Go now to the house, ask for Goolab thenurse; tell her I am safe, but that Bulwunt Rao is wounded badly, anda palankeen must be sent for him with all speed, and my clothes andshawls put into it. If my father be asleep, he is not to be awakened,but my sister must know that I am safe. Now begone; here is my ring,which will pass you through the fort. Let us see how soon you willreturn."
"Come, Shekh Hoosein," said the lad, addressing a young man standingnear; "we had better be two. Tie up thy waist-band tight, for we shallnot draw breath till we reach the city gate. Come!"
Both loosened their waist-scarfs, and retied them tighter, and after afew words of caution from the Duffadar, they dashed down the street atfull speed.
As they left, several of the men came in, leading the kullal by the endof his turban, with which his arms were tightly tied down. Bareheaded,covered with mud, and bleeding slightly from his nose, his facewearing an expression of fright and pain combined, Rama was a verydifferent-looking person to what he had appeared when Fazil Khan andBulwunt entered his shop. His first impulse was to cast himself on theground before Fazil, and lie at full length moaning. The men who werewith him did not interfere. The act was a deprecation of anger which itwould have been unmannerly to deny.
"Get up," cried Fazil; "get up, knave and liar! Say, was it I whowounded that poor fellow yonder?"
"Pardon! pardon! Noble Meah, pardon! Your slave will not rise till hehas pardon," cried the man abjectly. "It was all a mistake; and howcould I know the son of Afzool Khan? Pardon! and I will tell all Iknow."
"If thou dost not, hound! thou wilt hang upon the highest branch of theGoruk Imlee to feed the crows before morn," replied Fazil. "Get up! Ifthou tellest the truth, I give thee kowl; if not--if I detect one wordof lie, nothing can save thee. Dost thou hear? Rise!"
"Get up, Kafir!" cried the man who held the turban, giving it a jerk,which caused a corresponding exclamation of pain, "Don't you hear whatmy lord says to you? He will give you pardon if you speak the truth.Get up, and tell him all. My lord," he continued to Fazil, "he knowsmuch, and he has some papers which one of the fellows--Maloosray, hesays--dropped as he left the house. We wanted them, but he said youwould pardon him if he gave them himself. We found him hiding in thewood stack near his still, and the fool must needs struggle and try towrestle with one of our men, and so got a fall; but he is not hurt."
"Loose my arms, noble Meah--tell them to loose my arms. They areswelling already, and I am sick with pain," said the kullal, rising.
"If my lord allows me, I will loose him. There!" continued the soldier,on receiving Fazil's sign in the affirmative; "see thou speak thetruth, else I will tie them tighter than ever, and they will not beloosened again while thou art alive."
"My lord, don't threaten me, or I shall lose my senses," said thekullal, the horrible vision of hanging, as he had seen many hang to thebranches of that famous tree, coming vividly to his mind. "If therebe a good Hindu among you, give me a drink of water. Ah, my arms!my arms!" he cried, sitting down again, and sobbing as the rope wasloosened.
"Here is water," said one of the men, advancing with a brass vesselfull. "I am a Rajpoot--drink."
The draught refreshed him, and he began his tale. It was in themain correct, and as we have already related it. "Tannajee and hiscompanions had been at his shop only a few minutes before Fazil andBulwunt came in. They had been very careful, and before they enteredthe house placed scouts to watch all the approaches. They spoke in lowtones, and, beyond a few words now and then, he had caught nothing oftheir conversation. All that he could gather was, that Pahar Singh anda Gosai from Tooljapoor were expected, and they were so impatient fortheir arrival, that two of the men had by turns gone to see
after them."
"Had they ever been at your shop before?" asked Fazil.
"Yesterday one of the men was there twice to say the place would bewanted in the evening," replied the kullal; "and he gave me ten rupeesto say I had neither spirits nor ganja; so I told every one I had none,and no one stayed but you."
"You might have suspected they were after no good," said the Duffadar."Why did you not give warning here?"
"Ah, sir, I am a poor fellow," returned the man, "with a large family;and if gentlemen sometimes like a private room to smoke, to play, or totalk in, am I to forbid them? Would they not get it elsewhere?"
"True enough--thou art not to blame," said Fazil; "but the papers--whatof them?"
"After you were taken away, my lord," replied the kullal, "I took thelamp inside towards the door, for I thought I saw blood on the ground,which indeed there was; and one of the two men who escaped must havebeen wounded. I followed the trace of blood to the door of the yard,and there I found this little bag, noble sir; here it is."
As he spoke he produced a small silken bag, apparently filled withpapers, from under his waist-cloth, and handed it to Fazil. In itwere several letters, and bundles of accounts written in the Mahrattacharacter.
"I cannot read these, and they may be of importance; so we must wait,for this poor fellow of mine is asleep," said Fazil.
"No, Meah, I was dozing while you spoke, and am easier now, for thebandage has cooled my wound. Papers? What papers?" said Bulwunt, risingslightly, and supporting himself on his left arm. "Give them to me."
"There are some in Mahratta, which Tannajee, or one of his companions,dropped in their flight. Can you make out what they are, Bulwunt?"asked Fazil.
"I will try, Meah; put the light here. Stay; open them separately. Iforget that I have but one arm now."
The papers were given to him one by one, and his eye glanced overseveral in succession as if of no importance; but one appeared tointerest him greatly, and Fazil observed his eyes return, to thecommencement after having looked over it hastily, and his lips to moveas if reading it word by word, while the expression of his face changedto one of intense concern.
"Yes, Meah, this is indeed important," he said; "but no one must hearit but thyself or thy father. Listen," he continued, whispering; "thatis from the old Gosai at Tooljapoor, about those letters the King hasobtained. Those whom they concern are mentioned in feigned names, andit will puzzle me not a little to understand their meaning fully; butwe have a clue in what occurred at the temple, and I will unravelit when we get home. Now my eyes are too weary. Stay, there may besomething from Sivaji.... No," he continued, after he had looked atthem one by one, "there are none from him, but several from Yessjee,who is his friend. No, they are too wary to write letters; but no doubtthere is much intrigue afoot, Meah--much."
"Enough," replied Fazil; "now go to sleep, Bulwunt, till daylightbrings people from the house. I too will rest, if I can, after all thisexcitement, with your permission, Duffadar Sahib----"
But the old man had lain down on the floor while the papers were beingexamined, and was fast asleep; so also were the men of the guard,except one sitting at the doorway as sentinel, the gurgle of whosehooka mingled with an occasional snore from a sleeper on the floor.Those about the kullal, who had been removed to a little distance,asked how he was to be disposed of.
"Take him to his house," said Fazil, "and keep him there till he iswanted. Go with them, Rama," he continued to the man, "and be readywhen I send for thee. I will answer to the Kotwal for the night'sevents."
"That is all I wanted," he replied. "My lord is very kind and merciful."
"Not yet. I have much to ask and much to hear. If thou canst speak thetruth, well for thee; if not, beware!"