ONE OF CLIVE"S HEROES.
by Herbert Strang.
Preface
I have not attempted in this story to give a full account of the career of Lord Clive. That has been done by my old friend Mr. Henty in _With Clive in India_. It has always seemed to me that a single book provides too narrow a canvas for the display of a life so full and varied as Clive"s; while a story is bound to suffer, structurally and in detail, from the compression of the events of a life-time into so restricted a s.p.a.ce. I have therefore chosen two outstanding events in the history of India and of Clive--the capture of Gheria and the Battle of Pla.s.sey; and have made them the pivot of a personal story of adventure. The whole action of the present work is comprised in the years from 1754 to 1757.
But while this book is thus rather a romance with a background of history than an historical biography with an admixture of fiction, the reader may be a.s.sured that the information its pages contain is accurate. I have drawn freely upon the standard authorities: Orme"s _History_, Ives" _Voyage_, Grose"s _Voyage_, the lives of Clive by Malcolm and by Colonel Malleson, and many other works, in particular the monumental volumes, by Mr. S. C. Hill recently published, _Bengal in 1756-7_, which give a very full, careful and clear account of that notable year, with a ma.s.s of most useful and interesting doc.u.ments. The maps of Bengal, Fort William, and Pla.s.sey in the present volume are taken from Mr. Hill"s work, by kind permission of the Secretary of State for India. I have to thank also Mr. T. P. Marshall, of Newport, for some valuable notes on the history and topography of Market Drayton.
For Indian words and names the Hunterian spelling has been adopted in the main.
For several years I myself lived within a stone"s throw of the scene of the tragedy of the Black Hole; and though at that time I had no intention of writing a story for boys, I hope that the impressions of Indian life, character, and scenery then gained have helped to create an atmosphere and to give reality to my picture. History is more than a mere record of events; I shall be satisfied if the reader gets from these pages an idea, however imperfect, of the conditions of life in which our empire-builders laboured in India a hundred and fifty years ago.
HERBERT STRANG.
CHAPTER THE FIRST
*In which the Court Leet of Market Drayton entertains Colonel Robert Clive; and our hero makes an acquaintance.*
One fine autumn evening, in the year 1754, a country cart jogged eastwards into Market Drayton at the heels of a thickset s.h.a.ggy-fetlocked and broken-winded cob. The low tilt, worn and ill-fitting, swayed widely with the motion, scarcely avoiding the hats of the two men who sat side by side on the front seat, and who, to any one watching their approach, would have appeared as dark figures in a tottering archway, against a background of crimson sky.
As the vehicle jolted through Shropshire Street, the creakings of its unsteady wheels mingled with a deep humming, as of innumerable bees, proceeding from the heart of the town. Turning the corner by the butchers" bulks into the High Street, the cart came to an abrupt stop.
In front, from the corn-market, a large wooden structure in the centre of the street, to the _Talbot Inn_, stretched a dense ma.s.s of people, partly townsfolk, as might be discerned by their dress, partly country folk who, having come in from outlying villages to market, had presumably been kept in the town by their curiosity or the fair weather.
"We"n better goo round about, measter," said the driver to the pa.s.senger at his side. "Summat"s afoot down yander."
"You"re a wise man, to be sure. Something"s afoot, as you truly say.
And being troubled from my youth up with an inquiring nose, I"ll e"en step forward and smell out the occasion. Do you bide here, my Jehu, till I come back."
"Why, I will then, measter, but my name binna Jehu. "Tis plain Tummas."
"You don"t say so! Now I come to think of it, it suits you better than Jehu, for the Son of Nimshi drove furiously. Well, Tummas, I will not keep you long; this troublesome nose of mine, I dare say, will soon be satisfied."
By this time he had slipped down from his seat, and was walking towards the throng. Now that he was upon his feet, he showed himself to be more than common tall, spare, and loose-jointed. His face was lean and swarthy, his eyes black and restless; his well-cut lips even now wore the same smile as when he mischievously misnamed his driver. Though he wore the usual dress of the Englishman of his day--frock, knee-breeches, and buckle-shoes, none of them in their first youth--there was a something outlandish about him, in the bright yellow of his neckcloth and the red feather stuck at a jaunty angle into the riband of his hat; and Tummas, as he looked curiously after his strange pa.s.senger, shook his head, and bit the straw in his mouth, and muttered:
"Ay, it binna on"y the nose, "t binna on"y the nose, with his Jehus an"
such."
Meanwhile the man strode rapidly along, reached the fringe of the crowd, and appeared to make his way through its ma.s.s without difficulty, perhaps by reason of his commanding height, possibly by the aforesaid quaintness of his aspect, and the smile which forbade any one to regard him as an aggressor. He went steadily on until he came opposite to the _Talbot Inn_. At that moment a stillness fell upon the crowd; every voice was hushed; every head was craned towards the open windows of the inn"s a.s.sembly-room.
[Sidenote: Reminiscences]
Gazing with the rest, the stranger saw a long table glittering under the soft radiance of many candles and surrounded by a numerous company--fat and thin, old and young, red-faced and pale, gentle and simple. At the end farthest from the street one figure stood erect--a short, round, rubicund little man, wearing a gown of rusty black, one thumb stuck into his vest, and a rosy benignity in the glance with which he scanned the table. He threw back his head, cleared his tight throat sonorously, and began, in tones perhaps best described as treacly, to address the seated company, with an intention also towards the larger audience without.
"Now, neebours all, we be trim and cosy in our insides, and "tis time fur me to say summat. I be proud, that I be, as it falls to me, bein"
bailiff o" this town, to ax ya all to drink the good health of our honoured townsman an" guest. I ha" lived hereabout, boy an" man, fur a matter o" fifty year, an" if so be I lived fifty more I couldna be a prouder man than I bin this night. Boy an" man, says I. Ay, I knowed our guest when he were no more"n table high. Well I mind him, that I do, comin" by this very street to school; ay, an" he minds me too, I warrant. I see him now, I do, skippin" along street fresh an"
nimble-like, his eyne chock full o" mischief, lookin" round fur to see some poor soul to play a prank on. It do feel strange-like to have him a-sittin" by my elbow to-day. Many"s the tale I could tell o" his doin"
an" our sufferin". Why, I mind a poor lump of a prentice as I wunst had, a loon as never could raise a keek: poor soul, he bin underground this many year. Well, as I were sayin", this prentice o" mine were allers bein" baited by the boys o" the grammar-school. I done my best for him, spoke them boys fair an" soft, but bless ya, "twas no good; they baited him worse"n ever. So one day I used my stick to um. Next mornin", I was down in my bake-hus, makin" my batch ready fur oven, when, oothout a word o" warnin", up comes my two feet behind, down I goes head fust into my flour barrel, and them young----hem! the clergy be present--them youngsters dancin" round me like forty mad merryandrews at a fair."
A roar of laughter greeted the anecdote.
"Ay, neebours," resumed the bailiff, "we can laugh now, you an" me, but theer"s many on ya could tell o your own mishappenin"s if ya had a mind to "t. As fur me, I bided my time. One day I cotched the leader o"
them boys nigh corn-market, an" I laid him across the badgerin" stone, and walloped him nineteen-twenty--hee! hee! D"ya mind that, General?"
He turned to the guest at his right hand, who sat with but the glimmer of a smile, crumbling one of Bailiff Malkin"s rolls on the table-cloth.
"But theer," continued the speaker, "that be nigh twenty year ago, an"
the shape o" my strap binna theer now, I warrant. Three skins ha"
growed since then--hee! hee! Who"d ha" thought, neebours, as that young limb as plagued our very lives out "ud ha" bin here to-day, a general, an" a great man, an" a credit to his town an" country? Us all thought as he"d bring his poor feyther"s grey hairs in sorrow to the grave. An"
when I heerd as he"d bin shipped off to the Injies--well, thinks I, that bin the last we"ll hear o" Bob Clive. But bless ya! all eggs binna addled. General Clive here--"twere the Injun sun what hatched he, an"
binna he, I ax ya, a rare young fightin" c.o.c.k? Ay, and a good breed too. A hunnerd year ago theer was a Bob Clive as med all our grandfeythers quake in mortal fear, a terrible man o" war was he. They wanted to put "n into po"try an" the church sarvice.
From Wem and from Wyche An" from Clive o" the Styche, Good Lord, deliver us.
That"s what they thought o" the Bob Clive o" long ago. Well, this Bob Clive now a-sittin" at my elbow be just as desp"rate a fighter, an"
thankful let us all be, neebours, as he does his fightin" wi" the black-faced Injuns an" the black-hearted French, an" not the peaceful bide-at-homes o" Market Drayton."
The little bailiff paused to moisten his lips. From his audience arose feeling murmurs of approval.
"Ya known what General Clive ha" done," he resumed. ""Twas all read out o" prent by the crier in corn-market. An" the grand folks in Lun"on ha"
give him a gowd sword, an" he bin hob-a-n.o.b wi" King Jarge hisself. An"
us folks o" Market Drayton take it proud, we do, as he be come to see us afore he goes back to his duty. Theer"s a" example fur you boys. Theer be limbs o" mischief in Market Drayton yet. Ay, I see tha, "Lijah Notcutt, a-hangin" on to winder theer. I know who wringed the neck o"
Widder Peplow"s turkey. An" I see tha too, "Zekiel Podmore; I know who broke the handle o" town pump. If I cotch ya at your tricks I"ll leather ya fust an" clap ya in the stocks afterwards, sure as my name be Randle Malkin. But as I wan sayin", if ya foller th" example o" General Clive, an" turn yer young sperits into the lawful way--why, mebbe there be gowd swords an" mints o" money somewheers fur ya too. Well now, I bin talkin" long enough, an" to tell ya the truth I be dry as a whistle, so I"ll ax ya all to lift yer gla.s.ses, neebours, an" drink the good health o" General Clive. So theer!"
[Sidenote: "General Clive!"
As the worthy bailiff concluded his speech, the company primed their gla.s.ses, rose, and drank the toast with enthusiasm. l.u.s.ty cheers broke from the drier throats outside; caps were waved, rattles whirled, kettles beaten, with a vigour that could not have been exceeded if the general loyalty had been stirred by the presence of King George himself.
Only one man in the crowd held his peace. The stranger remained opposite to the window, silent, motionless, looking now into the room, now round upon the throng, with the same smile of whimsical amus.e.m.e.nt.
Only once did his manner change; the smile faded, his lips met in a straight line, and he made a slight rearward movement, seeming at the same moment to lose something of his height. It was when the guest of the evening stood up to reply: a young man, looking somewhat older than his twenty-nine years, his powdered hair crowning a strong face, with keen, deep-set eyes, full lips and masterful chin. He wore a belaced purple coat; a crimson sash crossed his embroidered vest; a diamond flashed upon his finger. Letting his eyes range slowly over the flushed faces of the diners, he waited until the bailiff had waved down the untiring applauders without; then, in a clear voice, began:
"Bailiff Malkin, my old friends----"
But his speech was broken in upon by a sudden commotion in the street.
Loud cries of a different tenor arose at various points; the boys who had been hanging upon the window-ledge dropped to the ground; the crowd surged this way and that, and above the mingled clamour sounded a wild and fearful squeal that drew many of the company to their feet and several in alarm to the window. Among these the bailiff, red now with anger, shook his fist at the people and demanded the meaning of the disturbance. A small boy, his eyes round with excitement, piped up:
"An"t please yer worship, "tis a wild Injun come from nowheer an" doin"
all manner o" wickedness."
"A wild Injun! Cotch him! Ring the "larum bell! Put him in the stocks!"
But the bailiff"s commands pa.s.sed unheeded. The people were thronging up the street, elbowing each other, treading on each other"s toes, yelling, booing, forgetful of all save the strange coincidence that, on this evening of all others, the banquet in honour of Clive, the Indian hero, had been interrupted by the sudden appearance of a live Indian in their very midst.
A curious change had come over the demeanour of the stranger who hitherto had been so silent, so detached in manner, so unmoved. He was now to be seen energetically forcing his way towards the outskirts of the crowd, heaving, hurling, his long arms sweeping obstacles aside.
His eyes flashed fire upon the yokels scurrying before him, a vitriolic stream of abuse scorched their faces as he bore them down. At length he stopped suddenly, caught a hulking farmer by the shoulder, and with a violent twist and jerk flung him headlong among his fellows. Released from the man"s grasp, a small negro boy, his eyes starting, his breast heaving with terror, sprang to the side of his deliverer, who soothingly patted his woolly head, and turned at bay upon the crowd, now again pressing near.