"Like you, sir, I have come to believe that you owe this terrible sorrow to Diggle--I must always call him that. Don"t give up heart, sir. What his motive is, if he has indeed captured the ladies, I cannot tell. It may be to use them as hostages in case he gets into trouble with us; it is impossible to see into the black depths of his mind. But I believe the ladies are safe, and, please G.o.d, I will learn something about them and maybe bring them back to you."
Desmond waited a couple of days in the hope of receiving a definite task from Major Killpatrick. But that officer, while an excellent soldier, was not fertile in expedients. The process of "turning things over in his mind" did not furnish him with an inspiration. He came on board the _Hormuzzeer_ one afternoon, and confessed that he didn"t see how Desmond could possibly get up and down the river. Mr. Merriman reminded him that in the early days of the stay at Fulta, Mr. Robert Gregory had gone up with requests to the French and Dutch for a.s.sistance. Under cover of a storm he pa.s.sed Tanna and Calcutta unnoticed by the Nawab"s men.
"The French were very polite, but wouldn"t move a finger for us," added Mr. Merriman. "The Dutch were more neighbourly, and sent us some provisions--badly needed, I a.s.sure you. Mr. Gregory is still with them at Chinsura."
"If he got through, why shouldn"t I?" asked Desmond.
"My dear boy," said Killpatrick, "the river is narrowly watched. The Moors know that Gregory outwitted them; sure no other Englishman could repeat the trick. And if you were caught, there"s no saying how Manik Chand might serve you. He seems disposed to be friendly, to be sure: he"s made governor of Calcutta now, and wants to feel his feet. But he"s a weak man, by all accounts; and weak men, when they are afraid, are always cruel. If he caught an Englishman spying out the land he"d most probably treat him after Oriental methods. In fact, the situation between him and us is such," concluded the major with a laugh, "that he"d be quite justified in stringing you up."
Major Killpatrick left without offering any suggestion. When he had gone Desmond spent an hour or two in "turning things over in his mind." He felt that the major was well disposed and would probably jump at any reasonable scheme that was put before him. After a period of quiet reflection he sought out Hossain the serang and had a long talk with him. At the conclusion of the interview he went to see Mr. Merriman.
He explained that Hossain wished to return to the service of a former employer, a native grain merchant in Calcutta, who did a large trade along the Hugli from the Sanderbands to Murshidabad. The consent of the Council was required, and Desmond wished Mr. Merriman to arrange the matter without giving any explanation. The merchant was naturally anxious to know why Desmond interested himself in the man, and what he learnt drew from him an instant promise to obtain the Council"s consent without delay. Then Desmond made his way to Major Killpatrick"s hut, and remained closeted with that genial officer till a late hour.
Six weeks later a heavily laden petala, with a dinghy trailing behind, was dropping down the river above Hugli. Its crew numbered four. One was Hossain the serang, who had left Fulta with Desmond on the day after his interview with Major Killpatrick. Two were dark-skinned boatmen, Bengalis somewhat stupid in appearance. The fourth, who was steering, was rather lighter in hue, as well as more alert and energetic in mien: a lascar, as Hossain explained in answer to inquiries along the river.
He had lately been employed on one of the Company"s vessels, but it had been sunk in the Hugli during the siege of Calcutta. He was a handy man in a boat, and very glad to earn a few pice in this time of stagnant trade. Things were not looking bright for boatmen on the Hugli; as only a few vessels had left the river from Chandernagore and Chinsura since the troubles began, there was little or no opening for men of the shipwrecked crew.
The petala made fast for the night near the bank, at a spot a little below Hugli, between that place and Chinsura. When the two Bengalis had eaten their evening rice, Hossain told them that they might, if they pleased, take the dinghy and attend a tamasha[#] that was being held in Chinsura that night in honour of the wedding of one of the Dutch Company"s princ.i.p.al gumashtas. The Bengalis, always ready for an entertainment of this kind, slipped overboard and were soon rowing down to Chinsura. Their orders were to be back immediately after the second watch of the night. Only the lascar and Hossain were left in the boat.
[#] Entertainment.
Ten minutes after the men had disappeared from view, the serang lit a small oil-lamp in the tiny cabin. He then made his way to the helm, whispered a word in the lascar"s ear, and took his place. The latter nodded and went into the cabin. Drawing the curtains, he squatted on a mattress, took from a hiding-place in the cabin a few sheets of paper and a pencil, and, resting the paper on the back of a tray, began to write. As he did so he frequently consulted a sc.r.a.p of paper he kept at his left hand; it was closely covered with letters and figures, these latter not Hindustani characters, but the Arabic figures employed by Europeans. The first line of what he wrote himself ran thus--
29 19 28 19 36 38 32 20 31 39 23 34 19 29 29 35 32 38 24 38 23 32
[#] Constructed from the cipher used by Mr. Watts at Murshidabad.
[Transcriber"s note: there was no footnote reference in the source book for this footnote.]
The letter or message upon which he was engaged was not a lengthy one, but it took a long time to compose. When it was finished the lascar went over it line by line, comparing it with the paper at his left hand.
Then he folded it very small, sealed it with a wafer, and, returning to the serang, said a few words. Hossain made a trumpet of his hands, and, looking towards the left bank, sounded a few notes in imitation of a bird"s warble. The sh.o.r.e was fringed here with low bushes. As if in answer to the call a small boat darted out from the shelter of a bush; a few strokes brought it alongside of the petala; and the serang, bending over, handed the folded paper to the boatman, and whispered a few words in his ear. The man pushed off, and the lascar watched the boat float silently down the stream until it was lost to sight.
Dawn was hardly breaking when Major Killpatrick, awakened by his servant, received from his hands a folded paper which by the aid of a candle he began to pore over, laboriously comparing it with a small code similar to that used by the lascar. One by one he pencilled on a sc.r.a.p of paper certain letters, every now and then whistling between his teeth as he spelt out the words they made. The result appeared thus--
Magazines for ammunition and stores of grain being prepared Tribeni and Hugli. Bazar rumour Nawab about to march with army to Calcutta. Orders issued Hugli traffic to be strictly watched. Dutch phataks[#] closed.
Forth unable leave Chinsura. Tanna Fort 9 guns; opposite Tanna 6 guns; Holwell"s garden 5 guns; 4 each Surman"s and Ganj; 2 each Mr. Watts"
house, Seth"s ghat, Maryas ghat, carpenter"s yard.
[#] Gate or barrier.
"Egad!" he exclaimed, on a second reading of the message, "the boy"s a conjurer. This is important enough to send to Mr. Clive at once. But I"ll make a copy of it first in case of accident."
Having made his copy and sealed the original and his first transcription, he summoned his servant and bade him send for the kasid.
To him he entrusted the papers, directing him to convey them without loss of time to Clive Sahib, whom he might expect to find at Kalpi.
It was December 13. Two months before, the fleet containing Colonel Clive and the troops destined for the Bengal expedition had sailed from Madras. The force consisted of 276 King"s troops, 676 of the Company"s, about a thousand sepoys, and 260 lascars. They were embarked on five of the King"s ships, with Admiral Watson in the _Kent_, and as many Company"s vessels. Baffling winds, various mishaps, and the calms usual at this time of the year had protracted the voyage, so seriously that the men had to be put on a two-thirds allowance of rations. Many of the European soldiers were down with scurvy, many of the sepoys actually died of starvation, having consumed all their rice, and refusing to touch the meat provided for the British soldiers, for fear of losing caste. When the Admiral at length arrived at Fulta, he had only six of the ten ships with which he started, two that had parted company arriving some ten days later, and two being forced to put back to Madras, under stress of weather.
While the _Kent_ lay at Kalpi, Clive received the message sent him by Major Killpatrick, and was visited by Mr. Drake and other members of the Council, from whom he heard of the sickness among the troops. On arriving at Fulta he at once went on sh.o.r.e and visited the Major.
"Sorry to hear of your sad case, Mr. Killpatrick," he said. "We"re very little better off. But we must make the best of it. I got your note.
"Twas an excellent greeting. Young Burke is a capital fellow; I have not mistook his capacity."
"Faith, "twas what I told him, sir. I said Colonel Clive never mistook his men."
"Well, if that"s true, what you said won"t make him vain. This information is valuable: you see that. Have you heard anything more from the lad?"
"Nothing, sir."
"And you can"t communicate with him?"
"No, "twas his scheme only to send messages; to receive them would double the risk."
"So: "twas his scheme, not yours?"
"Egad, sir, I"ve no head for that sort of thing," said Killpatrick with a laugh. "Give me a company, and a wall to scale or a regiment to charge, and----"
"My dear fellow," interrupted Clive, "we all know the King has no better officer. Credit where credit is due, major, and you"re not the man to grudge this youngster his full credit for an uncommonly daring and clever scheme. Did you see him in his disguise?"
"I did, sir, and at a distance he took in both Mr. Merriman and myself."
"Well, he"s a boy to keep an eye on, and I only hope that tigers or dacoits or the Nawab"s Moors won"t get hold of him; he"s the kind of lad we can"t spare. Now, let me know the state of your troops."
When he had sent off his note to Major Killpatrick, Desmond enjoyed a short spell on deck preparatory to turning in. Hossain was placidly smoking his hubble-bubble; from the far bank of the Hugli came the mingled sounds of tom-toms and other instruments; near the boat all was quiet, the wavelets of the stream lapping idly against the sides, the stillness broken only by the occasional howl of a jackal prowling near the bank in quest of the corpses of pious Hindus consigned to the sacred waters of the Ganges.
Desmond was half dozing when he was startled into wakefulness by a sudden clamour from the native town. He heard shots, loud cries, the hideous blare of the Bengal trumpets. For half an hour the shouts continued intermittently; then they gradually died away. Wondering whether the tamasha had ended in a tumult, Desmond was about to seek his couch when, just beneath him, as it seemed, he heard a voice--a feeble cry for help. He sprang up and looked over the side. Soon a dark head appeared on the water. With a cry to the serang to cast loose and row after him, Desmond took a header into the stream, and in a few strokes gained the drowning man"s side. He was clearly exhausted. Supporting him with one arm, Desmond struck out with the other, and being a strong swimmer he reached the stern of the boat even before the serang had slipped his moorings. With Hossain"s aid he lifted the man into the boat, and carried him to the cabin. He was all but unconscious. A mouthful of arrack[#] from the serang"s jar revived him. No sooner was he in command of his breath than he implored his rescuers for their help and protection. He had escaped, he said, from Hugli Fort, not without a gun-shot wound behind his shoulder. He spoke in Bengali. Seeing that he was too much exhausted and agitated to tell his story that night, Desmond bade the serang a.s.sure him of his safety. Then they made shift to tend his wound, and, comforting him with food and drink, left him to sleep and recover.
[#] A fermented liquor made from rice or the juice of the palm.
The two Bengalis who had been to Chinsura returned before they were expected. They had been alarmed by the uproar. As soon as they were aboard Desmond decided to drop a mile or two farther down the river.
The boat coming to a ghat below Chandernagore, the serang ordered the men to pull in, and tied up for the rest of the night.
In the morning the Bengalis were despatched on some errand along the bank, and the coast being clear Desmond went with the serang to the wounded man to learn particulars of his escape. The Bengali had now almost wholly recovered, and was very voluble in his grat.i.tude for his rescue. While he was speaking the boat slightly shifted her position, and the Bengali suddenly caught sight, through the matting, of a large house beyond the ghat. He uttered an exclamation of fear, and begged the serang with frantic waving of the hands to leave the spot at once.
"Why, O brother, this fear?" asked Hossain.
"I will tell you. It is a great fear. Just before the coming of the rains I was at Khulna. There I was hired by the head serang of a lady travelling to Calcutta. She was the wife of a burra sahib of the great Company, and with her was her daughter. All went well until we came near Chandernagore; we struck a snag; the boat sprang a leak; we feared the bibis would be drowned. We rowed to this very ghat; a sahib welcomed the ladies; they went into his house yonder. Presently he sent for us; we lodged with his servants; but in the night we were set upon, bound, and carried to Hugli. False witnesses accused us of being dacoits; we were condemned; and I was confined with others in the prison.
"Always since then have I looked for a chance of escape. It came at last. Some of the jailers went last night to the tamasha at Chinsura.
I stole out and got away. A sentry fired upon me, and hit me; but I am a good swimmer and I plunged into the river. You know all that happened then, O serang, and I beseech you leave this place; it is a dreadful place; some harm will come to us all."
Desmond"s knowledge of Bengali was as yet slight, and he caught only portions of the man"s narrative. But he understood enough to convince him that he was at last on the track of the missing ladies; and when, shortly afterwards, Hossain gave him in Urdu the whole of the story, he determined at once to act on the information. On the return of the two Bengalis, he arranged with the serang to set them at work on some imaginary repairs to the boat: that pretext for delay was as good as another. Then, Hossain having rea.s.sured the fugitive, he himself landed and made his way up to the house.