It was closed. There was no sign of its being inhabited. But about a hundred yards from the gate Desmond saw a basti, and from one of the huts smoke was issuing. He sauntered up. Before the door, lolling in unstudied deshabille, squatted a bearded Mohammedan, whom from his rotundity Desmond guessed to be the khansaman of the big house.
"Salaam aleikam,[#] khansaman!" said Desmond suavely. "Pardon the curiosity of an ignorant sailor from Gujarat. What nawab owns the great house yonder?"
[#] Peace be with you!
The khansaman, beaming in acknowledgment of the implied compliment to his own importance, replied:
"To Sinfray Sahib, worthy khalasi."
"The great Sinfray Sahib of Chandernagore? Surely that is a strange thing!"
"Strange! What is strange? That Sinfray Sahib should own so fine a house? You should see his other house in Chandernagore: then indeed you might lift your eyes in wonder."
"Nay, indeed, I marvelled not at that, for Sinfray Sahib is indeed a great man. We who dwell upon the kala pani know well his name. Is it not known in the bazars in Pondicherry and Surat? But I marvel at this, khansaman: that on one day, this day of my speaking to you, I should meet the sahib"s most trusty servant, as I doubt not you are, and also the man who has sworn revenge upon the owner of this house--ay, and on all the household."
"Bismillah!"[#] exclaimed the khansaman, spitting out his supari. He was thoroughly interested, but as yet unconcerned. "What do you mean, khalasi?"
[#] "In the name of Allah!"--a common exclamation.
"I parted but now, on the river, from a fellow-boatman who of late has lain in prison at Hugli, put there, they say, by order of Sinfray Sahib.
He is not a dacoit; no man less so; but false witnesses rose up against him. And, I bethink me, he said that the sahib"s khansaman was one of these men with lying lips. Surely he was in error; for your face, O khansaman, is open as the sun, your lips are fragrant with the very attar of truth. But he is filled with rage and fury; in his madness he will not tarry to inquire. If he should meet you--well, it is the will of Allah: no man can escape his fate."
The khansaman, as Desmond spoke, looked more and more distressed; and at the last words his face was livid.
"It is not true," he said. "But I know the blind fury of revenge. Do thou entreat him for me. I will pay thee well. I have saved a few pice.[#] It will be worth five rupees to thee; and to make amends to the madman, I will give him fifty rupees, even if it strips me of all I have. Allah knows it was not my doing; it was forced upon me."
[#] Coin, value one-eighth of a penny.
"How could that be, khansaman?" said Desmond, letting pa.s.s the man"s contradictory statements.
"It is not necessary to explain; my word is my word."
"No doubt; but so enraged is the khalasi I speak of that unless I can explain to him fully he will not heed me. Never shall I dissuade him from his purpose."
"It is the will of Allah!" said the khansaman resignedly. "I will tell you. It was not Sinfray Sahib at all. He was at the Nawab"s court at Murshidabad. He had lent his house to a friend while he was absent.
The friend had a spite against Merriman Sahib, the merchant at Calcutta; and when the bibi and the chota bibi came down the river he seized them.
Sinfray Sahib believes there was an attack by dacoits; but the bibi"s peons were carried away by the sahib"s friend: it was he that brought the evidence against them. The Angrezi sahib induced me to swear falsely by avouching that Sinfray Sahib was also an enemy of Merriman Sahib; but when the judge had said his word the sahib bade me keep silence with my master, for he was ignorant of it all. The Angrezi sahib is a terrible man: what could I do? I was afraid to speak."
"And what was the name of the Angrezi sahib?"
"His name?--It was Higli--no, Digli Sahib--accursed be the day I first saw him!"
Desmond drew a long breath.
"And what became of the bibi and the chota bibi?"
"They were taken away."
"Whither?"
"I do not know."
The answer was glib; Desmond thought a little too glib.
"Why then, khansaman," he said, "I fear it would be vain for me to reason with the man I spoke of. He has eaten the salt of Merriman Sahib; his lord"s injury is his also. But you acted for the best.
Allah hafiz! that will be a morsel of comfort even if this man"s knife should find its way between your ribs. Not every dying man has such consolation. Live in peace, good khansaman."
Desmond, who had been squatting in the Oriental manner--an accomplishment he had learnt with some pains at Gheria--rose to leave.
The khansaman"s florid cheeks again put on a sickly hue, and when the seeming lascar had gone a few paces he called him back.
"Ahi, excellent khalasi! I think--I remember--I am almost sure I can discover where the two bibis are concealed."
"Inshallah![#] That is indeed fortunate," said Desmond, turning back.
"There lies the best chance of averting the wrath of this much-wronged man."
[#] "Please G.o.d!"--a common exclamation.
"Wait but a little till I have clad myself duly; I will then go to a friend yonder and inquire."
He went into his hut and soon returned clothed in the garments that befitted his position. Walking to a hut at the end of the block, he made pretence, Desmond suspected, of inquiring. He was soon back.
"Allah is good!" he said. "The khitmatgar yonder tells me they were taken to a house three coss[#] distant, belonging to the great faujdar Manik Chand. It is rented from him by Digli Sahib, who is a great friend of his excellency."
[#] The coss is nearly two miles.
"Well, khansaman, you will show me the way to the house."
But the khansaman appeared to have donned, with his clothes, a sense of his own importance. The authoritative tone of the lascar offended his dignity.
"Who are you, sc.u.m of the sea, that you tell a khansaman of Bengal what he shall do? Hold your tongue, piece of seaweed, or by the beard of the Prophet----"
The threat was never completed, for Desmond, stepping up close to the man, caught him by the back of the neck and shook him till his teeth rattled in his head.
"Quick! Lead the way! Foolish khansaman, do you want your fat body shaken to a jelly? That is the way with us khalasis from Gujarat.
Quick, I say!"
"Hold, khalasi!" panted the khansaman; "I will do what you wish.
Believe me, you are the first khalasi from Gujarat I have seen----"