The Adventures of Akbar.
by Flora Annie Steel.
A DEDICATION
Oft when the house lay silent in the heat My thoughts would be so full of you, my sweet, That dreaming half--I seemed to hear once more Your little fingers fluttering at the door, The pitter patter of your childish feet In joyous rhythm cross the echoing floor.
Then small, soft hands would nestle into mine, And warm soft arms around my neck would twine, As soft and warm the dream child on my knees, Cuddling so close in clear young voice would tease And tease and tease in mimicked glad young whine For "Just one little story if you please."
So half in jest and half in earnest, too, Mostly I think to dream my dreaming true, I"d conjure up long tales of lands afar And days gone by that yet remembered are; Shaping my stories with this end in view To gain the verdict "Tell some more, Mamma."
For I was happy when I had beguiled Into my life the spirit of a child.
Thus one by one the weary hours flew And page by page a little volume grew, So--that my dreams with truth be reconciled, Take it, my darling, it was writ for you.
_April, 1875_
Long years have sped since that poor book was penned.
None read the pages. Therefore at the end Of this world"s life I dedicate to two Small boys--her sons--whose question"ng eyes of blue Tell me that dreams of childhood never end _This_ book. So take it boys--"twas writ for you.
_1911_
PREFACE
This book is written for all little lads and la.s.ses, but especially for the former, since it is the true--_quite_ true--story of a little lad who lived to be, perhaps, the greatest king this world has ever seen.
It is a strange, wild tale this of the adventures of Prince Akbar among the snowy mountains between Kandahar and Kabul, and though the names may be a bit of a puzzle at first, as they will have to be learned by and bye in geography and history lessons, it might be as well to get familiar with them in a story-book; though, indeed, as everybody in it except Roy the Rajput, Meroo the cook boy; Tumbu, the dog; and Down, the cat (and these four _may_ have been true, you know, though they have not been remembered) really lived, I don"t know whether this book oughtn"t to be considered real history, and therefore
A LESSON BOOK
Anyhow, I hope you won"t find it dull.
CHAPTER I
FAREWELL
_Bismillah Al-la-hu Akbar!_
These queer-looking, queer-sounding words, which in Arabic mean "thanks be to G.o.d," were shrilled out at the very top of Head-nurse"s voice. Had she been in a room they would have filled it and echoed back from the walls; for she was a big, deep-chested woman. But she was only in a tent; a small tent, which had been pitched in a hurry in an out-of-the-way valley among the low hills that lead from the wide plains of India to Afghanistan. For Head-nurse"s master and mistress, King Humayon and Queen Humeeda, with their thirteen months" old little son, Prince Akbar, were flying for their lives before their enemies. And these enemies were led by Humayon"s own brothers, Prince k.u.mran, Askurry and Hindal. It is a long story, and a sad story, too, how Humayon, so brave, so clever, so courteous, fell into misfortune by his own fault, and had to fly from his beautiful palaces at Delhi and wander for years, pursued like a hare, amid the sandy deserts and pathless plains of Western India. And now, as a last resource, his followers dwindled to a mere handful, he was making a desperate effort to escape over the Persian border and claim protection at the hands of Persia"s King.
So the poor tent was ragged and out at elbows, for all that it was made of costly Kashmir shawls, and that its poles were silver-gilt.
But Head-nurse"s "Thanks be to G.o.d!" came from a full heart.
"What is it? What _is_ it?" called an anxious voice from behind the curtain which divided the tent in two.
"What?" echoed Head-nurse in high glee. "Only this: His Imperial Highness, Prince Akbar, the Admired-of-the-World, the Source-of-Dignity, the Most-Magnificent-Person-of-the-Period--" She went on, after her wont, rolling out all the t.i.tles that belonged of right to the little Prince, until the soft, anxious voice lost patience and called again, "Have done--have done; what is it? Heaven save he hath not been in danger."
Head-nurse, stopped in her flow of fine words, sniffed contemptuously.
"Danger! with me to guard him? No! "Tis that the High-in-Pomp hath cut his first real back tooth! He can eat meat! He has come to man"s estate!
He is no longer dependent upon milk diet." Here she gave a withering glance at the gentle looking woman who was Baby Akbar"s wet-nurse, who, truth to tell, was looking just a little sad at the thought that her nursling would soon leave her consoling arms.
"Heavens!" exclaimed the voice from within, "say you so?" And the next instant the curtain parted, and there was Queen Humeeda, Baby Akbar"s mother, all smiling and eager.
Now, if you want to know what she was like, you must just think of your own dearest dear mummie. At least that was what she seemed to little Prince Akbar, who, at the sight of her, held out his little fat arms and crowed, "Amma! Amma!" Now, this, you will observe, is only English "Ma-Ma" arranged differently; from which you may guess that English and Indian children are really very much alike.
And Queen Humeeda took the child and kissed him and hugged him just as any English mother would have done. Head-nurse, however, was not a bit satisfied with this display of affection. That would have been the portion of any ordinary child, and Baby Akbar was more than that: he was the heir apparent to the throne of India! If he had only been in the palaces that belonged to him, instead of in a miserable tent, there would have been ceremonials and festivities and fireworks over this cutting of a tooth! Aye! _Certainly_ fireworks. But how could one keep up court etiquette when royalty was flying for its life? Impossible!
Why, even her determination that, come what might, a royal umbrella must be held over the blessed infant during their perilous journeys had very nearly led to his being captured!
Despite this recollection, as she listened impatiently to the cooings and gurglings, she turned over in her mind what she could do to commemorate the occasion. And when pretty Queen Humeeda (thinking of her husband, the king, who, with his few followers, had ridden off to see if a neighboring chief would help them) said, "This will be joyful news wherewith to cheer my lord on his return," Head-nurse"s irritation found voice.
"That is all very well," she cried. "So it would be to any common father of any common child, Your Royal Highness! This one is the Admired-of-the-Whole-World, the Source-of-Dignity, the Most-Magnificent-Person-of-the-Period----"
And she went on rolling out queer guttural Arabic t.i.tles till Foster-mother implored her to be silent or she would frighten the child.
Could she not see the look on the darling"s face?
For Baby Akbar was indeed listening to something with his little finger up to command attention. But it was not to Head-nurse"s thunderings, but to the first long, low growl of a coming storm that outside the miserable tent was turning the distant hills to purple and darkening the fast-fading daylight.
"Frighten?" echoed Head-nurse in derision. "The son of Humayon the heroic, the grandson of Baber the brave could never be frightened at anything!"
And in truth the little lad was not a bit afraid, even when a distant flash of lightning glimmered through the dusk.
"Heavens!" cried gentle Queen Humeeda, "his Majesty will be drenched to the skin ere he returns." She was a brave woman, but the long, long strain of daily, hourly danger was beginning to tell on her health, and the knowledge that even this coming storm was against them brought the tears to her eyes.
"Nay! Nay! my royal mistress," fussed Head-nurse, who, in spite of her love of pomp, was a kind-hearted, good woman, "this must not be on such an auspicious day. It must be celebrated otherwise, and for all we are so poor, we can yet have ceremonial. When the child was born were we not in direst danger? Such danger that all his royal father could do in honor of the glad event was to break a musk-bag before his faithful followers as sign that the birth of an heir to empire would diffuse itself like perfume through the whole world? Even so now, and if I cannot devise some ceremony, then am I no Head-nurse!"
So saying she began to bustle around, and ere long even poor, unhappy Queen Humeeda began to take an interest in the proceedings.
A mule trunk, after being ransacked for useful odds and ends, was put in a corner and covered with a worn satin quilt. This must do for a throne.
And a strip of red muslin wound about the little gold-embroidered skull cap Baby Akbar wore must, with the heron"s plume from his father"s state turban, make a monarch of the child.
In truth he looked very dignified indeed, standing on the mule trunk, his little legs very wide apart, his little crimson silk trousers very baggy, his little green brocade waistcoat b.u.t.toned tight over his little fat body, and, trailing from his shoulders in great stiff folds, his father"s state cloth-of-gold coatee embroidered with seed pearls.
So, as he always wore great gold bracelets on his little fat arms, and great gold jingling anklets fringing his little fat feet, he looked very royal indeed. Very royal and large and calm, for he was a grave baby with big, dark, piercing eyes and a decided chin.
"He is as like his grandfather as two splits of a pea!" cried Head-nurse in rapture, and then she went to the tent door and shrilled out:
"Slaves! Quick! Come and perform your lowly salute on the occasion of the cutting of a back tooth belonging to the Heir-to-Empire, the Most----"
She cut short her string of t.i.tles, for a crash of thunder overhead warned her she had best be speedy before the rain soaked through the worn tent.