Then Walter set aside his tablets and hastened to find Sainton, who was eating an extra heavy supper on the set principle that a good deal might happen ere breakfast.
"Roger," he said, quietly, unconscious in his perplexity of the pain in his voice, "here is ill news."
"Why, what ails thee, lad?" demanded the giant, suspending his a.s.sault on the haunch of a deer, though, to be sure, he had his mouth full.
"You remember Fra Pietro, who saved us from the Inquisition?"
"Remember him!" cried Roger. "I shall forget my own name first."
Mowbray pointed to the dying light on the western horizon. Against the golden purple of the sky was silhouetted the indigo line of the great central plain of India.
"He is among those unhappy people," he said. "Unless I err greatly he is there because he helped us to escape. Perchance he was banished because they feared to put him to death. Roger, what say you?"
"Say! What is there to say! Sit thee down, lad, and eat while we think.
We mun have him out, whole and hearty, though every cut-throat between here and h.e.l.l barred the way."
CHAPTER XIV
"As if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel."
_Ezekiel_ x. 10.
Roger"s cheery optimism was an excellent thing in itself. Nevertheless, the best of good-will cannot withstand the logic of hard fact, and prolonged discussion of the means whereby Fra Pietro might be rescued revealed an undertaking bristling with difficulties. After extracting from da Silva all the material information he possessed, they considered a hundred varying expedients, rejecting one proposal after another until they almost despaired of hitting upon any scheme which offered even a remote chance of success.
They took Jai Singh into their confidence. Unless he and his Rajputs yielded willing help it was hard indeed to see what could be done. Two and twenty men, well mounted, might, if fortunate, achieve something: two men alone, with hundreds against them, were utterly powerless.
It was whilst Jai Singh was strenuously opposing Sainton"s suggestion of a direct attack that Walter, inspired by idle chance, hit upon a plan the very daring of which commended itself to them. To be sure, Roger long remained stubborn ere he would agree to it. At last he yielded.
Admittedly, the project was a forlorn hope, yet none other they could propound gave such promise of speedy realization, and nothing could shake their resolve that Fra Pietro must be saved.
The horses were quietly disembarked; by present payment, and promise of greater reward, a guide was obtained from the village; and the whole party, less da Silva and three trustworthy men, set off under the starlight to march across country by field paths. The three Rajputs who remained behind were charged to safeguard the boats and prevent any enterprising villager from carrying news to the distant column. Da Silva was left not only because he was paralyzed with fright at the bare thought of falling again into the hands of his captors, but also on account of the suspicion his presence in their company would arouse.
Before daybreak they reached the main road, a dust-laden track with slight pretense to the characteristics of a highway other than the occasional felling of trees and the cutting of an approach wherever the steep banks of a nullah offered a barrier to the pa.s.sage of a caravan.
If it had none of the virtues it held full measure of the vices inseparable from traffic. Though animals alone, camels for the most part, carried Indian merchandise over long distances, the ryots were wont to use heavy two-wheeled carts, drawn by oxen, and the numerous ruts left by these caused the so-called road to bear more semblance to a ploughed field than the land which was actually tilled, as the Indian plough merely scratches the ground and leaves no furrow.
The whole party halted at some distance from the road itself. It was essential that the presence of a body of horse should not be discovered, so, at this point, Mowbray and Sainton bade each other farewell. Never before, during their many wanderings, had they separated in the course of any enterprise which threatened disaster or death.
Walter handed to his disconsolate friend the box of jewels.
"If things go awry," he said, with a smile, "you will be the last to fall, Roger."
"Aye, lad," was the rueful response. "I am doubting now lest we ought not to hunt together."
"Your heart says so, but your head warns you that we have chosen the better way. Good-by!"
"Good-by, Walter, and may the Lord be with you!"
Accompanied by a single Rajput trooper, a brave youth specially recommended by Jai Singh, Walter turned his horse"s head towards the road. The others, led by their guide, rode off into the jungle, where they were speedily lost to sight.
Soon the sun, dissipating the dawn-mist, disclosed a cloud of dust rising slowly from the track some two miles southwards. Walter advanced at a walking pace. He was dressed with unusual care. His long sword was slung from a handsome baldrick; Sher Afghan"s dagger shone in his belt; a cloak of quilted silk, trimmed with rich fur, hung from his shoulders.
These accessories, together with his plumed hat, heavy riding boots, and attire of dark brown cloth, gave a distinguished appearance to one whose face and figure proclaimed him a cavalier of high lineage. His attendant, too, had donned the state livery of his former master. The two were superbly mounted, and well calculated, by their style and bearing, to take by surprise the leader of a rabble host marching through a country where all was new to his eyes.
For Mowbray, as shall be seen, had prepared his measures judiciously.
When he sighted the mounted vanguard of the convoy he clapped spurs to his horse, and, followed by his orderly, galloped towards them at a rapid pace. Pulling up within a few yards of the astonished soldiers, who were already consulting as to the ident.i.ty and errand of this unlooked-for emba.s.sy, he shouted sternly:--
"Halt, in the Emperor"s name! Bring Abdul Aziz hither at once!"
He calculated that this a.s.sumption of authority would not be questioned, nor was he mistaken.
"It is not known to your honorable presence that Abdul Aziz remains at Hughli," said one who was the captain of the guard.
Mowbray exhibited well-feigned surprise.
"If not Abdul Aziz--for which he may thank the Prophet--who commands you?"
"Nawab Fateh Mohammed, his nephew, your Excellence."
"Pa.s.s the word to halt, then, and ride at speed to bring him hither."
Fair Europeans, particularly Englishmen, were rarer than white blackbirds in India at that period. The Portuguese invaders were, for the most part, so swarthy as to rival the brown skin of the natives.
Never had the Musalman officer encountered a man of such mien and semblance, who, moreover, spoke the aristocratic language of the court in all its sonorous purity. Nevertheless, it was pa.s.sing strange that the Emperor should choose such a messenger.
"Forgive me, your Honor," he stammered, "but I must have some authority before I--"
"Does Jahangir need to speak twice by my mouth? Am I to exhibit the seal of the Conqueror of the World to the first who questions me?"
The officer simply could not withstand Mowbray"s grand air. He civilly asked the other to await his return, gave some orders to the guard, and vanished in the dust-cloud which enshrouded the remainder of the column.
Walter saw that the troopers surrounded him as if by accident. He paid not the slightest attention to the maneuver, but took off his hat and fanned his face nonchalantly. Behind him, the Rajput sowar sat his horse like a carved statue. Scarce comprehending what enterprise was forward, knowing little save that he would surely swing from the nearest tree if he kept not a still tongue and obeyed orders, the native soldier took his cue from his master in the matter of disregarding the ring of steel which girt them both.
But Nawab Fateh Mohammed must have hurried, judging from the speed of his approach on a long-striding camel, which loomed out of the dust so suddenly that there was barely time to stop the lumbering beast and avoid a collision. The nawab was a stout man, though young, and it was his ambition to make his way in life quickly. This laudable aim arose, however, from a base intent. The more wealth he ama.s.sed in a little time the more speedily could he gratify his ign.o.ble pa.s.sions. Such a person is usually hectoring towards his inferiors and servile to those above him. At present he was all of a twitter owing to the unexpected presence of a messenger from the Emperor, whilst his informant had not failed to apprise him of Mowbray"s imperative mien and the half-veiled menace of his words.
Luckily, Walter took the man"s measure at a glance. Here was one designed by nature to play the cowardly tyrant, and such a personality was far better suited to his purpose than a straightforward soldier, who would have obeyed his own chief"s instructions and cared not for consequences.
So the _soi-disant_ courier of Jahangir saluted the nawab with dignity and said:--
"Be pleased to dismount and walk apart with me. His Majesty"s words are not for all ears."
Fateh Mohammed, although nervous, felt slightly flattered. It was new to him to be addressed in that way. He glanced at the single Rajput trooper who held Mowbray"s horse, and saw forty of his own men within instant call, so he had no fear in his mind other than that instilled by the vague threats conveyed to him by the leader of the guard, who now stood near and watched the nawab for a signal.
He followed Walter willingly enough until they could not be overheard if they spoke in low tones.
"Information has reached the Emperor," began Walter, "that Abdul Aziz, whilst carrying out the royal mandate to prevent the encroachments of Portuguese traders in Bengal, attacked and burnt the settlement at Hughli, killed many of the inhabitants, and despatched the survivors, numbering some hundreds, to the Imperial court at Agra."
"The Shadow of Allah did indeed--"
"Better hear me first," interposed Mowbray, with a serious smile. "It is most fortunate that Abdul Aziz himself does not march with the convoy; otherwise, my mission would be of a different nature. Of course, you have not heard of recent occurrences in the Emperor"s household?"