"I have been told that some of you English are great and good. Men who
cannot be tempted by riches; who would not take from another any gift
unless it was some little token--a ring of silver or plain gold; but I
never met one before. I called you my friend; I felt from the first
that you were noble and great of heart; now I know it ten times more,
and I am glad. I should have given you everything I wear if it would
have pleased you; but I should have felt sorry, for my friend would not
have been so great as I wished."
"Then you will give me what I ask?"
"Your liberty?" he said, smiling. "My poor brave boy, you do not know
what you ask."
"Yes," I cried. "As soon as I am strong. I am grateful, and will never
think of you as an enemy; always as a friend. You will let me go?"
"No," he said gravely, "I could not lose my friend."
"No?" I cried passionately. "Is this your friendship?"
"Yes," he said, holding the hand firmly which I tried to snatch away,
but with a poor feeble effort. "Say I gave you leave to go. Where
would you make for? The country is all changed. Our men scour it in
all directions, and your freedom would mean your death."
"Is this true?" I cried piteously, as his words told me that our cause
was lost.
"I could not lie to my friend," he said. "Yes, it is true. The
Company's and the English Queen's troops are driven back, while our
rajahs and maharajahs are gathering their forces all through the land.
No; I cannot give you liberty. It means sending you to your death; for
I am, perhaps, the only chief in this great country who would take you
by the hand and call you friend."
He ceased speaking, and I lay back, feeling that his words must be true,
and that hope was indeed dead now.
"There," he said, "I have done. Your bearers are coming. I will go
now, and return soon. Come, you are a soldier, and must not repine at
your fate. Give me your hand, and accept your fall as a soldier should.
Rest and be patient. Good-bye, more than ever my friend."
I believe I pressed his hand in return as he held it in his, and laid
his left upon my brow, smiling down at me. Then in a low whisper he
said, as softly as a woman could have spoken--
"You are weak, and need sleep." He drew his hand over my eyes, and they
closed at his touch, a feeling of exhaustion made me yield, my will
seeming to be gone, and when I opened them again, Salaman was kneeling
by me, waiting with two of the attendants standing near holding trays of
food. "Have I been asleep?" I said. "Yes, my lord. Long hours."
"And the rajah? Did he come, or was it a dream?" I added to myself.
"The great rajah came, and went while my lord slept. It is time he ate
and drank, for he is still weak."
"Yes," I replied, as I recalled all that had passed--"so weak, so very
weak, that this man seems to master even my very will."