"No, you are not, sahib. Then we must wait. For the land is full of
enemies. Troops of budmashes roam everywhere robbing and slaying. We
might have to fight. Who knows, and the young sahib must be able to use
a sword."
"Dost," I whispered, "my horse will soon be here."
"Ah? Then we must wait and take that--wait until the sahib is quite
strong."
"And suppose the rajah takes me away?"
"I shall follow you, sahib; never fear."
"But tell me this," I whispered. "I hear that the English are being
driven out of the country, and that the rajahs and begums are going to
call the land their own once more."
Dost laughed silently.
"Yes; they may call the land their own once more, but it never will be
again."
"You believe that, Dost?" I said.
"Yes, I believe that, sahib, for the rajahs will never hold together,
and fight as one man. The English will. The budmashes have won some
fights where they were many against few, but the English will come again
and drive them back, as you know. No; the rajahs will never hold the
land again. Now I must go."
"But when will you come again?"
"Soon, sahib, but when I cannot tell. We must wait and see. I shall be
near you even when you do not know it, and sooner or later I shall set
my master free."
"But let it be soon, Dost," I said, "for the rajah is trying to make me
promise to enter his service, and drill his men."
"But you are not strong and well yet."
"No, but he is trying to make me give my word, and he promises me great
rewards."
"But the young sahib does not want his great rewards?"
"No, of course not; but I expect him directly to ask me again."
"Well, you must promise him, sahib, to gain time."
"What?" I cried indignantly.
He made no reply, and I repeated my question, but still he was silent.
"Do you think an English gentleman would make such a false promise,
knowing that he could not keep it?"
He was silent.
"Do you hear me, Dost?" I said indignantly.
He still made no reply, and feeling that he was repentant for having
made so base a proposal, I went on whispering.
"It is impossible, Dost," I said. "You are a good, brave fellow, but
you do not understand these things as an English officer would. If I
gave my word to the rajah, I should be obliged to keep it, and it would
be a disgrace. I might have a grand position in the rajah's army, but I
should be degraded from my own, and be a traitor in training men to
fight against our flag. No; I cannot promise the rajah, and I shall
have to refuse him again. The next thing will be that he is fiercely
angry, and I shall be imprisoned--if he spares my life," I said sadly.
"You will have a harder task to set me at liberty then. Better wait
till my horse comes, and then we can both make a rush for liberty, and
try and find out the captain. If the horse comes to-morrow, shall we
try and escape at night?"
He did not answer.
"Dost! Shall we try and escape to-morrow night?"
There was no answer, and I stretched out my hand to touch him as a
curious suspicion flashed through me.
I touched carpet, cushion, the coverlid. That was all, and hurriedly
creeping to the canvas opening, I found that it hung loose, so that a
man could easily pass through.
While I had been trying to teach my faithful follower the value of an
English gentleman's word, he had glided silently out of the tent,
leaving me to wonder at his skill, and to fasten open the canvas wall,
so as to make it seem as if I had done it for ventilation. But I could
not do that till morning.
To have opened it now was to invite some savage beast of the forest to
enter therein, so I left it as it was, and returned to my couch to
wonder when it was that Dost had gone.