"I managed to steal into your highness's treasury, from whence I carried
off a casket full of papers, of which my master desired to possess
himself."
"What has become of them?" asked Reginald eagerly.
"Remember that if you speak not the truth you will immediately be put to
death," added the rajah.
"O Refuge of the World, far be it from me to deceive you," answered the
slave. "The casket was placed by my master, with other treasures,
within the tomb of the learned saint Danee Domanuck, in the temple of
the great god Doorga, before which the pious priests of our faith, at
morn, noonday, and eventide, are wont to stand reciting the prayers and
the wise sayings he composed; but so absorbed are they in their
devotions that they will not discover who enters the temple, and the
casket may without difficulty be recovered. If my pardon is granted, I
will undertake to carry it off from the spot in which I before placed
it."
"Pardon or no pardon, the casket must be brought here before sunset,"
exclaimed the rajah. "But what assurance have I that you speak the
truth, and will not endeavour to make your escape should I order your
chains to be knocked off, and allow you to go free?"
"Refuge of the World, I am incapable of such treachery," said Bikoo,
putting his hand to his heart.
"With your highness's leave, I will accompany the slave," said Reginald.
"If I assume my European costume I shall not be recognised, and the
priests will suppose me a stranger led by curiosity to visit their
temple. If the slave speaks the truth, the casket may then be obtained
without difficulty; and as I will go well armed, I will protect him
should the priests attempt to take it from him."
"You may go, my son," said the rajah; "but, as a protection, take fifty
of my guards and station them outside the temple, with directions to be
ready to rush in at a signal from you, and to capture the priests,
should they attempt to stop you. That will be a shorter way of
proceeding than the slave proposes; and those priests are all great
rascals, to my certain knowledge."
Reginald had grave doubts whether, after all, the slave was not
deceiving him. He could scarcely believe that the object for which he
had been so long in search was almost within his grasp. The rajah urged
him to return as soon as possible, and was evidently unwilling to have
him long out of his sight.
After giving orders to the chief officer of the guards to select a band
of fifty trustworthy men, he changed his Oriental costume for his
seaman's dress, taking care to stick a brace of pistols and a dagger in
his belt. Then ordering Bikoo to accompany him, he set out for the
temple, which was in a remote part of the city.
Quaint and monstrous designs ornamented all parts of the building.
Leaving the guard outside, Reginald passed under a low archway, when he
found himself in a hall, on each side of which he could distinguish,
through the dim obscurity, the hideous forms of the presiding divinities
of the temple.
"I see no priests or worshippers in the place," he whispered to Bikoo.
"The holy men are engaged in their devotions in the lower hall, where
the tomb of the saint is situated," answered Bikoo, leading the way.
Reginald followed, holding a pistol ready for use, should his guide
prove treacherous, or the priests appear inclined to oppose his
entrance. At the further end of the upper hall was a flight of steps
leading downwards. The slave descended them, and Reginald boldly made
his way after him. His ear then caught the sound of persons uttering
prayers in low monotonous tones; and on reaching the bottom of the steps
he saw, by the light of a lamp which burned on an altar on one aide of
the vault, a number of strange-looking beings. Some had long matted
hair hanging over their faces, and heavy iron hoops round their necks;
most of them with garments scarcely sufficient for decency. Some were
standing upright, beating their breasts; others were kneeling or
extending themselves flat on the ground, against which they were
striking their heads.
Before a tomb of richly-carved stone stood an aged man, with a long
white beard, but with scarcely more clothing on him than his companions
had. In his arms he held a large open volume, and though he could not,
from the position in which he held it, have read its pages, he was
apparently repeating the contents. Reginald doubted whether he was
sufficiently absorbed in his task not to observe him as he approached.
Bikoo glided noiselessly behind the tomb, while Reginald stood ready to
assist him, watching the countenances of the degraded beings engaged in
this strange mode of worship. Most of them stood as motionless as
statues, with their eyes seemingly fixed on vacancy their lips only
moving as they uttered their meaningless prayers. For a moment it
struck Reginald as a clever trick of the slave to effect his escape.
But at length he saw him emerge from the darkness, carrying something
wrapped in a cloth, which he held close to his side to prevent the
priests from seeing it. He hoped in another moment to have the
long-wished-for treasure in his hand, when the seemingly unconscious
beings before him dashed forward to seize Bikoo, who, springing for
protection to the young rajah, gave him the casket. The priests on this
turned on the white stranger, whom they now apparently perceived for the
first time.
"Sacrilege! Sacrilege!" they cried out. "You are robbing us of our
treasures. The curses of the gods will fall on you."
"My friends," exclaimed Reginald, presenting his pistol, "stand back,
and I will explain myself. This casket belongs to me, and was stolen by
one of your fraternity, so that I am but recovering my own. If I am
rightly informed, a considerable amount of property stolen from other
persons lies concealed in this vault. My guards are without, and,
summoned by me, they will enter, and, taking possession of all the
treasures they can find, will deliver them to their proper owners. If
you refrain from interfering with my proceedings, I will allow you to
continue your devotions, and to remain at present as guardians of the
treasures concealed in this place."
The priests, considering that "discretion was the better part of
valour," and seeing the bold bearing of the young stranger, allowed him
and Bikoo to mount the steps; when, traversing the hall, they quickly
made their way into the open air, glad to escape from the mephitic
atmosphere of the vault and the fury of the priests--who, as soon as
they had recovered from their astonishment, broke forth in loud cries
and threats of vengeance. They grew cooler, however, on discovering the
rajah's troops at the entrance of the temple, and hurried back to their
devotions with the advice they had received from the stranger strongly
impressed on their minds. Many a prayer was offered up that Doorga
would protect their ill-gotten wealth from the grasp of the infidels.
Followed closely by his guards, Reginald, who had a horse in waiting,
rode back to the palace, carrying the precious casket, which he was
unwilling to trust to other hands. On his arrival an officer met him at
the gate with a message from the rajah, who was anxiously waiting his
return. Reginald found him, to his surprise, on foot, pacing slowly up
and down a broad verandah overlooking the city, to which he had caused
his divan to be carried, that he might enjoy the fresh air.
"Have you been successful, my son?" exclaimed the old man eagerly, as
Reginald approached. "Tell me quickly; for a dimness has come over my
eyes, and I feel a strange sinking of the heart, which forebodes I know
not what."
Reginald exhibited the wished-for casket.
"It is the same, my son," he exclaimed; "and contains, I trust, the
valuable documents your father committed to my care. Let me see them; I
shall know them at once."
Reginald was about to try and open the casket, when he saw a peculiar
expression pass over the countenance of the rajah, who staggered and
sank back on the divan near which he was standing. The old man gazed at
him with a look of affection, and tried to speak; but in vain. He drew
his breath every instant with more and more labour; and then came one
more sigh, and he seemed to be sleeping calmly. Reginald threw himself
by his side and took his hand. It failed to return his grasp. He gazed
at the old man's countenance, unable to persuade himself that he was
really dead; but he became aware of the fact by the loud cries of the
women, who, with fans in their hands, had been in readiness to cool his
fevered brow as he lay on the couch.
"Oh, I wish that the English doctor had arrived before," thought
Reginald. "He might have saved his life."
At that moment he was aroused by the voice of Burnett, who, approaching,
exclaimed, "I trust the rajah is not worse. Dr Graham has ridden hard
to come to him."
"I have arrived too late," said the doctor, as he took the old man's
hand, and looked into his countenance. "But not too late to form an
opinion of the disease which has carried him off. He has been poisoned;
and a further examination will confirm what I say."
Reginald was horrified; but the doctor asserted that he was right.
"Let me advise your highness to be careful of what food you partake and
what beverages you drink. The same hand which mixed the potion for your
grandfather may be ready to administer a similar one to you," added the
doctor.