photograph faking. It is an amusement I can recommend to every devotee
of the art; for there are few pastimes more completely fascinating.
[Illustration: A STUDY IN BOOTS.]
[Illustration: _Bourne and Shepherd, Calcutta, photo_
SUTTEE CHOWRA GHAT, CAWNPORE, WHERE THE MASSACRE TOOK PLACE.]
GASCOYNE'S TERRIBLE REVENGE.
A STORY OF THE INDIAN MUTINY.
BY J. F. CORNISH.
_Illustrated by Vereker M. Hamilton, R.P.E._
Dinner was preparing in the camp under the toon-trees which covered the
foot-hills of the Himalayas.
Here, where the northern edge of the Terai was beginning to become more
alpine in its character, the camp was pitched on the fringe of the
jungle. Below were magnificent forests of sal, sisoon, and toon-trees;
above, pine, spruce, and oak trees proclaimed a more tempered climate.
The spot had been chosen as healthy, well supplied with water, and
because the best shooting in the district was fairly accessible from it.
As the Colonel sat in his tent, he saw emerging from the belt of jungle
below an extraordinary figure. He called to the Captain and Subaltern,
and they watched it as it advanced towards them. The shikaris and
native bearers also paused in their various duties, and jabbered among
themselves, intent on the approach of the solitary man.
"No Nepaulese, that," asserted the Captain.
"It's a white man," said the Subaltern.
"Wait," said the Colonel.
The figure drew nearer, and at last came into full view. Clad in native
dress, weatherbeaten, brown, and lean, with a snow-white beard that
swept to his girdle, looking as like a native as a native could look,
there was a certain indefinable _something_ about him which told these
Englishmen that a compatriot stood before them. Yet, when the Colonel
greeted him and bade him welcome to the camp, he stared vacantly and
absently at him and made no reply, but squatted gravely on the ground.
The Subaltern quietly mixed a stiff peg and handed it to the stranger,
who shook his head; but the Subaltern persisted, and at length he
took the glass, looked at it gravely a moment, and then put it to
his lips--paused, and then, drinking the whole at a draught, gravely
held out the glass to the Subaltern. As he did so, the sleeve of his
dress shortened, and his wrist and part of his forearm were bared. The
Colonel went to the man, seized the slowly retreating arm, and, pushing
the sleeve farther back, showed the others a device tattooed thereon in
red and blue. It was two roses intertwined, and underneath the motto,
"_Aucto splendore resurgo_."
In great agitation the Colonel said, "What's your name, sir?"
The newcomer shook his head. But the Colonel, overcoming a passive
resistance, dragged him to his feet, looked again at the device, and
then closely scanned the face, on a level with his own. He turned pale
under his bronze, dropped the hand he held, and turning to the two
others, devoured with curiosity, said--
"It's Gascoyne, of the 53rd!"
Then the man, speaking for the first time, said quietly, "Yes, I am
Gascoyne," and, so speaking, collapsed on the grass at the Colonel's
feet. They took him up and carried him into the largest tent, and after
some time, following on the ministrations of the Subaltern, who had
been initiated into Red Cross ways, he opened his eyes with a weary
sigh, but the dull light in them changed to one of bright recognition,
and looking at the Colonel he said--
"Ewan Campbell?"
"That's right, old fellow," said the Colonel, "God bless you, that's
right, and you--you're Philip Gascoyne of the 53rd; but don't speak;
drink this and then go to sleep, and we'll talk in the morning."
And, like an obedient child, the wanderer did as he was bid, and the
drink had been so cunningly medicated by the Subaltern that he slept
all that night and through many hours of the next day, the camp being
commanded to absolute silence by the Colonel, who meanwhile explained
to his wondering companions that this man who had quietly wandered into
their midst had, as all thought, perished in the Massacre at Cawnpore.
"But," added the Colonel, "if he wakes in his senses, we shall
doubtless hear something strange. He and I were pretty close friends,
and he was engaged to one of the sweetest girls ... She was butchered
by the order of Nana Sahib."
[Illustration: "HE SHOWED A DEVICE TATTOOED ON THE ARM IN RED AND
BLUE."]
At that moment the servant who had been left in charge of the recovered
Gascoyne came up and told them that the Sahib was awake and was asking
to see the Colonel. In a moment the three men stood by the side of the
wanderer's bed.
"How are you now, Gascoyne?" said the Colonel. "Had a good sleep?"
Gascoyne's eyes turned inquiringly to the other two.
"We're shooting up here, you know," replied the Colonel to his look.
"This is Cameron," indicating the Captain, "and Dogan of the 74th--so
you're among friends, old fellow."
He smiled, and said quietly, "It is many years since I heard the voice
of a friend," and held out his hand, which the Colonel took and pressed.
"I feel very feeble," he resumed.
"We'll doctor you up all right. Dogan knows all the rigs of the
medicine man."
Gascoyne protested with a feeble shake of the head.
"No, no," he said, "my mission's ended--but thank God I've met you
fellows before going out." He paused, and then went on again, "I have
something to tell you; but first tell me, was any attempt made to find
the devil who--who----"
"I know whom you mean," said the Colonel, "Nana Sahib, the man who gave
orders for the massacre at Cawnpore. Yes, every effort was made, and
a very large reward was offered, but I am sorry to say he was never
captured, and his fate remains a mystery to this day."
"I can clear that mystery for you," said the sick man, smiling grimly;
and then with many pauses he told his three wondering listeners the
tale I here set down as the Captain told it me:--
"England need not waste another wish for vengeance," Gascoyne said,
"I have taken it. Listen. I was amongst those who, wearied out with
famine, fatigue, and wounds, trusted to Nana's oath, and embarked on
the boats only to be treacherously fired on and brought back, such of
us as survived, to face death, with no chance of showing fight, and
after our suffering to die, shot down like dogs. I had been wounded in
the neck, and, though the wound was slight, it bled profusely and I was
covered with the crimson stain. You, Campbell, knew Miss Lindsay?" His
voice broke, and the Colonel nodded with bright eyes, but in silence.
"She had been among the unhappy ladies brought back, and all my fears
and agony of mind on her account utterly outbalanced any consideration
for myself.
[Illustration: "NERVED WITH HATE AND PASSION, I STRUCK HIM UNDER THE
EAR."]
"Had all gone well, in a few short weeks we should have been married,
but she was basely murdered in my very arms.
"After the fusillade which killed a number of people, our boat was the
first to be brought back. As Miss Lindsay was stepping over the side
she slipped and fell into the water. I sprang after to help her, when
a ruffianly Sepoy seized her by the hair, which had become unfastened,
and dragged her to her feet, and with a brutal laugh kissed her on
the cheek. The laugh died on his lips, for, maddened by all that had
occurred, and by this last outrage, I sprang upon him, and, nerved with
hate and passion, struck him with all my force under the ear.
"He fell as if shot, face downward into the shallow water, and lay
there dead. Miss Lindsay turned, threw her arms around me, and with
a sob buried her face on my shoulder. But though I had avenged her
momentarily, my triumph was short, for a fellow named Survur Khan,
whose brother it was that I had killed, with a cry of rage struck Miss
Lindsay on the head with a club he carried, smashing her skull and
covering me with her blood and brains. It was horrible, horrible, and
with the horror of it I must have lost consciousness, for I remember no
more until I found myself seated on the ground with others. You know
what happened. By Nana's orders, after a momentary respite, we were
shot by the cowardly miscreants, who would have fled in terror from
us, had we been unbound with weapons in our hands. But during that
moment's pause I had been thinking, thinking, my heart seemed bursting
in my body, my brain throbbed and reeled, my whole being was inflamed
with the rage of anger and hatred that consumed me. Oh! if I were but
free for a few moments to wreak a vengeance on these cowardly hounds,
and die killing, killing.
"I resolved, if I could, to save my life, even at this moment, to live
for _vengeance_. I watched every movement of our destroyers. I knew
every dialect of the Indian language, and listened to every syllable
they said. You know the story how, there and in cold blood, close to
the well they shot us. At the instant the word of command was given,
while the finger pressed the trigger, I sprang round and fell on my
face unhurt. I feebly beat the ground with my feet, and then lay still.
"I heard groans, a few more shots, and then stillness. They came to me;
one fellow turned me over and felt in my pockets. I had nothing; they
tore open my shirt and took from my neck a light gold chain, with a
locket containing Miss Lindsay's miniature. I would have given worlds
to have jumped up, snatched the locket from him, and served him as I
had served the butcher's brother; but I wanted a wider vengeance, and
I restrained myself. To them I was dead. The fellow who had taken the
locket kicked me disdainfully, and made a scurrilous remark about the
Mem Sahib whose face he saw in it; but, even under that provocation, I
was able to control myself.
"I knew, I felt, I should be able to take vengeance; how, I did not
try to think, but I was certain of it; and I lay calm--calm as one who
knows that nothing will stand between him and the desire of his heart.
At length they went away and left us as we lay.
"That night, when all was still, and I only heard the howlings of the
jackals without the walls, I began to think it time to make a move.
I had lain for hours in the terrible sun--my limbs were racked by an
agonising cramp, a maddening thirst parched my throat and vitals, my
lips and tongue were baked and cracked, and my first movement gave me
pain unspeakable; then as I moved again I heard a stealthy step, and a
voice said very softly--
"'Is any Sahib or Mem Sahib alive?'
"I lay still. I knew the infernal treachery of these demons only too
well, and gave no sign. In another moment I felt a hand on my breast. I
controlled myself, I held my breath, but I could not still the beating
of my heart. A voice whispered, as if of a person talking to himself--
"'This poor Sahib lives.'
"Then my head was raised, and in spite of my clenched teeth a few drops
of some stimulant was forced into my mouth--which, cracked and parched,
tasted nothing--I only felt the burning sensation of some powerful
spirit.
"'Drink, sir,' said the voice; 'I am your friend; it will restore your
strength.'
"I ventured to open my eyes. I saw bending over me a venerable form,
and the face of a Brahmin I had seen before.
"'Do not fear, sir; I am Nanukchund; I have no part with these
murderous men. But let us not talk; I will take you and hide you if it
is possible that you can walk, but we must not be seen.'
"The thought of the possibility of living for the vengeance which had
kept me alive through the horrors of that day nerved me afresh; the
cramping pains that shot agony through my frame were forgotten; I
almost stood upright, but Nanukchund pulled me down.
"'In the name of Budda, caution,' he whispered; 'there may be some who
look; if I am seen it will be thought (and he shuddered) that I plunder
the dead; but if you, then death will come for both. See, I go to the
shadow of yonder house; lie still for a moment, and then crawl like the
snake until you reach it; but first drink.'
"I drank, and the fire ran through my veins, and renewed my strength.
He, looking to the right and to the left and crouching, soon gained the
shadow he had indicated. After the lapse of what seemed an age, I began
to crawl thither too, with pain and difficulty indescribable. At length
I stood beside my rescuer.
"'Not yet are you safe,' said he, and from underneath his garments he
produced a bundle. 'Put on this.' I unfolded it, and found a garment
similar to his own, with cloth for a turban.
"In a few moments I had become a native. The bronze of my face, with
added dust and blood, made my complexion dark as his own. In a few
words I told him I was Captain Gascoyne of the 53rd.
"'Then,' said he, quickly, 'you can speak as one of us, and none can
know any difference.' From that moment, except on three occasions, I
have spoken no English until now.
"Proceeding with infinite caution, once or twice scanned by straggling
mutineers, all of whom were more or less under the influence of bhang,
we at length reached his house, a secluded one by the river. There
for some days I lay in a stupor of sleep, yet with the one idea of
vengeance running like a dark thread through my slumbers, in which I
saw again my poor girl's fair hair clotted with blood, and felt it
clinging round my neck and face.
"When my weary limbs and brain were rested, I was able to talk to
Nanukchund, my preserver. He told me much that of course you know--of
the outbreak, of the excesses of the mutineers, which he deplored, for
he knew how the reckoning would be, and that he was the friend of the
Sahibs, and after we had been shot down, came to see if life remained
in any of us.
"He was a far-sighted man, and he knew that the yoke these fiends were
trying to throw off would be only the more strongly riveted round their
necks, and he knew that the English raj was more wise, more just and
merciful, than the divided tyrannies of their own Princes. One day he
came to the room where I lay, and, with tears running down his face,
told me with terror, lest I should rise up and slay him because of his
kinship with such demons, of the massacre of the women and children by
the order of the bastard Raja of Bithoor, Nana Sahib--how the Sepoys,
commanded to shoot them, thrust their guns through the windows, and
fired a volley over their heads, and then, sickened of the horror,
refused to have anything more to do with it; and no one at first could
be found to carry out the brute's orders, until at last Survur Khan,
the butcher--the same who had killed my little Madge--volunteered for
the murderous job. Then another monster was found, and with swords they
went into the slaughter pen, Survur coming out to replace one sword he
had broken, by another."
[Illustration: "THE COLONEL CRIED OUT, 'FOR GOD'S SAKE, STOP.'"]
At this point of Gascoyne's narrative, so the Captain told me, the
Colonel cried out, "For God's sake, stop," and got up and went out of
the tent, and Gascoyne said--
"Yes, I remember; he lost a wife and a little girl there."
And then the Captain and the Subaltern understood the Colonel's silence
generally, and his fierce anger when he did speak of those days.
It was the next day before Gascoyne resumed his story.
"After Nanukchund's story," he went on, "a dull feeling of hatred,
mingled with my purpose of vengeance, took possession of me; and though
I loathed the sight of a black face, I found myself under the necessity
of assuming one myself. With great care I stained myself all over, and
at length both Nanukchund and I were satisfied that my disguise was
perfect.
"Some of our men had spent months among the natives undetected; and
my own perfect knowledge of the languages spoken in the Gangetic
districts, and of the habits and customs of the people, rendered me
secure. To Nanukchund I said nothing of my project. So far as he knew,
I was only going to join my countrymen where-ever I could find them in
force. I said good-bye to him, and promised, when things were settled,
he should be gratefully remembered, and I gave him a letter that should
have insured his safety in case our people laid hands on him. The next
day I was one amongst the ruffians who had butchered my comrades and
my countrywomen. That very night I had a chance of killing Survur Khan
the butcher. I found him drunk in the doorway of a deserted house. No
one was near. I dragged him inside. He laid like a log on the floor. I
stood over him, and was about to plunge my knife into his heart, but I
reflected.
"He would die insensible to his end; he would not know why he died. So
I altered my mind, and on his forehead I made two deep incisions in the
form of a cross. The brute moved and groaned, but he was too far under
the influence of bhang to be conscious. When I next saw him, although
the wound was covered by his turban, I knew by the look in his eyes
there was a terror in his heart, which would remain with him until his
hour came. The next day Nana retreated on Bithoor, accompanied by the
Begum. Then after Futtehpore he retreated with about 3,000 followers
into Nepaul, whither I accompanied him."
"From this," said the Colonel, "nothing certain of him was known."
"You shall hear now," said Gascoyne, and continued--
"From the first, dissensions and quarrels arose, which, with
desertions, soon reduced their followers to half their number. With
the remainder, for nearly two years Nana lived like an outlaw, moving
from place to place, his followers slowly diminishing in numbers, from
desertion and deaths, disease and hunger, for provisions were terribly
scarce and dear. Nana and the Begum were both carried, whenever a
move was made, in dhoolies, but now it began to be difficult to find
bearers; and here my great opportunity opened for me.
"With the money supplied to me by Nanukchund I paid certain of the
ablest-bodied bearers to become my servants. These I humbly placed
at the Rajah's disposal. With gratitude he accepted my offer, for he
looked with the anticipation of terror toward the time when he might be
compelled to walk, for his obesity was now so great, as also was the
Begum's, and his Oriental hatred of exertion was so pronounced, that
death would almost be preferable. I kept my bearers fed and ready at
his will, and I became his favoured slave, but I laughed in my heart,
for I was preparing his sacrifice.
"After another year of wandering, the word spread of a great reward
offered by the English Government for the Nana, dead or alive, also of
pardon for all not actually guilty of murder. Then a conspiracy among
the hundred or so followers left was set on foot to earn the reward,
but, still determined to feed my unsatisfied vengeance, I betrayed it
to the Rajah, and, heading those who were still faithful to him, I fell
on the conspirators the night before their projected outbreak, and
slaughtered them to a man; and no word can paint the fierce joy I felt
as my sword found its sheath in the hearts of the murderous villains.
Our numbers now scarcely reached 50, amongst whom was Survur Khan. This
man's life had now become a terror to him. I haunted his sleeping and
his waking hours. I always made him feel that Nemesis hovered near. He
had long ago found that I knew of the scar on his forehead.
"'How comes it, brother,' I had asked him, 'that you have the sign of
the Christian on your forehead?'
"At first he eyed me askance, and was surly; then, after, he told me
how, waking from his orgie, he had found himself thus marked. I said,
'Then surely some accursed Feringhee has marked you, that he may know
you again one day.'
"'Nay,' he answered, 'that cannot be, for none were left alive in
Cawnpore at the time.'
"'No, nor any women or children, as you know. See!' I cried, thrusting
back his turban, 'See! thy scar is white and livid! It is some god of
the Feringhees who has marked thee for his vengeance.'
"Thereafter his life was hell. And so we wandered again--how long I
cannot tell--months, years--I don't know--until at last there were
left, besides the Nana and the Begum, only three or four more who
performed menial offices, and myself. Then a tiger killed two of these,
and the other two ran away.
"For me, I had become lean and burnt to almost Indian blackness. They
did not suspect me. I had carefully kept my weapons in order, and I was
now master of the situation.
"One night, after the last two men had gone, Nana, whose inability to
walk had become a real terror, told us we must remain in the clearing
by the river bank where we were, and there live.
"That night, while they slept, I waked, and without awakening them I
bound them all, so that when they woke they would be unable to move
more than a hand. Then I went to the river and cleansed myself as
thoroughly as I could, and, secure in my preparations, lay down and
slept soundly. Shortly after, I heard Nana's voice calling me. I rose,
and my eye fell on Survur Khan. He knew his hour had come; he was livid
with fear; he did not know who had bound him--he only knew he was
unable to move. He saw me--he saw the expression in my eyes--it was
enough. Then I passed to where the Nana and Begum lay. He demanded what
this meant.
"'Get up,' I said, 'and you shall know.'
"Shaking with fear, the Begum stood upright. I led them to the opening.
When they saw Survur Khan they turned ashen grey.
"'See,' I cried in English, 'you three, I am an English officer. All
this time I have followed you, helped you, fed you, shielded you in
danger, that I might avenge on you the murder of the woman I loved,
and of my countrywomen, with my own hand. Look,' I cried, tearing off
Survur Khan's head covering, 'ask him where he got that scar. He does
not know, but I can tell you. I found him drunk and could have killed
him, but I put my mark on him instead. Directly, you shall see what I
have saved him for. I was one of those whom you shot down after you
took us from the boats, but I feigned death and escaped.'
[Illustration: "'LOOK,' I CRIED, TEARING OFF HIS HEAD COVERING, 'ASK
HIM WHERE HE GOT THAT SCAR.'"]
"The fear of death was on them all. The Begum and Nana grovelled at my
feet; they offered me countless gems, they would tell me where they
were hidden, if I would but let them live--only spare their lives. I
could not mean to kill them in cold blood--I was an Englishman.
"I let them go on until they had exhausted themselves with cries and
tears and entreaties, and then I said, 'I do not mean to kill you yet,
but that you may feel certain of your end, see this man die. He dashed
out the brains of my lover while she lay in my arms. The death he gave
her is now meted out to himself.'
"Survur Khan was now a shaking jelly of fear. I went to him, and, with
a mace I had always carried, struck him full and fair on the scar. So
perished the butcher of our sisters.
"Then commenced the penance of the other two. To walk a hundred yards
was pain and misery to them, but for two hours I made them walk; when
they would have stayed, a prick from the point of my knife urged them
on, and groaning and stumbling they went forward.
"That evening when I drove them back to the little clearing they knew
what hunger, thirst, and fatigue were. Their clothes were already in
rags, their feet bleeding and sore.
"The corpse of Survur Khan lay there. The crows had been busy on it.
"'Look,' I cried; 'as his fate was, so shall yours be.'
"They groaned, and falling on the ground lay there stunned with the
horror of their situation.
"'Henceforth you are my slaves,' I continued. 'Get up and throw that
fellow into the river.' They hesitated, but the point of the knife
persuaded them, and they in shuddering disgust did as I commanded.
[Illustration: _Frith & Co. Photo_
THE MONUMENT OVER THE CAWNPORE WELL.
(This was the well into which the bodies of the massacred women and
children were thrown.)]
"Then I fed them sparingly with rice and water, and the next day they
recommenced their pilgrimage. In spite of their cries and groans I
drove them like cattle.
"Day after day, month after month, I drove them until they were reduced
to the shadows of what they were, and then I began to think it time
they died. I was aweary of my own vengeance.
"Long before, I had found a young panther cub. As it grew it evinced a
strange love for me. No dog that ever attached itself to a man could
have been more absolutely devoted to him than the panther to me. In
proportion as it loved me, so it hated my victims. In all our trampings
it followed at my heels. At night I had to fasten it up, or it would
have forestalled me.
"Now I began to brood what should be their end.