proceeded with his story the trader also regained his composure and
withdrew the covering from his face.
"When the shadows of night fell, the temple made a bonfire that
illuminated the scenes of pillage going on all around. The big idols of
loathly aspect had been thrown down, broken to pieces, and despoiled of
their jewels and the heavy plates of gold that encumbered them. Our
soldiers had swarmed out of the building, past a tank to the houses of
some priests beyond. Not one single custodian of the temple survived,
and I stood alone in the outer courtyard, watching in idle fashion the
tongues of flame licking the beams and rafters and paint-bedaubed walls
of the wrecked edifice.
"Then did my eyes chance to light on a small idol in the passage-way
between the two courtyards of the temple, set in a deep niche, on which
account it had escaped the notice of the despoilers. It was the familiar
elephant-headed idol of the Hindus, Ganapati, as I knew they called him,
their god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles according to their
creed.
"Even as I looked, methought that the eyes of the idol twinkled
knowingly and entreatingly at me. After a moment I saw that this fancy
was but due to the play of the flames on jewels, comprehending which, I
said to myself that the little fat man might perchance be of some
considerable value. So I plucked him from his resting-place, not without
difficulty, for the base of the idol was fastened by iron clamps to the
altar, and only just in time before a surge of fire and smoke swept
through the vestibule. Then, without more ado, I carried forth this
Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain
priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been
standing tethered under a tree close at hand.
"Thus did it come about that, a full month later, I was seated in my
home, in a secret inner chamber that served me as a treasury, and to
which the only access was through the women's quarters. And before me on
a stool rested the cross-legged figure of the four-armed and
elephant-headed god, fat, complacent, smiling, to all appearance
recovered from the fatigues of a journey of near a hundred leagues and
thoroughly contented amidst his new surroundings. The idol was of
bronze, and the eyes, which at times gave it such life-like semblance,
were clusters of rubies set around with white sapphires.
"And it followed that, day after day, after the siesta hour, I found
myself in the company of this accursed idol--for accursed it came to be,
bringing me misfortunes and ruin, as my story will unfold. No doubt it
was by my own doing that the wrath of Allah was brought down upon my
head. For had not I, a follower of the Prophet, and therefore a despiser
of graven images in every shape or form, come to treat this monstrous
and misshapen creature, half man, half beast, as a sort of familiar,
even greeting him on my entry with the words with which I might have
saluted a living unbeliever, 'May your days be peaceful,' spoken in
goodnatured jest, of course, and without one thought at the time of the
sacrilege of which I was guilty? Yea, I would pat the fat little fellow
on the head, and, when the humour seized me, would show him my hoard of
gold mohurs, even jingle before him a bag of silver rupees, or ask his
opinion on the colour and quality of some gem, speaking words of
foolishness the while, like a child playing with a toy. And when I lay
back on my cushions, sometimes I fancied that the little jewelled eyes
in the elephant head of bronze twinkled at me in merry and friendly
understanding. All which things I have since remembered with bitter
shame.
"But it happened one day that I was in angry mood--some contrary thing
among the women of my household had vexed me. And when I sat brooding
over my trouble, it seemed that the eyes of the Ganapati laughed at me
in mockery. And, angry now at the idol himself, I arose and pressed the
balls of my thumbs on the two scintillating clusters of jewels, as it
were to shut out the gleam of their impertinence, even ready, in my
insane access of wrath, to force them from their sockets as I might have
done with the eyeballs of a slave who had offended me.
"But in a moment all passion faded from my heart. For an extraordinary
thing happened.
"As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote
my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve
backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across
the body of the Ganapati. And, as the opening gradually widened, by some
devilish contrivance the hammer of a gong concealed within the idol was
set in motion, and there resulted a loud continuous clanging din that
could have been heard at a far distance. Instinctively I thrust my
fingers in my ears to shut out the infernal noise. But after a time the
clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved
completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised
aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.
"But before I could explore this, I was distracted by the frightened
outcries of my womenfolk, and I sallied forth to pacify them, and give
assurance that the bell need cause no alarm, it being one I had
purchased in the bazaars with the intent some day to use it as a
protection against thieves--its obvious utility, as I guessed even now.
When all was again at peace I returned to the secret chamber. Everything
was as I had left it a few minutes previously.
"In the hollow body of the bronze idol there lay disclosed to view a
small casket of rock crystal, round and polished, and provided with a
cap of gold. For me to snatch this casket from its hiding-place was the
work of an instant. Straightway I removed the golden lid, and there, in
the smooth, transparent nest of crystal, lay a little heap of gems that
flashed and gleamed like living fire.
"Recovering from my first emotions of astonishment and delight, I poured
forth the treasure into the hollow of my hand, and found it to be a
necklace of diamonds, as I could tell from the dazzling sparkle of the
stones despite their uncommon colour, which was blue, like the vault of
the sky or the eyes of the fair-skinned women of Circassia. Each stone
was cut with many facets, and all were strung together by a delicate
chain of gold, a solitary large stone in the centre, then smaller ones
on either side, each succeeding pair carefully matched as to size, and
constantly diminishing till the last were no bigger than grains of
millet. All the diamonds were of dazzling lustre and of the one uniform
tint, the blue that is so rare, and, as I gazed upon my treasure trove,
well could I believe that not such another necklace existed in any part
of the world, not even in the jewel caskets of the Great Padishah
himself, nor of the Kings of China or of Persia, nor of the Princes of
the Franks, who are reputed to have untold stores of diamonds, rubies,
topazes, and amethysts.
"For a time I was stricken dumb and motionless, from very fear of the
great wealth that reposed in my hollowed palm. Then did I replace the
necklace in its casket, and the casket in its receptacle within the body
of the bronze god, and, grasping the tusk, I drew forward once again the
elephant head, which, at my gentle pressure, rose easily on its pivot,
winding again the clicking wheels as it moved, and finally closing at
its accustomed place with a sharp snap but without any further sounding
of the gong, at which I was well pleased.
"Overcome with varied emotions, I sank down on the carpet, and, gazing
up at the idol, beheld the jewelled eyes once more twinkling at me,
merrily and mockingly.
"After an interval I withdrew from the chamber, securing the padlock on
the outside, and slipping back the artfully concealed panel that hid the
secret doorway from prying intruders. The corridor without led to the
women's quarters, through which I passed, vouchsafing word to no one. It
was only when I had gained the outer courtyard that I drew my breath
freely, and recovered my wonted tranquillity of mind and mien.
"Several days passed before I ventured again to visit the Ganapati, and
this at last I did in the full belief that the whole affair had been
naught but an idle dream. But when I pressed again on the eyes of the
elephant head, there came once more the clicking of wheels, followed by
the clangor of the gong. This I succeeded in muffling somewhat by
throwing a thick cotton quilt, which I had brought for the purpose, over
the figure of the god.
"A minute later I held the necklace of flashing blue diamonds in my
trembling hand. I lingered just long enough to satisfy myself of the
reality of the jewels, of their flawless quality and their matchless
lustre. Then, replacing everything as before, I left the chamber with
the usual precautions, and gained the divan in the vestibule of the
outer courtyard, where I was accustomed to sit and receive my friends.
There I meditated for several hours, and at last had formed a definite
plan.
"Well I knew that to disclose the treasure would mean its instant
surrender to the Nawab, most probably my own doing to death, so that the
new owner of the gems might feel more secure in their possession. To
realize the value of those blue diamonds they must be sold one by one,
or, at most, in separate pairs, and this with infinite care, so as not
to arouse suspicion among the banians who are the traders in precious
stones, and are ever on the outlook to screw the last copper paisa out
of the seller unlawfully trafficking in them. And first of all it would
be necessary for me to gain some true idea as to the value of brilliants
of so rare a hue.
"Three days later I rode into the city of Lahore, and, after seeing to
the wants of my horse, repaired to the bazaar of the Hindu shroffs and
banians. All my actions having been carefully thought out and decided
upon beforehand, I approached with a bold swagger the shop of a
reputable-looking banian, and, in the usual manner of business, took my
seat cross-legged before him. Two other merchants were seated near by,
but to them I gave no heed.
"After some desultory conversation with the owner of the shop, I
unloosed my waistband, and drew therefrom a tiny piece of silk stuff, in
whose folds were wrapped two of the smallest of the blue diamonds, a
pair, which I had carefully detached from the necklace before setting
forth on my journey. These I placed in the banian's hand, and I waited,
with all proper patience, while he carefully examined them. His face
gave no sign as at last he laid the gems on the lap of his robe. With
this I extended my right hand, and thrust it into his right hand,
covering both with the loosened end of my waistband, so that he could
tell me the price he was willing to pay by the secret pressure on my
fingers that would reveal to me the value he had set on the stones
without disclosing it to the rival traders seated at our side.
"But to my surprise his hand remained absolutely impassive, giving no
response to my movement of inquiry. Then, looking again into the
banian's eyes, I detected there a strange menacing look that greatly
perturbed me. As his fingers were still limp over mine, signifying
unmistakably that there was no willingness to buy, I hastened to
withdraw my hand, and, retying my little package, restored it to its
place of security. After I had adjusted my waistband, again we spoke
some tittle-tattle of the hour before I arose and, with a courteous
salaam, took my departure.
"Glancing back from a short distance, I saw the three banians in close
colloquy and eagerly gesticulating. Thoroughly alarmed now, and feeling
sure that they had recognized the blue diamonds as the spoil of one of
their temples, I made all speed to regain the caravanserai where my
horse had been bestowed, and, offering no explanation of my hurried
departure, immediately rode from the city. Gaining the open country, I
gave rein to my horse, although I took the precaution of making a detour
before I finally struck out in the direction of my home.
"Before nightfall of the succeeding day I had regained my house, and had
replaced the detached stones on the necklace by the little golden hooks
that formed their fastenings. With all speed I quitted the presence of
the Ganapati, vowing that I would make no more attempt for the present
to dispose of the treasure hidden in his entrails.
"A full month had elapsed, and I had ceased to give my exclusive
thoughts to the necklace of blue diamonds; for the harvest time was
approaching, and I had to make arrangements for the garnering of my
crops. My house was in the open country, half a league or so from the
nearest village. It was the evening hour, and I was seated in the
vestibule of the outer courtyard, having just dismissed the head reaper
with whom I had come to terms for the services of himself and his
fellows in the fields of grain.
"Glancing along the road I descried what I took to be a band of
travelling yogis, in rags, unkempt, some hobbling on crutches. But as I
was accustomed to treat with contempt such Hindu beggars, I gave no
special heed to their approach.
"All of a sudden, however, when within less than a bow shot of the
house, the pretended yogis raised a loud and terrifying yell, and rushed
toward me, brandishing staves and daggers. Then did I realize that I was
in the presence of a gang of armed dacoits. Before I could summon help,
I was mercilessly beaten over the head with bludgeons; after which I was
bound hand and foot, and thrown face downward on the divan on which I
had been seated. I could hear the sound of a scuffle in the courtyard,
and the dying scream of the eunuch who guarded the entrance to the
women's apartments, rising high above the frightened cries of my two
wives and the children and of the female slaves who attended them. Then,
because of the grievous blows that had assailed me, as well as the agony
of my mind, consciousness fled, and I lay like one dead unto the world.
"It must have been hours before I was awakened from this stupor, for the
moon was riding high in the heavens. Over me was bending the demoniac
face of a Hindu priest, a worshipper of Siva as I knew from the caste
marks on his forehead.
"'Where is the Ganapati?' he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we
want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the
blue diamonds.'
"Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever
other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been
discovered. And with this joy came the determination that I would rather
die than surrender the necklace of blue diamonds, or allow the mocking
elephant-headed god to be returned to his place of honour before a crowd
of idolatrous worshippers.
"I shall not recount the details of that terrible night. I need but say
that I was tortured in a dozen different ways--the soles of my feet were
burned with hot embers, the flesh of my thighs was pierced with daggers,
I was beaten all over with clubs, and when I lost my senses for a spell
I was revived by chatties of cold water being dashed on my face. But I
never spoke a word. The very spirit of Shaitan had entered into my soul;
if they were devils, then was I the prince of devils in my resolve to
defy them.
"I was but faintly conscious of my surroundings, when I heard a
whispered colloquy among the priests disguised as robbers.
"'We must not kill him,' I heard one voice say. 'Only if he lives shall
we recover the Ganapati.'
"Then also I heard some faint cries from afar off, from the village,
showing that the dacoits were discovered, and that courage was being
mustered for some attempt to drive them away.
"After a moment the same priest who had addressed me before bent his
face once again over mine.
"'Listen, you Moslem son of a pig,' he hissed in my ear. 'Three more
warnings will be given to you, and if these do not succeed in making you
restore the Ganapati and the jewels then assuredly will you die. You
know whence you stole it. Take back the idol to Ferishtapur, or go to
the nethermost hell to which you belong.'
"With that he slapped my face again and again, with a slipper taken from
his foot, and, writhing in my bonds, I was powerless to revenge, even at
the cost of my life, this crowning and abominable insult.
"I must have swooned once more, for dawn was breaking when the craven
villagers, satisfied that the robbers and murderers had departed, at
last arrived upon the scene, and, loosening the thongs that bound me,
re-awakened me to consciousness of my pitiful plight.
"My womenfolk and my three children were uninjured. I found them,
cowering and terrified, in an inner chamber. But the infidels had
searched every room in their quarters, scattering the contents of chests
on the floors. And at sight of this vile desecration the iron of revenge
even then entered into my soul.
"The eunuch lay dead in the vestibule leading to the harem. My other
servants, who had happened to be outside the house at the time of the
assault, had fled, and in the shame of their desertion never again dared
to show their faces in my presence. The kotwal of the district made an
investigation, but I held my own counsel, and spoke not one word about
the Ganapati or the blue diamonds. So the outrage was set down as the
work of dacoits, and although in point of fact nothing had been stolen I
felt no call on me to disturb this finding of the magistrate.
"About a week later a new disaster overtook me. In the full light of
day, when a breeze happened to be blowing, my standing crops were
burned, and my fields left a blackened wilderness. By whose hand the
fire-brand had been applied, no man could tell. An accident, or the
first of the promised warnings?--this I asked myself, and I strove hard
to believe that it was ill-luck and nothing more.
"Another full week passed, and I began to hope that the threatened
persecution had indeed been abandoned. Recovered from my wounds and
bruises, I was able now to be out and about again, endeavouring to
restore order to my troubled affairs. One afternoon on my home-coming, I
found the women lamenting with loud outcries over the body of my eldest
son, a lad of seven years. Unseen by any of the household he had been
knocked down on the road and crushed under the wheels of a heavy wagon
that was travelling past.
"That night, when his poor little body was being made ready for burial,
my elder wife, his mother, led me to the side of the bier. Uncovering
the child's shoulder, she showed me a strange mark, as if branded upon
the flesh by a hot iron. In the red, angry lines I had no difficulty in
tracing the head of a bull, the sacred mark of Siva. I said nothing,
and indeed commanded my wife to hold her peace.
"I knew now that this cruel calamity was indeed a warning from the
accursed priesthood, who had not even scrupled to murder an innocent
child so that they might wreak their vengeance on me or break my will.
"But, if I had been determined before, ten times more now was I resolved
never to yield. No cowardly surrender could bring me back my child. The
boy was dead, and what was done could not be undone, for the will of God
is eternal.
"That very night I visited the Ganapati, and in the frenzy of my bitter
grief and righteous wrath I swore, with clenched fist shaken before his
twinkling eyeballs, that I would break him into pieces, throw the blue
diamonds into a fire of charcoal, and myself die, rather than restore
him to the infidels who had destroyed my happiness and my home.
"The next blow fell swifter than ever. Only four days had passed when
the bereaved mother, who had refused to be consoled for the death of her
only child, was found drowned at the bottom of the well in the harem
garden. The household was plunged in lamentation over her pitiful act of
self-destruction, and now I became vaguely conscious that friends and
neighbours, as well as servants, were looking at me askance, and were
beginning to shun my presence as if a curse had fallen upon my head.
"It was at the funeral ceremonies of my wife that I was first made
pointedly to feel that there rested over me the suspicion of some
terrible crime that had drawn down the special wrath of Allah. Standing
in isolation, at a time when my sorrowing heart yearned for brotherly
comfort, I realized that already I was an outcast from among my own
people, one whom they deemed to be marked by heaven for special
vengeance, a moral leper, a menace to the community, to be shunned for
all time by his fellow men.
"And there and then I made up my mind to flee secretly to another
country, sending later for my surviving wife and children, abandoning
all my other possessions in the shape of land and cattle and accumulated
stores, but clinging to the blue diamonds which would yet bring me
riches out of all proportion to those of which fate was robbing me at
the present time.
"For the third and final warning had passed, although no one but myself
had thought of my wife's death otherwise than as a case of
grief-demented suicide.
"But, as she had lain on her bier, I had looked secretly, and had found
the brand of the bull on her shoulder blade, just as she had found it on
that of her murdered boy. Allah alone knows how this last crime was
wrought--how access to the women's quarters had been gained, and how the
fatal seal of Siva had been impressed upon her flesh before she had been
flung into the well.
"To me has this ever remained a mystery of mysteries.
"So the three warnings had been delivered--the burning of my crops, the
slaying of my child, the drowning of my wife. Unless by the morrow I
made signs of submission by taking the road to Ferishtapur, there to
surrender the Ganapati, it would assuredly be upon myself that the sword
of fate would next descend.
"That very night of the funeral, after securely barricading the outer
gates of the house, I locked myself in the treasure chamber. Not a
servant had remained in the home upon which the curse of God had
descended; even the two women slaves had fled in the dusk of the
evening, gone, I knew not whither, and now I little cared. My surviving
wife and children, tiny infants, a girl and a boy, were asleep in an
inner room; I had glanced at their slumbering forms when passing to the
corridor that led to the secret doorway.
"I lost no time in beginning my preparations for departure. First of all
I unlocked my strong box, and drew therefrom a small sack of gold
mohurs, and another of gold pagodas, also sundry family jewels, armlets
and necklets of gold, gemmed rings, and other trinkets of price. All
these I tied tightly in a cotton cloth, forming a package that I could
conveniently and without undue attention carry at my saddle-bow or in my
hand. The bags of silver money, likewise the store of silver bangles, I
would leave behind; they were cumbersome, and moreover they would serve
to meet the necessities of my wife and children during our period of
severance.
"Then I turned to the Ganapati, and after swathing him as before in the
cotton quilt, so as to deaden the sound of the gong, with my hands
beneath the covering I pressed upon the jewelled eyeballs. I had not
gazed upon the blue diamonds since the day when I had restored the two
stones shown to the banian merchant in Lahore. As the wheels now clicked
and the muffled bell commenced its dulled clangor, the uneasy thought
came to my mind that perhaps the treasure had in the interval been
spirited away by some devilish jugglery. But when at last silence fell,
and I whipped the cloth aside, there reposed the crystal casket, and,
the lid of gold removed, my eyes fastened with grim satisfaction upon
the clustered heap of gems, gleaming in the light of my tiny oil lamp
like drops of rain in a flash of lightning.
"Assured of their safety, I pressed down the cap on the casket, and
bound the crystal ball securely in my waistband.
"Then I turned round to seize an iron hammer which I had brought with me
for the deliberate purpose of smashing the accursed idol to pieces,
partly in revenge, partly to secure the bejewelled eyeballs. But at that
very moment I became possessed with the notion that I was not alone in
the room. My heart beat wildly, and I raised aloft the little lamp.
Nothing but four bare walls, and not even a window through which an
enemy might be peering!