_TAKEN CAPTIVE_
Rupert, when he heard those words of Marian, gave a laugh, and
advanced a step towards me.
"There now, you see how it is," he said, "as I told you long ago in
Yarmouth; but you wouldn't believe me. Come, why need we keep up our
quarrel any longer, when the girl tells you to your face that she
prefers me? After all, we are of the same blood, good Norfolk
dumplings both; and if I have done you any injury in the past, I am
here ready to tender my best amends for it."
He spoke this with a brave air, and I believe was going to offer me
his hand. I must confess that I was a little touched with compunction
at that mention of Norfolk, where I was born. Something, too, of that
old superiority and fascination which this man had exercised over me
in my boyhood revived as he spoke. But the memory of his subsequent
treacheries and crimes was too strong for me to feel more than a
momentary inclination towards yielding. I drew back from him,
therefore, and shook my head.
"If we are related, it is a thing I cannot help, though it is to my
shame," I answered him. "But I will have no more part nor lot with
you, were you the last of my kin left on earth. Do not suppose that,
because Marian is so far bewitched that she has forgiven you your
wicked treatment of her, I shall do the same. What are you now but a
traitor to your countrymen, and a spy in the service of a bloody
Indian tyrant? Rupert Gurney, I must tell you that I hold you for a
detestable villain and a coward, and I will pursue you without truce
and without rest till I have rid the earth of such a wretch. And I am
here now ready to begin."
My anger against him gathered and swelled as I spoke, recalling his
base actions, so different from his words. He immediately let me see
that his behaviour was not changed, for before I had well done
speaking he suddenly raised his pistol and discharged it in my face;
after which he turned and ran out through the doorway, without waiting
to see the result of his shot. To do my cousin justice, I believe he
had plenty of natural courage, being of the right Ford strain, as he
said. But after that great combat which we had in the boat off
Yarmouth river, he never faced me again without a certain reluctance
and blenching, as though his conscience misgave him.
I was very little hurt on this occasion, for the ball entered my
mouth sideways, merely depriving me of two teeth, and issuing again
through the left cheek. But the sudden pain and bleeding incommoded me
so far as to hinder my pursuit of Rupert, so that he got clear away
and left the town that night, it seems, for Moorshedabad.
I reported the affair to Mr. Drake, merely concealing some details, as
that this was my kinsman; and he was so well satisfied to have got rid
of him that he promised me I should receive half the reward offered
for his capture. But the subsequent events doubtless put it out of his
mind, for I never received anything. And on the whole I was satisfied
with this, not wishing to make a profit, as it were, out of the
treachery of one of my own family, however unworthy.
Even had I succeeded in taking Gurney, and had he been executed, it
was now too late to have altered the course of events. Every day
brought fresh intelligence confirming the hostility of the Nabob
towards the English. One day he sent to demand the levelling of Fort
William to the ground, the next he threatened the withdrawal of the
Company's privileges, and in particular the dustucks, which he said
were abused by being lent to Gentoos, his own subjects. Finally word
came that Surajah Dowlah had marched out of Moorshedabad with his
army, and had sat down before Cossimbuzar, where we had a factory and
a small fort.
All this time the Governor and others of the Council had refused to
believe that anything was intended beyond extorting a sum of money
from the Company. But the wiser and more prudent ones, among whom were
Messrs. Byng and Holwell, took a different view, which they made me
share. Now at last Mr. Drake seemed to rouse from his supineness, and
gave orders for the town and fort to be prepared against attack.
Before these orders could be carried out, however, arrived the news
that Mr. Watts, chief of the Cossimbuzar party, was a prisoner in the
Nabob's hands, that the place was surrendered, and plundered by the
Moors, and that our garrison, though promised security, had been so
barbarously used by them that Mr. Elliott, the commanding officer, had
taken his own life.
And now men began to tell each other fearful stories of Surajah Dowlah
and his career. It was said that when he was a child his favourite
pastime had been the torturing of birds and animals, from which, while
still in his boyhood, he had passed to mutilating slaves; that not
only had he given himself from his earliest years to every species of
oriental lust--some too vile to be named--but he was even a drunkard,
a vice forbidden by the Alcoran and foreign to the manners of
Indostan. To his great-uncle, the late Nabob, who doted on him to
distraction, he had shown, it was said, the basest ingratitude,
insolently taking advantage of the old man's affection to accomplish
his crimes and murders with impunity, and, if restrained in any of
his desires, to withdraw from the Court and threaten rebellion,
knowing that his uncle would yield anything rather than endure the
absence of his darling. At the present moment, it was affirmed, he had
quarrelled with and set aside all the wisest and principal men in his
dominions, and was governed by minions of his own, buffoons and such
creatures, sprung from the lowest class and promoted to high stations
as a reward for their participation in his guilty orgies. Such was the
young man, incapable of reason or mercy, and passing from one
transport of passion to another, who was now in full march with all
his force against Calcutta, having sworn to exterminate the English
from Bengal.
Immediately I found there was talk of resistance and fighting, I went
to Mr. Byng and begged to be allowed to serve with the garrison. This
offer he thankfully accepted, and in the course of a day or two every
other Englishman in the town either volunteered or was pressed into
the same service. Our regular garrison consisted of only two hundred
European troops, to which were added some Topasses, a mixed breed of
Indians and Portuguese, very suitable to be used as mercenaries, and
about a thousand of the black natives armed as buxerries, or matchlock
men. Out of regard to my having been the first to volunteer and to my
former service on board a man-of-war, I was presently appointed a
sergeant, and put in charge of a party of twelve men, assigned to the
defence of the rope-walk which joins the main east road from the fort
to the Morattoe ditch.
Besides this ditch, begun to be dug many years before at a time when
the Morattoe armies were invading Bengal, and never finished, there
was no fortification of any kind round the town; so that barricades
had now to be thrown up, and guns planted in the streets at whatever
points seemed most favourable for intercepting the advance of the
enemy. The plan of defence, so far as any plan was adhered to in the
confusion and panic which prevailed, was to defend these outposts as
long as possible, then to retire into Fort William itself and stand a
siege, and when the fort could be maintained no longer to take to the
ships which lay in the river, and drop down the stream out of reach of
the enemy.
My own post was, as I have said, at the rope-walk. At one end of this
place, on the main road into the town, was a battery under the command
of a captain, so disposed as to check any advance. But in case the
enemy should try to creep round through some side streets and take the
battery in flank, our little party of twelve was stationed at the
other end of the rope-walk, ready to detect and resist any such
attempt.
The first notice we had of the arrival of the Moors' army was by a
cannon fired on the north side of the town, at a place where the
Morattoe ditch joined the river Hooghley. This being the direct way
for an army coming from Moorshedabad to enter Calcutta, the Moors here
made their first attack, and all that day the sound of cannon and
musketry came to us on the breeze, without our seeing the enemy or
knowing how the fortune of the day was turning. But with evening came
the good news that the enemy had been repulsed and had drawn off to
the other side of the ditch.
That night we did not dare to retire to rest indoors, but slept at our
post, under a shed put up over some wheels on which the twine was
wound. At four in the morning we were up and eating some bread and
cold meat sent to us from the fort for our breakfast, when suddenly we
heard a fearful rattle and crash of musketry close at hand. The enemy
had been informed of the gap in the Morattoe ditch further south, had
swarmed across it, and were now attacking our outposts all along the
line.
Leaving our meal half-eaten, we sprang to our feet and took our
weapons. I ordered the men not to expose themselves more than was
needed, an order which one or two of them obeyed so zealously as to
place themselves where they could neither see nor be seen by the
enemy, and where all they did was to load their muskets and discharge
them into the air in the direction from which the attack seemed to
come. However, I found some braver than that, and as the Moors seemed
much afraid of our fire we held them at bay well enough. Their own
fire was more frightening than dangerous, the noise being out of all
proportion to the number of persons hit. So much was this the case
that after some hours had gone by without a single ball taking effect
on any member of our party, their first fears wore off and all began
to expose themselves in a very reckless manner.
There was a wall forming the side of the rope-walk, about four feet
high, and behind this wall we stood and fired at the Moors as they
showed themselves in any of the streets commanded by our position. I
cannot describe how interested and excited I got in this cruel sport,
for such it resembled. I chose for myself a long, narrow street
leading to the southward, with about a dozen lanes crossing it from
east to west. Loading my gun and resting it on the coping of the wall
with the muzzle pointed down this street, I kept my eyes on the
various openings. Every quarter of an hour, perhaps, a small party of
soldiers in bright silk turbans, with glittering arms and armour,
would pass out from one of the lanes into this street, either crossing
it or moving up or down. Each time I would wait till a whole group
emerged, so as to have a bigger target, and then discharge my piece.
Almost invariably a man would fall, and the whole party, terrified and
not understanding the smallness of our force, would run into one of
the lanes adjoining, leaving a wounded or dead man lying in the
deserted street. This went on till, I think, fifteen or twenty bodies
lay at different points along the roadway, besides those who, being
slightly hurt, had crawled away into shelter.
In the end I suppose the Moorish leader in this part of the attack
must have had notice of our proceedings; for presently a force of some
thirty or forty Indians emerged suddenly from a corner very near the
rope-walk and advanced towards us at a run, firing freely as they
came. Now it was that one of our men was hit for the first time, a
Company's servant named Parkes, a young lad who had arrived in Bengal
only six weeks before from England. A ball struck him under the right
eye, and he died in a few minutes.
This accident caused the rest of us to take more care. Nevertheless,
we managed to get off a good volley before the enemy could arrive as
far as the wall, wounding several. The rest wavered, and would,
perhaps, have fled but for the action of their leader, a tall, fine
man, having a great scymetar in his hand, with which he struck his men
violently on the shoulders to urge them forward. Seeing them resume
their rush at our position, I looked round at my own men, and to my
disgust found several preparing to desert their places and retire
further back.
"Stop!" I shouted angrily. "Let us show these black villains we are
not afraid of them! Fix bayonets! Forward! Charge!"
With these words I leaped over the wall and ran at the enemy, followed
by my whole party, except one man, who actually threw down his piece
and fled, not stopping till he reached the fort. But he need not have
done this, for had he stood a moment he would have seen the whole
party of Moors break and fly without waiting to close with us, so much
were they terrified by the way in which we sprang over the wall to
come at them. And this is, indeed, the nature of all the natives of
Indostan--to give way instantly that they meet an enemy who is more
bent on fighting than they are themselves.
The only person to stand his ground was the leader of the party, who
waited for us to come up, and then, singling me out, aimed a blow at
me with his scymetar. Up to this moment I had been too busy to observe
his face, and my rage knew no bounds when I discovered that I had to
do with my renegade kinsman himself, who, it appears, had been
searching for me from the very beginning of the battle. How it would
now have gone between us I cannot say, for several of my men closing
in round us almost immediately, Rupert saw his danger and ran off, and
my duty to defend the rope-walk forbade me from following.
For the rest of that day we were not much disturbed, except by the
continual pattering of bullets, which seemed to come from all quarters
of the compass. When night came, being anxious to learn how the siege
had progressed in other quarters, I sent a messenger to the fort, who
brought back word that the enemy had made no very great impression so
far, but that everything was in such a state of confusion and dismay
at the headquarters that it was impossible we could hold out much
longer.
Not to dwell on these particulars, the next day saw the end of this
unhappy affair. Early in the forenoon the Moors made a very hot attack
on the battery at the far end of our rope-walk, and at the same time a
fresh party, headed by my wicked cousin, assailed our position. I
restrained my men from discharging their muskets till the Indians were
within a few paces of us, with the result that we did great execution,
nearly a dozen of them falling. The rest fell back for a moment, but
Gurney urging them on, they rushed up and made a desperate attempt to
clamber over the wall.
While we were hard at work keeping them off with our bayonets, I heard
a tremendous crash and shouting in the rear, from the point where the
battery was placed. This noise seemed greatly to encourage our
assailants, several of whom managed to get over the wall and engage in
hand to hand conflicts with the men under me. Nevertheless, I stirred
up my fellows to continue their resistance, and myself beat back two
Moors, one of whom I ran through the body with my bayonet. So absorbed
was I that I did not observe the approach of a young ensign from the
battery, who came running along the rope-walk, shouting out--
"Fall back! fall back! The battery is abandoned to the enemy, and they
will cut off your retreat."
At this the men with me began to slacken their exertions, and some
fairly took to their heels. However, I had just caught sight of Rupert
advancing towards me and did not feel inclined to budge.
"Come back, you fool!" shouted the little ensign, pale and breathless.
"We are beaten, don't you hear?"
I turned my head and scowled at him.
"You seem to be beaten, sir," I said. "For my part, I am very
comfortable where I am, and intend to go on fighting."
With these words I turned to defend myself from Rupert, who was coming
at me eagerly enough, as it seemed. The ensign fled without further
parley, and I believe saved his life. So also did most of my
companions, though two others were badly wounded, and unable to stir.
For my part I was resolved to sell my life dearly, but this privilege
was denied me. For Gurney, as soon as he saw how the land lay, and
that I was left there alone, instantly drew back and ordered his men
to take me a prisoner, which, being by this time about thirty or forty
against one, they effected, whether I would or not.
My cousin's exultation was very great when he thus had me for the
second time in his power.
"Now, Master Athelstane," he cried, "we shall see whether you get off
as lightly as you did at Gheriah. You are not likely, I think, to be
rescued by a fleet this time. But perhaps you will be glad that I
should take you without more ado before the Nabob. He has a high
opinion of the English, and no doubt will be glad to take you into his
service and give you many handsome rewards."
"Rupert Gurney," I answered, "in mocking at one who is your prisoner,
owing to no valour of yours, you merely show yourself to be a coward
as well as a traitor. I care nothing for what the Nabob may do to me;
and this I know, that I would rather he put me to death outright than
enjoy his favour by such services as yours."
"Thank you, cousin," says Rupert, who was able to keep his temper now
that he had the better of me. "I am glad to learn that you will not
seek to undermine my credit with his Highness. But now, if you are
sufficiently rested, let us proceed."
Speaking these mocking words, he made his men bind my wrists together
with a cord, and conducted me out of the streets of the town towards
Surajah Dowlah's camp.
The tent of the Nabob was a fine great pavilion of yellow and crimson
cloth. All about the entrance stood his guards, very handsomely
dressed, with silver and gold ornaments, and armed with all sorts of
curious weapons, some of which I had not seen before. Inside, when we
were presently admitted, the spectacle was still more striking. The
Nabob sat on a high cushion, called the musnud, placed on a dais
which was raised several feet above the ground. On the dais beside him
stood three of his principal courtiers, in silk robes and turbans
incrusted with gems, while others of inferior rank stood below the
steps of the dais. A slave beat the air with a fan of peacock's
feathers over the Nabob's head.
I gazed with great curiosity and awe upon this young prince, who was
now making his name terrible through Bengal. I was amazed to see that
he was extremely young, scarce older than myself, with a face, I
think, the handsomest of any Indian's I ever saw: yet his face was
marred, and his youthfulness made unnatural by the ugly traces of his
passions. His skin appeared coarse and blotched, his lips were thick
and purple-coloured, and his teeth--an unusual thing among Moors--very
black and dirty, when he spoke. He lay back somewhat on his throne,
with his chin leaning on his breast and his heavy eyes turned to the
ground. In spite of the waving of the fan, the heat seemed to oppress
him; or else it was the weight of his turban, for he passed his hand
over his brow every now and then as if he would have lifted it off.
His fingers, I noticed, were much encumbered with rings, besides which
he wore bracelets, and ear-rings in his ears. But when he lifted his
eyes from the floor and looked at me, I was appalled by the expression
in them, which was not that of common ferocity, but rather dreadful
despair, like a lost soul that is goaded on to assuage its own pangs
by the torture of others.
"Who is this dog?" he asked in a husky, soddened tone, as I was
brought up to the foot of his dais.
"It is one of the ungrateful wretches who have dared to resist the
slaves of your sublime Highness," was the answer. Rupert had come in
with me, so as to take the credit of my capture, but the conversation
with the Nabob was carried on by one of the Indians, who seemed to be
the lieutenant of the party.
"Is he one of the English?" demanded Surajah, casting an angry glance
at me.
"Your exalted wisdom has said the word. Undoubtedly he belongs to that
vile nation, whom the breath of your anger has even now destroyed."
"Ask him why his people have dared to resist my commands. Who is he?
Is he one of their principal men? Ask him where is their treasure?"
Before the Indian could translate these questions I answered them in
the same language.
"I am an interpreter in the service of the Company, may it please your
Highness. I am but newly arrived in your country, and know nothing of
the other matters you have asked about."
The Nabob gave a sullen frown.
"Take the wretch away out of my sight. He is a worthless capture," he
said.
But one of the three men on the dais, a young, handsome Gentoo, with a
cruel, cunning face--I afterwards heard he was Lal Moon, the Nabob's
chief favourite--bent over his master and whispered something in his
ear. Instantly Surajah Dowlah sat up, furious.
"You have lied to me!" he screamed. "You speak our language, and yet
you say you are but newly arrived. That must be a lie!"
He looked round at his courtiers, and there was a murmur of admiration
at his sagacity.
"Your Highness is mistaken," I said, keeping cool. "I learned the
Indostanee language on my way out to the East Indies, from the
secretary of Colonel Clive."
As I pronounced this name I saw a movement among those present. The
Nabob stared, not understanding to whom I referred; but an older man,
with a proud, discontented, and yet apprehensive air, who also stood
on the dais, and was, I found out, Meer Jaffier, Surajah Dowlah's
uncle, and commander of his armies, this man, I say, spoke in
explanation--
"The youth means that he came on the ship with Sabat Jung."
No sooner did the Nabob hear this than he changed colour.
"Are you a friend of Sabat Jung's? Is he coming to Bengal?" he asked,
with scarcely concealed anxiety.
"Sabat Jung is my protector," I replied, putting on a bolder air. "If
he hears that any wrong has been done to the English in Calcutta, he
will surely come here and avenge them."
The courtiers exchanged looks of amazement at these words of defiance,
doubtless expecting to see me led to instant execution. But I have an
instinct which tells me when a man is afraid of me, and I could see
that, for the time, Surajah Dowlah was cowed.
My cousin Gurney seized this opportunity to attract the Nabob's
attention, and take credit for his exploit. He stepped towards me and
said, in such Indostanee as he could command--
"Silence, wretch! Sabat Jung is in the Carnatic, nor would he dare to
come into Bengal without the permission of the Lord of the English,
Surajah Dowlah. When he hears of the conquest of Cossimbuzar and Fort
William the heart of Sabat Jung will become as water."
I gave him a scornful look.
"If his Highness judges of the English by you he will be deceived," I
said. "If you were ever to show your face in any place where Sabat
Jung was he would have you hanged, as you very well know."
I kept my eyes fixed on the young Nabob's face as I spoke, and was
pleased to see that I had made an impression. He looked uneasily from
one to the other of us, and then, before Rupert could reply, ordered
us both from his presence.
I found myself kept a close prisoner for that night and a part of the
next day in the house of a rich Indian, which stood beside the
Morattoe ditch. From this place I could hear some noise of guns
occasionally, and was obliged to conjecture how the fight was going
on. There was something very trying and painful in being near enough
to a battle-field to share its anxieties without being allowed to join
in the work. But I had a pretty sure presentiment that the affair
would end badly for us, and so indeed it proved; for about four in the
afternoon there was a great commotion outside the place where I was
confined, and my guards came in to fetch me, telling me with cruel
pleasure that Fort William had surrendered, and I was to be brought
there to join the other prisoners.
I will not stay to describe the confused spectacle of the streets
through which we passed on our way to the fort. What struck me most,
and put a deep depression upon my spirits, was to see the fierce
exultation of the native Indians in our discomfiture. In this hour of
our overthrow these men, who had lived unmolested beneath our
government, and thriven by means of our commerce, openly revealed all
that vehement malice and hatred toward us which is, I suppose, part of
their nature, and not to be eradicated by any fairness of dealing. I
should be ashamed to relate the vile things they said, and their gross
behaviour, as I was led along a prisoner. I thank God I have since
walked through those same streets in a different trim, and had those
same wretches bowing and grovelling on the earth as I passed.
When I arrived at the fort I was horrified to find gathered there a
large company of other English prisoners, to the number of about a
hundred and fifty. Among them were both the Honourable Robert Byng and
Mr. Holwell, who received me with surprise, having been assured by
those men who had fought under me that they had seen me slain.
Immediately after my joining them Mr. Holwell, who had become the
chief of the party, was sent for by the Nabob to be examined. While he
was away Mr. Byng told me the miserable circumstances of the capture
of the fort, and how the Governor, Mr. Drake, had shamefully fled away
overnight in a boat to the ships on the first alarm of the enemy's
approach. Not content with this, he had carried off the whole of the
shipping down the river to Govindpore, thus rendering hopeless the
case of the English who had not escaped along with him, and that
although it would have been easy to rescue them by sending a few boats
to the shore. Of this, which I believe to be the most signal act of
cowardice ever heard of, I forbear to write, lest I should fall into
the use of opprobrious language. Yet I have often marvelled that those
who had poor Mr. Byng--I mean the Admiral--shot on his own quarterdeck
for his failure at Minorca, should have refused a gallows and a hempen
noose to one who so richly deserved it as Governor Drake.
While Mr. Holwell was with the Nabob the rest of us stood under a
strong guard in the courtyard of the fort, where we began to find the
heat very burdensome, the more so as it was difficult to get anything
to eat or drink. While we were thus situated I saw my cousin Rupert go
by, wearing a rich new turban, to wait upon the Nabob. At this period
he appeared to be in high favour at the Court. No doubt he had
acquired influence with Surajah Dowlah by flattering his superiority
to the English.
Mr. Holwell presently returned with the news that Surajah Dowlah
was very much incensed against him, on account of the small sum found
in the treasury of the fort, which amounted only to 54,000 Rs. The
prince was firmly persuaded that the Company had somewhere concealed
a vast treasure, which had been his principal motive to push the
attack of the place. He had threatened Mr. Holwell very severely
unless this treasure were found, and dismissed him to consult with his
fellow-prisoners. This was bad news, for it was evidently impossible
to persuade Surajah Dowlah that there was no such treasure, and he
would therefore be inclined to look upon Mr. Holwell's failure to
discover it as mere obstinacy.
We were discussing our prospects very gloomily when a party of Moors
arrived, bringing two fresh prisoners. I felt a sudden sickness when I
recognised that these were none other than Marian herself with her
father. Old Mr. Rising seemed to be dazed, and unconscious of what was
happening to him, but Marian was suffering from visible terror. I
hastened to her side, exclaiming--
"Marian, what do you do here? Why are you not gone with the other
women?"--for all the Englishwomen and children had been put aboard the
ships as soon as the Moors arrived outside the town.
Marian looked surprised and a little comforted to meet me in the same
situation as herself.
"So you are a prisoner too!" she cried. "I confess I do not understand
what has happened to my father and me, for Rupert especially enjoined
and urged us to remain in our house, assuring us that his credit with
the Nabob would serve not merely to protect us, but to secure high
places and rewards for himself, which he intended I should share."
She said this with a certain shame, but I was too anxious for her
safety to retain my feelings of jealousy at such a moment.
"I will send for Gurney to come here," I said. "I have just seen him
go into the Nabob's presence."
I called one of the men who kept guard over us, and bade him go
instantly and fetch my cousin. The Moor showed some disinclination to
obey me, but I repeated my command in a tone so firm that he gave way,
and sullenly complied.
In a minute or two Rupert came out, looking bewildered, and, I
thought, somewhat alarmed. As soon as he saw who it was that had sent
for him, however, his assurance returned, and he came to us with a
jaunty air.
"Ha! Marian," he said, taking no notice of me, "so you have found your
way here, have you? I am pleased to greet you; but if you have sent
for me to ask me to procure the release of your other admirer, whom I
took prisoner yesterday, I must tell you fairly that I am not the
least inclined to do it."
"Nay, Rupert," she answered, "I am ashamed to say that I had not
thought of asking you anything on your cousin Athelstane's behalf.
'Tis I and my father who are now prisoners, in spite of your pledges
to us. Surely you will not suffer this!"
Thus she spoke to him, but, ah! not in the old self-confident strain,
but with a certain mournful submission which wrung my very
heartstrings.
"What do you say? You amaze me, Marian! This is a gross breach of the
Serdar's own promise to me, but I doubt not that it will at once be
righted. As for your father, I do not say; it may be that the old man
would be better off in captivity. But I take it on myself that you
shall be released without delay. I will go straight and speak about
it."
He said all this so readily that I could not feel sure he was not
sincere. Marian, poor girl, gladly believed him, and gave me a look
which was plainly meant to protest against my entertaining evil
thoughts of Rupert. He hurried away, as he had said, and at the same
time Mr. Holwell was sent for again to the Nabob.
By this time it was getting to be near evening. The sun was dropping
down on the other side of the river, and the long shadows of the palm
trees rocked on the water. From where we stood we could see the
soldiers going to and fro getting ready their evening meal, and hear
an occasional shot in the town, where some Indian was letting off his
musket by way of triumph for the victory. It was still hot, but a
little breeze began to move up the river and flutter some pieces of
linen that hung out drying in the lower courtyard, yesterday having
been washing day in the fort.
Mr. Holwell and Rupert returned together, the former more cheerful,
but Gurney very sulky, and making a show of being much annoyed.
"I have spoken to the Serdar, Marian, and could do nothing for
to-night. He says that you are to remain with the other English till
he can take the Nabob's pleasure, who is now getting drunk, and
difficult to deal with."
Mr. Holwell confirmed the story, adding--
"Surajah Dowlah may scarce be spoken to. His looks are dreadful. Yet
he has sworn to me on the faith of a soldier that no hair of any of
our heads shall be injured."
"That is right," quoth Rupert. "So you see, Marian, it is but staying
here with your other friends"--he gave me a jeering smile as he said
this--"till to-morrow morning, when I will speak to the Nabob myself,
at all hazards, and have you released."
Poor Marian glanced at him in despair.
"Rupert, you won't desert me!" she cried. "You don't mean to leave me
as you did in Gheriah in that horrid cell, from which I scarcely
escaped alive?"
"Pooh, pooh, girl! No," he answered lightly, "I shall be at hand. It
is nothing. What is one night's captivity? The soldiers will have
orders to find you some comfortable room in the fort. I will see about
your accommodation myself."
With this promise on his lips he disappeared, and returned no more.