The silence was becoming oppressive, though only of a few moments'
duration, when Fazil observed the Jogi twitch the sleeve of the Lalla's
garment as a sign to begin. Though it had cost him a pang to think he
had no present hope of securing the robber, Toolsee Das, in truth,
was pretty much at his ease. The position and rank of the King's
secretary were unequivocal; who the other person might be, he could not
conjecture--perhaps an assistant, perhaps a son--he might be either.
There was something, certainly, in the look of those great black eyes,
which was uncommon; but they gave no response to the Lalla's rapid but
curious investigation of them: they could not be fathomed at a glance.
There was nothing in the demeanour of either of the persons before him
to excite personal apprehension; and the Lalla was quite sure that
Pahar Singh would not give him up, or the papers either, without an
equivalent in money; and as he could not have Pahar Singh taken, it was
assuring to think that he need not be apprehended himself, for it was
quite certain that the robber would get more for the secret here than
if he and the papers had been conveyed to the Imperial camp. There, a
short questioning, and the executioner would be sure; and the Lalla
shuddered for an instant at the thought of what would have followed.
Here, as one who could give information of the enemy, and who could
disclose state counsels, to what might he not aspire? If the people and
their language were barbarous in northern estimation, yet he had seen
enough of the city to be satisfied of its beauty; and were not many of
the northern people already settling among the Dekhanies?
Such thoughts were flashing rapidly through the Lalla's mind--far more
rapidly than we can write them--when he felt the sudden twitch we
have already mentioned: he joined his hands together, and began, in a
mincing accent, some of those courtly Persian phrases of complimentary
welcome, common to the Mahomedans of the north, and which we need not
repeat. The Secretary, however, was not in a mood to endure them.
"Peace, Lallajee!" he said; "we are rougher people here than those from
whom you have brought these idle compliments, and you can keep them
till you get back. Now to business--do not detain us."
"Ah, yes. My lord desired to see some letters of which I spoke to him,"
he replied; "some that I mentioned yesterday."
"It is therefore that I have come, and it will be well if they can be
produced. You have higgled for them overmuch, good fellow," replied the
Secretary, curtly.
"Nay, if my lord regrets," said the Lalla, "there is no need to press
the matter further. Baba!" he continued to the pretended Jogi, "thou
canst burn them in the fire there, only perhaps the King----"
"Not so fast, good sir," said the Meerza, speaking more blandly. "I
remember all that has passed between us and that valiant gentleman
yonder," and he pointed to Maun Singh, "and I am willing to perform my
part of the bargain. And is this the Gooroo of whom ye spoke?"
"Sir, it is," replied the Lalla. "A holy man--one unused to the ways
of the world, and who travels from shrine to shrine in the performance
of sacred vows. Such were the Rishis; such are those from whom holy
actions emanate; and such are the virtuous Jogis of the present day,
of whom my Gooroo is a noble example. He, desiring the welfare of
the Shah--may his splendour increase, and live for ever!--sent me to
inform you, O fountain of eloquence and discretion! that they were in
existence----" Here the Jogi gave another twitch of interruption, and a
look, with a low growl, which the Lalla well understood, and continued--
"You see, noble sirs, he hath already suffered the interruption of his
devotional abstraction, and is uneasy; for he never speaks unless to
bless his disciples, or removes his eyes from the end of his nose: in
continuing which, and repeating to himself holy texts and spells of
wonderful power, he is pre-eminent in absorption of his faculties. So
my lord will excuse him, and will remember the condition attached to
the perusal of the papers."
"The gold, the gold--the money first!" growled the Jogi. "My son, my
vow, my vow!"
"Noble sirs," continued the Lalla in a deprecatory whine to both, which
appeared perfectly natural, as he looked from one to the other, with
his hands joined, "you must pardon him; he is not a man of courts or of
the world, but of temples, and holy shrines, and ascetic exercises; and
some time ago he made a vow to build a temple on a spot where he had an
ecstatic vision of heaven, and to dig a well, and feed five thousand
Brahmuns, and to pass the remainder of his days in assisting poor
travellers and in holy contemplation. A holy man, therefore, noble
gentlemen, and he is anxious about the gold, not as filthy lucre, but
for the sake of the temple and the well."
"Peace!" interrupted the Meerza. "What, in the name of the Shytan, are
the well and the temple to us? Let us get up and depart, Sahib," he
said to his companion, "they have no papers; this is but a scheme to
raise money. I like them not, my lord," he added in a whisper, "and
bitterly do I regret having brought you here unarmed and unattended.
May God and the Prophet take us safe hence!"
The Lalla was not watching their faces in vain; he felt that he had
gone far enough; and a fresh scowl from Pahar Singh, which was not to
be mistaken: and his action, as he turned up a corner of the deerskin
on which he sat, exhibiting a small red satin bag which might contain
papers, assured the Lalla that he need not delay longer.
"Nay, my lords, be not impatient," he said blandly. "When was--he,
he!--business of importance ever well done in a hurry? Behold!" added
the Lalla, taking up the bag, "here are the papers which the holy
father has kept safely for me beneath his deer's hide. Have I your
permission to open them, Baba?"
"Open, and be quick," was the short answer of the Jogi.
"Simply then, noble sirs," continued the obsequious Lalla, taking some
Persian letters out of the bag, "here they are; and if either of ye
know the handwriting, the signature, or the seals of Khan Mahomed,
Wuzeer of Beejapoor, he will, Inshalla! be able to recognize them. I
do not know them myself, but that makes no difference; they are no
forgeries. If you, my lord," he added to the Meerza, "know them, you
will find that your poor servant has spoken the truth. Look at them
carefully."
The Meerza received the packet with trembling hands, but he said
firmly, "Thou knowest the penalty thou hast incurred if these be
forged; and if a slave like thee shouldst have dared to question
falsely the honour of one so exalted as the Wuzeer, beware!"
"I know--I know, O most exalted and worthy sir!" replied the Lalla,
humbly but confidently shutting his eyes, folding his hands upon his
breast, and bowing his head over them; "your worship told me before
it would be death. But it will not be so. O no! In your poor slave's
destiny is written favour and advancement at your hands, and his
planets are in a fortunate conjunction."
"I would hang him to the highest tree in Beejapoor, to the topmost
branch of the Goruk Imlee, to feed the crows and kites for a week. What
a rascal he is, Meah!" whispered Bulwunt.
"Hush, and be ready! there is a life on every word," returned Fazil,
hearing the King speak in Persian in an under-tone to the Meerza.
"There is no escape from death," he said in a sad tone, "if these
papers be not false."
"True!" exclaimed the Jogi, abruptly, but whether it had reference to
the Lalla's speech or the King's, could not be certain. The King looked
at him suspiciously, but the man appeared once more to have relapsed
into abstraction.
"O, that I know, worthy sir," returned the Lalla carelessly, "we must
all die in the end: we are all mortal: what saith Saadi?" and he quoted
a verse from the Bôstan. "I have no fear of them, noble gentlemen! May
it please you to look at them first, and then determine about killing
me afterwards. He, he, he!"
"He does not tremble under those eyes," whispered Fazil to his
companion. "This must be true. God help them all!"
"If there be faith in handwriting and seals," resumed the Lalla after
a pause, "I fear not. If these documents had not been so precious, why
should the asylum of the world, my master, have kept them so carefully
in his own writing-case? The time is not come, O Meerza! but you will
yet hear of a reward having been set upon your poor slave's head. Be it
so; I claim the protection of Ali Adil Shah for the service I now do
him, Bismilla! Open the packet there, and say whether I have death and
infamy before me, or life and honour in the King's service, for there
is more at stake in this matter than my lord knows of. Bismilla! open
it."
The Meerza held the packet irresolutely, as one who almost feared a
knowledge of its contents, and looked for a moment to his companion----
"Bismilla!" said the King, eagerly speaking in Persian, "open it; this
suspense is intolerable. Dost thou fear for Khan Mahomed? art thou his
friend?"
"By your head and eyes, by the King's salt, no," answered the other.
"For good or for evil, Bismilla! I open it,"--and he tore the cover
hastily.
The heart of Fazil Khan beat so hard in his bosom that its throbbings
seemed painfully audible to himself, and he almost fancied they must be
heard by all inside; but he was still, as was also his companion.
As the wax-cloth covers were withdrawn, there appeared several letters
in the bundle,--large, and the paper covered with gilding, such as are
sent to persons of the most exalted rank only. Eagerly, most eagerly,
did the practised eye of the Secretary run over each superscription,
and each was narrowly scrutinized. One by one he passed them to the
King, and Fazil could see that, whatever they were, they caused the
deepest expression of interest in both their countenances. Suddenly the
Meerza came to one which, having examined even more narrowly than the
others, he passed on, with a deep sigh, to the King.
It was taken eagerly, and at once opened and read, while the Lalla
turned from one to the other with an intense expression of curiosity,
fear, and hope blended together, marked on his features.
"Does that Jogi understand Persian, thinkest thou?" asked the King of
the Lalla.
"Not a word, I will answer for it with my head," returned the man
confidently. "How should he?"
"And thyself?"
"Surely, excellent sir; I have long served in the royal Dufter, else
how should I have known what to take and what to leave?" He spoke now
in Persian, and the conversation continued in that language.
"If there were more, why didst thou not take all, Lalla?" asked the
Meerza.
"All, Meerza Sahib? that the theft might be discovered before I had
time to get away? Ah, no, good sir! A Mutsuddee may be a rogue, but
he should have discretion," and he quoted the Persian proverb to that
effect; "and to all appearance the royal desk still holds the same
packet which I made up with other papers, and sealed with the private
signet as it was before. No; the theft is not suspected yet, unless
that packet have been opened by the Emperor when I was missed----"
"And thou knowest the contents of this letter, Lalla?" inquired the
King.
"I could say them to you, for I have them by heart, noble sir; perhaps
they are somewhat remarkable, for when I read them, I thought Ali Adil
Shah would like to hear them, so I committed them to memory. I will
even repeat the letter to you if this worthy Meerza have no objection.
I presume," he continued to the Secretary, "that your friend is in the
King's confidence as much as yourself."
"Surely," was the reply. "I may say that he is more in it than I am
myself, else I had not brought him."
"Enough," said the Lalla; "I am satisfied. Now, open the letter and
compare it with what I repeat. There is no Alkab."
"True," said the King, "he has drawn a Mudd at the top."
"Proceed after the Mudd, then," continued the Lalla, "the letter runs
thus:--
"_It has been the will of the all-powerful that the forces of my
lord, the ruler of both worlds, should retire. Let not that trouble
his heart. By the favour of the most merciful, matters will yet take
a prosperous course for my lord's true interests. All here, with
this poor suppliant for his bounty, are day and night labouring in
his behalf: and already many, as by the endorsed list, with their
adherents, have been gained_ _to the true cause. Others demur, but
will repent; again, others are obstinate, and cannot be moved, but
they are not many. A few months more, and when the season opens,
the harvest will be ripe for the gathering. Then, there will be no
turning back for my lord from this city; for its people, with this
poor servant, rejoicing to escape tyranny, will at once turn to the
asylum of the two worlds, and give my lord's fortunate footsteps a
happy welcome. We are tired of the false religion; and as to the
King, he is but yet a boy, and has neither power, knowledge, nor any
friends: and are men of venerable age to submit tamely to his idle
fancies? Surely not. He can be ultimately provided for. For the rest,
my lord's promises are undeserved by the least of his servants, who
is not fit to kiss his feet; but my lord can at least rely that his
administration will be carried on entirely in his interest, and to
his honour and glory. What need to write more? it would be beyond the
bounds of respect. May the splendour of dominion and honour increase!
The signature of Khan Mahomed, Wuzeer of Beejapoor._"
"Ay, what need of more?" sighed the young King. "Enough here--enough to
prove the man's treachery, the least deserved that ever the false world
saw. Yet, Meerza, there are still many true to the King: there are some
suspected ones in the list that we know of," he continued, his eye
running rapidly over it, "but Afzool Khan, and many of note, are not
here, and yet rumour has assailed them also."
"Yes, they are intimates," said the Secretary, "but no more, I think."
"Then I have won my reward and my life!" exclaimed the Lalla anxiously,
in his own tongue.
"Your life, surely," replied the Meerza; "but for the reward, we
need to make some further scrutiny into those papers ere that can be
disbursed: they must be compared with others in the King's possession.
Therefore I will take them with me to-night, and if you will come to
me--you know my house--early to-morrow, all will be arranged to your
satisfaction."
"But, my lord--noble sirs," cried the Lalla, in evident dread,
"that was no part of the bargain. Did we not settle----" He could
not, however, finish the sentence on account of a rude and decisive
interruption.
"I forbid it. I forbid one paper or one of you passing hence this night
till the money is paid," said the Jogi, severely.
"And who art thou?" demanded the Meerza, haughtily. "Peace! withdraw;
this is no place for thee, or the like of thee."
"Who am I?" retorted the ruffian. "Who am I? One who has the right, as
he has the power, to demand what he seeks." And as he spoke he snatched
from beneath the heap of ashes before him the heavy sword he had kept
concealed there, which flashed brightly in the firelight, and started
to his feet, as did also his follower. "Stir not!" he exclaimed to the
King and Secretary, who had been too much startled by the sudden action
to rise with the Jogi; "stir not, or ye die on the spot!" Drawing
himself up to his majestic height, Pahar Singh laughed scornfully. "Ha,
ha, ha! a boy and a penman against me! Ha, ha, ha! put up thy weapon,
Maun Singh, there is no need of it."
"Who art thou?" demanded the King, rising notwithstanding the threat,
and returning the glance as steadily as it was given.
"It concerns thee not," answered Pahar Singh. "Pay me the money
promised on those papers--ten thousand good rupees--on this spot, or
you pass not hence alive. Brother," he added to Maun Singh, "be ready.
They have brought the money, and we must get it."
It was a moment of intense anxiety to Fazil Khan and his companion. A
word--a sound from them, and the life of the young King was gone. Fazil
could see that, except a small dagger in each of their girdles, the
King and his Secretary were unarmed. To rush to them soon enough to be
of use, was a thing impossible; they would be dead ere he could strike
a blow. There was no absolute peril, however, as yet, and too much at
stake to risk anything. Pahar Singh appeared to have no evil intention;
but, if provoked, it was plain he might do violence, and would not
hesitate to use his weapon if rescue were attempted.
The King saw his danger. There was little avail in temporizing, and his
thought and action were alike prompt. His own life and his friend's
were both at stake; and what did the money signify? Not a feather in
the balance. Could his attendants, whom he had left at a distance, even
hear of his danger, he must perish ere they could approach him.
"Hold!" he cried, "whoever thou art, Jogi. If the Lalla says thou art
to have the money, it will be given. Our bargain was with him."
"And his with me," returned the man. "Give it me;" and as he spoke he
advanced close to the King.
"Pay it to him--let him have it," cried the Lalla to the King, "and
keep back your men if you have any with you, else there will be
bloodshed. He is desperate, noble sirs; do not provoke him."
"I would do him no harm," said Pahar Singh to the Secretary, "but it is
as well to be certain in case of treachery;" and he drew a small dagger
from his girdle with his left hand, and held it in an attitude to
strike into the King. "Go, if the money is here; bring it quickly; but
beware of any attempt to rescue him, or you will cause his death. You
could not reach me ere I had struck him down. Go then, Meerza Sahib,
my friend Maun Singh will bring the bags: he is strong enough."
"Go, friend," said the King, "do as he says. If the people ask
questions, say I am safe, and will be with them presently."
"And leave thee with him!" said the Meerza, anxiously. "I will not
stir; there is peril, and my place is beside thee."
"There is no peril if ye are true," said Pahar Singh; "much, if ye are
false. Go!"
"Go, friend, I will trust him; his object is money, not my poor life.
Go! I am not afraid of him, nor he of me," said the King.
"How noble he is!" whispered Fazil to his companion.
Both would have given all they possessed to have been by the King's
side to have struck down the ruffian.
"Ay, Meah, I would we were by his side," returned Bulwunt. "Who can he
be? Whoever he may be, he is indeed fearless; but he will not be harmed
if they bring the money. Hush! they may speak again."
The Meerza turned silently to go, and descended the step, accompanied
by Maun Singh.
"Come," said the latter to the Lalla; "help to carry the bags, good
man; it will save me another journey. Come!"
The Lalla followed, and the two remained standing face to face, the
young King and the outlaw looking steadily at each other.
"Afraid of thee?" said Pahar Singh in a low voice, and dropping the
arm which had held the dagger uplifted. "Afraid of thee? No, proud
boy: he who defied thy father's power at its greatest, hath little to
fear from thine. Ali Adil Shah, thinkest thou that this poor disguise
could conceal thee? Yet thou art bold and true, and I rejoice that I
have had proof of it, for men told me thou wert a coward--a boy of the
zenana--only fit to herd with women. Now thou hast met the 'Lion of the
Hill' bravely," he continued, using the play on his own name, "and he
will turn from thee peacefully. Thy life hath been in my hand--nay, is
now in it were I to strike--but I give it to thee freely; promise me
mine in return, and swear by thy father's spirit that, once gone from
this, thou wilt not turn back, nor suffer any one of thy retinue to do
so."
The King started as the man covertly declared his name, and the
covering fell from his face.
"Thou Pahar Singh, the Lion of Allund?" he said.
"Even so, monarch," returned the chief. "Ha! ha! The man whom thy
slaves--cowards--tell thee they pursue. Aha! they dare not. Pahar Singh
is monarch of his own wilds; no royal troops dare to come near them.
But keep thine own counsel, and now listen. Thou mayst need me yet, and
I may do thee good service. Two thousand good hearts and stout arms,
such as thy money cannot hire, serve Pahar Singh. Swear to keep faith
with me, and I will be true. Hadst thou been a coward, and quailed at
the sight of this weapon, I should have been tempted to slay thee,
Adil Khan, like a dog, for never yet did coward sit on the throne
of Beejapoor. For what has happened, thou hast my respect. Enough!
remember Pahar Singh, and in two days or less I will send thee more
tidings, or come myself. Thou mayst kill the messenger, but he will
not tell of my hiding-place; and if harm come to him, I swear to thee,
by the Lady of Tooljapoor, my Holy Mother, that I will take a life for
every hair of his head, and burn a hundred villages. Now, silence! I
have spoken. Am I free to go, scathless as thou art? Thy hand upon it,
monarch!"
It was frankly given, and the rebel and outlaw, instead of taking it
rudely, and as if prompted suddenly by a kindly feeling of reverence
for his King, bent his head gently, touched it with his forehead, and
kissed it.
"Thy hand has touched my lips--put it upon my head, and swear by thy
father not to harm me," he said, quickly.
"I swear by my father not to harm thee, Pahar Singh: only be thou
henceforth faithful to thy King's salt," he replied, as he placed both
his hands upon the outlaw's head.
"Enough," returned Pahar Singh, removing them, pressing them again to
his forehead, and kissing them reverently; "I will be true to thy salt,
O King; but speak to no one of me, and wait patiently till I come--I
may have news for thee. A fakeer's rags and a beggar's cry admit me
everywhere--'Ulla dilâyâ to léonga'[6]--by night or by day, wherever
thou art, in durbar or zenana, whenever you hear it--admit me, or order
me to be confined, and send for me--I shall bawl loudly enough. If I
come not in two days, do not doubt me; but stir not in this matter till
I arrive--it may be very soon, I cannot say. Now cover thy face; they
come," and he resumed his former threatening attitude.
The Meerza, with the two others, emerged from behind the temple almost
as he spoke, and in a few moments had ascended the steps of the
apartment. Maun Singh drew a heavy bag from beneath the scarf which was
round his shoulders; but the eye of the robber at once detected its
small size.
"Those are not rupees, Meerza; beware of treachery with me. I have not
harmed him," he exclaimed.
"No, it is gold, holy Baba. Behold!" and he opened the bag, and poured
the contents carefully into a little heap on the floor near the fire.
"There is more than _he_ bargained for," he continued, pointing to the
Lalla, "but it does not matter; you are welcome to it, for the temple
and the well."
"Enough," returned Pahar Singh; "I am satisfied. Go, take your papers,
and begone; molest me no more." And, sitting down on his deer's hide,
he heaped up the gold coins carefully with his left hand, while his
right still held the sword.
"And my reward, O Meerza Sahib!" cried the Lalla eagerly, as he and the
King turned to depart; "thou wilt not abandon me to him."
"It is there with the rest," answered the Secretary; "Lallajee, help
yourself, we must begone."
"Nay, but I want it not; only take me away--take me away. I fear him,"
cried the man, in a piteous voice, and trembling violently.
"Peace, fool," exclaimed Pahar Singh, rising and holding him back
powerfully. "Peace, I will settle with thee!"
FOOTNOTE:
[6] "If God give I will take."