As night fell, and as Maloosray knew all the Mahomedans would be
engaged in their evening prayer, his little party emerged from the
crypt, and took their way westward across the plain, avoiding the
suburbs, and threading the narrow lanes among the fields, which on all
sides skirted the city. One by one his followers and scouts had been
despatched in advance to meet them at certain places; and a spot known
to all, where the great northern and western roads diverged, was fixed
upon as a final place of rendezvous. Thither, also, had been despatched
the wounded man, Ranojee, who, unable to ride far at a time, was to
proceed by easy stages with the scouts and other servants to Jutt, the
chieftain of which town was a sincere adherent to their cause.
Maloosray himself, taking Nettajee, and the chief scout Ramjee with two
others, to serve as grooms, had determined to visit Tooljapoor before
he returned to his master. There were many active partisans of weight
in the Bâlâ Ghaut; what had they determined upon, and what was his old
friend Jeswunt Rao Bhóslay of Sindphul doing? It was impossible to
write, and as long as personal communication can be insured, Mahrattas
never write letters. It was above all things necessary that Moro
Trimmul and Jeswunt Rao must have the first news of the Wuzeer's death;
and except it were reported by royal express to the camp at Nuldroog,
it could hardly be known at Tooljapoor next day. It was a long ride,
certainly, but it was possible to reach Tooljapoor, and to secure Moro
Trimmul's safety, in case it should be threatened.
The occurrences at Beejapoor had been very unexpected by Maloosray.
At first sight they appeared to be a sore discouragement to the plans
which had been almost matured; and for some time he rode in silence,
brooding over the catastrophe we have recorded. He could not account
for it. To all appearance the King and the Wuzeer had been on excellent
terms, and Jehándar Beg their confidant; yet in one day both had been
destroyed, and the party of Afzool Khan had suddenly become the leading
one in the State. Was he ambitious, he might be prime minister. In his
heart Maloosray acknowledged his fitness for the post. No other person
would command the allegiance of the army, with whom Khan Mahomed had
not been popular. "It will unite in the Khan, and we shall have enough
to do to escape it," he thought, "but the young tree will bend to the
storm when the old one will break, and we may find opportunity to
strengthen ourselves, while we do not weaken the royal house."
Now the moon shone out brightly. There had been no rain since the
storm of the previous night. The day had been hot and sultry; but as
the night fell, a delicious breeze, soft and cool, had succeeded the
calm of the evening, and the road was sufficiently dry to be travelled
without inconvenience. Maloosray's noble mare seemed to feel, with her
master, the invigorating effects of freedom of action,--and her light
and springy movements, which conveyed to the rider an involuntary
assurance of activity and endurance, excited within him a more hopeful
spirit than that with which he had quitted the city. Now and again, as
they passed some muddy rivulet, or stony portion of the road, a word
of encouragement or caution from her rider would be answered by a low
whinny, which was followed by a loving caress of her arched neck, and
thus a perfect accordance seemed to be established between them.
"Shall we reach the river before daylight, Sidda," said Maloosray to
his guide; "and can we get the boat? Will it be on this side?"
"The boatmen are all friends of mine, master," replied the man, "and
will cross me at any village or at any time; fear not, I will say I
have dispatches, and they believe in this stick that I am on the royal
service. No one will dare to stop one of the royal Hurkaras with this
as his warrant;" and as he spoke he flourished the weapon--a short
stout staff, gaily lacquered in rings of red, yellow, and black, with
a heavy tuft of black cotton yarn at the end, from whence projected a
formidable four-sided lance about a foot long, the point of which was
carefully sharpened--lightly round his head.
They rode on, keeping the main track; now and again passing villages,
where they were saluted by a chorus of barks and howls from the
village dogs; again traversing long intervals between others, where
the occasional piping of sleepless plovers, the wailing cries of
ever-wakeful restless lapwings, and an occasional burst of howls and
screams from packs of wandering jackals,--were the only sounds which
fell on their ears in those solitudes.
They met no one at that hour, but they did not pass the villages,
lying upon the road, unremarked. Here a shrill challenge was blown
upon a horn as they passed a gate; there a drum was beaten, and other
indications given of the village watch being on the alert, or a shot
was fired from a bastion or watch-tower, the bullet of which sung
harmlessly above their heads into the air. They were rough times those,
when men ploughed with their fire-arms slung at their backs, and when
the village cattle, while grazing, had to be guarded by parties of
matchlock men against the raids of more powerful neighbours.
The moon set soon after midnight, and the wind again arose, sighing as
it swept across the broad plains in fitful gusts, or rustling among
the tall fields of grain which bordered the road. Light clouds, too,
were rising from the westward, and hurrying across the face of the
sky, partly obscured the stars, and caused additional gloom. Under
other guidance Maloosray would have felt uncertain of the path; but the
Hurkara never diverted from the track, or slackened his pace; and the
party passed on unnoticed, at the greatest speed that the light and the
road would admit of, without distressing their horses.
As they ascended one of the long undulating eminences, which are the
characterizing features of the country, and which commanded a view
for some miles around, Maloosray's attention was attracted by a light
which, emerging from behind some grain fields from another direction,
was advancing rapidly towards them, and apparently would cross the road
a little in advance of them. It was evidently a torch, possibly that
of some travellers; yet it moved too swiftly and regularly for men on
foot; and to the keen practised ear of Maloosray himself, as well as of
his followers, the tread of a body of horse was heard, while the slight
occasional sparkles from weapons, and the dull red glow of matches,
were soon distinctly visible.
Could they have been followed? Had any one remarked their departure
from the city? The little party halted at once, and drew up out of
the track of the road to escape observation, and watched the movement
of the light before them with beating hearts. Nor were they long in
suspense. After disappearing for a moment in a hollow, the light
appeared again upon the road itself, and the body of horse, which might
be fifty or more, drew up across their way and halted.
Who could they be? Certain it was that the party was now posted there
to waylay some one who was expected, and the information they were
acting upon was apparently as sure as their movements were methodical.
Not a neigh escaped their horses, nor was there any commotion
apparently among the men. The place chosen was admirably adapted for
a surprise. The road, as we have said, led up a slight ascent or
spur of an undulation, the sides of which broke into small but rough
ravines and watercourses intermixed with large loose boulders of
basalt, difficult to be traversed on horseback even by day, and quite
impassable by night. These features were the same on both sides; and
the spur itself was a narrow neck, which widened, as the plain above
stretched out, into one of the usual broad expanses of waste and
cultivated lands.
"They have come by Hórtee," said the Hurkara in a whisper--"the village
there in the hollow--and are waiting for some one. Master, dost thou
fear them?--they will hardly molest travellers such as we are. Shall we
go on?"
It was a difficult point to decide. There was certainly no way of
avoiding them and yet keeping the road.
"Go, Ramjee," said Maloosray to his scout; "go and see who they are. Be
careful! my mind misgives me about them."
"Master," replied the man, "this ground is higher than theirs, and if
they put out the light they will see thee against the sky. Retire a
little lower, and Enkôba and I will find it all out for you."
Maloosray saw the intelligence of the advice, and acted promptly upon
it, while the two men, well accustomed to such proceedings, crept
warily along under cover of bushes and inequalities, of the ground,
till they entered a tall field of grain, in which they could move
without chance of observation up to the very party itself, and from
which they looked with safety upon the horsemen.
As they had supposed, the body was drawn up across the road. One flank
overlapped the corn-field, on the path by which they had come; the
other rested upon a declivity where the same path descended to the
westward. It was clear that the position could not be turned without
great risk, and it was impossible to say whether the path to Hórtee
might not be guarded also.
In front of the party, and near a man who held a torch which he
replenished with oil from time to time, were two persons mounted on
powerful horses, whose wet coats and panting flanks showed that they
had been ridden at a rapid rate; and it was also evident from the
condition of the rest, splashed with mud and with similar evidences of
fatigue, that, whatever might be the object, speed had not been spared
in its pursuit.
"They cannot pass this unobserved," said the elder of the two, "and
there can be no suspicion that we are on this road. Ah, there is no
such trap, boy, in the country, not a rat could get by it. Well, we
have not been idle; first Khan Mahomed, second the Kótwal, and now
Maloosray and his friend Nettajee."
"You have not got them yet," thought Ramjee, "and Tannajee is not game
for you, old fox. But for him, my dagger would have made acquaintance
with you that day in the Gosai's Mutt at Tooljapoor. Ah! who could have
told him of us?"
"I think, uncle, we had as well put out the torch," said a man, coming
forward, riding a tall grey mare. "Tannajee is not a moth to fly into a
candle."
"Good, Lukshmun," said the chief; "put it out."
"I think we were wrong, father," said the other leader; "a few men
would have surrounded that den under the tomb, and no one could have
escaped."
"True; but you would not have taken Tannajee alive, and here he will be
helpless. No, it is better as it is; and he shall sit under the Goruk
Imlees, and die like Jehándar Beg, before me."
"And Rama shall help him on his way to the gods, master, if you like,"
said Lukshmun. "He says he is quite ready, and he got the Putta
sharpened again."
"Silence!" said the chief, as the light was extinguished, "not a word
must be spoken now, nor a horse stir. Be careful, all of ye."
The scouts had seen and heard enough. The rustling of the high
corn-stalks and their leaves, under the breeze, prevented their return
through them being heard, and in a few moments they had rejoined
Maloosray, who, with Nettajee, had descended the brow of the ascent for
a few paces, and could not be seen from above.
"Master," whispered the scout, "'tis the Old Lion, Pahar Singh, and his
cub, Gopal, and their men. I saw one of the hunchbacks, too, with them."
"Ha! the Old Lion thinks to have a feast to-day, Nettajee," said
Maloosray, "but the man is yet to be born who will take Tannajee alive.
And what did he say, Ramjee?"
"He said you should be taken alive, and that you should sit under the
Goruk Imlees, and have your head cut off, like Jehándar Beg, by Rama
the hunchback."
"Ah," said Tannajee, "he should not have brought a torch with him,
Netta, else it was not ill-contrived. By the Holy Mother, there had
been small chance for us had we got among them. And now, what is to be
done?"
"We must go back. Beyond the rivulet and the date grove yonder is a
path which leads to Boorga, and so to Churchan, if my lord does not
care for a few coss more," said the Hurkara; "and, after all, it is as
near as any other road to Mundroop."
"Good," said Tannajee; "let us be quick, they may advance."
So they moved carefully down the descent, beyond which was a small
rivulet bordered by thin date trees and other brushwood. "See," said
Netta, as they crossed the small stream, "we are but just in time:
there they are!" and as Tannajee looked up, he saw several figures
projected in outline against the sky, one of whom was pointing to the
road leading to Beejapoor.
"I thought the Old Lion had been more wary," he said, "than to show
himself in that manner; but he may cool his heart now; he had better
have made for the ferry!"
It had, however, been a narrow escape, and one for which Tannajee vowed
to feed a hundred Brahmuns at Tooljapoor; but the danger was past, and
after a somewhat rough track for a short distance westward, the guide
struck confidently into a broader road, which, like the preceding,
led northwards, and, as the day dawned, the river-bank at the ferry
beyond Churchan was safely reached. The guide's staff of office proved
irresistible. In a few moments they were seated in one of the large
circular coracle baskets of wicker-work, covered with hide, which serve
as ferry-boats; and with the two mares swimming in front, and guided by
the men who held them, and the skilful paddles of three lusty rowers,
the party crossed the stream, and were beyond danger of pursuit.