Khundojee Kakrey performed his promise faithfully. By secret mountain
paths known to few, and through the dense forests of the tract which
lies between Pertâbgurh and Kurrar, on the right bank of the Krishna,
the Mahratta guided his charge safely, and with as much comfort as the
nature of the journey would admit of. The two women maintained their
disguise of peasants, and Zyna's ability to speak Mahratta, as well as
Lurlee's to speak Canarese, assisted in aiding the deception. By night
Kakrey sought shelter of villages where he seemed to be well known,
for a decent house was always ready for them to sleep in, the best
delicacies of country farmhouses cooked for them: and frequently, not
only the matron of the house, but other women of the village, attended
to bathe them, and otherwise minister to their comfort.
But for all this, those days were remembered as a time of bitter
grief and sore trial; the more difficult for Zyna to endure, because
Lurlee could not be brought to believe that her husband was dead, and
preserved throughout, a demeanour of hope, if not, indeed, of actual
joy. "No one saw him die," she would say, "his body was not buried by
them. They dare not say he is dead, and I will hear no more of it. When
we are at Kurrar he will return, and we will go home together." Again
and again, too, were the astrological diagrams consulted: but the lady
was unable to find any error in them, and for the present they were to
her far more conclusive than the report she had heard from Fazil, and
it was a happy thing for her, perhaps, that the delusion lasted even as
far as the town to which they were journeying.
With Zyna, however, there was no delusion. She had at once believed her
brother's report. Kakrey, too, had told her that there was no hope of
her father's existence. Of Tara's fate he knew nothing. Mourning for
him, therefore, and in miserable anxiety about her brother, Zyna had
had to endure a twofold trial, which her naturally buoyant disposition
and innate piety only, enabled her to sustain. Possibly, too, had she
remained in one place it would have been more severe; but the daily
movement--in a manner before unexperienced by her--the sense of freedom
from restraint in the wild country they traversed, the beautiful and,
to her, wonderful mountains, forests, and natural objects of all kinds,
which, brought up as she had been in the seclusion of a zenana, she
had had no chance of seeing before--served to divert her mind from the
terrible reality of her loss, to fill it with hope, and to render the
sense of danger they incurred in their escape to be blunted by the
excitement of perpetual change.
Of the servants who had escaped with them, and who joined Fazil's
party, Goolab alone remained to attend the ladies by permission of
their guide. She had been divested of every particle of Mahomedan
attire, and, dressed in a coarse Mahratta saree, with a dab of red
colour smeared on her forehead, and mounted upon a small ambling
bullock, passed readily for a Mahratta farmer's wife. In this ride,
the old woman was in her element; now guiding the docile animal she
rode, beside Lurlee, now beside Zyna, cheering them on when they were
fatigued, and often dismounting and supporting them in places where the
ponies hesitated and had to be carefully led. Unless near a mountain
village, their guide, Kakrey, seldom approached them; he was generally
in advance with some of his men, while others remained behind, guarding
the rear. When in motion, the party was made to resemble, as far as
possible, the appearance of people journeying upon a pilgrimage, and
small orange flags, carried by several of the men, and fastened to the
pommels of the women's saddles, assisted and maintained the deception.
It was on the afternoon of the fourth day that, emerging from a rugged
pass in the mountains, they saw below them part of the wide plain of
the Dekhan, the blue waters of the Krishna river sparkling in the
sun, and the town, which they had hitherto only hoped to reach. Great
numbers of white tents were pitched upon the plain near the fort,
showing the presence of a considerable force, and the royal standard
fluttered lazily in the evening breeze from its highest tower. It was
a pleasant scene of quiet soft beauty, and seemed a true resting-place
for the now weary and almost exhausted travellers. The last march had
been a longer one than usual; for some of the way they had passed
through village lands, in regard to the people of which Kakrey was
not without apprehension; the country was becoming more open, and the
danger of detection greater; nevertheless, he had guided them safely
and truly, as he had promised.
It had been no easy matter to sustain the lady Lurlee that afternoon.
All the confidence she had displayed hitherto, false as it was, seemed
to have suddenly deserted her as she drew nigh to her destination; and
while they rested during the hottest part of the day, under some cool
shade by the side of a rivulet, Zyna saw that the old diagrams were
laid aside for once with a heavy sigh, and seemed to afford no comfort.
She thought the evident weariness might be the result of a longer and
rougher ride than usual, and tried to soothe Lurlee. "Only a few coss
more, mother," she said, "and we are safe with our own people: do not
fail now, when the end is so near!"
"It matters not--what is the use of it?" replied Lurlee--"who will care
for us, now they are gone from us?"
"The Blessed Alla, and the Prophet, and the saints," answered Zyna
devoutly, "and there is Fazil too----"
"He could not love me, now that Tara is not with me," returned Lurlee,
interrupting Zyna.
"Tara, mother?"
"Yes, his soul will be gone away to her and to his father, Zyna. He
is dead," replied Lurlee, sighing. "I know it now. All day long the
old man's face has been before me, gashed and bloody, and I think,"
she said, passing her hand across her eyes, "that I am not deceived
now--no, not now."
"We shall know the best or worst soon, mother; but Fazil could not have
been deceived," replied Zyna.
"And thou hast not wept, Zyna! O hard heart! Was he nothing to thee? It
is the old who cannot weep--the old like me."
Zyna's tears were falling fast, but she checked them. "I would not
grieve thee, mother, needlessly," she said; "when Fazil comes, he will
tell us all."
"If I could see her, the daughter the good Alla gave me, Zyna--the
girl who softened my heart--and give her to him--it would be enough!
but they took her away, and she, too, is dead! Once," she continued
mysteriously, after a pause, and catching Zyna's arm,--"once since we
were out in these wilds, she came to me in a dream, and mocked me. She
said she was going to die, and go to her Mother, but she would come to
see me first. Ah, she was very beautiful, Zyna, and smiled lovingly
upon me in her old way. Now, when she said that, it must have been near
morning, when we were asleep in the village where they gave us milk to
drink, and about the third watch of the night; but I cannot understand
what planet ruled the hour. Ah me! I used once to do so, but the more I
look at the tables now, the more I fail."
"Trust in Alla, mother, not in them," replied Zyna.
"I have no trust in them," muttered Lurlee gloomily--"none now in
anything; all have failed me, and she most of all. O Tara! why didst
thou go? O my child, my child, whom Alla gave me when I had none, and
when thy mother died. Alas! why was I mocked, Zyna? why did Alla take
him too, who loved me, and leave me here? O daughter, this is unjust
oppression, this----"
"Hush, mother! else Alla will hear thee, and be angry, and the saints
too; and can any one resist fate? O mother, be patient!" said Zyna
soothingly. "Only for their help we had not escaped the slaughter, and
worse--dishonour; and yet we are here, and our friends now are not far
off."
"Your friends and Fazil's, girl!" she returned tartly. "I have been of
small account enough already among ye, and am not likely to improve."
"Do not speak bitter words, mother, I beseech you," cried Zyna
entreatingly. "We are your children--indeed we are, and will never
leave you. If Fazil lives----"
"Peace!" rejoined the lady, interrupting her, "do not let falsehood
come into thy mouth, girl. Enough for me that Tara is not, and thou
art."
Zyna could never reply to Lurlee's caustic speeches, least of all
under the pressure of their mutual bereavement; and as they sat there
they broke forth from time to time from her without tear or sob--old
grievances--old jealousies--old allegations of neglect. Matters which
Zyna had utterly forgotten, seemed to have rushed back on the lady's
memory like a flood. They were hard to endure; and yet not so hard,
Zyna thought, as the false confidence, the fearful mockery of truth and
reality, which had lasted till then--that disbelief in her father's
death for which she could not account.
"Ah, if Tara can only be rescued from them, there may be some natural
revulsion yet," thought the girl; and yet what hope of that? She could
not deceive herself into a belief that Tara would be given up, or that
she could escape from her family; perhaps, on second thoughts, she
would not desire it--but if it could be so? And amidst such conflicting
thoughts, and the endurance of Lurlee's dogged, desperate state of
mind, the afternoon's journey into Kurrar, though the last, was
indescribably more miserable than any which had preceded it.
They descended the pass, and were once more on level ground. "Hence to
Beejapoor," said Goolab cheerily, as she was leading Lurlee's pony down
the last steep descent, "there are no mountains--a child might ride
thither without trouble. Keep a good heart, therefore, O my Khánum!
trust in Alla, and the Prophet, and the blessed Peer Khaderi, and thou
wilt see it. I vow Fatehas to the shrine, and to feed----"
"They are liars like thyself," retorted Lurlee savagely: "peace, for a
prating old fool as thou art! Did not the planets tell me Afzool Khan
was alive, and now men say he is dead! After that, can I believe? O
woman, thou art mad--so keep thy tongue silent!"
Goolab thought her mistress mad--perhaps she was so in some degree.
Excitement, grief as yet without vent, and heavy fatigue in a blazing
sun to one unaccustomed to exposure, might easily cause temporary
delirium, and it was with difficulty that she supported her mistress
upon her pony over the ground which intervened from the bottom of the
pass to the town. Shiverings had come on, and it was evident that the
poor lady might be seriously indisposed.
Several of Kakrey's Mahratta foot-soldiers, who had guarded them, had
run on to secure a lodging of some kind, and the travellers were met
at the town gate by one who had returned to wait for the approaching
party, and he guided them on. Other parties had reached the camp from
the fatal field, and more were still coming in daily, so that the
arrival of the travellers was unnoticed, and from their disguise their
persons and rank were quite unknown. To those who saw them pass, they
appeared women of the country who had made a long journey that day,
and were utterly wearied; for Lurlee, closely muffled, was supported
by Goolab, who walked by her side, with her arm thrown round her
waist; and Zyna, even more entirely concealed from observation, leaned
forward, supporting herself on her arm, as if hardly able to maintain
her place on the saddle. Kakrey and his followers had closed round them
so as to protect them from the jostling of the people in the narrow
street and crowded bazar of the town, and all cheered the ladies by the
assurance that the house secured for the night was a good one, which
belonged to a respectable Mahomedan merchant, who had given part of it
without hesitation on hearing for whom it was needed. It is doubtful,
indeed, whether either of them could have supported their fatigue much
longer.[20]
FOOTNOTE:
[20] Khundojee Kakrey's escort of the ladies of Afzool Khan's family to
Kurrar became known to Sivaji, and he was tried and beheaded for--as it
was esteemed--the act of treason.--_Mahratta Chronicle._