that he is master of Cashmere he may think it his interest to go with us
next time; and besides, at present his gold is as good as another's, and
none of the other sirdars will increase their forces until the English
have retired; so there is just the choice of taking service with Ghoolab
or of starving."
"There is no occasion to starve for those who have got arms," the man
said; "and we find it easier to help ourselves and to be our own masters
than to serve anyone else. You had better join us, comrades."
"Thank you; we have thought it over, you may be sure; but we have had
enough of marching about and sleeping in the air for the present, and we
are likely at any rate to sleep and eat our meals in peace with Ghoolab.
There is little chance of any rising for a long time yet, and till then,
at any rate, there will be peace in Cashmere. When fighting begins
again here, we have made up our minds to come back, if we find that
Ghoolab has forgotten that he is a Sikh. And now, with your permission,
we will be riding on," and Bhop Lal turned his horse, and with his
companions trotted off.
"We got through that well enough," Percy remarked.
"They did not think we were worth robbing, sahib; and as we are well
armed, it would not have been worth their while to meddle with us.
Besides, you see their horses are on the other side of the grove, and
they must have noticed that we were well mounted, and could have got a
long start before they were off. It is as likely as not that they did
not believe my story, but thought we were on our way to join some other
band we knew of. I have no fear of these fellows if we meet them openly
in the daytime. The danger will be if we come upon them suddenly, and
they attack us before they see what we are."
In the course of the day they passed several parties of threes and
fours, sometimes mounted and sometimes on foot; but they did not draw
rein, and contented themselves with the exchange of passing salutations.
Only once they came upon a large party. It consisted of twenty carts
laden with merchandise, and escorted by some thirty men armed to the
teeth.
"You see they get employment both ways, sahib," Akram Chunder remarked;
"some of them make money by turning robbers, others make money by
selling their services to merchants to protect their goods from robbers.
No doubt those carts are on their way down from Serinagur and Jummoo,
and are laden with shawls and embroidery, and such other goods as the
merchants think the English officers at Lahore will be glad to buy to
send home to their friends."
"I should think they will make a good venture," Percy said, "for the
bazaars at Lahore are very poorly stocked. Trade has been bad there for
a long time, owing to the troubles and disturbances, and I hear that
many of the traders who had remained fled when the news came of the
defeat at Sobraon, fearing that the English army would act as the Sikhs
would have done under the circumstances, and would march straight to
Lahore and plunder the city. What part of Cashmere do you come from,
Akram?"
"From the hills fifty miles north of Serinagur. Cashmere has no
authority there, and the hill tribes have their wars with each other
without interference. I was fifteen when our village was attacked and
destroyed by a tribe we had raided a few months before. Most of the
people were killed, but I was fleet-footed and got away. I worked for a
time at Serinagur, but got tired of carrying burdens from morning till
night, so I went on to Jummoo, and stopped there for three or four
years; and then, when I was about one-and-twenty, went down to Lahore,
and finding it hard work to get a living in any other way, I took
service in Runjeet Singh's army, and had the good luck to enlist in the
regiment of my lord your uncle, and there I have remained ever since.
It was a lucky day when I chose his regiment, and I did so because I
heard two soldiers in the street speak well of him. Had I been in one
of the others, I should most likely have fallen at Ferozeshah or
Sobraon, even if I hadn't been killed before."
That night they slept at a khan in the town. There were but few other
guests, and the keeper of the place bitterly bemoaned the change of
times.
"In the days of Runjeet," he said, "there were seldom less than a
hundred travellers stopping here nightly; after his death the number
fell to about twenty, for who would go to Lahore if he could help it,
when, for aught he knew, he might find fighting going on in the streets,
or the city being sacked when he arrived there? Now it is rare for more
than three or four to pass the night here; no one will travel for trade
or for pleasure; no one will go to Lahore as long as the English are
there. Sometimes, it is true, a caravan comes down, such as that which
stayed here last night; but there are few of these, and were it not for
the passage of those who, like yourselves, are on their way to their
homes, or to take service in Cashmere, I might as well close and lock
the gates, and go away to earn my bread at some other business. The
country is being ruined fast. There are even those who say that it would
be better the English should come and be our masters; there would be
peace then, and they would soon put a stop to robbery and dacoitism, as
they have done wherever they have established their rule, and the
peasants would be able to plough their fields, and the traders to carry
on their business without fear of any man so long as they paid their
taxes and kept the law. I do not say that those are my opinions," he
added hastily, "but I know that such is the talk among the peasants, who
have had, it must be owned, a rough time since Runjeet Singh died.
Heavily taxed they were in his time, but beyond that they had nought to
complain of; but of late, what with one trouble and another, their lot
has been hard."
"There is no doubt about that," Bhop Lal agreed heartily. "I have been a
soldier, but I have been a peasant too, and know where the shoe pinches.
Perhaps things will be better now."
The man shrugged his shoulders. "I see not how this is to be," he said;
"the Lahore durbar is under the protection of foreigners, and no one
heeds it, as it has no power save in the city. Better a thousand times
a prince who can make himself obeyed, even were it Ghoolab Singh, or
else a strong foreign rule. I would rather have a native prince; but
far better than the nominal rule of a boy, protected by foreign
bayonets, would be the rule of the foreigners themselves, for they, at
least, can make the law respected, punish ill-doers, and preserve peace
and order."
"I fancy there are a great many who think as you do," Bhop Lal said;
"but these for the most part keep their thoughts to themselves. Well,
we shall see what we shall see. Things will never go on long as they
are at present; and, as you say, the Punjaub will either be ruled by a
strong native prince, or it will, like Scinde, become a possession of
the English. I have had enough of fighting, and mean to remain quiet
until one or other of these things comes about."
"There are many like you; but some of the soldiers who come through say
they would like to fight the English again."
"Then take my word for it," a soldier sitting by said, "the men who said
that were not among those who fought on the Sutlej. There were brave
men there, and plenty of them, but I do not believe one of those that
fought there will ever wish to fight the white troops again. There was
no withstanding them. They came on as if they minded the rain of iron
and lead no more than if it had been a thunder-shower. It was that
which beat us; we were told by our chiefs that it was impossible,
absolutely impossible, for men to force their way into our lines, and
when we saw them do it, we said to ourselves it is hopeless to fight
against such men; and we who, under Runjeet, have won victory after
victory, and that against stout fighters like the Afghans, lost heart
for the first time in our lives, when we felt that we, though two to
one, were no match for these terrible soldiers."
"Is it true," the keeper of the khan asked, "as all have told me, that
they neither plunder nor rob; and though really masters of Lahore, the
English go about quietly, ill-treating none?"
"It is quite true; they have discipline; brave as these men are, they
are quiet and orderly, as our troops never were even in the days when
Runjeet was strong and firm. Not a man has been robbed, nor a woman
insulted, since they crossed the Sutlej. They are our enemies, but they
are a great people."
"If you have aught to lose, gentlemen," the other said, "be careful how
you ride to-morrow; scarce one has arrived from the north for the last
week who does not complain bitterly of being robbed on the way. Some
were wounded sorely, having ventured on resistance. They say there are
as many as two hundred disbanded soldiers lurking among the woods and
bushes between this and the next town. The Sirdar Lal Mizrah, moved by
the complaints of the country people, cleared the road of them a few
days since, breaking up their parties, and killing many; therefore, at
present they are more cautious. That is how the convoy got through
safely yesterday. I should advise you, therefore, to travel by country
roads, though even these are not safe, for the robbers, finding that
people have deserted the main road and have taken to these paths, have
beset them also."
"We have nothing to lose but our lives," Bhop Lal said, "but as these
are somewhat precious to us, we will take all the care we can to avoid
these gentry you speak of."
After a consultation with Percy, it was agreed that, as time was no
particular object, they would strike off at once to the west, travel for
a day in that direction, and then make north, thereby getting well out
of the line followed by travellers from Lahore.
"After having been through three battles," Percy said, "it would be
folly to risk getting our throats cut merely for the sake of saving a
day's journey."
Accordingly the next morning they took this route. They passed several
villages in the course of the day; as they were seen approaching, men
and women ran into their houses and closed the doors, and not a soul was
to be seen in the streets as they passed through.
"We need not have been afraid of being questioned," Percy said; "it is
evident that the whole population of the country is scared by the
exactions of these disbanded soldiers, and that they are only too glad
to see us pass by without interfering with them. It would have been
well for the country if the Sutlej had risen another foot on the day of
the storming of Sobraon, it would have relieved the country of some
thousands more of these plunderers."
They met with no adventure whatever until they arrived within a few
miles of the fortress. Then, as they were riding along through a wood,
a party of men on foot suddenly sprang out from among the trees. Before
they had time to draw their swords Akram Chunder and Percy were struck
from their horses. Bhop Lal, who happened to be a horse's length behind
his comrades, snatched his pistol from his belt, and shot two of the
assailants; then a ball from a matchlock struck him, and he fell from
his horse. As he lay he was gashed with a dozen severe wounds, and was
speedily stripped of his arms and clothes; the party then gathered round
the two prisoners.
"I know this man," one of them said, stooping over Akram Chunder; "he is
one of the men at the white colonel's fortress. I know him because he
was servant to one of the officers, and when I went in there with ghee,
he bought some of me and came back accusing me of having sold him false
weight. He fetched his master, who examined my scales, and found that
somehow a bit of lead had got stuck under one of them, and the villain
had me flogged, and told me if ever I entered the place again he would
cut off my ears. I swore I would pay this fellow out some day, and
having changed my appearance somewhat went back some time ago to find
him and pay him with a knife stab if I got a chance, but I heard from a
friend I had there that he had gone away; he had ridden off with a party
that went with the colonel's nephew. The rest had returned all but this
fellow and another; and as it was just when the war broke out, it was
supposed they had gone with the young sahib to act as his servants, for
both were accustomed to that sort of work."
"Well, there are three of them here," the other said; "maybe it is a
lucky day for us, and that the third of them is the white lad."
"Sure enough it's the governor's nephew," one of the men exclaimed as he
walked across to Percy, who was lying a little apart. "I have seen him
a dozen times at the fortress."
"Then this is a fortunate day for us indeed," the leader of the party
exclaimed; "put them both on their horses again and mount without delay;
we will settle what to do with them afterwards. We have two strings to
our bow: it is certain that we can get a handsome ransom from the
colonel, but I fancy Ghoolab Singh would give us still more. You
remember the talk there was of a party of his men lying in ambush here
to capture this lad as he came up two years ago; and everyone knows it
was his doing that the place was besieged three months since."
"Would it not be as well to give this fellow a stab and leave him here?"
the man who had recognized Akram Chunder asked.
"Not at all," the leader said harshly; "at any rate not at present. We
may find him useful if we want to send a messenger in to the white
colonel. Besides, if we ransom the boy to his uncle it is no use
setting him against us by killing his servant. Even if the colonel
agreed to leave us unmolested, some of his men might take the matter up
and make the country too hot for us. I am always against killing unless
there is something to be gained by it, and I see nothing to be gained by
this fellow's death."
Percy had been stunned by the blow from the heavy cudgel that struck him
off his horse, but he heard the latter part of the conversation. He
knew that resistance would be fatal, and submitted quietly to be placed
on his horse. His hands were first bound in front of him, the reins
were then cut, and two horsemen, one on either side of him, took the
ends. Akram Chunder was similarly treated, and, surrounded by the whole
party, numbering about twenty, they rode off. By their dress and attire
he judged the men into whose hands they had fallen were not discharged
soldiers but regular dacoits, and when he heard one of them address the
leader by the name of Goolam Tej, he recognized it as that of a dacoit
who had for years been a scourge to that part of the country, although
he had seldom ventured to molest the villages in the colonel's district,
knowing how speedy and relentless would be the pursuit. He had heard
numberless stories of the atrocities committed by this band; how they
had tortured men and women to force them to reveal the hiding-places of
their money; how they had slaughtered not only those who ventured to
offer resistance, but their wives and families. However, he had no fear
as to his own safety; there was nothing to be made by killing him, while
there might be a large sum to be obtained as a ransom from his uncle or
by his sale to Ghoolab Singh.
The band were all mounted on wiry little ponies, and for some hours they
rode at a rapid pace. They halted in a wood at the foot of the hills.
Here the leader, upon asking the question whether any of them had
ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt that the man they had left
behind was dead, was furious at finding that none of them had done so.
The men who had stripped him declared they felt quite certain of it: "He
had half a dozen wounds any one of which must have killed him," one of
them said; "and that being so, I did not think of putting my hand on his
heart to feel if it beat. Make yourself easy, Goolam Tej, the fellow is
dead beyond all doubt."
"There is never any saying," his leader replied; "some men are so tough
that they get over wounds which should have been sufficient to kill them
a dozen times. It is always well to make sure, either by a stroke with
a dagger through the heart, or by cutting off the head. There is no
great trouble about either job, and it prevents mistakes occurring. If
I determine on sending to Ghoolab Singh first, I don't want the colonel
to know what has happened till we are at the other end of the country.
If that fellow should be found on the road, and his wounds bound up, he
may recover so far as to tell them what has happened, and then we shall
have the colonel scouring the whole country with his force. Besides, he
may send to Lahore and lay a complaint before the durbar, and as he and
the boy are English they would get up a hue and cry after us through the
whole of the Punjaub. I daresay the man is dead, still there ought not
to be a possibility of a doubt about it, and I blame myself as much as I
do you for not having given a thought to the matter."
On dismounting, Percy's legs were firmly bound, and he was laid down on
the ground at a short distance from his follower, a dacoit with a gun
and sword taking his seat by each of them, so that even conversation was
impossible. The next morning they started up the hills, and after some
hours' riding crossed the crest, and then, leaving the bridle-path by
which they had travelled, dismounted and led their horses along the
steep face of the hill until they reached a perpendicular crag standing
out from it, upon the summit of which stood a castellated building. A
long shed had been erected upon a comparatively flat piece of ground
among the trees at its foot; into this the dacoits led their ponies, and
then mounted, a path a few inches wide cut in the rock, and leading up
to a strong door which gave access to the building. A watchman on the
wall had seen them coming, and as they entered they were greeted with
cries of joy by a number of women.
Percy saw at once that the building was ancient, but that it had
recently been roughly repaired, and doubted not that it was a deserted
fortalice that the band had occupied and made their head-quarters.
During that day's ride the dacoits had taken the precaution of bandaging
the eyes of their prisoners, and only unloosened the wraps when, on
nearing the place, the ground had become so steep and difficult that it
was necessary for them to have the use of their eyes. The prisoners
were taken to a small room in a little tower at one of the angles of the
building, their cords were then unloosened, and they were left alone
together.
"This is a nice fix that we are in, Akram Chunder," Percy said.
"It is, indeed, sahib. I care not so much for myself, but to think that
you, after going through those battles, should be seized by these
robbers within a few miles of home, cuts me to the heart."
"I am awfully sorry for Bhop Lal," Percy said. "Do you think he was
killed?"
"That I cannot say, not having seen his wounds, but if they were not in
a vital place he may live through them, for he is as hard as a piece of
iron, and was not given to drink. Men who drink have but little chance
of making a good recovery. He would have the sense, I know, to lie still
and sham dead; but I hope ere this he may have carried the news to your
uncle. He would obtain help and assistance from the first passer-by
when he told his story, for there is not a peasant in the district who
does not love the colonel."
*CHAPTER XII.*
*A PRISONER*
Percy went to the window and looked out. There were three of these,
mere arrow slits, and from each of them he had a view of the wood
stretching away down the hillside into a narrow valley, which a short
distance down took a turn and the hills cut off further view.
"Where are we, think you, Akram Chunder?"
"I have no idea, sahib, beyond the fact that by the position of the sun
we are looking eastward. I should say the place where we halted
yesterday was some thirty miles to the north-east of the fortress; it
may have been more, but it certainly was not less, or I would have known
the country. To-day we were mounting all the time till the last hour,
and then I could feel that we descended sharply. I should say that we
were some six hours on horseback; we travelled part of the way at a
trot, but more often walked, so at five miles an hour we should be
thirty from our camp of last night. If we travelled straight to the
east all the time we may have crossed the main crest of the hills; if
not, we may be anywhere among them, for they tied the bandages so
carefully over my eyes that I could see nothing, not even the road under
the horse's feet."
"It would not have helped you much had you done so," Percy said with a
laugh; "one road is a good deal like another."
"The shadows would have shown me the direction in which we were
travelling, sahib, more accurately than I could tell by the heat of the
sun."
"So they would, Akram. I did not think of that. At any rate we may
take it that we are in some very out-of-the-way spot, where it would be
difficult for anyone to find us without a guide."
"That is so, sahib. I can see nothing but trees, and no signs of human
handiwork. This place could not be seen at a great distance, for it
does not rise very much above the tops of the trees. The rock was about
thirty feet high where we mounted it, though it must be well-nigh double
that on the lower face. The building itself is not any great height;
though it could be seen well enough from that valley down there, it
could not be made out from above, and even from the hillside was
scarcely visible. It would be a difficult place to capture except by a
force provided with cannon, for it occupies the whole of the top of this
crag, and, as far as I could see, that is quite unclimbable except by
the path up which we mounted. Above the gate there was a projecting
turret, and the loopholes of those at the corners both commanded it. A
dozen men with muskets ought to be able to hold that path against any
number; for even if they got up to the gate, I noticed as I entered that
there are holes in the floor of the turret above by which they could
fire down or pour hot lead on the heads of any trying to break open the
gate."
"You heard what they said about the ransom?"
"I heard them, sahib, and only hope that they will go direct to the
colonel; but I am afraid they will try Ghoolab Singh first. They know
that he has plenty of money in his treasure-chests."
"I am afraid so too, Akram. The fact that Ghoolab tried to catch me
before shows that he thinks he could work upon my uncle through me; and
as he seems to have set his mind upon obtaining possession of the
fortress, I should think he would pay any sum these scoundrels elected
to ask."
The man nodded. "He will pay anything, sahib; it is not only that he
wants the place, but that he owes the colonel a grudge for having held
it so stoutly in spite of him, and Ghoolab never forgets an injury or
forgives one he hates."
"I see no chance of making our escape," Percy said, again examining the
windows.
"None, sahib; a rat could hardly creep through these loopholes, and had
we means to cut away the stone we should be no nearer escape, unless we
had also a rope, and that a long one, for we are at the lower angle of
the rock, and I should say these loopholes must be eighty feet above the
ground. We have nothing to make a rope of, as you see they have
stripped me to my _cumberband_, and have taken away your coat; so our
clothes, if torn up and twisted together, would scarce make a rope
eighty feet long that would support its own weight. I see no shadow of
a chance of escape that way, nor in any way if the guard is vigilant.
We may have a better chance if we are taken to Ghoolab; he would not
have us at Jummoo, for should any complaint be laid against him on your
account, he would, of course, deny that he knows aught about you; but
wherever we are taken, we shall probably find better chances of escape
than there are here. Once free, we might manage; it is not likely that
any of these dacoits can know that I'm from Cashmere, and you may be
sure I shall not let them find out that I speak the language. If we
could get out, then, I could pass as a peasant, and however hot the
pursuit, we ought to be able to evade it."
Five days passed; the prisoners had nothing to complain of in their
treatment, being kept well supplied with food. This was always brought
in by two armed men, while two others stood at the door, partly, Percy
guessed, to prevent any attempt to escape, partly to see that they held
no conversation with those who brought in the food.
"They can't trust each other," Akram Chunder said; "they know well
enough that the bribe you could offer for assistance to escape would be
too much for any single dacoit to resist, and their leader is wise not
to trust them."