Forty years ago there went out to India, in the good ship _Globe_,
Ensign the Honourable Francis Gay, a younger son of the Right
Honourable the Earl of Millflower. The ensign was in his nineteenth
year, and was proceeding to join his regiment, which was stationed at
Chinsurah.
Lord Millflower, in his heart, hoped that his son would never return:
he was so great a disgrace to his family. There was no vice with which
this youth was unfamiliar. He had been expelled from no fewer than
seven schools. In two instances his offence was theft. His conduct had
so preyed upon the mind of Lady Millflower that she lost her reason.
At seventeen, he committed several forgeries of his eldest brother's,
Lord Larkspeare's name; and he took a similar liberty with the name
of his father's steward. But these offences were hushed up. He was
also guilty of a deed of violence, for which his life would have been
forfeited had the case been tried, instead of compromised; for in
those days such a deed of violence was a capital offence. His family
were in constant fear lest he should be transported as a felon, or
hanged at Newgate. It was, therefore, some satisfaction to them when
the Honourable Francis consented to hold a commission and join his
regiment in India. Lord Millflower's other sons, four in number, were
all steady, well-conducted, and rather dull beings, while Francis
was remarkably gifted, as well as remarkably vicious. He had both
talent and genius, humour and wit; and, much as he had neglected his
education, he was well read and well informed for his time of life. In
personal appearance, also, the reprobate had the advantage over his
brethren. None of them were even good-looking except Francis, who was
really very handsome, well proportioned, and tall. His manners also,
always frank, were, when he pleased, dignified and courteous, and his
bearing peculiarly graceful. What he wanted was feeling, to regulate
his passions. Of feeling, he was in his youth, wholly destitute.
Lord Millflower had taken the precaution of writing to the colonel
of the regiment his son was about to join, and of at the same time
enclosing a sum of money for the purpose of freeing Francis from any
pecuniary difficulty. Colonel Role himself had the misfortune to have
a very bad boy, and he, therefore, sympathized deeply with the worthy
nobleman, and resolved to do all in his power to reform the Honourable
Francis.
After a passage of four months, the _Globe_ arrived at Calcutta,
and the Honourable Francis Gay proceeded to Chinsurah and joined.
For several weeks he conducted himself with (for him) wonderful
propriety. It is true, that he drank and played at billiards and
cards, and sometimes an oath would escape his lips, but he indulged
in no excesses. The officers of the regiment, indeed, thought the
ensign a great acquisition, for he was not only a very pleasant but an
entertaining companion.
But, by degrees, the Honourable Francis fell off; and ere long, so far
from having a friend in the regiment, there was no one who would speak
to him. Even the colonel was compelled to forbid him his house. Many,
very many acts, unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman,
had been looked over by his seniors; but it was resolved that, on the
very next occasion of his transgressing, the Honourable Ensign should
be brought to a court-martial and dismissed the service. This resolve
was communicated to the ensign by the colonel, who had become tired of
lecturing him.
"The next time you are intoxicated on the parade ground, or the next
time you use bad language in the mess-room, or the next time you
publicly insult a brother officer, provoking him to quarrel with you,
you will forfeit your commission." Being the son of an earl, he was
entitled--many colonels think--to every possible chance of redemption.
Had he been the son of a commoner, he would, most probably, have been
court-martialled and cashiered for the very first offence.
"Thank you, sir," replied the ensign, with a low bow; "I will be more
cautious in future."
He kept his word. From this time he did his duty extremely well; and,
to all outward appearance, was a reformed character. The officers
observing this, generously made advances with a view to resuming their
former relations with him. But the Honourable Francis repulsed their
advances. The whole regiment had thought proper to cut him; and he now
thought proper to cut the whole regiment.
Several months passed, and during that period the ensign applied
himself to Hindostanee and Persian. He encouraged the natives to come
to his bungalow, to talk with him, and by night and by day pursued his
studies. The result was, that he soon conversed with perfect ease and
accuracy. He now began to live like a native--a Mahommedan; and, except
when he had to attend to his regimental duties, he wore the native
costume, and abstained from drink entirely. With truth, he might have
said with Conrad,--
The grape's gay juice my bosom never cheers;
I'm more than Moslem when the cup appears.
His food was rice, milk, vegetables, and fruit; the bed upon which he
slept was hard and mean; such as the natives use. The whole of his
European furniture he sold by auction.
His desire--the desire of a doubtfully reformed reprobate--to convert
to Christianity a young Mahommedan girl, astonished all those who
became acquainted with this desire. The girl was the daughter of a
water-carrier (Bheestie). She was not like the natives of India, but
more like those of Africa. She was coal black, and had thick lips and
wavy hair. She was short for her age--fourteen years--but thickset,
with powerful limbs. The girl's father told the servants belonging to
other officers of the regiment, and the curious whim of Gay's became a
topic of conversation.
Jehan, the bheestie's daughter, was a virtuous girl, and Francis Gay
had never approached her with a view to undermining her virtue. It was
no easy matter to persuade her to change her religion; but, strange to
say, he at length succeeded, and Noor Jehan was baptized as Ellen by a
missionary who journeyed to Chinsurah for the purpose of performing the
ceremony. The sanity or otherwise of the ensign was now very generally
discussed in the regiment, and the prevalent opinion was that he was
a lunatic. But the good colonel was a little angry at the surmise.
"Surely," he said, "you do not accuse a man of being a maniac because
he has converted an infidel."
The regiment was ordered to march to Cawnpore, whither Ellen and her
father also proceeded. Cawnpore was then the chief station in the
upper provinces of India. Five thousand troops were quartered there.
A regiment of dragoons, a regiment of native cavalry, a regiment of
British infantry, and two of native infantry. Besides horse and foot
there were companies of artillery, and sappers and miners.
Very shortly after the regiment was settled in Cawnpore, the Honourable
Francis Gay paid a visit to the chaplain, and intimated a desire to be
married. The chaplain of course replied that he should be most happy,
and there and then a day and hour was appointed for the performance
of the rite; but, when the reverend gentleman came to hear who was
to be the Honourable Ensign's bride--the black daughter of a native
water-carrier--he could not help remarking:
"I am sorry, Mr. Gay, that I cannot with sincerity offer you my
congratulations."
To which the ensign responded:
"My good sir, I did not ask them." And retired with a bow.
The chaplain drove to the house of Colonel Role, and told him of the
interview which had just taken place between himself and Ensign the
Honourable Francis Gay. The colonel called upon the young man, and
entreated him to reflect. "I _have_ reflected, sir," was the ensign's
reply. The colonel then went to the general, and the general sent for
Mr. Gay to attend at his bungalow. Mr. Gay obeyed the summons, and
listened with attention and much calmness to a long and violent speech.
When it was ended, however, Mr. Gay, with extreme courtesy, and in the
quietest of tones, spoke thus:
"General, you had a right to command my attendance here upon any
military matter, but not upon any civil matter. However, I waive that,
because I believe your intention to be a good one. You, general, have
arrived at the years of discretion--perhaps at something beyond those
years. You have, at all events, arrived at a time of life when the
tumultuous passion of youth can no longer be pleaded in extenuation of
certain follies. Now tell me, general, which of us, think you, sins
the most, and sets the worst example to the men, European and native,
in this station?--I, who wish to marry this good Christian girl; or
you, who have in your house----" Mr. Gay then made mention of two very
discreditable members of the general's establishment. "This is a
question which I shall put to the commander-in-chief, if you abide by
your threat to report me to his excellency."
That night the general and Colonel Role held a consultation. The
colonel still doubted the ensign's insanity. It had become a fixed idea
in the regiment that Gay was insane. The general caught at this, and a
committee of doctors was appointed to examine the ensign. They reported
that Ensign the Honourable Francis Gay was not only of sound mind, but
one of the most intellectual young men in the station; and that he had
explained to their entire satisfaction certain conversations which he
had frequently held with himself in Chinsurah, at the mess-table.
The wedding-day had been put off in consequence of these proceedings;
but the parties now met in the church, which was crowded with
officers, including nearly the entire medical staff, who were curious
to witness the spectacle. There stood the tall and handsome English
aristocrat, and beside him his coal-black bride, dressed in garments of
red silk, trimmed with yellow and gold tinsel. The ensign acted as the
interpreter, and explained to Ellen in Hindoostanee the vows she was
required to take. This made the ceremony a very long one. When it was
concluded, the bride got into her palanquin and was carried home. The
bridegroom mounted his pony, and rode by her side.
Ellen--now the Honourable Mrs. Gay--was a girl of great natural
ability, of an excellent disposition, and was blessed with an excellent
temper. She had, moreover, a very sweet voice. After her marriage she
was never seen by any European in Cawnpore, except her husband. It was
believed that the ensign saved more than two-thirds of his pay, which
Ellen, who had an excellent idea of business, used to lend out in small
sums to people in the bazaar at the rate of fifty per cent. per mensem.
If she lent a rupee (two shillings), she would get back at the end of
the month a rupee and eight annas (three shillings) by way of interest.
A year passed away, and a son and heir was born to the Honourable
Francis Gay. The child had light blue eyes, exactly like those of his
father; but his complexion was quite as black as his mother's. When
the child was three months old, it was brought to the church, and
publicly christened, Mr. Gay and the pay-sergeant of the company he
belonged to being the godfathers, and Ellen the godmother. The names
given to the infant were Ernest Augustus George Francis Frederick--such
being the names respectively of Lord Millflower's sons. Ernest was the
eldest, Augustus the second, George the third, Francis the fourth,
and Frederick the fifth and youngest. Not long after the birth of his
son, Ensign Gay obtained his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and
received, of course, an increase of pay.
Fever became prevalent, and cholera. Several of the captains and senior
lieutenants fell victims; and, in less than three years, Lieutenant Gay
got his company (the regiment was now at Meerut), and retired from the
army by the sale of his captain's commission. It was supposed that he
was worth a great deal of money--a lac of rupees (ten thousand pounds)
at the very least. Whither he went no one knew, and no one cared. One
of the servants, whom he discharged previous to leaving the station of
Meerut, said he believed that his master had gone either to Affghanistan
or to Lahore.
Let us now return to Europe. A few years after Captain Gay had sold
out of the army, his eldest brother, Lord Larkspeare, was killed while
grouse-shooting, by the accidental discharge of his gun; his second
brother, Augustus, a captain in the army, was lost in a vessel which
was bringing him home from Canada; his third brother, George, died
of small-pox three days after he had taken his father's second title.
Of his son Francis's marriage, Lord Millflower had been informed, and
also of the birth of the black child, the Honourable Ernest Augustus
George Francis Frederick Gay. Colonel Role had deemed it his duty not
to withhold these facts, albeit they were disagreeable to communicate
to the noble earl. Lord Millflower begged of Colonel Role to institute
an inquiry into the fate of his Francis, and the Colonel did so, but
without success. No clue to his whereabout could be discovered, nor
could any one say what had become of him. Under these circumstances
it was taken for granted that he was dead. Another five years passed
away, and the Earl of Millflower departed this life. He was, of course,
succeeded in his titles and estates by his son Frederick.
Now let us return to Francis. He became a dealer in precious stones,
and travelled over the whole of India, under the name of Mustapha Khan,
visiting the various native courts. Every tour that he made occupied
him three years. Constantly moving about in the sun had tanned his once
fair face; and neither from his appearance--for he was dressed as a
native--nor from his speech, could the natives themselves detect that
he was an European. He gave out that his birthplace was Nepaul, where
the natives are sometimes born with blue eyes. He bought and sold,
and was apparently very happy in his occupation. His wife and son
invariably accompanied him in his travels. He had never written to his
family since his arrival in India, and had not received letters from
any member thereof. India he loved, England he detested, and would not
have taken up his father's title if it had been a dukedom. He never
approached the abode of an European, and never saw a newspaper. He was
not likely, therefore, to hear of the changes that had taken place at
home. In the bazaar at Delhi Captain Gay had a small house, in which
were deposited his effects, a few boxes filled with clothes, books,
&c., his sword, and the uniform he used formerly to wear. These were
under the care of a man-servant, a sweeper. The bulk of his worldly
wealth he invariably carried about his person, as many natives of India
do.
Ernest Gay was now twelve years of age. He was usually called by his
parents Chandee, a word signifying silver. Chandee was clever and
cunning, and had a wonderful talent for calculating numbers. In less
than a minute, by counting on his fingers, he would tell you the
interest due on such sums as three rupees, five annas, and seven pic,
for twenty-one days, at forty-one three-fourth per cent. English he
had never heard spoken; and as he had never been taught that language,
he did not understand a single word of it. Nor could he read or write
Hindoostanee, although he spoke it in all its purity and elegance.
There was about to take place a marriage in the family of the Rajah
of Pulbecala. Mustapha Khan (Francis Gay) journeyed from Delhi to the
Rajah's court, to exhibit his jewels. He had diamonds, rubies, and
emeralds of great price, and some of these he hoped to dispose of to
advantage. The Rajah, however, had already provided himself with these
matters, and therefore confined his purchases to a large cat's-eye
ring, for which he paid Mustapha fifty gold mohurs (eighty pounds).
On his way back to Delhi, at a place called Kunda Ka Serai, a band of
robbers attacked the jewel-merchant. They hacked him to pieces with
their swords, but they spared his wife and the boy. The whole of their
treasures were stolen; even the rings from Ellen's ears and fingers,
and the gold bangles which Chandee wore upon his arms.
When her senses were restored to her, Ellen, with the assistance of
her son, dug a grave in the sand, and buried her butchered husband.
The bearers who carried the palanquins ran away as soon as the robbers
attacked the party, and were no more seen. Most probably they had some
small share of the booty, the value of which the Sirdar estimated
at four lacs of rupees (forty thousand pounds). Whatever had been
Francis Gay's vices when a youth--and they were great enough in all
conscience--he had been a kind and affectionate husband to Ellen, and
she most bitterly deplored his loss; violent was the grief of Chandee,
who was devotedly fond of his father.
They heaped stones over the grave of the dead man, to mark the spot
where he was laid, and, after their own fashion, offered up prayers for
the repose of his soul.
The murder having been committed within the dominions of an independent
prince, Ellen knew that her wrongs were not likely to be redressed if
she complained; and that the British Government would not interfere,
unless she made known that her husband was an Englishman. This she felt
would be contrary to the wishes of the dead. Hopeless and helpless,
she and her son made the best of their way to Delhi, where, having
collected a few debts that were due to them, they established a small
shop for the sale of native sweetmeats. They carried on this business
for three or four years, when Chandee grew weary of it, and set up in
the world as a box-waller, or pedler. His box contained pens, ink,
and paper, needles, pins, knives, scissors, soap, eau de Cologne,
tooth-brushes, matches, and so forth. His customers were the European
officers, who gave him the name of Black and Blue, from the colour
of his eyes and skin. A box-waller is always a great cheat--as great
a rascal as was Autolycus himself; Black and Blue, if the truth must
be told, was not an exception to the rule or race. But no one could
grudge him his profits when the cuffs and kicks which were playfully
administered to him by the young lieutenants and ensigns are taken
into consideration. Black and Blue always took the rough usage of his
customers in excellent part; and would generally make some such appeal
as this (he had picked up a little English by this time): "Ah, well! I
know! You rich white gentlemans--I poor black devil. I pray all day all
night that ensign be made leeft'nunt; leeft'nunt, capitaine; capitaine,
capitain-meejor; meejor, kunnull; kunnull, meejor-jinneral; and then
God bless your father and mother, and brother and sister; and then, for
all that pray, I get so much kick and so many bad words. God make us
all--black and white; all equal right up above. You want blacking? Here
you are. Very good blacking--quite genuine; only one rupee a bottle. I
suppose you not got ready money! Very well, I wait till pay-day come.
I very poor man. You my master. Khuda Lord Kuren." The meaning of this
expression, with which most natives wind up a speech to an European,
signifies, May God make you a lord!
When Black and Blue was no more than five years old, he was playing
one morning in his father's compound (enclosure--the land around the
bungalow), when a pariah dog rushed in and mangled him very severely.
The dog was rabid. Captain Gay called in the doctor of a native cavalry
regiment, who lived in the next bungalow, who cauterized the wounds.
The child was bitten on the arms, legs, and chest, and was under the
doctor's treatment for upwards of five weeks. On several occasions when
he visited his patient, the doctor saw and conversed with Ellen, who
was naturally very anxious touching the child's safety. This doctor was
one of the number who witnessed the marriage of Ensign Gay at Cawnpore,
and was also present when his offspring was christened.
Shortly after the recovery of the little boy, the doctor had been
appointed a presidency surgeon, and had charge of one of the hospitals
in Calcutta, where he remained for upwards of twenty years. He was then
appointed superintending surgeon of the Meerut division. He had a son
at Delhi, a lieutenant in the foot artillery, and occasionally went
over (the distance is only forty miles from Meerut) to pay him a visit.
On one of these occasions, Black and Blue, who had been sent for, made
his appearance with his box, sat down on the carpet cross-legged, and
opened out his treasures. There were several young officers in the
bungalow, chums of the lieutenant; and, while the bargaining was going
on, they began to tease Black and Blue. One removed his turban with
the point of a stick; another sprinkled him with his eau de Cologne;
a third touched the tip of his great toe (he had left his shoes, out
of respect, in the verandah) with the lighted end of a cheroot. Black
and Blue howled with pain, whereupon the two roared with laughter. The
doctor, who was reading a paper, begged the young men to desist, and,
somewhat angrily, expostulated with his son for treating a native so
cruelly; for he was touched with poor Black and Blue's appeal--"God
make us all. When fire burns black man, black man feels as much pain as
white man. In hell, you rich gentlemans sing out just as much as poor
box-waller."
"Black and Blue is used to it, governor," said the lieutenant.
"Stuff, Robert!" said the doctor; "I address myself to you, and not to
these gentlemen, when I say that I have no patience with such flippant
cruelty."
"Sahib," said Black and Blue, looking up at the doctor, "you are very
good gentlemans--very kind man, and very handsome. May God make you
a lord; may your throne be perpetual, and may your end be peace; but
do not be angry with these gentlemen. They play tricks with Black
and Blue; but they are no enemies. If enemies, what for send to buy
Black and Blue's property? Sir, you greatly oblige Black and Blue
if you smile once more on these gentlemans. Sir, do you want any
violent (violet) powder, or one small patent corkiscrew (corkscrew)?
All men born equal; God's rain wet black man and white man all the
same. Devil's fire burn, too, both the same." Here he laughed at the
lieutenant. "Take one packet of violent-powder. Every one rupee a
packet. Well, then, take two for one, twelve. That can't hurt anybody.
Less than prime cost, I give you my solemn word. Handsome sir, don't be
angry."
The doctor, his attention attracted by those light blue eyes, set in
that very black skin, stared at Black and Blue for several minutes
after he had finished the speech above quoted. He had never before
seen such a peculiar expression as that on the face of the box-waller.
Suddenly he recollected an instance of black skin and light blue eyes;
but in that case the boy was half-European, the child of the Honourable
Francis Gay.
Black and Blue had occasion to change his position; and, in doing so,
exposed the calves of his legs. On one of them was a scar, quite round,
and about the size of a shilling.
"Good God!" exclaimed the doctor, who became both surprised and
agitated, and allowed the newspaper to fall from his hand.
"What is the matter, governor?" asked the lieutenant.
"Nothing--nothing!" said the doctor, still staring at Black and Blue,
whose countenance was no longer strange to him. "How did you come by
that mark?" he at length asked, pointing to the scar.
"I don't know, Sahib."
"But did not your parents ever tell you?"
"No, Sahib. Parents used to say that it come of itself."
This was no doubt true.
"Have you another mark like that on your right arm--just here?"
The doctor placed his finger on the sleeve of the man's dress.
"Yes. But bigger mark that one. How you know that, Sahib?" He pulled up
his sleeve and exhibited a scar the size of half-a-crown.
"And another here--on your hip--and another here, on your ribs?"
"Yes. All them marks got, sir. How you know that, Sahib?"
The doctor was quite satisfied that Black and Blue was no other than
his little patient of former years, and consequently the heir to the
Earldom of Millflower. Could it be possible, he thought, that Captain
Gay eventually abandoned his black wife and child! If not, how came
it that the boy (now a man of two or three and twenty) should be a
miserable pedler, living in the Bazaar at Delhi? When Black and Blue
had sold all that the young officers wanted to buy--when no amount of
coaxing and flattering would induce them to take anything more--he
was about to take his departure; but the doctor desired him to stay,
and intimated to his son that he wished to have some conversation in
private with Black and Blue.
"Where is your father?" the doctor asked.
"He dead, Sahib."
"When did he die?"
"Long time ago--ten or twelve year ago."
"Where did he die?"
"Mans--robber mans--kill him with sword."
"And your mother?"
Black and Blue told the doctor the whole of their history since the
death of Captain Gay, and his statements were substantially true. Black
and Blue, however, declared most positively that his father was a
native, and no European.
"Do you think," the doctor inquired, "that your mother would see me, if
I went down to her home?"
"O yes--why not? Come along, Sahib. I will show where she live. You
call for palanquin and get on. I run alongside."
The doctor's curiosity was very strong, and he could not resist the
desire to satisfy it at once. He accepted Black and Blue's invitation,
and went to the house occupied by Ellen. Habited as a native, she was
sitting on a coarse mat, smoking, and at the same time mending an old
garment of her son's.
The doctor recognised Ellen immediately, albeit she was now aged.
But at first she did not recognise him. He was altered very much in
appearance. His hair and whiskers had become very grey, and he no
longer wore a moustache.
Ellen parried all the questions that were put to her, and affected to
be as much surprised by them as by the doctor's visit. The statement of
her son she supported, that her husband was a native of India.
"O, but surely," said the doctor, "this was the boy whom I attended at
Meerut, many years ago, when you and your Sahib were living near the
Begum's bridge?"
The poor woman looked at him for a moment, then repeated his name, and
burst into tears. Her recollections crowded before her too thickly to
admit of her dissembling any further with her visitor; and she admitted
that she was the widow of Captain Gay, of her Majesty's ---- Regiment
of Foot.
The doctor was under no promise to Ellen to keep his discovery secret;
and feeling at liberty to speak of it, did so publicly as well as in
private. The peerages were looked into, and Black and Blue's pedigree
examined. There were the names of all the late lord's sons, and sure
enough there was Francis's name above that of Frederick's, the present
earl; opposite to the name of Francis were the letters signifying,
"died unmarried." Black and Blue of course became an object of great
curiosity. His right to a title did not induce him to alter his prices
in any way, and hence he was kicked and cuffed, and abused as much as
ever, by the young lieutenants and ensigns, who, by-the-bye, always
addressed him as "my lord," and "your lordship."
"Pomatum, my lord! Pomatum, did you say? Yes! But let me smell it.
O! your lordship calls this pomatum! I call it hog's lard washed in
sandalwood water. How much? One rupee! O, you villanous peer of the
realm! are you not ashamed of yourself?"
Another would thus address him:
"Look here, Lord Black and Blue. Why don't you go home and upset your
uncle? Turn him out of his title and estates--eh? You would be sure to
marry some beautiful girl."
To this Black and Blue would respond:
"What do I want with title and beautiful gal! This is my home, and I
got good business, good many friends, and two or three very beautiful
gal."
"Where, Black and Blue?"
"Ah! that is my business."
"Well, what will you sell your title for?"
"Well, what you offer?"
"One hundred rupees" (10_l._)
"Say one hundred and twenty-five."
"No."
"Well, take it--there. Give money, and I give receipt. You write it
out; I sign it. Sold one title to Ensign Matheson for a hundred rupees."
"But there are two titles, you ass; one an earldom, and the other a
viscounty."
"Well, you take the two; give two hundred rupees for both."
"No. The one I have already bought is the biggest and of the best
quality; the other is the small one, and of inferior quality."
"Well, I make reduction in price; take one with the other, and give me
one hundred and seventy-five rupees. That can't hurt anybody that wants
a title."
Would any of these lads, who had nothing in the world beyond their
pay, have consented to an union between Black and Blue and one of
their sisters, after he had come into what were his rights? No! Would
the poorest and most unprincipled officers--civil and military--in
the whole of India? No! Would any European girl of respectability who
had lived in India, to say nothing of the daughters of gentlemen and
ladies, have wedded the black heir to the title and estates of the Earl
of Millflower? No. Not in India could his sable lordship have found a
virtuous white woman to accept his hand!
In due course the story of Black and Blue's birth crept into the
columns of one of the Calcutta newspapers, and ere long an attorney
of the Supreme Court paid a visit to the imperial city, and had
an interview with Black and Blue. He proposed to the box-waller
to take him to England, and establish his claim to the estates,
which he truthfully represented as worth more than half a million
sterling--fifty lacs of rupees. He, the attorney, would pay all
expenses of the suit, and in the event of success, which was certain,
would receive only five per cent. or fifty thousand pounds, leaving
Black and Blue a balance of forty-five lacs.
Black and Blue, who loved and adored money, on hearing such a sum
spoken of, rolled his blue eyes and red tongue, and almost fainted. But
then, to cross the black water!--as the natives call the ocean--that
thought made him shudder and shake his head.
The attorney represented to him that he should live in great comfort
during the voyage; that the best cabin in the ship should be taken for
him; that he should have servants about him; and drawing forth a number
of prints of English beauties, he exhibited them to the gaze of Black
and Blue.
Black and Blue said he would consult his European friends. He did so,
and many of those friends dissuaded him from going to England. Not
that they had any doubt as to the issue of his claim, if it should be
disputed; but upon the reasonable ground that he was very happy where
he was. Others advised him to go by all means, and take up his title
and the wealth that pertained to it. His mother entreated him not to
leave her. But in the end the voice of the attorney prevailed, and
Black and Blue declared himself ready to accompany him.
Ten thousand rupees (one thousand pounds) were given to Ellen for her
support during the temporary absence of her son, who was to return as
soon as he had realized his forty-five lacs (four hundred and fifty
thousand pounds). It was said that a mercantile firm in Calcutta, in
which an illustrious native gentleman was a partner, advanced the means
required for the purpose of establishing the black man's right to the
earldom.
The attorney possessed himself of the proofs. He had the papers of
the Honourable Francis Gay, amongst which were letters from the late
Lord Millflower to his eldest brother, Lord Larkspeare. He also, in
the presence of credible witnesses, received from the hands of Ellen
the dead man's uniform; secondly, he had the deposition on oath of
the superintending surgeon, and of several other officers who were
cognizant of every particular. Many gave these depositions with
reluctance, but felt bound to speak the truth when interrogated. In a
word, the attorney got his case up remarkably well.
Black and Blue and the attorney left Calcutta in one of the large
passenger ships, and in the month of April landed at Gravesend, whence
they journeyed to London. Here Black and Blue was prevailed upon to
wear Christian clothes. In his snow-white muslin dress, his pink
turban, and his red slippers covered with gold embroidery, Black and
Blue had looked an aristocratic native, notwithstanding he was so very
black. [Colour is no criterion of high caste or rank in India. The
late Maharajah Rooder Singh, of Darbungah, whose family--to borrow a
phrase from "Burke's Peerage"--is one of stupendous antiquity, had
the complexion of an African; while his younger brother, Basdeo, who
now sits on the throne, is far fairer than his Highness the Maharajah
Dulleep Singh.] But in his black trousers, black waistcoat, black
surtout coat, white neckcloth, black beaver hat, and Wellington boots,
poor Black and Blue looked truly hideous; while his slouching Indian
gait would have led most people to conclude that he was intoxicated.
Poor Black and Blue had never tasted anything stronger than water in
the whole course of his life.
The attorney had an interview with Frederick Earl of Millflower. He
wrote to the firm in Calcutta to that effect, and he further stated
that the Earl had set him at defiance, and that he was about to
institute a suit in the proper court.
This was the last that was ever heard in India of Black and Blue, or of
the attorney. Inquiries were instituted, but with no avail. There were
many conjectures; the one most generally entertained was, that poor
Black and Blue and his undoubted claim were disposed of by the attorney
for a sum which satisfied him, and that Black and Blue was secretly led
into indulgences in some foreign country and died of their effects. But
his mother, who is still living, will not believe that he is dead, and
feels convinced that some day or other he will turn up and be restored
to her.
"What on earth became of that black earl?" is a question very often put
by many who were acquainted with his strange history.