"And what's to be done next, Mister Charles? That's Hossein, sure
enough, but it don't bring us much nearer to getting out."
"The first thing is to communicate with him in some way, Tim."
"If he'd come up to the side of the moat, yer honor might spake to
him."
"That would never do, Tim. There are sure to be sentries on the walls
of the prison. We must trust to him. He can see the sentries, and will
know best what he can do."
It was evident that Hossein did not intend doing anything, at present;
for, still stooping and gathering brushwood, he gradually withdrew
farther and farther from the wall. Then they saw him make his sticks
into a bundle, put them on his shoulder, and walk away. During the
rest of the day, they saw no more of Hossein.
"I will write," Charlie said, "--fortunately I have a pencil--telling
him that we can lower a light string down to the moat, if he can
manage to get underneath with a cord which we can hoist up, and that
he must have two disguises in readiness."
"I don't think Hossein can read," Tim said, "any more than I can,
myself."
"I daresay not, Tim, but he will probably have friends in the town.
There are men who were employed in the English factory at Kossimbazar,
hard by. These will be out of employment, and will regret the
expulsion of the English. We can trust Hossein. At any rate, I will
get it ready.
"Now the first thing we have to do is to loosen one of these bars. I
wish we had thought of doing it before. However, the stonework is
pretty rotten, and we shall have no difficulty about that. The first
thing is to get a tool of some sort."
They looked round the room, and for some time saw nothing which could
in any way serve. The walls, floor, and wide bench running round, upon
which the cushions which served as their beds were laid, were all
stone. There was no other furniture, of any kind.
"Divil a bit of iron do I see in the place, Mister Charles," Tim said.
"They don't even give us a knife for dinner, but stew all their meats
into a smash."
"There is something, Tim," Charlie said, looking at the door. "Look at
those long hinges."
The hinges were of ornamented ironwork, extending half across the
door. Upon one of the scrolls of this ironwork they set to work.
Chipping a small piece of stone off an angle of the wall, outside the
window; with great difficulty they thrust this under the end of the
scroll, as a wedge. Another piece, slightly larger, was then pushed
under it. The gain was almost imperceptible, but at last the piece of
iron was raised from the woodwork sufficiently to allow them to get a
hold of it, with their thumbs. Then, little by little, they bent it
upward; until at last they could obtain a firm hold of it.
The rest was comparatively easy. The iron was tough and strong but, by
bending it up and down, they succeeded at last in breaking it off. It
was the lower hinge of the door, upon which they had operated, as the
loss of a piece of iron there would be less likely to catch the eye of
anyone coming in. They collected some dust from the corner of the
room, moistened it, and rubbed it on to the wood so as to take away
its freshness of appearance; and they then set to work with the piece
of iron, which was of a curved shape, about three inches long, an inch
wide, and an eighth of an inch thick.
Taking it by turns, they ground away the stone round the bottom of one
of the bars. For the first inch, the stone yielded readily to the
iron; but below that it became harder, and their progress was slow.
They filled the hole which they had made with water, to soften the
stone, and worked steadily away till night; when, to their great joy,
they found that they had reached the bottom of the bar. They then
enlarged the hole inwards, in order that the bar might be pulled back.
Fortunately, it was much decayed by age; and they had no doubt that,
by exerting all their strength, together they could bend it
sufficiently to enable them to get through.
At the hour when their dinner was brought they had ceased their work,
filled up the hole with dust collected from the floor, put some dust
of the stone over it, and smoothed it down, so that it would not have
been noticed by anyone casually looking from the window.
It was late at night before they finished their work. Their hands were
sore and bleeding, and they were completely worn out with fatigue.
They had saved, from their dinner, a good-sized piece of bread. They
folded up into a small compass the leaf from his pocketbook, upon
which Charlie had written in Hindostanee his letter to Hossein, and
thrust this into the centre of the piece of bread. Then Charlie told
Tim to lie down and rest for three hours, while he kept watch; as they
must take it in turns, all night, to listen in case Hossein should
come outside. The lamp was kept burning.
Just as Charlie's watch was over, he thought he heard a very faint
splash in the water below. Two or three minutes later, he again
thought he heard the sound. He peered out of the window anxiously, but
the night was dark, and he could see nothing. Listening intently, it
seemed to him, several times, that he heard the same faint sound.
Presently something whizzed by him, and looking round, to his delight
he saw a small arrow, with a piece of very thin string attached. The
arrow was made of very light wood. Round the iron point was a thick
wrapping of cotton, which would entirely deaden its sound, as it
struck a wall. It was soaked in water, and Charlie had no doubt that
the sound he heard was caused by its fall into the moat, after
ineffectual trials to shoot through the window.
Round the centre of the arrow a piece of greased silk was wrapped.
Charlie took this off, and found beneath it a piece of paper, on which
was written in Hindostanee:
"If you have a bar loosed, pull the string and haul up a rope. If not,
throw the arrow down. I will come again, tomorrow night."
Tim had by this time joined Charlie, and they speedily began to pull
in the string. Presently a thicker string came up into their hands.
They continued to pull, and soon the end of a stout rope, in which
knots were tied every two feet, came up to them. They fastened this to
one of the bars, and then took hold of that which they had loosened;
and, putting their feet against the wall, exerted themselves to the
utmost. The iron was tougher than they had expected, but they were
striving for liberty and, with desperate exertions, they bent it
inwards until, at last, there was room enough for them to creep
through.
"Can you swim, Tim?"
"Not a stroke, yer honor. Shure you should know that, when you fished
me out of the water."
"Very well, Tim. As I kept you up then, 'twill be easy enough for me,
now, to take you across the moat. I will go first, and when I get into
the water, will keep hold of the rope till you come down. Take off
your boots, for they would be heard scraping against the wall. Be sure
you make as little noise as possible, and lower yourself quietly into
the water."
Charlie then removed his own boots, squeezed himself through the bars
and, grasping the rope tightly, began to descend. He found the knots
of immense assistance, for had it not been for them, unaccustomed as
he was to the work, he would have been unable to prevent himself from
sliding down too rapidly. The window was fully sixty feet above the
moat, and he was very thankful when, at last, he felt the water touch
his feet. Lowering himself quietly into it, he shook the rope, to let
Tim know that he could begin his descent.
Before Tim was halfway down, Charlie could hear his hard breathing,
and muttered ejaculations to himself:
"Shure I'll never get to the bottom at all, my arms are fairly
breaking. I shall squash Mr. Charles, if I fall on him."
"Hold your tongue, Tim," Charlie said in a loud whisper.
Tim was silent, but the panting and puffing increased, and Charlie
swam a stroke or two away, expecting every moment that Tim would fall.
The Irishman, however, held on; but let himself into the water with a
splash, which aroused the attention of the sentry above, who instantly
challenged.
Tim and Charlie remained perfectly quiet. Again the sentry challenged.
Then there was a long silence. The sentry probably was unwilling to
rouse the place by a false alarm, and the splash might have been
caused by the fall of a piece of decayed stone from the face of the
wall.
"Tim, you clumsy fellow," whispered Charlie, "you nearly spoiled all."
"Shure, yer honor, I was kilt entirely, and my arms were pulled out of
my sockets. Holy Mother, who'd have thought 'twould be so difficult to
come down a rope! The sailors are great men, entirely."
"Now, Tim, lie quiet. I will turn you on your back, and swim across
with you."
The moat was some twenty yards wide. Charlie swam across, towing Tim
after him, and taking the greatest pains to avoid making the slightest
splash. The opposite side was of stonework, and rose six feet above
the water. As soon as they touched the wall, a stout rope was lowered
to them.
"Now, Tim, you climb up first."
"Is it climb up, yer honor? I couldn't do it, if it was to save my
sowl. My arms are gone altogether, and I'm as weak as a child.
"You go, Mister Charles. I'll hould on by the rope till morning. They
can but shoot me."
"Nonsense, Tim! Here, I will fasten the rope round your body. Then I
will climb up, and we will pull you up after me."
In another minute, Charlie stood on the bank, and grasped the hand of
his faithful follower. Hossein threw himself on his knees, and pressed
his master to him. Then he rose and, at a word from Charlie, they
hauled Tim to the top. The rope was taken off him and, noiselessly,
they made their way across the country. Not a word was spoken, till
they were at a considerable distance from the fort.
"Where are you taking us, Hossein?" Charlie asked, at last.
"I have two peasants' dresses, in a deserted cottage a quarter of a
mile away."
Not another word was spoken, until they reached the hut, which stood
at the end of a small village. When they had entered this, Charlie
first thanked, in the warmest terms, his follower for having rescued
them.
"My life is my lord's," Hossein answered simply. "He gave it me. It is
his again, whenever it is useful to him."
"No, Hossein, the balance is all on your side, now. You saved my life
that night at Ambur. You saved it that night at Calcutta, for, without
the water you brought us, I question whether we could have lived till
morning. Now you have procured our freedom. The debt is all on my side
now, my friend."
"Hossein is glad that his lord is content," the Mohammedan murmured.
"Now, what will my lord do?"
"Have you any place in the town to which we could go, Hossein?"
"Yes, Sahib. I hired a little house. I was dressed as a trader. I have
been here for two months, but I could not find where you were
confined, although I have tried all means, until I saw your cap."
"It was foolish of me not to have thought of it before," Charlie said.
"Well, Hossein, for a little time we had better take refuge in your
house. They will not think of searching in the city; and, as Calcutta
is in their hands, there is nowhere we could go. Besides, I must
discover, if possible, where Miss Haines is kept a prisoner; and
rescue her, if it can be done."
"The white girl is in the zenana of Rajah Dulab Ram," Hossein replied.
"Where is the rajah's palace?"
"He has one in the city, one at Ajervam, twenty miles from here. I do
not know at which she is lodged."
"We must find that out presently," Charlie said. "It is something to
know she is in one of two houses.
"Now, about getting back into the town?"
"I have thought of that," Hossein said. "I have bought a quantity of
plantains, and two large baskets. After the gates are opened, you will
go boldly in with the baskets on your heads. No questions are asked of
the country people who go in and out. I have some stain here, which
will darken your skins.
"I will go in first in my merchant's dress, which I have here. I will
stop a little way inside the gate, and when I see you coming, will
walk on. Do you follow me, a little behind. My house is in a quiet
street. When I reach the door, do you come up and offer to sell me
plantains. If there are people about, I shall bargain with you until I
see that no one is noticing us. Then you can enter. If none are about,
you can follow me straight in."
Hossein now set about the disguises. A light was struck, and both Tim
and Charlie were shaved, up to the line which the turban would cover.
Charlie's whiskers, which were somewhat faint, as he was still under
twenty-one years old, gave but little trouble. Tim, however, grumbled
at parting with his much more bushy appendages. The shaven part of the
heads, necks, and faces were then rubbed with a dark fluid, as were
the arms and legs.
They were next wrapped in dark blue clothes, in peasant fashion, and
turbans wound round their heads. Hossein then, examining them
critically, announced that they would pass muster anywhere.
"I feel mighty quare," Tim exclaimed; "and it seems to me downright
ondacent, to be walking about with my naked legs."
Charlie laughed.
"Why, Tim, you are accustomed to see thousands of men, every day, with
nothing on but a loincloth."
"Yes, yer honor, but then they're hathens, and it seems natural for
them to do so; but for a dacent boy to go walking about in the
streets, with a thing on which covers no more than his shirt, is
onnatural altogether. Mother of Moses, what a shindy there would be,
in the streets of Cork, if I were to show myself in such a state!"
Charlie now lay down for a sleep till morning; while Tim, who had had
three hours' repose, settled himself for a comfortable chat with
Hossein, to whom sleep appeared altogether unnecessary.
Between Hossein and Tim there was a sort of brotherly attachment,
arising from their mutual love of their master. During the two years
which Tim had spent apart from all Europeans, save Charlie, he had
contrived to pick up enough of the language to make himself fairly
intelligible; and, since the day when Hossein had saved Charlie's life
at Ambur, the warmest friendship had sprung up between the
good-humoured and warm-hearted Irishman, and the silent and devoted
Mohammedan.
Tim's friendship even extended so far as to induce a toleration of
Hossein's religion. He had come to the conclusion that a man who, at
stated times in the day, would leave his employment, whatever it might
be, spread his carpet, and be for some minutes lost in prayer, could
not be altogether a hathen; especially when he learned, from Charlie,
that the Mohammedans, like ourselves, worship one God. For the sake of
his friend, then, he now generally excluded the Mohammedans from the
general designation of heathen, which he still applied to the Hindoos.
He learned from Hossein that the latter, having observed from a
distance the Europeans driven into the cell at Calcutta, perceived at
once how fatal the consequences would be. He had, an hour or two after
they were confined there, approached with some water, but the officer
on guard had refused to let him give it. He had then gone into the
native town, but being unable to find any fruit there, had walked out
to the gardens, and had picked a large basketful. This he had brought
as an offering to the officer, and the latter had then consented to
his giving one bowl of water to the prisoners, among whom, as he had
told him, was his master. For bringing a second bowl, contrary to his
orders, Hossein had, as Tim saw, been struck down; but had the
satisfaction of believing that his master, and Tim, had derived some
benefit from his effort.
On the following morning, to his delight, he saw them issue among the
few survivors from the dungeon; and had, when they were taken up the
country, followed close behind them, arriving at the town on the same
day as themselves. He had, ever since, been wandering round the
prison. He had taken a house, so close to it that he could keep a
watch on all the windows facing the town; and had, day after day, kept
his eyes fixed upon these without success. He had, at last, found out
from one of the soldiers that the white prisoners were confined on the
other side of the prison; but until he saw Charlie's cap, he had been
unable to discover the room in which they were confined.
In the morning, they started for the town. Groups of peasants were
already making their way towards the gate, with fruit and grain; and,
keeping near one of these parties, while sufficiently distant to
prevent the chance of their being addressed, Charlie and Tim made
their way to the gate; the latter suffering acutely, in his mind, from
the impropriety of his attire.
No questions were asked, as they passed the guard. They at once
perceived Hossein, standing a little way off, and followed him through
the busy streets. They soon turned off into a quieter quarter, and
stopped at a house, in a street in which scarcely anyone was stirring.
Hossein glanced round, as he opened the door, and beckoned to them to
enter at once. This they did, and were glad, indeed, to set down the
heavy baskets of plantains.
"My lord's room is upstairs," Hossein said, and led the way to a
comfortably furnished apartment. "I think that you might stay here,
for months, unsuspected. A sweeper comes, every day, to do my rooms
downstairs. He believes the rest of the house to be untenanted, and
you must remain perfectly quiet, during the half hour he is here.
Otherwise, no one enters the house but myself."
Hossein soon set to work, and prepared an excellent breakfast. Then he
left them, saying that he would now devote himself to finding out
whether the young white lady was in the town palace of the rajah. He
returned in the afternoon.
"She is here, Sahib," he said. "I got into conversation with one of
the retainers of the rajah; and by giving him some wonderful bargains,
in Delhi jewelry, succeeded in opening his lips. I dare not question
him too closely, but I am to meet him tomorrow, to show him some more
silver bracelets."
"It is fortunate, Hossein, that you have some money, for neither Tim
nor I have a rupee."
"Thanks to the generosity of my lord," Hossein said, "I am well
supplied."
The next day, Hossein discovered that the windows of the zenana were
at the back of the palace, looking into the large garden.
"I hear, however," he said, "that the ladies of the zenana are, next
week, going to the rajah's other palace. The ladies will, of course,
travel in palanquins; but upon the road I might get to talk with one
of the waiting women, and might bribe her to pass a note into the
hands of the white lady."
"I suppose they will have a guard with them, Hossein?"
"Surely, a strong guard," Hossein answered.
The time passed, until the day came for the departure of the rajah's
zenana. Charlie wrote a note, as follows:
"My dear Ada,
"I am free, and am on the lookout for an opportunity to rescue you.
Contrive to put a little bit of your handkerchief through the
latticework of the window of your room, as a signal to us which it is.
On the second night after your arrival, we will be under it with a
ladder. If others, as is probable, sleep in your room, lie down
without undressing more than you can help. When they are asleep, get
up and go to the window, and open the lattice. If any of them wake,
say you are hot and cannot sleep, and wait quietly till they are off
again. Then stretch out your arm, and we shall know you are ready.
Then we will put up the ladder, and you must get out, and come to us
as quickly as possible. Once with us, you will be safe."
This note was wrapped up very small, and put into a quill. As soon as
the gates were open, Hossein and his companions left the town, and
proceeded as far as a grove, halfway between the town and the rajah's
country palace.
"They are sure to stop here, for a rest," Hossein said. "I will remain
here, and try to enter into conversation with one of them. It will be
better for you to go on, for some distance, and then turn aside from
the road. When they have all passed, come back into the road again,
and I will join you."
After waiting two hours, Hossein saw two carts full of women
approaching, and had no doubt that these were the servants of the
zenana. As he had expected, the drivers halted their cattle in the
shade of the trees; and the women, delighted to enjoy their liberty,
alighted from the carts and scattered in the grove. Presently one of
them, a middle-aged woman, approached the spot where Hossein had
seated himself.
Hossein drew out a large and beautiful silver bracelet, of Delhi
workmanship.
"Would you like to buy this?" he asked.
"How should I buy it?" she said. "I am only a servant.
"It is very beautiful;" and she looked at it, with longing eyes.
"I have two of them," he said, "and they will both be yours, if you
will do me a service."
"What is it?" she asked.
"They will be yours, if you will give this quill to the little white
girl, who is in the zenana."
The woman hesitated.
"It is dangerous," she said.
"Not at all," Hossein replied. "It only gives her news of a friend,
whom she thought was dead. It will cheer her heart, and will be a kind
action. None can ever know it."
"Give them to me," the woman said, holding out her hand. "I will do
it."
"No," Hossein replied. "I will give you one now, the other when I know
that the note is delivered. I shall be watching, tomorrow. If she
places her handkerchief in her lattice, I shall know that she has got
it. When she does this, I will bury the other bracelet, a few inches
in the ground, just under that window. You can dig it up when you
will."
"I understand," the woman said. "You can trust me. We all like the
white girl. She is very gentle, but very sad. I would gladly give her
pleasure."
Hossein handed to her the bracelet, and the quill. She hid them in her
dress, and sauntered away.
Hossein lay back, as if taking a sleep, and so remained until, half an
hour later, he heard the shouts of the drivers to the women, to take
their places in the carts. Then the sound of retreating wheels was
heard.
Hossein was about to rise, when he heard the clatter of horses' hoofs.
Looking round he saw eight elephants, each carrying a closed pavilion,
moving along the road, escorted by a troop of horsemen. In the
pavilions, as he knew, were the ladies of the rajah's zenana.