After the cavalcade had passed, Hossein rose to his feet and followed
them, allowing them to go some distance ahead. Presently he was joined
by Charlie and Tim, and the three walked quietly along the road, until
within sight of the rajah's palace.
In front stood a great courtyard. Behind, also surrounded by a high
wall, was the garden. As this was always devoted to the zenana, they
had little doubt that the rooms of the ladies were on this side; and,
two hours later, they were delighted at seeing a small piece of white
stuff, thrust through one of the lattices. The woman had been faithful
to her trust. Ada had received the letter.
They then retired to a distance from the palace, and at once set to
work on the fabrication of a ladder. Hossein, followed by Charlie, who
better enacted the part than Tim, went into a village and purchased
four long bamboo poles, saying he wanted them for the carrying of
burdens. Charlie placed these on his shoulder, and followed Hossein.
When they arrived at the grove they set to work, having brought with
them all the necessary materials. The bamboos were spliced together,
two and two; and while Charlie and Tim set to, to bore holes in these,
Hossein chopped down a young tree and, cutting it into lengths,
prepared the rungs.
It took them all that evening, and the greater part of the next day,
before they had satisfactorily accomplished their work. They had,
then, a ladder thirty feet long, the height which they judged the
window to be above the terrace below. It was strong, and at the same
time light.
They waited until darkness had completely fallen; and then, taking
their ladder, went round to the back of the garden. They mounted the
wall and, sitting on the top, dragged the ladder after them, and
lowered it on the other side. It was of equal thickness the whole
length; and could, therefore, be used indifferently either way.
They waited patiently, until they saw the lights in the zenana windows
extinguished. Then they crept quietly up, and placed the ladder under
the window at which the signal had been shown; and found that their
calculations were correct, and that it reached to a few inches below
the sill.
Half an hour later, the lattice above opened. They heard a murmur of
voices, and then all was quiet again. After a few minutes, Charlie
climbed noiselessly up the ladder and, just as he reached the top, an
arm was stretched out above him; and, a moment afterwards, Ada's face
appeared.
"I am here, dear," he said, in a whisper. "Lean out, and I will take
you."
The girl stretched out over the window. Charlie took her in his arms,
and lifted her lightly out, and then slowly descended the ladder. No
sooner did he touch the ground than they hurried away; Ada sobbing,
with excitement and pleasure, on Charlie's shoulder; Tim and Hossein
bearing the ladder; Hossein having already carried out his promise of
concealing the second bracelet under the window.
In a few minutes they had safely surmounted the wall, and hurried
across the country, with all speed. Before leaving the town, Hossein
had purchased a cart with two bullocks; and had hired a man who was
recommended to him, by one of his co-religionists there, as one upon
whose fidelity he could rely. This cart was awaiting them at a grove.
Paying them the amount stipulated, Hossein took the ox goad and
started the bullocks, Tim walking beside him, while Charlie and Ada
took their places in the cart. They were sure that a hot pursuit would
be set up. The rage of the nabob at the escape of Charlie and his
servant had been extreme, and the whole country had been scoured by
parties of horsemen; and they were sure that the rajah would use every
possible means to discover Ada, before he ventured to report to the
nabob that the prisoner committed to his charge had escaped.
"Of course, I can't see you very well," Ada said, "but I should not
have known you, in the least."
"No, I am got up like a peasant," Charlie answered. "We shall have to
dress you so, before morning. We have got things here for you."
"Oh, how delighted I was," Ada exclaimed, "when I got your note! I
found it so difficult to keep on looking sad and hopeless, when I
could have sung for joy. I had been so miserable. There seemed no
hope, and they said, some day, I should be sent to the nabob's
zenana--wretches! How poor mamma will be grieving for me, and papa!--
"Ah! Captain Marryat, he is dead, is he not?"
"Yes, my dear," Charlie said gently. "He was killed by my side, that
afternoon. With his last breath, he asked me to take care of you."
"I thought so," Ada said, crying quietly. "I did not think of it at
the time. Everything was so strange, and so dreadful, that I scarcely
thought at all. But afterwards, on the way here, when I turned it all
over, it seemed to me that it must be so. He did not come to me, all
that afternoon. He was not shut up with us in that dreadful place, and
everyone else was there. So it seemed to me that he must have been
killed, but that you did not like to tell me."
"It was better for him, dear, than to have died in that terrible cell.
Thank God your mamma is safe, and some day you will join her again.
"We have news that the English are coming up to attack Calcutta. A
party are already in the Hoogly; and the nabob is going to start, in a
few days, to his army there. I hope, in a very very short time, you
will be safe among your friends."
After travelling for several hours, they stopped. Charlie gave Ada
some native clothes and ornaments, and told her to stain her face,
arms, and legs, to put on the bangles and bracelets, and then to
rejoin them. Half an hour later, Ada took her seat in the cart, this
time transformed into a Hindoo girl, and the party again proceeded.
They felt sure that Ada's flight would not be discovered until
daybreak. It would be some little time before horsemen could be sent
off in all directions, in pursuit; and they could not be overtaken
until between eleven and twelve.
The waggon was filled with grain, on the top of which Charlie and Ada
were seated. When daylight came, Charlie alighted and walked by the
cart. Unquestioned, they passed through several villages.
At eleven o'clock, Hossein pointed to a large grove, at some little
distance from the road.
"Go in there," he said, "and stay till nightfall. Do you then come
out, and follow me. I shall go into the next village, and remain there
till after dark. I shall then start, and wait for you half a mile
beyond the village."
An hour after the waggon had disappeared from sight, the party in the
grove saw ten or twelve horsemen galloping rapidly along the road. An
hour passed, and the same party returned, at an equal speed. They saw
no more of them and, after it became dark, they continued their way;
passed through the village, which was three miles ahead; and found
Hossein waiting, a short distance beyond. Ada climbed into the cart,
and they again went forward.
"Did you put the rajah's men on the wrong track, Hossein? We guessed
that you had done so, when we saw them going back."
"Yes," Hossein said. "I had unyoked the bullocks, and had lain down in
the caravanserai, when they arrived. They came in, and their leader
asked who I was. I said that I was taking down a load of grain, for
the use of the army at Calcutta. He asked where were the two men and
the woman who were with me. I replied that I knew nothing of them. I
had overtaken them on the road, and they had asked leave for the woman
to ride in the cart. They said they were going to visit their mother,
who was sick.
"He asked if I was sure they were natives, and I counterfeited
surprise, and said that certainly they were; for which lie Allah will,
I trust, be merciful, since it was told to an enemy. I said that they
had left me, just when we had passed the last village; and had turned
off by the road to the right, saying they had many miles to go.
"They talked together and decided that, as you were the only people
who had been seen along the road, they must follow and find you; and
so started at once, and I daresay they're searching for you now, miles
away."
Their journey continued without any adventure, until within a few
miles of Calcutta. Hossein then advised them to take up their abode in
a ruined mud hut, at a distance from the road. He had bought, at the
last village, a supply of provisions, sufficient to last them for some
days.
"I shall now," he said, "go into the town, sell my grain, bullocks,
and cart, and find out where the soldiers are."
As soon as the news of the nabob's advance against Calcutta reached
Madras, Mr. Pigot, who was now governor there, despatched a force of
two hundred and thirty men, under the orders of Major Kilpatrick. The
party reached Falta, on the Hoogly, on the 2nd of August, and there
heard of the capture of Calcutta. By detachments, who came down from
some of the Company's minor posts, the force was increased to nearly
four hundred. But sickness broke out among them and, finding himself
unable to advance against so powerful an army as that of the nabob,
Major Kilpatrick sent to Madras for further assistance.
When the news reached that place, Clive had recently arrived with a
strong force, which was destined to operate against the French at
Hyderabad. The news, however, of the catastrophe at Calcutta at once
altered the destination of the force; and, on the 16th of October, the
expedition sailed for Calcutta. The force consisted of two hundred and
fifty men of the 39th Foot, the first regiment of the regular English
army which had been sent out to India; five hundred and seventy men of
the Madras European force; eighty artillerymen; and twelve hundred
Sepoys.
Of the nine hundred Europeans, only six hundred arrived at that time
at the mouth of the Hoogly, the largest ship, the Cumberland, with
three hundred men on board, having grounded on the way. The remainder
of the fleet, consisting of three ships of war, five transports, and a
fire ship, reached Falta between the 11th and 20th of December.
Hossein had returned from Calcutta, with the news that the party
commanded by Major Kilpatrick had been, for some weeks, at Falta; and
the party at once set off towards that place, which was but forty
miles distant. Travelling by night, and sleeping by day in the woods,
they reached Falta without difficulty; and, learning that the force
was still on board ship, they took possession of a boat, moored by the
bank some miles higher up, and rowed down.
Great was their happiness, indeed, at finding themselves once more
among friends. Here were assembled many of the ships which had been at
Calcutta, at the time it was taken; and, to Ada's delight, she learned
that her mother was on board one of these. They were soon rowed there,
in a boat from the ship which they had first boarded; and Ada, on
gaining the deck, saw her mother sitting among some other ladies,
fugitives like herself.
With a scream of joy she rushed forward, and with a cry of, "Mamma,
Mamma!" threw herself into her mother's arms.
It was a moment or two before Mrs. Haines could realize that this
dark-skinned Hindoo girl was her child, and then her joy equalled that
of her daughter. It was some time before any coherent conversation
could take place; and then Ada, running back to Charlie, drew him
forward to her mother; and presented him to her as her preserver, the
Captain Marryat who had stayed with them at Calcutta.
Mrs. Haines' gratitude was extreme, and Charlie was soon surrounded,
and congratulated, by the officers on board, to many of whom,
belonging as they did to the Madras army, he was well known. Foremost
among them, and loudest in his expressions of delight, was his friend
Peters.
"You know, Charlie, I suppose," he said presently, "that you are a
major now?"
"No, indeed," Charlie said. "How is that?"
"When the directors at home received the report of Commodore James,
that the fort of Suwarndrug had been captured entirely through you,
they at once sent out your appointment as major.
"You are lucky, old fellow. Here are you a major, while I'm a
lieutenant, still. However, don't think I'm jealous, for I'm not a
bit, and you thoroughly deserve all, and more than you've got."
"And this is Tim," Charlie said. "He has shared all my adventures with
me."
Tim was standing disconsolately by the bulwark, shifting uneasily from
foot to foot, with the feeling of the extreme shortness of his
garments stronger upon him than ever.
Peters seized him heartily by the hand.
"I am glad to see you, Tim, very glad. And so you've been with Major
Marryat, ever since?"
"For the Lord's sake, Mr. Peters," Tim said, in an earnest whisper,
"git me a pair of trousers. I'm that ashamed of myself, in the
presence of the ladies, that I'm like to drop."
"Come along below, Tim. Come along, Charlie. There are lots of poor
fellows have gone down, and uniforms are plentiful. We'll soon rig you
out again."
"There is one more introduction, Peters. This is my man, Hossein. He
calls himself my servant. I call him my friend. He has saved my life
twice, and has been of inestimable service. Had it not been for him, I
should still be in prison at Moorshedabad."
Peters said a few hearty words to Hossein, and they then went below;
returning on deck in half an hour, Charlie in the undress uniform of
an officer, Tim in that of a private in the Madras infantry.
Mrs. Haines and Ada had gone below, where they could chat,
unrestrained by the presence of others; and where an attempt could be
made to restore Ada to her former appearance. Mrs. Haines had heard of
her husband's death, on the day after the capture of Calcutta, Mr.
Holwell having been permitted to send on board the ships a list of
those who had fallen. She had learned that Ada had survived the
terrible night in the dungeon, and that she had been sent up country,
a captive. She almost despaired of ever hearing of her again, but had
resolved to wait to see the issue of the approaching campaign.
Now that Ada was restored to her, she determined to leave for England;
in a vessel which was to sail, in the course of a week, with a large
number of fugitives. Mr. Haines was a very wealthy man, and had
intended retiring, altogether, in the course of a few months; and she
would, therefore, be in the enjoyment of an ample fortune in England.
Among those on board the ships at Falta was Mr. Drake, who at once,
upon hearing of Charlie's arrival, ordered him to be arrested. Major
Kilpatrick, however, firmly refused to allow the order to be carried
out, saying that, as Charlie was under his orders as an officer in the
Madras army, Mr. Drake had no control or authority over him. He could,
however, upon Clive's arrival, lay the case before him.
A week later, Mrs. Haines and Ada sailed for England, the latter
weeping bitterly at parting from Charlie, who promised them that, when
he came home to England on leave, he would pay them a visit. He gave
them his mother's address; and Mrs. Haines promised to call upon her,
as soon as she reached England, and give her full news of him; adding
that she hoped that his sisters, the youngest of whom was little older
than Ada, would be great friends with her.
Very slowly and wearily the time passed at Falta. The mists from the
river were deadly, and of the two hundred and thirty men whom
Kilpatrick brought with him from Madras, in July, only about thirty
remained alive; and of these, but ten were fit for duty when Clive, at
last, arrived.
The fleet left Falta on the 27th of December, and anchored off Moiapur
on the following day. The fort of Baj-baj, near this place, was the
first object of attack; and it was arranged that, while Admiral Watson
should bombard with the fleet, Clive should attack it on the land
side.
Clive, who now held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army, had
manifested great pleasure at again meeting the young officer who had
served under him at Arcot; and who had, in his absence, obtained a
fame scarcely inferior to his own, by the defence of Ambur and the
capture of Suwarndrug. A few hours after Clive's arrival, Mr. Drake
had made a formal complaint of the assault which Charlie had
committed; but after hearing, from Charlie, an account of the
circumstances, Clive sent a contemptuous message to Mr. Drake, to the
effect that Charlie had only acted as he should himself have done,
under the same circumstances; and that, at the present time, he should
not think of depriving himself of the services of one gallant soldier,
even if he had maltreated a dozen civilians.
As Clive had been given paramount authority in Bengal, and as Mr.
Drake had every reason to suppose that he, himself, would be recalled
as soon as the circumstances attending the capture of Calcutta were
known in England, he was unable to do anything further in the matter,
and Charlie landed with Clive on the 28th. The force consisted of two
hundred and fifty Europeans, and twelve hundred Sepoys, who were
forced to drag with them, having no draft animals, two field pieces
and a waggon of ammunition.
The march was an excessively fatiguing one. The country was swampy in
the extreme, and intersected with watercourses; and, after a terribly
fatiguing night march, and fifteen hours of unintermittent labour,
they arrived, at eight o'clock in the morning, at the hollow bed of a
lake, now perfectly dry. It lay some ten feet below the surrounding
country, and was bordered with jungle. In the wet season it was full
of water. On the eastern and southern banks lay an abandoned village,
and it was situated about a mile and a half from the fort of Baj-baj.
Clive was ill, and unable to see after matters himself. Indeed,
accustomed only to the feeble forces of Southern India, who had never
stood for a moment against him in battle, he had no thought of danger.
Upon the other hand the troops of the nabob, who had had no
experience, whatever, of the superior fighting powers of the
Europeans; and who had effected so easy a conquest at Calcutta,
flushed with victory, regarded their European foes with contempt, and
were preparing to annihilate them at a blow.
Manak Chand, the general commanding the nabob's forces, informed by
spies of the movements of the English troops, moved out with fifteen
hundred horses and two thousand foot. So worn out were the British
upon their arrival at the dried bed of the lake that, after detaching
a small body to occupy a village near the enemy's fort, from which
alone danger was expected; while another took up the post in some
jungles, by the side of the main road, the rest threw themselves down
to sleep. Some lay in the village, some in the shade of the bushes
along the sides of the hollow. Their arms were all piled in a heap,
sixty yards from the eastern bank. The two field pieces stood
deserted, on the north side of the village. Not a single sentry was
posted.
Manak Chand, knowing that, after marching all night, they would be
exhausted, now stole upon them, and surrounded the tank on three
sides. Happily, he did not perceive that their arms were piled at a
distance of sixty yards from the nearest man. Had he done so, the
English would have been helpless in his hands. After waiting an hour,
to be sure that the last of the English were sound asleep, he ordered
a tremendous fire to be opened on the hollow and village.
Astounded at this sudden attack, the men sprang up from their deep
sleep, and a rush was instantly made to their arms. Clive, ever
coolest in danger, shouted to them to be steady, and his officers well
seconded his attempts. Unfortunately the artillerymen, in their sudden
surprise, instead of rushing to their cannon, joined the rest of the
troops as they ran back to their arms, and the guns at once fell into
the hands of the enemy.
These had now climbed the eastern bank, and a fire from all sides was
poured upon the troops, huddled together in a mass.
"Major Marryat," Clive said, "if we fall back now, fatigued as the men
are, and shaken by this surprise, we are lost. Do you take a wing of
the Sepoy battalion, and clear the right bank. I will advance, with
the main body, directly on the village."
"Come on, my lads," Charlie shouted, in Hindostanee; "show them how
the men of Madras can fight."
The Sepoys replied with a cheer, advanced with a rush against the
bank, drove the defenders at once from the point where they charged,
and then swept round the tank towards the village, which Clive had
already attacked in front.
The loss of Charlie's battalion was small, but the main body, exposed
to the concentrated fire, suffered more heavily. They would not,
however, be denied. Reaching the bank, they poured a volley into the
village, and charged with the bayonet; just as Charlie's men dashed in
at the side. The enemy fled from the village and, taking shelter in
the jungles around, opened fire. The shouts of their officers could be
heard, urging them again to sally out and fall upon the British; but
at this moment, the party which had been sent forward along the road,
hearing the fray, came hurrying up and poured their fire into the
jungle.
Surprised at this reinforcement, the enemy paused as they were issuing
from the wood, and then fell back upon their cavalry. The British
artillerymen ran out, and seized the guns, and opened with them upon
the retiring infantry. Clive now formed up his troops in line, and
advanced against the enemy's cavalry, behind which their infantry had
massed for shelter.
Manak Chand ordered his cavalry to charge, but just as he did so, a
cannonball from one of Clive's field pieces passed close to his head.
The sensation was so unpleasant that he at once changed his mind. The
order for retreat was given, and the beaten army fell back, in
disorder, to Calcutta.