Soon after eight o'clock customers began to drop in, and throughout
the day a brisk trade was carried on. Surajah was sent for, in the
course of the morning, by the governor; who bought several silver
bracelets, brooches, and earrings for his wife. Most of the other
officers came in during the day, and made similar purchases, and many
trinkets were also sold to the soldiers, who considered them a good
investment for their money. Indeed, no small portion of the earnings
of the natives of India are spent upon silver ornaments for their
women, as they can at any time be converted into cash.
The commoner cloths, knives, beads, and trinkets were almost all
disposed of, by the end of the day, for as no traders had come up for
six months, and as a long time might elapse before others did so, the
garrison were glad to lay in a store of useful articles for themselves
and families, especially as the prices of all the goods were at least
as low as they could have been bought in a town.
"We sha'n't leave much behind us," Dick said, as he looked round after
the last customer had left, and they had sat down to their evening
meal. "Almost all the silver work and the better class of goods have
gone, and I should say three-quarters of the rest. I daresay we shall
get rid of the remainder tomorrow. I don't suppose many of the
soldiers stationed down by the gate have come up yet; but when they
hear that we sell cheaply, some of them will be here tomorrow. We have
made no money by the transaction, but at any rate we shall have got
back the outlay. Of course, I should not have cared if we had got
nothing back. Still, it is satisfactory to have cleared oneself.
"I wonder how Ibrahim is getting on, down in the wood."
"He won't be expecting us today," Surajah replied, "but I have no
doubt he will begin to feel anxious by tomorrow night. I wish we could
have seen some way of getting the horses down. It will be awkward
doing without them."
"Yes. I hope we shall get a good start. Of course, we must put on our
peasant's dresses again. I am glad enough to be rid of that rope,
though I have had to put on two or three additional things, to fill me
out to the same size as before. Still, I don't feel so bound in as I
did, though it is horribly hot."
"I am sure I shall be glad to get rid of all this stuffing," Surajah
said. "I felt ready to faint today, when the room was full."
"Well, we have only one more day of it," Dick said. "I do hope Father
will be able to get out by ten o'clock. Then, before eleven we shall
be at the edge of the rock. Say we are two hours in getting down, and
walking round to join Ibrahim. That will take us till one, and we
shall have a good five hours before Father's escape will be
discovered. They will know that he can't have gone down the road, and
it will take them fully two hours to search the fort, and all over the
rock. It will be eight o'clock before they set out in pursuit, and by
that time we ought to be well on the road between Cenopatam and
Anicull.
"If we can manage to buy horses at Cenopatam, of course we will do so.
We shall be there by five o'clock, and ought to be able to get them in
a couple of hours. Once on horseback, we are safe. I don't think they
will pursue very far--perhaps not even so far as Cenopatam; for the
governor will see that he had better not make any fuss about a white
captive having escaped, when it was not known that he had one there at
all. I think it more likely that, when he finds Father has got fairly
away, he will take no steps at all. They have no cavalry here, and he
will know, well enough, that there will be no chance of our being
tracked and overtaken by footmen, if we had but a couple of hours'
start."
"I think that is so, Dick. He has done his duty in keeping your father
a prisoner, but I don't think he will be, at heart, at all sorry that
he has made his escape."
"I think, Surajah, I will write a letter to him, and leave it here, to
be found after we have got away, thanking him in Father's name for the
kindness that he has always shown him, saying who I am, why I came
here, and asking his pardon for the deception that I have been obliged
to play upon him. He is a good old fellow, and I should think it would
please him."
"I should think it would," Surajah agreed.
"I will do up my brace of pistols in a packet, and put them with the
note," Dick went on, "and will say, in it, that I hope he will accept
them as a token of our esteem and gratitude. They are well-finished
English pistols, and I have no doubt he will prize them. I will
mention, too, that we shall have made our escape at eleven o'clock,
and therefore, by the time he receives my letter, we shall be far
beyond the reach of pursuit. I daresay that will decide him upon
letting the matter pass quietly, and he will see himself that, by
making no fuss over it, no one outside the fortress will ever know
that a prisoner has escaped."
The next day passed comparatively quietly. A good many soldiers and
women came up from below, and before sunset their goods were
completely cleared out. The governor came over in the afternoon and
had a talk with them. They expressed their satisfaction at the result
of their trading, and said that they should be off before sunrise.
"I hope you will come again," he said; "but not for another six
months, for assuredly you will take away with you pretty nearly every
rupee in the fortress. My wife and the other ladies are all well
content with their purchases, and agree that they would not have got
them cheaper at Seringapatam, or Bangalore."
"We try to buy cheaply and sell cheaply," Surajah said modestly. "In
that way we turn over our money quickly. But it is seldom, indeed,
that we find so good a market as we have done here. When we left
Bangalore, we thought that it might be a month before we should have
to go back there to replenish our packs from our magazine; but we
shall only have been away five or six days."
"I am glad that you are content, for you are honest traders, and not
like some of the rascals that have come up to the forts I have
commanded, and fleeced the soldiers right and left."
Although not given to blushing, Dick felt that he coloured under his
dye at the praise; for although they had certainly sold cheaply, he
doubted whether the term honest could be fairly applied to the whole
transaction.
As ten o'clock approached, the two friends sat with open door,
listening intently for every sound. Conversation was still going on in
the houses, and occasionally they could make out a dark figure
crossing the yard.
It was not yet ten when a light footfall was heard, and a moment later
Captain Holland appeared at the door.
"It is all right so far," he said, "but wait five minutes, to give me
time to get the ladder fixed. You had better come one by one, and
stroll quietly across the yard. It is too dark for anyone to recognise
you, unless they run right against you; and even if they do so, they
will not think it strange you should be out, after having been cooped
up all the day."
In another moment he was gone. They had each, during the day, gone out
for a time, and had walked round through the narrow lane behind the
governor's house, to see that there were no obstructions that they
might fall over in the dark. They agreed, on comparing notes, that
Captain Holland had chosen the best possible place for scaling the
wall, for the lane was evidently quite unused, and the house, which
was higher than the wall, would completely screen them from
observation.
In five minutes Dick followed his father, leaving Surajah to come on
in a minute or two. They had secured about them the gold and silver
they had received for their purchases, but they left behind a large
heap of copper coins, on the top of which Dick had placed his letter
to the governor, and the parcel containing the brace of pistols. He
met no one on his way to the rendezvous, but almost ran against his
father in the dark.
"Steady, Dick, or you will run me down," Captain Holland said. "I have
got the ladder fixed, so you had better go up at once. Take these
three spears with you. I will bring the long ladder."
"We sha'n't want the spears, Father. We have a brace of
double-barrelled pistols, and two brace of single barrels."
"Never mind that, Dick. You will see that they will come in useful."
Dick took the spears, and mounted the ladder without further question.
His father then came up and placed the long rope, which, with the
pieces of wood, was a bulky bundle, on the wall and then descended
again. It was another five minutes before Surajah came up.
"I was stopped on the way," he said, "and had to talk with one of the
officers."
He and the captain were soon by Dick's side. The ladder was then
pulled up, and lowered on the other side of the wall. They were soon
standing at its foot.
"Shall I jerk the ladder down, Father?"
"I think not, Dick. It would only make a clatter, and it is no matter
to us whether they find it in the morning or not. You had better
follow me. I know every foot of the ground, and there are some nasty
places, I can tell you."
They had to make several detours, to avoid ravines running deep into
the plateau, and for a time Captain Holland walked very cautiously.
When he had passed these, he stepped out briskly, and in less than an
hour from starting they were near the edge of the precipice. Their
eyes had, by this time, become accustomed to the darkness.
"We are just there now," Captain Holland said. "But we must go very
cautiously, for the rock falls sheer away, without warning. Ah! There
is the edge, a few yards ahead of me.
"Now, do you stay where you are, while I feel about for that spear
head I put in to mark the place. It had about three feet of the staff
on it. If it were not for that, there would be small chance of finding
it. I know it is somewhere close here."
In a few minutes he returned to them.
"I have found it," he said. "Keep close behind me."
After walking for fifty yards, he stopped.
"Here it is, lads.
"Now give me those spears, Dick."
He thrust them firmly into the ground, a few inches apart.
"Throw your weight on them, too," he said. "That is right. Now they
will stand many times the strain we shall put on them.
"I have chosen this place, Dick, for two reasons. In the first place,
because it is the most perpendicular, and in the second, because the
soil and grass project slightly over the edge of the rock. There is a
cushion in that bundle, and four spear heads. I will peg it down close
to the edge, and the rope will run easily over it.
"Now, Surajah, we had better let you down first. You will be tied
quite securely, and there will be no risk whatever, as you know, of
the rope giving way. I should advise you to keep your eyes shut, till
you get to the bottom, for the rope will certainly twist round and
round; but keep your arms well in front of you, and whenever you feel
the rock, open your eyes, and send yourself off with your arms and
legs. I don't think you will touch, for at this point it seemed to me,
as I looked down, that the rock projects farther out than anywhere
else on the face of the precipice, and that a stone dropped straight
down would fall some fourteen or fifteen feet from its foot. Would you
like me to bandage your eyes?"
"No, thank you. I will keep my eyes closed."
"That is the best thing you can do," Captain Holland said, "though it
is so dark that you would not be able to see, if you did. When you get
to the bottom, untie the rope, pull it gently down, and call out to me
whether the lowest piece of stick touches the ground. If it does not,
I will pull it up again and fasten on some more. I have got a dozen
spare ones with me."
Captain Holland then told Surajah and Dick to take off their upper
garments. These he wound round and round the lower four feet of the
rope, increasing its diameter to over two inches.
"There," he said, as he fastened this round Surajah's body, under the
arms. "It won't hurt you, now. That silk rope would have cut in an
inch deep before you got to the bottom, if it had not been covered."
Then he took off his own garment, made it up into a roll, lashed one
end to the rope in the centre of Surajah's back, passed it between his
legs and fastened it to the knot at his chest.
"There," he said; "that will prevent any possibility of the thing
slipping up over your shoulders, and will take a lot of the strain off
your chest."
Then he lay down and crawled forward to the edge, pegged the cushion
down, and then, turning to Surajah, said:
"All is ready now."
Surajah had felt rather ashamed that all these precautions should be
taken for him, while the others would have to rely solely upon their
hands and feet, and, sternly repressing any sign of nervousness, he
stepped forward to the side of Captain Holland.
"That is right," the captain said approvingly. "Now, lie down by my
side, and work yourself backwards. Go over on one side of the cushion,
for you might otherwise displace it. I will hold your wrists and let
you over. Dick will hold the rope. I will put it fairly on the
cushion. Then I shall take it and stand close to the edge, and pay it
out gradually as you go down. If you should find any projecting piece
of rock, call out 'Stop!' I will hold on at once. We can then talk
over how we can best avoid the difficulty. When you are down, and I
tell you Dick is coming, take hold of one of the steps, and hold the
ladder as firmly as you can, so as to prevent it from swaying about.
"Now, are you ready?"
"Quite ready," Surajah said, in a firm voice.
Dick, who was standing five or six yards back, tightened the rope.
Gradually he saw Surajah's figure disappear over the edge.
"Slack out a little bit," his father said. "That is right. I have got
it over the cushion. Now hold it firmly until I am on my feet. That is
right. Now pay it out gradually."
It seemed an endless time, to Dick, before his father exclaimed:
"The strain is off! Thank God, he has got down all right!"
A minute later there was a slight pull on the rope, and the captain
paid it out until he heard a call from below.
"Have you got to the lowest stick?" he asked, leaning over.
"Yes; it is just touching the ground."
"Not such a bad guess," the captain said, as he turned to Dick. "There
are about twenty feet left."
He now fastened the rope round the spears in the ground.
"I will lower you down, if you like, Dick. You are half as heavy again
as that young native, but I have no doubt that I can manage it."
"Not at all, Father. I am not a bit nervous about it. If it was light,
I should not feel so sure of myself, for I might turn giddy; but there
is no fear of my doing so now."
"Well, lad, it is as well to be on the safe side, and I manufactured
this yesterday."
He put a loop, composed of a rope some four feet long, over Dick's
shoulders and under his arms. To each end was attached a strong double
hook, like two fingers.
"There, lad! Now, if you feel at all tired or shaky, all you have got
to do is to hook this on to one of the steps. Do you see? One hook on
each side of the cord. That way you can rest as long as you like, and
then go on again. You say you can go down a rope with your hands only.
I should advise you to do that, if you can, and not to use your legs
unless you want to sit down on one of the long steps; for, as you
know, if you use your feet the rope will go in till they are almost
level with your head; while, if you use your arms only, it will hang
straight down."
"I know, Father. And I don't suppose I shall have to rest at all, for
these cross sticks make it ten times as easy as having to grip the
rope only."
Dick laid himself down as Surajah had done, and crawled backwards
until he was lying half over the edge. Then he seized the rope and
began to descend, hand over hand. He counted the rungs as he went
down, and half way he sat down on one of the long pieces, hitched the
hooks on to the one above, and rested his arms. After a short pause,
he continued until he reached the bottom.
The captain, who was stooping with his hand on the rope, felt the
vibration cease, and as he leaned over he heard Dick call out:
"I am all right, Father. Those bits of wood make easy work of it."
Then the captain at once began to descend, and was soon standing
beside his son and Surajah.
"Thank God that job is finished! How do you both feel?"
"My arms feel as if they had done some work, Father. I have been four
or five months without practice, or I should hardly have felt it."
"And how are you, Surajah?"
"I feel ashamed at having been let down like a baby, Captain Holland,
and at being so nervous."
"There is nothing to be ashamed of," Captain Holland said. "Rope
climbing is a thing that only comes with practice; and as to
nervousness, most landsmen are afraid to trust themselves to a rope at
all. Did you open your eyes?"
"Not once, Sahib. I kept my arms out, as you told me, but I did not
touch anything. I could feel that I was spinning round and round, and
was horribly frightened just at first. But I went down so smoothly and
quietly that the feeling did not last long; for I knew that the rope
was very strong, and as I did not touch anything, it seemed to me that
there could be no fear of it being cut against the rock."
The clothes were soon unwound from the rope, and put on again. Captain
Holland cut off all the slack of the rope, and made it into a coil.
"The slope is all right, as far as I could see from the top," he said;
"but we may come across nasty bits again, and this will stand in
useful, if we do."
They went down cautiously, but at a fair rate of speed; until, without
meeting with any serious difficulty, they arrived on the plain. Four
miles' brisk walking brought them to the grove where Ibrahim had been
left, and they had scarce entered among the trees when he asked:
"Who is it that is coming?"
"It is us, Ibrahim. We have got my father!"
Ibrahim gave an exclamation of joy, and a minute later they joined
him.
"You were not asleep, then, Ibrahim?" Dick said.
"No, my lord. I have slept during the day, and watched at night; but I
did not sleep yesterday, for I was growing sorely anxious, and had
begun to fear that harm had befallen you."
"Well, let us be off at once. Of course, we have had to leave the
horses behind us, and I want to be at Cenopatam by daybreak. We will
buy horses there."
They struck across the country to the southwest, until they came on a
road between Magree and Cenopatam, and arrived within sight of the
latter town just at daybreak. As they walked, Dick and Surajah had,
with no small amount of pain, removed their beards and the patches of
hair.
"You ought both to have shaved before you put those things on,"
Captain Holland said, as they muttered exclamations of pain. "You see,
cobbler's wax, or whatever it is, sticks to what little down there is
on your cheeks and chin, and I don't wonder that it hurts horribly,
pulling it off. If you had shaved first, you would not have felt any
of that."
"I will remember that, Father, if I ever have to disguise myself
again," Dick said. "I feel as if I were pulling the whole skin off my
face."
The painful task was at last finished.
"I shall be glad to have a look at you in the morning, Dick," his
father said, "so as to see what you are really like; of which I have
not the least idea, at present. You must feel a deal more comfortable,
now that you have got rid of the rope."
"I am, indeed. I am sure Surajah must be quite as much pleased at
leaving his padding behind."
They stopped half a mile from the town, which was a place of
considerable size. Dick took, from the saddlebag of the horse Ibrahim
was leading, the bottle of liquid with which he was in the habit of
renewing his staining every few days, and darkened his father's face
and hands. Then they took off their costumes as merchants, and put on
their peasants' attire. Dick directed Ibrahim to make a detour, so as
to avoid the town and come down on the road half a mile beyond it, and
there wait until they rejoined them--for his father was to accompany
Ibrahim.
It was growing light as Dick and Surajah entered the town, and in half
an hour the streets became alive with people. After some search, they
found a man who had several horses to sell, and, after the proper
amount of bargaining, they purchased three fairly good animals.
Another half hour was occupied in procuring saddles and bridles, and,
after riding through quiet streets to avoid questioning, they left the
town, and soon rejoined their companions.
"Now, Surajah," Dick said, "we will be colonels again for a bit."
The saddlebags were again opened, and in a few minutes they were
transformed.
"Why, where on earth did you get those uniforms?" Captain Holland
asked, in surprise. "Those sashes are the signs that their wearers are
officers of the Palace, for I have seen them more than once at
Kistnagherry; and the badges are those of colonels. There is nothing
like impudence, Dick, but it seems to me it would have been safer if
you had been contented with sub-officers' uniforms."
Dick laughed.
"We are wearing them because we have a right to them," Dick laughed.
"We are both colonels in Tippoo's army, and officers of the
Palace--that is, we were so until a month ago, though I expect since
then our names have been struck off their army list. I will tell you
about it, as we ride."
"You had better tell me afterwards, Dick. I have never ridden a horse
in my life, except when they were taking me from the coast to Mysore,
and I shall have enough to do to keep my seat and attend to my
steering, without trying to listen to you."
They rode all day, passed through Anicull and Oussoor, and halted for
the night in a grove two or three miles farther on. They had not been
questioned as, at a walk, they went through the town. Captain Holland
had ridden behind with Ibrahim, and the latter had stopped and laid in
a stock of provisions at Anicull.
"Thank goodness that is over!" Captain Holland said, as they
dismounted. "I feel as if I had been beaten all over with sticks, and
am as hungry as a hunter."
"Ibrahim will have some food ready in half an hour, Father, and I
shall be glad of some myself. Though, you know, we all had some
chupatties he bought."
"They were better than nothing, Dick, but a pancake or two does not go
very far, with men who have been travelling since ten o'clock last
night. Well, lad, I am glad that you have got rid of your beard, and
that, except for that brown skin, I am able to have a look at you as
you are. You will be bigger than I am, Dick--bigger by a good bit, I
should say, and any father might be proud of you, much more so one who
has been fetched out from a captivity from which he had given up all
hope of escaping. As it is, lad, words can't tell how grateful I feel,
to God, for giving me such a son."
"My dear Father, it is Mother's doing. It has been her plan, ever
since she heard that you were wrecked, that we should come out here to
find you, and she has had me regularly trained for it. I had masters
for fencing and gymnastics, we always talked Hindustani when we were
together, and she has encouraged me to fight with other boys, so that
I should get strong and quick."
That evening by the fire, Dick told his father the whole story of his
life since he had been in India.
"Well, my lad, you have done wonders," his father said, when he had
finished; "and if I had as much enterprise and go as you have, I
should have been out of this place years ago. But in the first place,
I was very slow in picking up their lingo. You see, until within the
last three or four years, there have always been other Englishmen with
me. Of course we talked together, and as most of them were able to
speak a little of the lingo, there was no occasion for me to learn it.
Then I was always, from the first, when they saw that I was handy at
all sorts of things, kept at odd jobs, and so got less chance of
picking up the language than those who were employed in drilling, or
who had nothing to do but talk to their guards. But most of all, I did
not try to escape because I found that, if I did so, it would
certainly cost my companions their lives. That was the way that
scoundrel Tippoo kept us from making attempts to get off.
"Well, soon after the last of the other captives was murdered, we
moved away to Kistnagherry, which was a very difficult place to escape
from; and besides, very soon after we got there, I heard of the war
with our people, and hoped that they would take the place. It was, as
you may suppose, a terrible disappointment to me when they failed in
their attack on it. Still, I hoped that they would finally thrash
Tippoo, and that, somehow, I might get handed over to them. However,
as you know, when peace was made, and Kistnagherry had to be given
over, the governor got orders to evacuate it, without waiting for the
English to come up to take possession.
"Well, since I have been at Savandroog, I have thought often of trying
to get away. By the time I got there, I had learned to speak the
language fairly enough to make my way across the country, and I have
been living in hopes that, somehow or other, I might get possession of
a rope long enough to let myself down the rocks. But, as I told you, I
have never so much as seen one up there twenty feet long.
"I did think of gradually buying enough cotton cloth to twist up and
make a rope of; but you see, when one has been years in captivity, one
loses a lot of one's energy. If I had been worse off, I should have
set about the thing in earnest; but you see, I was not badly treated
at all. I was always doing odd carpentering jobs for the colonel and
officers, and armourer's work at the guns. Any odd time I had over, I
did jobs for the soldiers and their wives. I got a good many little
presents, enough to keep me in decent clothes and decent food--if you
can call the food you have up there decent--and to provide me with
tobacco; so that, except that I was a prisoner, and for the thought of
my wife and you, I had really nothing to grumble about, and was indeed
better off than anyone in the fortress, except the officers. So you
see, I just existed, always making up my mind that some day I should
see a good chance of making my escape, but not really making any
preparations towards casting off my moorings.
"Now, Dick, it must be past twelve o'clock, and I am dog tired. How
far have we to ride tomorrow?"
"It is thirty-five miles from Oussoor to Kistnagherry, which will be
far enough for us to go tomorrow, and then another five-and-twenty
will take us down to Tripataly. As the horses have gone about forty
miles, it would be a long journey for them to go right through
tomorrow."
"I don't think I could do it, Dick, if they could. I expect I shall be
stiffer tomorrow than I am now. Eager as I am to see your dear mother,
I don't want to have to be lifted off my horse when I arrive there,
almost speechless with fatigue."
The next day they rode on to Kistnagherry, passing a small frontier
fort without question. They slept at the post house there, Dick and
Surajah having removed their scarves and emblems of rank, as soon as
they passed the frontier, in order to escape all inquiries. They
started next morning at daybreak, and arrived within sight of
Tripataly at ten o'clock.
"Now, Father, I will gallop on," Dick said. "I must break the news to
Mother, before you arrive."
"Certainly, Dick," his father, who had scarcely spoken since they
started, replied. "I have been feeling very anxious about it, all the
morning; for though, as you tell me, she has never lost faith in my
being alive, my return cannot but be a great shock to her."
Dick rode on, and on arriving at the palace was met in the courtyard
by the Rajah, who was on the point of going out on horseback. He
dismounted at once.
"I am truly glad to see you back, Dick, for your mother has been in a
sad state of anxiety about you. Eight days ago, she started up from a
nap she was taking, in the middle of the day, and burst out crying,
saying that she was certain you were in some terrible danger, though
whether you were killed or not she could not say. Since then she has
been in a bad state. She has scarcely closed an eye, and has spent her
whole time in walking restlessly up and down."
"It is quite true that I was in great danger, Uncle, and I am sorry
indeed that she is in this state, for my coming home will be a shock
to her; and she has an even greater one to bear. Surajah and I have
rescued my father, and he will be here in a few minutes."
"I congratulate you," the Rajah said warmly. "That is news,
indeed--news that I, for one, never expected to hear. It is simply
marvellous, Dick. However, I am sure that your mother is not fit to
bear it, at present. I will go up now, and tell Gholla to break your
return gradually to her. I will say nothing about your father to your
aunt. As soon as the news that you are here is broken, you must go to
your mother. Tell her as little as possible. Pretend that you are
hungry, and have a meal sent up, and persuade her to take some
nourishment; then declare, positively, that you won't tell her
anything about your adventures, until she has had a long sleep. Gholla
will prepare a sleeping draught for her.
"In the meantime, I will ride off, directly I have seen my wife, to
meet Surajah and your father, and bring him on here. I sha'n't tell
anyone who he is, in case a chance word should come to your mother's
ears. If she wakes up again this evening, and asks for you, you must
judge for yourself whether to tell her anything, or to wait until
morning. You might, perhaps, if she seems calm, gladden her with the
news that, from what you have heard, you have very strong hopes that a
prisoner in keeping at one of the hill forts is your father. Then,
tomorrow morning, you can tell her the whole truth. Now I will run up
to Gholla. There is no time to be lost."
"I shall be in the dining room, Uncle, when I am wanted."
A few minutes later, Gholla came in hastily.
"Your mother has fainted, Dick. I broke the news to her very gently,
but it was too much for her, in her weak state. When she comes round
again, and is able to talk, I will fetch you. In the meantime, I will
send Annie in to you."
Two minutes later the girl ran in with a flushed face, threw herself
into Dick's arms, and kissed him.
"I can't help it, Dick," she said, "so it is of no use your scolding
me. This is a surprise. Who would have thought of your coming back so
soon? But it is lucky you did. Your mother has been in a sad way, and
she was so sure that you had been in some terrible danger, that I have
been almost as anxious as she has. And now, it seems that I need not
have frightened myself at all."
"I was in great danger, Annie. Just at the time my mother dreamt about
me, Surajah, Ibrahim, and I were attacked by a party of Stranglers,
disguised as merchants; and if it had not been that I had some strange
suspicion of them, we should all have been murdered. As it was, we
shot the whole gang, who, fortunately for us, had no firearms."
"It must have been your mother who warned you," Annie said gravely.
"She told us that she dreamt you were in some terrible danger, though
she could not remember what it was, and she tried with all her might
to warn you."
"Perhaps it was that, Annie. I don't know why I suspected them so
strongly--Surajah quite laughed at the idea. Anyhow, it saved our
lives.
"And how are you getting on, Annie? Are you happy?"
"Oh, so happy!" she exclaimed. "At least, I was until your mother got
ill, and I was working very hard at my lessons; but of course that has
all been stopped, as far as taking them from her is concerned. But I
have gone on working, and the Rajah's sons have been very good, and
helped me sometimes, and I begin to read words of two letters. And
what has brought you back so soon?"
"That I can't tell you yet, Annie. I will only tell you that it is not
bad news; and no one but my uncle will know more than that, till I
have told my mother--even my aunt won't hear it."
"Has Surajah come back too, Dick?"
"Yes; I heard horses in the courtyard just now, and I have no doubt it
was him. I rode on first, being anxious to see my mother."
They chatted for a few minutes. Then the Rajah came to the door, and
called Dick into the next room.
"I have settled your father in the room at the other end of the
gallery, Dick. He agreed with me that it was better for him to keep
there, by himself, until you have told your mother that he is here. I
have just ordered a meal to be sent, and after that will send my
barber in to shave him. He says your mother will never recognise him,
with all that hair on his face. I am going to see if something cannot
be done to take the stain off his face, and shall then set half a
dozen tailors to work on some dark blue cloth, to turn him out a suit
before tomorrow morning, in what he calls sailor fashion, so that he
may appear before your mother in something like the style in which she
remembers him."
A few minutes later Gholla came in, and said that Mrs. Holland was
ready for Dick to go in to her. Dick found his mother looking pale and
weak; but the joy of his coming had already brightened her eyes, and
given a faint flush to her cheeks.
"I have been so dreadfully anxious, Dick," she said, after the first
embrace. "I was certain you had been in some terrible danger."
"I have been, but thank God I escaped; owing, I think, to the warning
Annie says you tried to give me. But we must not talk about that now.
I will tell you all the story tomorrow. You are not fit to talk. You
must take some broth, and some wine, and a sleeping draught; and I
hope you will go off, and not wake up till tomorrow morning.
"Now, you do as I tell you. While you are drinking your broth, I will
go in and take something to eat, for I have had nothing today, and am
as hungry as a hunter. Then I will come back, and sit by you till you
go off to sleep."
He was not long away, but he was met at the door by his aunt, who
said:
"She has gone off already, Dick. I have no doubt that she will sleep
many hours, but if she wakes, I will let you know at once."
"If that is the case, Gholla," the Rajah, who had come in at the same
moment, said, "I can let you into a secret, which no one but myself
knows yet, but which, now that Margaret is asleep, can be told."
Gholla was very pleased when she heard the news, and Dick went off at
once to his father. It was a great relief, to the latter, to know that
his wife had gone off to sleep, and would probably be well enough to
have the news broken to her in the morning.
"I hear that you are preparing for the meeting, Father, by getting
yourself shaved, and having a blue cloth suit made?"
"Yes, Dick. I should like to be as much like my old self as possible."
"I don't think Mother will care much what you look like, Father.
Still, it is very natural that you should want to get rid of all that
hair."
"What bothers me, lad," Captain Holland went on, putting his hand to
the back of his neck, "is this shaved spot here. Of course, with the
turban on and the native rig, it was all right, but it will look a rum
affair in English clothes."
Dick could not help laughing at his father's look of perplexity.
"Well, Father, it is just the same with myself. I have not changed
yet, but when I do, the hair above, which is now tucked up under the
turban, will be quite long enough to come down to the nape of the
neck, and hide that bare place till the hair grows again."
"Yes; I did not think of that. My hair is long enough to come down
over my shoulders. I was going to tell the barber to cut it short all
over, but I will see now that he allows for that."
"Now, Father, do you mind my bringing in Annie Mansfield? I know she
will be wanting to keep close to me all day, and I should never be
able to get rid of her, without telling her about you."
"Bring her in by all means, Dick. She must be a plucky young girl, by
what you said about her."
"Where have you been, Dick?" Annie inquired, when Dick went out a few
minutes later. "I have been looking for you everywhere. Nobody had
seen you, unless it was the Rajah. I asked him, and he said that
little girls must not ask questions, and then laughed.
"You have not brought home another white girl?" she exclaimed
suddenly.
"Would it not be very nice for you to have a companion, Annie?"
"No," she said sharply; "I should not like it at all."
"Well, I will take you in to see her, and I think you will like her.
"No; I am only joking," he broke off, as he saw tears start into her
eyes. "It is not another girl. But you shall see for yourself."
He took her hand, and led her to his father's room.
"There, Annie, this is the gentleman who has come back with me this
time."
Annie looked at Captain Holland in surprise, and then turned her eyes
to Dick for an explanation.
"He is a respectable-looking old native, isn't he, Annie?"
"Yes, he looks respectable," Annie said gravely; "but he doesn't look
very old. Why has he come down with you, Dick? He can't have been a
slave."
"But I have, lass," the captain said, in English, to Annie's intense
astonishment. "I have been in their hands a year or so longer than you
were."
Annie turned impulsively to Dick, and grasped his arm.
"Oh, Dick," she said, in an excited whisper. "Is it--is it your
father, after all?"
"Ay, lass," the captain answered for him. "I am the boy's father, and
a happy father, too, as you may guess, at finding I have such a son.
And I hear he has been a good friend to you, too."
"Oh, he has, he has indeed!" Annie cried, running forward and seizing
his hands in both of hers. "I don't think there ever was anyone so
kind and good."
"What bosh, Annie!" Dick exclaimed, almost crossly.
"Never mind what he says, my dear. You and I know all about it. Now we
can do very well without him, for a time. He can go and tell his uncle
and cousins all about his adventures, which, I have no doubt, they are
dying to hear; and you and I can sit here, and exchange confidences
until my barber comes. I don't look much like an Englishman now, but I
hope that they will be able to get me something that will take this
stain off my face."
Mrs. Holland did not wake till evening. She seemed very much better,
and had a short chat with Dick. She would have got up, had he not told
her that he should be going to bed himself, in a short time, and that
all his story would keep very well until the morning, when he hoped to
find her quite herself again.
By dint of the application of various unguents, and a vast amount of
hard scrubbing, Captain Holland restored his face to its original hue.
"I look a bit sunburnt," he said, "but I have often come back, browner
than this, from some of my voyages."
"You look quite like yourself, in your portrait at home, Father," Dick
said. "It is the shaving and cutting your hair, even more than getting
off the dye, that has made the difference. I don't think you look much
older than you did then, except that there are a few grey hairs."
"I shall look better tomorrow, Dick, when I get these outlandish
things off. I have been trying on my new suit, and I think it will do,
first rate. Those clothes that you wore on board ship, and handed to
them as a model, gave them the idea of what I wanted."
And indeed, the next morning, when Captain Holland appeared in his new
suit, Dick declared that he looked just as if he had walked down from
his picture. The ranee had agreed to break the news to Mrs. Holland,
as soon as she was dressed. She came into the room where the others
were waiting for breakfast, and said to Captain Holland:
"Come. She knows all, and has borne it well."
She led him to the door of Mrs. Holland's room, and opened it. As he
entered there was a cry of:
"Oh Jack! My Jack!"
Then she closed it behind him, and left husband and wife together.
A few days afterwards, there was a family consultation.
"Now, Dick," his father said, "we must settle about your plans. You
know we have decided upon going home, by the next ship, and taking
Annie with us, without waiting for her father's letter. Of course I
shall have no difficulty in finding out, when I get there, what his
address is. I have promised your mother to give up the sea, and settle
down again at Shadwell, where I can meet old friends and shall feel at
home. We have had a long talk over what you said the other night,
about your insisting that we should take the money those jewels of
yours fetch. Well, we won't do that."
"Then I will sell them, Father," Dick said positively, "and give the
money to a hospital!"
"I have not finished yet, Dick. We won't take all the money, but we
have agreed that we will take a quarter of it. Of course, we could
manage on my savings, as your mother did when I was away. We shall
lose the little allowance the Company made her, but I shall buy a
share in a ship with my money, which will bring in a good deal better
rate of interest than she got for it in the funds, so we could still
manage very well. Still, as we feel that it would please you, we agree
to take a quarter of the money the jewels fetch; and that, with what I
have, will give us an income well beyond our wants. So that is
settled.
"Now, about yourself. I really don't think that you can do better than
what you proposed, when we were talking of it yesterday. You would be
like a fish out of water, in England, if you had nothing to occupy
your time; and therefore can't do better than enter the Service here,
and remain, at any rate, for a few years.
"As your commission was dated from the time you joined Lord
Cornwallis, two and a half years ago, you won't be at the bottom of
the tree, and while you are serving you will want no money here, and
the interest of your capital will be accumulating. If I invest it in
shipping for you, you will get eight or ten percent for it; and as I
shall pick good ships, commanded by men I know, and will divide the
money up in small shares, among half a dozen of them, there will be
practically no risk--and of course the vessels will be insured. So
that, at the end of ten years, by reinvesting the profits, your money
will be more than doubled, and you will have a nice fortune when you
choose to come home, even if the jewels do not fetch anything like
what you expect."
A week later the party journeyed down to Madras, where they stayed for
a fortnight. Dick, on his arrival, called upon the governor, who
congratulated him most heartily when he heard that he had succeeded in
finding and releasing his father, and at once appointed him to one of
the native cavalry regiments; and his parents had the satisfaction of
seeing him in uniform before they started. Annie showed but little
interest in the thought of going to England, and being restored to her
parents, being at the time too much distressed at parting from Dick to
give any thought to other matters. But at last the goodbyes were all
said, and, as the anchor was weighed, Dick returned on shore in a surf
boat, and next day joined his regiment.
Surajah had wanted to accompany him to Madras, and to enlist in any
regiment to which he might be appointed; and the assurance that it
might be a long time before he became a native officer, as these were
always chosen from the ranks, except in the case of raising new
regiments, had little influence with him. The Rajah, however, had
finally persuaded him to stay, by the argument that his father, who
was now getting on in years, would sorely miss him; that the captain
of the troop would also be retiring shortly; and that he should, as a
reward for his faithful services to his nephew, appoint him to the
command as soon as it was vacant. Ibrahim entered the Rajah's service,
preferring that to soldiering.