The white sand plain surrounding Chunda was dotted with the tents of
the Mahratta force Sirdar Baptiste commanded. And the Sirdar, his soul
athirst for a go at the English, whom he hated with the same rabid
ferocity that possessed the soul of Nana Sahib, was busy. From
Pondicherry he had inveigled French gunners; and from Goa, Portuguese.
Also these renegade whites were skilled in drill. If Holkar and
Bhonsla did their part it would be Armageddon when the hell that was
brewing burst.
But Baptiste feared the Pindari. As he swung here and there on his
Arab the horse's hoofs seemed to pound from the resonant sands the
words "Amir Khan--Amir Khan! Pin-dar-is, Pin-dar-is!"
It was as he discussed this very thing with his Minister, Dewan Sewlal,
that Nana Sahib swirled up the gravelled drive to the bungalow on his
golden-chestnut Arab, in his mind an inspiration gleaned from something
that had been.
His greeting of the two was light, sporty; his thin well-chiselled face
carried the bright indifferent vivacity of a fox terrier.
"Good day, Sirdar," he cried gaily; and, "How listen the gods to your
prayers, my dear Dewani?"
Baptiste, out of the fulness of his heart soon broached the troublous
thing: "Prince," he begged, "obtain from the worthy Peshwa a command
and I'll march against this wolf, Amir Khan, and remove from our path
the threatened danger."
Nana Sahib laughed; his white, even teeth were dazzling as the
black-moustached lip lifted.
"Sirdar, when I send two Rampore hounds from my kennel to make the kill
of a tiger you may tackle Amir Khan. Even if we could crumple up this
blighter it's not cricket--we need those Pindari chaps--but not as dead
men. Besides, I detest bloodshed."
The Dewan rolled his bulbous eyes despairingly: "If Sindhia would send
ten camel loads of gold to this accursed Musselman, we could sleep in
peace," he declared.
"If it were a woman Sindhia would," Nana Sahib sneered.
Baptiste laughed.
"It is a wisdom, Prince, for that is where the revenue goes: women are
a curse in the affairs of men," the Dewan commented.
"With four wives your opinion carries weight, Dewani," and Nana Sahib
tapped the fat knee of the Minister with his riding whip.
Baptiste turned to the Prince. "There will be trouble over these
Pindaris; your friends, the English--eh, Nana Sahib--"
As though the handsome aquiline face of the Peshwa's son had been
struck with a glove it changed to the face of a devil; the lips
thinned, and shrinking, left the strong white teeth bare in a wolf's
snarl. Under the black eyebrows the eyes gleamed like fire-lit amber;
the thin-chiselled nostrils spread and through them the palpitating
breath rasped a whistling note of suppressed passion.
"Sirdar," he said, "never call me Nana Sahib again. The English call
me that, but I wait--must wait; I smile and suffer. I am Dandhu Panth,
a Brahmin. The English so loved me that they tried to make an
Englishman of me, but, by Brahm! they taught me hate, which is their
lot till the sea swallows the last of the accursed breed and
Mahrattaland is free!"
Nana Sahib was panting with the intensity of his passion. He paced the
floor flicking at his brown boots with his whip, and presently whirled
to say with a sneering smile on his thin lips:
"The English can teach a man just one thing--to die for his ideals."
"Yes, Prince, of a certainty the Englishman knows how to die for his
country," Baptiste agreed in a soldier's tribute to courage.
"And for another nation's country," Nana Sahib rasped. "He is a born
pirate, a bred pirate--we in India know that; and that, General, is why
I am a Brahmin, because they alone will free Mahrattaland--faith,
ideals. Forms! the gods to me are not more than show-pieces. That
Kali spreads the cholera is one with the idea that the little
red-daubed stone Linga gets the woman a male child, false; these things
are in ourselves, and in Brahm. The priests sacrifice to Shiva, but I
will sacrifice to Mahrattaland, which to me is the supreme God."
Jean Baptiste looked out of his wise grey eyes into the handsome face
and felt a thrill, an awakening, the terrible sincerity of the speaker.
At times the ferocity in the eyes when he had spoken of sacrifice
caused the free-lance soldier to shiver. A blur of red floated before
his eyes--something of a fateful forecasting that some day the awful
storm that was brewing would break, and the fanatical Brahmin in front
of him would call for English blood to glut his hate. It was the more
appalling that Nana Sahib was so young. Closing his eyes Baptiste
heard the voice of an English Oxonian that perhaps should be chortling
of polo and cricket and racing; and yet the more danger--the
youthfulness of the agent of destruction; like a Napoleon--a corporal
as a boy. "_C'est la guerre_!" the French officer murmured.
Then, as a storm passing is often followed by smiling sunshine, so the
mood of Nana Sahib changed. He had the volatile temperament of a
Latin, and now he turned to the Minister, his face having undergone a
complete metamorphosis: "Dewani," he said, "do you remember when a
certain raja sent his Prime Minister and twenty thousand men to punish
Pertab for not paying his taxes, and Pertab gave one Bhart, a Bagree,
ten thousand rupees and a village to bring him the Minister's
head--which he did, tied to the inside of his brass-studded shield?"
"Yes, Prince; that is a way of this land."
Nana Sahib drew forth a gold cigarette case, lighted a cigarette from a
fireball that stood in a brass cup, and gazed quizzically at the Dewan.
There was a little hush. This story had set Jean Baptiste's nerves
tingling; there was something behind it.
The Dewan half guessed what was in the air, but he blinked his big eyes
solemnly, and reaching for a small lacquer box took from it a Ran leaf,
with a finger smeared some ground lime on it, and wrapping the leaf
around a piece of betel-nut popped it into his capacious mouth.
"These Bagrees are in the protection of Rajas, Karowlee, are they not?"
Nana Sahib asked.
"Yes, Prince; even some of Bhart's relatives are there--one Ajeet
Singh; he's a celebrated leader of these decoits."
"And Sindhia took from Karowlee some territory, didn't he?"
"Yes; Karowlee refused to pay the taxes."
"I should think the Raja would like to have it back."
"No doubt, Prince."
Nana Sahib, holding the cigarette to his lips between two fingers gazed
mockingly at the large-paunched Brahmin. Then he said; "I see the
illuminating light of understanding in your eyes, Dewani--a subtle
comprehension. Small wonder that you are Minister to the delightful
Sindhia. If you are making any promises to Karowlee, I should make
them in the name of Sindhia--through Sirdar Baptiste, of course. And,
Dewani, this restless cuss, Amir Khan, might make a treaty with the
English any time. The dear fish-eyed Resident has been particularly
active--my spies can hardly keep up with him. I shouldn't lose any
time--Ajeet Singh sounds promising."
Nana Sahib drew a slim flat gold watch from his pocket. "I now must
leave you two interesting gentlemen," he said, "for I am to play a few
chuckers of polo with--particularly, Captain Barlow. He is jackal to
the bloodless Resident. I really thought a couple of days ago that he
would have to be sent home on sick leave. One of my officers rode him
off the ball in a fierce drive for goal, and by some devilish mistake
the post hadn't been sawed half-through, so when Barlow crashed into it
it stood up. As he lay perfectly still after his cropper it looked as
though Resident Hodson had lost his jackal. But Barlow is one of those
whip-cord Englishmen that die of old age; he was in the saddle again in
two days. Well, _au revoir_ and salaam."
When the clattering scurry of Nana Sahib's Arab had died out Baptiste
turned to the Dewan, saying:
"Well?"
"I will write the letter to Raja Karowlee, but you must sign it,
Sirdar; also furnish a fast riding camel and a trusty officer," the
Dewan answered simply.
"But Nana Sahib was nebulous--we may be made the goat of sacrifice."
"It is a wisdom, Sirdar; but, also, it is from the Prince an order; and
my office is always one of blame when there are excuses to make--it is
always that way. When a head is required the Dewan's is always
offered."