"For the love of Alla! young man," cried a low and sweet voice as I
passed under the gateway of a respectable-looking house; "for the love
of Alla, enter, and save my mistress!"
Fresh adventures, thought I, as I looked at the speaker, a young girl,
dressed like a slave. "Who are you?"
"It matters not," said the speaker; "did you not pass this way
yesterday afternoon, in company with two others?"
"I did, and what of that?"
"Everything; my mistress, who is more beautiful than the moon at its
full, saw you and has gone mad about you."
"I am sorry," said I, "but I do not see how I can help her."
"But you must," said the girl; "you must, or she will die; follow me,
and I will lead you to her."
I hesitated, for I had heard strange stories of lures spread for unwary
persons--how they were enticed into houses for the gratification of
wicked women, and then murdered. But the thought was only momentary.
"Courage! Ameer Ali," said I to myself; "trust to your good Nusseeb,
and follow it up. Inshalla! there will be some fun."
"Look you," said I to the girl, "you see I am well armed; I will follow
you, but if violence is shown, those who oppose me will feel the edge
of a sharp sword."
"I swear by your head," said the girl, "there is no danger. My lord is
gone into the country, and has taken all the men with him; there is no
one in the house beside myself but two slaves and three old women."
"Then lead on," said I; "I follow you."
She entered the gateway and conducted me through a court into an open
room, where sat a girl, richly dressed and of great beauty; but she
covered herself immediately with her dooputta, and cried when she saw
me, "Ya Alla! it is he; am I so fortunate?"
"Yes, lady," said I, "your slave is at your feet, and prays you to
remove that veil which hides a hoori of paradise from the gaze of a
true believer."
"Go," said she faintly; "now that you are here I dare not look on you;
go, in the name of Alla! what will you not have thought of me?"
"That your slave is the most favoured of his race," said I; "I beseech
you to look on me, and then bid me depart if you will."
"I cannot," said the fair girl, "I cannot, I dare not; ah, nurse, what
have you made me do?"
The old woman made me a sign to take the veil from her face, and I did
so gently: she faintly opposed me, but it was in vain; in an instant I
had removed it, and a pair of the loveliest eyes I had ever seen fixed
their trembling gaze upon me--another, and I had clasped her to my
heart.
"That is right," said the old woman; "I like to see some spirit in a
lover; Mashalla! he is a noble youth;" and she came and cracked her
fingers over my head.
"Now I will leave you," said she; "you have a great deal to say to each
other, and the night is wearing fast."
"No, no, no!" cried the girl; "do not leave us; stay, good nurse, I
dare not trust myself with him alone."
"Nonsense," cried the old woman, "this is foolishness; do not mind her,
noble sir;" and she left the room.
"Lady," said I, "fear not, your slave may be trusted;" and I removed
from her, and sat down at the edge of the carpet.
"I know not what you will think of me, Sahib," she said, "and I am at
a loss how to confess that I was enamoured of you as I saw you pass my
house yesterday; but so it was; my liver turned to water as I looked on
your beauty, and I pined for you till my attendants thought I should
have died. They said they would watch for you, and Alla has heard my
prayer and sent you."
"He has sent a devoted slave," said I; "one whose soul burns with love,
such as that of the bulbul to the rose: speak, and I will do your
bidding."
"Hear my history, and you will know then how I am to be pitied," said
the fair girl; "and it is told in a few words. I was the daughter of
humble parents, but I was, as you see me--they say I am beautiful; they
married me to my husband,--so they said,--but they sold me. Sahib, he
is old, he is a tyrant, he has beaten me with his shoe, and I have
sworn on his Koran that I will no longer remain under his roof. Yes, I
have sworn it: I would have fled yesterday, but I saw you, and I prayed
Alla to send you, and he has done so. Now think of me what you please,
but save me!" And she arose, and throwing herself at my feet clasped my
knees. "You will not refuse me protection? if you do, and your heart
is hard towards me, one thing alone remains--I have prepared a bitter
draught, and to-morrow's sun will look upon my dead body."
"Alla forbid! lady," said I. "He who has sent me to you has sent you a
willing and a fearless slave: fly with me this instant, and I will lead
you to a father who will welcome you, and a land far away where our
flight will never be discovered."
"Now--so soon?" she exclaimed.
"Ay, lady, now; leave your house this moment; I will protect you with
my life."
"I dare not, Sahib, I dare not; ah, what would become of us if we were
discovered? you would escape, but I--you know a woman's fate if she is
detected in intrigue."
"Then what can be done?" said I. "Alas! I am a stranger in the city,
and know not what to advise."
"I will call my nurse; let us leave all to her.--Kulloo!"
The old woman entered. "What are your commands?" said she.
"Listen," said I; "I love your fair charge with an intensity of
passion; this is no place for us to give ourselves up to love, for
there is danger, and we must fly: I am a stranger in the city, and am
on the eve of departure for my home, which is in Hindostan, and whither
I will convey her safely; she is willing to accompany me, and your aid
and advice are all that is required."
"To fly! to leave home and every one for Hindostan, and with one
unknown! Azimabee, this is madness; how know you who he is, and where
he will take you? I will not assist you. I was willing that you should
have a lover, and helped you to get one; but this is mere madness--we
shall be ruined."
"Mother," said I, "I am no deceiver; I swear by your head and eyes I
can be faithful; do but help two poor creatures whose affections are
fixed upon each other, and we will invoke the blessings of the prophet
on your head to the latest day of our lives. I leave here to-morrow;
my father is a merchant and accompanies me; he has ample wealth for us
both, and I am his only child: we shall soon be beyond any chance of
pursuit, and in our happiness will for ever bless you as the author of
it. Ah, nurse, cannot you contrive something? is there no spot on the
road past Golconda which you could fix on for our meeting? I can reward
you richly, and now promise you one hundred rupees, if you will do my
bidding."
Azima gathered courage at my words, and fell at the feet of the old
woman. "Kulloo!" she cried, "have you not known me as a child? have I
not loved you from infancy? Alas! I have neither mother nor father now;
and has _he_ not beaten me with a shoe? have I not sworn to quit this
house? and did you not swear on my head you would aid me?"
"What can I do? what can I do?" cried the nurse; "alas, I am helpless;
what can an old woman like me do?"
"Anything, everything," I exclaimed; "woman's wit never yet failed at a
pinch."
"Did you not say you had made a vow to visit the Durgah of Hoosain Shah
Wullee?" cried Azima; "and did not you say you would take me to present
a nuzzur at the shrine of the holy saint, if I recovered from my last
illness?"
"Thou hast hit it, my rose," said the nurse; "I had forgotten my vow.
Sahib, can you meet us at the Durgah to-morrow at noon?"
"Assuredly," said I, "I will be present. Good nurse, do not fail
us, and another fifty shall be added to the hundred I have already
promised."
"May your condescension and generosity increase!" cried she. "Sahib,
I have loved this fair girl from her infancy, and though it will go
sorely against my heart, I will give her into your hands rather than
she should be further exposed to the indignities she has already
undergone."
"Thanks, thanks, good nurse, I believe you; but swear on her head that
you will not break your faith."
"I swear," said the old woman, placing her hands on Azima's head, "I
swear she shall be thine."
"Enough," I cried, "I am content; now, one embrace and I leave you. I
shall be missed by my father, and he will fear I am murdered in this
wild city."
We took a long, passionate embrace, and I tore myself from her.
"To-morrow," I cried, "and at the Durgah we will meet, never again to
part. So cheer thee, my beloved, and rouse all your energies for what
is before you. To-morrow will be an eventful day to us both, and I pray
the good Alla a prosperous one."
"It will, it will," cried the nurse; "fear not for anything. Nurgiz is
faithful, and shall accompany us; the rest are long ago asleep, and
know not you are here. But now begone; further delay is dangerous, and
Nurgiz will lead you to the street."
She called, and the same slave who had ushered me in led the way to the
door. "By your soul, noble sir, by your father and mother, do not be
unfaithful, or it will kill her."
"I need not swear, pretty maiden," said I; "your mistress's beauty has
melted my heart, and I am hers for ever."
"Then may Alla protect you, stranger! That is your road, if you go by
the one you came yesterday."
I turned down the street and was soon at home. My father was asleep,
and I lay down; but, Alla! Alla! how my heart beat and my head
throbbed! A thousand times I wished I had carried off the beautiful
Azima; a thousand times I cursed my own folly for having left her,
when by a word from me she would have forsaken home and every tie and
followed me; but it was too late. In the midst of conflicting thoughts
and vain regrets I fell asleep; but I had disturbed dreams. I thought
her dishonoured lord had surprised us as we tasted draughts of love,
and a sword glittered over his head, with which he was about to revenge
his disgrace. Again I fancied one of the Moolas of the Durgah to be
him; and just as she was about to depart with us, and was stepping into
a cart, he rushed to her and seized her, and I vainly endeavoured to
drag her from him. I woke in the excitement of the dream, and my father
stood over me.
"What, in the name of the Prophet, is the matter with you, Ameer Ali,
my son?" cried the old man. "It is the hour of prayer, I came to
awake you, and I find you tossing wildly in your sleep and calling on
some one, though I could not distinguish the name; it sounded like a
woman's--Azima, I think. What have you been about? Had you any bunij
last night?"
Bunij was the cant phrase for our victims, and I shuddered at the ideas
it called up. "No, no," I said, "nothing. Let me go and perform my
ablutions; I will join you in the Namaz. It will compose my thoughts,
and I will tell you."
Our prayers finished, I related my adventures of the past night. He
laughed heartily at my relation of the scene with Zora's mother, and
declared I had served her rightly; but when I came to that with Azima,
his countenance was changed and troubled; however, he heard me to the
end without interruption, and I augured favourably from it. I concluded
all by throwing myself at his feet and imploring his sanction to our
union.
"You have gone too far to retract, Ameer Ali," said he. "If you do
not fulfil your promise to Azima she will drink the poison she has
prepared; you will be one cause of her death, and it will lie heavy
on your conscience; therefore on this account I give you my sanction.
I am now old, a few years must see my end, and all I have long wished
for is to marry you respectably and to see your children. I endeavoured
to effect a marriage-contract in Hindostan before we left, but I was
unable to do so. There is now no occasion for one; you have made your
choice and must abide by it; Alla has sent you your bride and you must
take her--take her with my blessing; and you say she is beautiful, in
which you are fortunate. Money you will want, as you have promised
some to the nurse; if she is faithful, give her from me an additional
fifty rupees; and you had better take gold with you,--it will be easier
carried."
"Spoken like my beloved and honoured father!" I exclaimed, "and I am
now happy. I ask your blessing, and leave you to carry our plans into
execution. We shall meet again at Puttuncherroo in the evening."
"Inshalla! we shall," he replied. "Be wary and careful. I apprehend no
danger; but you had better take some men with you."
"I will," said I, as I rose to depart; "I will take some of my own,
whom I can trust;" and I left him. My horse was soon ready and my men
prepared; but some conveyance was necessary for Azima, and I ran to a
house a short distance off where dwelt a man who had a cart for hire. I
had been in previous treaty with him, to be ready in case I should get
intelligence of Zora, and had engaged him to go as far as Beeder.
"Come," said I, "Fazil, I am ready and the time is come."
"And the lady?" said the fellow, grinning.
"Ah, she is ready too, only make haste, we have not a moment to lose."
"Give me twenty rupees for my mother, and I will harness the bullocks
and put in the cushions and pillows."
"Here they are," said I; "now be quick--by your soul be quick!"
"I will be back instantly," said he; and he disappeared inside his
house, but returned almost immediately with the cushions and curtains
of his cart.
"There," said he, as he completed his preparations and jumped on the
pole, where was his driving-seat, "you see I have not been long. Now
whither shall I drive? to the city?"
"No," said I; "to Hussain Shah Wullee's Durgah. Do you precede, and we
will follow you, for I know not the road."
"I know it well," said he; "follow me closely."
"Does it lead through the Begum Bazar or the Karwan?" I asked.
"Through both, or either, just as you please."
"And is there no other way?"
"There is, but it is somewhat longer. We must go by the English
residence and turn up towards the Gosha Mahal; the road will lead us
far behind both the Karwan and Begum Bazar."
"That will do," said I; "I wish to avoid both."
"Bismilla! then," cried the driver, "let us proceed;" and twisting the
tails of his bullocks, a few gentle hints from his toes about their
hind-quarters set them off into a trot, which, however, they exchanged
for a more sober pace before we had got far. I allowed him to proceed
to some distance, and then put my small party in motion.