CHAPTER X
_TAKEN CAPTIVE_
Rupert, when he heard those words of Marian, gave a laugh, andadvanced a step towards me.
"There now, you see how it is," he said, "as I told you long ago inYarmouth; but you wouldn't believe me. Come, why need we keep up ourquarrel any longer, when the girl tells you to your face that sheprefers me? After all, we are of the same blood, good Norfolkdumplings both; and if I have done you any injury in the past, I amhere ready to tender my best amends for it."
He spoke this with a brave air, and I believe was going to offer mehis hand. I must confess that I was a little touched with compunctionat that mention of Norfolk, where I was born. Something, too, of thatold superiority and fascination which this man had exercised over mein my boyhood revived as he spoke. But the memory of his subsequenttreacheries and crimes was too strong for me to feel more than amomentary inclination towards yielding. I drew back from him,therefore, and shook my head.
"If we are related, it is a thing I cannot help, though it is to myshame," I answered him. "But I will have no more part nor lot withyou, were you the last of my kin left on earth. Do not suppose that,because Marian is so far bewitched that she has forgiven you yourwicked treatment of her, I shall do the same. What are you now but atraitor to your countrymen, and a spy in the service of a bloodyIndian tyrant? Rupert Gurney, I must tell you that I hold you for adetestable villain and a coward, and I will pursue you without truceand without rest till I have rid the earth of such a wretch. And I amhere now ready to begin."
My anger against him gathered and swelled as I spoke, recalling hisbase actions, so different from his words. He immediately let me seethat his behaviour was not changed, for before I had well donespeaking he suddenly raised his pistol and discharged it in my face;after which he turned and ran out through the doorway, without waitingto see the result of his shot. To do my cousin justice, I believe hehad plenty of natural courage, being of the right Ford strain, as hesaid. But after that great combat which we had in the boat offYarmouth river, he never faced me again without a certain reluctanceand blenching, as though his conscience misgave him.
I was very little hurt on this occasion, for the ball entered mymouth sideways, merely depriving me of two teeth, and issuing againthrough the left cheek. But the sudden pain and bleeding incommoded meso far as to hinder my pursuit of Rupert, so that he got clear awayand left the town that night, it seems, for Moorshedabad.
I reported the affair to Mr. Drake, merely concealing some details, asthat this was my kinsman; and he was so well satisfied to have got ridof him that he promised me I should receive half the reward offeredfor his capture. But the subsequent events doubtless put it out of hismind, for I never received anything. And on the whole I was satisfiedwith this, not wishing to make a profit, as it were, out of thetreachery of one of my own family, however unworthy.
Even had I succeeded in taking Gurney, and had he been executed, itwas now too late to have altered the course of events. Every daybrought fresh intelligence confirming the hostility of the Nabobtowards the English. One day he sent to demand the levelling of FortWilliam to the ground, the next he threatened the withdrawal of theCompany's privileges, and in particular the dustucks, which he saidwere abused by being lent to Gentoos, his own subjects. Finally wordcame that Surajah Dowlah had marched out of Moorshedabad with hisarmy, and had sat down before Cossimbuzar, where we had a factory anda small fort.
All this time the Governor and others of the Council had refused tobelieve that anything was intended beyond extorting a sum of moneyfrom the Company. But the wiser and more prudent ones, among whom wereMessrs. Byng and Holwell, took a different view, which they made meshare. Now at last Mr. Drake seemed to rouse from his supineness, andgave orders for the town and fort to be prepared against attack.Before these orders could be carried out, however, arrived the newsthat Mr. Watts, chief of the Cossimbuzar party, was a prisoner in theNabob's hands, that the place was surrendered, and plundered by theMoors, and that our garrison, though promised security, had been sobarbarously used by them that Mr. Elliott, the commanding officer, hadtaken his own life.
And now men began to tell each other fearful stories of Surajah Dowlahand his career. It was said that when he was a child his favouritepastime had been the torturing of birds and animals, from which, whilestill in his boyhood, he had passed to mutilating slaves; that notonly had he given himself from his earliest years to every species oforiental lust--some too vile to be named--but he was even a drunkard,a vice forbidden by the Alcoran and foreign to the manners ofIndostan. To his great-uncle, the late Nabob, who doted on him todistraction, he had shown, it was said, the basest ingratitude,insolently taking advantage of the old man's affection to accomplishhis crimes and murders with impunity, and, if restrained in any ofhis desires, to withdraw from the Court and threaten rebellion,knowing that his uncle would yield anything rather than endure theabsence of his darling. At the present moment, it was affirmed, he hadquarrelled with and set aside all the wisest and principal men in hisdominions, and was governed by minions of his own, buffoons and suchcreatures, sprung from the lowest class and promoted to high stationsas a reward for their participation in his guilty orgies. Such was theyoung man, incapable of reason or mercy, and passing from onetransport of passion to another, who was now in full march with allhis force against Calcutta, having sworn to exterminate the Englishfrom Bengal.
Immediately I found there was talk of resistance and fighting, I wentto Mr. Byng and begged to be allowed to serve with the garrison. Thisoffer he thankfully accepted, and in the course of a day or two everyother Englishman in the town either volunteered or was pressed intothe same service. Our regular garrison consisted of only two hundredEuropean troops, to which were added some Topasses, a mixed breed ofIndians and Portuguese, very suitable to be used as mercenaries, andabout a thousand of the black natives armed as buxerries, or matchlockmen. Out of regard to my having been the first to volunteer and to myformer service on board a man-of-war, I was presently appointed asergeant, and put in charge of a party of twelve men, assigned to thedefence of the rope-walk which joins the main east road from the fortto the Morattoe ditch.
Besides this ditch, begun to be dug many years before at a time whenthe Morattoe armies were invading Bengal, and never finished, therewas no fortification of any kind round the town; so that barricadeshad now to be thrown up, and guns planted in the streets at whateverpoints seemed most favourable for intercepting the advance of theenemy. The plan of defence, so far as any plan was adhered to in theconfusion and panic which prevailed, was to defend these outposts aslong as possible, then to retire into Fort William itself and stand asiege, and when the fort could be maintained no longer to take to theships which lay in the river, and drop down the stream out of reach ofthe enemy.
My own post was, as I have said, at the rope-walk. At one end of thisplace, on the main road into the town, was a battery under the commandof a captain, so disposed as to check any advance. But in case theenemy should try to creep round through some side streets and take thebattery in flank, our little party of twelve was stationed at theother end of the rope-walk, ready to detect and resist any suchattempt.
The first notice we had of the arrival of the Moors' army was by acannon fired on the north side of the town, at a place where theMorattoe ditch joined the river Hooghley. This being the direct wayfor an army coming from Moorshedabad to enter Calcutta, the Moors heremade their first attack, and all that day the sound of cannon andmusketry came to us on the breeze, without our seeing the enemy orknowing how the fortune of the day was turning. But with evening camethe good news that the enemy had been repulsed and had drawn off tothe other side of the ditch.
That night we did not dare to retire to rest indoors, but slept at ourpost, under a shed put up over some wheels on which the twine waswound. At four in the morning we were up and eating some bread andcold meat sent to us from the fort for our breakfast, when suddenly weheard a fearful rattle and crash of musketry close
at hand. The enemyhad been informed of the gap in the Morattoe ditch further south, hadswarmed across it, and were now attacking our outposts all along theline.
Leaving our meal half-eaten, we sprang to our feet and took ourweapons. I ordered the men not to expose themselves more than wasneeded, an order which one or two of them obeyed so zealously as toplace themselves where they could neither see nor be seen by theenemy, and where all they did was to load their muskets and dischargethem into the air in the direction from which the attack seemed tocome. However, I found some braver than that, and as the Moors seemedmuch afraid of our fire we held them at bay well enough. Their ownfire was more frightening than dangerous, the noise being out of allproportion to the number of persons hit. So much was this the casethat after some hours had gone by without a single ball taking effecton any member of our party, their first fears wore off and all beganto expose themselves in a very reckless manner.
There was a wall forming the side of the rope-walk, about four feethigh, and behind this wall we stood and fired at the Moors as theyshowed themselves in any of the streets commanded by our position. Icannot describe how interested and excited I got in this cruel sport,for such it resembled. I chose for myself a long, narrow streetleading to the southward, with about a dozen lanes crossing it fromeast to west. Loading my gun and resting it on the coping of the wallwith the muzzle pointed down this street, I kept my eyes on thevarious openings. Every quarter of an hour, perhaps, a small party ofsoldiers in bright silk turbans, with glittering arms and armour,would pass out from one of the lanes into this street, either crossingit or moving up or down. Each time I would wait till a whole groupemerged, so as to have a bigger target, and then discharge my piece.Almost invariably a man would fall, and the whole party, terrified andnot understanding the smallness of our force, would run into one ofthe lanes adjoining, leaving a wounded or dead man lying in thedeserted street. This went on till, I think, fifteen or twenty bodieslay at different points along the roadway, besides those who, beingslightly hurt, had crawled away into shelter.
In the end I suppose the Moorish leader in this part of the attackmust have had notice of our proceedings; for presently a force of somethirty or forty Indians emerged suddenly from a corner very near therope-walk and advanced towards us at a run, firing freely as theycame. Now it was that one of our men was hit for the first time, aCompany's servant named Parkes, a young lad who had arrived in Bengalonly six weeks before from England. A ball struck him under the righteye, and he died in a few minutes.
This accident caused the rest of us to take more care. Nevertheless,we managed to get off a good volley before the enemy could arrive asfar as the wall, wounding several. The rest wavered, and would,perhaps, have fled but for the action of their leader, a tall, fineman, having a great scymetar in his hand, with which he struck his menviolently on the shoulders to urge them forward. Seeing them resumetheir rush at our position, I looked round at my own men, and to mydisgust found several preparing to desert their places and retirefurther back.
"Stop!" I shouted angrily. "Let us show these black villains we arenot afraid of them! Fix bayonets! Forward! Charge!"
With these words I leaped over the wall and ran at the enemy, followedby my whole party, except one man, who actually threw down his pieceand fled, not stopping till he reached the fort. But he need not havedone this, for had he stood a moment he would have seen the wholeparty of Moors break and fly without waiting to close with us, so muchwere they terrified by the way in which we sprang over the wall tocome at them. And this is, indeed, the nature of all the natives ofIndostan--to give way instantly that they meet an enemy who is morebent on fighting than they are themselves.
The only person to stand his ground was the leader of the party, whowaited for us to come up, and then, singling me out, aimed a blow atme with his scymetar. Up to this moment I had been too busy to observehis face, and my rage knew no bounds when I discovered that I had todo with my renegade kinsman himself, who, it appears, had beensearching for me from the very beginning of the battle. How it wouldnow have gone between us I cannot say, for several of my men closingin round us almost immediately, Rupert saw his danger and ran off, andmy duty to defend the rope-walk forbade me from following.
For the rest of that day we were not much disturbed, except by thecontinual pattering of bullets, which seemed to come from all quartersof the compass. When night came, being anxious to learn how the siegehad progressed in other quarters, I sent a messenger to the fort, whobrought back word that the enemy had made no very great impression sofar, but that everything was in such a state of confusion and dismayat the headquarters that it was impossible we could hold out muchlonger.
Not to dwell on these particulars, the next day saw the end of thisunhappy affair. Early in the forenoon the Moors made a very hot attackon the battery at the far end of our rope-walk, and at the same time afresh party, headed by my wicked cousin, assailed our position. Irestrained my men from discharging their muskets till the Indians werewithin a few paces of us, with the result that we did great execution,nearly a dozen of them falling. The rest fell back for a moment, butGurney urging them on, they rushed up and made a desperate attempt toclamber over the wall.
While we were hard at work keeping them off with our bayonets, I hearda tremendous crash and shouting in the rear, from the point where thebattery was placed. This noise seemed greatly to encourage ourassailants, several of whom managed to get over the wall and engage inhand to hand conflicts with the men under me. Nevertheless, I stirredup my fellows to continue their resistance, and myself beat back twoMoors, one of whom I ran through the body with my bayonet. So absorbedwas I that I did not observe the approach of a young ensign from thebattery, who came running along the rope-walk, shouting out--
"Fall back! fall back! The battery is abandoned to the enemy, and theywill cut off your retreat."
At this the men with me began to slacken their exertions, and somefairly took to their heels. However, I had just caught sight of Rupertadvancing towards me and did not feel inclined to budge.
"Come back, you fool!" shouted the little ensign, pale and breathless."We are beaten, don't you hear?"
I turned my head and scowled at him.
"You seem to be beaten, sir," I said. "For my part, I am verycomfortable where I am, and intend to go on fighting."
With these words I turned to defend myself from Rupert, who was comingat me eagerly enough, as it seemed. The ensign fled without furtherparley, and I believe saved his life. So also did most of mycompanions, though two others were badly wounded, and unable to stir.For my part I was resolved to sell my life dearly, but this privilegewas denied me. For Gurney, as soon as he saw how the land lay, andthat I was left there alone, instantly drew back and ordered his mento take me a prisoner, which, being by this time about thirty or fortyagainst one, they effected, whether I would or not.
My cousin's exultation was very great when he thus had me for thesecond time in his power.
"Now, Master Athelstane," he cried, "we shall see whether you get offas lightly as you did at Gheriah. You are not likely, I think, to berescued by a fleet this time. But perhaps you will be glad that Ishould take you without more ado before the Nabob. He has a highopinion of the English, and no doubt will be glad to take you into hisservice and give you many handsome rewards."
"Rupert Gurney," I answered, "in mocking at one who is your prisoner,owing to no valour of yours, you merely show yourself to be a cowardas well as a traitor. I care nothing for what the Nabob may do to me;and this I know, that I would rather he put me to death outright thanenjoy his favour by such services as yours."
"Thank you, cousin," says Rupert, who was able to keep his temper nowthat he had the better of me. "I am glad to learn that you will notseek to undermine my credit with his Highness. But now, if you aresufficiently rested, let us proceed."
Speaking these mocking words, he made his men bind my wrists togetherwith a cord, and conducted me out of the streets of the town towardsSurajah
Dowlah's camp.
The tent of the Nabob was a fine great pavilion of yellow and crimsoncloth. All about the entrance stood his guards, very handsomelydressed, with silver and gold ornaments, and armed with all sorts ofcurious weapons, some of which I had not seen before. Inside, when wewere presently admitted, the spectacle was still more striking. TheNabob sat on a high cushion, called the musnud, placed on a daiswhich was raised several feet above the ground. On the dais beside himstood three of his principal courtiers, in silk robes and turbansincrusted with gems, while others of inferior rank stood below thesteps of the dais. A slave beat the air with a fan of peacock'sfeathers over the Nabob's head.
I gazed with great curiosity and awe upon this young prince, who wasnow making his name terrible through Bengal. I was amazed to see thathe was extremely young, scarce older than myself, with a face, Ithink, the handsomest of any Indian's I ever saw: yet his face wasmarred, and his youthfulness made unnatural by the ugly traces of hispassions. His skin appeared coarse and blotched, his lips were thickand purple-coloured, and his teeth--an unusual thing among Moors--veryblack and dirty, when he spoke. He lay back somewhat on his throne,with his chin leaning on his breast and his heavy eyes turned to theground. In spite of the waving of the fan, the heat seemed to oppresshim; or else it was the weight of his turban, for he passed his handover his brow every now and then as if he would have lifted it off.His fingers, I noticed, were much encumbered with rings, besides whichhe wore bracelets, and ear-rings in his ears. But when he lifted hiseyes from the floor and looked at me, I was appalled by the expressionin them, which was not that of common ferocity, but rather dreadfuldespair, like a lost soul that is goaded on to assuage its own pangsby the torture of others.
"Who is this dog?" he asked in a husky, soddened tone, as I wasbrought up to the foot of his dais.
"It is one of the ungrateful wretches who have dared to resist theslaves of your sublime Highness," was the answer. Rupert had come inwith me, so as to take the credit of my capture, but the conversationwith the Nabob was carried on by one of the Indians, who seemed to bethe lieutenant of the party.
"Is he one of the English?" demanded Surajah, casting an angry glanceat me.
"Your exalted wisdom has said the word. Undoubtedly he belongs to thatvile nation, whom the breath of your anger has even now destroyed."
"Ask him why his people have dared to resist my commands. Who is he?Is he one of their principal men? Ask him where is their treasure?"
Before the Indian could translate these questions I answered them inthe same language.
"I am an interpreter in the service of the Company, may it please yourHighness. I am but newly arrived in your country, and know nothing ofthe other matters you have asked about."
The Nabob gave a sullen frown.
"Take the wretch away out of my sight. He is a worthless capture," hesaid.
But one of the three men on the dais, a young, handsome Gentoo, with acruel, cunning face--I afterwards heard he was Lal Moon, the Nabob'schief favourite--bent over his master and whispered something in hisear. Instantly Surajah Dowlah sat up, furious.
"You have lied to me!" he screamed. "You speak our language, and yetyou say you are but newly arrived. That must be a lie!"
He looked round at his courtiers, and there was a murmur of admirationat his sagacity.
"Your Highness is mistaken," I said, keeping cool. "I learned theIndostanee language on my way out to the East Indies, from thesecretary of Colonel Clive."
As I pronounced this name I saw a movement among those present. TheNabob stared, not understanding to whom I referred; but an older man,with a proud, discontented, and yet apprehensive air, who also stoodon the dais, and was, I found out, Meer Jaffier, Surajah Dowlah'suncle, and commander of his armies, this man, I say, spoke inexplanation--
"The youth means that he came on the ship with Sabat Jung."
No sooner did the Nabob hear this than he changed colour.
"Are you a friend of Sabat Jung's? Is he coming to Bengal?" he asked,with scarcely concealed anxiety.
"Sabat Jung is my protector," I replied, putting on a bolder air. "Ifhe hears that any wrong has been done to the English in Calcutta, hewill surely come here and avenge them."
The courtiers exchanged looks of amazement at these words of defiance,doubtless expecting to see me led to instant execution. But I have aninstinct which tells me when a man is afraid of me, and I could seethat, for the time, Surajah Dowlah was cowed.
My cousin Gurney seized this opportunity to attract the Nabob'sattention, and take credit for his exploit. He stepped towards me andsaid, in such Indostanee as he could command--
"Silence, wretch! Sabat Jung is in the Carnatic, nor would he dare tocome into Bengal without the permission of the Lord of the English,Surajah Dowlah. When he hears of the conquest of Cossimbuzar and FortWilliam the heart of Sabat Jung will become as water."
I gave him a scornful look.
"If his Highness judges of the English by you he will be deceived," Isaid. "If you were ever to show your face in any place where SabatJung was he would have you hanged, as you very well know."
I kept my eyes fixed on the young Nabob's face as I spoke, and waspleased to see that I had made an impression. He looked uneasily fromone to the other of us, and then, before Rupert could reply, orderedus both from his presence.
I found myself kept a close prisoner for that night and a part of thenext day in the house of a rich Indian, which stood beside theMorattoe ditch. From this place I could hear some noise of gunsoccasionally, and was obliged to conjecture how the fight was goingon. There was something very trying and painful in being near enoughto a battle-field to share its anxieties without being allowed to joinin the work. But I had a pretty sure presentiment that the affairwould end badly for us, and so indeed it proved; for about four in theafternoon there was a great commotion outside the place where I wasconfined, and my guards came in to fetch me, telling me with cruelpleasure that Fort William had surrendered, and I was to be broughtthere to join the other prisoners.
I will not stay to describe the confused spectacle of the streetsthrough which we passed on our way to the fort. What struck me most,and put a deep depression upon my spirits, was to see the fierceexultation of the native Indians in our discomfiture. In this hour ofour overthrow these men, who had lived unmolested beneath ourgovernment, and thriven by means of our commerce, openly revealed allthat vehement malice and hatred toward us which is, I suppose, part oftheir nature, and not to be eradicated by any fairness of dealing. Ishould be ashamed to relate the vile things they said, and their grossbehaviour, as I was led along a prisoner. I thank God I have sincewalked through those same streets in a different trim, and had thosesame wretches bowing and grovelling on the earth as I passed.
When I arrived at the fort I was horrified to find gathered there alarge company of other English prisoners, to the number of about ahundred and fifty. Among them were both the Honourable Robert Byng andMr. Holwell, who received me with surprise, having been assured bythose men who had fought under me that they had seen me slain.Immediately after my joining them Mr. Holwell, who had become thechief of the party, was sent for by the Nabob to be examined. While hewas away Mr. Byng told me the miserable circumstances of the captureof the fort, and how the Governor, Mr. Drake, had shamefully fled awayovernight in a boat to the ships on the first alarm of the enemy'sapproach. Not content with this, he had carried off the whole of theshipping down the river to Govindpore, thus rendering hopeless thecase of the English who had not escaped along with him, and thatalthough it would have been easy to rescue them by sending a few boatsto the shore. Of this, which I believe to be the most signal act ofcowardice ever heard of, I forbear to write, lest I should fall intothe use of opprobrious language. Yet I have often marvelled that thosewho had poor Mr. Byng--I mean the Admiral--shot on his own quarterdeckfor his failure at Minorca, should have refused a gallows and a hempennoose to one who so richly deserved it as Governor Drake.
While Mr. Holwell was with the Nabob the rest of us stood under astrong guard in the courtyard of the fort, where we began to find theheat very burdensome, the more so as it was difficult to get anythingto eat or drink. While we were thus situated I saw my cousin Rupert goby, wearing a rich new turban, to wait upon the Nabob. At this periodhe appeared to be in high favour at the Court. No doubt he hadacquired influence with Surajah Dowlah by flattering his superiorityto the English.
Mr. Holwell presently returned with the news that Surajah Dowlahwas very much incensed against him, on account of the small sum foundin the treasury of the fort, which amounted only to 54,000 Rs. Theprince was firmly persuaded that the Company had somewhere concealeda vast treasure, which had been his principal motive to push theattack of the place. He had threatened Mr. Holwell very severelyunless this treasure were found, and dismissed him to consult with hisfellow-prisoners. This was bad news, for it was evidently impossibleto persuade Surajah Dowlah that there was no such treasure, and hewould therefore be inclined to look upon Mr. Holwell's failure todiscover it as mere obstinacy.
We were discussing our prospects very gloomily when a party of Moorsarrived, bringing two fresh prisoners. I felt a sudden sickness when Irecognised that these were none other than Marian herself with herfather. Old Mr. Rising seemed to be dazed, and unconscious of what washappening to him, but Marian was suffering from visible terror. Ihastened to her side, exclaiming--
"Marian, what do you do here? Why are you not gone with the otherwomen?"--for all the Englishwomen and children had been put aboard theships as soon as the Moors arrived outside the town.
Marian looked surprised and a little comforted to meet me in the samesituation as herself.
"So you are a prisoner too!" she cried. "I confess I do not understandwhat has happened to my father and me, for Rupert especially enjoinedand urged us to remain in our house, assuring us that his credit withthe Nabob would serve not merely to protect us, but to secure highplaces and rewards for himself, which he intended I should share."
She said this with a certain shame, but I was too anxious for hersafety to retain my feelings of jealousy at such a moment.
"I will send for Gurney to come here," I said. "I have just seen himgo into the Nabob's presence."
I called one of the men who kept guard over us, and bade him goinstantly and fetch my cousin. The Moor showed some disinclination toobey me, but I repeated my command in a tone so firm that he gave way,and sullenly complied.
In a minute or two Rupert came out, looking bewildered, and, Ithought, somewhat alarmed. As soon as he saw who it was that had sentfor him, however, his assurance returned, and he came to us with ajaunty air.
"Ha! Marian," he said, taking no notice of me, "so you have found yourway here, have you? I am pleased to greet you; but if you have sentfor me to ask me to procure the release of your other admirer, whom Itook prisoner yesterday, I must tell you fairly that I am not theleast inclined to do it."
"Nay, Rupert," she answered, "I am ashamed to say that I had notthought of asking you anything on your cousin Athelstane's behalf.'Tis I and my father who are now prisoners, in spite of your pledgesto us. Surely you will not suffer this!"
Thus she spoke to him, but, ah! not in the old self-confident strain,but with a certain mournful submission which wrung my veryheartstrings.
"What do you say? You amaze me, Marian! This is a gross breach of theSerdar's own promise to me, but I doubt not that it will at once berighted. As for your father, I do not say; it may be that the old manwould be better off in captivity. But I take it on myself that youshall be released without delay. I will go straight and speak aboutit."
He said all this so readily that I could not feel sure he was notsincere. Marian, poor girl, gladly believed him, and gave me a lookwhich was plainly meant to protest against my entertaining evilthoughts of Rupert. He hurried away, as he had said, and at the sametime Mr. Holwell was sent for again to the Nabob.
By this time it was getting to be near evening. The sun was droppingdown on the other side of the river, and the long shadows of the palmtrees rocked on the water. From where we stood we could see thesoldiers going to and fro getting ready their evening meal, and hearan occasional shot in the town, where some Indian was letting off hismusket by way of triumph for the victory. It was still hot, but alittle breeze began to move up the river and flutter some pieces oflinen that hung out drying in the lower courtyard, yesterday havingbeen washing day in the fort.
Mr. Holwell and Rupert returned together, the former more cheerful,but Gurney very sulky, and making a show of being much annoyed.
"I have spoken to the Serdar, Marian, and could do nothing forto-night. He says that you are to remain with the other English tillhe can take the Nabob's pleasure, who is now getting drunk, anddifficult to deal with."
Mr. Holwell confirmed the story, adding--
"Surajah Dowlah may scarce be spoken to. His looks are dreadful. Yethe has sworn to me on the faith of a soldier that no hair of any ofour heads shall be injured."
"That is right," quoth Rupert. "So you see, Marian, it is but stayinghere with your other friends"--he gave me a jeering smile as he saidthis--"till to-morrow morning, when I will speak to the Nabob myself,at all hazards, and have you released."
Poor Marian glanced at him in despair.
"Rupert, you won't desert me!" she cried. "You don't mean to leave meas you did in Gheriah in that horrid cell, from which I scarcelyescaped alive?"
"Pooh, pooh, girl! No," he answered lightly, "I shall be at hand. Itis nothing. What is one night's captivity? The soldiers will haveorders to find you some comfortable room in the fort. I will see aboutyour accommodation myself."
With this promise on his lips he disappeared, and returned no more.