Chapter 26: In which presence of mind is shown to be next bestto absence of body.
The khansaman's surprise was clearly genuine, and Desmond refrained fromvisiting on him his disappointment. Bitter as that was, his alarm wasstill more keen. What had become of the ladies! With all his oldimpulsiveness he had come to rescue them, never pausing to think of whatrisks he himself might run. And now they were gone! Could Diggle havesuspected that his carefully-hidden tracks were being followed up, andhave removed the prisoners to some spot remoter from the river? It wasidle to speculate; they were gone; and there was no obvious clue to theirwhereabouts.
The khansaman, limp and damp after his unwonted exercise, had squatted onthe floor and was fanning himself, groaning deeply. Desmond went to thewindow of the room and looked out over the country; wondering, longing,fearing. As he gazed disconsolately before him, he caught sight of aparty of horsemen rapidly approaching. Bidding the khansaman stifle hisgroans, he watched them eagerly through the chiks of the window. Soon adozen native horsemen cantered up to the front gate and drew rein.
One of them, clad in turban of gold tissue, short blue jacket lavishlydecorated with gold, and crimson trousers, bade the rest dismount. He wasa tall man, a handsome figure in his fine array. He wore a sword withhilt inlaid with gold, the scabbard covered with crimson velvet; and inhis girdle was stuck a knife with agate handle, and a small Moorishdagger ornamented with gold and silver.
He stood for a time gazing as in perplexity at the broken gateway. Hisface was concealed by his turban from Desmond, looking from above. Butwhen he directed his glance upward, Desmond, peering through the chiks,could scarcely believe his eyes. The features were those of MarmadukeDiggle. His heart thumped against his ribs. Never, perhaps, in the wholecourse of his adventures, had he been in such deadly peril. Theappearance of the party had been so sudden, and he had been so deeplyengrossed with his musings, that he had not had time to think of his ownsituation.
"Come, son of a pig," said Diggle at length, throwing himself from hishorse and beckoning to his syce, "we will search the place. There must besomething to show who the dacoits were."
He strode into the compound, followed by his trembling servant.
"Indeed, huzur," said the man in shrill tones of excuse, "we did ourbest. But they were many: our livers were as water."
"Chup {shut up}, pig! Wait till you are spoken to," exclaimed Diggle,turning angrily upon him.
"Achha, sahib! bahut achha, sahib {good, sahib--very good, sahib}!"
A vicious kick cut short his protestations, and the two passed out ofhearing of the two watchers above, the khansaman having brought hisquivering flabbiness to Desmond's side. Diggle passed into the entrancehall, the native horsemen waiting like statues at the gate.
"It is the sahib!" whispered the shaking khansaman to Desmond: "DigliSahib. He will kill me. He is a tiger."
"Silence, fool!" said Desmond sternly: "there must be a way out.
"Jeldi jao {go quickly}! we shall be too late."
The man seemed glued to the spot with fear. The footsteps of Diggle couldbe heard in the rooms below. In a few minutes he would reach the upperstory; then it would indeed be too late to flee. If they could gain theback staircase they might slip down and hide in the garden. But frightappeared to have bereft the khansaman of all power of movement.
Yet Desmond, for more than one reason, was unwilling to leave him. Heknew what Diggle's tender mercies were; but he also knew that thekhansaman, if discovered, would certainly try to purchase his safety bybetraying his companion. So, without more ado, seizing him by the neck,Desmond shook him vigorously.
"Come!" he said in a fierce whisper, "or I shall leave you to face thesahib alone."
This summary treatment shocked the man from his stupor. Stepping ontiptoe he darted across the room, through the door communicating with aroom beyond, into a narrow passageway at the rear of the house. Here wasa second staircase leading downwards to the servants' quarters.
"Wait there," said Desmond when they were halfway down. "If you hear anyone coming up, rejoin me above."
He himself crept noiselessly back to the upper floor. No sooner had hereached the top than he heard Diggle moving in the room he had recentlyleft. He darted to a khashkas {a fragrant plant whose roots are used formaking screens} curtain, through the meshes of which he could see intothe two intercommunicating rooms. Diggle was carefully searching theapartment; he clearly knew it was the one lately occupied by the ladies.
As he stooped to pick up a cushion that lay on the floor beside a divan,his eye was caught by a scrap of crumpled paper. He snatched at it like ahawk and with quick fingers straightened it out--the fingers of themittened hand that Desmond knew so well. On the paper was writing; thecharacters were English, but Diggle appeared to have some difficulty inmaking them out.
"'Your servant Surendra Nath Chuckerbutti,'" he said slowly, aloud.
"Who is Surendra Nath Chuckerbutti?" he asked his man, standing behind.
"Truly, huzur, I know not. It is a common name in Bengal--a vile Hindu;an unbeliever--"
"How did this paper come here?" cried Diggle impatiently.
"How should I know, sahib? I am a poor man, an ignorant man; I do notread--"
"Come with me and search the back of the house," said Diggle, turningaway with an oath.
Desmond stepped noiselessly across the floor and joined the khansaman.They made their way out stealthily down the stairs, through the garden atthe back, into a mango grove. There they remained hidden until Diggle,finding his search fruitless, remounted with his men and galloped away.
Desmond felt in a maze of bewilderment. It was clear that Diggle wasignorant of the whereabouts of the ladies; where had they been spiritedto, and by whom? Apparently there had been an attack on the house, andthey had been carried away: was it by friends or foes? What was themeaning of the paper found by Diggle? Had the Babu had any hand in thelatest disappearance, or was it his letter that had put someone else ontheir track? Desmond had heard nothing of Surendra Nath or his fathersince the sack of Calcutta.
There was no clue to the solution of the problem. Meanwhile it wasnecessary to get back to Calcutta. The journey had been delayed too longalready, and Hossain's employer, the grain merchant, would have goodreason for complaint if he felt that his business was being neglected.
"We must go, khansaman," said Desmond in sudden determination.
The man was nothing loath. They returned by the way they had come.Desmond left the man some distance short of Sinfray's house, promising,in return for his assistance, to use his best offices with the iratemanjhi {steersman} on his behalf. Then he struck off for the point lowerdown the river where his boat was moored. As soon as he arrived they gotunder way, and late that evening reached Tanna Fort, where they had todeliver their cargo of rice for the use of the Nawab's garrison.
In the dead of night they were surprised by a visit from Hubbo, theserang's brother. He had seen them as they passed from one of the sloopsthat lay in the river opposite the fort. Though chief in command of theNawab's vessels at that point, he was still secretly loyal to theCompany, and was anxious to serve their interests to the best of hispower.
He had now brought important news. The three sloops and two brigantinesthat lay off the fort were, he said, filled with earth. On the approachof Admiral Watson's fleet they were to be scuttled and sunk in thefairway. A subahdar {equivalent to colonel of infantry} of Manik Chand'sforce was at present on board one of the sloops, to superintend the workof scuttling. The signal would be given by the subahdar himself from hissloop.
"Very well, Hubbo," said Desmond, "that signal must not be given."
"But how prevent it, sahib? I wish well to the Company; have I not eatentheir salt? But what can one man do against many? The subahdar is a veryfierce man; very zabburdasti {masterful}. When he gives the word it willbe death to disobey."
Desmond sat for some time with his chin in his hands, thinking. Then heasked:
/> "Do you know where the British fleet is at present?"
"Yes, sahib. I was in the bazaar today; it was said that this morning theships were still at Fulta. The sepoys are recovering from the privationsof the voyage."
"We shall drop down the river tomorrow as soon as we have unloaded ourcargo. You may expect us back ahead of the fleet, so keep a good lookoutfor us. I shall take care that Mr. Drake is informed of your fidelity,and you will certainly be well rewarded."
Early in the morning the cargo was unloaded; then, under pretense oftaking in goods at Mayapur, the petala dropped down the river and gainedFulta under cover of night.
Next morning Desmond, having resumed his ordinary attire, sought aninterview with Clive.
"The very man I wished to see," said Clive, shaking hands. "Your scoutingis the one ray of light in the darkness that covers the enemy'sarrangements. You have done remarkably well, and I take it you would notbe here unless you had something to tell me."
Desmond gave briefly the information he had learned from Hubbo.
"That's the game, is it?" said Clive. "A pretty scheme, egad! 'Twill befatal to us if carried out. 'Twould put a spoke in the admiral's wheeland throw all the work on the land force. That's weak enough, what withMr. Killpatrick's men dying off every day--he has only thirty left--andmy own Sepoys mostly skeletons. And we haven't proved ourselves againstthe Nawab's troops; I suppose they outnumber us thirty to one, and aftertheir success at Calcutta they'll be very cock-a-hoop. Yet 'tis so easyto sink a few ships, especially if preparations have been made long inadvance, as appears to be the case."
"I think, sir, it might be prevented."
Clive, who had been pacing up and down in some perturbation of mind, hishead bent, his hands clasped behind him, halted, looked up sharply, andsaid:
"Indeed! How?"
"If we could get hold of the subahdar."
"By bribing him? He might not be open to bribery. Most of these nativeofficials are, but there are some honest men among them, and he may beone. He wouldn't have been selected for his job unless Manik Chandthought him trustworthy. Besides, how are we going to get intocommunication with him? And even if we did, and filled him to the brimwith rupees, how are we to know he wouldn't sell us in turn to theenemy?"
"But there are other ways, sir. We can depend on Hubbo, and if I mightsuggest, it would pay to promise him a rich reward if he managed to keepthe passage clear."
"Yes, I agree. What reward would be most effective?"
"A few hundred rupees and the post of syr serang in the Company's servicewhen Calcutta is retaken."
"Not too extravagant! Well, I shall see Mr. Drake; the offer had bettercome from him and reach Hubbo through his brother."
"And then, sir, it ought not to be impossible to secure the subahdarhimself when the moment arrives."
Clive looked at the bright eager countenance of the boy before him.
"Upon my word, my lad," he said, "I believe you can do it. How, I don'tknow; but you have shown so much resource already that you may be able tohelp us in this fix--for fix it is, and a bad one. 'Tis the will thatcounts; if one is only determined enough no difficulty is insuperable--alesson that our friends from Calcutta might take to heart. But have you aplan?"
"Not at present, sir. I should like to think it over; and if I can hit onanything that seems feasible I should be glad of your leave to try."
"By all means, my lad. If you fail--well, no one will be more sorry thanI, for your sake. If you succeed, you will find that I shall not forget.
"There's one thing I want to ask you before you go. Have you heardanything of my friend Merriman's ladies?"
"Yes, sir; and, as I suspected, Diggle is at the bottom of theirdisappearance."
He related the series of incidents up the river.
"Dressed like a native, was he? And looked like a risaldar {officercommanding a troop of horse}? There's no end to that fellow's villainy.But his day of reckoning will come; I am sure of it, and the world willbe none the worse for the loss of so vile a creature. If you take myadvice you'll say nothing to Mr. Merriman of this discovery. 'Twould onlyunsettle the poor man. He had better know nothing until we can eitherrestore the ladies to him or tell him that there is no hope."
"I don't give up hope, sir. They're alive, at any rate; and Diggle haslost them. I feel sure we shall find them."
"God grant it, my lad."