CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST
*In which Coja Solomon finds dishonesty the worse policy; and a journeydown the Hugli little to his liking.*
The short twilight was thickening into darkness when Desmond, with face,legs, and arms stained brown, slipped out of the fort in native dressand walked slowly towards the houses of the native merchants. In hishand he carried a small bundle. Reaching the house where his party wasstaying, kept by one Abdul Kader, he almost betrayed himself byforgetting to slip off his sandals as he entered. But he bethoughthimself in time and was admitted without question.
He found that he was not a moment too soon. Bulger had taken up hisquarters there with a very bad grace, the arrival of the Nawab's armyhaving aroused in him the fighting spirit of the sturdy British tar.But when the news ran through the settlement that the fort was to begiven up, his feelings overcame him, and it was only with the greatestdifficulty that Surendra Nath had persuaded him to wait patiently fororders from Desmond. Then the Babu himself had quitted the house, andBulger was left without the restraint of any one who could speakEnglish. He was on the point of casting off all prudence and stalkingout like Achilles from his tent, when Desmond arrived.
"By thunder, sir!" he said, when he had recovered from his astonishmentat seeing Desmond in native dress, "I en't a-goin' to surrender to noMoors, sure as my name's Bulger. 'Tis a downright scandalous shame;that's what I call it."
"Well, you can tell Mr. Watts so if you ever see him. At present we haveno time to waste in talk. Where is Surendra Nath?"
"Gone to keep his weather-eye on the codger's godown, sir."
"Which shows he's a man of sense. Are all the men here?"
"So far as I know, sir. I may be wrong."
"Well, they'll make their way in small parties down to the river. 'Tisdark enough now; they will not be noticed, and they can steal along thebank under the trees until they come near Coja Solomon's ghat. You mustcome with me."
"Very good, sir," replied Bulger, hitching up his breeches and drawinghis hanger.
"But not like that. You'll have to get those black whiskers of yoursshaved, my man. If they grew all over you'd pass perhaps for a Moor;but not with a fringe like that. And you must stain your face; I havethe stuff in this bundle; and we'll borrow a dhoti and sandals fromAbdul Kader. We'll dress you up between us."
Bulger looked aghast.
"Dash my buttons, sir, I'll look like a November guy! What would mymates say, a-seein' me dressed up like a stuffed Moor at Smithfieldfair--a penny a shy, sir?"
"Your mates are not here to see you, and if you hold your tongue they'llnever know it."
"But what about this little corkscrew o' mine, sir? I don't see anyways o' dressin' that up."
"You can stick it into your dhoti. Now here are soap and a razor; Igive you ten minutes to shave and get your face stained; Abdul Kaderwill help. Quick's the word, man."
A quarter of an hour later Desmond left the house with Bulger, thelatter, in spite of the darkness, looking very much ashamed of himself.The other members of the party had already gone towards the river.Walking very slowly until they had safely cleared the lines of theinvesting troops, the two hurried their pace and about half-past eightreached the Armenian's godown. The three boats containing Mr.Merriman's goods were moored at the ghat. A number of men were onboard, and bales were still being carried down by the light of torches.It appeared that Coja Solomon had no intention of leaving until thefactory was actually in Rai Durlabh's hands.
Desmond had already decided that, to legalize his position, he must gainpossession of the dastaks. Not that they would help him much if, as wasonly too probable, Coja Solomon should be backed up by the Nawab. Assoon as it was discovered that the goods had been carried off, kasidswould undoubtedly be sent along the banks, possibly swift boats wouldset off down the river in pursuit, and, dastaks or no dastaks, the goodswould be impounded at Khulna or Hugli and himself arrested. It wastherefore of the first importance that the loss of the boats should notbe discovered until he was well on his way, and to ensure this he mustsecure the person of Coja Solomon. If that could be done there was achance of delaying the pursuit, or preventing it altogether.
Desmond kept well in the shelter of the palm trees as he made hisobservation of the ghat. He wondered where Surendra Nath was, but couldnot waste time in looking for him. Retracing his steps with Bulger forsome little distance, he came to a spot on the river bank where the restof his party were waiting in a boat, moored to an overhanging tree. Heordered the men to land; then, leaving Bulger in charge of them, heselected three of the armed peons and with them made his way acrosspaddy[#] fields towards the Armenian's house, a hundred yards or so fromthe bank. Light came through the reed-screened window. Bidding the menremain outside and rush in if he called them, he left the shelter of thetrees and, approaching the door, stumbled over the darwan lying acrossthe threshold.
[#] Rice.
"Uthao,[#] Marwan!" he said, with the bluntness of servant addressingservant; "sleeping again! Go and tell your master I'm here to see him:a khitmatgar from the fort."
[#] Get up.
The man rose sleepily and preceded him into the house. He made theannouncement, salaamed and retired. Desmond went in.
In a little room on the ground floor Coja Solomon reclined on a divan,smoking his hubble-bubble. A small oil-lamp burnt in a pendant abovehis head. He looked up as Desmond entered; if he thought that hisvisitor was somewhat better set-up than the average khitmatgar, he didnot suspect any disguise. The light was dim, and Coja Solomon wasgrowing old.
"Good evening, Khwaja," said Desmond quietly.
The man jumped as if shot.
"No, don't get up, and don't make a noise. My business with you willnot take long. I will ask you to hand over Mr. Merriman's dastaks. Iknow that they are in your possession. I have come to get them, and totake away the goods--Mr. Merriman's goods."
The Armenian had meanwhile removed the mouthpiece of his hubble-bubble,and was bending over as if to replace it by one of several that lay on ashelf at his right hand. But Desmond noticed that beneath the shelfstood a small gong. He whipped out a pistol, and pointed it full at themerchant.
"Don't touch that," he said curtly. "I have not come unprepared, as yousee. Your plans are known to me. If you value your life you will do asI wish without delay or disturbance. My men are outside; a word from mewill bring them swarming in. Now, the dastaks!"
Coja Solomon was an Armenian and a merchant; in neither capacity afighting man. In a contest of wits he could be as cool and as ready asany man in Bengal; but he had no skill in arms and no physical courage.There was an air of determination about his visitor that impressed him;and he felt by no means comfortable within point-blank range of thepistol covering him so completely. If his thoughts had been read, theywould have run somewhat thus: "Pistols have been known to go offaccidentally. What will the goods profit me if such an accident happennow? Besides, even if I yield there may still be a chance of savingthem. It is a long way to Calcutta: the river is low: God be praisedthe rains have not begun! There are shallows and rocks along itscourse: the boats must go slowly: and the Nawab's horsemen can soonoutstrip them on the banks. The dog of an Englishman thinks he hasoutwitted me: we shall see. And he is only a youth: let us see if CojaSolomon is not a match for him."
Rising to his feet, he smiled and shrugged, and spread out his handsdeprecatingly.
"It is true the dastaks are here," he said suavely, "but they onlyreached me yesterday, and indeed, as soon as I received them, I had thegoods put on board the boats for transit to Calcutta."
"That is very fortunate," said Desmond. "It will save my time. As Mr.Merriman's representative I will take over the goods--with the dastaks."
"If you will excuse me, I will fetch them."
"Stay!" said Desmond, as the man moved towards the door. He had notlowered the pistol. "Where are they?"
"They are in my
office beside the godown."
"Very well. It would be a pity to trouble you to bring them here. Iwill go with you. Will you lead the way?"
He knew it was a lie. Valuable papers would not be left in a hut of anoffice, and he had already noticed a curiously wrought almara[#] at oneend of the room--just the place to keep documents.
[#] Cabinet.
There was a shadow of a scowl on the Armenian's face. The man hesitated;then walked towards the door: stopped as if at a sudden recollection;and turned to Desmond with a bland smile.
"I was forgetting," he said; "I brought the papers here for safetysake."
He went to the almara, searched for a moment, and handed two papers toDesmond.
"There, sir," he said, with a quite paternal smile; "you take theresponsibility. In these unfortunate circumstances"--he waved his handin the direction of the factory--"it is, believe me, a relief to me tosee the last of these papers."
"That is well."
But Desmond, as he took the papers, felt himself in a quandary. Thoughhe could speak, he could not read, Hindustani! The papers might not bethe dastaks after all. What was he to do? The peons were not likely tobe able to read. He scanned the papers. There was the name Merriman inEnglish characters, but all the rest was in native script. The smilehovering on the Armenian's face annoyed Desmond, and he was stillundecided what to do when a voice at his elbow gave him welcome relief.
"Babu Surendra Nath Chuckerbutti," announced the darwan.
The Babu entered.
"Come and tell me if these are our dastaks," said Desmond.
The Babu ran his eye over the papers, and declared:
"Yes, sir, they are the identical papers, and I perceive the signatureof the Faujdar is dated three weeks ago."
"Thank you," said Desmond. "Now, Coja Solomon, I must ask you to comewith me."
"Why, sir----" began the Armenian, no longer smiling.
"I will explain to you by and by.--What is it, Surendra Nath?"
The Babu whispered a word or two in his ear.
"A happy thought!" said Desmond. "Surendra Nath suggests that I shouldborrow that excellent robe I see yonder, Khwaja; and your turban also.They will become me better than this khitmatgar's garb, I doubt not."
Coja Solomon looked on helplessly as Desmond exchanged his meanergarments for the richer clothes of his unwilling host.
"Now we will go. You will tell the darwan that you have gone down tothe ghat, so that if a question is asked he will be at no loss for ananswer."
In the faint light of the rising moon the barrel of the pistol gleamedas they came into the open. The Armenian marched between Desmond andthe Babu. Behind came the three peons, moving as silently as ghosts.
"The Khwaja," said Desmond to them in the Armenian's hearing, as theyreached the ghat, "is coming a little way with us down the river. You,Kristodas Das, will go and tell Bulger Sahib that I wish him to followthe Khwaja's boats at a few yards' distance, and to be prepared to boardat any moment. You," turning to the other two peons, "will come withme. The Khwaja will send word to his darwan that he is going toMurshidabad by river and will not return to-night; his house is to belocked up. The Khwaja will, I am sure, give these orders correctly, forSurendra Nath will understand better than I what he says."
With the Babu, the two peons, and Coja Solomon, who was now obviouslyill at ease, Desmond went down the ghat to the place where the crews ofthe petalas were squatting, and bade the Armenian carry out the partassigned to him. The man durst not depart by a jot from the words putinto his mouth. One of his coolies left with the message, the restfollowed their employer on board with Desmond and his companions, and ina few minutes the three boats were cast off and stood up stream. Asthey started Desmond saw the boat containing Bulger and his men slipfrom the shade of the trees and begin to creep after them.
The boats had not gone for more than a couple of hundred yards up streamwhen Coja Solomon, at Desmond's orders, bade the men row towards theopposite shore and turn the boats' heads round, explaining that he haddecided after all to convey the goods to Hugli. There was somegrumbling among the crew, who had expected to go to Murshidabad, and didnot relish the prospect of the longer voyage. But the Armenian, knowingthat every word was overheard by Desmond's men, made haste to pacify theboatmen.
It was by no means easy work getting down the river. The boats wereflat-bottomed and drew very little water; but the stream being very low,they stuck fast time after time in the shallows. By day the boatmenmight have picked their way more carefully, but the moon was new andshed too little light for river navigation. More than once they had toleap overboard and, wading, shove and haul until the boats came off themud banks into practicable water again. They rowed hard when the coursewas clear, encouraged by promises of liberal bakshish made by theiremployer at Desmond's prompting. But the interruptions were so frequentthat the dawn found the boats only some thirty miles from theirstarting-point. The river being here a little deeper, Desmond couldafford to let the rowers take a much needed rest, while the boatsfloated down with the stream.
But as the day wore on the river again played them false, and progresswas at times reduced to scarcely more than two miles an hour. Thingshad been uncomfortable in the night, but the discomforts were increasedtenfold in the day. It was the hottest season of the year; out of theclear sky the sun's rays beat down with pitiless ferocity; the wholelandscape was a-quiver with heat; all things seemed to swoon under theoppression. The petalas, being cargo boats, were not provided with anyaccommodation or conveniences for passengers; and Desmond's thoughts, ashe lay panting on his mat, haggard from want of sleep, faint from wantof food--for though there was rice on board, and the men ate freely, hehad no appetite for that--reverted to the worst period of hisimprisonment in Gheria, and he recalled the sufferings he had enduredthere. Here at least he was free. His journey had so far beenunmolested, and he hoped that the happy chance that had favoured him atCossimbazar would not fail him now.
He was in a fever of impatience; yet the men were doing their best.They passed the mud walls of Cutwa; another stage of the journey wassafely completed; but twelve miles lower down there was a post at Patli,and with every mile the danger grew. Desmond talked over the situationwith the Babu. Surendra Nath agreed that by nightfall, if no unforeseendelay occurred, they might hope to be in the neighbourhood of Khulna,and arrive there before any messenger carrying news of the escape. Butthere was little or no chance of the same good fortune at Hugli. Theprize was so valuable that every effort would certainly be made to stopthem. A whole day or more might pass before the reason of CojaSolomon's absence was discovered. But when the discovery was made, fastrunners would be sent to Khulna and Hugli, and by relays the distancebetween Cossimbazar and Hugli could be covered in twenty-two hours.Supposing such a messenger started at nightfall on June 5, nearlytwenty-four hours after Coja Solomon's disappearance, he might well getto Hugli long before the fugitive boats, even if they were rowed allnight without cessation; and the men were already so much fatigued thatsuch continuous exertion could hardly be expected of them.
There was a further danger. If the news of the capture of CossimbazarFort had preceded him, he might be stopped at any of the riversideplaces without any reference to Coja Solomon's abduction, pending ordersfrom the Nawab. Desmond's anxiety would have been largely increased hadhe known that Siraj-uddaula, before his men had actually marched intothe fort, had already started with the bulk of his forces on his fatefulmarch to Calcutta.
Desmond was still in conversation with the Babu when the little flotillacame in sight of Patli. Its approach was observed. A boat put off fromthe ghat, and awaited the arrival of Desmond's boat in mid-stream. Asit came alongside an official ordered the men to cease rowing anddemanded to know who was the owner of the goods on board and to see thedastaks. The Babu, to whom Desmond had entrusted the papers, showedthem to the man; he scanned them, said that he was satisfied, and rowedback to the ghat. Evidently he ha
d no suspicions. During the shortcolloquy Desmond kept close beside the Armenian, who was well known tothe riverside official; but Coja Solomon was thoroughly scared, and hadnot the presence of mind to do anything more than acknowledge thecustomary salaam.
Desmond breathed freely once more now that Patli was passed. Buttwo-thirds of the journey still remained to be completed, and he couldnot dare hope that at his slow rate of progress he would be able alwaysto keep ahead of information from Cossimbazar. Seeing that he could nothasten his journey, he wondered whether it was possible to put pursuersoff the scent. After thinking for a while he said to the Babu, out ofhearing of the Armenian:
"I have an idea, Surendra Nath: tell me what you think of it. Did younot tell me as we came up that there is a gumashta[#] of the Company atSantipur?"
[#] Agent.
"Certainly I did, sir."
"Well, as we are, I fear, sure to be cut off by water, may we not taketo the land? Could not the gumashta get us a dozen hackeris[#]? Wecould transfer the goods to them and elude our pursuers perhaps longenough for help to arrive from Calcutta."
[#] Bullock-carts.
"That is good counsel, sir; why should we not do so?"
Accordingly, when they came to the spot where the high road crossed theriver by a ford, Desmond ordered his men to row in to the left bank.Selecting two men who knew the country, he bade them land and make thebest speed in carrying out instructions which he proceeded to give them.
"You, Mohun Lai," he said, "will go to Santipur, quickly, avoidingobservation, and request the gumashta in Merriman Sahib's name to havetwelve hackeris, or as many as he can collect, ready to receive loadstwo or three hours before to-morrow's dawn. He must get them from thevillages, not from Khulna or Amboa, and he must not tell any one why herequires the carts. You, Ishan, will go on to Calcutta, find MerrimanSahib, and ask him to send a body of armed men along the Barrakpur roadtowards Santipur. You will tell him what we have done, and also thatCossimbazar Fort is in the hands of the Nawab, and Watts Sahib aprisoner. He may know this already. You both understand?"
The men salaamed and started on their journey.