John Seward Mervyn and his niece.
Heavens! what did it mean--what could it mean? These two, whom he hadleft safe in quiet, peaceful, rural England, not so very long since--here now, in this shaggy, perilous wilderness, and for escort an armedband of savage, fanatical tribesmen. What could it mean? At all riskshe would get out his binocular and scan them more closely. Yes, at allrisks. And this he put to his shikari. The latter slightly shruggedone shoulder, impassively.
Under the powerful lens, Melian was brought within thirty yards, andwith the sight, his heart seemed to stand still within him. Thebeautiful face, though calm, had a set, troubled look, even a frightenedlook, he told himself. But her splendid pluck was evidently standingher in good stead. Then he turned the glasses upon her uncle. Mervyn'sface was impassive, and betrayed no emotion whatever. And then, like aflash, there ran through his own mind the whole gist of his talk withCoates on the night of their arrival in the new camp--his predictionthat at some time or other Mervyn would return to this strange, dim,mysterious land, and the other's reply--ready reply at that--that if hewere wise he would not. And now here he was--manifestly a prisoner,and, for what purpose? And with him, Melian.
If ever Helston Varne had run against difficulty in his life--and thathe had run against and surmounted many, we have already said--herealised that he was running against the greatest--here and now. Heknew enough of this wild Northern border, with its labyrinthineimpenetrable chasms and fastnesses, and the fierce fanatical treacheryof its indomitable tribesmen, to recognise that sheer forcible rescuewas clean out of the question. If for some special reason like thathinted at by Coates, they had managed to get Mervyn into their power, itwas with a long brooded upon, and settled purpose, one which involved nomere matter of ransom. And Melian? Here one ray of hope did dawn. Shecould have had no part in, or knowledge of, her uncle's dealings withtheir inner and mysterious affairs, and as strict Mahomedans, they wouldnot offer active insult to a woman. Here the question of ransom mightcome in, and if it did, he himself would find it--find it promptly andcheerfully.
In a whirl of mingled feelings the ordinarily cool-headed, hard nervedman watched the band as it receded now, for it had already passed theirpoint of outlook, and would disappear directly round the upper bend ofthe valley. Then he turned to Hussein Khan.
"What does this mean?"
Again the other shrugged a shoulder.
"Who may say, _Hazur_? The Gularzai are ever restless, and they lovemoney as--Ya Allah, who does not! If they have _persuaded_, yonder_Hazur_, and the Miss Sahib, to go with them, it is because they areworth many rupees."
Helston looked fixedly at him, even meaningly.
"And that is all their motive--all?" he added, with emphasised meaning.
But the man's fine face was mask-like in its lack of response. If itsowner knew--suspected--any other--well, he was an Oriental.
"Allah-din Khan too, loves money," he answered. "We are alone _Hazur_,so--there are some who would be alive to-day had they been able to givehim what he asked."
An immense relief would have swept across Helston's mind had theshikari's answer carried conviction. For it would have cut the knot ofthe difficulty on the spot. He knew that Mervyn was a poor man, andrealised with intense satisfaction then that he himself was not.Whatever this freebooting chieftain might ask to set his captives freeshould be paid. It would be a mere matter for negotiation. But,unfortunately, in the light of his talk with Coates, the answer did notcarry conviction--not entirely, though he tried to buoy himself up withthe hope that it did.
"Where is Allah-din Khan's village?" he said.
"His village? It is more like a fort, _Hazur_. It is away among themountains, nearly two days journey from here. They are heading straightfor it now."
Helston's heart sank. A fort--a hill fort! Why, it would require anexpedition to reduce such, and meanwhile, what would become of thecaptives? The only solution he saw was that of ransom, and that was,under the circumstances, by no means a reassuring one.
"Can you guide me to it, Hussein Khan?"
The man looked strangely troubled.
"I can do so," he said, after a pause. "But it is putting the headbetween the tiger's jaws, for then will not Allah-din Khan demand theprice of three instead of the price of two? And the price he will namewill not be small, _Hazur_."
The matter of price would have been nothing. But more and more didHelston conjecture a deeper motive to underly. One redeeming side ofit, however, was that he did not think they would be in any immediatedanger, and it would be hard if he could not find some way out of the_impasse_.
"This needs some planning out, Hussein Khan. Meanwhile we will returnto the camp."
"_Ha, Hazur_."
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"Any luck?" asked Varne Coates, coming out of the tent to meet him. Hehad remained at home, not feeling very fit. Then, as if the negativeshake of the head constituted a matter of no importance, he went oneagerly: "You certainly have the gift of prophecy, Helston, or you mustbe the devil himself. Remember, when we were talking about Mervyn theother night, you predicted he'd be turning up here again?"
"Yes."
"Well, he has. I've just got a `chit' from him saying he'll be herewith us this evening, and he's bringing his niece. They left Mazaranthree days ago on purpose to join us. We'll have a rare old _bukh_,over old times, but,"--with a shake of the head--"you remember what Iwas saying--that he'd be a damn fool if he did come out here again.Well, I only hope I was wrong."
"I wish you were, but I'm afraid you're not. Come into the tent here,and see that no one's about who can understand us."
Varne Coates stared at his kinsman. The concerned gravity in thelatter's tone affected him, taken in conjunction with his superhumangift of finding out everything. He led the way into the tent insilence.
And then Helston put him into possession of the morning's discovery. Atthe conclusion of the narrative Coates shook a very doleful head indeed.
"They weren't with Allah-din Khan's crowd of their own free will," hedeclared. "Did Mervyn show any signs of having been in a scrap?"
"No. My glasses are extra powerful. He looked--normal. Well? What doyou think of it--of the chances?"
"Chances? I think the chances for Mervyn are worth just that,"--with asnap of the fingers. "For the girl, it's just possible that this_budmash_ may give her up, at the price of lakhs of rupees, but who thedevil's going to pay it?"
"The Government?"
"No fear, Government may send an expedition, but that won't helpanybody, but it isn't going to pay up."
"Then I am."
"You are?" with a stare of amazement.
"Certainly. Only too glad to get her back safe at any price, even if itcosts me every damn shilling I've got in the world."
Varne Coates looked at his kinsman and whistled.
"So that's how the cat jumps, is it?"
"That's how."
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
MERVYN'S DILEMMA.
We must glance back.
Mervyn's camp was pitched not very far from the mouth of the DuranTangi; that is, not very far from the scene of the sniping episode of aweek or two previously, of which, of course, he was in ignorance, butfar enough from the great overhanging wall of terraced cliff, to bebeyond the possibility of a repetition of the same. He had been warnedat Mazaran that the country was extra restless just then, and thatmoving about in it, in the happy-go-lucky way he proposed, waspositively unsafe; but with his usual gustiness, he pooh-poohed everysuggestion of the kind. No one was good enough to teach _him_ hisIndia, he declared. If it suited the military element to get up andfoment a chronic scare, well that wasn't going to interfere with him.It was of no use representing to him that this wasn't India precisely,but the Northern border--whose inhabitants were a fierce, predatory setof fanatics caring for no show of authority, and that even now thesewere in a state of unrest
--well, he knew them too. When he heard thathis old friend Varne Coates--and especially the latter's relative, andhis friend, were on a shikar expedition two or three days out, that wassufficient. He only spent long enough at Mazaran to collect campnecessaries and hire servants, and at once set out to join them.
He had even demurred to the escort of four Levy sowars, which waspressed upon him. These damned Catch-em-alive-ohs, he declared, were ofno--ditto--use. They couldn't hit a haystack if it came to shooting,and even then they'd either clear or make common cause with the enemy,to whom, tribally, they as likely as not belonged. So--here he was.
They had made a very early start from their last camp, and the morningwas yet young.