Barclay of the Guides

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH

  Kaluja Dass, Khansaman

  On that evening, about the time when Ahmed had his little fight with thevillagers, Kaluja Dass, an Oudh man of pleasant aspect and gravedeportment, was preparing a meal for his master in a substantial houselying some little distance in the rear of the Chandni Chauk--SilverStreet--the long straight thoroughfare leading from the Lahore gate tothe king's palace in Delhi. His brows were drawn down, a deep verticalfurrow divided his forehead; he wore a look of worry and embarrassmentwhich accorded ill with his position as khansaman to a subahdar in thearmy of the king. But the subahdar had announced that he would bringguests home to sup with him, and Kaluja was at his wits' end to providethe meal. The subahdar commanded a regiment, but neither he nor his menhad had any pay for weeks. In spite of his impecuniosity, the officeralways expected his appetite to be appeased, and was wont to give therein to a very abusive tongue if the bill of fare was not to his liking.

  Kaluja Dass had done his best, but really, without money it wasimpossible to persuade the merchants in the bazar, however loyal theywere, that an officer of the king must be suitably fed. The khansamanhad done his best, but he had to confess to himself, as he viewed thedishes, that the supper was not worthy even of a jamadar.

  The room in which the meal was set was a large one on the first floor ofa house which had once belonged to a prince of the blood. But some yearsbefore, when the sahibs came to assist Bahadur Shah--who certainlyneeded assistance--in the government of his kingdom, the house had beenpurchased by one of them from its impoverished owner. Craddock Sahib wasa hakim, and also, as it appeared, a man of war; in the English way ofputting it, he was a surgeon attached to one of the foot regiments inthe service of the Company. He had a wife, a son, and a daughter; solarge a house was quite unnecessary, as Kaluja thought, for so small afamily, especially when the son went away over the black water to hisown country, to learn how to become a hakim like his father. But thatwas a characteristic of the sahibs: they loved spaciousness; and ifCraddock Sahib's family was small, his household was correspondinglylarge; Kaluja Dass as khansaman ruled over quite a regiment ofunderlings.

  Dr. Craddock had been in cantonments when the rising took place. As soonas news of it reached his ears he mounted his buggy and hastened backinto the city, against the advice of all his friends. At the gate he wasmet by a sepoy, who presented a loaded pistol at his head; but quick asthought the doctor lashed him across the face with his whip, and the manslunk howling away. Seeing that the street was full of people, Dr.Craddock jumped from his buggy and made his way by side streets towardshis house. He had almost reached it when he was set upon by a group ofruffians, who hacked at him with their knives and left him for dead onthe ground.

  It happened that next day the doctor's house was granted by the king toa Pathan adventurer named Minghal Khan, who had just entered the city.He had come with high recommendations from the Maulavi Ahmed Ullah. Hadhe not earned Paradise by going to and fro through the land in the guiseof a fakir and preparing the minds of the faithful for the greatdeliverance at hand? So worthy a missionary deserved well at the handsof Bahadur Shah, and the doddering old king at once made him a subahdarand gave him for residence the house which had just been purged of thedefiling presence of an infidel Feringhi.

  The first thing Minghal Khan did was to fling out of the house some ofthe European furniture, treading under heel the many dainty nick-nackswhich had stood for so much to the memsahib as mementoes of home. Amongthe larger articles of furniture which he allowed to remain was a loftyalmirah, on the shelves of which stood long arrays of bottles large andsmall, containing liquids and powders of various colours. Minghal had norespect for the infidel hakim's drugs, but the bottles made a prettyshow and pleased his eye.

  Those who had known Kaluja Dass as the faithful servant of CraddockSahib might have been surprised at his remaining in the same house askhansaman to Minghal Khan. No doubt they were somewhat astonished at thechange that came over the man. He was never tired of abusing his latemaster and all the Feringhi race, and though, not being a man of war, hedid not actually fight against them, no man in Delhi cursed them moreheartily or uttered devouter wishes for their extermination. It waspartly this violence of language that induced Minghal Khan to engagehim. That important personage at first swore that he would have none toserve him who had served the Feringhis; he even accused Kaluja offavouring the accursed infidels, and only the most vehementprotestations of hatred--spittings, revilings, maledictions on countlessforegone generations of the sons of perdition--prevented the Pathan fromdealing with Kaluja in his haste as too many loyal natives had beendealt with. And then, when the man offered to serve the hazur withoutpay--so greatly did he honour this doughty enemy of the sahibs--Minghalwas satisfied. A man must live, to be sure, but a khansaman hadopportunities of squeezing the means of livelihood out of the purveyorshonoured with his master's custom; and Minghal, being as arrant abrigand as ever went raiding on the border, was content to accept theservice of an experienced domestic on such easy terms.

  But Kaluja's place was not an easy one, and became more difficult asmoney ran short. This evening he had spent his last rupee in buyingsweetmeats as garnishment for the meal. The names he bestowed inwardlyon his master did not savour of respect. And when by and by Minghal camein with two friends of his kidney, and saw the meagreness of the repast,he cursed Kaluja as a dog and the son of a dog, and bade him go into thebazar and buy something more suited to the dignity, as to the appetite,of a friend of Bahadur Shah.

  "Hazur, thy servant has not a pice," faltered the khansaman.

  "Pig, wouldst thou answer me? Go, get thee some of the Feringhi's lumberthat remains, and sell it. Wouldst thou keep my guests waiting? Quick,or by my father's beard I will hamstring thee."

  Kaluja hastened from the room. During his absence Minghal inveighedagainst the parsimony of the king, which kept his faithful servants insuch straits.

  "Where is justice?" he cried. "Did he not command two days ago thattwelve rupees' worth of sweetmeats should be bestowed upon those seventysowars who came in from Alipur, with a tale--lies, by my beard!--thatthey had slain a hundred Feringhis and pursued a host for three fullkoss? And yesterday did he not give large gifts to the Gujars who stoleforty camels from the Feringhis' camp? He is lavish to them, and yetwill not part with a rupee to one who has journeyed in the heat of theday and faced death a hundred times in conveying the Maulavi's chapatisto the faithful!"

  "The king has no treasury: how can he pay you?" said one of his friends.

  "Bah! Has he not untold wealth in that palace of his? And are not thequeen's arms heavy with jewels? Verily he will not long be king when wehave smitten these accursed Feringhis."

  "And when will that be, friend? The smiting was the other way thismorning."

  "Hai! what is that? Do not our numbers grow day by day? What can theFeringhis do? Can they scale these walls? Have we not a hundred guns andmore upon them? Within a little we shall issue forth like a swarm oflocusts and devour them. The work grows apace. This day a kasid camewith news that a regiment has risen at Jajjar; troops are coming to usfrom Kotwal; the Feringhis have been smitten at Lahore. What can thishandful of white-faced dogs do against our great host?"

  Further conversation was interrupted by the return of the khansamanladen with dainties from the bazar.

  "Wah! Did I not say that there is abundance of good things in Delhi? Butwhy, pig, hast thou not brought spirits? Wherewithal dost thou supposewe will comfort our hearts?"

  "Hazur, the bottles are empty."

  "Dog, thou liest! All the Feringhis lay in a plentiful store of thestrong waters. Hast thou drunk them thyself, thou thief, and broke theProphet's command? Verily I will myself come and see if thou art tellingthe truth."

  "Hazur, I will look again," said the khansaman hastily, and with ananxious air. "Maybe I have overlooked a bottle or two that still remain.It is not meet that the noble hazur should have the great trouble ofsearching himself."


  He went away, and soon returned with a full bottle of brandy. Forbiddenthough the drinking of intoxicating liquors was, many professed faithfulfollowers of the Prophet paid scant heed to the prohibition. They drankif they could afford to buy. Minghal and his guests imbibed freely,diluting the liquor but little. The bottle was soon empty: the guests,less accustomed to the spirit than Minghal himself, were completelyovercome; and Minghal, flushed and unsteady, called for more. Kalujahumbly declared that there was no more in the house; but Minghal,cursing him for a liar, cried that he would see for himself. He rose andstaggered across the room. Catching sight of the row of bottles on thealmirah, he gave a maudlin chuckle of delight and reached out his handto take one down.

  "Hazur, have a care!" cried the khansaman. "Those bottles contain notwhat thou desirest. They are the hakim's medicines; some cause the painsof hell, some kill."

  "Thou liest in thy throat, dog. I will drink, I say."

  He took down one of the bottles and carried it to the divan where he hadbeen reclining. Then, removing the stopper, he poured a quantity ofliquid into his cup and raised it to his lips. Before he could drink,however, he choked, caught his breath, and dropped the cup as if itstung him. The liquid fell upon his sandalled feet, and he sprang upwith a yell of pain.

  "I am burning!" he screamed, gasping with the ammonia fumes. "It is thefire of Tophet at my feet and nose."

  "Hazur, did I not say to thee, 'Touch not'? But thou wouldst not hear."

  "Dog, dost thou prate while I burn? The pain consumes me. Dost thoustand and look? Run for the hakim ere I perish."

  The khansaman started, and threw a scared look over his shoulder. Thenhe appeared to recover himself.

  "It needs not to call a hakim," he said. "I will myself ease the hazur'spain."

  He took some ghi from a dish, and smeared it quickly on the torturedfeet. The grease gave instant relief. Minghal was effectually soberednow, but his temper must needs find a vent. His rolling eyes lighted onhis two guests, who had lain undisturbed in a drunken stupor.

  "Carry me those swine to the street!" he cried furiously. "Will theyremain here and bring down the wrath of Allah upon me? Fling them out, Isay."

  Kaluja having reasons of his own for clearing the apartment, caught themen by the heels and dragged them unceremoniously to the door. Then hesuggested that the hazur would be the better for a long night's sleep,and assisted his master to his bedroom. When he returned to the otherroom, he secured both the inner and the outer doors; then, furtively asa thief might move, he went to the almirah. Looking round as if to makesure even now that no one was observing him, he slid a portion of theback of the almirah aside, disclosing the stone wall of the room. He puthis hand on one of the slabs of stone: it yielded to his touch, andopened slowly inwards. He stepped in, drew back the panel of the almirahto its former place, and disappeared.