CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Among the men whom I had brought with me from Jhalone was one by nameHidayut Khan. I had never seen him before, but he was slightly known toPeer Khan, as having served with him, and was represented to be an ableThug. Of the extent of his accomplishments I was ignorant, as he neverhad any hand in the destruction of those who died in the Pindhareecamp; for I preferred allowing my own men, upon whom I could depend, todo the work. But Hidayut Khan was certainly a capital horseman, a goodhand with his sword and spear, and an active, enterprising fellow as aPindharee. I have said we never employed him as a Bhuttote, nor evenas a Shumshea; why I can hardly say, yet so it was; he acted always asa scout, and kept watch at the door of the tent while our work went onwithin. Many days after the death of Ghuffoor Khan, indeed when we hadagain reached the Nagpoor territory, and when a few days' march wouldhave brought us to Nemawur, Peer Khan, Motee, and one or two otherscame to me one evening after it was dark, with faces full of concernand alarm.
"For the sake of Bhowanee," cried I, "what is the matter? why are yethus agitated? Speak, brothers, and say the worst; are we discovered?"
"Alas, I fear treachery," said Motee. "For some time past we havesuspected Hidayut Khan, who has absented himself from us of late inan extraordinary manner, to have disclosed what we are to a personin Cheetoo's confidence. We have dogged them several times about thecamp, have detected them in earnest conversation, and this night we toogreatly fear he is even now in the durbar. What can be done?"
"We must fly at once," said I. "Now that you mention the name ofHidayut Khan, I too have my suspicions: are the horses saddled?"
"They are," said Peer Khan, "they are always so."
"Good," said I; "then there is no fear. Yet I should like much tosatisfy myself of the fact of our being suspected,--ay, and by Alla! Iwill ascertain it at once."
"Ah, do not!" cried they; "for the sake of Bhowanee, do not throwyourself into peril; what can be gained by it? Our horses are ready;let us mount them; leave the tent where it is, and fly."
Would to Alla that I had followed this wise counsel! matters wouldnot have turned out as they did; but I was possessed by the idea; aheadstrong man is never to be restrained, and I would hear nothingthey had to say. "Is there not _one_ among you," cried I, "who willaccompany me? The night is dark, and we can reach Cheetoo's tentunobserved; we will lie down with our ears to the kanat, and hear whatpasses: if the worst comes, if we really are denounced, we shall haveample time to fly before they can get from the inside."
"I will," cried Peer Khan; but no one else stirred; they were allparalysed by fear, and were incapable of action.
"That is spoken like yourself, brother," cried I; "thou hast a gallantsoul. Now do ye all prepare the horses for instant flight; let theirtether-ropes be loosened, and the bridles put in their mouths; do notmove them from their places, and no one will suspect us: and come,"cried I to Peer Khan, "there is not a moment to be lost."
We stole out of the tent, and stealthily crept along towards Cheetoo's,which was fortunately at no great distance. No one was about it; butwe could see from the outside that, by the side of a dim lamp, threepersons were engaged in earnest conversation. We lay down of the edgeof the kanat, and my ears eagerly drank in the words which fell on them.
"Ajaib!" said a voice, which I knew at once to be Cheetoo's, "and so hemurdered the Khan? you said _he_ did it."
"May I be your sacrifice," said Hidayut Khan (I knew his voice, too,immediately), "he did; I cannot say I saw him die with my own eyes,but they made him drunk, and they buried him, and Ameer Ali himselfdestroyed the noble horse."
"I do not doubt it," said Cheetoo, with a sigh; "I have done his memoryfoul wrong in thinking him ungrateful:--and the others?"
"They were men of scarcely any note," said the informer, "nor do Iknow the names of all: one only I remember, for they had hard work todespatch him; he was a strong man, by name Hubeeb Oola, and belonged tomy lord's own pagah."
"I knew him well," said Cheetoo: "he was a worthy man and a brave one;and Ameer Ali slew him?"
"He did, Nuwab, with his own hands; and Motee and Peer Khan held him,or he could not have done it. This was only three nights ago, when Iwould fain have denounced them, but I feared no one would believe me;and as I knew Ameer Ali was in your favour, I thought no one would havelistened to an accusation against him."
"Nor would I, by Alla!" cried Cheetoo, rising up and striking hisforehead in extreme agitation (I had made a hole in the cloth with thepoint of my dagger, and could see all distinctly). "I would never havebelieved your tale, but that circumstances so strongly bear out whatyou have said. Who could have believed, that Ameer Ali, the kind, thebenevolent--, one who opposed every scheme of violence, and protestedagainst our ravages till I was ashamed of them myself,--who could havethought _him_ a Thug?"
"But it is the truth, Nuwab," said the vile wretch; "when you haveseized them, you will find ample evidence of what I tell you: the swordof Ghuffoor Khan is at this moment girded to the side of Peer Khan, whothrew away his own."
"That will be conclusive indeed," said Cheetoo. "But how came you tojoin them?"
"I was at my village, near Jhalone," said Hidayut Khan; "I had formerlyknown Peeroo (as we call Peer Khan), and he asked me to join him andhis jemadar, and to follow the Pindharees. I never suspected them to beThugs,--who could, when Ameer Ali and his father were high in favourwith the Rajah? and it was not till the Khan's death that they begantheir horrible work."
"Well," said Cheetoo, "you have laid the plan; the sooner you put itinto execution the better. You have prepared the horsemen, have younot?" said he to the other man, whose face I knew.
"I have," he replied; "they are standing by their horses, all ready forthe signal to set on--fifty good fellows; none of the Thugs will escapeus."
"Ya Alla!" cried "Cheetoo; "how will he look on me? and how can I bringmyself to order the punishment he deserves? Ah, Ameer Ali, how thouhast deceived me! how could any one read deceit in that honest face ofthine!"
"Go," said he to Hidayut Khan and the others; "bring them to me withoutdelay. I will not forget thy reward: thou hast for the saddle of PeerKhan."
"No more! no more!" cried the villain; "'tis all I want."
"Ay," said Peer Khan to me in a whisper, "but he has not got it yet,and he is a cunning fellow if he does get it. Come, Meer Sahib, we mustbe off--they are moving."
I was almost fascinated to the spot. I could have lain there andlistened to the discourse; but the peril was too imminent, too deadlyfor a moment's delay. I got up, and sneaking along, we saw the twofigures cross the threshold of the tent, and with hurried steps directtheir course to a part of the camp where the pagah was, and which wasclose to our tent.
Fear lent us speed; we flew to our tent, and for a few moments wereengaged in tying up some valuables we had brought out for division;having done this, we hurried to our horses. Some of the men werealready in their saddles; I leaped on my spirited animal, and drew mysword, ready for the worst. I wished all to move off in a body, for asyet there was no alarm,--but I was deceived; we were surrounded! Theinstant we were in motion a body of horse dashed at us, and we were atonce engaged in a conflict for life or death. What happened I know not;I cut down the only man who was opposed to me; Peer Khan was equallyfortunate. I received a slight wound from another, which I littleheeded; we urged our horses to their utmost speed, and the darknessfavoured our escape.
I soon found, as I slackened my pace a little, that some of my men werewith me. We had agreed to take a northerly direction, and rendezvousnear a small village which could be seen from the camp; and by thisprecaution those who had escaped were soon collected together. We werenot pursued, though we heard the shouts of the Pindharees, as theyhallooed to each other in and about their camp, and the shots fromtheir matchlocks; and we afterwards heard they had grievously woundedmany of each other in mistake. I almost dreaded to call over the namesof those who stood around me, for I could not see their faces, and noo
ne spoke a word to his companion.
We waited for a considerable time,--for an hour or more. Graduallythe noise and shouting in the Pindharee camp died away, and by thestraggling watch-fires alone could one have told that a mighty army wasencamped there. Now and then the shrill neigh of a horse was borne tous upon the night wind, and when it ceased there was again a melancholysilence. The little village too was deserted; part of it had beenburned, and the embers of the houses still emitted sparks, now and thensending up a flame, as portions of dry grass of the thatched huts whichhad escaped became ignited. Further delay was useless; I thereforebroke the silence, which was painful to all.
"How many are there of us, Peer Khan?" I asked, in a low tone.
"Eleven," said he; "the rest I fear have fallen."
"I pray Alla they have; better far to fall by a sword-cut or aspear-thrust, than to be exposed to torture; but who are absent?--isMotee here?"
"Alas! no, Meer Sahib. Motee I saw struck down. I made a cut at thePindharee who wounded him, but the darkness deceived me: I missed him."
"And who else are absent?" said I, stifling my grief, for Motee hadbeen as a brother to me; "let those who are here tell their names."
They did so. Ghous Khan was away, and Nuzzur Ali and Ramdeen Singh,three of our best men; Motee was a fourth; Hidayut Khan, the traitor,was a fifth, and all our attendants and grooms.
"'Tis no use staying here," said I; "we must make the best of our wayto Jhalone; there we will wait the usual time, and if none return, theceremonies for the dead must be performed for them. None of ye willgrudge your share of the booty we have (blessed be Bhowanee!) broughtaway with us, to their wives and families; swear this unto me, ye thatare willing."
"We swear!" cried the whole, almost with one voice.
"I am satisfied," said I; "now let us proceed. We must turn off themain road when it is light; we all know the paths through the jungles,and by them we will travel, till we are safely beyond Hussingabad:beyond that I fear not."
"Proceed," cried Peer Khan; "we follow you."
And we rode on in silence, with heavy hearts. We travelled thus formany days. Through the country we passed, we represented ourselves, aslong as the Nagpoor territory lasted, to be servants of the governmenton a secret mission; and though we were often suspected and questioned,yet by my address I brought my band clear out of all the difficulties;and our hearts bounded with joy when at length we arrived on the banksof the noble Nurbudda, and dashing our steeds into the ford, soon leftits waters between us and our enemies.
Inured as we were to the fatigues of long and severe marches, andour horses also, not a day passed but fifteen or twenty coss weretravelled, and at this rate we were not long in reaching our home.Blessed be Alla! we did reach it, and glad was my heart once again tosee the groves of Jhalone after my weary pilgrimage. No notice had webeen able to give of our approach, and I alighted at the door of myown house unattended and alone, covered with dust, and worn by fatigueand exposure to the fierce heat of the sun, and as much changed byanxiety for the fate of my poor comrades as though ten additionalyears had gone over my head, instead of only a few weeks. My servantsscarcely knew me; but when I was recognised, the glad tidings of myreturn flew from mouth to mouth. I waited not even to quench my ragingthirst before I was again in the embrace of Azima, my own loved one,and peril was once more forgotten.
We assembled in the evening; and as the pockets of our saddles wereone by one unripped, and their contents heaped on the floor before us,a glorious pile indeed met our view, of lumps of gold and silver, theproduce of the jewels we had seized, which we had melted down as we gotthem. There were a few strings of pearls, one of which I laid aside forthe Rajah; and the whole was then weighed, valued, and distributed.Those whom we supposed to be dead were not forgotten; their shares werelaid aside, and afterwards delivered to their families.
I now again enjoyed peace and rest; all idea of joining Cheetoo, orany other of the Pindharee leaders, was out of the question; forthough I might have done so under an assumed name, yet the chance ofbeing recognised would have been too great, and I was rich enough forthe present. Cheetoo too had reached the summit of his fame and hisprosperity; his plans were all frustrated by the rash and sudden riseof the Mahratta powers. All they could do was of no avail against theskill and bravery of the Europeans; one by one they were conquered;and Cheetoo, though he might have profited by the generosity of hisenemies, and accepted a large estate which he was offered by them,could not curb his restless spirit. A few of his men followed hisfortunes, but his standard was in vain raised for fresh adherents.These even deserted him one by one; his prospects were blasted; hebecame a miserable fugitive; and pursued from haunt to haunt, fromfastness to fastness, he at last perished miserably by a tiger, in thedense jungles about the fort of Asseer Ghur. Peace be to his memory! hewas a great man, and a skilful and brave leader; and whatever crimeshe may have committed in his wild career as a Pindharee chieftain, hisdreadful death has been some atonement for them.
I pass over two more years. Why should I fatigue you, Sahib, with arelation of daily occurrences, monotonous in themselves, and presentingto my memory not one incident worthy of remark. I will again lead youto the road, and to further adventures.
But Ameer Ali, said I, did you never hear aught of Motee and your othercompanions who were seized by Cheetoo?
I had forgotten them, Sahib; theirs was a sad fate, as you shall hear.
One evening, about three months after my return home, as I was sittingin the Dewan Khana of my house, surrounded by some friends, anattendant brought me word that a man was without, closely wrapped in asheet, who desired to speak with me. "He will not enter," said he; "andsays that you will know him when you see him."
I took up my sword and followed him. It was dusk, and I did notrecognise the features of the person who had sent for me; indeed he wasso closely muffled that I could hardly see them. "What is your purpose,friend?" I asked, as the man did not speak, but motioned with his armsunder his cloth for my attendant to go away. I bid him begone.
"Jemadar," cried the figure when we were alone, "do you not know me?"
"The voice," said I, "is familiar to mine ears; step into the lightthat I may see your face."
"No, no!" said the man, in a hollow voice, "I cannot bear the light;mutilated and disgraced as I am, the darkness scarcely hides my shame:I am Ghous Khan."
"Ghous Khan!" I cried, in amazement; "he is dead, he perished at----"
"It is even so," said the man with a melancholy voice; "Ghous Khan isbefore you; to prove it, send for a light and look at me."
I brought one myself and held it to his face. I was indeed shocked.Ghous Khan _was_ before me, but oh how changed! His features were wornand sunken, the brightness of his eyes was dimmed, his beard was mattedand uncombed, and a few dirty rags covered his head; but what above allshocked me was, that his nose had been cut off close to his face, andthe skin of his cheeks and mouth had been drawn together by the healedwound, so that it was tight over them, and imparted to his features aghastly expression.
"My poor friend!" I exclaimed, embracing him; "how is this? how haveyou been reduced to this condition? Speak, for the love of Alla! andtell me what you have suffered."
"The disfigurement of my face is not all, Meer Sahib," said he,throwing off the dirty, ragged sheet which covered him. "Behold these!"and the poor fellow held up to my view the stumps of his arms; hishands had both been cut off between the wrist and the elbow, and thewounds were scarcely healed. Having done this, he sunk down on thefloor in an agony of grief and shame.
I raised him up, and comforted him as well as I could. I ordered a bathfor him, and clean apparel, had his wounds dressed by a skilful barber;and, after seeing him eat, or rather fed with a hearty meal, I left himto his repose. I need not tell you, now that one of my lost companionshad arrived, how I longed to hear the fate of the rest. That night Iwas sleepless and restless: but the next day, closeted with me in aprivate room apart from observation, he ga
ve me the following accountof his adventures and sufferings; adventures indeed there were few, butsufferings many.
"You of course remember, Meer Sahib," said he, "that fatal night when,just as we were on the point of making off with our booty, we wereattacked. The darkness favoured your escape; but on the first onsetof the Pindharee horsemen I received a severe spear wound in theback, which threw me from my horse. I was seized by the Pindharees,bound hand and foot, and carried to the tent of Cheetoo, where therewas now a large concourse of people assembled. The wound in my backwas staunched and bound up, and in a few moments afterwards otherPindharees entered, bearing Motee-ram, who was desperately wounded inthe head, and the two others, Nuzzur Ali and Ramdeen Singh, who wereuntouched. Hidayut Khan was there--the villain and traitor! and histriumphant glance quailed under mine when I fixed my eyes on him andwould not withdraw them.
"Silence was ordered, and Cheetoo demanded with a loud voice of HidayutKhan, whether he knew any of the persons before him.
"'I do, Nuwab,' said the wretch; and he named us one by one, andpointed us out.
"'And what have you to say against them?' asked the chief.
"'I accuse them of being Thugs,' said he; 'I accuse them ofmurder, of the murder of Ghuffoor Khan, and of fourteen other goodPindharees,--they dare not deny it.'
"'Let their jemadar, as he is called,' said Cheetoo, 'if he can speak,answer to this.' But poor Motee's spirit was fast departing, he wassenseless, and never spoke afterwards.
"'I will reply,' said I; 'I say it is a lie, a base lie; I defy thatman to bring proofs. Have we not served well in your camp, oh Nuwab?have we not ever been foremost in danger, and more merciful than allthe rest of these murdering villains?'
"'Strike him on the mouth with a shoe! cut him down for his insolence!'cried several.
"'Silence!' again exclaimed Cheetoo; 'the first man who disturbs thisinquiry, by Alla, I will behead him.'
"'Go on,' he continued, addressing me; 'what more have you to say?'
"'Nothing, Nuwab; I rely on your justice.'
"'Justice thou shalt have; but tell me why your chief has fled.'
"This confused me a little, but after a moment's thought I repliedstoutly,--
"'Look you, Nuwab, I am a plain soldier, and cannot please your earwith fine words. My leader has fled, it is true, but not from guilt.That black-hearted villain, Hidayut Khan, wanted more than his share ofplunder on many occasions, and was refused it. He separated from us; wedogged him about the camp, and detected him in close conversation witha man who is known to be in your favour. This excited our suspicion.This evening we watched him to your tent; I gave the information toour jemadar; he and Peer Khan stole towards it; they lay down outsideand heard his vile accusations of murder, and had only time to flyand mount their horses. We were not all prepared, and have fallen intoyour hands. Of what use would it have been for him to have braved yourpresence? the disgrace alone, to such a man as he is, would have beeninsupportable,--he would have destroyed himself. I know no more; dowith us as you please.'
"Cheetoo seemed struck with what I had said, and mused for a moment.'The proofs of their guilt!' cried he to Hidayut Khan; 'the proofs!bring them, or it will be worse for thee.'
"'Let their swords be brought,' said he; 'Peer Khan has made off withthat of Ghuffoor Khan, but that man (pointing to Ramdeen) has one whichwas the property of a Pindharee who was murdered two nights ago; andother articles may be discovered in the linings of their saddles.'
"'Show me the swords,' cried a Pindharee in the crowd; 'my brotherdisappeared two nights ago, and I have sought him in vain since.'
"They were brought. Ah! Meer Sahib, how can I tell you that RamdeenSingh's was instantly recognised by the Pindharee, who vehementlydemanded our blood from Cheetoo?
"'This is conclusive against you,' said Cheetoo; 'what can you say?'
"Ramdeen muttered a few words in exculpation, but they were unheeded.
"'I beg further to represent, Peer-o-Moorshid,' cried Hidayut Khan,'that if you have any further doubts of what I have declared to be thefact, I am ready to accompany any men you may choose to select; I willguide them to the spot where that man's unfortunate brother lies inhis unblessed grave; and not only him will I disinter, but march aftermarch beyond that one will I dig up, at one place one body, at anothertwo, until we come to where Ghuffoor Khan and his unfortunate Saeeslie, both in the same hole.'
"Cheetoo shuddered. 'It is too true,' said he. 'Alas! my brave men havefallen by the base hands of these stranglers--men who ought to havepurchased their martyrdom by death on the battle-field. Where are thesaddles and their contents? Let them be produced.'
"This was worse and worse. Nuzzur Ali's saddle, you may remember, wasold and worn, and he had taken that of the Pindharee we last killed.The brother knew it and wept over it. In the lining was all the plunderhe had got, just as we had received it; and around my own waist was theman's humeana, with which I had replaced my own; it had his name on itwritten in Persian, which I had not observed. It was enough,--we wereconvicted; I repeated the Belief, and gave myself up to death.
"Yet I once more uplifted my voice. 'Nuwab!' I exclaimed, 'it is of nouse to contend further with destiny; were we a thousand times innocent,this array of facts against us would convict us. I now conceal not thatwe are Thugs--followers of the blessed Bhowanee, who will receive usinto Paradise. We shall die by your command, but why should that vilewretch live?--he who, for a greedy demand of more than his share, whichhe knew he could not receive according to our laws, has denounced us,has broken his oath, and been unfaithful to the salt he has eaten? Ishe not a Thug? has he not joined me and a hundred others in our workever since he was a boy? He cannot deny it; look at him,--look at hiscowardly features convulsed by terror,--_they_ show that what I say istrue. If he had been, as he says he is, an honest man, why did he notcause us to be seized when we were in the act of murder--upon the verybodies? He might have done so, for the deeds, except that of GhuffoorKhan, were committed in the first watch of the night, when the camp wasawake, and every one engaged in his own business. Why did he not thendenounce us? he would have been believed. But no! he wanted half of theplunder of that man's brother; it was denied him, as similar requestshad been before, and he has become a thing for men to spit at. If wedie, he should not be spared, because he is a Thug as we are, becausehe is a traitor and a coward!'
"'Liar!' cried Hidayut Khan, scarcely able to speak between rage andfear; 'Liar! I defy thee to say I ever strangled a person.'
"'No,' said I to Cheetoo, 'he was too great a coward--he dared not! andmy lord may have remarked that he used the slang term to express hismeaning in the last words he uttered.'
"'Vile wretch!' cried Cheetoo to him, 'thou art worse than they--theyare brave and undaunted, thou art a coward; thy head shall be struckfrom thy body.'
"His cries for pardon, for life, were horrible; he besought, hethreatened; but of what avail was it? He was dragged to the doorway ofthe tent, a Pindharee stepped behind him, and, while he still pleadedfor mercy, his head was struck from his shoulders and rolled forwards.
"'Are you not dismayed?' cried Cheetoo to us; 'yours will follow.'
"'No!' cried we, one and all; 'death must come sooner or later,--andours is now; we fear not.'
"'They fear it not,' said he to another chieftain; 'death would bewelcome to them; but their punishment shall be worse--they shall lingerout a miserable existence. Ho!' cried he to his Furashes, 'cut offthese villains' noses and hands, and bring them to me.'
"It was done, Meer Sahib! I alone have lived to tell it: our noseswere cut off--next our hands. The bleeding stumps were thrust intoboiling oil, and we were driven from the camp, there and then toperish, as they thought we should, in the wild jungles. And the othertwo did perish; we had no one to bind up our wounds; those of NuzzurAli and Ramdeen broke out bleeding several days afterwards, and theydied within two days of each other. So long as we were together, wesupported ourselves by begging in the villages, representin
g ourselvesto be villagers from a distant country whom the Pindharees had broughtthus far and mutilated, and we procured enough to satisfy the cravingsof hunger; but we could get no one to dress our wounds, which wereinflamed by the scorching heat of the weather; and, as I said, the twodied. Motee we never saw, but he must have died also, for the wound inhis head had cut through the brain, and he never spoke. His was a happyfate compared to ours!
"I have wandered from place to place, proceeding a few coss a day. Ihave been fed, and my blessings are on those who gave me food for thesake of the Prophet. What I have suffered I cannot describe; but I amnow with you again, and your kindness has obliterated it all from mymemory. I will live and die with you, if you will grant enough to feedyour faithful slave, who will now be only a burthen to you."
I was deeply affected at his story. I took the poor fellow undermy care, and his wounds were healed, but he never held up his headafterwards. He died before the year was ended, I believe of shame and asense of his helpless condition.
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