by G. A. Henty
Chapter 19: A Daring Escape.
"And what's to be done next, Mister Charles? That's Hossein, sureenough, but it don't bring us much nearer to getting out."
"The first thing is to communicate with him in some way, Tim."
"If he'd come up to the side of the moat, yer honor might spake tohim."
"That would never do, Tim. There are sure to be sentries on the wallsof the prison. We must trust to him. He can see the sentries, and willknow best what he can do."
It was evident that Hossein did not intend doing anything, at present;for, still stooping and gathering brushwood, he gradually withdrewfarther and farther from the wall. Then they saw him make his sticksinto a bundle, put them on his shoulder, and walk away. During therest of the day, they saw no more of Hossein.
"I will write," Charlie said, "--fortunately I have a pencil--tellinghim that we can lower a light string down to the moat, if he canmanage to get underneath with a cord which we can hoist up, and thathe must have two disguises in readiness."
"I don't think Hossein can read," Tim said, "any more than I can,myself."
"I daresay not, Tim, but he will probably have friends in the town.There are men who were employed in the English factory at Kossimbazar,hard by. These will be out of employment, and will regret theexpulsion of the English. We can trust Hossein. At any rate, I willget it ready.
"Now the first thing we have to do is to loosen one of these bars. Iwish we had thought of doing it before. However, the stonework ispretty rotten, and we shall have no difficulty about that. The firstthing is to get a tool of some sort."
They looked round the room, and for some time saw nothing which couldin any way serve. The walls, floor, and wide bench running round, uponwhich the cushions which served as their beds were laid, were allstone. There was no other furniture, of any kind.
"Divil a bit of iron do I see in the place, Mister Charles," Tim said."They don't even give us a knife for dinner, but stew all their meatsinto a smash."
"There is something, Tim," Charlie said, looking at the door. "Look atthose long hinges."
The hinges were of ornamented ironwork, extending half across thedoor. Upon one of the scrolls of this ironwork they set to work.Chipping a small piece of stone off an angle of the wall, outside thewindow; with great difficulty they thrust this under the end of thescroll, as a wedge. Another piece, slightly larger, was then pushedunder it. The gain was almost imperceptible, but at last the piece ofiron was raised from the woodwork sufficiently to allow them to get ahold of it, with their thumbs. Then, little by little, they bent itupward; until at last they could obtain a firm hold of it.
The rest was comparatively easy. The iron was tough and strong but, bybending it up and down, they succeeded at last in breaking it off. Itwas the lower hinge of the door, upon which they had operated, as theloss of a piece of iron there would be less likely to catch the eye ofanyone coming in. They collected some dust from the corner of theroom, moistened it, and rubbed it on to the wood so as to take awayits freshness of appearance; and they then set to work with the pieceof iron, which was of a curved shape, about three inches long, an inchwide, and an eighth of an inch thick.
Taking it by turns, they ground away the stone round the bottom of oneof the bars. For the first inch, the stone yielded readily to theiron; but below that it became harder, and their progress was slow.They filled the hole which they had made with water, to soften thestone, and worked steadily away till night; when, to their great joy,they found that they had reached the bottom of the bar. They thenenlarged the hole inwards, in order that the bar might be pulled back.Fortunately, it was much decayed by age; and they had no doubt that,by exerting all their strength, together they could bend itsufficiently to enable them to get through.
At the hour when their dinner was brought they had ceased their work,filled up the hole with dust collected from the floor, put some dustof the stone over it, and smoothed it down, so that it would not havebeen noticed by anyone casually looking from the window.
It was late at night before they finished their work. Their hands weresore and bleeding, and they were completely worn out with fatigue.They had saved, from their dinner, a good-sized piece of bread. Theyfolded up into a small compass the leaf from his pocketbook, uponwhich Charlie had written in Hindostanee his letter to Hossein, andthrust this into the centre of the piece of bread. Then Charlie toldTim to lie down and rest for three hours, while he kept watch; as theymust take it in turns, all night, to listen in case Hossein shouldcome outside. The lamp was kept burning.
Just as Charlie's watch was over, he thought he heard a very faintsplash in the water below. Two or three minutes later, he againthought he heard the sound. He peered out of the window anxiously, butthe night was dark, and he could see nothing. Listening intently, itseemed to him, several times, that he heard the same faint sound.
Presently something whizzed by him, and looking round, to his delighthe saw a small arrow, with a piece of very thin string attached. Thearrow was made of very light wood. Round the iron point was a thickwrapping of cotton, which would entirely deaden its sound, as itstruck a wall. It was soaked in water, and Charlie had no doubt thatthe sound he heard was caused by its fall into the moat, afterineffectual trials to shoot through the window.
Round the centre of the arrow a piece of greased silk was wrapped.Charlie took this off, and found beneath it a piece of paper, on whichwas written in Hindostanee:
"If you have a bar loosed, pull the string and haul up a rope. If not,throw the arrow down. I will come again, tomorrow night."
Tim had by this time joined Charlie, and they speedily began to pullin the string. Presently a thicker string came up into their hands.They continued to pull, and soon the end of a stout rope, in whichknots were tied every two feet, came up to them. They fastened this toone of the bars, and then took hold of that which they had loosened;and, putting their feet against the wall, exerted themselves to theutmost. The iron was tougher than they had expected, but they werestriving for liberty and, with desperate exertions, they bent itinwards until, at last, there was room enough for them to creepthrough.
"Can you swim, Tim?"
"Not a stroke, yer honor. Shure you should know that, when you fishedme out of the water."
"Very well, Tim. As I kept you up then, 'twill be easy enough for me,now, to take you across the moat. I will go first, and when I get intothe water, will keep hold of the rope till you come down. Take offyour boots, for they would be heard scraping against the wall. Be sureyou make as little noise as possible, and lower yourself quietly intothe water."
Charlie then removed his own boots, squeezed himself through the barsand, grasping the rope tightly, began to descend. He found the knotsof immense assistance, for had it not been for them, unaccustomed ashe was to the work, he would have been unable to prevent himself fromsliding down too rapidly. The window was fully sixty feet above themoat, and he was very thankful when, at last, he felt the water touchhis feet. Lowering himself quietly into it, he shook the rope, to letTim know that he could begin his descent.
Before Tim was halfway down, Charlie could hear his hard breathing,and muttered ejaculations to himself:
"Shure I'll never get to the bottom at all, my arms are fairlybreaking. I shall squash Mr. Charles, if I fall on him."
"Hold your tongue, Tim," Charlie said in a loud whisper.
Tim was silent, but the panting and puffing increased, and Charlieswam a stroke or two away, expecting every moment that Tim would fall.The Irishman, however, held on; but let himself into the water with asplash, which aroused the attention of the sentry above, who instantlychallenged.
Tim and Charlie remained perfectly quiet. Again the sentry challenged.Then there was a long silence. The sentry probably was unwilling torouse the place by a false alarm, and the splash might have beencaused by the fall of a piece of decayed stone from the face of thewall.
"Tim, you clumsy fellow," whispered Charlie, "you nearly spoiled all."
"Shure, yer honor, I was kilt entirely, and my arms were pulled out ofmy sockets. Holy Mother, who'd have thought 'twould be so difficult tocome down a rope! The sailors are great men, entirely."
"Now, Tim, lie quiet. I will turn you on your back, and swim acrosswith you."
The moat was some twenty yards wide. Charlie swam across, towing Timafter him, and taking the greatest pains to avoid making the slightestsplash. The opposite side was of stonework, and rose six feet abovethe water. As soon as they touched the wall, a stout rope was loweredto them.
"Now, Tim, you climb up first."
"Is it climb up, yer honor? I couldn't do it, if it was to save mysowl. My arms are gone altogether, and I'm as weak as a child.
"You go, Mister Charles. I'll hould on by the rope till morning. Theycan but shoot me."
"Nonsense, Tim! Here, I will fasten the rope round your body. Then Iwill climb up, and we will pull you up after me."
In another minute, Charlie stood on the bank, and grasped the hand ofhis faithful follower. Hossein threw himself on his knees, and pressedhis master to him. Then he rose and, at a word from Charlie, theyhauled Tim to the top. The rope was taken off him and, noiselessly,they made their way across the country. Not a word was spoken, tillthey were at a considerable distance from the fort.
"Where are you taking us, Hossein?" Charlie asked, at last.
"I have two peasants' dresses, in a deserted cottage a quarter of amile away."
Not another word was spoken, until they reached the hut, which stoodat the end of a small village. When they had entered this, Charliefirst thanked, in the warmest terms, his follower for having rescuedthem.
"My life is my lord's," Hossein answered simply. "He gave it me. It ishis again, whenever it is useful to him."
"No, Hossein, the balance is all on your side, now. You saved my lifethat night at Ambur. You saved it that night at Calcutta, for, withoutthe water you brought us, I question whether we could have lived tillmorning. Now you have procured our freedom. The debt is all on my sidenow, my friend."
"Hossein is glad that his lord is content," the Mohammedan murmured."Now, what will my lord do?"
"Have you any place in the town to which we could go, Hossein?"
"Yes, Sahib. I hired a little house. I was dressed as a trader. I havebeen here for two months, but I could not find where you wereconfined, although I have tried all means, until I saw your cap."
"It was foolish of me not to have thought of it before," Charlie said."Well, Hossein, for a little time we had better take refuge in yourhouse. They will not think of searching in the city; and, as Calcuttais in their hands, there is nowhere we could go. Besides, I mustdiscover, if possible, where Miss Haines is kept a prisoner; andrescue her, if it can be done."
"The white girl is in the zenana of Rajah Dulab Ram," Hossein replied.
"Where is the rajah's palace?"
"He has one in the city, one at Ajervam, twenty miles from here. I donot know at which she is lodged."
"We must find that out presently," Charlie said. "It is something toknow she is in one of two houses.
"Now, about getting back into the town?"
"I have thought of that," Hossein said. "I have bought a quantity ofplantains, and two large baskets. After the gates are opened, you willgo boldly in with the baskets on your heads. No questions are asked ofthe country people who go in and out. I have some stain here, whichwill darken your skins.
"I will go in first in my merchant's dress, which I have here. I willstop a little way inside the gate, and when I see you coming, willwalk on. Do you follow me, a little behind. My house is in a quietstreet. When I reach the door, do you come up and offer to sell meplantains. If there are people about, I shall bargain with you until Isee that no one is noticing us. Then you can enter. If none are about,you can follow me straight in."
Hossein now set about the disguises. A light was struck, and both Timand Charlie were shaved, up to the line which the turban would cover.Charlie's whiskers, which were somewhat faint, as he was still undertwenty-one years old, gave but little trouble. Tim, however, grumbledat parting with his much more bushy appendages. The shaven part of theheads, necks, and faces were then rubbed with a dark fluid, as werethe arms and legs.
They were next wrapped in dark blue clothes, in peasant fashion, andturbans wound round their heads. Hossein then, examining themcritically, announced that they would pass muster anywhere.
"I feel mighty quare," Tim exclaimed; "and it seems to me downrightondacent, to be walking about with my naked legs."
Charlie laughed.
"Why, Tim, you are accustomed to see thousands of men, every day, withnothing on but a loincloth."
"Yes, yer honor, but then they're hathens, and it seems natural forthem to do so; but for a dacent boy to go walking about in thestreets, with a thing on which covers no more than his shirt, isonnatural altogether. Mother of Moses, what a shindy there would be,in the streets of Cork, if I were to show myself in such a state!"
Charlie now lay down for a sleep till morning; while Tim, who had hadthree hours' repose, settled himself for a comfortable chat withHossein, to whom sleep appeared altogether unnecessary.
Between Hossein and Tim there was a sort of brotherly attachment,arising from their mutual love of their master. During the two yearswhich Tim had spent apart from all Europeans, save Charlie, he hadcontrived to pick up enough of the language to make himself fairlyintelligible; and, since the day when Hossein had saved Charlie's lifeat Ambur, the warmest friendship had sprung up between thegood-humoured and warm-hearted Irishman, and the silent and devotedMohammedan.
Tim's friendship even extended so far as to induce a toleration ofHossein's religion. He had come to the conclusion that a man who, atstated times in the day, would leave his employment, whatever it mightbe, spread his carpet, and be for some minutes lost in prayer, couldnot be altogether a hathen; especially when he learned, from Charlie,that the Mohammedans, like ourselves, worship one God. For the sake ofhis friend, then, he now generally excluded the Mohammedans from thegeneral designation of heathen, which he still applied to the Hindoos.
He learned from Hossein that the latter, having observed from adistance the Europeans driven into the cell at Calcutta, perceived atonce how fatal the consequences would be. He had, an hour or two afterthey were confined there, approached with some water, but the officeron guard had refused to let him give it. He had then gone into thenative town, but being unable to find any fruit there, had walked outto the gardens, and had picked a large basketful. This he had broughtas an offering to the officer, and the latter had then consented tohis giving one bowl of water to the prisoners, among whom, as he hadtold him, was his master. For bringing a second bowl, contrary to hisorders, Hossein had, as Tim saw, been struck down; but had thesatisfaction of believing that his master, and Tim, had derived somebenefit from his effort.
On the following morning, to his delight, he saw them issue among thefew survivors from the dungeon; and had, when they were taken up thecountry, followed close behind them, arriving at the town on the sameday as themselves. He had, ever since, been wandering round theprison. He had taken a house, so close to it that he could keep awatch on all the windows facing the town; and had, day after day, kepthis eyes fixed upon these without success. He had, at last, found outfrom one of the soldiers that the white prisoners were confined on theother side of the prison; but until he saw Charlie's cap, he had beenunable to discover the room in which they were confined.
In the morning, they started for the town. Groups of peasants werealready making their way towards the gate, with fruit and grain; and,keeping near one of these parties, while sufficiently distant toprevent the chance of their being addressed, Charlie and Tim madetheir way to the gate; the latter suffering acutely, in his mind, fromthe impropriety of his attire.
No questions were asked, as they passed the guard. They at onceperceived Hossein, standing a little way off, and followed him throughthe busy streets. They soon turned off into
a quieter quarter, andstopped at a house, in a street in which scarcely anyone was stirring.Hossein glanced round, as he opened the door, and beckoned to them toenter at once. This they did, and were glad, indeed, to set down theheavy baskets of plantains.
"My lord's room is upstairs," Hossein said, and led the way to acomfortably furnished apartment. "I think that you might stay here,for months, unsuspected. A sweeper comes, every day, to do my roomsdownstairs. He believes the rest of the house to be untenanted, andyou must remain perfectly quiet, during the half hour he is here.Otherwise, no one enters the house but myself."
Hossein soon set to work, and prepared an excellent breakfast. Then heleft them, saying that he would now devote himself to finding outwhether the young white lady was in the town palace of the rajah. Hereturned in the afternoon.
"She is here, Sahib," he said. "I got into conversation with one ofthe retainers of the rajah; and by giving him some wonderful bargains,in Delhi jewelry, succeeded in opening his lips. I dare not questionhim too closely, but I am to meet him tomorrow, to show him some moresilver bracelets."
"It is fortunate, Hossein, that you have some money, for neither Timnor I have a rupee."
"Thanks to the generosity of my lord," Hossein said, "I am wellsupplied."
The next day, Hossein discovered that the windows of the zenana wereat the back of the palace, looking into the large garden.
"I hear, however," he said, "that the ladies of the zenana are, nextweek, going to the rajah's other palace. The ladies will, of course,travel in palanquins; but upon the road I might get to talk with oneof the waiting women, and might bribe her to pass a note into thehands of the white lady."
"I suppose they will have a guard with them, Hossein?"
"Surely, a strong guard," Hossein answered.
The time passed, until the day came for the departure of the rajah'szenana. Charlie wrote a note, as follows:
"My dear Ada,
"I am free, and am on the lookout for an opportunity to rescue you.Contrive to put a little bit of your handkerchief through thelatticework of the window of your room, as a signal to us which it is.On the second night after your arrival, we will be under it with aladder. If others, as is probable, sleep in your room, lie downwithout undressing more than you can help. When they are asleep, getup and go to the window, and open the lattice. If any of them wake,say you are hot and cannot sleep, and wait quietly till they are offagain. Then stretch out your arm, and we shall know you are ready.Then we will put up the ladder, and you must get out, and come to usas quickly as possible. Once with us, you will be safe."
This note was wrapped up very small, and put into a quill. As soon asthe gates were open, Hossein and his companions left the town, andproceeded as far as a grove, halfway between the town and the rajah'scountry palace.
"They are sure to stop here, for a rest," Hossein said. "I will remainhere, and try to enter into conversation with one of them. It will bebetter for you to go on, for some distance, and then turn aside fromthe road. When they have all passed, come back into the road again,and I will join you."
After waiting two hours, Hossein saw two carts full of womenapproaching, and had no doubt that these were the servants of thezenana. As he had expected, the drivers halted their cattle in theshade of the trees; and the women, delighted to enjoy their liberty,alighted from the carts and scattered in the grove. Presently one ofthem, a middle-aged woman, approached the spot where Hossein hadseated himself.
Hossein drew out a large and beautiful silver bracelet, of Delhiworkmanship.
"Would you like to buy this?" he asked.
"How should I buy it?" she said. "I am only a servant.
"It is very beautiful;" and she looked at it, with longing eyes.
"I have two of them," he said, "and they will both be yours, if youwill do me a service."
"What is it?" she asked.
"They will be yours, if you will give this quill to the little whitegirl, who is in the zenana."
The woman hesitated.
"It is dangerous," she said.
"Not at all," Hossein replied. "It only gives her news of a friend,whom she thought was dead. It will cheer her heart, and will be a kindaction. None can ever know it."
"Give them to me," the woman said, holding out her hand. "I will doit."
"No," Hossein replied. "I will give you one now, the other when I knowthat the note is delivered. I shall be watching, tomorrow. If sheplaces her handkerchief in her lattice, I shall know that she has gotit. When she does this, I will bury the other bracelet, a few inchesin the ground, just under that window. You can dig it up when youwill."
"I understand," the woman said. "You can trust me. We all like thewhite girl. She is very gentle, but very sad. I would gladly give herpleasure."
Hossein handed to her the bracelet, and the quill. She hid them in herdress, and sauntered away.
Hossein lay back, as if taking a sleep, and so remained until, half anhour later, he heard the shouts of the drivers to the women, to taketheir places in the carts. Then the sound of retreating wheels washeard.
Hossein was about to rise, when he heard the clatter of horses' hoofs.Looking round he saw eight elephants, each carrying a closed pavilion,moving along the road, escorted by a troop of horsemen. In thepavilions, as he knew, were the ladies of the rajah's zenana.