CHAPTER VII
WINTER
The winter settled in early that year, and with the passes of the hillsblocked by snow, the caravans of laden camels which, in addition tomerchandise of all sorts, brought news from the world to the east andthe world to the west of mountain-clipped Kandahar, ceased to come intothe big bazaar. And the cold kept most people at home, or shiveringbeside the glowing braziers set outside the shops. It was not the seasonfor active work, and so Prince Askurry let it slip by without reallymaking up his mind what he was to do with Baby Akbar. Meanwhile thechild could live in the bastion of the palace, and play with his littlecousins. Whether he was to be betrothed to Baby Amina or not could bedecided in the spring; this was the time for rest and home comfortwithout fear of any disturbing, since none could cross the passes inwinter.
Princess Sultanam, however, to whom in her seclusion winter and summerwere much alike, grew fond of the little lad, and never ceased to urgeon her husband the wisdom of so treating Prince Akbar, that should KingHumayon by good luck--and he _had_ a knack of being lucky--find himselfagain with an army at his back, his hands would be tied from revenge onthe Court at Kabul.
Now, Askurry was no fool; he saw that, for the present at any rate,until Humayon's fate was decided, it would be wiser to be kind; so hedecided that when he held the New Year's assemblage he would present thelittle prince in due form to the chiefs and nobles.
Head-nurse was almost crazy with delight at the very idea. She andFoster-mother sent all their jewels to the goldsmith to be made up intosuitable ornaments for Baby Akbar, and they ransacked the shops for oddscraps of brocade with which to make him the finest of fine state robes.
And on the eventful day they began the child's toilette early, pressingRoy the Rajput into service as tire-woman to hold the ointments, andscents, and what not, that they deemed necessary for the due dressing ofa Prince.
So that it rather dashed their spirits when Foster-father came in with asober face and the news that a man had come into the bazaar bringing badtidings of the King and Queen. They had, he said, been lost in the snow;but whether this was true or not, who could tell?
"Then what is the use of worrying?" snapped Head-nurse, who was too muchoccupied in making her charge beautiful to think of other things. "Lo!Foster-father, evil is never lost on the road. It arrives sooner orlater, so why watch for it at the door?"
"That is true," replied Foster-father, "but mark my words, all dependson good news. If that comes, the child is safe; if evil--then God helphim!"
Roy, who, Baby Akbar being nearly dressed, was now holding the pot oflamp-black and oil with which Head-nurse, after the Indian custom, wouldput a finishing touch to her work by smearing a big black smut on thechild's forehead, lest he should be too sweet and so attract an envious,evil eye, looked up at the words, his face full of light andremembrance.
"God does help true kingship," he said proudly. "Mother used to say so,and that is why she was never afraid--" He paused and the light in hisface faded. "I--I don't remember any more," he added apologetically.
"Remembrance or no," snapped Head-nurse, "hold the pot straight, boy, orthou wilt spill it over the Mighty-in-Pomp, the Admired-of-the-World,"etc.
But Foster-father looked at Old Faithful and laid his hand kindly onRoy's shoulder. "It matters not, Roy! It is there within thee, all thesame. And 'twill come back some day, never fear. And I for one," headded aside to the old trooper, "should not wonder at much; for thelad's manners are ever above his present station."
Old Faithful shook his head wisely. "'Tis not the boy's manners,friend," he said, "but his breed. A man may compass manners for himself,but not that his father should have had them also."
By this time the black smear was on Baby Akbar's forehead, and despitethe smudge, he looked a very fine little fellow indeed. So much so thatquite a murmur of delighted admiration ran round the assemblage whenAskurry appeared, leading him by the hand; for he had quickly learned torun about and was now quite steady on his legs.
"A chip of the old block," said an ancient mountain chief, who had knownhis grandfather Babar, and many others nodded assent. Then PrinceAskurry began a set speech, little Akbar seated on his knee the while.
It was a very clever, crafty speech, that could be taken two ways, andPrince Askurry was so much interested in it, and making sure that he wasneither too disloyal or too loyal to his unfortunate brother, the King,that he did not notice what was passing on his knee until a sudden lackof attention on the part of his audience made him follow their eyes, andlook down at the child upon his lap.
And then?
Then he sat dumbfounded, his face flushing to a dull, dark red, for hesaw in a moment what the thing that had happened would mean to thoseothers--the audience before him--the men he had summoned to listen tohis half-hearted words.
Yet it was a very simple little thing. Baby Akbar, tired, doubtless, ofhis uncle's speechifying, had found amusement in a slender gold chainwhich hung round his uncle's neck; had traced it to a secret pocket inhis inner waistcoat, and so had drawn out from its hiding place a goldensignet ring, set with an engraved emerald. A toy indeed! So afterplaying with it for a bit the child had slipped it onto his littleforefinger, which he held up the better to admire his new-foundtreasure. So it came to pass that as Askurry's smooth, oily voice wenton and on, those who listened could see a little image sitting on hisknee.
A dignified, gracious-looking image with forefinger held up in theattitude of kingly command; and on that forefinger--what?
The Signet of the King!
The Ring of Empire!
It was unmistakable! Askurry must have found it in his fugitivebrother's tent. He must have concealed it. Uncertain what part he meantto play in the end, he must have worn it on his person until thechild--the true Heir-to-Empire----
The chiefs looked at each other furtively. There was a pause. Thensuddenly an old, thin voice--the voice of the old mountain chief, whoremembered Babar the brave--rose on the silence.
"God save the Heir-to-Empire!"
It gave the lead, and from every side rose the cry:
"God save the Heir-to-Empire!"
_The child had slipped it onto his littleforefinger._]
Prince Askurry's face fell. He had not meant to rouse loyalty, but hewas quick and clever, so he saw that it _had_ been roused, and that nowwas not the time to try and stifle it. So his frown turned to a smile ashe caught the child to him and rose, holding him in his arms.
"The rogue, my lords," he said lightly, "has forestalled me. I meant toplace the ring upon his finger myself before you all, in token that hedoes in truth represent our King, but praise be to Heaven! he has savedme the task. Long live the Heir-to-Empire!"
But the nobles as they passed out of the assembly, and the people whoheard the tale outside, said it was a strange happening that theinnocent child should so claim his right. And cruel brother Kumran'sparty laid their heads together once more, and swore it was time to endPrince Askurry's foolish hesitation. They must get at the child somehow.
But by this time, if Prince Askurry had not quite made up his mind howhe should treat Baby Akbar, he had quite settled that no one else--leastof all cruel brother Kumran--should have anything to do with the child.So the little prince was carefully watched and guarded, rather toFoster-father's and Old Faithful's relief. Indeed, as time went on theyalmost forgot to watch themselves, being accustomed to see the sentrywalking up and down before the entry to the narrow stairs that led up tothe three rooms in the old bastion which were given them as lodgings.They were large, comfortable rooms, and the inner one was used byFoster-mother, Head-nurse and Baby Akbar, the outer one by the two menand the two boys, while the middle one, a great wide hall of a place,they used as a living room. It was lighter than the others, since it hadslits of windows--without glass, of course--high up in the walls, andthough these let the cold as well as the winter sunshine into the room,there was a roaring great fireplace, which kept the farther end of thehall nice and
warm. And here on very frosty nights the women folk woulddrag their beds and sleep, while during the snowy days they would spreadquilts on the floor, and Baby Akbar would have high jinks with Tumbu andDown, who were his constant playmates. Then, when he was tired, Roywould cradle his young master in his arms and sing to him. Notlullabies, for little Akbar's mind kept pace with his body, and everymonth saw him more and more of a boy and less and less of a baby.
"Tell me how Rajah Rasalu did this," or "Tell me how Rajah Rasalu didthat," he would say; and so Roy's boyish voice would go over the oldstory of endless adventures, which has delighted so many Indian childrenfor so many generations.
So time passed quite merrily until one night, when something dreadfulhappened. So dreadful that it will really require another chapter todescribe it. But it was one night when Roy had been telling the littleprince how "Rajah Rasalu's friends forsook him for fear." And as this israther a nice story, it shall be told here.
"You know, great Kingly child," began Roy, "how Rajah Rasalu was bornand how Rajah Rasalu set out into the world to seek for fortune, takingwith him his dear horse, Baunwa-iraki, his parrot, Kilkila, who hadlived with him since he was born, besides the Carpenter-lad and theGoldsmith-lad, who had sworn never to leave their young master. So hejourneyed north to a lonely place, all set with sombre trees. And thenight was dark, so he set a watch, and the goldsmith took the first,while the young prince slept by the Carpenter-lad, on a couch of clean,sweet leaves. And lest the heart of the prince should sink, they sang acheering song:
"'Cradled till now on softest down, Leaves are thy bed to-night; Yet grieve not thou at fortune's frown, Brave men heed not her slight.'
"And while they slept and the goldsmith watched, a snake slid out fromthe trees. 'Now, who are you?' quoth the Goldsmith-lad, 'who come todisturb his rest?' 'Lo! I have killed all living things that haveventured within ten miles of this my place of rest,' it hissed, 'and nowI will slay you, too!' So they fought and fought, but the Goldsmith-ladhe killed the snake in the end. Then he hid the body under his shield,lest the others might be afraid, and he roused from his rest theCarpenter-lad, to take his share of the watch, while he, in his turn, onthe clean, sweet leaves lay down beside the prince. And while theyslept, and the Carpenter watched, a dragon slid from the trees. 'Now,who are you?' quoth the Carpenter-lad, 'who come to disturb his rest?''Lo! I have killed all living things for twenty miles round this place;and I'll kill you, too,' it roared, 'and crack your bones to eat.' Sothey fought and fought and fought till he killed the dragon at last.Then he hid the body behind a bush lest the others should be afraid, androused Rasalu from out his sleep to take his share of the watch; whilehe in turn by the Goldsmith-lad lay down to take his rest.
"And while they slept and Rasalu waked a THING slid out from the trees;an awful THING! No man could tell th' unspeakable horror of it. ButRasalu smiled in its face of dread, and laughed in, its horrible eyes.'Pray, who are you to disturb our rest, and why do you dare to come?''Lo! I have killed all living things for twenty times twenty miles, andI will kill you, upstart boy, and crack your bones to dust.'
"So they fought and fought and fought, and Rasalu drew his bow, and thearrow fled like the wind and pierced the Awful Horror through. Then itfled to a cave close by, with Rasalu at its heels. So they fought andfought and fought till the dawn showed clear in the sky, and the AwfulHorror gave up with a groan and rolled on its side and died. Now, justas Rasalu wiped his sword the sleepers awoke from their sleep. 'Seehere!' said the Goldsmith-lad with pride, 'what I killed in my lonelywatch.' 'Pooh! only a snake!' said the Carpenter-lad; 'see the dragon Ihave killed.' But Rasalu took them both by the hand and led them intothe cave; but dead as it was, they shrieked with fear at the AwfulHorror they saw. And they fell at Rasalu's feet and groaned and moanedand prayed and wept. 'Let us go! Oh, hero, we are but men. We dare notfollow you now. It is nothing to you; it is death to us to follow and beyour friends.'
"Then tears came into Rasalu's eyes, but he said no word of nay. 'Do asyou will,' he said to them. '_I_ will not bid you stay.
"'Aloes linger long before they flower, Gracious rain too soon is overpast; Youth and strength are with us but an hour, All glad life must end in death at last. But king reigns king without consent of courtier, Rulers may rule, though none heed their command; Heaven-crowned heads, stoop not, but rise the haughtier, Alone and friendless in a strangers' land.'
"So his friends forsook him and fled. But Rasalu went on his way."
The Adventures of Akbar Page 10