With Clive in India Page 15

  This Charlie declined.

  "A guard can always be corrupted," he said. "My Irish servant sleeps in my anteroom, my four lieutenants are close at hand, and knowing that the soldiers are, for the most part, attached to me, I do not think that open force will be used. I will, however, cause a large bell to be suspended above my quarters. Its ringing will be a signal that I am attacked, in which case I rely upon your highness putting yourself at the head of the guard, and coming to my assistance."

  Tim Kelly was at once furious and alarmed, at the news that danger threatened his master, and took every precaution that he could imagine to ensure his safety. He took to going down to the town, himself, to purchase provisions; and, so far as possible, prepared these himself. He procured two or three monkeys, animals which he held in horror, and offered them a portion of everything that came on the table, before he placed it before his master.

  Charlie at first protested against this, as his dinner became cold by waiting; but Tim had an oven prepared, and ordered dinner half an hour before the time fixed by his master. Each dish as brought in was, after a portion had been given to a monkey, placed in the oven, and thus half an hour was given to allow the poison to work. This was done without Charlie's knowledge, the oven being placed in the anteroom, and the dishes thence brought in, in regular order, by the body servant, whom even Tim allowed to be devoted to his master.

  One day, Charlie was just sitting down to his soup, when Tim ran in.

  "For the love of Heaven, Mr. Charles, don't put that stuff to your mouth. It's pisoned, or, at any rate, if it isn't, one of the other dishes is."

  "Poisoned, Tim! Nonsense, man. You are always thinking of poisonings and plots."

  "And it's lucky for your honor that I am," Tim said. "Jist come into the next room, and look at the monkeys."

  Charlie went in. One of the little creatures was lying upon the ground, evidently in a state of great agony. The other was sitting up, rocking itself backwards and forwards, like a human being in pain.

  "They look bad, poor little beasts," Charlie said; "but what has that got to do with my soup?"

  "Shure, yer honor, isn't that jist what I keep the cratures for, just to give them a taste of everything yer honor has, and I claps it into the oven there to kape it warm till I've had time to see, by the monkeys, whether it's good."

  "It looks very serious," Charlie said, gravely. "Do you go quietly out, Tim, call two men from the guardhouse, and seize the cook; and place one or two men as sentries over the other servants. I will go across to the rajah."

  The latter, on hearing what had happened, ordered the cook to be brought before him, together with the various dishes prepared for the dinner. The man, upon being interrogated, vehemently denied all knowledge of the affair.

  "We shall see," the rajah said. "Eat up that plate of soup."

  The man turned pale.

  "Your highness will observe," he stammered, "that you have already told me that one of these dishes is poisoned. I cannot say which, and whichever I eat may be the fatal one."

  The rajah made a signal to him to obey his orders, but Charlie interposed.

  "There is something in what he says, your highness. Whether the man is innocent or guilty, he would shrink equally from eating any of them. It is really possible that he may know nothing of it. The poison may have been introduced into the materials beforehand. If the man is taken to a dungeon, I think I could suggest a plan by which we could test him.

  "I believe him to be guilty," he said, when the prisoner had been removed.

  "Then why not let him be beheaded at once?" the rajah asked.

  "I would rather let ten guilty men escape," Charlie replied, "than run the risk of putting one innocent one to death. I propose, sir, that you order the eight dishes of food, which have been prepared for my dinner, to be carefully weighed. Let these be all placed in the cell of the prisoner, and there let him be left. In the course of two or three days he will, if guilty, endeavour to assuage his hunger by eating little bits of food, from every dish except that which he knows to be poisoned, but will take such a small portion from each that he will think it will not be detected. If he is innocent, and is really ignorant which dish is poisoned, he will not touch any of them, until driven to desperation by hunger. Then he will seize on one or more, and devour them to the end, running the chance of death by poison, rather than endure the pangs of hunger longer."

  "Your plan is a wise one," the rajah said. "It shall be tried. Let the dishes be taken to him, every morning, and removed every evening. Each evening they shall be weighed."

  These orders were carried out, and on the following morning the dishes were placed in the cell of the prisoner. When removed at night, they were found to be untouched. The next evening several of the dishes were found to have lost some ounces in weight. The third evening all but one had been tasted.

  "Let the prisoner be brought in again," the rajah ordered, when informed of this.

  "Dog," he said, "you have betrayed yourself. Had you been innocent, you could not have known in which of the dishes the poison had been placed. You have eaten of all but one. If that one contains poison, you are guilty."

  Then, turning to an attendant, he ordered him to take a portion of the untouched food, and to throw it to a dog. Pending the experiment, the prisoner was removed. Half an hour later, the attendant returned with the news that the dog was dead.

  "The guilt of the man is confirmed," the rajah said. "Let him be executed."

  "Will you give him to me, your highness?" Charlie asked. "His death would not benefit me now, and to save his life, he may tell me who is my enemy. It is of no use punishing the instrument, and letting the instigator go free."

  "You are right," the rajah agreed. "If you can find out who bribed him, justice shall be done, though it were the highest in the state."

  Charlie returned to his own quarters, assembled his lieutenants and several other of his officers, and had the man brought before him.

  "Hossein," he said, "you have taken money to take my life. I looked upon you as my faithful servant. I had done you no wrong. It has been proved that you attempted to poison me. You, when driven by hunger, ate small quantities, which you thought would pass unobserved, of all the dishes but one. That dish has been given to a dog, and he has died. You knew, then, which was the poisoned dish. The rajah has ordered your execution. I offer you life, if you will tell me who it was that tempted you."

  The prisoner preserved a stolid silence.

  "We had better proceed to torture him, at once," one of the rajah's officers said.

  The man turned a little paler. He knew well the horrible tortures which would, in such an instance, be inflicted to extort the names of those who had bribed him.

  "I will say nothing," he said, firmly, "though you tear me limb from limb."

  "I have no intention of torturing you," Charlie said. "A confession extorted by pain is as likely to be false as true, and even did you tell me one name, there might still be a dozen engaged in it who would remain unknown. No, Hossein, you have failed in your duty, you have tried to slay a master who was kind to you, and trusted you."

  "No, sahib," the man exclaimed, passionately. "You did not trust me. The food I sent you was tested and tried. I knew it; but I thought that the poison would not have acted on the monkeys, until you had eaten the dish. The fool who sold it me deceived me. Had you trusted me, I would never have done it. It was only when I saw that I was suspected and doubted, without cause, that my heart turned against you, and I took the gold which was offered to me to kill you. I swear it by the Prophet."

  Charlie looked at him steadily.

  "I believe you," he said. "You were mistaken. I had no suspicions. My servant feared for me, and took these precautions without telling me. However, Hossein, I pardon you, and if you will swear to me to be faithful, in future, I will trust you. You shall again be my cook, and I will eat the food as you prepare it for me."

  "I am my lord's slave," the man
said in a low tone. "My life is his."

  Charlie nodded, and the guard standing on either side of the prisoner stepped back, and without another word he left the room, a free man.

  Charlie's officers remonstrated with him upon having not only pardoned the man, but restored him to his position of cook.

  "I think I have done wisely," Charlie said. "I must have a cook, for Tim Kelly here is not famous that way; and although he might manage for me, when alone, he certainly could not turn out a dinner which would be suitable, when I have some of the rajah's kinsmen and officers dining with me. Did I get another cook, he might be just as open to the offers of my enemies as Hossein has been; and do you not think that, after what has passed, Hossein will be less likely to take bribes than any other man?"

  Henceforth the oven was removed from the antechamber, and Charlie took his meals as Hossein prepared them for him. The man said little, but Charlie felt sure, from the glances that he cast at him, that he could rely upon Hossein now to the death.

  Tim Kelly, who felt the strongest doubts as to the prudence of the proceeding, observed that Hossein no longer bought articles from men who brought them up to sell to the soldiers, but that every morning he went out early, and purchased all the supplies he desired from the shopkeepers in the town. Tim mentioned the fact to his master, who said:

  "You see, Tim, Hossein has determined that I shall not be poisoned without his knowing it. The little peddlers who come up here with herbs, and spices, and the ingredients for curry, might be bribed to sell Hossein poisoned goods. By going down into the town, and buying in the open market, it is barely possible that the goods could be poisoned. You need have no more anxiety whatever, Tim, as to poison. If the attempt is made again, it will probably be by sword or dagger."

  "Well, yer honor," said Tim, "anything's better than pison. I've got to sleep almost with one eye open. And you've got sentries outside your windows. What a pity it is that we ain't in a climate where one can fasten the windows, and boult the shutters! But now the wet season is over again, ye might have yer bed put, as ye did last year, on the roof of your room, with a canopy over it to keep off the dew. Ye would be safe then, except from anyone coming through the room where I sleeps."

  Charlie's bedroom was at the angle of a wall, and on two sides he could look down from his windows, two hundred feet, sheer into the valley below. The view from the flat terraced roof was a charming one, and, as Tim said, Charlie had, in the fine weather, converted the terrace into a sleeping room. A broad canopy, supported by poles at the corner, stretched over it, and even in the hottest weather the nights were not unpleasant here.

  Chapter 13

  : An Attempt At Murder.

  The house, of which the bedroom occupied by Charlie formed part, was elsewhere two stories higher; this room jutting out, alone, into the angle of the wall. The rest of the suite of rooms were in the house itself, but access could be obtained to this room through the window, which looked on to the terrace of the wall. Charlie's lieutenants always took pains to place men upon whom they could thoroughly rely as sentries, on this terrace.

  One night, a fortnight after the events which have been described, Charlie was asleep on his bed, on the flats above his room. On one side the house rose straight beside it. On two others was the fall to the valley, on the fourth side was the wall, along which two sentries were pacing to and fro. From time to time, from a door some distance along the side of the house, opening on to the wall, a white figure came out, stretched himself as if unable to sleep, looked for a while over the parapet down into the valley, appeared to listen intently, and then sauntered into the house again.

  It was the cook, Hossein. It was his custom. Successive sentries had, for many nights past, seen him do the same; but in a country where the nights are hot, a sleepless servant attracts but little attention. Upon the occasion of one of these visits to the parapet, he stood in an attitude of deep attention, longer than usual. Then he carelessly sauntered back. It was but a moment later that his face appeared at the window next to that of Charlie's bedroom. He stretched his head out, and again listened intently. Then he went to Tim, who was sleeping heavily on a couch placed there, and touched him. He put his hand on his lips, as Tim sprang up.

  "Take arm," he said, in Hindostanee. "Bad man coming."

  Tim understood the words and, seizing a sword and pistol which lay close to the bedside, followed Hossein, who had glided up the stairs, with a drawn tulwar in his hand. At the moment he did so, there was a noise of heavy bodies dropping, followed by a sudden shout from Charlie. There was a sound of clashing of arms, and the report of a pistol.

  As Tim's eyes came on a level with the terrace, he saw Hossein bound with uplifted blade into the midst of a group of men in the corner. Three times the blade rose and fell, and each time a loud shriek followed. Then he disappeared in the midst.

  Tim was but a few seconds behind him. Discharging his pistol into the body of one of the men, and running his sword into another, he, too, stood by the side of his master. Charlie, streaming with blood, was half sitting, half lying in the angle of the parapet. Hossein, his turban off, his long hair streaming down his back, was standing over him, fighting furiously against some ten men, who still pressed forward, while several others lay upon the ground.

  In spite of the arrival of Charlie's two allies, they still pressed forward, but the shots of the pistols had been echoed by the muskets of the sentries. Loud shouts were heard, showing that the alarm was sounding through the palace.

  One more desperate effort the assailants made, to beat the two men who opposed them over the parapet, but Hossein and the Irishman stood firm. The weight and numbers of their opponents, however, told upon them; when the first of the sentries appeared upon the platform, followed closely by his comrade; and both, with levelled bayonets, charged into the fray.

  The assailants now thought only of escape, but their position was a desperate one. Some rushed to the end of the terrace, and tried to climb the ropes by which they had slid down from the upper roof of the house. Others endeavoured to rush down the staircase; but Tim, with one of the sentries, guarded this point, until a rush of feet below told that the guard were coming to their assistance.

  It was well that help was at hand, for the conspirators, desperate at finding themselves in a trap, gathering themselves together, rushed with the fury of wild beasts upon Tim and the sentry. One was impaled upon a bayonet, another cut down by Tim, and then, borne back by the weight of their opponents, they were hurled backwards down the stairs. As the assailants followed them with a rush, the guard sprang through the open window, from the terrace below, into the room.

  There was a short and desperate conflict. Then two of the conspirators bounded up the staircase on to the roof, ran to the parapet and leaped over into the valley, two hundred feet below. They were the last of the eighteen men who had lowered themselves, from the roof above, to attack Charlie.

  As soon as Tim picked himself up, he hastened to ascend the stairs again, and to run to the side of his master. Charlie was insensible. Leaning against the parapet, too weak to stand, but still holding his sword, and ready to throw himself once more before him, stood Hossein; who now, seeing Tim approach, and that all danger was over, dropped his sword and sank upon the ground.

  A minute or two later the rajah himself, sword in hand, hurried up. He was greatly concerned, and excited, at the sight which met his eyes. Charlie was at once lifted, and carried down to one of the rajah's own rooms, where he was instantly attended to.

  A hasty examination showed that only two of the attacking party still breathed. None of those who had fallen above survived, so fiercely and deadly had been the blows struck by Hossein and Tim. Charlie himself had cut down one and shot another, before he fell, slashed in many places, just as Hossein bounded through his assailants.

  The bodies of the dead were, by the rajah's orders, laid together for identification in the morning. The two who still lived were carried to the guardroom
, and their wounds dressed, in order that the names of their employers might be obtained from them.

  In the meantime, Charlie's lieutenants had hastily formed a body of their soldiers together, and these at once fell upon a number of men who were crowding up the steps to the palace, with shouts of "Death to the Englishman." A few volleys poured among these effectually scattered them, and they broke and hurried down the steep road, through the gates to the town, the sentries on the way offering no opposition, but many falling under the fire from the parapet of the fort.

  In ten minutes, all was over. The gates were again closed, and a strong guard placed over them, and the attempted insurrection was at an end.

  The native surgeon, who attended Charlie, pronounced that none of the five wounds he had received, although for the most part severe, were necessarily fatal; and that there was every chance of his recovery. Hossein's wounds, three in number, were pronounced to be more dangerous, one being a deep stab in the body, given by a man who had rushed at him, as he was guarding the blow of another. Tim's wounds were comparatively slight, and he suffered more from the bruises he had received, when hurled backwards down the stone staircase. However, with one arm in a sling, and his head bandaged, he was able to take his place by his master's bedside.

  Having heard, from him, that it was entirely due to Hossein that Charlie's life had been saved, the rajah directed that every attention should be paid to him; and several times, during the night, Tim stole away to his bedside to press his hand, and call down blessings upon him.

  The stanching of his wounds, and the application of strong restoratives, presently caused Charlie to open his eyes.

  "The Lord be praised, Mr. Charles," Tim said, "that you're coming to yourself again. Don't you trouble, sir. We've done for the murdhering rascals; and, plase God, you'll soon be about again. Jist drink this draught, yer honor, and go off to sleep, if you can. In the morning I'll tell you all about it.