At the Point of the Bayonet: A Tale of the Mahratta War

  Chapter 5: Down To Bombay.

  Harry's stay with Nana was a short one as, in three days, he wasagain sent to Poona. This time he was to take up his abode at alarge house, occupied by two of the leaders of Bajee's party; therajah having told him that he would request them to entertain him,if he should again come to Poona. He was the bearer of fiftythousand rupees, principally in gold, which he was to give to themfor the use of Bajee. He had no message this time for the prince,personally, Nana having said to him:

  "I want you to let me know how matters are going on. The young manmay do something rash and, if Balloba's suspicions are in any wayexcited, he may send him to some distant fortress; which wouldseriously upset my plans, for I should have to retain Chimnajee inpower, as representative of his brother.

  "We know that he was placed on the musnud greatly in opposition tohis wishes; and he certainly hailed, with pleasure, the prospect ofBajee's release. Still, it would not be the same thing for me. Aminister of the Peishwa can rule without question by the peoplebut, acting only as minister to a representative of the Peishwa, hewould be far more severely criticised; and it is certain that, toraise money for paying Scindia the sum that has been agreed upon,extra taxation must be put on, the odium resulting from which wouldfall upon me."

  The two officers received Harry cordially. He had personally knownthem both and, as Nana's representative, they would have treatedhim with much honour, had it not been pointed out to them that thismight be fatal to their plans for, did Balloba hear that somestrange officer was being so treated by them, he would be sure toset at once about finding out who he was, and what he was doingthere.

  "Matters are going on well," they said. "The old general, ManajeePhurkay, who was one of Rugoba's devoted adherents, is now stayingin Bajee's camp, and is enlisting men for his service."

  "Where are they being assembled?"

  "In Bajee's camp. He is not interfered with, there."

  "It appears to be a very rash proceeding," Harry said. "It is truethat Bajee has apparent liberty, and can have with him in his campmany of his friends; but a gathering of armed men can scarcelyescape the eye of so keen an observer as Balloba."

  Harry . . . saw a party of soldiers coming along the]road.

  A few days later, Harry, being out one evening, saw a party ofsoldiers coming along the road from the direction of Scindia'scamp. This was unusual for, in order to prevent plundering, theorders were stringent that none of Scindia's troops should enterPoona. He hurried back to the house, and acquainted the two leaderswith what he had seen. They were inclined to laugh at hisapprehension but, when a body of horsemen were seen coming down thestreet, they issued orders for the doors to be closed andbarricaded. There were some twenty men in the house, and when theofficer who commanded the detachment summoned them to open thedoor, and to deliver the two nobles to him, he was met by a decidedrefusal, from the chiefs themselves, from an upper window.

  The officer then ordered his men to dismount and break open thedoor but, when they attempted to do so, they were met by a fire ofmusketry from every window. Many fell; and the officer, seeing thatthe house could not be taken, except by a force much larger thanthat at his command, rode off at full speed, with the survivors, toScindia's camp.

  No sooner had they gone than the horses were brought out from thestables, and the two officers, with ten of their troopers, rode offat full speed. Harry refused to accompany them, as he wished to seewhat had really happened, in order to carry the news to Nana. Hetherefore rode out to the farmhouse where he had before stayed,left his horse there, and returned to Poona.

  Here he heard that Rao Phurkay had been seized, and that BajeeRao's encampment was surrounded by troops, who suffered none toenter or leave it. The next morning he went over there and foundthat, as the supply of water had been cut off, the garrison hadsurrendered; all being allowed to depart, with the exception ofBajee, over whom a strong guard had been placed.

  Before they left, Manajee Phurkay gave them all directions togather in the neighbourhood of Waee. They did so, and were joinedat once by the two chiefs. Nana promptly sent them a supply ofmoney, telling them to take up their position at the Salpee Ghaut;where they were speedily joined by ten thousand men, and openlydeclared for Bajee Rao.

  In the meantime Balloba, believing that the whole plot was the workof Bajee Rao, determined to despatch him, as a prisoner, to afortress in the heart of Scindia's dominions. He sent him off witha strong escort, under the charge of an officer named SukaramGhatgay who, although having command only of a troop of one hundredhorse, belonged to an ancient and honourable family.

  Balloba could hardly have made a worse choice. Ghatgay had adaughter who was reported to be of exceptional beauty, and theyoung Scindia had asked her father for her hand. Ghatgay, anambitious and enterprising man, had given no decided answer; notfrom any real hesitation, for he saw how enormous would be theadvantage, to himself, of such an alliance; but in order toincrease Scindia's ardour by pretended opposition, and so to securethe best terms possible for himself. The reason he gave wouldappear natural to any Mahratta of good blood, as none of thesewould have given a daughter of their house to one who, however highin rank, had ancestors belonging to a low caste.

  Upon the way, Bajee, who was aware of Scindia's wishes, and wasmost anxious to obtain his goodwill, urged Ghatgay to give him hisdaughter in marriage and, after much pretended hesitation, thelatter agreed to do so--on condition that Bajee would authorize himto promise Scindia a large sum of money, as soon as he againascended the musnud; and that he would get the prince to appointhim his prime minister, which post would be vacant at the overthrowof Balloba. This being arranged, Bajee Rao pretended that he wasseriously ill; and Ghatgay therefore halted, with his escort, onthe banks of the Paira.

  Taking with him his disguise as a countryman, Harry, as soon as helearned that Ghatgay had started with Bajee, mounted and followedhim; and travelled, at some little distance in rear of the party,until they halted. Then he went to the house of a cultivator, lefthis horse there, and exchanged his dress as fighting man for thatof a countryman.

  There was no occasion for him, now, to disguise his age or darkenhis eyes and, as before, he hired a cart, bought some grain forforage, some sacks of rice and other things, and boldly enteredGhatgay's camp. As the prices he asked were low, Ghatgay purchasedthe whole contents of his cart. When this was cleared, Harry lefthis cattle and wandered about, saying that he and the animalsneeded an hour's rest.

  Presently he passed Bajee Rao, who was standing listlessly at thedoor of a tent.

  "I am Puntojee," Harry said, as he passed. "I followed you with thehorse, that I might help you to escape."

  "Stay and talk to me here," the young prince said. "It will seemthat I am only passing my time in asking you questions about thecountry."

  "I wanted to ascertain the road by which you will travel, aftercrossing the river. I have money with me, and will endeavour toraise a force of forty or fifty men; with which to make a suddenattack upon your camp, after nightfall. I will bring a good horsewith me. If you will run out when you hear the uproar, I will rideup with the spare horse. You will leap on to its back, and we cangallop off."

  "You are a brave fellow, Puntojee, and I thank you heartily foryour offer; but, happily, I stand in no need of it. I have gainedGhatgay over, and he will linger here until we hear that Ballobahas been arrested, and that Nana Furnuwees is approaching Poona.Believe me, I shall never forget your offer, or the fidelity thathas prompted it; and when I am established as Peishwa you shall, ifit pleases you, have any post at court you may desire."

  "I thank you much, Prince; but I am an officer of Nana, and knowthat, in acting as I have done, I am acting in his interest, aswell as yours. I am glad that the necessity for making an attackupon the camp is obviated. I might have had considerable trouble inraising a sufficient force for such a purpose, for even the mostreckless would hesitate to fall on one of Scindia's officers; andin the next place, although I doubt not that I should
have beenable to carry you off, Ghatgay would, as soon as he had beaten offthe attacking party, have set out in pursuit, and raised the wholecountry, and the difficulty of reaching the Western Ghauts wouldhave been immense.

  "I hope to see Your Highness at Poona."

  So saying, he strolled carelessly back to the bullock cart, waitedtill the animals had finished their feed, and then drove off again;returned the cart to its owner, and started again for Poona.

  On his arrival there, he went to the Residency and informed Mr.Malet that Bajee had gained over the officer who was escorting him,and was ready to come back to Poona, as soon as the blow wasstruck.

  "It will be struck soon," Mr. Malet said. "All is in readiness. Isent your report on to the Council, urging that, as it seemedlikely that Bajee Rao would soon be on the musnud, they shouldexpress their readiness to recognize him. I received a despatchonly yesterday, saying that they perfectly agreed with me, and hadalready sent off a messenger to Nana stating their willingness torecognize Bajee as lawful heir to the late Peishwa.

  "Things are working well. The Nizam's general has been ordered towatch Purseram Bhow, who is raising troops for the purpose ofaiding in crushing Bajee's supporters. Holkar and Scindia's troopsalso are in readiness to move and, after the fete of the Dussera,the regular battalions in the Peishwa's service, commanded by Mr.Boyd, will march to the Neera bridge, and a brigade of Scindia'sregulars will move against Raygurh.

  "It is evident that neither Balloba nor Purseram has the slightestsuspicion of what is going on, or they would never have despatchedtroops from here. I certainly have felt very uneasy, since Bajeewas carried away; for he is a necessary figure, and should be hereas soon as Nana arrives, otherwise there would be no recognizedhead. It would have been hopeless to try to deliver him, onceimprisoned in one of the strong fortresses in Scindia's dominions;and the latter could have made any terms for himself that he choseto dictate.

  "Your news has relieved me of this anxiety, and I think it probablethat everything will now be managed without bloodshed; and that wemay, for a time, have peace here."

  The next morning, Harry rode off and rejoined Nana, who thanked himwarmly for the manner in which he had carried out his mission, andespecially for his offer to attempt to rescue Bajee from hiscaptors.

  "It would have been the greatest misfortune," he said, "had he beencarried far away. I should have been obliged to recognize hisbrother Chimnajee; and Scindia, having Bajee in his hands, wouldhave kept up a constant pressure, and might probably have marchedto Poona to restore him; which he would certainly have succeeded indoing, for the feeling of the population would have been all infavour of the lawful heir.

  "As a token of my satisfaction, here is an order upon my treasurerfor fifty thousand rupees."

  All being ready, Scindia, on the 27th of October, suddenly arrestedBalloba; and sent a body of his troops, with those of the Nizam'sgeneral, for the purpose of seizing Purseram Bhow. The latter,receiving news of what had happened in good time, and taking withhim Chimnajee, fled to a fortress; but was quickly pursued, andobliged to surrender. Bajee Rao was brought back to Beema, eighteenmiles from Poona. His brother Amrud, and Rao Phurkay, were alsoreleased.

  Nana joined his army at the Salpee Ghaut, and Scindia's infantry,under Mr. Boyd, marched for the capital; which Nana refused toenter, however, until he had received a formal declaration, fromBajee, that he intended no treachery against him. This pledge wasgiven; and a treaty was, at the same time, entered into by theNizam and Scindia, both agreeing to establish Bajee Rao on themusnud, and reinstate Nana as his prime minister. These mattersbeing settled, Nana returned to Poona, from which he had beenabsent for nearly a year, and resumed the duties of prime minister.

  A fortnight later, Bajee Rao was solemnly invested as Peishwa. Oneof his first acts was to send for Harry, to whom he gave a robe ofhonour, and thirty thousand rupees in money, in token of hisgratitude for the risk he had run in communicating with him, andfor his daring proposal to rescue him from the hands of his escort.

  On the day after Nana's re-entry into the capital, Harry received anote from Mr. Malet, asking him to call.

  "I expect Colonel Palmer to relieve me of my duties here, in thecourse of a day or two. I need scarcely say I shall be glad to bereleased from a work which is surrounded with infinite difficulty,and which constantly upsets all human calculations. Nana is inpower again; but another turn of the wheel may take place, at anymoment, and he may again be an exile, or possibly a prisoner.

  "It seems to me that it would be well for you to accompany me toBombay. The remembrance of your services will be fresh, and theycannot but be recognized by the Council. That body is frequentlychanged and, in two or three years' time, there will be fresh men,who will know nothing of what has happened now, and be indisposedto rake up old reports and letters, or to reward past services;especially as the whole position here may have altered, half adozen times, before that."

  "I will gladly do so, sir, and thank you very heartily for yourkindness. I will ride over to Jooneer, tomorrow, and bring my oldnurse down with me; and I have no doubt Sufder will be willing toaccompany us. He has rendered good services to Nana; and the latterwill, I am sure, grant him leave of absence for as long as may benecessary."

  "I think it would certainly be best to take them both down, ifpossible. They could make affidavits, in Bombay, that would placeit beyond doubt that you are Major Lindsay's son. It is morallycertain that there are relatives of your father and mother stillliving, in England. I do not say that you require any assistancefrom them; but when you return home, as everyone does, two or threetimes, in the course of his Indian service, it would be pleasant tofind friends there; and it would be well that your position shouldbe established beyond all question."

  "I will gladly go down with you," Soyera said, when Harry laid thematter before her. "I am happy and contented here, but should be gladto see Bombay again. It was my home for ten years. I am very glad youhave made up your mind to go, for it is time that you should take yourplace among your countrymen; and the recommendation of the Residentat the court of Poona is as good a one as you could wish for.

  "I should say that you had better give up, at once, staining yourskin. I can see that you have not used the dye for some days, andit would be as well to recover your proper colour, before Mr. Maletintroduces you to the Council at Bombay."

  "I will ride down to the town," Harry said, "and engage a gharry [anative carriage] to carry you to Poona. When we get there, I shalllearn what route Mr. Malet will take, and how fast he will travel;and shall then see which will be the best for you--to go down in agharry, or to be carried in a dhoolie [a palanquin]."

  "But all this will cost money, Harry."

  "I am well provided with funds," Harry said, "for the Nana andBajee Rao have both made me handsome presents for the services Irendered them. There is, therefore, no reason why we should nottravel in comfort."

  They arrived at Poona two days later; and Harry--having ascertainedthat the new Resident would not arrive until the next day, and thathe would probably wish Mr. Malet to defer his departure for atleast two days, in order to give him his experience of the factionsand intrigues there, and of the character of all those who werelikely to influence events--rode to see Nana, who had not yetreturned to Poona.

  "I have come, your excellency," he said, "to tell you that it is mywish to retire from the public service."

  The minister looked greatly surprised.

  "Why, Puntojee," he said, "this sounds like madness. Young as youare, you have secured powerful protectors, both in the Peishwa andmyself; and you may hope to reach a high office in the state, asyou grow older.

  "I do not know, though," he went on, speaking to himself ratherthan to the lad, "that high office is a thing to be desired. Itmeans being mixed up in intrigues of all kinds, being the object ofjealousy and hatred, and running a terrible risk of ruin at everychange in the government here."

  Then he turned again to Harry.

 
"And what are you thinking of doing?"

  "I will speak frankly to your highness. I am not a Mahratta, as youand everyone else suppose. I am the son of English parents."

  And he then went on to give an account of the killing of his fatherand mother, and of how he was saved by Soyera, and brought up asher son; until such times as he might, with advantage, go down toBombay. Nana listened with great interest.

  "It is a strange tale," he said, when Harry brought the story to aconclusion, "and explains things which have, at times, surprisedme. In the first place, the colour of your eyes always struck me aspeculiar. Then your figure is not that of my countrymen. There aremany as tall as you; but they have not your width of shoulders, andstrong build. Lastly, I have wondered how a young Mahratta shouldbe endowed with so much energy and readiness, be willing to takeheavy responsibilities on his shoulders, and to be so full ofresource.

  "Now that you have told me your story, I think you are right to godown and join your own people. Everything is disturbed, and nothingis certain from day to day here. I was a fugitive but a short timeago and, ere long, I may again be an exile.

  "Moreover, no one can tell what may happen to him. Your people arequarrelling with Tippoo, as they quarrelled with his father, Hyder;and I think that, before long, it is possible they will overthrowhim, and take possession of his territory.

  "Were the various powers of India united, this could not be so; butthe English will always find some ready to enter into an alliancewith them, and will so enlarge their dominions. The Mahrattas maylaugh at the idea of their being overthrown, by such small armiesas those the English generals command; but our constantdissensions, and the mutual jealousy between Holkar, Scindia, thePeishwa, the Rajah of Berar, and others, will prevent our everacting together. It may be that we shall be conquered piecemeal.

  "I have watched, very closely, all that has taken place in southernIndia and in Bengal. I have seen a handful of traders graduallyswallowing up the native powers, and it seems to me that it maywell be that, in time, they may become the masters of all India.Were I to say as much to any of our princes, they would scoff at myprediction; but it has been my business to learn what was passingelsewhere, and I have agents at Madras and Calcutta, and theirreports are ever that the power of the English is increasing. A fewyears ago, it seemed that the French were going to carry all beforethem; but they, like our native princes, have gone down before theEnglish; who seem, moreover, to get on better than the French withthe natives, and to win their respect and liking.

  "Well, young sir, I shall be sorry to lose you; because while I, andwith good reason, was seldom able to trust, and to give my absoluteconfidence to any of those around me, I have always felt that I couldwholly rely on you. During the past year I have seen much of you, andhave freely told my plans to you, as I have done to no others; andhave chosen you for missions that I could not, with safety, haveentrusted to any of my own followers, knowing that Scindia or Holkarwould be ready to pay great sums for these secrets. None except Bajee,to whom I sent you with particulars, were aware of the extent of myplans, or that I was in communication with more than one of the rajahs.

  "You have played your part marvellously well, for I should not havedeemed it possible that one of your race could live so long amongus, without exciting any suspicion. While you remain in Bombay, Ihope that you will act as my confidential agent. I do not ask youto divulge any secrets you may learn, relating to projectsconnected with the Deccan; but I should like to be informed as tothe course of affairs, generally. Of course, my dealings with theCouncil there must be carried on through the English Resident; butthere is much information respecting the views of the Council withregard to Tippoo, the Nizam, and Bengal, that will be valuable forme to know."

  "I could not so act, your excellency, without permission from theCouncil; but I should imagine that they would not be averse to suchan arrangement, especially as, perhaps, you would give me privateinformation as to the state of parties, here, such as you would notcare to tell their Resident."

  "Certainly I would do so. They change their Residents so frequentlythat it would be impossible for new men to really understand thesituation; which you, with your intimate knowledge of Poona, couldreadily grasp. Of course the arrangement could only be temporary,as my own position is so uncertain and, in any case, my life cannotnow be a long one.

  "I should propose that your salary, as my private agent, be athousand rupees a month."

  "I thank you much, sir; and if I stay at Bombay, and obtain thepermission of the Council to correspond with you, I will readilyundertake the part. They can have little objection to thearrangement, as doubtless you have agents in Bombay, already."

  "Certainly I have, but these are natives, and necessarily can onlysend me the rumours current in the bazaars, or known generally tothe public; and their news is, for the most part, worthless."

  "I have another favour to request," Harry said; "namely, that youwill give leave of absence to Sufder, in order that he mayaccompany me to Bombay. He and my old nurse could, alone,substantiate my birth and identity; and it would be necessary forthem to give their evidence before some legal authority."

  "That I will readily do. Sufder is honest and faithful, and I canrely upon him, absolutely, for anything in his sphere of duty; andhave, only today, appointed him to the command of two hundred men;but although he has a hand ready to strike, he has no brain capableof planning. Had it not been so, I should before this have raisedhim to a higher position. When he returns from Bombay, I will granthim the revenues of a village, of which he shall be the patal [amayor]; so that, in his old age, he will be able to live incomfort."

  On leaving the minister, Harry went to Sufder's camp.

  "'So you are back again, Puntojee?"

  "Yes, and have brought Soyera down with me."

  "I have great news to tell you," the soldier went on.

  "It will not be news to me, Sufder. I know that your command hasbeen doubled, and that you will now be the captain of two hundredmen; but I can tell you much more than that. You are to accompanyme down to Bombay, the day after tomorrow, so as to give evidenceabout my birth; and furthermore, Nana will, on your return, bestowupon you the jagheer [revenue] of a village district; so that, ashe says, when you grow too old for service, you will be able tolive comfortably."

  "That is good news indeed--better even than that I am to have thecommand of two hundred men, for in truth I am beginning to be wearyof service. I am now nearly fifty, and I feel myself growing stiff.Nothing would please me more than to be the patal of a villagecommunity, of which I hold the jagheer. However, so long as Nanalives and retains power I shall remain a soldier; but at his deathI shall serve no other master, and shall take to country lifeagain.

  "Does Nana know that you are English?"

  "Yes, I have told him my story. I was obliged to give my reasonsfor resigning and, as Nana has the support of the Government ofBombay, there was no risk in my doing so.

  "How long will it be before I get quite rid of this colour,Sufder?"

  "That I cannot say. I should think that in a fortnight the greaterpart of it will have faded out, but maybe Soyera knows of somethingthat will remove it more rapidly."

  Soyera, when asked, said that she knew of nothing that would removethe dye at once; but that if he washed his hands and face, two orthree times a day, with a strong lye made from the ashes of a plantthat grows everywhere on the plain, it would help to get rid of it.

  "I will go out, tomorrow morning, and fetch some in."

  When she had made the lye, and mixed it with oil, it made a verystrong soap.

  "How do you mean to dress, to go down, Harry?"

  "I have no choice; but even if I had, I should ride out of here inmy best court suit, and change it for English clothes when we gotdown the Ghauts. I may have to come up here again, for aught Iknow; and it is better, therefore, that no one should know that Iam English."

  Mr. Malet, however, solved the difficulty; for when, in theevening, Harry
went to enquire about the time that they wouldstart, he said:

  "I had been thinking of offering you a suit to ride down in but,unfortunately, my clothes would be a great deal too small for you.However, I think that, after all, it is best you should go down asyou are. In the first place, you would not show to advantage inEnglish clothes, in which you would feel tight and uncomfortable,at first; and in the second place, I think that it is perhaps aswell that the Council should see you as you are, then they wouldthe better understand how you have been able to pass as a Mahratta,all these years.

  "I will introduce you, now, to Colonel Palmer. It is important thathe should know you, for possibly you may be sent up here on somemission or other--for which, having the favour of Nana, you wouldbe specially fitted."

  Accordingly, the next morning they started early. Soyera hadprepared the liquid soap, but as it was decided that he should goin native dress, Harry thought it as well not to use it, especiallyas the dye was gradually wearing off. The party consisted of Mr.Malet, Sufder, and Harry; with an escort of ten cavalrymen,belonging to one of the native regiments. The mission clerk hadbeen transferred to Colonel Palmer, as his knowledge of affairswould be useful to the newcomer. Soyera was carried in a dhoolie,and followed close behind the troopers.

  That evening they descended the Ghauts into the Concan and encampedthere and, on the following day, rode into Bombay; where Mr. Malettook them to an hotel, principally used by natives of rank visitingBombay.

  "You had best stay here, till I send for you," he said, to Harry."I shall see some of the Council tonight. No doubt there will be aformal meeting, tomorrow, to ask my opinion about the probabilityof the present state of things continuing at Poona. I shall, ofcourse, tell them your story; and they will likely request you togo, at once, to see them; therefore, do not leave the hotel untilyou hear from me."

  Sufder had not previously visited Bombay, and the next morningearly he went out, with Soyera as his guide, to inspect theEuropean part of the town. He was much struck with the appearanceof neatness and order in the fort, and the solidity of thebuildings.

  "It is a strong place, assuredly," he said to Harry, on his return."In the first place, it would be necessary for a force attacking itto cross over the narrow isthmus, and causeway, uniting the islandwith the land; and that would be impossible, in face of a forceprovided with artillery guarding it. Then, if they succeeded inwinning that, they would have to make their way through the nativetown to get on to the maidan; and this would be defended by theguns from all the batteries and, in addition to the artillery onland, it might be swept by guns on board ship. Truly, those whotalked about driving the English into the sea cannot have knownanything of the strength of the position.

  "As to carrying it by assault, it could not be done; nor could thegarrison be starved out, since they could always obtain supplies ofall sorts by sea. And yet, except at the causeway, the place has nonatural strength. The Mahrattas acted unwisely, indeed, when theyallowed the English to settle here."

  "They could not foresee the future, Sufder. Now, doubtless, theyare sorry; but if in the future the British become masters ofIndia, the Mahrattas will have no reason to regret having giventhem a foothold. Wherever their powers extend, the natives are farbetter off than they were under the rule of their own princes. Werethe British masters, there would be no more wars, no morejealousies, and no more intrigues; the peasants would till theirfields in peace, and the men who now take to soldiering would findmore peaceful modes of earning a living."

  "But you do not think, surely, Harry,"--for after leaving Poona, hehad been told to call him so--"that the English can ever becomemasters of India? They conquered the Carnatic, but even there theywere not safe from the forays of Hyder Ali. Mysore bars their wayfarther north. Then there is the Nizam to be dealt with, and thenBerar and the Mahrattas; then comes Rajputana, and beyond are theSikhs, and the fierce chiefs of Scinde. It is true that the Englishhave beaten the peoples of lower Bengal, but these have always beenlooked down upon, and despised as cowardly and effeminate, by thefighting men of all India.

  "Besides, how few are the white soldiers! They say, too, that theFrench have promised Tippoo to send a big army, to help to drivethe English into the sea."

  "The French have quite work enough, at home," Harry said. "It istrue that they have got into Egypt, but they are shut up there byour fleets. Moreover, even were they to cross over into Arabia, howcould they march across a dry and almost waterless country, for athousand or two of miles? When they arrived in Scinde they wouldfind all the fighting men of the province, and the Sikhs, opposedto them; and they would never be able to fight their way down toMysore. The thing is absurd."

  The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger,from the Government House, with a request that Mr. Lindsay shouldat once attend there. Harry's horse, which had been saddled inreadiness, was brought round; for it would have seemed strange fora Mahratta, whose dress showed that he held a good position, to goon foot. Sufder rode by his side, Soyera following on foot.

  Dismounting at the Government House, he threw the reins to one ofthe lads, who were waiting in readiness to hold the horses ofofficers coming to see the Governor. On Harry mentioning his name,the native doorkeeper said:

  "I have orders for you to be taken, at once, to the Councilchamber, sahib, on your arrival here."

  The Governor, with four members of the Council and Mr. Malet, wereseated at a long table. Mr. Malet rose and said:

  "This is Mr. Lindsay, gentlemen."

  "Truly, sir, it would be difficult to recognize you as a fellowcountryman, in that garb," the Governor said; "though your colouris somewhat less dark than that of a Mahratta."

  "Since I left Poona I have ceased to dye, sir; as to my dress, thiswill be the last time I shall wear it, unless I should be calledupon to go to Poona again."

  "Your story is a most singular one," the Governor said, "but Mr.Malet assures us that you are the son of Major Lindsay, and hasbeen telling us how you escaped the massacre at the camp, and howyour ayah has brought you up."

  "She has come down with me, sir. I thought that her testimony wouldbe necessary; and I have also brought down her cousin, who waspresent at the foray in which my father and mother were killed. Myaccount will be confirmed by their statements."

  "You do credit to Mahratta food and training, Mr. Lindsay; but Mr.Malet has mentioned to me that, at one time, you were employed as ashikaree, to keep down the tigers which were doing havoc among thevillagers near the top of the Ghauts. He has also informed us ofthe very valuable service you rendered, by informing him of NanaFurnuwees' measures for regaining power, and replacing Bajee Rao onthe musnud--intelligence which saved us a great expenditure ofmoney in preparing to support him; with the certainty that, bydoing so, we might excite the enmity of Scindia. He tells us, also,why you continued so long in the Deccan, instead of coming downhere; and I think you acted very wisely.

  "We have mentioned your services, in that matter, in our reports tothe Board of Directors; and have said that, partly as a recognitionof this, and partly because you are the son of an English officer,who was killed in their service, we should at once give you anappointment, subject to their approval.

  "Now, sir, which would you prefer, the civil or military branch?"

  "I should much prefer the military," Harry answered, withouthesitation; "unless indeed, sir, you think my services would bemore useful in the civil."

  "If we were at Calcutta or Madras, there would be more scope foryou in the civil service; but as we hold, at present, littleterritory beyond this island, there are therefore but fewappointments affording an opportunity for the display of theintelligence which you certainly possess; but, should circumstancesalter, you might, owing to your knowledge of the country and itslanguage, be told off for civil work, in which the emoluments arevery much higher than in the military branch of the service.

  "You will at once be gazetted to the 3rd Native Cavalry, and doduty with the regiment, until your servi
ces are required elsewhere.Fresh disturbances may break out at Poona and, in that case, youmight be attached as assistant to Colonel Palmer.

  "Do you think you would be known again?"

  "I think it would be very unlikely, sir. When my skin has recoveredits proper colour, and I am dressed in uniform, I feel sure no onewould recognize me as having been an officer in the Peishwa'scourt."

  "Very well, sir. Then you will see your name in the gazette,tomorrow. You will, within a day or so, report yourself to theofficer commanding the regiment.

  "I may say that it would be well if your nurse, and the man whocame down with you, were to draw up statements concerning yourbirth, and swear to them at the High Court. These might be valuableto you, in the future."

  After expressing his thanks to the Governor and Council, Harry wentout, and rode back to the hotel with Sufder.