Part 39 (1/2)
They were talking in English now, for the first time since they started.
”I have almost forgotten how to talk English,” she said. ”We white girls always used to talk it, when we were together, so as not to forget it; and since the last one went, three years ago, I have always talked it to myself, for a bit, before going to sleep, so as to keep it up; but it does not come anything like so easy as the other. Still, I like talking it to you. It almost seems as if I were at home again.
You see, I have never heard a man talk English, since I was carried away. Even now, I can hardly believe this is not a happy dream, and that I shall not wake up, presently, and find myself a slave girl in the harem.”
”It is pleasant to me to talk English, too,” d.i.c.k said, ”though it is only a few months since I last spoke it. Now, the best thing you can do is to try and get off to sleep again. When we stop you shall have breakfast. I am sure you must want something. You have had nothing since you ate a mouthful or two, in my room, before starting.”
”Oh, I have slept hours and hours!” she said. ”I shall not want to sleep any more.”
However, before long the easy motion lulled her off again, and she did not wake until, at about four o'clock in the morning, they entered a wood that was, as d.i.c.k supposed, some three or four miles from Anicull.
”Well, how do you feel now?” d.i.c.k asked, as he set her on her feet.
”I feel stiff,” she said; ”but that will soon wear off, when I have run about a little. Oh, how tired you must be, after carrying me all these hours!”
”There has not been much to hold,” d.i.c.k said with a laugh, ”especially since we started the last time. Before that, you were so dead asleep that I did have to hold you; but, you see, you nestled up more comfortably when we changed horses, and needed very little support since then.”
”Now, what can I do?” she asked, with a little laugh. ”Please order me to do something. I am your slave, you know, and I want to be helping you.”
”Well, then, I command you to aid me to gather some sticks for a fire.
We have nothing to cook, but it will be cheerful, and the air is cool.”
They picked up sticks, while Surajah and Ibrahim loosened the girths of the horses, took off their bridles, and poured out another feed from the bag of grain they had brought with them. In a few minutes a fire was blazing, and the wallet of provisions brought out.
”I wish I had a cup of coffee to offer you, Annie,” d.i.c.k said, as he poured her out some wine and water, ”but we must wait, for that, until we get down to Tripataly.”
”I have forgotten all about coffee, d.i.c.k, and what it tastes like. The white girls used to talk about it, and say how they longed for a cup.
It seems, to me, funny to drink anything hot. I have never tasted anything but water, that I can remember, until you gave me that wine yesterday.”
”It is very nice, and very refres.h.i.+ng. There is another drink that is coming into fas.h.i.+on. It is called tea. I have tasted it a few times, but I don't like it as well as coffee, and it is much more expensive.”
”The sultan says that all the English get drunk, and there used to be pictures of them on the walls. They used to make me so angry.”
”I don't say that no English get drunk, Annie, because there is no doubt that some do. But it is very far from being true of the great proportion of them. Tippoo only says it to excite the people against us, because, now that he has made them all Mohammedans, they cannot drink wine--at any rate, openly. When I bought these two bottles, the trader made a great mystery over it, and if I had not given him a sign he understood, and which made him believe that I was a Hindoo and not a Mussulman, he would not have admitted that he kept it at all. He did say so, at first, for I have no doubt he thought that, as I was an officer of the Palace, it was a snare, and that if he had admitted he had wine I should have reported him, and it would have served as an excuse for his being fined, and perhaps having all his goods confiscated. When I made the sign that an old Hindoo had taught me, his manner changed directly, and he took me to the back of his little shop, and produced the wine. I told him I wanted it for medicine, and that was quite true, for I thought it was a drug you were very likely to need, on your journey.”
”How much farther have we to ride?” she asked, after a pause.
”Only about thirty-five miles--that is to say, it is only that distance to the frontier. There is a road that is rather more direct, but it pa.s.ses through Oussoor, a large town, which we had better avoid. It is not more than fifty miles from the frontier to Tripataly, but once across the line we can take matters easily, and stop whenever you get tired.”
”It will be all very strange to me, d.i.c.k. I sha'n't mind it, as long as you are with me, but it will be dreadful when you go. I am afraid your mother won't like me. You see, I know nothing of English ways, and I am oh! so ignorant. I cannot even read--at least, very little.
One of the girls used to teach me, from a book she had when she was carried off. It was a Bible--she used to tell me stories out of it.
But one day they found it, and she was beaten, very much, for venturing to have it. I am afraid I have quite forgotten even my letters; but she and the other girls used to teach me about religion, and told me I must never forget that I was a Christian, whatever they might do to me, and I was to say my prayers every night after I lay down, and every morning before I got up. Of course, I have always done it.”
”You need not be afraid of my mother, Annie. She is very kind, and I am sure she will take to you very much, and will be very glad that I have brought you to Tripataly; for, you see, she has no girls of her own. She will teach you to read and write, and if we go back to England, I dare say you will go to school for a time, so as to learn things like other girls.”
”I can work very nicely,” she said. ”The ladies of the harem all used to say that.”
”Well, you will find that very useful, no doubt.”
”And what else is there to learn?” she asked.