Part 10 (1/2)
”The cavalry would have less chance than we should have, my friend,”
answered Reginald. ”If the place is fortified, we must trust to stratagem rather than to an open attack. A handful of men, well provided with ammunition, may keep at bay the whole of Captain Burnett's cavalry. I would rather attempt to scale the walls; and I feel sure that d.i.c.k and I might accomplish the feat. We sailors are as active as goats; and as no one within would suspect our intentions, we might get to the top of the tower, and perhaps liberate the ranee, before any of the garrison could discover what we are about. It is very evident that she must be confined in the tower, where her guards think that she is perfectly safe; while they probably keep in the large hall in the lower part of the building. However, we must get there first and survey the place before we can decide what is to be done.”
Reginald then explained his plan to d.i.c.k Thuddichum, who replied--
”Of course, of course. It would be a rum sort of a tower that we couldn't get to the top of, provided there are but a few holes and crannies into which we can stick our toes and fingers. But, to my mind, it will be as well to secure a few coils of rope, as it may be an easier task to get up than to come down again--especially if we have got a young lady with us.”
”But if we were to be seen carrying the rope, suspicion of our intention would be excited, and the rebels would take measures to counteract it,”
observed Reginald.
”Then we must not let them see it,” answered d.i.c.k. ”I would not mind carrying a coil covered up in a piece of muslin, to look like a turban, on the top of my head; and I dare say Mister Buxsoo and the n.i.g.g.e.r here would do the same. And though I am pretty stout already, I would coil a few more lengths round my waist; and if the natives were to find out by chance what I had got about my body, they would only fancy that I was doing a bit of penance like themselves. Keep up your heart, sir; and if the young lady is shut up in the old tower, as you suppose, we'll manage, by hook or by crook, to get her out.”
We must now return to the temple in which Reginald and his party had taken shelter a few nights before. The Brahmin Balkishen and his slave were not the only occupants; and as soon as the travellers had gone, another personage crept out of a small chamber in which he had been hidden during the time of their stay, an interested spectator of their proceedings. He was no other than Khan Cochut. Hearing of the rajah's restoration to power, he was on his way back to Allahapoor with a cunningly-devised tale, by means of which he hoped to be restored to power. The astounding information, however, that he received from Balkishen made him change his plans, and he resolved, at all events, to defer his visit till a more convenient opportunity. The two worthies were actually holding a discussion together, when they were interrupted by the arrival of Reginald's party. Khan Cochut, though not very scrupulous, hesitated about firing, although he might have done so from his place of concealment, and have killed Reginald and Buxsoo, whom he himself feared; but, on the other hand, he might have missed, and have been caught and killed himself. Altogether, he came to the conclusion that it would be more prudent to try and ingratiate himself with the young rajah, till he could safely retire with the wealth he had acc.u.mulated.
His plan had been to go boldly to the court, to a.s.sert that he had been carried off by the orders of the rebel Mukund Bhim, and pretending to be greatly surprised on hearing of the abduction of the ranee, to offer to go in search of her. It was a hazardous scheme; but Khan Cochut was a daring man, and had convinced himself that timid measures rarely meet with success.
As soon as he had seen Reginald's party to a safe distance, he sat down to a breakfast which Bikoo, Balkishen's slave, had prepared for him; while the Brahmin, who would have considered himself defiled by eating in company with his friend, sat down to a more frugal meal by himself.
After having washed his hands and said his prayers, the Brahmin rejoined the khan,--who considered neither of such ceremonies necessary,--and the two then discussed their plans for the future. Balkishen undertook to follow Reginald's party, accompanied by Bikoo, and to prevent them by every means in his power from reaching the place of Nuna's concealment, should they by any wonderful chance discover it; while Khan Cochut came to the final resolution of returning to Allahapoor, and carrying out his original plan.
They were about to part, when they were startled by a loud roar, such as had never before echoed amid the walls of the temple. The Brahmin trembled and looked very yellow, for he could not be said to turn pale.
”It must be that abominable tigress which I thought had been killed,” he exclaimed. ”No mortal beast could have escaped being dashed to pieces from the height she fell. I always said she was a djinn; and this convinces me of the fact.”
”She must have a hard head and strong bones, at all events,” observed Khan Cochut. ”For my part, I don't believe either in good or evil spirits; and the simplest way of stopping her roaring will be to put a bullet through her head.”
”Not unless you wish to bring curses on your own head and on mine,”
exclaimed the Brahmin, becoming still more yellow.
Meanwhile the roars continued.
”The brute will attract the attention of the whole neighbourhood,”
exclaimed Khan Cochut. ”As for bringing a curse on my head, I am very ready to run that risk. Only let me get a fair shot and I will quickly silence her.”
”There must be some opening at the foot of the tower, or we should not hear the sounds so plainly,” observed the Brahmin, ”I will send Bikoo to try and find out. It would be more satisfactory to have him torn to pieces than ourselves.”
”There is wisdom in that remark,” coolly observed Khan Cochut; and Bikoo was forthwith despatched by his master to explore the place into which the tigress had tumbled.
He went--though with no great alacrity--to obey the order he had received, taking with him a long stick; not that it would have served him much against the enraged tigress, but it was the only weapon he possessed. The roars grew louder and louder as he advanced, till after mounting a flight of steps he started back on finding himself face to face with the tigress,--some iron bars, however, intervening. Faithful was evidently in a furious rage. As she saw him she seized one of the bars in her mouth, while she grasped the two next to it with her powerful claws, working away to wrench them asunder. Bikoo attempted to drive her back with his stick, but she utterly disregarded the blows aimed at her, only stopping a moment to roar and snarl, her loud cries drowning his voice as he shouted to Khan Cochut to come and shoot her-- which he might very easily have done. Already the bars were seen to bend, the upper ends coming out of their sockets. Bikoo saw that in another instant the tigress would be at liberty; so springing down the steps with a very natural rapidity, fully expecting to be torn to pieces should he not make haste, and shouting, ”The tigress! The tigress is at my heels!” he rushed into the presence of his master and Khan Cochut.
They, hearing his cries, judged that their safest course would be to betake themselves to the upper chamber in which they had before been concealed,--Bikoo following them without asking leave, and only wis.h.i.+ng that they would move somewhat faster. They had just climbed up by means of some winding steps in the wall, when the tigress, with her mouth and paws b.l.o.o.d.y from the exertions she had made, sprang into the courtyard and looked around, with the apparent intention of taking vengeance on the person who had so treacherously endeavoured to destroy her. As she was gazing about, her eye fell on the long nose and sallow visage of Khan Cochut, who was peering from his hiding-place through a slit in the wall. She sprang up at him with a suddenness which made him draw back with considerable rapidity, knocking over the grave Brahmin as he did so, and sending him sprawling prostrate on the ground. Poor Faithful, however, missed her aim, and fell backwards in a manner which did not at all improve her already irritated temper. Up and down the courtyard she rushed, looking out for an opening; and had not an iron-clamped door stopped her she would probably have torn the whole party to pieces, unless Khan Cochut had contrived to shoot her. Several times he poked one of his pistols through the slit, but the Brahmin entreated him not to fire. Whether or not Faithful suspected what he intended, she kept at such a distance that he would, in all probability, have missed her had he fired. At length, wearied with her exertions, she retired to the end of the court, where she lay down in the shade, keeping her eye fixed alternately on the slit in the wall and the door through which her enemy had pa.s.sed.
She had now completely turned the tables on them, for, as they had no provisions, they must either die of starvation or surrender at discretion. At length the Brahmin proposed sending Bikoo down, that, while the tigress was tearing him to pieces, they might make their escape. To this inhuman proposal the slave very naturally objected, observing that the tigress must before long fall asleep, when they might slip out, favoured by the darkness, and so make their escape,--he, as being the most active, hoping, should the tigress awake, to get ahead of them, and leave them to the fate his master so generously proposed for him. Had Faithful suspected their intentions, she would probably have allowed her captives to have made the attempt to carry them out, and would have caught them all in succession.
As she lay in the shade, she began to meditate after her own fas.h.i.+on on what had occurred; and suddenly recollecting her beloved master, she got up and bounded towards the spot where she had last seen him. As she did so she pa.s.sed within range of Cochut's pistol. Notwithstanding the Brahmin's prohibition, he fired. Though the ball missed her, she was somewhat frightened by the report; and her mind being set on discovering Reginald, she sprang through the gateway, and trotted off in the direction her instinct told her he had taken, as she certainly did not follow him either by sight or scent.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE TEMPLE IN WHICH NUNA IS A PRISONER REACHED--d.i.c.k'S PLAN FOR RESCUING HER--THE TOP OF THE TOWER GAINED--ESCAPE--PURSUED--FAITHFUL APPEARS AT THE PROPER JUNCTURE--ANOTHER TEMPLE REACHED--AN UNEXPECTED ATTACK-- FAITHFUL PLAYS HER PART--BURNETT ARRIVES--CAPTAIN HAWKESFORD FINDS THAT HE HAS MADE A MISTAKE--THE JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL--A DAY'S SPORT-- REGINALD AGAIN ESCAPES FROM A TIGER--THE JOURNEY CONTINUED--THREATENED BY THE REBELS--TAKE REFUGE IN A FORT--THE MAJOR'S ASTONISHMENT.
Reginald and his party continued their journey, but they had considerable difficulty in discovering the temple of which the trader had told Buxsoo. At length, as evening was drawing on, they caught sight of a tall tower rising above the trees on the top of the hill. It being of the greatest importance not to be discovered by any of the rebel garrison, they waited till dark to approach the building, as they could not take that careful survey of it at a distance which was so necessary before commencing operations. They had provided themselves with a supply of rope at a distant village, where their object was not likely to be suspected, and had carried it as d.i.c.k had suggested.
Reginald and d.i.c.k were well armed, and felt themselves able to engage a dozen natives; but Buxsoo and Sambro carried no weapons,--for the former professed not to be a fighter, though the slave was active and powerful, and would not have feared a combat on equal terms with two or even three brown-skinned natives.