Part 14 (1/2)
”What has become of them?” asked Reginald eagerly.
”Remember that if you speak not the truth you will immediately be put to death,” added the rajah.
”O Refuge of the World, far be it from me to deceive you,” answered the slave. ”The casket was placed by my master, with other treasures, within the tomb of the learned saint Danee Domanuck, in the temple of the great G.o.d Doorga, before which the pious priests of our faith, at morn, noonday, and eventide, are wont to stand reciting the prayers and the wise sayings he composed; but so absorbed are they in their devotions that they will not discover who enters the temple, and the casket may without difficulty be recovered. If my pardon is granted, I will undertake to carry it off from the spot in which I before placed it.”
”Pardon or no pardon, the casket must be brought here before sunset,”
exclaimed the rajah. ”But what a.s.surance have I that you speak the truth, and will not endeavour to make your escape should I order your chains to be knocked off, and allow you to go free?”
”Refuge of the World, I am incapable of such treachery,” said Bikoo, putting his hand to his heart.
”With your highness's leave, I will accompany the slave,” said Reginald.
”If I a.s.sume my European costume I shall not be recognised, and the priests will suppose me a stranger led by curiosity to visit their temple. If the slave speaks the truth, the casket may then be obtained without difficulty; and as I will go well armed, I will protect him should the priests attempt to take it from him.”
”You may go, my son,” said the rajah; ”but, as a protection, take fifty of my guards and station them outside the temple, with directions to be ready to rush in at a signal from you, and to capture the priests, should they attempt to stop you. That will be a shorter way of proceeding than the slave proposes; and those priests are all great rascals, to my certain knowledge.”
Reginald had grave doubts whether, after all, the slave was not deceiving him. He could scarcely believe that the object for which he had been so long in search was almost within his grasp. The rajah urged him to return as soon as possible, and was evidently unwilling to have him long out of his sight.
After giving orders to the chief officer of the guards to select a band of fifty trustworthy men, he changed his Oriental costume for his seaman's dress, taking care to stick a brace of pistols and a dagger in his belt. Then ordering Bikoo to accompany him, he set out for the temple, which was in a remote part of the city.
Quaint and monstrous designs ornamented all parts of the building.
Leaving the guard outside, Reginald pa.s.sed under a low archway, when he found himself in a hall, on each side of which he could distinguish, through the dim obscurity, the hideous forms of the presiding divinities of the temple.
”I see no priests or wors.h.i.+ppers in the place,” he whispered to Bikoo.
”The holy men are engaged in their devotions in the lower hall, where the tomb of the saint is situated,” answered Bikoo, leading the way.
Reginald followed, holding a pistol ready for use, should his guide prove treacherous, or the priests appear inclined to oppose his entrance. At the further end of the upper hall was a flight of steps leading downwards. The slave descended them, and Reginald boldly made his way after him. His ear then caught the sound of persons uttering prayers in low monotonous tones; and on reaching the bottom of the steps he saw, by the light of a lamp which burned on an altar on one aide of the vault, a number of strange-looking beings. Some had long matted hair hanging over their faces, and heavy iron hoops round their necks; most of them with garments scarcely sufficient for decency. Some were standing upright, beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s; others were kneeling or extending themselves flat on the ground, against which they were striking their heads.
Before a tomb of richly-carved stone stood an aged man, with a long white beard, but with scarcely more clothing on him than his companions had. In his arms he held a large open volume, and though he could not, from the position in which he held it, have read its pages, he was apparently repeating the contents. Reginald doubted whether he was sufficiently absorbed in his task not to observe him as he approached.
Bikoo glided noiselessly behind the tomb, while Reginald stood ready to a.s.sist him, watching the countenances of the degraded beings engaged in this strange mode of wors.h.i.+p. Most of them stood as motionless as statues, with their eyes seemingly fixed on vacancy their lips only moving as they uttered their meaningless prayers. For a moment it struck Reginald as a clever trick of the slave to effect his escape.
But at length he saw him emerge from the darkness, carrying something wrapped in a cloth, which he held close to his side to prevent the priests from seeing it. He hoped in another moment to have the long-wished-for treasure in his hand, when the seemingly unconscious beings before him dashed forward to seize Bikoo, who, springing for protection to the young rajah, gave him the casket. The priests on this turned on the white stranger, whom they now apparently perceived for the first time.
”Sacrilege! Sacrilege!” they cried out. ”You are robbing us of our treasures. The curses of the G.o.ds will fall on you.”
”My friends,” exclaimed Reginald, presenting his pistol, ”stand back, and I will explain myself. This casket belongs to me, and was stolen by one of your fraternity, so that I am but recovering my own. If I am rightly informed, a considerable amount of property stolen from other persons lies concealed in this vault. My guards are without, and, summoned by me, they will enter, and, taking possession of all the treasures they can find, will deliver them to their proper owners. If you refrain from interfering with my proceedings, I will allow you to continue your devotions, and to remain at present as guardians of the treasures concealed in this place.”
The priests, considering that ”discretion was the better part of valour,” and seeing the bold bearing of the young stranger, allowed him and Bikoo to mount the steps; when, traversing the hall, they quickly made their way into the open air, glad to escape from the mephitic atmosphere of the vault and the fury of the priests--who, as soon as they had recovered from their astonishment, broke forth in loud cries and threats of vengeance. They grew cooler, however, on discovering the rajah's troops at the entrance of the temple, and hurried back to their devotions with the advice they had received from the stranger strongly impressed on their minds. Many a prayer was offered up that Doorga would protect their ill-gotten wealth from the grasp of the infidels.
Followed closely by his guards, Reginald, who had a horse in waiting, rode back to the palace, carrying the precious casket, which he was unwilling to trust to other hands. On his arrival an officer met him at the gate with a message from the rajah, who was anxiously waiting his return. Reginald found him, to his surprise, on foot, pacing slowly up and down a broad verandah overlooking the city, to which he had caused his divan to be carried, that he might enjoy the fresh air.
”Have you been successful, my son?” exclaimed the old man eagerly, as Reginald approached. ”Tell me quickly; for a dimness has come over my eyes, and I feel a strange sinking of the heart, which forebodes I know not what.”
Reginald exhibited the wished-for casket.
”It is the same, my son,” he exclaimed; ”and contains, I trust, the valuable doc.u.ments your father committed to my care. Let me see them; I shall know them at once.”
Reginald was about to try and open the casket, when he saw a peculiar expression pa.s.s over the countenance of the rajah, who staggered and sank back on the divan near which he was standing. The old man gazed at him with a look of affection, and tried to speak; but in vain. He drew his breath every instant with more and more labour; and then came one more sigh, and he seemed to be sleeping calmly. Reginald threw himself by his side and took his hand. It failed to return his grasp. He gazed at the old man's countenance, unable to persuade himself that he was really dead; but he became aware of the fact by the loud cries of the women, who, with fans in their hands, had been in readiness to cool his fevered brow as he lay on the couch.