Part 6 (2/2)
”Stop!” The girl's voice was almost a scream of expostulation. ”To speak of that means death, thou fool. And thou hast sworn--”
Ajeet's face had blanched. Then a surge of anger re-flushed it.
”Gulab,” he said presently, ”take care that the love thou say'st is dead--but which is not, for it never dies in the heart of a woman, it is but a smouldering fire--take care that it springs not into flame at the words of some other man, the touch of his hands, or the light of his eyes, because then, by Bhowanee, I will kill thee.”
The Gulab stamped a foot upon the earth floor of the tent: ”Coward! now I hate thee! Only the weak, the cowards, threaten women. When thou art brave and strong I do not hate if I do not love. 'Tis thou, Ajeet, who art to take care.”
Outside Guru Lal was casting holy oil upon the troubled waters of a disputed ordeal. The wily old priest knew well how omens and ordeals could be manipulated. Besides, unity among the Bagree leaders, leading to much loot, would bring him tribute for the G.o.ds.
”It may be,” he was saying to Sookdee, ”that the blacksmith, who is not of our tribe, nor of our nine castes, but is of the Sumar caste, has sought to put shame upon our G.o.ds by a trick. At best he was a surly rascal of little thought. It may be that the iron shot was made too hot for the hand of the Chief. An ordeal is a fair test when its observance is equal between men; it is then that the G.o.ddess judges and gives the verdict--her way is always just. Have not we many times read wrongly her omens, and have misjudged the signs, and have suffered.
And Ajeet acted like one who is not guilty.”
”And think you, Guru, that Ajeet will give you a present of rupees for this talk that is like the braying of an a.s.s?” Hunsa growled.
But Sookdee objected, saying: ”Guru Lal is a holy man of age, and his blood runs without heat, therefore if he speaks, the words are not a matter for pa.s.sion, but to be considered. We will go upon a decoity, which is our duty, and leave the ordeal and all else in the hands of Bhowanee.”
CHAPTER VII
Perhaps it was the customs official that told Dewan Sewlal about the _Akbar Ka Diwa_, the Lamp of Akbar, the ruby that was so called because of its gorgeous blood-red fire, as being in the iron box of the merchant.
This ruby had been an eye in one of the two gorgeous jewelled peac.o.c.ks that surmounted the ”Peac.o.c.k Throne” at Delhi in the time of Akbar to the time when the Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, sacked Delhi and took the Peac.o.c.k Throne and the Kohinoor, and everything else of value back to Persia. But he didn't get the ruby for the Vizier of the King of Delhi stole it. Then Alam, the eunuch, stole it from the Vizier. Its possession was desirable, not only because of its great value as a jewel, but because it held in its satanic glitter an unearthly power, either of preservation to its holder or malignant evil against his enemies.
At any rate Sewlal sent for Hunsa the night of the ordeal and explained to him, somewhat casually, that a jewel merchant pa.s.sing through Mahrattaland had in his collection a ruby of no great value, but a stone that he would like to become possessed of because a ruby was his lucky gem. The Dewan intimated that Hunsa would get a nice private reward for this particular gem, if by chance he could, quite secretly, procure it for him.
Next day was a busy one in the Bagree camp.
Having followed the profession of decoits and thugs for generations it was with them a fine art; unlimited pains were taken over every detail.
As it had been decided that they would go as a party of mendicants and bearers of family bones to Mother Ganges, there were many things to provide to carry out the masquerade--stage properties, as it were; red bags for the bones of females, and white bags for those of the males.
In two days one of the spies came with word that Ragganath, the merchant, had started on his journey, riding in a covered cart drawn by two of the slim, silk-skinned trotting bullocks, and was accompanied by six men, servants and guards; on the second night he would encamp at Sarorra. So a start was made the next morning.
Sookdee, Ajeet Singh, and Hunsa, accompanied by twenty men, and Gulab Begum took the road, the Gulab travelling in an enclosed cart as befitted the favourite of a raja, and with her rode the wife of Sookdee as her maid.
Ajeet rode a Marwari stallion, a black, roach-crested brute, with bad hocks and an evil eye. The Ajeet sat his horse a convincing figure, a Rajput Raja.
Beneath a rich purple coat gleamed, like silver tracery, his steel s.h.i.+rt-of-mail; through his sash of red silk was thrust a straight-bladed sword, and from the top of his turban of blue-and-gold-thread, peeped a red cap with dangling ta.s.sel of gold.
In the afternoon of the second day the Bagrees came to the village of Sarorra.
”We will camp here,” the leader commanded, ”close to the mango _tope_ through which we have just pa.s.sed, then we will summon the headman, and if he is as such accursed officials are, the holy one, the yogi, will cast upon him and his people a curse; also I will threaten him with the loss of his ears.”
”The one who is to be destroyed has not yet come,” Hunsa declared, ”for here is what these dogs of villagers call a place of rest though it is but an open field.”
Ajeet turned upon the jamadar: ”The one who is to be destroyed, say you, Hunsa? Who spoke in council that the merchant was to be killed?
We are men of decoity, we rob these fat pirates who rob the poor, but we take life only when it is necessary to save our own.”
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