Part 22 (1/2)
”What do you want?” asked Ranjoor Singh ”Of ere you whispering?” But Gooja Singh did not answer
”No need to tell h ”I know! Ye all seek leave to loot! As sons of THALUKDARS [Footnote: Land holder]-as trusted soldiers of the raj-as brave asped at hiendheim included I tell you he was a brave ientleo and die beside hiround and intended there and then to overcoht has burned in all your hearts,” he told them ”Loot! Loot! Loot! Me ye have misnamed friend of Germany-friend of Turkey-enemy of Britain! Yourselves ye call honorablebecause theto hi!”
”No shah ”Ye have called me traitor behind my back, yet to my face ye have obeyed me these weeks past Ye have usedto toss me aside at the first excuse Is that not shameful? Noe reach the place where ye must do instead of talk Below is the plunder ye have yearned for, and here stand I, between it and you!”
”We have yearned for no such plunder as that!” said Gooja Singh, for the men would have answered unless he did, and he, too, was minded to h ”'No carrion for er killed!'”
He folded his ar There was to be, one way or the other, a decision reached on that spot as to who sought honor and who sought shaiment that stood on trial! A weak man would have stood and explained hih was likely to get too els and stood forward
”Tell us truly, sahib,” he piped up ”Are you truly for the raj, or is this soht have asked h ”Now ye shall answer ive you h, in deeds not words! What is the outcome of all your talk? Below there is the loot, and, as I said, here stand I between it and you! Now decide, ill ye!”
He turned his back, and that was bravery again; for under his eye thehirown used tohim Yet he had thrown their shame in their very teeth because he knew their hearts werethem to worse dishonor He would not have turned his back on jackals, he would have driven thean to occur to the o-between, and that it was my business to speak up for theeOnce it had not been difficult to pretend I took the er so easy
”What is your will?” said I at last, for Ranjoor Singh continued to keep his back turned, and Gooja Singh and Rarnnarain were seeking to forestall each other Anih both strode up to me
”Tell him ill have none of such plunder as that!” they both said
”Is that your will?” I asked the nearestthe line quickly, repeating the question, and they all agreed I even asked Tugendheim, and he was more eh ”We are one in this matter We will have none of such plunder as that below!”
He turned himself about, not quickly, but as one who is far from satisfied
”So-ho! None of SUCH plunder!” said he ”What kind of plunder, then? What is the difference between the sorts of plunder in a stricken land?”
Gooja Singh answered him, and I was content that he should, for not only did I not know the answer myself but I was sure that the question was a trap for the unwary
”We will plunder Turks, not wretches such as these!” said Gooja Singh
”Aha!” said Ranjoor Singh, unfolding his ar to stand truculently, as if his patience earing thin ”Ye will let the Turks rob the weak ones, in order that ye may rob the Turks! That is a fine point of honor! Ye poor lost fools! Have ye no better wisdom than that? Can ye draw no finer hairs? And yet ye dare offer to dictate to me, and to tell me whether I am true or not! The raj is well served if ye are its best soldiers!”
He spat once, and turned his back again
”Ye have said ill have no such plunder!” shouted Gooja Singh, but he did not so e the words even by awith certain of the men, those who from the first had been reed on a course He stood forith a new question