Caste Part 28

He turned to Barlow. "Captain Sahib, thou hast heard. The word of a Pindari, taken in the name of Allah, is inviolate. That is our answer to the message from the Englay Chief. There is no writing to be given, for a Pindari deals in yea and nay. Is it to be considered. Captain Sahib; is it a message to send that is worthy of men to men?"

"It is, Commander Ka.s.sim," Barlow answered.

"Then wait thou for the seal."

He raised his _tulwar_ aloft,--and as he did so the steel of every jamadar and hazari flashed upward,--saying, "We Pindaris and Bundoolas who rode for Amir Khan, and now ride for Ka.s.sim, swear in the name of Allah, and on the Beard of Mahomet, who is his Prophet, friendship to the Englay Raj."

"By Allah and the Beard of Mahomet, who is his Prophet, we make oath!"

the deep voices boomed solemnly.

"It is all," Ka.s.sim said quietly. "I would make speech for a little with the Captain."

As each officer pa.s.sed toward the door he held out a hand and gripped the hand of the Englishman.

When they had gone Ka.s.sim said: "Go thou back, Sahib, to the one who is to receive our answer, and let our promise be sent to the one who commands the Englay army and is even now at Tonk, in Mewar, for the purpose of putting the Mahrattas to the sword. Tell the Sahib to strike and drive the accursed dogs from Mewar, and have no fear that the Pindaris will fall upon his flank. Even also our tulwars and our spears are ready for service so be it there is a reward in lands and gold."

The Pindari Chief paced the marble floor twice, then with his eyes watching the effect of his words in the face of Barlow he said: "Captain Sahib, it is of an affair of feeling I would speak now. It relates to the woman who has done us all a service, which but shows what a perception Amir Khan had; a glance and he knew a man for what he was. Therein was his power over the Pindaris. And it seems, which is rarer, that he knew what was in the heart of a woman, for the Gulab is one to rouse in a man desire. And I, myself, years of hard riding and combat having taken me out of my colt-days, wondered why the Chief, being busy otherwise, and a man of short temper, should entail labour in the way of claiming her regard. I may say, Sahib, that a Pindari seizes upon what he wants and backs the claiming with his sword. But now it is all explained--the wise gentleness that really was in the heart of one so fierce as the Chief--Allah rest his soul! What say thou, Captain Sahib?"

"Bootea is wonderful," Barlow answered fervidly; "she is like a Rajput princess."

Ka.s.sim coughed, stroked his black beard, adjusted the hilt of his _tulwar_, then coughed again.

"Inshalla! but thou hast said something." He turned to face Barlow more squarely: "Captain Sahib, the one who suffered the wrath of Allah to-day last night sent a salaam that I would listen to a matter of value. Not wishing to have the hated presence of the murderer in the room near where was Amir Khan I went below to where in a rock cell was this Hunsa. This is the matter he spoke of, no doubt hoping that it would make me more merciful, therefore, of a surety I think it is a lie. It is well known, Sahib, that the Rana of Udaipur had a beautiful daughter, and Raja Jaipur and Raja Marwar both laid claim to her hand; even Sindhia wanted the princess, but being a Mahratta--who are nothing in the way of breeding such as are the Children of the Sun--dust was thrown upon his beard. But the Rajputs fly to the sword over everything and a terrible war ensued in which Udaipur was about ruined.

Then one hyena, garbed as the Minister of State, persuaded the cowardly Rana to sacrifice Princess k.u.mari to save Udaipur.

"All this is known, Sahib, and that she, with the courage of a Rajputni, drained the cup that contained the poison brewed from poppy leaves, and died with a smile on her lips, saying, 'Do not cry, mother; to give my life for my country is nothing.' That is the known story, Sahib. But what Hunsa related was that k.u.mari did not die, but lives, and has the name of Bootea the Gulab."

The Chief turned his eyes quizzically upon the Englishman, who muttered a half-smothered cry of surprise.

"It can't be--how could the princess be with men such?"

"Better there than sacrifice. Hunsa learned of this thing through listening beneath the wall of a tent at night while one Ajeet Singh spoke of it to the Gulab. It was that the Rana got a yogi, a man skilled in magical things, either drugs or charms, and that k.u.mari was given a potion that caused her to lie dead for days; and when she was brought back to life of course she had to be removed from where Jaipur or Marwar might see her or hear of this thing, because they would fly to the sword again."

Ka.s.sim ceased speaking and his eyes carried a look of interrogation as if he were anxious for a sustaining of his half-faith in the story.

"It's all entirely possible," Barlow declared emphatically; "it's a common practice in India, this deceit as to death where a death is necessary. It could all be easily arranged, the Rana yielding to pressure to save Mewar, and dreading the sin of being guilty of the death of his daughter. Even the Gulab is like a Princess of the Sesodias--like a Rajputni of the highest caste."

"Indeed she is, Captain Sahib, the quality of breeding never lies."

"What discredits Hunsa's story," Barlow said thoughtfully, "is that the Gulab was in the protection of Ajeet Singh who was but a _thakur_ at best--really a protector of decoits."

"To save k.u.mari's life she had been given to the yogi, and he would act not out of affection for the girl's standing as a princess, but to prevent discovery, bloodshed, and, her life. It is also known that these ascetics--infidels, children of the Devil--by charm, or drugs, or otherwise, can cause something like death for days--a trance, and the one who goes thus knows not who he was when he comes back," Ka.s.sim argued.

"Well," Barlow said, "it is a matter unsolvable, and of no importance, for the Gulab, k.u.mari or otherwise, is a princess, such as men fight and die for."

There was a little silence, Barlow carrying on in his mind this, the main interest, so far as he was concerned, Bootea; as a woman appealing to the senses or to the subtlest mentality she was the sweetest woman he had ever known.

There was a flicker of grim humour in Ka.s.sim's dark eyes: "Captain Sahib," he said, "that evil-faced Bagree has a curious deep cunning, I believe. I'll swear now by the hilt of my _tulwar_ that he made up the whole story for the purpose of having audience with me, and in his heart was a favour desired, for, as I was leaving, he asked that I would have his turban given back to him to wear on his going; he pleaded for it. Of course, Sahib, a turban is an affair of caste, and I suppose he was feeling a disgrace in going forth without it. It appears that Gulab had taken it as an evidence that he had been killed, but when I sent a man for it she told him that the cloth was possessed of vermin and she had burned it."

"But still, Chief, though Hunsa has an animal cunning, yet he could not make up such a story--he has heard it somewhere."

Barlow felt his heart warm toward the grizzled old warrior as he, dropping the nebulous matter of k.u.mari, said: "And to think, Captain Sahib, that but for the Gulab we would have slain you as the murderer of Amir Khan. As a Patan, even if I had wished it, I could not have fended the _tulwars_ from your body. And you were a brave man, such as a Pindari loves; rather than announce thyself as an Englay--the paper gone and thy mission failed--thou wouldst have stood up to death like a soldier."

He put his hand caressingly on Barlow's knee, adding: "By the Beard of the Prophet thou art a man! But all this, Sahib, is to this end; we hold the Gulab in reverence, as did Amir Khan, and if it is permitted, I would have her put in thy hands for her going. Those that were here in the camp with her fled at the first alarm, and my riders discovered to-day, too late, that they hid in an old mud-walled fort about three miles from here whilst my Pindaris scoured the country for them; then when my riders returned they escaped. So the Gulab is alone. I will send a guard of fifty hors.e.m.e.n and they will ride with thee till thou turnest their horses' heads homeward, and for the Gulab there will be a _tonga_, such as a Nawab might use, drawn by well-fed, and well-shod horses. That, too, she may keep to the end of her journey and afterwards, returning but the driver."

"My salaams to you, Chief, for your goodness. To-morrow if it please you I will go with your promises to the British."

"It is a command, Sahib--to-morrow. And may the Peace of Allah be upon thee and thy house always!"

He held out a hand and his large dark eyes hovered lovingly over the face of the Englishman.

CHAPTER XXVI

Captain Barlow walked along to the tent of Bootea to tell her of the arrangement that had been made for their leaving the camp so that she might be ready. He could see in the girl's eyes the reflection of a dual mental struggle, an ineffable sweetness varied by a changing cloud of something that was apprehension or doubt.

"The Sahib is a protector to Bootea," she said. "Sometimes I wondered if such men lived; yet I suppose a woman always has in her mind a vague conception that such an one might be. But always that, that is like a dream, is broken--one wakes."

Prosaically taking the matter in hand Barlow said, "You would wish to go back to your people at Chunda--is it not so?"

The girl's eyes flashed to his face, and her brows wrinkled as if from pain. "Those who have fled will be on their way to Chunda, and they will tell of the slaying of Amir Khan. The Dewan will be pleased, and they will be given honour and rich reward; they will be allowed to return to Karowlee."

"Yes," Barlow interposed; "that Hunsa goes not back will simply be taken as an affair of war, that he was captured and killed; there will be n.o.body to relate that you revealed the plot. When you arrive there you, also, will be showered with favours, and Ajeet Singh will owe his life to you; they will set him at liberty."

"And as to Nana Sahib?" Bootea asked, and there was pathetic dread in her eyes.

"What is it--you fear him?"

"Yes, Sahib, he will claim Bootea; a Mahratta never keeps faith. There will be a fresh covenant, because he is like a beast of the jungle."

Barlow paced back and forth the small confine of the tent, muttering.

"It's h.e.l.l!" He pictured the Gulab in the harem of Nana Sahib--in a gaudy prison chained to a serpent. To interfere on her behalf would be to sacrifice what came first, his duty as an officer of state, to what would be called, undoubtedly, an infatuation. Elizabeth would take it that way; even his superiors would call it at least inexpedient, bad form. For a British officer to be interested or mixed up with a native woman, no matter how n.o.ble the impulse, would be a shatterment of both official and personal caste.

"I won't allow that," he declared vehemently, shifting into words his mental traverse.

Bootea had followed with her eyes his struggle; then she said: "The Sahib has heard of the women of the Rajputs who, with smiles on their lips faced death, who, when the time of the last danger came were not afraid?"

"Yes, Gulab. But for you it is not that way. You have said that I am your protector--I will be."

There was a smile on the girl's lips as she raised her eyes to Barlow's. "It is not permitted, Sahib; the G.o.ds have the matter in their lap. For a little--yes, perhaps. It is the time of the pilgrimage to the shrine of Omkar at Mandhatta, and Bootea will make the pilgrimage; at the shrine is the priest that told Bootea of her reincarnations, as I related to the Sahib."

A curious superst.i.tious chill struck with full force upon the heart of Barlow. Ka.s.sim's story of k.u.mari revivified itself with startling remembrance. Was this the priest that, to save k.u.mari's sacrifice, had wafted her by occult or drug method from one embodied form into another, from k.u.mari to Bootea? It was so confusing, so overpowering in its clutch that he did not speak of it.

The girl was adding: "It is on the Sahib's way to Poona; there will be many from Karowlee at Mandhatta and I can return with them."

This seemed reasonable to Barlow; she would there be in the company of people not at war. And then, erratically, rebelliously, he felt a heart hunger; but he cursed this feeling as being vicious--it was. He smothered it, shoving it back into a niche of his mind, thinking he had locked it up--had turned a key in the door of the closet to hide the skeleton.