Some jeered: “Ho! Ho! you still have a soft corner in your heart for your son-in-law.” At last they agreed that he might absent himself and he apparently turned back.
The others now put their burden into a boat and crossed the river. They were laughing at the father-in-law’s weakness, and as they approached the ghat failed to observe a Government budgerow anchored there. It was the Divisional Commissioner’s. He was out on tour. The paharawalla on deck checked them: “Do not make such a noise. The Saheb sleeps.”
They answered rudely and the watchman retorted angrily. The dacoits loudly abused the man.
The noise woke up the Commissioner, and he got out on deck with a loaded revolver in his hand. The dacoits jumped from their dinghy and ran up the bank. It was evident who they were and the Commissioner fired, aiming at their legs. One man fell with a scream of pain but scrambled to his feet and ran on.
Nothing was to be gained by chasing them through the still dark jungle. The Commissioner turned his attention to the boat. “Search it” he ordered his watchmen. His quick eyes detected legs protruding from a mat, and he was not surprised when his chaprassi called: “Saheb, a dead man lies in it.”
The Deputy murmured feebly: “I am not dead. I live.” The chaprassi amended the first statement: “Saheb, he speaks.” The Commissioner jumped into the dinghi, cut the ropes that bound the unfortunate man, and discovered the Deputy Magistrate. It did not take him long to recover and pour his tale of woe into his Chief’s ears.
By sunrise they were all after the dacoits. Blood-drops marked the way and, near by, they found the wounded man who, only able to hobble, had hidden himself in a thicket. The Deputy Magistrate’s father-in-law was arrested. He was one of the leaders of the band. It did not take long to capture the others. And after this, for a time, this part of the Dacca district enjoyed peace from dacoits.
All for Nothing
A young and very high-caste Bengali lady was married to the son of a rich man who lived near Hooghly, a small town within a short distance of Calcutta.