Confessions of a Thug

by Meadows Taylor

"Perhaps he has naught to give," said I; "at any rate, he cannot speak while that bag is over his mouth; let it be removed, and we will hear what he has to say."

"Try it," said the Khan; "but we shall make nothing of him you will see."

"Remove the bag," cried I to the Pindharee who was behind him; "let him speak, and bring some water; his throat is full of ashes." The bag was removed, and a vessel full of water, which was in a corner of the room, was brought and put to his lips; but he rejected it with loathing, for he was a Hindoo and a Brahmin.

"Drink!" cried the infuriated Khan at beholding his gesture; "drink, or by Alla I will force it down thy throat. Kafir, to whom the urine of a cow is a delicacy, darest thou refuse water from the hands of a Moslem?"

"Blood-thirsty devil," said the old man in a husky voice, "water from thy hands, or any of thy accursed race, would poison me. I would rather drink my own son's blood, which is flowing yonder, than such pollution."

"Ha! sayest thou so? then, in the name of the blessed Prophet, thou shalt taste it. Here, Sumund Khan, get some up from the floor; yonder is a cup—fill it to the brim; the old man shall drink it, as he would the wine of Paradise."

"Hold!" cried I to Ghuffoor Khan; "you would not do so inhuman an act."

"Nay, interfere not," said the Khan, setting his teeth; "you and I, Meer Sahib, are friends—let us remain so; but we shall quarrel if I am hindered in my purpose; and has he not said he preferred it to pure water?"

Sumund Khan had collected the blood, and the cup was half filled with the warm red liquid—a horrible draught, which he now presented to the miserable father. "Drink!" said he, offering the cup with a mock polite gesture; "think it Ganges water, and it will open thy heart to tell us where thy treasures are."

Ghuffoor Khan laughed loudly. "By Alla! thou hast a rare wit, Sumund Khan; the idea should be written in a book. I will tell Cheetoo of it." But the old man turned from them with loathing, and his chest heaved as though he were about to be sick.