In furthest Ind

by Sydney C. Grier

“Don’t speak on’t to me, sir, I entreat you. I am in his majesty’s confidence, and can’t listen to anything that might touch his state. I don’t dare meddle in this matter of yours further than to counsel you most strongly against making any such attempt to carry our friend out of the city. ’Tis my only hope, to be able to say truly that I know naught of your plan, and did also scout most vehemently the very suggestion on’t.”

Much admiring the good man’s prudence and wisdom, I next applied myself to sound, as the seamen say, Mr Kidder, but with the same result, namely, that I was straitly forbid to involve the embassage in any such mad folly, and warned against mixing myself up therewith, our chief declaring that ’twould undo the work of years, were the Company to be suspected of lending aid to the enemies of the emperor, and in especial to the friends of Seva Gi. And upon this I found that I was thrown back upon myself, and wasted much time in trying to devise plots whereby, in our return from Agra, I might carry the viscount with us in some manner of disguise. For I feared very greatly that, even should I get him safely beyond the city gates, Mr Kidder, urged on by Mr Spender (that affected to disbelieve my friend’s history of himself, and jeered at me perpetually for consorting with jail-birds), might, on discovering the truth, give him up again to the emperor’s officers, and so render his plight worse than ever before. But God, knowing the hard task I was fain to attempt, and my small power of succeeding therein, did come to my help with a certain change and distraction of our plans that wrought for me all I desired.

For to such a pass was the negotiations with Auren Zeeb now come, that Mr Kidder was desirous to send word to Mr President at Surat, and gain his instructions upon the matter, and to this end he determined to despatch me thither. Being loath to part with me, that was wont always to play the interpreter for him, he would fain have sent Mr Spender, but that this gentleman was still too poorly acquainted with the Indosthan tongue to go on such a journey by himself, and having the Armenians to be his mediators with the emperor, he resolved at last to let me depart. But desiring to know somewhat concerning a part of the Mogul’s dominions that an’t commonly visited by persons from Europe, he bid me not return by Oudyepour, as we had come, but by way of Gualleyor and Zauncy,^[122] two great towns, very strongly defended, that lie to the south of Agra. And with this intent he procured for me the emperor’s pharmaund, giving me authority to travel where I would, with my servants and attendants, and with the help of this piece of writing, methought I ought to succeed in my great purpose.

And first I consented with myself to reveal my intention to none but to my servant Loll Duss, whom I knew to be faithful to me, and with him to devise my plans. Mr Kidder had begged of me not to carry with me any more of the servants of our party than I should actually need, but to hire cooleys (which is carriers), and other attendants, from town to town. And this being so, of our own Surat men I took with me only Loll Duss, together with my cook, a Moor that was named Eusoff,^[123] and an ancient Mogul soldier named Darah, for to look to the hired cooleys. To these two I allowed Loll Duss to open our scheme, knowing that they might be trusted, and needing their help to carry it out, but they were instructed by no means to confide the same to any of the Agra men that should accompany us. And next I told the viscount of my purpose, and of the sorry part he needs must play, and, silencing his words of surprise and gratitude, bade him come to the caravan-serawe before daylight on the morning of the day when we should start. I don’t know how he succeeded in leaving the palace at such an hour unperceived, but God did so order it that he fell in with no one, and outside the caravan-serawe Loll Duss met him and carried him quickly to the stable where I was, looking to the packing of all my equipage. Here were, beside our three selves, namely I, the viscount, and Loll Duss, only Eusoff and Darah, and our business was stowing all our necessaries for the journey in those great baskets wherein the Moguls use to carry victuals and other such things. Then in one of these we hid the viscount, and fastened down the cover on’t, though leaving him a due space to breathe, and those victuals and packets that should have been in that basket we did put into my palenkeen, which was carried with us lest I should tire of riding. And all the baskets being now filled, the cooleys come in and took ’em away, Darah going with ’em, and all passed through the gate as soon as it was opened, the sun being up. I had bid them tarry for me at a certain village some five miles on our road, where was a rest-house, wherein I was minded to pass the heat of the day, but I myself and those with me did not start yet for some hours.

And these hours I did feel to be the longest I had ever spent, such was my terror lest the viscount’s absence should be observed, or some chance lead to his discovery among my goods. I was fain to comfort myself with the remembrance of the great Seva Gi himself, who with his son escaped safely in this manner, but ’twas extreme difficult for me to show myself calm and careless until after I had bid farewell to Mr Kidder and his fellows (Mr Spender taunting me at the last with leaving my jail-bird to his jailers again, spite of all my fair words), and also to our kind friend the doctor, and to the Armenians that had been our druggermen about the city. But at the last I was able to set forth, having my banner carried before me very seemly, and I riding upon a fine horse, with my palenkeen awaiting my disposition if I so pleased, and so went through the city and out at the gate with great pomp.

Now I had had some fear lest the officers of the gate should desire to look inside the palenkeen, but even so I hoped to beguile them, since they should find therein only my stuff, though this should have frustrated my design with respect to the bearers, who I desired should believe that there was a sick man inside. But as it so chanced, we were let pass without any molestation, and travelling at a fair pace, I riding beside the palenkeen as though to cheer him that was therein, came to the rest-house before the great heat came on. And here I found the baskets and other packages all piled up on the veranda, and Darah and the cooleys awaiting my pleasure. But having had my palenkeen carried into the house, I dismissed the cooleys for to take their noontide sleep, as also those that were come with me, and with my own three men released the viscount from his wattled prison, and allowed him to walk up and down inside the house, Loll Duss keeping guard the while. But when the time was come that we should start again, we put into the basket those things that had been in the palenkeen, and the viscount lay down therein in their place, the blinds being close drawn, for ’twas of chiefest importance that the hired cooleys from Agra should not see the face of their passenger, and recognise the Ferringhee. And having made this fresh disposition of our affairs, we started again on our way with much cheerfulness.

Now in this manner we did journey on during certain days, going as fast as we might without awaking suspicion of our designs, the viscount riding always in my palenkeen, and able to walk about and refresh himself only at night and at noonday. But on arriving at the great fortress of Gualleyor, we dismissed our Agra cooleys and saw them safely on their way home again, with a liberal present and encamped ourselves in a grove of trees without the city, for I feared prodigiously being shut up with walls and bars, like rats in a trap. For this town of Gualleyor is a place of much strength, and the Moguls use to keep their prisoners of state there, so that ten times in a day, when I looked up to the great fortress that has the air of some huge lion crouching on his hill, I felt a chill in my very bones to think of being shut up there, for our friend the doctor had told us many fearful tales respecting it. Nevertheless, I went to and fro in the place, and observed it so far as I might for Mr Kidder, and bought there a horse, ready for my friend when he should be able to ride, as I said to him that sold it me. And at this place we hired cooleys for to go with us as far as to Zauncy, the viscount now, when we were gat well beyond the city, riding part of the day on horseback instead of in the palenkeen, for to seem as though he were just recovering of his illness.

At Zauncy we hired new cooleys to go with us the whole of the way as far as to Broach, which is near the sea-coast not much north of Surat, and began to hope that we were pretty well beyond the danger of pursuit. And now the viscount left using the palenkeen at all, and rid all day beside me, and a mighty agreeable fellow I found him. His looks also was now much amended, since Loll Duss had dressed his hair for him, and trimmed his beard into a neat picked^[124] shape, for he would not have it shaved off, since (says he) the beard is a badge of our Hugonot religion in France. We were both habited after the Moorish fashion, so as to escape remark from the people, that are prodigious fanatical in these parts, and thus disguised, we hoped to pass for Moguls from the north, in especial as both our faces were now much darkened with the sun. Thus we rid on, enjoying much goodly and profitable discourse together by day, and at night sojourning always in villages or on the outskirts of towns, but never in the caravan-serawes within their walls. This measure of precaution seemed to me quite necessary, but since we were come so far in safety, I thought little of taking any other; but in these things my friend was wiser than I, he looking at ’em with the eye of a soldier, that sees everywhere an enemy save where he knows a friend to be. I had observed that the viscount was always forward to examine narrowly every new tract of country that we reached before ever we passed through it, but this I set down to his desire for knowledge, little guessing that he was planning and rehearsing battles, surprises, ambuscadoes, retreats, and divers other such warlike notions. But this ignorance and carelessness of mine was to receive a wholesome rebuke, and my friend’s foresight a most signal justification.

“Sir,” says he, riding back to me one day when as we were coming down a steep hillside into a valley very thick with woods, “do you perceive the nature of the place through which our road now lies? Here is a spot most convenient of all for an ambuscado, and ’twill surprise me much if it ben’t made use on. With your permission, I’ll take three or four of the servants as skirmishers, and send ’em in advance on either side of the train.”

“Methinks the Moors are scarce like to look at this point with your eye, which is that of a captain, sir,” said I; “but prythee, take the servants as you desire, and do your will. There is little possibility that those we have most cause to fear are here before us, but it may be that there is Rashpoot robbers laying wait for us, conceiving that we carry with us greater riches than we do.”