CHAPTER II.
The Mahomedan officer had been quite struck with amazement at the sight of the beautiful Rajpootni, and he bent the knee with gallant homage. He was, however, delighted to find that the very object whom his sovereign was desirous of obtaininghad fallen into his hands. The charms of Jaya had been heard of at Delhi, and the king was anxious to behold the celebrated daughter of his prisoner, but she had hitherto eluded his emissaries. Her having now so opportunely crossed the path of one of his officers, was a subject of congratulation to the latter, as he had reason to expect that he should not only receive his sovereign’s approbation, but be advanced to some more lucrative post than that which he now enjoyed. These reflections passed rapidly through his mind, as he gazed upon the transcendent beauty of his captive.
“Lady,” he said, “this is a fortunate meeting. We have been looking for you daily. Your presence at Delhi will be welcome to the king, and no doubt to your father, who will be restored to liberty so soon as you are placed in the harem of our munificent sovereign.”
“I am affianced,” said Jaya, with mild dignity, “to one of my own tribe, and if your monarch have the befitting attributes of a king, he will never violate the generous feelings of the man. I have been taught to look with horror on the creed which you profess, and confess to you that I never could ally myself, by a sacred union of the heart, with one who is an enemy, not only to my country, but to that country’s gods. Why then should Alla-ood-Deen seek an alliance with one who cannot respect him? Be you generous, and permit me to proceed on my way.”
“A man’s duty is paramount over his inclinations. I have no discretion, lady. If I were to permit you to depart, I should be a traitor to my king, an enemy to you, and unjust to myself. These are weighty motives why I should not listen to your request.”
“A man’s first duty, is justice. You can have no right to deprive a free woman of her liberty. The laws of tyrants are not binding upon honest natures, and where it is a sin to obey, it must be a virtue to refuse obedience.”
“We will discuss this question further on the morrow,” said the Mussulman, with sinister courtesy. “Meanwhile you must make up your mind to pass the night in good, if disagreeable company.”
“Then I am to consider myself your prisoner?”
“As you will, lady.”
The Rajpootni entered her hackery without farther urging her departure; and the Mahomedan having ordered his men to kindle a fire, and take up their station for the night apart from the Hindoos, prepared for his repose, taking the previous precaution of placing four sentinels at the door-way of the cavern. The Hindoo whom he had cut down, was tended by his countrymen, who bound up his wound, which, though severe, was not mortal; and the two parties, contrary to their respective prejudices, lay down upon the same floor in undisturbed slumber together.
The unhappy Jaya was the only one among them whose eyelids sleep did not visit. She had now a melancholy prospect before her. She should probably see her father indeed, but under what circumstances?—he in captivity, and she in the harem of a Mahomedan prince! The thought was agony. Not only the prejudices in which she had been reared taught her gentle soul to revolt from an alliance with a man by whom the idols which she had been instructed to adore were considered mere senseless wood and stone; but she had a tenderer motive for shrinking from a union which would render her life a burden, and her thoughts a torture. She could not bear to think that fine link of association should be snapped which had combined two hearts in the willing fetters of a most holy love, and the dews of terror moistened her clear brow as she thought upon the probable issue of this melancholy day. She could not rest. The night stole on sullenly and slow, and when the first grey tint of morning pierced through the darkness in which the cavern was wrapped, Jaya was still awake. She looked under the curtains of her prison-house, and saw all around her sunk into profound repose, save the stern sentinels at the portal who kept reluctant watch and stalked to and fro like the ghosts of departed warriors.
The light now advanced rapidly, and before the apartment was filled with the bright dewy hues of day, the soldiers of the enemy were awake, and seated upon the floor, passing the luxurious tube to each other, and inhaling the narcotic fumes of that weed which has now become an enjoyment in every country inthe world. Having kindled a fire, they began to prepare their morning repast, which consisted chiefly of curries; while that of the Hindoos, who were by this time busy with their early meal, was composed simply of boiled rice, mixed with a few split peas, the whole saturated with ghee, which is a butter, called clarified, but commonly so rancid as to smell almost as bad as train-oil. The Hindoos ate their rice in silence, looking on with the utmost apathy at what was passing around them, and seeming not to feel the slightest interest in the fate of their companion who had been cut down the preceding evening, and lay among them, suffering grievously from the torment of his wound. This apathy was the subject of jest among the Mahomedans, who devoured their messes with a greediness worthy of the old Roman gluttons, and chatted upon the subject of their last night’s adventure with merry and facetious vivacity.
The Hindoos heard their jokes without the movement of a single muscle; but no doubt the thought passed in their minds, that, should the harvest of revenge come, they would not fail to reap it with a delight as characteristic as their apathy.
While these necessary preliminaries to their journey were in progress, Jaya was not disturbed. She refused to taste of the rice and kabobs which had been prepared for her, but merely took a few inspirations through the richly-studded mouth-piece of her hookha, and awaited in silent resignation the will of her captor. She had made up her mind, with that high spirit of resolve peculiar to her tribe, to perish rather than become the wife of a man of an opposite creed to her own. Death, however, was a final resource, and she determined to see the issue of events, hoping that some auspicious diversion of their current might restore her to her friends and to happiness.
The order was given to march. The bullocks were immediately harnessed to the hackery, and the party quitted the cavern. The Hindoos marched in couples, having been previously disarmed, a Mahomedan being placed on either side of every couple as a guard. The Rajpootni’s vehicle was so strongly guarded as to remove all chance of escape. Before it marched a detachment ofsix men armed, and behind it a similar number. The bullocks, uneasy at the clattering of arms and the unusual restraint imposed upon them,—for the Hindoo driver had been replaced by a Mussulman, who applied the lash with considerable severity,—became restive, and at length refused altogether to proceed. The more they were urged by the application of the whip, the more they kicked and plunged, and they were at length obliged to be unyoked and led forward. In this dilemma the leader of the Mahomedans approached the hackery, and without removing the curtains addressed himself to his beautiful captive and said—
“Lady, there remains no alternative but walking until the oxen have recovered their good humour, and will consent to bear the loveliest burthen in Hindoostan. They will be of better courtesy, no doubt, by-and-by, when you can resume the conveniency of the carriage. Rough roads, I know, are not very congenial to delicate feet; but war, lady, is a sad leveller of distinctions, and there is such a thing as necessity for the Brahmin as well as for the Pariah. You must dismount for awhile.”
“Perhaps,” said Jaya composedly, “you are not aware that we Rajpoots never hesitate at dying when urged to do that against which our hearts recoil and our principles revolt. I am willing to bear the shocks of destiny so long as they do not urge me beyond the boundary line of my own conscience; but no earthly power shall force me to an act which that conscience forbids. I am a woman, it is true, and a weak one; but know that the weakest Rajpoot that ever breathed would not shrink from death to escape degradation. I tell you now solemnly, in the ears of Him who knows all secrets, that should you force me from the vehicle, you shall not bear me alive from this spot. I have the means of destruction which you know not of,[13]and will employ them the instant you attempt to force me to an act that, to me, would be an act of pollution.”
The Mussulman was too well aware of the fierce determinationof her race, when urged to desperation, not to fear that she would do as she had threatened if compulsion were used to enforce obedience; he therefore replied with mild civility,
“But, lady, we have no alternative, save of tarrying here, or of walking forward for a short distance, until the bullocks shall have been rendered tractable.”
“Then I embrace the first alternative; here shall I remain until you are in a condition to proceed. Do as you will, my resolution is taken, and you may as well attempt to give rotation to those stars which are fixed in the everlasting firmament, as strive to divert me from my unalterable purpose. You have heard my resolve, and I now claim from your courtesy no further parley. I would be left to the best consolations I can derive from my own thoughts.”
The Mahomedan, seeing that it would not be a wise stroke of policy to push matters to extremity, gave orders that the bullocks should be again yoked to the hackery, hoping, as they had been released from the harness for some time, that they would proceed quietly. He was, however, disappointed. The moment the refractory animals were urged forward, they showed their determination not to proceed, and commenced snorting and kicking with great fury. No coaxing could induce them to advance, and the application of the whip only seemed to exasperate their obstinacy. They were sleek and well fed, having been accustomed to gentle treatment; the rough driving, therefore, of the stranger by no means suited their wayward tempers. The man, becoming angry at this determined opposition of the rebellious cattle, began to whip them with great severity, under the notion of illustrating practically the dominancy of man over the brute; but in this instance his illustration was the reverse of beneficial, for it recoiled upon himself, to his extreme annoyance and mortification. The more ardently he applied the whip, the more vehemently the oxen plunged; and their violence at length became so great that they overturned the hackery, from which the mortified Jaya and her two women were precipitated with considerable force. The calm but indignant Rajpootni instantly rose, dropped a veilover her mantling face, and, reproaching the officer with having purposely ejected her from the vehicle, expressed her determination not to advance another step with the Mahomedans.
“If I proceed it shall be with my own followers only; and if you use compulsion, I will defy your power by instantly releasing myself from your tyranny.”
“Nay, this is making a mock at contingencies with a vengeance. If I could control yonder refractory cattle, I should have the greatest satisfaction in doing so; but since they choose to have their own way, you must blame them that you will be obliged to walk—not me. We must proceed, lady; we have already delayed too long.”
Anticipating the Rajpootni’s purpose, who was in the act of raising her hand to her mouth, the Mahomedan officer suddenly grasped her by the wrists, and, having secured her arms, said somewhat sternly—
“You force me to this. I have one immediate purpose to fulfil, which is to bear you safely to Delhi, and that I must do in spite of your opposition. You have despised my courtesy; you must now, therefore, consent to march in bonds. When the oxen cease to be refractory, you shall again be restored to the comforts of your hackery; in the mean time you must walk.”
The indignant girl did not utter a word. Her dark eye gleamed with a brightness that expressed unusual excitement, but she did not condescend to expostulate. She marched hurriedly forward, guarded on either side by a soldier, her women following guarded in a similar manner.
FOOTNOTES:[13]Poison, of so subtle a nature as to produce almost instant death, has been frequently concealed in rings, or other trinkets, in order that it might be resorted to upon any sudden emergency.
[13]Poison, of so subtle a nature as to produce almost instant death, has been frequently concealed in rings, or other trinkets, in order that it might be resorted to upon any sudden emergency.
[13]Poison, of so subtle a nature as to produce almost instant death, has been frequently concealed in rings, or other trinkets, in order that it might be resorted to upon any sudden emergency.