Tales of Daring and Danger, Page 2

  CHAPTER II.

  "Just as I was getting strong enough to walk, and was beginning to thinkof making my escape, a band of five or six fellows, armed to the teeth,came in, and made signs that I was to go with them. It was evidently anarranged thing, the girls only were surprised, but they were at onceturned out, and as we started I could see two crouching figures in theshade with their cloths over their heads. I had a native garment thrownover my shoulders, and in five minutes after the arrival of the fellowsfound myself on my way. It took us some six hours before we reached ourdestination, which was one of those natural rock citadels. Had I been inmy usual health I could have done the distance in an hour and a half,but I had to rest constantly, and was finally carried rather than helpedup. I had gone not unwillingly, for the men were clearly, by theirdress, Dacoits of the Deccan, and I had no doubt that it was intendedeither to ransom or exchange me.

  "At the foot of this natural castle were some twenty or thirty morerobbers, and I was led to a rough sort of arbour in which was lying, ona pile of maize straw, a man who was evidently their chief. He rose andwe exchanged salaams.

  "'What is your name, sahib?' he asked in Mahratta.

  "'Hastings--Lieutenant Hastings,' I said. 'And yours?'

  "'Sivajee Punt!' he said.

  "This was bad. I had fallen into the hands of the most troublesome,most ruthless, and most famous of the Dacoit leaders. Over and overagain he had been hotly chased, but had always managed to get away; andwhen I last heard anything of what was going on four or five troops ofnative police were scouring the country after him. He gave an orderwhich I did not understand, and a wretched Bombay writer, I suppose aclerk of some money-lender, was dragged forward. Sivajee Punt spoke tohim for some time, and the fellow then told me in English that I was towrite at once to the officer commanding the troops, telling him that Iwas in his hands, and should be put to death directly he was attacked.

  "'Ask him,' I said, 'if he will take any sum of money to let me go?'

  "Sivajee shook his head very decidedly.

  "A piece of paper was put before me, and a pen and ink, and I wrote as Ihad been ordered, adding, however, in French, that I had brought myselfinto my present position by my own folly, and would take my chance, forI well knew the importance which Government attached to Sivajee'scapture. I read out loud all that I had written in English, and theinterpreter translated it. Then the paper was folded and I addressed it,'The Officer Commanding,' and I was given some chupattis and a drink ofwater, and allowed to sleep. The Dacoits had apparently no fear of anyimmediate attack.

  "It was still dark, although morning was just breaking, when I wasawakened, and was got up to the citadel. I was hoisted rather thanclimbed, two men standing above with a rope, tied round my body, so thatI was half-hauled, half-pushed up the difficult places, which would havetaxed all my climbing powers had I been in health.

  "The height of this mass of rock was about a hundred feet; the top wasfairly flat, with some depressions and risings, and about eighty feetlong by fifty wide. It had evidently been used as a fortress in agespast. Along the side facing the hill were the remains of a rough wall.In the centre of a depression was a cistern, some four feet square,lined with stone-work, and in another depression a gallery had been cut,leading to a subterranean store-room or chamber. This natural fortressrose from the face of the hill at a distance of a thousand yards or sofrom the edge of the plateau, which was fully two hundred feet higherthan the top of the rock. In the old days it would have beenimpregnable, and even at that time it was an awkward place to take, forthe troops were armed only with Brown Bess, and rifled cannon were notthought of. Looking round, I could see that I was some four miles fromthe point where I had descended. The camp was gone; but running my eyealong the edge of the plateau I could see the tops of tents a mile to myright, and again two miles to my left; turning round, and looking downinto the wide valley, I saw a regimental camp.

  "It was evident that a vigorous effort was being made to surround andcapture the Dacoits, since troops had been brought up from Bombay. Inaddition to the troops above and below, there would probably be a strongpolice force, acting on the face of the hill. I did not see all thesethings at the time, for I was, as soon as I got to the top, ordered tosit down behind the parapet, a fellow armed to the teeth squatting downby me, and signifying that if I showed my head above the stones he wouldcut my throat without hesitation. There were, however, sufficient gapsbetween the stones to allow me to have a view of the crest of the Ghaut,while below my view extended down to the hills behind Bombay. It wasevident to me now why the Dacoits did not climb up into the fortress.There were dozens of similar crags on the face of the Ghauts, and thetroops did not as yet know their whereabouts. It was a sort of blockadeof the whole face of the hills which was being kept up, and there were,probably enough, several other bands of Dacoits lurking in the jungle.

  "There were only two guards and myself on the rock plateau. I discussedwith myself the chances of my overpowering them and holding the top ofthe rock till help came; but I was greatly weakened, and was not a matchfor a boy, much less for the two stalwart Mahrattas; besides, I was byno means sure that the way I had been brought up was the only possiblepath to the top. The day passed off quietly. The heat on the bare rockwas frightful, but one of the men, seeing how weak and ill I really was,fetched a thick rug from the storehouse, and with the aid of a stickmade a sort of lean-to against the wall, under which I lay shelteredfrom the sun.

  "Once or twice during the day I heard a few distant musket-shots, andonce a sharp heavy outburst of firing. It must have been three or fourmiles away, but it was on the side of the Ghaut, and showed that thetroops or police were at work. My guards looked anxiously in thatdirection, and uttered sundry curses. When it was dusk, Sivajee andeight of the Dacoits came up. From what they said, I gathered that therest of the band had dispersed, trusting either to get through the lineof their pursuers, or, if caught, to escape with slight punishment, themen who remained being too deeply concerned in murderous outrages tohope for mercy. Sivajee himself handed me a letter, which the man whohad taken my note had brought back in reply. Major Knapp, the writer,who was the second in command, said that he could not engage theGovernment, but that if Lieutenant Hastings was given up the act wouldcertainly dispose the Government to take the most merciful viewpossible; but that if, on the contrary, any harm was suffered byLieutenant Hastings, every man taken would be at once hung. Sivajee didnot appear put out about it. I do not think he expected any otheranswer, and imagine that his real object in writing was simply to letthem know that I was a prisoner, and so enable him the better toparalyse the attack upon a position which he no doubt considered all butimpregnable.

  "I was given food, and was then allowed to walk as I chose upon thelittle plateau, two of the Dacoits taking post as sentries at thesteepest part of the path, while the rest gathered, chatting andsmoking, in the depression in front of the storehouse. It was stilllight enough for me to see for some distance down the face of the rock,and I strained my eyes to see if I could discern any other spot at whichan ascent or descent was possible. The prospect was not encouraging. Atsome places the face fell sheer away from the edge, and so evident wasthe impracticability of escape that the only place which I glanced attwice was the western side, that is the one away from the hill. Here itsloped gradually for a few feet. I took off my shoes and went down tothe edge. Below, some ten feet, was a ledge, on to which with care Icould get down, but below that was a sheer fall of some fifty feet. As ameans of escape it was hopeless, but it struck me that if an attack wasmade I might slip away and get on to the ledge. Once there I could notbe seen except by a person standing where I now was, just on the edge ofthe slope, a spot to which it was very unlikely that anyone would come.

  "The thought gave me a shadow of hope, and, returning to the upper endof the platform, I lay down, and in spite of the hardness of the rock,was soon asleep. The pain of my aching bones woke me up several times,and once, just as the first tinge
of dawn was coming, I thought I couldhear movements in the jungle. I raised myself somewhat, and I saw thatthe sounds had been heard by the Dacoits, for they were standinglistening, and some of them were bringing spare fire-arms from thestorehouse, in evident preparation for attack.

  "As I afterwards learned, the police had caught one of the Dacoitstrying to effect his escape, and by means of a little of the ingenioustorture to which the Indian police then frequently resorted, when theirwhite officers were absent, they obtained from him the exact position ofSivajee's band, and learned the side from which the ascent must be made.That the Dacoit and his band were still upon the slopes of the Ghautsthey knew, and were gradually narrowing their circle, but there were somany rocks and hiding-places that the process of searching was a slowone, and the intelligence was so important that the news was off at onceto the colonel, who gave orders for the police to surround the rock atdaylight and to storm it if possible. The garrison was so small that thepolice were alone ample for the work, supposing that the naturaldifficulties were not altogether insuperable.

  "Just at daybreak there was a distant noise of men moving in thejungle, and the Dacoit half-way down the path fired his gun. He wasanswered by a shout and a volley. The Dacoits hurried out from thechamber, and lay down on the edge, where, sheltered by a parapet, theycommanded the path. They paid no attention to me, and I kept as far awayas possible. The fire began--a quiet, steady fire, a shot at a time, andin strong contrast to the rattle kept up from the surrounding jungle;but every shot must have told, as man after man who strove to climb thatsteep path, fell. It lasted only ten minutes, and then all was quietagain.

  "The attack had failed, as I knew it must do, for two men could haveheld the place against an army; a quarter of an hour later a gun fromthe crest above spoke out, and a round shot whistled above our heads.Beyond annoyance, an artillery fire could do no harm, for the partycould be absolutely safe in the store cave. The instant the shot flewoverhead, however, Sivajee Punt beckoned to me, and motioned me to takemy seat on the wall facing the guns. Hesitation was useless, and I tookmy seat with my back to the Dacoits and my face to the hill. One of theDacoits, as I did so, pulled off the native cloth which covered myshoulders, in order that I might be clearly seen.

  "Just as I took my place another round shot hummed by; but then therewas a long interval of silence. With a field-glass every feature musthave been distinguishable to the gunners, and I had no doubt that theywere waiting for orders as to what to do next.

  "I glanced round and saw that with the exception of one fellow squattedbehind the parapet some half-dozen yards away, clearly as a sentry tokeep me in place, all the others had disappeared. Some, no doubt, wereon sentry down the path, the others were in the store beneath me. Afterhalf an hour's silence the guns spoke out again. Evidently the gunnerswere told to be as careful as they could, for some of the shots wentwide on the left, others on the right. A few struck the rock below me.The situation was not pleasant, but I thought that at a thousand yardsthey ought not to hit me, and I tried to distract my attention bythinking out what I should do under every possible contingency.

  "Presently I felt a crash and a shock, and fell backwards to the ground.I was not hurt, and on picking myself up saw that the ball had struckthe parapet to the left, just where my guard was sitting, and he laycovered with its fragments. His turban lay some yards behind him.Whether he was dead or not I neither knew nor cared.

  "I pushed down some of the parapet where I had been sitting, dropped mycap on the edge outside, so as to make it appear that I had fallen over,and then picking up the man's turban, ran to the other end of theplatform and scrambled down to the ledge. Then I began to wave my armsabout--I had nothing on above the waist--and in a moment I saw a facewith a uniform cap peer out through the jungle, and a hand was waved. Imade signs to him to make his way to the foot of the perpendicular wallof rock beneath me. I then unwound the turban, whose length was, I knew,amply sufficient to reach to the bottom, and then looked round forsomething to write on. I had my pencil still in my trousers pocket, butnot a scrap of paper.

  "I picked up a flattish piece of rock and wrote on it, 'Get arope-ladder quickly, I can haul it up. Ten men in garrison. They are allunder cover. Keep on firing to distract their attention."

  "I tied the stone to the end of the turban, and looked over. Anon-commissioned officer of the police was already standing below. Ilowered the stone; he took it, waved his hand to me, and was gone.

  "An hour passed: it seemed an age. The round shots still rang overhead,and the fire was now much more heavy and sustained than before.Presently I again saw a movement in the jungle, and Norworthy's faceappeared, and he waved his arm in greeting.

  "Five minutes more and a party were gathered at the foot of the rock,and a strong rope was tied to the cloth. I pulled it up. A rope-ladderwas attached to it, and the top rung was in a minute or two in my hands.To it was tied a piece of paper with the words: 'Can you fasten theladder?" I wrote on the paper: 'No; but I can hold it for a lightweight.'

  "I put the paper with a stone in the end of the cloth, and lowered itagain. Then I sat down, tied the rope round my waist, got my feetagainst two projections, and waited. There was a jerk, and then I feltsome one was coming up the rope-ladder. The strain was far less than Iexpected, but the native policeman who came up first did not weigh halfso much as an average Englishman. There were now two of us to hold. Theofficer in command of the police came up next, then Norworthy, then adozen more police. I explained the situation, and we mounted to theupper level. Not a soul was to be seen. Quickly we advanced and took upa position to command the door of the underground chamber; while one ofthe police waved a white cloth from his bayonet as a signal to thegunners to cease firing. Then the police officer hailed the party withinthe cave.

  "'Sivajee Punt! you may as well come out and give yourself up! We are inpossession, and resistance is useless!'

  "A yell of rage and surprise was heard, and the Dacoits, all desperatemen, came bounding out, firing as they did so. Half of their number wereshot down at once, and the rest, after a short, sharp struggle, werebound hand and foot.

  "That is pretty well all of the story, I think. Sivajee Punt was one ofthe killed. The prisoners were all either hung or imprisoned for life. Iescaped my blowing-up for having gone down the Ghauts after the bear,because, after all, Sivajee Punt might have defied their force formonths had I not done so.

  "It seemed that that scoundrel Rahman had taken back word that I waskilled. Norworthy had sent down a strong party, who found the two deadbears, and who, having searched everywhere without finding any signs ofmy body, came to the conclusion that I had been found and carried away,especially as they ascertained that natives used that path. They hadoffered rewards, but nothing was heard of me till my note saying I wasin Sivajee's hands arrived."

  "And did you ever see the women who carried you off?"

  "No, Mary, I never saw them again. I did, however, after immensetrouble, succeed in finding out where it was that I had been taken to. Iwent down at once, but found the village deserted. Then after muchinquiry I found where the people had moved to, and sent messages to thewomen to come up to the camp, but they never came; and I was reduced atlast to sending them down two sets of silver bracelets, necklaces, andbangles, which must have rendered them the envy of all the women on theGhauts. They sent back a message of grateful thanks, and I never heardof them afterwards. No doubt their relatives, who knew that theirconnection with the Dacoits was now known, would not let them come.However, I had done all I could, and I have no doubt the women wereperfectly satisfied. So you see, my dear, that the Indian bear, smallas he is, is an animal which it is as well to leave alone, at any ratewhen he happens to be up on the side of a hill while you are at thefoot."