Rujub, the Juggler, G. A. Henty [top fiction books of all time .TXT] 📗

again. It was limp and impassive. Then he said authoritatively, “Go to the prison.” He paused a moment.

“Are you there?”

“I am there,” she said.

“Are you in the room where the ladies are?”

“I am there,” she repeated.

“Do you see the lady Hannay?”

“I see her.”

“How is she?”

“She is lying quiet. The other young lady is sitting beside her. The lower part of her face is bandaged up, but I can see that she is not suffering as she was this morning. She looks quiet and happy.”

“Try and speak to her. Say, 'Keep up your courage, we are doing what we can.' Speak, I order you.”

“I have spoken.”

“Did she hear you?”

“Yes. She has raised herself on her arm; she is looking round; she has asked the other young lady if she heard anything. The other shakes her head. She heard my words, but does not understand them.”

Rujub looked at Bathurst, who mechanically repeated the message in English.

“Speak to her again. Tell her these words,” and Rujub repeated the message in English.

“Does she hear you?”

“She hears me. She has clasped her hands, and is looking round bewildered.”

“That will do. Now go outside into the yard; what do you see there?”

“I see eight men sitting round a fire. One gets up and walks to one of the grated windows, and looks in at the prisoners.”

“Is the door locked?”

“It is locked.”

“Where is the key?”

She was silent for some time.

“Where is the key?” he repeated.

“In the lock,” she said.

“How many soldiers are there in the guardroom by the gate?”

“There are no soldiers there. There are an officer and four men outside, but none inside.”

“That will do,” and he passed his hand lightly across her forehead.

“Is it all true?” Bathurst asked, as the juggler turned to him.

“Assuredly it is true, sahib. Had I had my daughter with me at Deennugghur, I could have sent you a message as easily; as it was, I had to trust only to the power of my mind upon yours. The information is of use, sahib.”

“It is indeed. It is a great thing to know that the key is left in the lock, and also that at night there are the prison keepers only inside the building.”

“Does she know what she has been doing?” he asked, as Rabda languidly rose from her chair.

“No, sahib, she knows nothing after she has recovered from these trances.”

“I will watch tomorrow night,” Bathurst said, “and see at what hour the sentries are relieved. It is evident that the Sepoys are not trusted to enter the prison, which is left entirely to the warders, the outside posts being furnished by some regiment in the lines. It is important to know the exact hour at which the changes are made, and perhaps you could find out tomorrow, Rujub, who these warders are; whether they are permanently on duty, or are relieved once a day.”

“I will do that, sahib; if they are changed we may be able to get at some of them.”

“I have no money,” Bathurst said; “but—”

“I have money, sahib, and if they can be bribed, will do it; our caste is a rich one. We sometimes receive large presents, and we are everywhere made welcome. We have little need of money. I am wealthy, and practice my art more because I love it than for gain. There are few in the land that know the secrets that I do. Men die without having sons to pass down their knowledge; thus it is the number of those who possess the secrets of the ancient grows smaller every day. There are hundreds of jugglers, but very few who know, as I do, the secrets of nature, and can control the spirits of the air. Did I need greater wealth than I have, Rabda could discover for me all the hidden treasures of India; and I could obtain them, guarded though they may be by djins and evil spirits.”

“Have you a son to come after you, Rujub?”

“Yes; he is traveling in Persia, to confer with one or two of the great ones there who still possess the knowledge of the ancient magicians.”

“By the way, Rujub, I have not asked you how you got on with the Nana.”

“It was easy enough,” the juggler said. “He had lost all interest in the affairs of Deennugghur, and greeted me at first as if I had just returned from a journey. Then he remembered and asked me suddenly why I had disobeyed his orders and given my voice for terms being granted to the Feringhees. I said that I had obeyed his orders; I understood that what he principally desired was to have the women here as prisoners, and that had the siege continued the Feringhees would have blown themselves into the air. Therefore the only plan was to make terms with them, which would, in fact, place them all in his power, as he would not be bound by the conditions granted by the Oude men. He was satisfied, and said no more about it, and I am restored to my position in his favor. Henceforth we shall not have to trust to the gossip of the bazaars, but I shall know what news is received and what is going to be done.

“Your people at Delhi have beaten back the Sepoys several times, and at Lucknow they resist stoutly. The Nana is very angry that the place has not been taken, but from what I hear the intrenchments there are much stronger than they were here, and even here they were not taken by the sword, but because the whites had no shelter from the guns, and could not go to the well without exposing themselves to the fire. At Lucknow they have some strong houses in the intrenchments, and no want of anything, so they can only be captured by fighting. Everyone says they cannot hold out many days longer, but that I do not know. It does not seem to me that there is any hope of rescue for them, for even if, as you think, the white troops should beat Nana Sahib's men, they never could force their way through the streets of Lucknow to the intrenchments there.”

“We shall see, Rujub. Deennugghur was defended by a mere handful, and at Lucknow they have half a regiment of white soldiers. They may, for anything I know, have to yield to starvation, but I doubt whether the mutineers and Oude men, however numerous they