Part 17

Akram Chunder was silent. He could not gainsay Percy's argument, and it seemed to him that Ghoolab Singh had indeed the game completely in his hands.

"I am afraid it is as you say, sahib," he remarked after a while, "and that we shall have, as we agreed, to slip out of their hands somehow. I see no chance at present."

"Certainly not," Percy agreed; "we have no arms, and though they have not tied us this time, they must be sure that we dare not try to escape, surrounded as we are by them, for they would be able to shoot us down before we had ridden ten yards. Moreover, the wood is too dense for us to force our way through, and even if we got away at first, we should be overtaken."

The road they were traversing was a mere track cut through the dense forest, and it was with difficulty that they rode two abreast. Six of the dacoits rode ahead of them, six behind, those immediately following them having, as they observed when they mounted, their pistols in their hands, in readiness to shoot at the first indication of an attempt to escape.

"Do you think we are going towards Jummoo?" Percy asked after they had ridden for some three hours.

"I cannot say for certain, sahib, but I think not. I feel sure that Jummoo lies much to the right, and I believe that we shall come down into the valley of Cashmere somewhere between that and Serinagur. Winding about as we have been doing in the bottom of valleys, it is very difficult to judge which way we are really going."

"I agree with you, Akram. I have been watching the way in which the sun falls upon us, and as you say, though we have wound and turned a good deal, I do not think we have ridden to the right as we should have done had we been making for Jummoo. It does not make much difference whether we are taken there or to Serinagur," Percy said; "the end of the journey will be a prison in any case."

"There is no doubt about that, but I would rather they took us to Serinagur, sahib. Ghoolab Singh has been years at Jummoo, and you may be sure that in that time he has built new and strong prisons, from which it would be very hard to escape. Serinagur is an old place, and its prisons would not be like those of Jummoo, and ought to be much easier to get out of; besides, being so much farther from the frontier, they might not watch us so closely, thinking we should know it would be next to impossible for men ignorant of the language to make their way down the valley, however disguised."

Half an hour later they passed through a village, and as the forest thinned as they approached it, and the path became broader, the dacoits closed in on both sides of the prisoners and completely surrounded them. The inhabitants fled into their houses as the troop rode through. No halt was made, and they presently came upon a broad road, and following this again began to mount. All day they travelled among very lofty hills, but towards evening made a long and steep descent.

"I think I know that last pass we went through," Akram Chunder said; "I believe we are now descending into the valley of Cashmere. If I am right, this road will fall into it ten miles below Serinagur."

Shortly afterwards a halt was called, the dacoits turned their horses loose to graze, and proceeded to light a fire to cook the food they had brought with them. They gave the prisoners a share, but when the meal was concluded tied them securely hand and foot and placed two guards over them. These were relieved at short intervals, and one of the men kept the fire burning briskly. Percy woke several times in the night, and each time found the guard vigilant; and being convinced that there was no possibility of an escape while in their charge, he at once went off to sleep again.

In the morning their bonds were loosed, and they resumed their journey. About mid-day they came down into a wide flat valley. A large river meandered with many turns and windings down it, and smaller streams fell into it at many points.

"Are those small rivers for the most part navigable?" Percy asked, pointing to the silver threads among the bright green expanse of vegetation.

"Yes, sahib, the rivers are the roads throughout the valley; it is by them that the peasants take in their products to Serinagur. I do not say they would carry a large barge, but small boats can make their way along them right up to the foot of the hills."

"It must be a very rich country judging from the numbers of villages scattered about."

"It is, sahib; with good government Cashmere would be a paradise. It is never very hot or very cold; the air is soft and balmy, the soil is so rich that everything grows in abundance with but little trouble to the cultivator; he has but to gather his crops and pitch them into his boat, and he can make his way to market without the necessity for horse or bullock. But the government is bad, and has been so for long. Ghoolab is a hard master, but no harder than its former rulers have been. The people would be rich and contented indeed under such a rule as that of the English, firm and just, for in addition to agriculture they have many other means of earning their living, there are the shawl-weavers and silver workers, and those who paint on lacquer, and every member of the family can help to earn something.

"The mountains abound with game, and there is pasturage for countless flocks and herds. The poets of India have always sung of Cashmere as the fairest and most blest by nature of any spot south of the Hindoo Koosh; and they have not spoken a bit too strongly. With good rulers it would be that and much more. The fault is that the country is so fair, the climate so balmy, and life so easy, that the people are too soft in their habits to make good soldiers, and the country has therefore been overrun countless times by more warlike races. At present the Sikhs are masters, but their rule is likely to be even shorter than that of others who have conquered it. When the English are lords of the Punjaub, they will see how fair and how rich is this valley of Cashmere, and that they have but to stretch out their hand to take it. It will be a blessed day indeed for the people when they do so."

"I don't think they want further conquests, Akram; they would gladly have left the Punjaub alone, but they were forced against their will into annexing first the provinces beyond the Sutlej, now Jalindar, and next time perhaps the rest of the country, but there can be no aggressions from Cashmere."

"No, sahib, but the same necessity may arise here as elsewhere. The English hate oppression, and if Ghoolab or his successors grind down the people beyond a certain point, they will interfere. Moreover, Cashmere is necessary to them. Through it runs the best road over the great northern chain of mountains. It is, quite as much as Afghanistan, the door of India, and round the valley at its northern end are troublesome tribes, whom the rulers of Cashmere have never been able to keep in order; the boundaries of China are not far away. A generation or two at the outside and the English will be rulers at Serinagur I think, sahib. What a blessing it would be to the country! In the first place, there would be neither over-taxation nor oppression. All would live and till their lands and work their loom, secure of enjoying their earnings in peace. Money would flow into the country, for the sahibs would come in great numbers from the plains, for health and for sport, and would spend their money freely, and would buy our manufactures from the weavers and silversmiths at first hand, while now they have to be sent down to market at great expense, and in troublous times at great risk. There, you see, sahib, we are taking the northern road; in two hours we shall be at Serinagur."

"All the better, Akram; this is a lovely view, and I should be a long time before I was tired of looking at it; but I am eager to see what kind of a place we are going to be shut up in so as to judge our chance of escape. I wish we could get hold of a couple of long knives and hide them somewhere about us, before we reach the town;" for the clothes they had worn when they were captured had been restored to them before starting.

"One might persuade one of these fellows riding by us to part with his knife, sahib; but our pockets are empty; at least mine are, and I don't suppose they have left you any better provided."

"No, Akram, but I have twenty gold pieces wrapped up in flannel and stowed away in a flap-pocket at the bottom of my holster. My uncle had it made on the day I left him. He said that it might be useful to have a small store of money there in case I ever fell among thieves; and it is so contrived that even if anyone put his hand right down to the bottom of the holster he would not suspect that there was a pocket there, for the flap exactly fits it, and makes a sort of false bottom. The money was stowed away there, and I have never thought of it since."

"It must be well hidden, sahib," Akram Chunder said with a laugh, "for I have put the saddle on and off a hundred times, and put your pistols and sometimes food into the holster, and never for a moment suspected that there was money lying there. Are you sure that it hasn't been taken?"

Percy put his hand down into the holster.

"It is all right, Akram, I can feel the roll of flannel under the flap."

"Well, sahib, if you can get out four pieces it is hard if I don't manage to get a couple of knives from this fellow next to me; as for the rest, if we can but hide them about us they may prove the means of our getting free from prison. Thinking it over, it seemed to me that our greatest difficulty was that we had no means of bribing anyone."

Percy managed to get out four gold pieces, and passed them quietly to his follower.

"Comrade," the latter said in a low voice to the dacoit riding beside him, "you have two knives in your girdle, at what do you value them?"

The man looked keenly at his prisoner. Their clothing had been searched with scrupulous care, and he felt sure that no hiding-place could have been overlooked.

"It depends on who wanted to buy," he said cautiously.

"Suppose I wanted to buy."

"Then they would be worth two gold pieces each."

"That is beyond my means. I would not mind giving a gold piece for each of them."

"Where are the pieces to come from?"

"That is my business; perhaps I have them hidden in my mouth or my ears, or my hair."

"I dare not do it," the man said; "it might be noticed."

"Not if you managed it well," Akram said. "You might ride close up to me when the road happens to be narrow, and pass them in a moment; besides we are not thinking of escape now; but they may be useful to us afterwards."

"It is too great a risk," the man repeated irresolutely.

"Well, I will give you three pieces for the two, though it is hard that you should beggar me."

The man nodded, and presently Akram saw him shift the two knives to the side of his girdle next to him. A short distance farther on he glanced round at the two men riding behind. They were laughing and talking together, and evidently paying but little attention to the prisoners. A moment later he touched his horse's rein, and his knee rubbed against Akram's. The latter passed three gold pieces into his hand, snatched the knives from his girdle, and thrust them under his coat, and the dacoit at once drew off to his former position. Riding close together, Akram had no difficulty in passing one of the knives to Percy, who then again opened the flap in the holster and took the money from its flannel inclosure and handed seven pieces to Akram.

"Where do you mean to hide them?" he asked.

"In the folds of my waist-sash; that is the only place to put them at present. Of course if they search us they will discover the money and the knives, but they will be so sure that the dacoits have taken everything from us that they may not think it worth while to do so. If they once leave us in a room alone we can hide them away so that nothing but a careful search will find them; but at present we must trust to chance."

They were now approaching the town, which extends some two miles on either side of the river Jelum, across which several bridges are thrown. Percy was disappointed at the appearance of the place, which contained no buildings of sufficient importance to tower above the rest. He was most struck with the green appearance of the roofs. On remarking this to Akram, the latter replied:

"They are gardens, sahib; the roofs are for the most part flat, and they are overlaid with a deep covering of earth, which keeps the houses warm in winter and cool in summer. The soil is planted with flowers, and forms a terrace, where the family sit in the cool of the evening."

"That explains it. It is a pity the same thing is not done in other towns; it looks wonderfully pretty."

The people they passed on the road were dressed somewhat differently to those of India; the men wore large turbans and a great woollen vest with wide sleeves; while the women were for the most part dressed in red gowns, also with large loose sleeves. Bound the head was a red twisted handkerchief, over which was thrown a white veil, which did not, however, cover the face.

"Is the language at all like Punjaubi?" Percy asked.

"No, sahib, it differs altogether from all the Indian tongues, so far as I have heard, and is therefore very difficult to be learned by the natives of other parts."

Before reaching the town the horsemen turned off from the main road, and making a wide detour so as to avoid it altogether, continued their course along the foot of the hills on the left of the valley, and after proceeding some two miles above the upper end of the city, mounted the hill, and in half an hour reached a building standing at considerable height above the valley.

"That is just as we expected, sahib. You see we have avoided the town, and Ghoolab will, if questioned, be able to affirm that we have never been brought there. None of the people we met on the road will have noticed us, dressed as we are, in the middle of this band, whom they will take to be the following of some sirdar."

"If that is to be our prison, Akram, it does not look anything like such a difficult place to get out of as the dacoit's castle; but of course it all depends on where they put us."

They stopped at the entrance to the building. They were evidently expected, for an officer came out at once, followed by six armed men. He addressed no questions to the dacoits, but simply nodded as they led the two prisoners forward. Two of the men took the bridles of the horses and led them inside the gates, which were then closed.

Percy and Akram dismounted, and the officer, entering a door from the court-yard, ordered them in Punjaubi to follow him. To Percy's great satisfaction he led the way up a staircase, instead of, as the lad had feared might be the case, down one leading into some subterranean chamber. After ascending some twenty steps they went along a narrow passage, at the end of which was a strong door studded with nails. One of the men produced a key and opened it, and on entering Percy found himself in a chamber some fifteen feet square. It was not uncomfortably furnished, and had two native bedsteads. The floor was covered with rugs. A low table stood in the centre, and there were two low wooden stools near it. Percy's first glance, however, was towards the window. It was of good size, and reached to within a foot from the floor. It was, however, closed by a double grating of strong iron bars, with openings of but four or five inches square.

"Do not fear, no harm is intended you," the officer said. "For a time you must make yourselves as comfortable as you can here. Your servant will be allowed to be with you. If there is anything you require it will be supplied to you."

So saying he left the room, and the door was then locked.

"Thank goodness you are left with me, Akram," Percy exclaimed. "The thing I have been dreading most of all is that we should be separated; and if that had been so, I should have lost all hope of escape."

"I have feared that too, sahib, though I did not speak of it; but before we think of anything farther, let us hide one of the knives and half the money in the beds."

"Why not hide them both?" Percy asked.

"Because we might be moved suddenly, sahib. Ghoolab might order us to be taken to another prison, or might send for us down to Jummoo; there is never any saying; so it is well to keep some of the money about us. Of course we may be searched, but in that case we should lose but half. However, I do not think they will do that now. They will make quite sure that the dacoits will have taken everything there was to take."

*CHAPTER XIII.*

*ESCAPE.*

Having carefully hidden one of the knives and nine pieces of gold in the beds, they divided the remaining eight pieces between them. Akram took off his turban, unrolled his hair, and hid his four pieces in it. He then, with the point of a knife, unripped two or three stitches in the lining of Percy's coat and dropped his money into the hole.

"How about the knife, Akram? That is a much harder thing to hide."

"It must be hidden on you, sahib, so that if we are separated you will be able to use it if you see an opportunity."

He took the knife, and with it cut off a strip an inch wide from his cloak; then he pulled up one of the legs of Percy's long Sikh trousers, and with the strip of cloth strapped the knife tightly against the side of the shin-bone; the handle came close up to the knee, the point extended nearly to the ankle-bone.

"There is no fear of that shifting," he said when he had fastened the bandage and pulled the leg of the trouser down again. "And even if they felt you all over they might well omit to pass their hands over the leg below the knee."

"It is certainly a capital hiding-place, Akram; I should never have thought of putting it there, and it is the last place they would think of searching for anything. Now, we can have a look at the window; it is very strongly grated."

Akram shook his head. "There is no getting through there, sahib; these bars have not been up many years. The stonework is perfect, and with only our knives it would be absolutely impossible to cut through that double grating. The room has doubtless been meant for someone whom they wanted to hold fast and yet to treat respectfully. We may give up all idea of escaping through the window. That stonework was evidently put up at the same time as the gratings. You see the rest of the wall is of brick."

"I don't see it, Akram; it is all covered with this white plaster."

"Yes, sahib; but all the houses here are built of brick, that is to say of brick and woodwork, and I noticed this one is also; besides, if you look at the plaster carefully you can make out the lines of the courses of brick underneath it; it is a thin coat, and badly laid on."

"It is a nuisance it is there," Percy remarked. "If it hadn't been for that it might have been possible with our knives to have cut away the mortar between the bricks, and so have got them out one by one, till we made a hole big enough to get through. Of course it would be a long job, but by replacing the bricks carefully in their places and working at night it might have been managed. But this white plaster renders it quite impossible unless the whole thing could be done in one night, which would be out of the question. There is the floor; we must examine that presently. I have read of escapes from prison by men who managed to raise a flooring stone, made a hole underneath big enough to work in, and so made their way either into another room or through the outside wall. It would need time, patience, and hard work; but unless we are able to bribe the man who brings us in food, that is how it must be done."

He pushed aside one of the rugs. The floor was composed of smooth slabs of stone about a foot square. "It could not be better," he said. "There should be no great difficulty in getting up a couple of these slabs. They are fitted pretty closely, but we ought to be able to find one where there is room for the blade of a knife to get in between it and those next to it."

"That is good, sahib; I should never have thought of getting out that way. However, if you tell me what to do I will do it;" and Akram went to the place where he had hidden his knife.

"There is no hurry, Akram. We can fix on a stone while there is daylight, but we can't begin until we are sure that everyone is asleep. They may bring us in some food at any moment; and before we begin in earnest we shall have to find out the hours at which they visit us, and how late they come in at night."

At this moment they heard steps coming along the passage.

"Sit down on that stool," Percy said, while he threw himself down on one of the _charpoys_. "We must look as dull and stupid as we can."

A man brought in a dish of boiled rice and meat. Akram addressed him in Punjaubi, but he shook his head and went out without a word.

"If none of these fellows speak anything but their own language, sahib, it will be difficult to try and get them to help us, for it will not do to let out that I can talk the language; for if we once get free, that will be our best hope of getting through the country."

"We will try the other way first at any rate, Akram. The money we have is not sufficient to induce a man to risk his life in assisting us, and he might possibly think he could do better by betraying us; in which case we might be separated and put in a much worse place than this."

"That is true enough, sahib; at the same time the money we have is a very large amount here. He would not get above three or four rupees a month, so that it would be four or five years' pay. Still there is the danger of his betraying us. As you say, we had better try in the first place to get out as you propose."

"It is nothing to what men have done sometimes, Akram. They have escaped through walls of solid stone. They don't build like that here. The bricks are not generally well baked, and are often only sun-dried. As soon as we have finished this food we will examine the stones. We will begin near the outside wall--we might get into an inhabited room if we went the other way--and working towards the outside we know we have only to get through it to be free, for these rugs will make ropes by which we can slide down without difficulty."

Examining the flags along the side of the outer wall they found two or three where, without much difficulty, they could insert a knife in the interstices.

"Let us set to work at once, Akram; we can hear the man's footstep right along the passage, and shall have plenty of time to drop the stone in and throw the rug over it before he reaches the door. I want to see what is underneath, and I specially want to have a place to hide the two knives in case they should take it into their heads to search us."

The cement in which the flat slabs were laid was by no means hard, and in half an hour they had cut it all round one of the stones. This was, however, still firmly attached to the cement below it. "I am afraid to use any pressure, Akram, for we might break the knives."

"That is so, sahib; if we had an iron bar we might break the stone, but I see no other way of loosening it. Perhaps if we were to jump upon it we might shake it."

"I don't think there would be much chance of that, and if there is anyone in the room below they might come up to see what we are doing. We might fill the cracks with water all round and by pouring in more water from time to time it might soak in and soften the cement, but of course that depends entirely upon its quality; however we might as well do that at once."