Athelstane Ford Page 8

  CHAPTER VIII

  _IN THE COMPANY'S SERVICE_

  And now I must pass quickly over that time of my life on which Ishould most love to linger, those halcyon hours when, with Marian bymy side and the prospect bright before us, we voyaged through thoseIndian seas, down the long coast of Malabar and up the long coast ofCoromandel, past the Isle of Serendib, and the reefs and foaming seas,to where the tangled banyan roots overgrow the muddy mouth of theHooghley.

  Being, as we were, the only two idle persons on board that ship, wewere thrown upon each other's company day after day, and in the longtalks we had together she gave me her account of the injuries whichshe had suffered at the hands of my cousin Gurney. And what pleased memost in these conversations was not to hear her kind and lovingprofessions towards myself, so much as that bitterness which she nowmanifested against Rupert, for whom, she told me, she cherished ahatred as strong as her former liking and attachment.

  "You are not to think," she said, "that I ever held your cousin inthat regard which he was vain enough to believe and boast of. It istrue we were good friends, and had been such before I had yet madeyour acquaintance. But he was a man for whom I had a strong distrust,and that in spite of his swaggering airs and gallant speeches, fit toturn the head of some silly, vain girl who knew nothing of the world."

  "How came you to put yourself in that villain's hands," I asked, withsome reproachfulness, "by venturing on board the _Fair Maid_?"

  "I own that was a wrong, foolish act," she answered, "of which thewrongs I have suffered in consequence are sufficient proof. But when Ifirst yielded to Rupert Gurney's solicitations to take my passage inthat ship, I looked to the fact that Captain Sims was her commander,and it was him I relied on to afford me protection. Can you notunderstand how tired I was of my life in Yarmouth, in that old, drearyinn; and how I wished to be abroad and see the great world, and alsoto embrace my own parents, from whom I have been separated thesetwelve years?"

  Thus she made her defence. Nor was I like to gainsay it, loving her asI did, with the same folly and blindness as of old, and ready to seeand to hear just as she bade me, so that I might only be let hugmyself in the belief that I had her affection in return.

  "For the first part of our voyage," she told me further, "all wentwell enough, until your cousin recovered of those wounds you had givenhim. Then he began to take a tone with me which I could ill brook; andyou may imagine my uneasiness when I perceived that he had greaterinterest with the men than Mr. Sims, and that I was fairly in hispower. As soon as we had got out in these seas he threw off allpretence of taking me to Fort William; and when I implored him atleast to set me ashore in Bombay, where I might find another ship, heflatly refused, and told me plainly that I was nothing more than hisprisoner. I applied to Mr. Sims for protection, but he answered thatit was none of his business, and since I had come aboard freely therewas nothing penal in detaining me. This man, I could see, was afraidof Gurney, who shortly after raised a mutiny against him, put him inirons, and carried him into Gheriah."

  I had forgotten to say that when we took the pirates' castle, CaptainSims was found among the prisoners, who, producing his papers, andmaking out a long tale about his being an innocent merchant skipper,fallen into the hands of the Moors, not only got his freedom, but ahandsome compensation out of the plunder of the place, with which hetook passage home to England.

  Marian told me that her complaints and anger at last drove Rupert toput her ashore, where he gave her, like Sims, into Angria's custody.

  "And the horrors of that prison," she said, "are not to be described,nor even conceived by one who has not had experience of it. I waslocked into a small cell, with scarce room to move or breathe, and theinsufferable heat was such that I was forced to strip naked and lie onthe floor, with scarce a rag to cover me. What would have happened tome if the fort had not been taken I dare not think. I must have gonemad or died."

  "Do not let us speak of it," I said, soothing her. "All those horrorsare passed, and not likely to return. Where we are going, in Calcutta,you will find friends and English customs; and your faithful servant,if you will have him as such, Athelstane Ford, will stand guard overyou with his life."

  This was the nearest approach which I made to a declaration of mylove, choosing rather to drift by force of circumstances into theposition of Marian's accepted lover than hazard all I had gained byseeking to pluck the fruit before it was ripe. It was sufficient forme in the meantime to elicit from her those expressions of abhorrencetowards my cousin (and late rival), which assured me that she waseffectually cured of her unhappy tenderness for that villain.

  "Thank heaven, you are not likely to be troubled with any furthersight of him," I said, to clinch the matter. "After these eventsMaster Rupert will be no such fool as to endanger his neck bytrespassing on the Company's territories."

  "I wish never to see him, nor so much as to hear of him again," Mariananswered warmly.

  With such assurances she satisfied me. Perhaps my hopes played mefalse, and made me take gratitude for something dearer; or it may bethat Marian, who knew well enough what were my feelings towards her,did return me some fondness at this time, and was resigned to acceptmy suit. Even if I deceived myself, I will not repent it. For I knowthat this life of ours is but a series of illusions, where we standlike children at a peepshow in a fair, beholding pictures which wemistake for real things. So that I say that he who falsely thinkshimself beloved is just as well off for that time as he who really isbeloved. Yet so far as I was concerned, if any man had said to me thenthat Marian did not love me, I should have scorned him.

  Of my love for her I must not speak at all, or I shall never havedone. Long before we reached the Hooghley she had recovered from theill effects of her imprisonment, and moved about the ship with thatcommand which her beauty gave to her. Her charm was such as I havenever seen in any other woman: compared with them she seemed like abright child among old, sleeping men, almost like a living body amongthe withered tenants of the tombs. And before we had been upon ourvoyage above a fortnight the commander and both lieutenants of the_Thetis_ were at her beck and call, while as for the littlemidshipmen, down to one youngster of twelve, they swore by her as ifshe were a goddess, and fought duels about her in the cockpit withtheir dirks.

  Before we arrived in Bengal she talked to me much about her parents,who had been settled at Fort William for nearly twenty years. It was along time since she had had news of them, she told me, but when shelast heard her father was prospering in his business, which was thatof a drug factor, not in the civil service of the East Indian Company,but trading under their licence, and shipping his merchandise in theirbottoms. So much she knew, but nothing besides, and it was with asmuch curiosity as myself that she saw the Sunderbunds drawing near,and our sloop anchoring off Falta to wait for a pilot up the river.

  The Hooghley, famous as it is, is only one of the mouths of that greatriver the Ganges, sacred and renowned throughout Indostan. Yet it isupwards of forty miles long, for so great was the distance whichseparated us from our destination. By means of a fair wind weaccomplished this difficult navigation, dangerous on account of thenumerous shoals, in a very few hours, passing on our way the fort ofBudge-Budge, where the Company kept a small garrison.

  The scene along the banks of the river was most strange to me at thistime, and made an impression not easy to be effaced. The trees whichoverhung the most part of the banks, of a character quite unlikethose we have in Norfolk, were gloomy and forbidding in the extreme;but when we came to one of the people of the country's villages, andsaw the men dressed in gay turbans, the women walking about withcurious earthen vessels on their heads, and the stark naked blackchildren playing in the water, I was altogether bewildered, and couldscarcely credit that I, who saw these things and had come to dwellamongst them, was the same boy who had been bred up so peacefully inthat English village among the flat meadows bordered by the shallowbroad.

  However, we came at last to that place since so celebrate
d, thoughthen considered only as the third among the Company's settlements inthe East; I mean Fort William. The fort itself was at this date of nogreat size or consequence; but in the neighbourhood along the riverbank were many fine warehouses erected by the English. In the rear ofthese was built the native town, which the Moors call Calcutta. Herethe houses are generally mean and dirty; but some of the rich Indianslived in very noble style, having fine gardens round their houses,ornamented with fountains and groves of tulip trees and mangoes.

  Marian and I were put ashore in the ship's gig, having first bid adieuto the officers, and set about inquiring the way to Mr. Rising'shouse. In this at first we were unsuccessful, but at last I found anobliging person on the quay who directed his native servant to guideus to it.

  This man, to whom I gave a handful of pice, conducted us through somenarrow streets of the town, very ill-paved, and full of a most evilsmell, to a lonely neighbourhood on the side of the river further up,where there was a house built in the Moorish fashion, and enclosed ina wild garden much overrun with weeds. All round this garden was ahigh wall, conformable to the jealous disposition of these people. Theentrance was by a narrow gate, and there was a miserable dwellingcrouched against the wall inside, the door of which stood open. Someblack children were playing in front of this hovel, who cried out whenthey saw us, and ran indoors. An Indian came out, very gaunt andfierce, who demanded in English what we did there.

  "We are come to see Mr. Rising," I told him, using his own languagewhich Mr. Scrafton had taught me. "Is this his house?"

  "It is, my lord," says the fellow, much surprised, and giving a lowbow, which they call a salawm.

  With that I dismissed our conductor, and Mr. Rising's gardener--forsuch he was--brought us to the house. We now saw that thoughoriginally a fine mansion it was sadly decayed. The walls should havebeen white, but excessive heat had cracked and blistered them, andturned everything to a yellowish hue. The Indian brought us inside,and into a long, low-ceilinged room with a great window opening on tothe river. This room had no furniture except two small tables; but allround the walls was a covered settee, very broad, such as the Moorsare used to sit on with their legs tucked up beneath them. To aEuropean it is uncomfortable at first, but by degrees I grewaccustomed to it. In this room presently Marian's father came to us.

  The first sight of Mr. Rising gave me a shock, and must, I think, havegiven a worse one to my companion. He was, as I knew, a man of middleage, yet he looked very, very old, being bent down and much wrinkled,with his hair nearly white. Moreover, his eyes wandered as if he wereuncertain which way to look, and while he spoke his fingers workedstrangely up and down his bosom, as if groping over the strings ofsome musical instrument.

  "Well, sir," he said in a thin, halting voice, seeming to find eachword an effort, "what is your pleasure with me?"

  "I have come here, sir," I said, "with one whom you will rejoice tosee. This is Mistress Marian Rising, your daughter, who has come outfrom England in my company."

  For at Marian's prayer I had strictly promised to say nothing aboutthe manner of her voyage, which might have done her some discreditwith the Calcutta folk.

  As I pronounced the above words the girl herself sprang forward andcast her arms about her father's neck.

  "Father!" she said. "Don't you know me--your little Marian, who hascome home!" And she wept on his bosom.

  Then it was a pity to see that ancient, stricken man wakening, as itseemed, out of his trance, and gradually making sure who it was thatembraced him.

  "My child! My child! Why have you come here?" he said presently. Andthen shed some tears himself, and clasped her to him, and kissed her.

  "Where is my mother?" asked Marian, as soon as she had raised herhead.

  "Poor child! Your mother has been dead these eighteen months," heanswered sadly. "I should have written to tell you of it, but I waspreparing for my passage home--indeed, I don't know why I have notstarted before this."

  He gazed round him as he spoke, so as to convince me that indeed hedid not know, and had lost the power--poor man!--to understand hiscircumstances or to take any resolution whatsoever.

  I came away from that strange scene terrified, not so much by what Isaw, as by an instinct I had that this man's dreadful wreck was only asign of that great and abiding horror which lay like a shadow all overthe land; just as in the fable the glimpse of one monstrous foot wassufficient to warn the spectator that a giant came along. Whichfeeling in my mind was rather confirmed than dispelled when I came tolearn, as I soon did, that Mr. Rising's sad condition was broughtabout by the drug called opium, a staple of this country, the magicalproperties of which herb seemed to me then of a piece with thefrightful sorceries and dark secret practices of the people, as Iafterwards came to know them, and which, with their abominableidolatrous superstitions, used often to make me wonder that theAlmighty did not destroy them with His plagues of fire and brimstone,like those wicked Cities of the Plain. Yet one good result of myobservance of these people's horrid customs was to inspire me with abecoming and devout gratitude that I had been born a citizen ofChristian England, a blessing which we should the more prize sinceProvidence has seen fit to deny it to so many millions of Hiscreatures, and to bestow it upon a few. Sad it is that even amongthose few there should be found multitudes unmindful of theiropportunities, who give themselves up to dissolute lives, or who turnaway from the blessed truths of Scripture to hanker after liturgiesand Romish inventions.

  * * * * *

  And now, having arrived safe in Calcutta, I looked forward to a periodof rest and security not only for Marian, but myself, after the roughtaste we had both had of fortune in her cantankerous mood. As soon asI had seen Marian lodged in her father's house, I sought out Mr.Holwell, one of the principal Company's servants in Calcutta, andcommissioner over the police of the town. To this gentleman I broughta letter from Mr. Scrafton, to recommend me to his good offices, andhaving read it he at once received me very civilly and promised me hisfriendship.

  He asked me many questions about the taking of Gheriah, and also aboutMr Robert Clive, whose character stood high in the estimation of everyone in Bengal, even the Moors having bestowed on him the name of SabatJung, signifying the daring in war.

  "We had heard of this affair before you came," Mr. Holwell told me."The man Angria was famous in these parts, and supposed to beinvincible, so that his sudden destruction by our armament has giventhe natives here an altogether new idea of the English power. It willbe well if this doesn't do us more harm than good, for the Moors are ajealous, suspicious race. Our agent in the neighbourhood ofMoorshedabad, the Nabob's capital, has warned us that the English havemany enemies at the Court, who seek to poison the Nabob's mind againstus. I believe there are some spies come down here to examine ourdefences and the strength of our garrison."

  "What!" I said. "Do you think the Nabob intends anything against us?"

  "No, I don't say that," Mr. Holwell answered. "The present Nabob,Allaverdy Khan, has always been our good friend. But he is old andsick, and his nephew, who is likely to succeed him, is a dangerousyoung man, puffed up with pride and conceit. If he should come to thethrone he is only too likely to find some pretext for harassing theCompany."

  To these forebodings I paid but little attention at the time, though Iwas soon to learn that they were not idle fears. Mr. Holwell, afterhaving ascertained that I was acquainted with the Gentoo language,offered to procure me employment under the Company in one of theircounting-houses, as interpreter, which offer I gladly accepted for thetime. I was to receive a salary of 200 rupees by the month, inaddition to which Mr. Holwell undertook to procure me a dustuck fromthe Governor, enabling any merchandise I chose to trade in to passthrough the province of Bengal free of taxes or duties to the Nabob'sgovernment.

  I soon found out that this privilege of trading on their own accountproved, together with the presents they received from native merchantswho did business with the Company, the most valuabl
e part of thelivelihood of the Company's servants. Their salaries were sowretchedly small as to be insufficient for the necessities of life inthis climate, where the poorest European is obliged to keep half adozen black servants in his pay. For my part, I did not embark intrade myself, having no capital, but I accepted the offer of a Gentoomerchant to lend him the use of my dustuck to cover his goods, forwhich he paid me handsomely.

  These Gentoos, as they are called in that part of India, are theoriginal natives of the country, who follow the idolatrous religiontaught by their Bramins, practising human sacrifices and other ritestoo vile for description. Over them the Moors have established theirempire by force, but being a military race, incapable of business,they commit the details of their government to certain of the Gentoos,who collect their revenues, and amass great fortunes. They are verydishonest scoundrels, as I discovered, and at first, finding me new tothe Company's business, I have no doubt they overreached me. At thesame time I received many handsome gratifications from them, so that Icame to consider myself ill-used when I did not pocket a hundred ortwo rupees over a transaction involving some thousands. But in thecourse of a few weeks, as I began to understand the trade better, andto cut down their exorbitant demands, these men marvellously abatedtheir complaisance. Some of them, even, who had professed to know noEnglish, suddenly showed themselves to be conversant with it, andchose to conduct their negotiations with some other servant of theCompany.

  During this time I was lodged, upon Mr. Holwell's recommendation, inthe house of a respectable, God-fearing widow, Mrs. Bligh, whose sonhad recently gone up country to our factory at Cossimbuzar. Every dayI attended at the counting-house, where I was placed under the ordersof the Honourable Robert Byng, brother of the ill-fated admiral of thesame name, and who managed the business of the Company's investment inrice, one of the principal branches of their trade. The Gentoomerchants came to us there to make contracts for the provision of suchquantities as we required, after which they travelled about Bengal,purchasing the crops, and sending the grain down the river in barges,to be shipped at Calcutta for England.

  Another staple of the Company's commerce, and the most valuable ofall, is silk. The Bengalee Indians are renowned for this manufacture,yet they have no regular places set apart for it, but in theirvillages scattered up and down the country, every man works forhimself in his own hut, doing no more--such is the natural laziness ofthis people--than just sufficient to support him. The merchants areconsequently obliged to travel about from place to place, collectingthe stuff, which they do chiefly at the country fairs, where thepeasantry assemble once a year, bringing their work to be disposed of.It is these customs of the people which have made it necessary for usto set up an establishment in their country, like the Dutch atChinsurah and the French at Chander Nugger; for unless there were someEnglish on the spot to collect this merchandise and have it readyagainst the arrival of the Company's fleet, the ships would oftenreturn empty, or be obliged to pay extravagant prices to the nativemonopolists of the trade.

  While I was thus employed in the daytime, I seldom allowed an eveningto pass without visiting Marian at her father's house. Here I was mostkindly received, and for a time my hopes ran high. But, I cannot tellhow it was, I began presently to discover a change in Marian for whichI could not account. While her friendship towards me was in no waylessened, but if possible increased, I gradually became aware that Idid not possess her entire confidence. She would sometimes look updisturbed, I had nearly said frightened, at my entrance. At othertimes when we were in the midst of conversation her attention seemedto wander, and her expression became troubled, as if she had somesecret anxiety preying on her mind. I cannot say how unhappy I wasmade by these symptoms, though I was far indeed from guessing at theircause.

  Suddenly, in the midst of these private disquietudes, an eventhappened which cast a shadow over the whole community of Calcutta.Intelligence arrived that Allaverdy Khan was dead, and his nephewSurajah Dowlah proclaimed Nabob of Bengal.