Jones of the 64th: A Tale of the Battles of Assaye and Laswaree

CHAPTER VIII
The City of Palaces

Three uneventful weeks passed after Owen and his two companions made their escape from Sumatra and rejoined the ship ere the pilot boat, cruising off the sand-heads of Saugar, was sighted. And during those days the two friends had been the heroes of the ship. Not that Owen could enjoy much of the congratulation which was due to him, for the wound he had received kept him in the sick-berth for a week. It was a nasty flesh wound, and to add to the trouble the bullet had remained in the limb.

"A fellow who can stand his ground and shoot a rhino will laugh at this little task," said the surgeon who was aboard, when he came into the bay on the following morning, a servant carrying a large case of instruments for him. "There's a bullet still in that thigh, and as I imagine you are not very anxious to keep it there, I will remove it. Now the water, some clean basins, and – ah, here are the things."

He chatted and laughed pleasantly as he made his preparations, and still smiling exposed the wound and probed for the bullet. Owen found it an ordeal, but bore it manfully. He clenched his teeth firmly, and smiled back at the surgeon whenever the latter looked at him. And finally, when the bullet was extracted, he fell back on his pillow thoroughly exhausted.

"Just a little troublesome to get hold of, I admit," said the surgeon, "but you will thank me later. There was a piece of cloth too, carried in by the bullet, and that alone would certainly have delayed healing. Now, with a healthy, powerful young fellow, such as you are, the wound will close so quickly that you will be surprised."

He gave Owen a restorative, and dressed the wound, and at the end of the week our hero was on deck, lounging in a chair, his leg and thigh elevated, and a company of admiring civilians and soldiers about him.

"I'd rather have the task of shooting another rhino any day," he admitted, "than have a bullet probed for. It's worse than being wounded."

"As many a soldier has found before," exclaimed one of the passengers, Major Alexander by name. "I have been hit half a dozen times, and I know a little about it. But it's a fine training, Jones – a good beginning. Now you can say, when you land, that you have indeed smelt powder and met with a bullet. But seriously, I feel that, as the senior officer aboard, it will be my duty to make a report of all that has occurred, and of your behaviour, your gallant behaviour, Mr. Jones. I consider that the way in which you brought off the party was skilful, and displayed sagacity and courage. Not a word! I say it, and I mean it thoroughly. These gentlemen here approve of my words."

"Hear, hear! A regular young fire-eater. He will make a good soldier," exclaimed the passenger who had once before interfered on the eve of the fight. "Jones has pluck, Major, and he deserves some commendation from those into whose command he is going."

"He will have it," was the answer. "I will make it my business to report, as I have already said, and if Jones will allow me I will see to his comfort when we get ashore. No! Again, not a word, my lad. I am an old soldier, and you have a few years' service. We are of the same cloth, and if we cannot help one another, why – "

"Bravo, Major! There is nothing like being clannish. Besides, he'll want help. The surgeon says he will not have the full use of his leg for a month at least, and in a fortnight or less we should be at Calcutta."

Owen was not allowed even to whisper his thanks, for his gallant conduct had won him friends throughout the vessel. Jack had not been slow to tell of his pluck, of his strange determination and skill, while Mulha, now a person of some importance, made the lower deck and fo'castle ring with his name. Jones, late corporal of the 64th, was a hero aboard the Indiaman.

"I could not have believed it. Honestly, it never occurred to my thick head that you had it all in you," said Hargreaves one day, very quietly, taking a seat beside him. "I now see why it was that you put up with our vulgar abuse and sneers, and why you thrashed me so soundly. It has done me a world of good, for now I think a little more of others. I used to imagine that because a fellow was quiet and studious, and somewhat retiring, he had little spirit, but, my word, Jones, you have opened my eyes!"

Perched high up in his chair, and now, though strictly against the surgeon's orders, able to hop on one leg with some nimbleness, Owen watched the pilot drop a boat and send aboard. Then his eager gaze sought for the town of Calcutta. But it was some time before it came into sight. They steered their way up the wide Hooghly against a powerful stream, and, once they had passed Fultah, feasted their eyes on the delightful views on either hand. Then they rounded the projecting spit of land, with its beautiful botanical gardens, and caught their first glimpse of Fort William. A little later the shipping of Calcutta was in sight, a vista of masts which seemed to pierce the sky. There were short and stout vessels with slanting yards covered with brown native canvas, rakish-looking native vessels, ships of war, and merchantmen with tall spars and square yards, and in between them numbers of rowing craft busily plying to and fro. And there was Calcutta, the city of palaces, radiant beneath the sun. No wonder that all crowded to the rails, that Owen staggered from his chair and, conscious that the surgeon was right for'ard, hopped to the bulwarks. And what a cheer they all gave as the uniforms of soldiers were seen over the battlements of the fort and a welcoming shout reached them. They had been more than three months at sea, but for their break at Sumatra, and what wonder that all aboard, from the youngest upward, felt gay at heart and jolly!

Late that afternoon Owen took up his quarters in one of the houses on the outskirts of the city, having been carried there in a litter provided by the Major. Jack was with him too, and very thoroughly had the two enjoyed themselves.

"It is very strange and queer," said Owen, as he sat back in his chair. "It is so new, and yet so very familiar. I could lay a wager that I have lived here before. I seemed to know the Esplanade Ghaut where we disembarked, and I am sure I have time and again watched these busy fellows one passes hurrying through the streets. Then there were those in the bazaar, the women and children, all strangely old and familiar to me, and yet so new."

He looked through the wide window with a puzzled expression on his face, and fell to thinking deeply. Indeed, he might have remained in this brown study for a long while had not Jack interrupted him.

"Then you may take it for certain that a portion of your history is connected with Calcutta or some other Indian port," he said. "You've told me a good deal, and you said that it was certain that you could speak a few words of the language. A chap couldn't imagine all this. To me it is utterly strange. The bright streets, the dust, the water-carriers, the stall-holders in the bazaar, elephants and horses with their bright saddlery. It is totally different from England. To my mind it is certain that you were born out here. It was natural for you to forget a great deal when you were absent from the country, but the first sight of old familiar scenes brings back recollections."

Could it be so? Did he really and truly remember Calcutta in some vague uncertain way? Owen asked himself that question again and again. He shut his eyes and let his mind carry him back to the days, not so very long ago, when he was a child of four or five.

"I can see a big house, something like this," he said to himself, "with native servants all about, and a white lady. There was a black woman too, an ayah or nurse, I suppose, and an officer who was very tall. They ran to me and lifted me in their arms. Then there was a ship – yes, yes, I can see it here. It tossed up and down and I was ill. Then – I can only recall the postchaise galloping along the road, and old Mrs. Jones's honest face."

He gave vent to a sigh, a somewhat unusual thing with Owen, and opened his eyes to find the Major standing over him.

"In pain?" he asked curtly.

"No, sir. Thinking only."

"What! Tired of India already? Wanting to get home again?"

He smiled in a bantering manner as he stared at our hero.

"No, sir. But – well, I was thinking of the time when I was a youngster – I mean when I was about five years of age. You may have heard my story, sir?"

The Major nodded sympathetically.

"We all knew it," he said gravely. "We believe that you were sent home, and that some rascal had a reason for disposing of you. Some day, never fear, the mystery will be cleared up. Wicked tricks like that fail very often."

"Then I was thinking of that time, and I swear that this town, or a very similar one, is familiar to me. I think I can, very vaguely, remember my mother and father, and certainly I can recollect the house. When I am able to walk I shall search for it."

"Then you will have little time," came the prompt answer, "for soldiers have to put their private business aside, my boy, and you will be no exception. His Majesty and the Honourable Company, otherwise John Company, will require your services. In fact they need them now. You must get well as rapidly as possible."

Owen and Jack both expressed astonishment, for they had heard no rumour of expected or impending trouble. But then they had only been ashore a very few hours.

"The news is old here," said the Major, as he lit a cheroot. "There's war before us, boys, and a fine thing it will be too. It will give you both an insight into Indian character, and will make men and soldiers of you far sooner than would the peace régime, with its drills and manœuvres, its dances and its picnics."

Owen looked somewhat disconsolately down at his leg, and then up at the Major.

"The sergeant told me that war brought a soldier's chance," he said. "Whom are we to fight, Major, and when and where?"

"Steady. Three questions all in one, when you don't even know what corps you are to belong to! Now I will tell you. I have been to see the Governor, who tells me that he will be riding round here to-morrow, and will make a point of calling. It seems that he has had some intimation of your coming. I fancy you will both go to the native cavalry, but cannot say at present. How long will it be before you are fit to ride?"

"I could almost manage now, sir," responded Owen eagerly, so eagerly indeed that his words brought a hearty laugh from Jack and his questioner.

"A regular young fire-eater!" exclaimed the Major. "But you know very well that that would be out of the question. If you mounted now the wound would open at once, and then your condition would be a sad one. But can you ride at all?"

Owen was bound to confess, very ruefully, that he was no great artist when mounted on a horse.

"Of course I have ridden a little, sir," he said. "I had a chance now and again when at the poorhouse, and when I was employed on the farm I often had a ride, sometimes as far as the town. But I cannot honestly say that I am a horseman."

"Still you have ridden, and that is everything, and when you were young too, which is a great advantage. I should say that you would pick up the art very quickly. It may be, then, that you will be able to come up country in a cart, and have your schooling when you reach your corps. Yes, that would be a way out of the difficulty. And now to answer your questions. The war is to be with the Mahrattas, old enemies of ours, who have threatened British power in India for many a year. They are freebooters for the most part, who have been a thorn in our flesh, and who must be exterminated some day or other if we are to enjoy our possessions tranquilly. I will tell you something about them soon. As to when, why, there have been skirmishes already, they tell me, so that the actual war will commence at once, hostilities being begun as soon as our armies collect. As to where, that is asking a lot. The rendezvous may be at Agra for all I know. But we were speaking of your joining the army. I shall be going, and Jack also. Troops will be marching from here very soon, and we shall ride with them. You will both want servants on the road, and of course can have a native soldier detailed to you from the ranks. When you join your respective corps you will draw a man from them, and will pay off those who have been with you on the journey. And speaking of servants, Jones, reminds me. There is a man outside, a Mahratta, I believe, who was aboard the ship. He called here some minutes ago and is waiting. Do you wish to see him?"

Our hero signified his desire to do so, and smiled as Mulha entered, for he had grown very fond of the native, while Mulha had become a most faithful follower. He entered, dressed in native costume on this occasion, and salaamed to the Major, and then to the two younger men.

"What is it, Mulha?" asked Owen, as the native salaamed again to him. "Speak in English so that we can all understand."

"You are to join the army, sahib, and they say in the bazaar that there is to be war against the Mahrattas. I am one, but I am not a robber, like those in arms now. My family is a peaceful one, and we have long wished for the security given by British rule, and the enjoyment and peace which the natives have here and in other British settlements. I am returning home. It is some time since I left, and the anger of the people will have died down. Besides, I have saved money, and can pay for what I did. In a country inhabited by such freebooters money will settle any matter, and there will be peace between me and my enemies. That being so I shall want employment, and I have come to ask the sahib if he is looking for a servant?"

Once more the fellow salaamed, putting his forehead to his hands, and then stood erect, looking at Owen calmly, with the complacency of the East, and yet showing by the faint twitching of his beard that the answer would mean much to him.

"I will take you, and be glad to be able to do so," answered Owen readily. "It is a load off my mind. When will you be free of the ship?"

"I was paid off this afternoon. I am my own master now, sahib."

"Then I will engage you, and we will settle your wages."

It took only a couple of minutes to do that, for the Major was well used to Indian matters, and Mulha seemed to be careless as to what he received, so long as he could be with Owen. He salaamed gravely again, and departed to the servants' quarters, where he settled down at once, as if he had been used to the work all his days.

"You are in luck," said the Major, when he had gone, "for there is no doubt that the fellow is attached to you. You speak his tongue, too, and there again you are fortunate, though you owe it entirely to your own energy. There are billets – special billets, mind you – for the fellow who can speak the tongue of the men we are about to fight."

At this moment servants brought in tea and cakes, and served them to all three, passing from one to another in that silence which is such a feature of Indian waiting. There were no clattering dishes, no clinking spoons and cups, and no creaking boots or heavy footfalls. They passed silently behind the chairs of the sahibs, and disappeared as quickly as they had come.

"What about the war, Major?" asked Jack suddenly, as he lit a cheroot, and sat up choking and spluttering, for he was as yet a novice, and cheroots were not always of the mildest.

"Try another, my lad," laughed the Major. "That is too strong, perhaps. No? Very well. Stick to it. You'll really enjoy it before very long. Ah yes, this war! Well, I happen to have a few minutes, and I know the country. I'll tell you. We fight the Mahrattas, and will give them a hiding if we can, for they deserve it. They are cantankerous beggars, and are always causing trouble. We've had rows with them before, and just now their power has become very dangerous. You see, it isn't altogether the Mahrattas. There are the French, with their eternal schemes against British power in this country. We are as fearful of their growing power as we are of that of the Mahrattas. In fact, it has been a race between us and the French for a long while, and it is still a toss up as to who will hold India in the end. John Company has had many ups and downs, and has been very near to extinction. But Clive gave the company a splendid fillip, and now, thanks to him and to other heroes, we are very strong and able to make a big effort. But, mind you, it isn't at all certain who will succeed."

"I confess that the Company and its affairs is a mystery to me," burst in Jack, endeavouring to look at ease as he puffed smoke from his lips. "As soon as one lands in India – indeed, as soon as one embarks upon an Indiaman and gets free of the London docks, one hears of nothing but the Company. We know that it exists. But how and why? Half, and more than half, the fellows have not more than a vague notion."

There was no doubt that Jack Simpson was perfectly right. A great number of the young fellows who went out at this period to join the Company's service knew very little of its history and its origin. And to-day there are many who have heard little more than its name, while numbers who know of events which have passed in America, in Africa, in Spain and other countries, where British forces have fought, are somewhat hazy as to events which have passed in India since England first sent her sons there. To them India is a British possession, teeming with millions of dark-skinned subjects, and for ever attracting some slight attention because of oft-recurring frontier wars. They know little of the early struggles, of the days when British, Dutch, and French strove for supremacy, and of the endless fighting and sacrifice by which our country finally gained the proud title of conqueror of India, and won for its ruler the title of Emperor of this huge country across the seas.

"Come, come," laughed the friendly Major. "You should have learned that at school. Every young fellow should know of it, and be proud to think that he is a descendant of the fine men who fought here before us. But if you really wish it I will outline the life of the old Company, though I must trust to my memory for dates. Still, you know, when an officer has been a servant of the Company for twenty years, as I have, he naturally knows a little about his employers. Let me see. We'll start at the beginning."

"The very beginning, Major, please," said Jack.

"Which would take us back to the days of Alexander, if you ask me to give a history of India. No! You must get a book and look that up. I am going to tell you of the Company, and in doing so I must naturally speak of India. Still, I'll say as much more as I can. To begin with, this India is even vaster than many of us imagine. Roughly, it extends for some nineteen hundred miles from north to south, that is from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and is inhabited by a good many more than a hundred million souls, natives I mean, and exclusive of Europeans, who are a mere drop in that vast human ocean. Just think of that. Here are we, a mere handful, attempting to impose our will upon a vast people, and doing it successfully too. The audacity of such a venture is really astounding!"

"Then how is it that we succeed, Major?" Owen ventured to ask. "If we are so few, why don't they come down upon us and exterminate us?"

"Precisely! Why don't they? Why haven't they in the past? Because there is no combined movement amongst them. Because the country is for ever disturbed by jealousies and strife between the various races inhabiting it. That is one of the reasons, and the greatest. England, represented by the Company, has taken advantage of this condition of affairs, and while these struggles have gone on she has slowly and steadily increased her power and standing. Not that she was always prosperous. There have been times when the Company has been in very low water. But I will tell you how British pluck and determination, aided by jealousies of the natives, have succeeded, and how the Company which was formed in England on the 31st of December 1599 finally arrived at its present opulence.

"That Company was sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth, and it owed its origin to many facts which are of interest. We hear that India was but a word to the West; that few had ideas of the enormous wealth of the East, and still vaguer knowledge of the vast countries there, with their teeming workers. It was never even suspected that in this India, of which tales had reached our country, there were riches beyond the dreams of westerners, that there were gorgeous courts and palaces beside which the palace of Queen Bess was little better than a hovel. And that ignorance might have persisted had it not been for the energy and enterprise of a few, and those not always of our blood.

"That brings me to deal with the men who first invaded this land, and my memory has to carry me back to my school days for that. Very many years before Alexander made his famous invasion the Greeks knew India, and travelled here in search of knowledge. Then came Alexander, with his hordes, marching through the passes in the north (Candahar Route), across the Punjaub as far as the Hydaspes, a tributary of the Indus. That was in B.C. 327. He retired to Persia, and doubtless after he had gone the peoples in the north enjoyed some tranquillity.

"That the East was not entirely severed from the West in the earlier years of the Christian era is evident, for spices were to be had even in England, while it is said that missionaries went out to the East. But this India was but a vague name till Vasco Da Gama made his wonderful voyage round the Cape in 1498, and found his way to India. After that trade developed to a huge degree, and the Portuguese enjoyed its full benefits during the sixteenth century. And now we come, I think, to that period when England can be said to have taken some interest in the East, an interest, I fear, which was supported more by the hope of gain than by any other reason. In 1588 Cavendish discovered that the natives in the East would as willingly trade with us as with the Portuguese, while Sir Francis Drake, that fine old sea-wolf, captured five large Portuguese caravels, all laden with rich eastern stuffs. One had aboard also documents showing what immense trading possibilities there were in this country, and in addition the manner in which that trade could be carried on. Well, England is not always the first in an enterprise. She often waits till other nations have obtained a foothold, and then she stirs, and the history of her conquests and of her increasing possessions shows that she has done more than well. She waited till the Dutch, stirred by tales of wealth, despatched an expedition to India. Then certain gentlemen in England put their heads and their money together and created a Company. There, young fellows, you have the commencement of the Company."

"And did they start trade in India at once?" asked Jack. "I suppose they had rows with the Portuguese and Dutch from the very commencement."

"You seem to think that I am a mine of information," grumbled the Major pleasantly. "I think that the first expedition left Woolwich in 1601, and touched the island of Sumatra, where we have so recently been. In the neighbourhood a Portuguese ship was captured, filled with eastern goods which were sufficient to load all the ships of the expedition, which numbered four. Thus the success of the venture was assured, and after sailing for Java – where agents were left, the very first trading representatives of the Company – the expedition returned home.

"That was the beginning, and for many years the progress of the affair was but small. Certain privileges were obtained for trade from the Mogul Emperor, and before 1612 the ships of the Company had each made eight voyages to the East, realising fine profits. Still, their possessions were nil. See what they are now! Compare the condition of the Company then with its opulence at this moment. However, to continue, a factory was built at Surat, while an ambassador was sent to the court of the powerful Mogul Emperor of India at Delhi. At this period the Portuguese and Dutch were very prosperous, and exceedingly antagonistic to England and to each other. But a fortunate chance increased the holding of the Company. A certain Dr. Boughton had performed a service for some native ruler, who as a reward gave permission for a settlement on the Hooghly, while a fort was built at Madras, named Fort St. George, the land being obtained from some native prince. Thus you will see that the Company was making headway. But during the great Civil War in England its fortunes declined, till Cromwell reconfirmed its privileges. An agreement was come to with Bengal for the purposes of trade, and finally the island of Bombay was acquired, and thither the Company removed its quarters from Surat. And about these trading posts, for they were little else in those days, the natives gathered with their merchandise, making trading an easy matter.

"But circumstances occurred from time to time to disorganise the affairs of the Company, for there were always native wars, very often fomented by the scheming of the Portuguese and Dutch. In fact, the Company was so often in danger that at length, from being a purely trading concern, it became a body with some military power, and its peaceful policy was changed. It began to look for more land and more factories from which to conduct its business. And it was well that it did make preparations, for the Mogul Emperor was on a tottering throne, and the French were soon to come into the field. But steady, my lads. A cup of tea, if you please. Much talking makes one thirsty."