Confessions of a Thug Read online

  CHAPTER III.

  "My father," said I, "you need say no more, I am yours, do as you willwith me; long ere I heard this history from you, I had overheard aconversation between Hoosein, yourself, and some others, regarding me,which has caused me great unhappiness; for I feared I was not thoughtworthy of your confidence, and it weighed heavily upon my mind. Thatwas in fact the cause of the sorrow and heaviness you have remarked,and I longed for an opportunity to throw open my heart to you, and toimplore of you to receive me among you. I am no longer a child, andyour history has opened to me new feelings which are at present toovague for me to describe; but I long to win fame as you have done, andlong to become a member of the profession in which you describe truefaith and brotherhood alone to exist. As yet I have seen nothing ofthe false world, and assuredly what you have said makes me still lessinclined to follow any calling which would lead me to connection withit. Heartless and depraved I have heard it to be from others besidesyourself, and I feel as though I were chosen by Alla to win renown;it can only be gained by treading in your footsteps, and behold meready to follow you whithersoever you will lead me. I have no friendbut yourself, no acquaintance even have I ever formed among the youthsof the village; for when I saw them following what their fathers haddone, and what appeared to me low and pitiful pursuits, my spiritsrose against them, and I have cast them off. My only friend is the oldMoola, who would fain persuade me to become one like himself, andspend my days reading the Koran; but there is nothing stirring in hisprofession, though it is a holy one, and it consequently holds out noinducements to me, or any hope of gratifying the thirst for activeemployment which is consuming me. I have wished to become a soldier,and to enter one of the bands in the service of Sindea to fight againstthe unbelieving Feringhees; but this too has passed away, and now Idesire nothing but to become a Thug, and follow you, my father, throughthe world. I will not disappoint you; my thirst for fame is too ardent,for anything but death to quench it."

  "May God keep it far from you," said Ismail, with feeling: "you are theonly solace to a life which has now no enjoyment but what is producedby the development of your thoughts and actions. I know, my son, youwill not disappoint me. You see the state of prosperity I am blessedwith, but you little know the power I have; my authority is owned byevery Thug in this part of Hindostan, and a week's notice would see aband of a thousand men ready to obey any order I should give them. Thiswill be proved to you in a few days, at the festival of the Dasera;we shall all assemble, at least as many as will be requisite for theopening operations of the year, which will be undertaken on a scaleof unusual greatness, for we have determined to take advantage of theconfusion at present produced by the wars of Holkar and Sindea with theFeringhees; we anticipate much work and a stirring season, and the menare impatient for employment, after a long period of inactivity. I willtake you to Sheopoor, which we have decided on as our place of meeting,as the zemindar is friendly to us and assists us in many ways. I willintroduce you to my associates, and you will be initiated as a Thug inthe usual manner."

  Thus, Sahib, our conversation ended: the night had passed in itsrelation, and I went to rest a different being from what I had been formany days before. I rose, and found all my former energy and spirithad returned to me; and whereas a few days before I went about likea love-sick maiden, I now held up my head, threw out my chest, andfelt a man. It was true I was still a boy, I was only eighteen yearsold, but I did not suffer my thoughts to dwell upon this; a few years,thought I, and, Inshalla! I shall be somebody. To prove to you, Sahib,the excitement that possessed me, I shall relate to you the followingcircumstance. I might have joined in the action before, but nevershould have dreamed of doing the deed of daring I then did, in thepresence too of men who were soldiers by profession, but who hung backat the moment of danger.

  It happened, a day or two after the conversation with my father whichI have related, that a tigress with a cub came into a small tract ofjungle which lay near our village; the first day she was seen shekilled a shepherd, the second day another man who had gone to lookfor his body, and the third she grievously wounded the Potail of thevillage, a man who was held in universal estimation, and he died duringthe night. A general meeting of the villagers was held at the place setapart for deliberations, and it was determined that all the active menshould proceed in a body and attack the beast in her lair. The nextmorning we all assembled before daybreak. There was one man, a hugelarge-whiskered and bearded Pathan, who volunteered to be our leader;he was literally hardly able to move for the weapons he had about him.Two swords were in his belt, which also contained an assortment ofdaggers of various sizes and shapes; a long straight two-edged swordhung over his left shoulder, the point of which nearly touched theground; he had also a shield across his back, and in his right hand amatchlock with the match lighted. He addressed my father as we came up.

  "Salaam aleikoom! Ismail Sahib," said he, "is a quiet person like youcoming out with us, and the Sahib zadah too?"

  "Yes, Khan," replied my father, "it is incumbent on all good men to dotheir utmost in a case of need like this; who knows, if the brute isnot killed, but that some one else may become food for it?"

  "Inshalla!" said the Khan, twisting up his mustachios, and surveyinghimself, "we have determined that the brute dies to-day. Many a tigerhas fallen from a shot from my good gun, and what is this brute thatit should escape! May its sister be defiled; the only fear is, thatit will not stand to allow us to prove that we are men, and not dogsbefore it?"

  "As to that," said my father, "we must take our chance; but say, Khan,how will you move with all those weapons about you? Why, you could notrun away were she to rush out."

  "Run away!" cried the Khan; "are our beards to be defiled by a brute?What are you thinking on this morning to suppose that Dildar Khan everturned from anything in his life? Only let it come out, I say, andyou will see what use the weapons will be! Trust to me single-handedto finish it: first I shall shoot it with my matchlock; it will bewounded; then I shall advance on it thus," said he, drawing the longsword and flourishing it, at the same time twirling round and round,and leaping in every possible direction.

  "There!" said he, quite out of breath, "there! would not that havefinished it? Why I am a perfect Roostum in matters of this kind, andkilling a tiger is only child's play to Dildar Khan! why, I could eatone, tail and all. But come along, and when the play begins, let noone come in Dildar Khan's way," said he to the assembled group, "for,Inshalla! I mean to show you poor ignorant people how a tiger can bekilled by a single man."

  "I know the Khan to be as arrant a coward as ever breathed," said myfather to me; "but come, let us see what he will do, for I confess I amanxious to behold him capering before the tigress."

  "By Alla!" said I, "if he does perform such antics, the brute will dineon him to a certainty."

  "That is no concern of ours," said my father; "it is a matter ofdestiny; but I would venture a great deal, he never goes within anarrow's flight of him."

  We all set out headed by Dildar Khan, who still flourished his longsword, holding his matchlock in his left hand, now and then smoothingup his moustachios, which grew, or had been trained to stick upwardsfrom his lips, and reached nearly to his eyes. We soon reached thejungle, and on entering it, I thought the Khan showed signs of fear.

  "The beast can be but a panther after all," said he, "and it is hardlyworth the while of Dildar Khan to put himself to trouble. See, boys,"continued he to some of us; "I will wait here; if it should really turnout to be a tiger you can let me know, and I will come and kill it."

  Against this, however, we all protested, and declared that all would gowrong without him; and after some demur he again proceeded.

  "I told you," said my father, "how it would be; but let us see how hewill end the affair."

  We went on till some bones and torn clothes, and the head of one of theunfortunate men who had been killed, lying near a bush, proved veryplainly that the animal was not far off, and at these the Khan showedfr
esh signs of fear.

  "They say it is a Purrut Bagh," said he, "a beast into whom theunsainted soul of that mad Fakeer, that son of the Shitan, Shah Yacoob,has entered, and that it is proof against shot. Why should we risk ourlives in contention with the devil?"

  "Nay, Khan," said a young dare-devil lad, the scamp of the village,"you are joking, who ever heard of a Purrut Bagh that was a female?besides, we will burn the beards of fifty Shah Yacoobs."

  "Peace!" cried the Khan, "be not irreverent; do we not all knowthat Purrut Baghs can be created? Mashalla! did I not see one nearAsseergurh, which a Fakeer had made, and turned loose on the country,because they would not supply him with a virgin from every village?"

  "What was it like?" cried a dozen of us, and for a moment the realtigress was forgotten.

  "Like!" said the Khan, rubbing up his mustachios with one hand, andpressing down his waistband with the other, "like! why it had a headtwice the size of any other tiger, and teeth each a cubit long, andeyes red as coals, which looked like torches at night; and it had notail, and,----"

  But here he was stopped short, and our laughter too, by a loud roarfrom a short distance; and a moment afterwards, the tigress and ahalf-grown cub, rushed past us with their tails in the air.

  "Well, Khan," said the lad before-mentioned, "that is no Purrut Bagh atany rate; did you not see the tail of the big one, how she shook it atyou?"

  "I represent," said he, "that, tail or no tail, it holds the accursedsoul of that wretch Yacoob, may his grave be defiled! and I will havenothing to do with it; it is useless to try to kill the Shitan; if hechose, you know, he could blow us all into hell with a breath."

  "Namurd! Namurd! coward! coward!" cried some of us; "you were brave inthe village; how are you now?"

  "Who calls me Namurd?" roared the Khan; "follow me, and see if I am oneor not," and he rushed forward, but not in the direction the tigresshad gone.

  "That is not the way," cried some, and at last he turned.

  "This is child's play," said my father; "come, if we are to doanything, we had better set about it in good earnest."

  And we went on in the direction the beast had taken. It led to an openglade, at one side of which there was a large rock, with some verythick bushes about it.

  "She is there, depend upon it," said an old hunter; "I never saw a morelikely place in my life."

  We were all about thirty steps from the rock and bushes, and DildarKhan did not at all relish his proximity to them. "I beg to represent,"said he in a low voice to us all, "that having killed so many of thesebrutes, I know best how to manage them; and as I am the best armed ofthe party, I shall take up my position near yonder bush, by which runsthe pathway; she will take to it when she is driven out, and then youwill see the reception she will meet with from Dildar Khan. Inshalla!I shall present the point of my sword to her, and she will run on it,then I shall finish her with one blow of my tegha."

  We all looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough there was abush, about two hundred paces off, on the pathway to the village.

  "Not that one surely," said my father; "why, man, you will never seethe beast from thence."

  "Trust me," said the Khan, and off he went.

  "I told you how it would be," continued my father; "directly he seesthe animal, he will be off down the road as fast as he can. But come,"said he to the men, "since the Khan thinks he will be of more use downyonder, I will lead you on, and we will see whether this eater of mencannot be got out."

  We were immediately divided into three parties, one to go on eitherside of the bushes, the other by a circuit to get behind the rock andif possible upon it, in order to shoot her from above if she was tobe seen; if not, at any rate to dislodge her by throwing stones. Thearrangements were quickly completed, and though we were all withinonly a few yards of the bushes, there was no sign of the tigress. Sheexpressed no displeasure at our near approach or preparations, as shehad been disturbed before, and of course could not easily be driven outof her place of refuge. I was with one of the parties on the side, andhad no arms but a sword and a light shield; indeed I had gone more asa spectator than aught else. We waited a few minutes, and one of theparty who had been sent round, appeared on the top of the rock; he wassoon followed by three others.

  "Are you all ready?" cried one of them: "I shall heave down this stone."

  "Bismilla! Away with it!" cried my father.

  Three of them applied their strength to it, and at last it rolledover the face of the rock, and thundering down, split into a thousandfragments. There was a moment of intense anxiety and suspense, but notigress followed.

  "Try whether you cannot see her," cried my father; "if you do, fire; weare all prepared."

  The men looked down in every direction, but said nothing. At last oneof them was observed to be pointing to a particular spot, as though heshowed the others something.

  "By Alla!" said my father, "he sees her; look out; she will rushforth before you are thinking of her." Every man blew his match, andplanted his feet firmly. At last one of the men on the rock raised hismatchlock and fired; it was answered by a tremendous roar which rentthe skies, and out rushed the cub, apparently badly wounded, for beforehe had come a few yards he lay down and roared horribly; he was fullyhalf-grown, and made a dreadful noise. One of the men of our partyfired at him, and he did not move after the shot struck him.

  "Now we shall have tough work," said my father; "she will be savageand infuriated beyond description; it is hardly safe to be here; butmind your aim, my lads, and she will never reach us; I never yet missedmine, but the shot may not be fatal; so look out for yourselves."

  Again my father called to the men on the rock to heave over anotherfragment. There was one very large one just on the brink. After a goodmany pushes it gave way, and as the former had done, shivered intoatoms with a great noise. It was successful, the tigress rushed outtowards our side, and stood for a moment. I had never seen a tigerbefore, and could not help admiring her noble appearance. There shestood, her tail erect, the end of it only waving from side to side,glaring on us with her fearfully bright eyes, apparently irresoluteas to what she would do, and not noticing the body of the cub, whichwas close to her. We were all as silent as death, each man with hismatchlock to his shoulder. My father fired, and then the others; Icould see the whole distinctly, for I had no gun. She staggered when myfather fired, he had evidently hit her; but the rest had missed, andshe charged with another tremendous roar, right at our party; but theshout we set up, and the waving of our weapons turned her, and she setoff at a slow canter towards the bush where Dildar Khan had stationedhimself.

  "Ya Alla!" cried my father, "coward as he is, he will be killed! shewill spare nothing now! what can be done?" By this time the other partycaught a glimpse of her, and every matchlock was discharged; she musthave been hit again, for she stopped, turned round, growled, and showedher teeth, but again sprang forward. I imagine Dildar Khan had no ideathat she was approaching him, as he had hid himself behind the bush andcould have seen nothing of what had passed. "He may escape," said myfather; "it is possible, yet scarcely; what can be done?" No one made areply; but an instant afterwards I had drawn my sword, and set off atfull speed after the enraged brute.

  "Ameer Ali, my son! come back, come back instantly! Ya Alla, he toowill perish!" cried my father in an agony of apprehension.

  But I heeded not, and who of that company had my fleet foot? yet someof them followed me. As I ran, I saw the tigress was weak, and wasbadly wounded, but still she ran fast. I saw her approach the bush,and the miserable man Dildar Khan rush from behind it, and stand inher very path, with his arms stretched out, apparently paralyzed withfear. Another instant she had crouched as she ran, and sprang upon him;he was under her, and she fiercely tearing his body. It did not stopme; I heard the cries of those behind me to turn off, but I did not.I do not think I gave the danger a thought; if I did, the excitementoverpowered it. Another bound had brought me close to the brute, whosehead was down, gnawing the
body beneath her. I made but one stroke ather, which, praise be to God! was successful; the blade buried itselfdeep in the back of her neck, and she seemed to me to drop dead; Ibounded off to one side, and watched for a moment. She was indeeddead, and lay, her limbs only quivering, upon the body of the manbeneath her. Unfortunate coward! wounded as she was, she would not haveturned after him, had he even had the presence of mind to avoid her;but he had thought to fly, and the sight of the animal had paralyzedhis faculties. Though all passed in a moment, methinks now, Sahib,I see him, his eyes starting from his head, and his arms raised andexpanded, as though wooing the animal's fatal embrace. Coward! had heremained behind the bush, he was safe, and might have shot her as shepassed; but there he lay, a fearful spectacle, his face all bitten andlacerated, and the blood pouring from wounds in his stomach! He wasquite dead. My father came up immediately; he embraced me, and burstinto tears.

  "How could you risk your life, my boy?" said he; "how could you be sorashly venturous of your life for so poor a wretch as he?" pointingto the body; "did I not tell you he was a coward? Yet I am proud ofyou now, my son, and you have shamed us all. See!" continued he to thewhole assembly, "our faces are blackened this day by a boy; who amongyou could have planted so well-aimed and deep a cut? See! the blade hasburied itself, and is half through the bone. Mashalla! it is a braveboy!" and again my father hugged me to his breast.

  "I beg to represent," said old Benee Singh, my instructor in myathletic exercises, "that some of the praise is due to me for my goodteaching. I always told you, Ismail Sahib, that the Sahib Zadah wouldbe worthy of his father: may his riches increase, and may he live athousand years! Yes, sir," said he to me, "often have I taught you thatcut; you see you were running along, and cut over your left hand; it isfew that can do that with any certainty, but you have caught the knack,and you want but a little practice to become as good a swordsman asmyself. Perhaps, too," continued he to me, laughing, "the heart of yourteacher may be made glad to-day; under such an auspicious commencement,the Sahib Zadah will remember the old Rajpoot."

  "That reminds me," said my father, "that I owe you a present; come tome this afternoon. Inshalla! we know how to be grateful for kindness,and it shall have its reward." And he received when he came a handsomegift.

  I must say, however, that under his tuition I had become highly expertat all manly exercises; I could use a gun, throw a spear, wrestle,knew the exact use of every description of sword, straight or crooked,single or double-edged, long or short, and in all these exercises therewas not a lad of the village, and I may say of the country round, whocould in any way compete with me.

  That night my father said to me, "Ameer, my son, to-morrow, youaccompany me to Sheopoor. I need not tell you how to-day's exploitwill raise you in the eyes of your future companions. Already have Idespatched intelligence of our purposed departure to-morrow, and someaccount of to-day's affair, enough only to make them curious to see thehero of it; and I have mentioned no particulars, which will make themthe more anxious to hear them from me. You have hitherto been looked onwith some suspicion by many members of my band; and were it not for myrank of jemadar, I should have been obliged to explain my intentionsin regard to you, long ago to them. I look therefore upon this eventas particularly fortunate; as, knowing you are to be publicly broughtamongst them, they will receive you with greater warmth and respect, ashaving given so undeniable a proof of your bravery, in the presence tooof old soldiers, who have most of them seen many a tough fight."

  "It was God's will," said I; "else what power had a boy like I to dosuch a thing?"

  "You are now no child," replied my father; "you have this day, or Imistake you much, thrown off every lingering feeling of boyhood; thechange has been sudden, but it has been complete, and it will last, orI mistake you much."

  "You do not," I replied, "I am not what I was; to-day is the firstblood I have seen spilled; I feel that it will not be the last."