Confessions of a Thug Page 6

  CHAPTER V.

  "'I thought I should have died, my son,' said my father, at length;'and see what a black heart that villain must have to treat an old manafter that fashion. My curses on him and his! he will prosper awhile,but judgment for this and all his villanies will at last overtake him.'

  "'Tell me,' said I, 'what quarrel there is between you, and what causehe has to persecute you in this manner.'

  "'Listen,' he replied, 'and you shall know. Some years ago, when youwere but a boy, Jeysookhdas, who was the principal sahoukar in thevillage, died. On his death-bed he sent for me, and delivering overhis family to my care, entreated me as a Moosulman, and one of thefaithful, to protect them against this Brij Lall, whom he had in thepublic durbar at Nagpoor beaten with a shoe, for slandering him in thevilest manner, with the intent of ruining his reputation. In fact,Brij Lall had accused him of making away with some of the revenue: forJeysookhdas was the channel of payment not only of the revenue of ourvillage, but of those around us, amounting in the year to nearly a lakhof rupees. Fortunately for him, the character of Jeysookhdas stood toohigh for the aspersions of a low wretch like this to hurt it, and nonotice was taken of what he had said. But the insult he had receivednever left the mind of Brij Lall. He brooded over it, and made everyattempt to ruin my old friend; who, as he had powerful enemies at thecourt, was ever afterwards kept in continual dread of being plunderedunder some false accusation, or cast into prison. At length howeverhe died; and in our last interview he implored me to lose no time insending off his wife and family to their country, Marwar, with theirjewels and what money I could collect. I did so as soon as I possiblycould, under an escort of our people, in case they should fall in withother Thugs on the road.

  "'They had scarcely been gone a week, when this Brij Lall and anothermootsuddee came with an order from his master, Narayun Pundit, thePeshkar, to seize Jeysookhdas's family and effects. The order was averbal one, and this being a very unusual circumstance, I directlyrefused to give any intelligence about the family, or account of theeffects of the deceased. Brij Lall began to threaten, and at lastbecame grossly abusive to me, on which I beat him with my shoe, had himturned out of the village, and he was pelted with mud and stones by allthe idle lads, as he was conducted beyond the boundaries.

  "'I never heard anything more of Brij Lall; but I knew he was myenemy at court, as I could get no justice for many complaints I madeagainst the ill conduct and aggressions of a neighbour, who had notonly encroached on my boundaries, but seized grain which had been cut,on several occasions. This annoyance at last reached such a height,that I determined to send a deputation to the court to petition forredress. It was, however, fruitless; my people were openly opposed byBrij Lall, who it seemed had risen into great favour and power. I wasopenly accused as a usurper of the patelship of our village--a personwas set up by Brij Lall as the descendant of the real patel; and somuch countenance and support were given him, that my people returned tome in great alarm, and utterly discomfited.

  "'Since that time, my son--now about five years ago--I have beenconstantly alarmed by reports which have reached me through my friendsat Nagpoor. I have been warned to beware of assassination, to allowno strange men to come into the village, nor to go anywhere withouta sufficient escort. This, however, has not, as you know, interferedwith our profession, which I have not neglected to follow; but in otherrespects I have been careful. In spite of all, however, we are fairlyin his hands; and may Alla deliver us out of them!'

  "We remained some days without another visit from our tormentor; but atlast he came again, and my poor father was again tortured in variousways, but without effect: he would tell nothing.

  "'You dare not kill me, cowardly kafir as you are,' cried he to BrijLall; 'and, Inshalla! were I once out of this vile prison, you shouldsee what a true Moosulman could do for himself. And I bid you beware.'

  "Brij Lall laughed at my father's impotent threats, and again left us.

  "We had remained in confinement for nearly three months, when one dayone of the soldiers of our guard, won over by my father's promises,and really struck with the injustice of our case, agreed to convey apetition, which my father had drawn up, to a sahoukar with whom he wasacquainted, who then managed the money affairs of our village, andresided in the city of Nagpoor.

  "He was extremely astonished to hear of our situation, and immediatelyset to work to procure our liberation. But this was no easy task; BrijLall possessed the ear of the minister of the court, and every attemptour friend made was frustrated. At last he laid our case before thechief sahoukar of Nagpoor, a man of great influence, who went to theminister himself expressly on our behalf. We were told that the nextday we were to appear in the durbar, and answer the accusations whichhad been made against us; and at the hour appointed we were taken tothe house where the peshkar resided, and where he heard the varioussuits and cases which were brought before him.

  "Narayun Pundit was then a young man; but he was looked up to with muchrespect by all who had any dealings with him. He was considered just,and one who patiently listened to both sides of a question before hegave his decision. But our bitter enemy Brij Lall was his confidentialmootsuddee, and conducted himself in so plausible a manner, that histyrannies were never discovered.

  "Brij Lall made his accusation against my father. He said that, by thelaws of the kingdom, accounts of the effects of sahoukars and otherwealthy persons ought to be furnished to the government when they diedwithout male children. That it was well known that Jeysookhdas waswealthy; that he had two or three daughters, but no sons; and that theyhad no right to have touched a rupee of the property until the accountsof the government had been settled. Again, that my father was not therightful patel of Boree, and that the person who was descended from theoriginal possessors claimed the office and the lands which were thenin my father's possession. Brij Lall concluded his representation bysaying to the Pundit, 'I will refrain from dwelling, oh incarnation ofBrahma! on the usage I have met with at this man's hands. Twice did Ivisit his village, and twice was I received with such indignity thatmy blood boils at the recollection. My intentions in going there weresolely for the good of the government; and had I but then complained,the wrath of my lord would have descended on this man's head, andannihilated him and his family. But I devoured my grief; and it wasnot until provoked by his repeated refusals to come to the presence,and his contempt of the messages sent to him about the effects ofJeysookhdas, that I became aware that the dignity of the government wasset at nought, and I ordered his arrest and imprisonment.'

  "'Ya Alla! Alla!' cried my father; 'my lord, it is all a lie. I callAlla to witness that I never disobeyed any order of the governmentwhen sent to me in a proper form. Have I not eaten the salt of thegovernment before that pitiful wretch was born? and who is he that mylord should suffer him to abuse so old a servant of the state in hispresence? If I have permission I will represent to my lord that I amnot in fault, but that this devil ought to be severely punished for thetreatment he has subjected your slave to.'

  "'We will hear you to-morrow,' said the Pundit, 'and in the mean timeit will be proper for you to draw up a statement of what you have tosay in your defence, in order that its relation may be more succinctand more readily comprehended.'

  "My father then begged not to be confined like a thief, and offeredthe two sahoukars as his securities to appear whenever he might becalled on. This was admitted, in spite of Brij Lall's protestationsthat no securities would bind us, and we walked away in company withour friends; my father, as he passed him, twirling his mustachios andlooking askance at him, with many a muttered Inshalla and Mashalla, allof which Brij Lall answered with looks of the most deadly spite andhatred.

  "In the course of the evening an account was drawn up, in Persian,of the whole of Brij Lall's conduct, from first to last; and we tookit to the durbar in every expectation of seeing him disgraced beforeour eyes, for his unwarrantable treatment of us. But we were doomedto 'eat disappointment.' The petition was read by Naray
un Pundit, andhe proceeded to pass judgment in the case, which was, that Brij Lallhad much exceeded his authority in imprisoning my father, that he hadacted wrongly in persecuting Jeysookhdas and his family, for that onan examination of the accounts there did not appear to be any claimagainst him.

  "On the other hand, that my father had behaved ill to Brij Lall, inhaving had him turned out of the village; disrespectfully to the state,in not readily giving the accounts demanded to an agent who was knownto have the power to ask for them, and in resisting for so long a timehis repeated orders.

  "My father was going to reply, when, his friend the Sahoukar stoppedhim. 'Better,' said he, 'is it to come out of a battle with halfyour life than with no life at all. Be quiet: consider that you haveescaped, which is what very few do, from the net which was thrown roundyou by that low rascal, and be thankful.'

  "My father had only to pay a small fine for what he had done to BrijLall. He considered that he had obtained a victory, and so the matterended.

  "I never shall forget the advice which the old Sahoukar gave my father,when, after some days' sojourn with him, and being entertained at hisexpense, we were about to set out for our village.

  "'Pateljee!' said he, 'I know that Brij Lall well; he will never giveup his revenge; you have seen that he behaves like a cow before hispatron, but absent from him he is a tiger in heart and in manners; andsuch is the influence he has obtained, that no one dares to oppose him.You have indeed got well out of his clutches; but had not your affairsbeen taken up by our Seth, you would have remained in your miserableprison until his hate had been satisfied by your death, from theconstant torment and ill-usage he would have subjected you to.'

  "'Shookur Alla!' said my father, 'I am at least safe now.'

  "'Not without great caution,' said the Sahoukar; 'his emissaries willbeset you wherever you go, and it will require your utmost vigilanceand wariness to avoid them. By your soul, O Patel, I beseech you notto disregard what I say, or you will repent it.'

  "'I will not,' said my father; 'your words are friendly, and I drinkthem in as grateful sherbet. But this Brij Lall must have long arms andpowerful if he can reach Mahommedjee Patel.'

  "In a very few days after, we took our leave and returned home; but,as had been predicted, in a few months strange men began to be seenabout the village; and my father, strange to say, disregarded all ourprayers to stay at home, especially after dusk; he would not listen tous, called the men we had seen travellers, and staid from home lateof nights out of bravado. However, my mother grew at last so anxiousand so alarmed about these repeated visits of unknown people, thatshe begged of me never to leave my father's side by day, and alwaysto bring him home with me from the fields in the evening. This I didfor a long time; but one night, one cursed night--would that I hadnever seen the dawn of the day preceding it!--having been delayed in afield of sugar-cane to arrange about the cutting of it the followingday, we were late in returning home: we were accompanied part of theway by some men of a neighbouring village, but they separated fromus about half a coss from ours; and the remainder of the way (if wefollowed the straight road) was one which was not thought safe, andby which no one went after nightfall if he could help it. I attemptedto take another; but the old man observed it, and said sharply, 'Thatis not the way--that road will keep us out an hour longer.' I had noreason to give to dissuade him from the road I wished to avoid, thoughan ill-defined feeling that there was danger in the one before us hadled me to endeavour to take the other. But, my friends, who can avoidhis fate? If it is the will of Alla that one is to die, of what useis human foresight? We went on, and soon reached the inclosed fields,between the high milk-bush hedges of which the path wound. It wasscarcely light enough for us to see our way, but we knew every footof the road. All at once, as we proceeded, I thought I saw in a hedgewhich crossed the road a glimmer, as if of the match of a gun.

  "'Look!' said I to my father, 'we are waylaid, there are people behindthe hedge; look, there are three lighted matches!'

  "'You are a fool,' cried he, 'they are fire-flies: are you afraid? hasmy son become a coward?'

  "The words were hardly out of his mouth, when there were three sharpcracks close to us. My father fell on his face without uttering asound, and I felt a coldness and numbness all down my back, with asharp pain, and the same feeling in my leg. I became sick, staggered afew paces, and then fell; but I was not insensible. Three men rushedout from the hedge, and ran towards us with drawn swords. Seeing thatneither of us moved, one of them turned me over on my back, and lookedinto my face. I shut my eyes, for I knew if they were open I should notlive an instant.

  "'This is not the man,' said the fellow standing over me; 'we havemissed them.'

  "Another came up.

  "'It is nearly as good,' said he, 'it is the young devil, the son: thefather, depend upon it, is the other; come and see.' And they left me.

  "They went to where my poor father lay, but I could not see what theydid. I suppose they examined him, for one cried, 'Alhumd-ul-illah! wehave been successful; our faces will be bright in our employer's sightfor this. And only think, to have succeeded so easily after this longwatching! The old dog was as wary as a fox.'

  "'You may thank me,' said another, who had not as yet spoken: 'if Ihad not dogged him to the sugar-cane field, and found out his nearestway homewards, we might have had a long continuance of our fruitlesswatching, of which I was heartily tired. Come,' continued he, 'we mustnot stay, the country will be too hot to hold us. Madhoo will help uson to Nagpoor, and the sooner we get to him the better; the horses Iknow are all ready.'

  "I heard no more. I was sick and faint, and lay almost insensible fora long time: the pain of the wounds was horrible, and I writhed intorment; the night too, was dreadfully cold, and I became so stiff Icould not move. I tried even to get as far as my poor father's body,which I could just see lying on its back; but motion was denied me.I lay and moaned bitterly. I heard the voices of persons not far off,and shouted as loud as I could, but they did not hear me. There wereshots fired, as I afterwards heard, as signals to us; but I could notanswer them: what could I do, lying as I did like a crushed reptile? Mysenses went and returned, as though I were dead, and again alive. Oh,my friends, how can I describe to you the misery of that night! At lastI was roused out of a faint by some persons with a torch standing overme. I quickly recognized them as some of the labourers of the village;they had searched every lane, and at length found me. I knew not whatthey said or did; but they broke out into lamentations on seeing myfather's body, and taking me up in a blanket they carried me to thevillage, and set me down at the door of my father's house: alas! his nolonger.

  "My friends, all of you have seen the grief of women when death hascome into the house and struck down a father, a brother, a son; all ofyou know how the shrieks and moans of women pierce into the heart, andturn men's livers into water. Till my father's body arrived there wasno cry--no scream; my mother sat in a corner rocking herself to andfro, calling on my father's name in a low tone, and every now and thenbeating her breast; my sister attended to me, and moistened my mouthwith water, as I still lay unable to speak, but fully aware of allthat was going on around me. Some old women of the village sat near mymother, shivering in the cold wind which whistled through the house,and speaking among themselves in whispers. There was but a small lampin a niche in the wall, which with its flickering light now revealedone group now another, causing the shadows of the whole to leap about,over--around--above me, until my disturbed brain fancied them a legionof devils sent to torment me before my time.

  "'Sister,' said I, 'call our mother to me, I am dying I think;' for atthe moment I felt fainter than ever.

  "'No, no! you must not die; you must not leave us now,' said theaffectionate girl; 'it is but a wound; the barber is coming, and willtake out the ball; and a fomentation is being prepared by the hukeem:you will soon be well.'

  "As she spoke this, a sudden gleam of torches lighted up the wholespace outside; and immediately after, four me
n bearing my poor father'sbody, walked slowly towards the house. I summoned energy enough to situp, leaning against the wall, and the body was brought, all bloody asit was, and laid down. I should not say laid down, for as the men whocarried it were preparing to let it down gently, one of the corners ofthe blanket slipped, and the corpse fell heavily to the ground, givinga horrid dull squelch, the sound of which thrilled through every nerve.

  "For an instant there was not a word spoken; but when the bloodyfeatures were exposed to view, the uproar was dreadful. Headed by mymother, all the old women rushed to the side of the body and beganthe most heart-rending shrieks; those who had carried it were alsoaffected, and the cry reached to the outside, where the crowd assembledtook it up, till the heavens were cracked with the noise of thelamentations. It was in vain that I endeavoured to make myself heard.But on a sudden the noise ceased, and silence was ordered by the Kazeeof the village who entered. He cast a look on the dead body, and thenasked for me. 'Who has done this?' said he; 'whom do you suspect? Tellus, by your soul tell us, ere it be too late to overtake them, whoeverthey may be.'

  "'Mahdoo, patel of Etare,' said I: 'but the villains have horses, theyare gone ere this, there is no use sending.'

  "'Who have horses? who have gone, did you say?' cried he withimpatience: 'rally for a time, and strive all you can to let us knowhow this was, how it happened.'

  "I had barely strength, but I gave a short relation of the whole.

  "'By Alla, it is the work of Mahdoo himself,' said one, 'and we willburn his village before the morning breaks.'

  "'It is the doing of Rheim Khan,' cried another.

  "Rheim Khan was my father's brother-in-law, and they had been at bitterenmity.

  "'Who takes the name of Rheim Khan?' cried my mother, 'may his tonguebe blistered and rot in his mouth! May his end be like this!' pointingto the corpse; and again she resumed her howls and lamentations.

  "'Did you hear the woman?' said one fellow close to me; 'she would notcurse at that rate if Rheim Khan was free from suspicion.'

  "'Silence!" said I, as loud as I could; 'I know who is the authorof this, at least I have a right to have the strongest suspicions.Mahdoo Patel had no hand in it, he is a coward; Rheim Khan, though hehated the old man, could never have done or planned this; no, it isneither; it is one whom we poor people can never reach from his heightof station, one whom the pleasure of Alla alone can bring down to thecondition of him who is there; I mean Brij Lall, the accursed, themerciless.' I was exhausted with speaking, and sank down.

  "'Who spoke?' said my mother raising her head: 'I surely heard thevoice of my son!'

  "'I am here, my mother,' said I; and she turned to me.

  "'Thou here! thou alive! Coward! hast thou come to me to see thy fathera bloody corpse in his own house? Where wert thou that thou diedst notwith him? Did I not caution thee never to leave the headstrong old man,who would persist in disregarding all advice, and in exposing himselfat night?'

  "'I cannot answer thee now, my mother,' said I, 'but I was with him;see here, I fell also: though I did not die then, I feel that I shalldo so soon.' I opened my vest and showed her the hole the ball hadmade, out of which a drop or two of black blood every now and thenoozed; she looked at it, and threw herself at my feet.

  "'Thou art no coward!' she sobbed out, 'thou art no coward! thou hastbled in thy father's defence, and I can say nothing but that it is thewill of Alla, and his fate. Who can avoid his destiny? But it is hardto lose both. Husband and son, husband and son, and I an old woman!'

  "And she went from me, and resumed her place at the side of the body.

  "One by one the neighbours left us; the name of Brij Lall had silencedevery one; and in a very short time there remained only the watchersby the corpse, my sister, and myself. She was but a girl, my friends,but she watched by me and fomented my shoulder and leg with warm water,until the coagulated blood dissolved, and I was easier. How I wishedfor the light to be put out! but they would not hear of it. I haveseen death in many, many forms since, but never have I seen anythingthat I could compare with my remembrance of my father's appearance.His features were pinched up, his lips drawn tightly across his mouth,showing his upper and under teeth; his eyes were wide open, for theycould not be closed; and the flaring light, now rising now sinking, asit was agitated by the wind, caused an appearance as if of the featuresmoving and gibbering, with that ghastly expression on them. I could nottake my eyes off them, and lay gazing at them till the day broke.

  "The barber, who had been absent at a neighbouring village, soonafterwards arrived, and examined my wounds. One ball had entered myshoulder and had passed into my neck. He groped in the wound for sometime with a pair of pincers, and, after putting me to horrible pain,succeeded in getting hold of it and drawing it out. I was then easier:the blood flowed copiously; the wound in the leg was only through theflesh, and having taken some opium I soon fell asleep, and awoke,though still in pain, yet easier than I had been.

  "My father had by this time been buried, and I was left with theconsciousness of having one enemy, and one, too, who would not foregohis revenge even to the son of his victim.

  "The old Kazee could recommend nothing, could suggest no measures to bepursued to bring the murderers to conviction. So, as he said, we satdown on the carpet of patience, to smoke the pipe of regret, and todrown our affliction in the best way we could. Matters continued to runsmoothly for the period of a year. I was considered to have succeededto my father's rights, when, one day, the man who had been set up byBrij Lall as the real patel, in opposition to my father, arrived at thevillage with a body of armed men, and with orders for his installation.The villagers were too weak to resist this tyranny, and I was forced toresign all my claims to the new comer. By this time my sister had goneto the house of her father-in-law, and I sent my mother after her, forI had no longer a home. I left the village with an aching heart, to seeif my father's friends, the sahoukars, could do anything for me at thecourt. But they, too, had changed, as I might, perhaps, have expected,and would do nothing.

  "Brij Lall, they said, was too powerful to be interfered with; andthey recommended me to give up all hopes of justice, as the attemptto fix the crime of murder upon him, with the insufficient evidence Ipossessed, would be attended with my certain destruction. Nor wouldthey assist me to regain my lost rights; so that I was friendless, and,as it were, forsaken in the world. I had but one resource: I joinedthe first band of Thugs I could discover, though I had previously notpractised the profession, and I have since lived a lonely and wretchedlife in the world. My mother is long since dead. My sister stilllives, and has some children; she is happy, and has no remembranceof the past. I pay her a visit now and then, and am received withaffection and kindness. She is the only one in this world, except you,my friends, who cares for me. She believes me to be a soldier in theservice of Holkar, and she will never know to the contrary. Praise beto Alla! however, my enemy has died by my own hand, and I am content,for I am revenged. Some of you, my friends, will lay me in my gravewhen my time comes, and it will not be long. I have lived hitherto forthe deed I did last night. There is no excitement for me in the future,and it matters not how soon the old Thug is laid in the earth. Thisis my story, such as it is; if I have arrested your attention, andgratified the Sahib-zada, my intentions have been fulfilled, and I amcontent."

  * * * * *

  The whole assembly was struck and affected by the old man's story, andall joined in consoling him for his misfortunes. But I was particularlyinterested in them, as they went more to convince me that the hand ofAlla was upon all our doings, than even my father's history. Both werestriking instances, but the Thug's particularly so. It really seemed asthough Brij Lall had been given into our hands--nay, to the very handsof him he had so oppressed, to receive his punishment on earth previousto the eternal fires of Jehunum. "Henceforward," said I to myself, "noone shall have it to say of Ameer Ali that he hung back when occasionrequired his personal exertions. I will
emulate my father, and thecountry shall know and feel that I am a scourge on its wickedness. Noone shall escape me; I shall act up to the utmost of the oath I havetaken, wage unrelenting war with the whole human race, and, Inshalla!they shall see whether Ameer Ali cannot lead his men on to actionswhich will by far surpass any of the present times, and equal those thetraditions of which remain among us."

  From that day I put myself under the tuition of the Gooroo, or teacherof the band,--an old Thug who was worn out with age, but had beenconsidered to be one of the most dexterous Bhuttotes, or stranglers,who had lived within the memories of any of the men of our company. Hewas a Hindoo, a Rajpoot; and though his frame was dry and shrivelled,yet from his height, breadth of shoulders, and sinews, which weredeveloped the more by the absence of flesh to cover them, it waseasy to see that he had been a man of immense strength and power;and, added to this, if his great dexterity in using the handkerchiefwas considered, the stories of his superior prowess might easilybe credited. I had hitherto not associated much with him--beyond acourteous demeanour to each other, we had been but little acquainted;so I begged my father to take me to him, deliver me over to his care,and request of him to initiate me thoroughly in the practice of abhuttote. He was delighted at this spontaneous offer on my part,readily acceded to my wishes, and at once put me under the care ofHoosein and Roop Singh, the old Thug I have mentioned, who belonged toHoosein's party.

  "For a few days," said my father, "I will not see you; you shall remainwith them; and when you return to me, let me welcome you as ready andwilling to take a part in the next affair we may be engaged in."

  The day after we began in earnest. Roop Singh repeated incantationsover me. I ate no meat, indeed tasted nothing but milk for four days.Numerous sacrifices were made to the sacred pickaxe; every omen wasobserved, and as I sat under the trees after our daily march, scarcelya bird alighted on them but there was some conclusion drawn from it;and the appearance of different animals and birds as we commenced ourmarch in the mornings were particularly observed and noted. I wasnaturally very inquisitive as to the meaning of all that was done to meand for me, but the old gooroo would not enlighten me.

  "My son," said he, "when I was your age, these ceremonies wereperformed over me, to make me fearless and stony-hearted, active andcunning, so as to ensnare all who came within my reach, and to avoidmy enemies--to make me fortunate, and to cause me to win fame. In allthese I have never failed. Two others upon whom I have performed themare rising fast to be jemadars, such is their address and courage;and you, too, will be the same; therefore ask no questions. Contentyourself with knowing that everything is going on properly and to mycomplete satisfaction, for I have not observed one unfavourable omen."

  On the fifth morning, the handkerchief was put into my hand; and, afterhaving been bathed, anointed with sweet-smelling oils, and marked onthe forehead with vermilion, as a votary of Bhowanee, I was declared aBhuttote.

  "One thing I forgot," said the old man, laughing, as he gave me thecloth, "and that was the principal perhaps. I have not shown you howto use it, and I have a peculiar knack of my own, which is easilycommunicated. You will soon learn it."

  He took the cloth, tied a large knot at one end, with a piece of silverinserted in it; this he held in his left hand, the plain end being inhis right, and about as much space between them as would nearly compassa man's neck: the closed hands had the palms uppermost.

  "Now," said he, "mark this; and when you throw the cloth from behind,and have got it tight, suddenly turn your knuckles into the neck,giving a sharp wrench to either side that may be most convenient. Ifdone in a masterly manner, instant death ensues."

  I took the cloth, and held it as he directed, but it did not pleasehim. "Give it me back, that I may show you more exactly on your ownneck," said he.

  "Indeed, no," cried I, laughing; "you might think I was a traveller,and have me down in an instant, without intending it; but I perfectlyunderstand the method."

  "Then try it on _me_, Ameer Ali; I shall see by the position of yourhands whether you know anything about it."

  I obeyed him; the old man shook his head and laughed. "That will neverdo; you could not kill a child in that way," he said: "when you feel myhands round your neck you will understand."

  So I submitted with as good a grace as I could, though I did not at alllike the idea. My blood ran cold through me as I felt his chill, clammyhands about my neck. But he did not hurt me, and I saw where my errorhad been. I tried it on him as he had shown me several times, and wasdeclared at last to be perfect.

  "Now you only want practice, Ameer Ali," said he.

  "Inshalla! Roop Singh," I replied, "we shall have plenty of it. Onebeginning, and I fear not for the rest. Like a tiger, which once havingtasted human blood will if possible take no other, and runs every riskto get it, so I feel it will be with me." And it was so. Sahib! I knewmyself--I had spoken truly.