The whole scene is now before me. The bullocks and their drivers, with the Thugs, were all in a confused group in the bed of the little stream, the men shouting and urging on their beasts: but it was easy to see that every man had a Thug close to him awaiting the signal. They were only a few feet below us and the stream was so narrow that it was with some difficulty all could stand in its bed, especially when the cart reached the bottom. Above stood my father, Hoosein, and myself—the Sahoukar, one of his servants, and several other Thugs. I was eagerly waiting the signal; I tightly grasped the fatal handkerchief, and my first victim was within a foot of me! I went behind him as being preferable to one side, and observed one of the other Thugs do the same to a servant. The Sahoukar moved a step or two towards the road—I instinctively followed him—I scarcely felt that I stirred, so intensely was I observing him. "Jey Kalee!" shouted my father: it was the signal, and I obeyed it!
As quick as thought the cloth was round his neck—I seemed endued with superhuman strength—I wrenched his neck round—he struggled convulsively for an instant, and fell. I did not quit my hold, I knelt down on him, and strained the cloth till my hand ached; but he moved not—he was dead! I quitted my hold, and started to my feet: I was mad with excitement!—my blood boiled, and I felt as though I could have strangled a hundred others, so easy, so simple had the reality been. One turn of my wrists had placed me on an equality with those who had followed the profession for years—I had taken the first place in the enterprise, for I had killed the principal victim! I should receive the praise of the whole band, many of whom, I was confident, had looked on me as only a child. I was roused from my reverie by my father.
"You have done well," he said in a low and kind voice; "you will receive the reward of this soon; now follow me, we will go to the grave. Ere this the bodies have been collected, and I myself must see that they are properly disposed of. There will be a noise about this business, and it will need great exertion for us to get out of the road we are now travelling."
I followed him. We descended into the bed of the stream, and were led to the grave by one of the men; others bearing the body of the Sahoukar followed. We passed up the bed of the stream for a short distance; and near the mouth of a small nulla, the bed of which was dry, a number of the men were standing.
"The grave?" asked my father.
"It is up there," said one; "you will have to creep, and the thorns are very bad."
"It matters not," he replied; and we entered the place.
The banks of the rivulet were perhaps two or three yards high, and the bed was so narrow that but two persons could advance abreast. The creepers and trees were matted overhead, and the sides so thick that it was impossible that any one could have got down from above. The tangled character of the spot increased as we proceeded, until it became necessary to free our clothes from the thorns which caught us at every step. In a few moments we heard the sound of voices, and after creeping almost on all fours through a hole which had apparently been forced through the underwood, we came upon the grave. There was only one; it occupied almost the entire breadth of the stream; it was very deep, and the earth, or rather sand, had been thrown out on each end. The Lughaees were sitting there, sharpening stakes cut from the jungle; but they could scarcely be seen from the darkness of the place, which the thick wood above only partially allowed the moonbeams to penetrate. They were conversing in a low tone in the slang of the band, which I had not learned: my father spoke to them, or rather to their leader.
"You have had your wits about you," he said; "and we will think well of you when we make the distribution: this is a grave that even a jackal could not discover. Again I say, Peer Khan, you have done this properly; and it is well I have seen it that I may speak of you as you deserve. But you must be quick—the night advances."
"It is finished, Khodawund," replied the man; "we do but wait for another body, which they say is coming, and the filling up will be done immediately." As he spoke, the body of the Sahoukar was brought up by three men, who railed at it for its weight.
"It is their wont," he said; "do not speak to them—only watch what they do; for you must see all, that you may be fully acquainted with your duties." I was silent. The corpse was dragged to the brink and thrown in, as also that of the servant who had been killed close to the Sahoukar; incisions were made in their abdomens, and sharpened stakes driven through them.
"Were it not for the precaution you see," said my father, "the ground might swell, and the jackals would drag out the bodies; in this way, however, it is impossible."
When all was finished, quantities of stones, which had been collected, were thrown upon the bodies; afterwards thorns; and the whole was covered up with sand, which was carefully smoothed. "I think this will do, Jemadar Sahib," said Peer Khan; "we may now leave the place. It is not likely that any one will come here to look for the Séthjee or his people; and the Sahib-zada has seen how cleverly we have done our work."
"Enough," said I, "I shall know how to act as a Lugha myself, should I ever need it." My father beckoned me to follow him. I stayed to see some dry sand thrown over the place, and proceeded with the others. The hole in the underwood made by us was closed up with great care; and a branch of a bush being broken off, and trailed after him by the hindmost man, obliterated every footmark in the dry sand of the nulla.
CHAPTER VII.
The rest of the band, with the cart and laden bullocks, had proceeded some way before we overtook them. We passed through a thin jungle for some distance, emerging from which, we found ourselves on a wild, bare plain, here and there studded with straggling brushwood. We all collected together, and, lighting fires, the hooka passed round, and each one related his achievement, and gloried in the prospect of a speedy division of the booty we had acquired.
To arrange our future proceedings was by no means an easy matter, as it was necessary to get past Bassim, where the Sahoukar had friends; and his cart and bullocks might possibly be recognized in the town. My father's advice was to travel till daylight, and then to withdraw to one side of the road, as far from observation as possible; to remain there as long as we could, and then to push on beyond Bassim. At this halt, too, there was to be a grand division of the spoil, at least, as much of it as could be divided; and Hoosein's party was to separate from us and pursue their road, in the best way they could, in the direction which has been pointed out to them. Accordingly we again started, and, after passing some villages, halted about sunrise at some distance from the road, near a grove of trees, in which there was a well of water. Before the men betook themselves to cooking their meal, after the march, they were all assembled; and the quantity of goor having been brought, the ceremony of the Tupounee was performed as I have before described. I was now entitled to a seat on the blanket with the other Bhuttotes—I was their equal! The ceremony ended, I untied the knot of my handkerchief, as directed by my father, and taking out the piece of silver, presented it, with some rupees, to my gooroo, touching his feet at the same time in reverence. This was the last of my ceremonies of initiation. I was a Bhuttote, had fairly killed my man, and held myself to be the equal of any of my associates.
After this my father and Hoosein brought forth all the plunder of our late enterprise. It was magnificent: there was a good quantity of gold and silver in money, but the principal valuables were the jewels which the Sahoukar was taking to Hyderabad for sale, and the cloths and brocades on the bullocks—they were of the richest description. The distribution of these was a matter of great difficulty, and it was impossible to satisfy every one; besides, the pearls and diamonds would have lost a great deal of their value by being divided among the men. So it was agreed to share the ready money, cooking utensils, and other effects of the Sahoukar, also the least valuable cloths, into two equal portions as nearly as possible, in proportion to the number of men of each band; that my father was to have charge of the jewels, which he was to sell at Hyderabad to the best advantage, as