"Are we secure against observation here?" she continued, "for I have much to say to thee, and that quickly."
"Not here," I replied; "I will go on to our tents yonder, and you can follow me; I will wait for you near them." The old woman hobbled up to me as I stood under a mango tree, secure from observation. Quite out of breath, she sat down: when she had recovered herself, she untied a corner of the cloth about her person, and presented me with a small ring.
"This," said she, "is from her you know of: and for the love of Alla, my soul! do you exert yourself for her: she is dying in this place, and is subject to all the torments the caprice of that unblest Nuwab can think of. She is one day in favour and loaded with kindnesses, another, in a fit of jealousy or rage, he deprives her of every comfort, shuts her up in a lonely room, and will not even allow me to go to her. You, my son, are young and brave; you will not suffer her to continue in this state, she who is the pearl of Hyderabad, who has found favour in the sight of princes and nobles. For the sake of Alla, exert yourself, and she is free, and will accompany you to the end of the world. She has seen you, and your beauty has entered into her soul and is consuming her liver; and between this and her former miseries, she is to-day in a state of madness, so that even I cannot pacify her."
"I am ready, mother," said I: "'tis true I have never been blessed with hearing a word from her, save in her songs: but I can understand them; and there was one she sang which has been ringing in my ears ever since I heard it. Say, had it any reference to me and herself?"
"You have guessed well," she replied: "I told her to sing it, in the chance of its being understood, and blessed be Alla it was not in vain: but the time is passing fast, my son, and what can be done?"
"Nay," said I, "that I wish to hear from yourself, for I know not how to proceed; neither do I know this town, nor the house where she lives, so what can I advise? I am helpless in this matter, yet willing to the utmost."
"Listen then," said the old woman; "I will describe the place, and you must come after me and see it from the outside, that you may know it in the night. The place she is now in, and where she will most likely sleep to-night, is a small tiled house, at the corner of the wall of the zenana toward the street. There are two windows, some distance from the ground, yet not so high but that she might get out, if any one helped her on the outside. There is no other way of her escaping; for it would be impossible for her to get through the zenana, and afterwards through the open courts, which are full of soldiers. Say, will you dare the adventure; or be a coward, a namurd, who would not risk a drop of blood for a woman, and one so fair as she is?"
"I am no coward, I believe," said I, "though I have no deeds of arms to boast of. I accept the risk, and I pray Alla to defend us! Are there soldiers near the place?"
"No," said she, "not one; the only danger is at the village gate, which is always guarded. How will you pass this?"
"If that is all," said I, "trust to me; and Inshalla! we will all laugh at the Nuwab's beard in the morning. But tell me, how do you intend to contrive to accompany us?"
"Ah, I have arranged that already. I am allowed free egress at any hour of the night, upon the various pretences or necessities of my mistress; and I can get out at midnight and meet you anywhere you may determine."
"This is good," said I; "now come and show me the place."
She guided me through the gate we had just passed, and turning down a narrow alley, desired me to mark the various windings as we went along, which I did. We at last reached a street between two high walls, one of which was the Nuwab's zenana; and passing on, we arrived at length under a small tiled house, which answered the description she had given of it. "This is the place," she said; "and that is the window from whence she must descend. It is not very high, as you see, and there will not be much difficulty in her getting out."
"I see none," I replied, "if she has only a stout heart. Tell her to tie her sheets together and drop them over; we will be below, and take care she reaches the ground easily."
"I will," said she; "and now away! we may be seen, and if so, Alla be our help!"
"She sees us!" cried I; "for there is a hand stretched forth from the window."
"It is she!" said the old woman; "and oh! what joy it must be to her to know that there are persons anxious and willing to serve her! Now, my poor bird, thou shalt no longer have a cage, though it be a gilded one. But away, my soul, away! do not loiter here; a smile from her were dearly purchased now, and to-night you will have thousands, aye with her blessings too."
"I go," said I; "but fail not, nurse; for your life see that all is right; you must meet us at the corner we last passed."
The old woman nodded her assent, and I withdrew as quickly as possible from the spot, though I would have given worlds for one glance, for one approving smile, from the object of my love. As soon as I reached the tents, I summoned Bhudrinath, told him of my success, and unfolded to him the plan as it stood at present. He was rejoiced, and saw nothing objectionable in it.
"I have one thing, however," said he, "to represent, which you may do or not, as you please."
"What is it? say on."
"Why," he replied, "although it will be, as you say, an easy enough matter to get out of the town, I by no means think it so easy to get in."
"By Alla! you say truly," said I; "what advice can you give to aid my plan?"
"You see," rejoined he, "that the gates are guarded; I tried myself to get in last night, before midnight, as I had an affair of my own to look after, and the fair one expected me; but the sons of dogs at the gates (may their sisters be defiled!) swore I was a thief, and after interchanging abuse for a long time they finally shut the wicket in my face, and I was forced to return in the worst of all possible humours. So my advice is, that we go in before nightfall, and take up our quarters in the shop of a Bhutteara with whom I have scraped an acquaintance; the fellow will not suspect anything if we leave his place in the night, as I hinted my bad fortune of last night to him to-day, and he was the one to propose my coming to his place in the evening to go wherever I pleased afterwards. So what say you? shall we go to the fellow, or trust to our wits to get in the best way we can?"
"Your plan is a good one," said I, "and I thank you for your bad luck last night; but for it, we might have gone and knocked our heads against the gate to no purpose; to be sure we might climb over the wall, and I wonder you did not think of it."
"I did," he replied, "and was undecided about attempting it; but some fellow might have seen me, and, taking me for a thief, have thought no more of sending a ball through me than if I were a dog; so I came away."
"Thou hast a wonderful deal of discretion," said I; "now my hot blood would have led me into some scrape, whereas thou hast eaten thy ill-humour."
"And am now at thy service," rejoined he. "So we sleep inside to-night, which I am glad of, and we will get out through the further gate; it will be some way round, but that is better than facing the fellows at this gate, who I suspect know me, or will recognise my voice, for I was too angry to disguise it."
"We will," said I: "and now I must in and eat, for I have fasted since the morning, and an enterprise is ill done on an empty stomach."
After evening prayer Bhudrinath and myself went into the town; and it was well we did so, for the men at the gate knew him perfectly, and good-naturedly joked him about his bad success the night before. "Thou art beforehand with us to-night, my friend," said one fellow; "and thou art wise, for hadst thou come later we should have shut the door in thy face as before."
"You might have been more civil," said Bhudrinath, laughing. "I suppose, though you would not let me in, you will let me out in case I should bring any one with me?"
"Why, that is not against orders exactly, but you