The Taming of the Jungle Part 8

"We be men, coach-wan ji," said the bullock driver, valiantly; and whilst he spoke the great dog, Hasteen, who lay at Ram Deen's feet, p.r.i.c.ked up his ears and growled as a shadow crept along the ground from the peepul tree in front of the village temple to a clump of tall gra.s.s some fifty paces from the Thanadar's fire.

"Peace!" exclaimed Ram Deen, venting his spleen on the dog with a blow from his shoe; "dost thou not know a jackal as yet?" Then to those a.s.sembled round the fire he went on, raising his voice: "Kali Mai wither the hand that betrayeth Bijoo, and fire consume his hut! There is contention even in my house, because the woman Chandni is kin to my wife, who believes in her innocence; but better such contention, and bitter silence for kindly speech, than that brothers should sell brothers, and so make light the honor of men in the Terai!"

"Nevertheless," said the Thanadar, "this notice must be posted wherever men pa.s.s or congregate throughout this Zemindaree."

"Nevertheless," retorted Ram Deen, bitterly, "without disrespect to thee, Thanadar Sahib, it shall be told throughout the Terai that Ram Deen spat on the notice of the sircar and tore it in shreds," and the driver of the mail-cart proceeded to make his words good.

Next evening, when the mail-cart drove up to the post-office, little Biroo plucked Ram Deen's sleeve as he dismounted. "Thou must come with me," he said, simply.

"Must, Little Parrot?"

"Ay, father mine. Tara wanteth thee; and there is pillau for thy evening meal."

Now Ram Deen had fed on Gunga Ram's stale cates the evening before for having expressed approval of the mutilation of Chandni, and this prospect of pillau, besides appealing shrewdly to his eager stomach, was, perhaps, a sign of capitulation on the part of the young wife he had but lately wedded.

As he approached his hut his nostrils were a.s.sailed with the odors of a great cooking.

"Thou seest, my father," said little Biroo, with the inept.i.tude of infancy, "thou seest what awaits thee inside."

When Ram Deen entered his abode a woman's voice came to him from the inner apartment, saying, "Feed, Big Elephant, stupid as thou art tall!"

As Ram Deen fell to, Biroo also dipped his hand in the dish, mouthful for mouthful; and when his little stomach was pleasantly distended, he paused and said, "Where didst thou sleep last night, my father?"

"'Twere better to eat pillau, little Blue Jay, than ask questions that may be answered only through the soles of thy feet," replied Ram Deen.

"O valiant Beater of Babes!" said the voice from the inner room, "were it not for Biroo, I would return to my grandfather's house; but thou wouldst starve and ill-use the little one."

"Nay, my Best Beloved," said Ram Deen, in a conciliatory tone, "thou art not even just to me. Listen----"

"I will not listen, O Brave to Women, till thou hast answered Biroo's question."

"My Star, an' you should tell it abroad that I did not sleep in mine own house last night, it would blacken my face in Kaladoongie."

"Thou wilt say, perchance, that I gossip at the village well. Go on, what next?"

"Nay, then, if thou must know it, I slept in Goor Dutt's bullock-cart."

"'Twas well, Lumba Deen (Long Legs). Ho, ho, ho! Thy case was that of a ladder balanced across a wall. Proceed."

"The grain bags I lay on, Heart of my Heart, were stony, and the night was full of noises."

"Yes. And thou wast warm?"

"Nay, Beloved, for there was not room for the drawing up of my knees between myself and Goor Dutt, so my feet were frozen, and Goor Dutt ceased not from snoring."

"'Twas well, Oppressor of Women and Children. And thy evening meal?"

"Light of the Terai, Gunga Ram's stale pooris were ill-bestowed on a pariah dog,--but the savor of thy pillau hath effaced the wrong done to my stomach last night."

"Ah! And now what thinkest thou of my kinswoman Chandni?"

"Tara, Light in Darkness, thou art dearer to me than life itself, and I would not lightly vex thee. What is done is done; why slay me with thy questions? I were not worthy of thee if I answered thee differently concerning the price to be demanded for the virtue of a woman; nay, do not cry, little one."

A sound of wailing came from the inner room, where two women were weeping in each other's arms. "Aho! aho!"

"Tara," exclaimed Ram Deen, starting to his feet, "who is the woman with thee? and why is she here?"

"It is I, Chandni," said a thick, m.u.f.fled voice, "and thou doest me wrong, coach-wan ji. Listen!" Then the strange woman proceeded to tell Ram Deen of the slaying of Trenyon sahib, and of her own horrible mutilation.

When she had finished, Ram Deen said, "It was a brave stroke that Bijoo gave the sahib."

"It was well done, khodawund."

"And thou art not sorry for the killing of the sahib?"

"Doorga restore me and afflict me again, if I do not think it was a good killing!"

"They will hang Bijoo for it; a thousand rupees hath been offered for his taking, alive or dead."

"Aho! aho!" wailed the strange woman. "Men will be wicked for even ten rupees."

"But he robbed thee of thy beauty," remonstrated Ram Deen.

"'Twas right to do so, in his eyes," was the reply.

"And 'tis true thou wast in Trenyon sahib's tent for the helping of Bijoo?"

"As Nana Debi is my witness. And I know not all that happened, for the sahib gave me strong waters to drink that robbed me of my senses."

"Toba! toba!" exclaimed Ram Deen, walking towards the outer door. "Wife, see to it that thy relative is properly lodged this night."

"And to-morrow night?" queried Tara.

"To-morrow night I would eat of a kid seethed in milk and stuffed with pistachios by thy honorable kinswoman. Moreover, I will make provision for her ere the week is out."

"My lord is good as he is great," said Tara, as Ram Deen left the hut.

The next night, as they sat around the fire, Ram Deen waited till the shadow crept from the peepul tree to the clump of tall gra.s.s.

"Brothers," he began, speaking deliberately and in loud tones, "the woman we spake of last night is guiltless of wrong, as I now know. She is here and in my hut, and an honored guest." He paused and looked round the circle grimly.

"We be poor men, coach-wan ji," said the little driver, deprecatingly, "and thy honorable kinswoman is deserving, doubtless, of thy exalted consideration."

"She is deserving of the consideration due to a woman who was greatly wronged by the villain who was slain, and by the madman, his slayer. She was lured, brothers, into the sahib's tent by the sweeper's wife, Bhamaraya,--who is a lame she-wolf!--for the purpose of pleading for her man, Bijoo, who was accused of theft; and then she was robbed of her senses by the sahib's strong waters, and hath done no wrong; let no man in the Terai gainsay it!"

Ram Deen paused awhile to "drink tobacco," but n.o.body made comment on a matter in which he was so greatly interested.