Gil the Gunner Part 55

"My lord was restless, and sleeping ill. The tent was hot, and the great drops were on his face, so I opened the side to let in the light."

He ceased speaking, and I uttered a sigh of relief as all the feverish vision of the night pa.s.sed away, the sensation of rest and comfort growing stronger as he clapped his hands, and the other men came in bearing a large bra.s.s basin full of cool fresh water, with which my face was bathed with all the care and solicitude that would have been shown by a woman.

Then followed my medicine, and, soon after, coffee and sweet cakes, preparatory to a real breakfast later on, to which I found that I could pay greater attention, eating so that the man smiled with satisfaction.

"My lord is getting well," he said. And I gave my head a feeble nod.

"Tell me whereabouts we are," I said at last.

He shook his head. "I am only to tell you that you are in my lord the rajah's care," he replied.

"Well, I can guess," I replied. "I can hear nothing of people; there is no town near; and I know from the noises made by birds and beasts, and by the coming of those serpents, that we must be in the forest. I am at some hunting-station, I suppose. Look here," I continued, as the man remained silent, "tell me where the English soldiers are."

"I cannot, my lord. I do not know," he replied.

"It is of no use to ask you anything," I cried pettishly. "Yes, it is; you can tell me this--what is your name?"

"Salaman, my lord," he replied, with a smile.

"Humph!" I said sourly, for I was getting into an invalid's tetchy, weary state. "Salaman! why couldn't they call you Solomon? That's the proper way to p.r.o.nounce it."

"My lord can call me Solomon," he said quietly.

"Of course I can," I said, "and I will. Then look here, Solomon, did you bury that great snake?"

"Yes, my lord, as soon as it was light, and the others found and killed its mate. They are now dead, and covered with the earth."

"That's right. No fear of their getting out?" I added, as I remembered my dream.

He laughed and shook his head.

"Tell me this too; the rajah, will he be here to-day?"

"Who can say, my lord? His highness is master, and he goes and comes as he pleases. Perhaps he will come, perhaps he will not. I never know."

"The doctor, then; will he be here?"

"Oh yes, my lord, and soon."

He left the tent, and I lay thinking again, ready to quarrel with everything, for my arm pained me, and my head felt stiff and sore.

"I wish he'd speak in a plain, matter-of-fact way," I grumbled to myself. "I'm sick of being 'my lorded' and bowed down to. I always feel as if I could kick a fellow over when he bows down to me as if I were one of their precious idols."

Then I laughed to myself long and heartily, for I knew that I must be getting better by my irritable ways. And now I forced myself into thinking about our position as English rulers of the land, and wondered whether it would be possible for our power to be overthrown. Then came on a feverish desire to know where Brace was, and in what kind of condition his men were, and those of the colonel.

"It seems hard that they do not come and try to rescue me," I thought.

"Brace would come fast enough," I added spitefully, "if I were a gun."

This idea seemed so comic in its disagreeable tone, and so thoroughly due to my state of weakness and unreason, that I laughed silently.

"How precious ill-tempered I am!" I said to myself.

A moment later I was wondering about the fate of those dear to me at Nussoor--whether my father was still there, and whether there had been any rising in his neighbourhood.

Directly after I came to the conclusion that his regiment would certainly have been called away, and I hoped that he had made arrangements for my mother and sister to go back to England; and then I was marvelling at the rapid way in which my thoughts ran excitedly from one subject to the other.

"It is all through being so weak, I suppose," I said to myself; and then I began eagerly to listen, for I could hear trampling.

Feeling certain that it was the rajah, and making up my mind to speak quietly to him, and ask him to try and exchange me for some other prisoner, I lay with my eyes fixed upon the open side of the tent, to see directly after the tall, stately figure of the grey-bearded physician, who came to my side in his customary sedate fas.h.i.+on, and knelt down to examine and dress my injuries, which he declared to be in a perfectly satisfactory state. But, all the same, they pained me a great deal during the time he was unbandaging and covering them afresh.

I plied him with questions all the time--as to how long it would be before I was well; how soon I might sit up; how soon I might go out in a palanquin, and the like; all of which he answered in the same grave way, but when I turned the question to the state of the country, and asked for information about our troop, and the late battle, he shook his head and smiled gravely.

"I am the rajah's physician," he said, "and my duties are with the sick.

I can tell you no more."

"But tell me this," I said eagerly; "where are our people now?"

"I only know about my own people," he replied, with a smile. "You are one of them, and you are troubling your brain about matters that you cannot deal with now, so be at rest."

I made an impatient gesture, and he laid his hand upon my brow, saying gently--

"Be at rest. You will learn all these things in time. You have but one duty now--to get well."

There was only one other resource left to me--to get an answer somehow from the rajah when he came; and upon the doctor leaving, I lay there impatiently listening for the visitor who would, I was sure, come before long, though whether I should get my information appeared doubtful indeed.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

The days pa.s.sed slowly by, and one hour I was horribly dejected by the dulness of my existence, the next cheery and in high spirits, as I felt that I was getting stronger, and in less pain. It was very lonely lying there, but many things put me in mind of the "Arabian Nights"--the fine tent, with the shadows of the trees upon its roof; the silent servants who might very well have been slaves, so eager were they to respond to the slightest call, and so silent in their obedience; the soft glow of the lamp on the rich curtain and carpets; and the pleasant little banquets which were spread for me with silver vessels to drink from, and gilded baskets full of rare fruits or flowers.

At times, as I sat propped up, able now to feed myself, I used to begin by enjoying the meal, but before I had half finished the flowers looked dull, and the fruit tasted flat, for I told myself that, after all, I was only a prisoner, a bird in a gilded cage, broken winged and helpless.

The doctor came nearly every day, and told me that I was to ask for everything I wished for, as he preferred that I should wait until the rajah had been again before I went out.

"And when is he coming again?" I asked impatiently.

"I can only say when his highness pleases," replied the doctor, with a grave smile. "But I will give orders for something to be done to please you; to-morrow a couch shall be made for you outside the tent."

That was something, and only one who has been wounded and lain hot and restless upon a couch alone can judge of the eagerness with which I looked forward to the next day.

It came at last, and after trying very hard to comport myself with the dignity becoming a British officer, the fact that I was almost the youngest in the Company's service would come out, and I suddenly burst out with--

"I say, Salaman, when is this couch outside to be ready?"

"It is ready, my lord," he said. "I was awaiting your commands."

"Oh!" I mentally exclaimed, "what a fool I am! Why don't I act like a real 'my lord,' and order these people about more?"