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"If it can be proved that Gungadhura murdered Mukhum Dass, or caused him to be murdered, I should say arrest him, try the brute and hang him!" said Topham. "Confound these native princes that take law into their own hands!" "I should say, let's prove the case if we can," said Samson, "and use that for an extra argument to force Gungadhura's abdication. No need to hang him.
When they were in a bright glow, and the crow was nearly spitted in front thereof, Gunga Dass began without a word of preamble: "There are only two kinds of men, Sar. The alive and the dead. When you are dead you are dead, but when you are alive you live."
They hailed from Surat, and had arrived in Berar on a trade mission with an escort of fifty men, of whom their present attendant, Bhagwan Dass, was the solitary survivor; and this came of believing that a "protection" from the Nizam would carry them anywhere in the Nizam's supposed dominions, whereas the de facto rulers of Berar were certain Mahratta chieftains who collected its taxes and who had politely forwarded the mission into the fastnesses of the mountains.
This was John Mountain, the trader, escaped from the most horrid perils; and his fist word, when he got speech, was to ask if we had seen Secundra Dass. "Seen what?" cries Sir William. "No," said I, "we have seen nothing of him. Why?" "Nothing?" says Mountain. "Then I was right after all." With that he struck his palm upon his brow. "But what takes him back?" he cried.
Go and play with Ram Dass." Then the door opened and he came in. He looked rosier than ever, and brought an atmosphere of freshness and health with him; but his eyes were disappointed and anxious as they met the invalid's look of eager question even as they grasped each other's hands. "What news?" Mr. Carrisford asked. "The child the Russian people adopted?"
The dry sand had turned the corpse entrusted to its keeping into a yellow-brown mummy. I told Gunga Dass to stand off while I examined it. The body clad in an olive-green hunting-suit much stained and worn, with leather pads on the shoulders was that of a man between thirty and forty, above middle height, with light, sandy hair, long mustache, and a rough unkempt beard.
I think I can't swear, because he didn't let me hold it, but I think that tube in Gungadhura's hand was the very identical one that I hid under the cellar floor that Mukhum Dass stole and that the maharajah now carries in his pocket. This map has blood on it. What's the inference?" He filled his pipe and smoked reflectively.
Ask Secundra Dass; he will tell you I treat him like a son. Cast in your lot with me to-morrow, become my slave, my chattel, a thing I can command as I command the powers of my own limbs and spirit you will see no more that dark side that I turn upon the world in anger. I must have all or none. But where all is given, I give it back with usury. I have a kingly nature: there is my loss!"
Gunga Dass explained that horse was better than crow, and "greatest good of greatest number is political maxim. We are now Republic, Mister Jukes, and you are entitled to a fair share of the beast. If you like, we will pass a vote of thanks. Shall I propose?" Yes, we were a Republic indeed! A Republic of wild beasts penned at the bottom of a pit, to eat and fight and sleep till we died.
It was noticeable that Langur Dass, at the edge of the circle, pricked up his ears. "Do you mean the white elephant of which the Manipur people tell so many lies?" he asked. "Do you, skilled catchers that you are, believe that such an elephant is still wild in the jungle?" Ahmad Din scowled. "The Manipur people tell of him, but for once they tell the truth," was the reply.
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