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Harry's horse, which had been saddled in readiness, was brought round; for it would have seemed strange for a Mahratta, whose dress showed that he held a good position, to go on foot. Sufder rode by his side, Soyera following on foot. Dismounting at the Government House, he threw the reins to one of the lads, who were waiting in readiness to hold the horses of officers coming to see the Governor.
"How long will it be before I get quite rid of this colour, Sufder?" "That I cannot say. I should think that in a fortnight the greater part of it will have faded out, but maybe Soyera knows of something that will remove it more rapidly."
I do not say that you require any assistance from them; but when you return home, as everyone does, two or three times, in the course of his Indian service, it would be pleasant to find friends there; and it would be well that your position should be established beyond all question." "I will gladly go down with you," Soyera said, when Harry laid the matter before her.
Harry had learned, at the Governor's, the name and address of an official at the Judge's Court who would get his statements copied out, in proper form and writing; and when he had taken them down from the lips of Sufder and Soyera, he saw this gentleman, who promised that the documents should be ready by the next day. Having thus put his business in train, Harry went to call upon Mrs. Sankey.
I have been accustomed to work, and can take much off your hands; and will look after your two children;" for two boys, three or four years old, were standing before her, staring at the newcomer. "That will be pleasant, Soyera; indeed, sometimes they hinder me much in my work." "I am accustomed to children, Anundee, as I was for years nurse to English children, and know their ways."
And she related the instances of the attack upon the little camp, the death of her master and mistress, another white officer, and all their escort; told how she had hidden the child under the cover of the tent, how Sufder had saved her life, and her subsequent conversation with him regarding the child. "Now, what do you intend to do with him, Soyera?" "I intend to bring him up as my own.
"It is all very well, Soyera, to talk that way; but I would as willingly believe that the stars will fall from the sky as that these Englishmen, who simply live in Bombay because we suffer them to do so, should ever conquer the Mahrattas, as they have subdued other portions of India where, as everyone knows, the people are not warlike, and have always been conquered without difficulty.
Soyera began to thank the Parsee for his introduction, but he said: "It was a little thing to do and, as I knew his father, it was only right that I should help, as far as I could. Will you bring me, tomorrow morning, the measurement of the boy's height, size around his shoulders and waist, the lengths of his arms and legs? You need trouble yourself no further about it.
And he then went on to give an account of the killing of his father and mother, and of how he was saved by Soyera, and brought up as her son; until such times as he might, with advantage, go down to Bombay. Nana listened with great interest. "It is a strange tale," he said, when Harry brought the story to a conclusion, "and explains things which have, at times, surprised me.
Soyera showed Harry how these garments, with which he was wholly unacquainted, should be put on. "They fit you capitally," she said, when she surveyed him. "And you look like a little English sahib." "They feel very tight and uncomfortable," he said. "They are sure to do so, at first; but you will soon get over that.
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