At the Point of the Bayonet

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A messenger had already been sent off to Sufder, who rode in the
next day. He, too, was well and comfortable, and was viewed as a
man of importance by the villagers.

Harry remained there four days longer, then bade farewell to those
who had proved themselves his true friends, and rode down to
Bombay. On the road he had a long talk with Abdool, who remained
fixed in his determination to accompany him to England, if he would
take him.

"Very well, Abdool, so it shall be. But if, at any time, you have a
longing to come back to your own country, I will pay your passage,
and give you enough to make you comfortable for life."

Harry remained but a few days in Bombay, wound up his affairs with
his agents there and, being fortunate in finding a vessel that was
on the point of sailing, took passage in her for England. The
voyage was an uneventful one. They experienced bad weather off the
Cape but, with that exception, carried all canvas till they entered
the Channel. Here they encountered another gale, but arrived safely
in the Thames, four months after leaving Calcutta.

It was now January, 1806, and after going with Abdool to an hotel,
Harry's first step was to procure warm clothing for himself and his
follower. The weather was exceedingly cold, and although Abdool
had, as he considered, wrapped himself up in an extraordinary way,
he was unable to keep warm, except when sitting in front of a huge
fire.

"Is it always like this, sahib?" he asked, in a tone of great
anxiety.

"Oh no, Abdool, only for perhaps two months out of the twelve. You
will find it pleasant enough in summer and, after two or three
winters, will get accustomed to the cold. You had better not think
of going out, till you get your clothes. I will have a tailor in to
measure you. I should say that it would be more convenient for you
to take to European clothes. You will not find them uncomfortable,
as you have for so many years been accustomed to uniform. They are
much more convenient for getting about in, and you will not be
stared at in the streets; as you would be if you went about in
native costume. However, you can wear your own turban, if you
like."

Abdool willingly consented to this proposal. A tailor was
consulted, and suggested loosely-cut trousers and a short jacket,
similar to that now worn by the French zouaves, and differing but
little from that of the Indian cavalry. In this, with the addition
of a long and warmly-lined cloak, Abdool professed his readiness to
encounter any degree of cold.

As soon as his own clothes had arrived, Harry went to Leadenhall
Street and, sending in his card, was shown into a large room, where
two or three of the governors of the Company were seated,
considering the reports that had been brought from India in the
ship in which Harry had arrived.

"Your name is familiar to us, Major Lindsay," the gentleman at the
head of the table said cordially. "You have been mentioned in
numerous despatches, and always in terms of the highest
commendation. First, by the Governor of Bombay; then by the Marquis
of Wellesley, for the manner in which you secured the neutrality of
Berar, during the Mysore war; then again, if I remember rightly,
for obtaining concessions for our occupation of the island of
Singapore, when we are in a position to undertake it. He also sent
us your report of that business, by which it appeared that you had
some extremely perilous adventures, entailed by your zeal to obtain
the Rajah of Johore's consent to the cession. Sir Arthur Wellesley
mentioned your name in his despatch after Assaye, and Lord Lake's
despatches make numerous mention of your service with him.
Altogether, I do not think that any officer has received such warm
and general commendation as you have done."

"Thank you, sir. I have always done my best, and been exceptionally
fortunate in being engaged in services that gave me an opportunity
of, in some degree, distinguishing myself."

"Pray sit down, Major. My colleagues and myself will be glad to
know a little more about you. When the Governor of Bombay informed
us that he most strongly recommended you for a commission, he
mentioned that you were a son of Major Lindsay who, with his wife,
was killed in the Concan, at the time of that most unfortunate and
ill-managed expedition to Poona. We had never heard of your
existence before. Had it been brought before our notice we should,
of course, have assigned a pension for your bringing up and
education."

Harry, at his request, gave a very brief outline of the manner in
which he had been saved by his nurse, who had taught him English,
and prepared him for entering the service when he came of age.

"I have returned to England," he said, "partly to find out, if
possible, any of my relatives who may exist on my father's or
mother's side."

"I have no doubt that we shall be able to put you in the way of
doing so. Doubtless, at the time of your father's and mother's
death, we notified the fact--at any rate to your father's
family--and received communications from them. We will cause a
search to be made. Where are you staying?"

Harry gave the name of the hotel.

"We will send you word there, as soon as the records have been
searched. At any rate, it is certain that the birthplace of your
father and the residence of his father will be found, at the time
he obtained his appointment as cadet. I have no doubt that the
letter communicating his death was directed to that address."

The next day a messenger brought a note to Harry's hotel:

"Dear Major Lindsay:

"We find that your grandfather was a landowner in Norfolk. His
address was Parley House, Merdford. The letter sent to him with the
account of your father's death was answered by a son of his; who
stated that his father had died, two months before, and enquired if
any news had been obtained of an infant who, they had learned, had
been born some months before the murder of its parents. We replied
that the report to us had stated, 'body of infant not found.' We,
at his request, wrote to Bombay on the subject.

"The answer was as before that, although the body of the child was
not found with those of its father and mother, no doubt whatever
was entertained that it had been killed. It was some days after the
catastrophe happened before any report of it reached the
authorities, when a party of cavalry were at once sent out. Many of
the bodies had been mutilated, and some almost devoured by jackals.
No doubts were entertained that the infant had been altogether
devoured."

"The remains were all buried at the spot where they were found; and
a stone was erected, some months afterwards, by the officers of his
regiment; recording the deaths of Major Lindsay, his wife and
child, at that spot."

Two days later Harry took his place with Abdool on the north coach
and, after spending a day at Norwich, drove in a post chaise to
Merdford. Here he heard that Parley House was two miles distant
and, without alighting, drove on there. It was a fine house,
standing in a well-wooded park. On a footman answering the bell,
Harry handed him his card, "Major H. Lindsay."

He was shown into a library and, a minute later, a gentleman
entered. He was about sixty years of age, of the best type of
English squire; tall, inclined to be portly, with genial face and
hearty voice.

"We are of the same name, I see, Major Lindsay."

"We are, sir; and, strange as it may appear to you, of the same
blood."

"Indeed!" he said, shaking hands with his visitor. "What is the
relationship? It must be a distant one, for I was not aware that I
had any connection of your rank in the army.

"By the way, now that I think of it, I have seen, in the reports of
our campaigns in India, the name of a Captain Lindsay frequently
mentioned."

"I am the man, sir."

"I am glad to know that one who has so distinguished himself is a
relation of mine, however distant."

"It is not so very distant, sir. In point of fact, I am your
nephew."

The squire looked at him in bewilderment.

"My nephew!" he repeated.

"Yes, Mr. Lindsay. I am the son of your brother, also Major
Lindsay, of the Bombay Army. I returned from India but ten days
ago; and learned for the first time, from the governors of the
Company, the family to which my father belonged. Had it been
otherwise, I should have written to you, years ago, to inform you
that I was the infant who was supposed to have perished, when its
father and mother were killed."

Harry thought that the colour paled a little in his uncle's face.

"You have, of course, proofs of your identity?" the latter said,
gravely.

"Certainly. I have the evidence of the Indian nurse who saved my
life, and brought me up; that of a cousin of hers, who was an
officer of the band that attacked my father; and that of her
brother, with whom I resided from the time she brought me
there--three days after the death of my parents--until I was twelve
years old, when she placed me with a lady in Bombay, for two years
and a half, to be taught to speak English perfectly. After that, I
was some three years in the service of the Peishwa.

"These depositions were, by the order of the Governor of Bombay,
sworn to by them before the chief justice there. My identity was
fully recognized by the Governor of Bombay, who at once recommended
me for a commission, in consequence of some service that I had
rendered to the Government; and the recommendation was accepted by
the court at home, and my commission dated from the time of my
appointment by the Governor."

"I see a likeness in you to my brother who, when I last saw him,
was about your age. I do not say that you are exactly like him, but
your expression and voice both recall him to me. As a matter of
form, of course, I should like to see these depositions. I am
curious to know the details of your adventures.

"But that will keep. I will at once introduce you to my wife and
daughter. Like your father, I was unfortunate in my children. I
know that you had several brothers and sisters born before you, all
of whom died in their infancy. I did not marry until some years
later than he did. I had two boys, who were both drowned when out
in a fishing boat at Yarmouth. My daughter was the youngest."

He rose from his seat and led the way to the drawing room, where a
lady some fifteen years younger than himself was seated at work,
with a girl of nineteen or twenty.

"My dear," he said, "I have a surprise for you. This gentleman,
Major Lindsay, who has distinguished himself greatly in India, is
our nephew. He claims, and I may say at once that I see no reasons
whatever to doubt it, that he is the child of my brother Harry who,
as you may remember, was, with his wife, killed in India a few
months after we were married. My enquiries resulted in leaving, as
it seemed, no room for doubt that the infant had perished with his
parents, and that its body had been devoured by wild beasts.

"But it now appears that he was saved by his nurse, who happened to
have a relation who was an officer in the party that attacked
Harry's camp. She took him to the house of a brother, and there he
was brought up; and he afterwards went down to Bombay, where he
satisfied the Governor as to his identity, and received a
commission. I have not heard further particulars yet, but Major
Lindsay--

"I suppose I shall come to call you Harry, in time, nephew--

"Will tell us all about it, himself. I am sure that you will join
with me in welcoming Harry's boy heartily, and in my satisfaction
that he has proved himself well worthy of his race."

Harry was a little surprised at detecting a tone of warning, in the
manner in which the last words were spoken; and at the agitation
with which Mrs. Lindsay had listened to her husband. This
disappeared, however, as she held out her hand to him.

"I welcome you back to England, nephew. Yours is indeed a strange
story. I know that my husband was greatly attached to your father."

"Yes, I loved him dearly," Mr. Lindsay said, "and can see a
resemblance to him in his son. He is taller and more strongly built
than Harry was. I do not say that the features are very like, but
there is something in the expression of his face, and tone of his
voice, that recalls him to me strongly.

"This is my daughter Mary. We called her so after your mother. It
was a fancy of mine, for I knew her well before she married your
father. The two families were on terms of great friendship, and for
her sake, as well as for my brother's, I gave her the name."

"I am glad to meet you, cousin," the girl said, holding out her
hand frankly to him. "It is, of course, a great surprise to us, and
I can hardly realize yet that you are really my cousin."

"Now, Harry," his uncle said briskly, "I will give orders to have
your things taken out of the post chaise, and carried up to your
room. We shall be having lunch directly and, after that, you shall
tell us your story at full length."

Ten minutes later they sat down to lunch. When Harry rejoined the
others, he fancied he saw traces of tears in the eyes of Mrs.
Lindsay and her daughter; and he thought that perhaps they had been
thinking that, if their own boys had lived, they also would be
young men now.

After the meal was over, the squire said:

"Now, wife, we will all adjourn to the library. It is the most
comfortable room in the house, and the cosiest--just the place for
listening to a long story. I have told William to get two more
armchairs there, so that we can sit round the fire--which is quite
the proper thing to do when a story has to be told."

The light had faded out of the sky, and the curtains were drawn;
but the squire would not have candles lighted, saying that the
blaze of the fire was the proper thing to listen by. Harry related
fully the manner in which he had been brought up and trained, by
his nurse, for the time when he could present himself at Bombay;
and also his adventures in the Deccan, which had paved the way for
his obtaining a commission. He told the rest more briefly, though
he was obliged, in answer to the questions of the others, to go
somewhat further into his personal adventures.

"It is a wonderful story," the squire said, when he at last
finished. "There are many things that you have cut very short; and
which you must, some other time, tell us fully. Your poor father
would have reason to be proud of you, indeed, had he lived to see
you now. He thought that he was wonderfully fortunate, in obtaining
a majority at the age of thirty-five; but you have got it ten years
younger.

"Well, we have not spared you, for we have kept you talking over
four hours."

Dinner passed off quickly, and when wine had been placed on the
table, and the servants retired, Mr. Lindsay said:

"You will understand, Harry, that although absolutely certain that
you are my nephew, I do not resign, and offer you my seat at the
head of the table, until the documents that you have brought are
formally examined."

"What do you mean, uncle?" Harry asked, in surprise.

"I mean, of course, that as your father's son, this estate is
yours, and not mine."

Harry rose to his feet.

"I don't understand you, uncle. I never dreamt for a moment--" and
he stopped.

"That your father was my eldest brother. Yes, he was a year older
than myself; and at his father's death would, of course, have
succeeded to the estate. But he died before him; and you, as his
son, will of course succeed."

"But I could not dream of such a thing, uncle. Do you think that I
have come down here with the idea of turning you and my aunt and
cousin out, and taking your place? If I had known it, I should not
have come down at all. It would be monstrous if, after you have
been master here for twenty-five years, I should come down to claim
the estate from you."

"I am glad to hear you say so, Harry," his uncle said, gravely.
"Naturally, it did not occur to us that you were ignorant that your
father was the eldest son. We thought, from your manner, that you
would be willing to arrange everything on amicable terms; for of
course, legally, you are entitled to all the back rents, which I
honestly say I could not pay. Your aunt's little fortune, and my
portion as younger brother, will be amply sufficient to keep us
three comfortably; but as to paying the arrears, it would be
impossible."

"My dear uncle, the whole thing is impossible. I have returned home
with an ample amount of money to live in luxury. I did not think it
necessary to mention, in my story, that Nana Furnuwees presented me
with a considerable sum of money; and Bajee Rao did the same. This
I invested in land close to Bombay, which is now covered with
houses, and fetched five times the price I gave for it. In addition
to this, I have been in civil employment for the past six years
and, as I have always been on the move, I have never had the
expense of an establishment, and have thus saved some five thousand
pounds.

"Therefore I am master of something over ninety thousand pounds;
and can, if I do not return to India--which I have, I may say,
already made up my mind not to do, buy an estate. I have had very
much more than my share of adventures, and have marvellously
escaped. If I return, my luck might change.

"At any rate, I have had enough of it. I have made a very handsome
fortune and, even putting everything else aside, would rather know
that I owed all I possessed to my own good luck and exertions, than
to an accident of birth."

"But that cannot be, lad."

"Well, uncle," Harry said obstinately, "if you choose to see things
in that light, all I can say is, that I shall at once throw up my
leave and return to India; and if you choose to leave this house
and estate, it may go to wreck and ruin for anything I care."

"Well, well, my boy, we won't say anything more about it, now, but
will leave it to the lawyers to settle."

"I shall certainly employ no lawyers in the matter, uncle. By all
means, obtain your solicitor's opinion as to whether the proofs I
have put in your hands are sufficient to establish, beyond all fear
of doubt, the fact that I am the son of Major Harry Lindsay. It
matters not whether my father was your elder brother or not, to
anyone except ourselves. I am perfectly satisfied with having
proved, to the satisfaction of all in India, that I am the son of a
brave officer. My object in coming to England was not to see
whether I was entitled to money, but simply to find friends among
the families of my father and mother; and if it were to end in my
turning you, my aunt, and cousin out of the place you have believed
to be your own, for so many years, my visit here would be a dismal
failure, and I should bitterly regret having set foot in England.

"Please do not let us say anything more about it. The matter, so
far as I am concerned, is concluded; and nothing that can possibly
be said will shake my determination, in any way."

In order to break the silence, for Mrs. Lindsay and Mary were both
wiping their eyes, Harry went on:

"Now that we have finished this question, uncle, I will tell you
how I got the ratification of the treaty, that will some day be
made for our occupation of Singapore, from the Rajah of Johore. As
far as the excitement went, it certainly was the most stirring
business that I was ever employed in;" and he at once launched into
the narrative of his capture, the escape, the adventure with the
tiger, and the defence of Johore.

"It seems to me, Harry," his uncle said, when he had finished,
"that you not only have as many lives as a cat, but as a whole
posse of cats. I cannot but think that it was a wild business,
altogether; and that, having got the assent of the gentleman with
the very hard name, there was no occasion to bother about the
rajah, who seemed to have no authority whatever."

"But he might have got it, you see, uncle. It may be ten years or
more before a governor general will be able to attend to the
business, and it was as well to get it settled, once for all."

"What did the rajah present you with for saving his capital?"

"He offered me a number of weapons and things but, as I had no
place to put them in, I could not be bothered with them. I do not
think that cash was at all a strong point with him, and I don't
suppose he had a thousand dollars in his treasury. I was a little
surprised that he did not offer me half a dozen young ladies as
wives; but had he done so, I should have resisted the temptation,
as they would have been even more trouble than the weapons."

"You never fell in love with any of the Indian beauties, cousin
Harry?"

"I have never seen any to fall in love with. The ladies of the
upper class in India, whether Hindus or Mussulmans, always go
closely veiled; and as to the English ladies, in the first place
they were nearly all married, and in the second place I went as
little into society as I could help, being on the Governor
General's staff, and nearly always away on duty. Certainly I never
saw anyone who caused my pulse to beat faster; which I believe,
from what I have read, is one of the many symptoms of being in
love."

Harry then enquired about his mother's relations.

"I, unfortunately, can tell you nothing about them. She was an only
daughter when she married your father. Both her parents died, years
ago. They only had a lease of the place they lived in, and I really
cannot tell you anything whatever about them. There was a son, who
would, I suppose, succeed to any property his father left; but he
was a ne'er-do-well, and was seldom at home, and I have never seen
or heard of him, since."

"Well, I am quite content with the relations that I have found, and
shall not trouble myself to seek further."

Four days passed. At the end of that time, Mr. Lindsay received a
letter from his lawyer and, after breakfast, asked Harry to go into
the library with him.

"About that business that we were talking about, I have today
received an answer to my letter. My lawyer is of opinion, from what
I told him of these papers, that your case is a strong one; and
that though, if I chose, I might give you a great deal of trouble,
he thinks that in the long run you would succeed. As I don't want
to give you trouble; and as I am, myself, as completely convinced
that you are my brother Harry's son as that I am his brother, the
matter may now be considered as finally settled."

"Quite so, uncle. I don't want to hear anything more about it. If
you choose to be obstinate, and turn out, I can only say that I
shall be sorry that the old house, where my father and you were
both born, should go to wreck and ruin. At any rate, let the matter
rest, for the present. Possibly it may yet be arranged to the
satisfaction of all parties."

"It will certainly not be arranged to my satisfaction," the squire
grumbled, "unless you become master here."

"We will talk it over, in six months' time."

He related the conversation to his wife who, to his surprise,
looked pleased.

"Nothing could be better," she said; "it would be an excellent
plan."

"What on earth do you mean, Louisa?"

"You are as blind as an owl, Peter. There can be only one meaning
in what he has said, only one arrangement that could be
satisfactory to all parties."

"And what is that, my dear?" the squire said, a little testily.

"I mean, of course, that he should marry Mary."

The squire sat down suddenly, in his surprise.

"Such an idea never entered my head," he said. "But why should you
think of it? Why, the young fellow has only been here four or five
days!"

"That is quite long enough for him to see that Mary is a charming
girl," Mrs. Lindsay said. "He has seen very little of ladies; and
he is, no doubt, struck with the idea that she is an extremely nice
girl. I don't say that he is in love with her, yet; but quite
enough, perhaps, to foresee that, ere long, he will feel more
ardent than he does at present; and that it is the only arrangement
possible, since we are determined to turn out for him.

"Now mind, Peter, you do not throw out the slightest hint, either
to him or to her, that such a solution has ever occurred to us. It
might spoil everything. It would make Mary shy with him, and might
cause him to be awkward. You give your consent to remain here, for
six months. By that time the question will have solved itself. If I
am wrong, no harm will have been done. If I am right, the
arrangement will be, as he says, a satisfactory one to us all."

"I was always against cousins marrying," Mr. Lindsay said,
doubtfully.

"Don't be absurd, Peter. I don't say that, in some cases, there is
not a good deal to be said against it; but where both the man and
the woman are healthy, and come of healthy families, no union can
be more likely to be happy."

"But I think I have heard you speak--"

"Never mind what you have heard me speak, sir; circumstances alter
cases, and this case is altogether an exceptional one.

"We certainly could not wish for a finer young fellow as Mary's
husband. He is a desirable partner, in every respect. He is himself
well off and, although I quite agree with you that, whatever it
costs, we must give the dear old place up, I grant that it would be
very pleasant to avoid so terrible a wrench.

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