THE RAJAH OF LIVES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCV, Issue 10921, 1 April 1896, Page 2

THE RAJAH OF LIVES.

A OE NORTHERN INDIA. (Pearson’* Weekly') ■ • ? When I had been, some five or six years in the Indian Civil Service I received in- ■ strnctions from the Central Government to shift my quarters from comfortable and populous Rapoul to a little township in the hill country, Mahoutla, in the province of that name. It appeared that there was a mystery connected with the place of many years’ standing. A series of very singular murders had been committed by the. Rajah and his predecessors, who apparently possessed, the power of life .and death over their subjects to such an extent that their, mere word .was sufficient to kill a man without physical force of any kind being used. After studying the .maps of my department, I strolled over to the club; to inter- - view Colonel Maynard, the, only European in Rapoul who knew much about Mahoutla. 'He was in a basket-chair on' the verandah, and was' humming over to. himself a fragmeat of a pig-sticking song, but he broke off suddenly as I entered. ’ ; “ Hullo, Everett! Off to Mahoutla, I hear F” he began., “ Jove, dear boy, awfully sorry for you, .don’t you know. Slowest hole in creation. You’ll get there just about the tail of the rainy season; everything’ll be damp, moist, and unpleasant. Then you’ll be blown to pieces by the wind, ..and the heat after that,’ with fever and what not, will probably, finish you up. If ,: you’re exceptionally lucky you may be ; killed’ by the Rajah' 'before you die of climate. 'He’s a lively card if he’s anything like his father; I don’t know much about the murder mystery, but I do know that when I was there some people were ■ killed very strangely by him, without a scratch. being found afterwards on their bodies/ The people look upon their Rajah as- a sort of deity ; they’re a warlike lot, too/and go in for initiations when they come-of age that are not at all unlike those of Zulu warriors. I hope you’ll survive it; but I had a dozen men with me, and there were, only seven of us left alive at the end . of a Couple of months ” ‘‘Not a very lively prospect, Colonel Maynard,” I said with a laugh that was not altogether, • involuntary. “ Still, a fellow must risk something now-a-days if ’ he wants to get out of the rut.” “ Risk getting into a much deeper one, I suppose?-Still; I don’t want do discourage you. .1 was as keen on going as you are when I was your age ” I thought to'myself that the colonel need not have been so very “keen after \ all to warrant his last statement; and a .consultation with my syce, whose brother had lived for some time in Mahoutla, did not go far towards improving the complexion of my prospects. The man implored me not to go. The story of the mysterious powers of the Rajahs of Mahoutla was, he assured me, no myth. His brother had witnessed a man come to his death simply through a Rajah’s curse. His bride had been taken from him by the monarch ; the man hastened in his wrath to the palace, demanded to see her, and, after openly defying the Rajah,, struck him, in the presence of alfTiis court. Vengeance, said * my informant, was swift. White with rage, the Rajah rose from his' throne, hurled out sentence of death at the man, touched him on the forehead with his hand, and in a moment the unhappy fellow rolled on the ground in the agonies of death. There ■ were absolutely no marks of violence on the body, when Hamed’s brother saw' it .after the event. ; An Oriental’s story.must always be taken with. a grain , of salt, and this narration; though it did not make me any the more cheerful, failed to detof me from my journey. A day or two later I said farewell to my acquaintances, packed my kit, and started with an escort of twenty native troopers, under the command of a subaltern, for Mahoutla. Once in, the saddle, amid the jingling of accoutrements, and the creaking and squeaking of leather, I forgot my misgivings, and began to look forward eagerly to, the successful termination of my mission. . A fortnight’s rough riding brought us to the outskirts of. the town, where we took up our quarters in an old ruined temple, there being absolutely no accommodation for visitors in Mahoutla.” Colonel Maynard had not at all ex-

aggerated the unhealthy situation of the town. It lies in a patch of jungle between two steep hills; and : the floods descending from the hillsides had left it in a condition difficult to describe. The houses, of day and straw, were simply sodden with the wet; huge boulders and trunks of trees lay scattered where they had fallen about the town, and tracks of hogland' surrounded it on all sides, waiting for the sun to turn them into vast mouths, breathing forth disease and death

The temple stood just outside Mahoutla, on a slight elevation. It was built out of huge slabs of stone, somewhat clumsily, perhaps, but the interior was handsomely decorated, and the whole building was evidently the work of a superior race of men. I shared a private room with Cummings, the subaltern, and though it must have been scores of years since the last priest; of the temple dwelt in it, our men soon made it habitable -with our belongings. The troopers themselves camped out on the floor of the temple, where they were certainly not cramped for room.

; Things had hardly been put into shipshape order when a huge form darkened the doorway, and Singh Matee, our trusty • sergeant, introduced a quite unexpected messenger from the Rajah. His Highness had not. wasted much time in sending for us, for it was an invitation to call upon him at the palace. Leaving half-a-dozen well-armed troopers to guard our belongings,. the rest of us mounted our horses, and rode slowly back ■to the palace; the messenger of the Rajah walking by my side. * As we reached the gates of the palace the guard'fired a salute, to which we responded with blank cartridges from our carbines. Then the huge gates swung; back on tbeir hinges, the sentries saluted, and the next moment the sounds of onr horses’ - hoofs were echoing from the cobbled courtyard. At the entrance to the .palace itself we dismounted, and, leaving our horses in charge of two of 'the ! troopers,, followed the messenger to the presence chamber of his sovereign. ' v The Rajah was dressed in full robes of state to receive us. An enormous turban, fastened with magnificent diamond clasps, surmounted a face as cruel and relentless as it has ever been my lot to see. He was clad in crimson garments; which absolutely blazed with diamonds and other stones of immense value; his sword of state was by his side, in a scabbard of pure gold, .studded with sparkling'jewels. But what attracted me most was the man’s face’; his hard,, glittering eyes; his pale complexion, which showed that he was of a higher race than his subjects, and which, almost hid the pallid tribe-mark on the forehead, borne even by him, from view.

As we entered, his glittering eyes seemed to pierce me through and through; and though P do not believe in mesmerism to the extent that many people do to-day, I felt their fascination, and remembered for the moment that I was in the East, the home of the mysterious, the miraculous, the occult.

Yet possibly the thought that behind those eyes lay a brain that knew all that I wanted most to discover; that guarded, with the aid of the thin determined lips, a secret meaning wealth and fame and position to me; life or death to many; mystery to the whole Indian world; really had more to do with my feelings than any mesmeric power.

Our guide bowed low at the steps of the gilded throne, and kissed the foot that was extended on the foot-stool. Then he introduced us to the sovereign.

The Eajah. was, pleased to receive, us with condescending favour. Evidently, like so many other Eastern potentates, he found boredom ' not altogether unknown within his palace walls; even the Sidelights of sovereignty could not atone for the slowness of the place, and anything at all novel or out of the common was hailed by him with as much enthusiasm as' he could muster. It seemed to me more than likely that many of his murders were committed solely with the object of breaking the monotony of his life. For some time our talk was confined to casual everyday matters, he, like a true Eastern, loading me with cheap compliments, while I gave him all . the news of the outside world. He was. certainly a man of some education; narrow minded, of course, ’ but vastly above the average native in intelligence and knowledge. I was surprised to find, too, that he had a very good elementary knowledge of surgery and physics, and was wonderfully well acquainted witK native drugs and remedies. Now, I commenced life with the intention of becoming a doctor, and have kept up my studies more or less religiously, so that, having thus found a subject in common, we got on very well together, until my vocabulary of native medical terms was exhausted.

But at last conversation flagged, and I determined to come to Business. I plunged inmedias res, and explained to him, without any further preamble or beating about the bush, that the report of several mysterious murders _ committed by him had come to the ears of the Government, and that I had been sent to investigate matters, to demand an explanation, and to inform him that, in the event of any repetition, of the crimes, steps would be taken to punish him, and to.enforce obedience to the commands of the Empress.

The change that came over the man as he heard my words was astonishing, even to one accustomed, as I was, to the fickle natures of the East. His face darkened and grew pale by turns; when I finished my speech with a bold demand for an explanation he grew absolutely livid. Then, rising quickly from his seat, he essayed to speak; but rage choked his utterance, and, after two or three ineffectual efforts, he beckoned the man who had conducted us into the presencechamber to approach. The fellow came near and stood by the

steps of the. throne. Then for a moment there was silence, until- at. last, in a torrent of words that was all the' more terrible for the temporary harrier that rage had set up, the Rajah addressed me.

“ Am I a dog ?” he said, “a dog, andthe son of a dog, that I should be called to heel like this ? Am I a slave, a toy, a plaything for the White Queen to whip or crush to pieces at her pleasure P Has she sent to the tiger’s lair to ask the tiger why he slays his lawful prey ? She shall learn that the tiger has fangs that one cannot play with. I am a king, the son of a king, in my mwn country; I am a god, with, the power ✓of gods over life and death. See, now; see my power; look and see and go back to thy mistress and thy people, and tell what the-Rajah of Lives can do with his own i~ . ® slaves.

He turned again to themiserable man who had escorted us to the palace. .. Evidently the fellow felt that some fearful fate was in store for him, fbr he fell at his master’s feet, fawning like a dog. The Rajah bade him rise; and once more he stood before him. •

A recollection crossed my mind of a king in an ancient story, who ordered two of his servants to dash themselves over a precipice to show an envoy what sort of soldiers he commanded; and I whispered to Cummings in English that we must be ready to act if the Rajah attempted to draw a weapon on the man, or to force him to kill himself. There was a moment’s pause, and we stood with hands ready to jump to sword hilts. Then the Rajah’s voice broke the silence.

“ Miokolei,” he said, “ these dogs of English have sent to rule my kingdom. I am going to show them against whom they fight!” He paused a moment, apparently bracing himself for some great effort, his blazing, head-like eyes concentrated all ’ the time ‘on his victim. Then suddenly with a swoop like that of the serpent, he reached forward, touching the man slightly on the forehead. “ Die, thou,” he hissed between his teeth. There was no weapon used, that I can swear / for we were ready on the slightest sign of any to defend the man. Nor was the blow hard enough to kill, or even to hurt the frailest woman; it seemed simply a sharp tap on the tribemark, a tap that might have been given by a child.

And yet the man fell as if shot; and, after a convulsive struggle, in which his veins stood out like whipcord and his eyes were nearly forced from their sockets, lay still for ever. For a few moments there was silence, deep silence, -in the room; the Rajah sank, back .to - his seat,' exultant, watching us with his glittering eyes; dur men put hands on their swords, and waited, awestruck; the guards and courtiers shrank back, trying to elude the glance of their master; while the click of a lattice showed us that the deed had bepn witnessed from the rooms of the women of the court. At last I bent down and touched the body, half expecting .au electric shock to thrill me as I did so. I was more nearly a believer in mesmerism then than 1 had ever been before, or am ever likely to be again; but there was nothing extraordinary in the feeling of the corpse ; it was, of course, still warm, though there could be no doubt that life had fled for ever.

As soon as I had ascertained this, and had assured myself that any attempts at reanimation would be useless, I tried to discover the means by which life had been thus mysteriously taken. But there was not a mark, not the sign even of a pin prick on the body for the idea had crossed my mind that a poisoned ring might have done the mischief, and, at last, thoroughly mystified, I. rose, and stood erect again before the Eajah. He had been watching me with a look of triumphant hate.upon his features, and when I abandoned the task he gave vent to his satisfaction in a harsh, discordant' laugh: “ I told you I was a god, with the power of life and death; have I.lied? /'Look. at the body ; you will find no mark, no sign, even if you look till doomsday. Ely curse has killed him. Go and tell that to the white men at Eapoul; go and tell the Empress of India what you know of the Eajah of Elahoutla’s power.” My blood was up, and I retorted angrily: “il shall not go,” I said, “until I have found out the mystery ' and made you answer for your crimes. Until then, if I spend my life in Mahoutla, I will stay here.”

“ Then I will kill you also !” he hissed angrily, between his teeth. Our troopers' clutched the handles of their sabres, and Cummings and I put our hands on our' revolvers, resolved to sell life dearly, if sold it must be. The Rajah noticed the movement, and laughed scornfully. “ Hot that, notthat,” he said. “ If I can kill you by my word alone, why should I trouble to use force ? By the sword of my father, if you are not in the saddle when the clock strikes five, ready to return to Rapoul, you shall die as that slave died yonder.” With the strange taste of Oriental rulers, the apartment had been decorated in the mingled styles of East and West. The barbaric luxury and costly magnificence ofIndia were relieved by cheap and tawdry specimens of Brummagem workmanship;

priceless tapestry was seen side by side with prints from London penny papers ; while on a table of delicate mosaic work, a common American clock ticked noisily. It was to this he pointed as he spoke; already the hands were at five minutes to the hour, and there was barely time for us to reach our horses and mount them.

One or two of our escort looked very much inclined to hurry out towards the courtyard, but Cummings checked them with a work, and turned to me:

“We had better go—at any rate, for the present. Some of these fellows are beggars at mesmerism; perhaps it’s that; perhaps it’s a poisoned ring; perhaps it’s some knack of hitting. At any rate, the way that fellow died was very uncanny, and I don’t think I should run the risk. We could report matters at Eapoul; and' come back with a stronger force.” “You can do as you like,” I answered; “so can the men. lam going to stay until the hour.”

“Well, we’ll see fair play, if you are determined, although I think it risky. If this fellow kills you I’ll take my oath he won’t live very long after it, whatever happens to all of us.”

I. set my back firmly against the wall of the room, drew my revolvers from their case, to guard against treachery, and waited, while the hands of the clock crept slowly, and yet quickly, towards the hour. At length the hour struck; and as the last sound died away, the Eajah again addressed me.

“ You have not yet gone ? Make haste, get back to your own country, I do not want to kill you.”

His indecision made me determine on a bold movement. 1 would defy him to do his worst.

“ The time is gone/’ I said, “it is five o’clock now, and we are not yet dead. Why do you delay ? Kill me' as you threatened.” There was a subdued murmur among the courtiers in the room, and the Eajah glanced round angrily. Then he turned to me again, his face livid, and said: “ Go, go hence. Am I a liar, that I do not keep my word?, If you go not, you shall surely die.” ' ' / ; • ; “I will not go;-T shall-stay here, and bring.you to justice. "]:Kow\ why do you not kill me? You are, afraid,'and you are unable.” ’ ;‘G %VG

The Eajah’s face was absolutely colourless with rage. ■ V “Killhim,” murmured oneor two of the courtiers; but their voices were hushed in fear as, his burning eye turned towards thorn. ■ ’ .... ... ~

“Kill me; I challenge you,” T -said. .“You are-unable by, your word to-kill me.” ,

Then,.he turned towards me, his, eyes piercing into'' my very brain, and in a moment, with the swoop of' the serpent, his towering form sp&ang forward from the throne, the blow fell on my forehead, and I dropped like a log to the ground. A dozen sabres flashed out in a moment, but I staggered td'-my feet and waved the men back. “ Take him alive,” I shouted, “do not kill him. lam unhurt.”

The Eajah sprang back, throwing aside his cumbrous State sword, and drawing his dagger from its jewelled sheath. “ Akmed,” he called to one of his men, “ call in the outer guard.” To our surprise, the man did not move; and we waited to see the development of events.

“ Call iii the outer guard,” repeated the Rajah imperiously, stamping his foot; hut the man remained like a statue cast in bronze. .

“ Your power is gone now,” he answered sullenly ; “ you are a man, and no god.” In a second the fellow was writhing* .oh the ground, in the : agonies of death. “ I have power over you, dogs,” shrieked the Eajah. “ Khoda Dass, call the guard.” ‘‘This afternoon you killed my brother,” said the man, not moving; and the Eajah sprang upon him. We darted forward to prevent another hmrder; but there was no need, for Khoda Dass had caught both of the Rajah’s wrists, and the rest of his own men were dragging him. to the ground. The struggle was short, but terrible; the Rajah bit and snarled like a, wild beast; the dagger flew from his grasp, but for a second he managed to get one arm free, and a man fell under the fatal blow from his fist. Then our men joined in the struggle, and he was at length overpowered. “Kick that dagger out of his reach,” I said to Sergeant Singh Matee, who was holding him. “He will try to commit suicide.” , '

The Rajah smiled scornfully. “ Have I not power over life and death ?” he said. “See, then, I go to the gods, myancestors.” i

Before we could stop him he released one hand and pressed it to his forehead. Then a sudden and awful change passed over his face, his body shook convulsively, and the Rajah fell to the'.ground—dead. At that moment the shriek. 'of a woman rang out from behind the lattice,; among so many slaves his only mourner. The rest of the story is soon told. I had noticed that the tribe-mark was always the spot on which the fatal blow fell; ; this fact, and a story which a medical friend had told me long years back, gave a clue to the mystery. The medical’s uncle had been an owner of racehorses, and one day the favourite for a certain. race in which he was interested suddenly fell lame, and was unable to run. Quite by chance it was discovered that the trainer had very cleverly made an incision in the horse’s log, inserted a tiny capsule containing some irritant, and, when the place was healed again, had struck it smartly with a stick’ breaking the capsule and causing the horse’s lameness.

It flashed across my mind suddenly that something similar might have happened in this case. I remembered the Rajah’s knowledge of medicine and- surgery; I remembered Colonel Maynard’s story of the initiation of the warriors in Mahoutla. It was not at all unlikely that only Rajahs and priests knew the secret of the tribemark, and alone inserted the capsule of poison. . - Examination of . the tribe mark proved the truth of my conjectures. Two tiny shreds of the thinnest and finest glass were found under the forehead, and clinging to them still were traces of a most virulent poison, composed of native plants and the venom of the deadly tiger snake. The poison, like the native poisons of other barbaric tribes, had evidently been so skilfully prepared as to defy all postmortem tests, and a smart blow from a practised hand was quite sufficient to release the poison and destroy the victim’s life.

I cannot understand to this day why the Rajah allowed his rage to get the better of his prudence sufficiently to raise his hand against me, an Englishman ; but I have no doubt that I should soon have fallen a victim to the knife or poioDn of an assassin speedy if things had turned out differently. My death after the blow was the only event which could have saved his reputation with his people. ''