THE RAJAH OF GHANAPORE by H. Gregory Hill

Author:H. Gregory Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

The Trapping of Sexton Blake.

WHEN Blake opened his eyes to the world again he lay upon a bamboo charpoy in a circular apartment of stone walls, high in one of which a solitary window gave a glimpse of sky like a square patch of black velvet flecked with a few stars.

Bending over him was a vague shape, which to his dazed and drugged senses gradually evolved from a hazy semblance of Prince Habib Bundra, Rajah of Ghanapore, to that of his arch-enemy, Gunga Dass.

Squatting with their backs to one of the walls, complacently smoking great hookahs, were four white-bearded, venerable-looking men, their dark, impassive faces faintly illumined by the kerozene lamp which burnt in the chamber on a stone slab.

Venerable looked those old men, yet the British Secret Service could have told that they were a very terrible power in India, and a serious menace to the British Raj.

"All hail, O wizard of the West," he heard the mocking voice of Dass saying, whilst his dim vision marked the leering smile. "O great wizard of the wise, against whom I have dared to pit my humble powers—all hail!"

Blake winced at the bitter jibe. He realized that he had been hoodwinked and fooled. Dass had never meant him to leave the precincts of the royal palace. Yet by appearing to be afraid of injuring the British detective, even afraid to detain him as a prisoner, he had lured Blake into a sense of false security, thereby robbing him of the one chance he had had of liberty.

That chance had been, of course, to denounce Dass boldly as an impostor to the palace guard, trusting to luck that some amongst them might believe his story, and be loyal to the missing rajah in whose shoes this scoundrel stood.

How Dass had got into these royal shoes, by what piece of daring villainy, Blake could not tell. He realized now that the Hindoo’s cunning had utterly outwitted him, and that he never again would have the opportunity too expose the scoundrel to the palace guard.

For these men around him were Dass’s own minions, bitter foes to the British, and no doubt, like Dass himself, worshippers of Kali, and so bitter foes to the Christian servitors of the royal palace.

"The first trick, my friend," said the detective grimly, "is yours. I admit it, And what then?"

Dass smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, as he said:

"You shall see!"

"Let me tell you, you scoundrel, that I was sent here by the British Government," Blake said desperately, for he now feared death. "Dare to harm me, and I shall go to my fate bitterly avenged!"

The detective paused, and glanced at the Hindoo’s compatriots. They regarded him in return from curious eyes, This calm-voiced sahib commanded their respect. Blake took a more careful survey, and recognized two of them, with a slight start of surprise, as powerful political agitators.

"Your minions, I take it!" he resumed, and there was scorn in his steady voice. "Fitting companions in crime, friend Dass! A word of advice, though.

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