"
"I don't give up hope, sir. They're alive, at any rate; and Diggle has
lost them. I feel sure we shall find them."
"God grant it, my lad."
Chapter 27: In which an officer of the Nawab disappears; and Bulger
reappears.
"This will be my last trip, sahib, for my present master. He says I waste
too much time on the river. He also complains that I go to places without
leave and without reason. He heard we were at Mayapur, and wanted to know
why. I made excuses, sahib; I said whatever came into my head; but he was
not satisfied, and I leave his service in a week."
"That is a pity, Hossain. Unless we are in the service of some well-known
banya we cannot go up and down the river without exciting suspicion.
However, let us hope that before the week is out the fleet will be here."
Desmond looked a little anxious. The success of his project for
preventing the fouling of the passage at Tanna Fort was more than ever
doubtful. The petala was moored opposite the Crane ghat at Calcutta,
taking in a cargo of jawar {millet} for Chandernagore. The work of
loading had been protracted to the utmost by the serang; for Desmond did
not wish to leave the neighborhood of Calcutta at the present juncture,
when everything turned upon their being on the spot at the critical
moment.
While they were talking, a man who had every appearance of a respectable
banya approached the plank over which the coolies were carrying the jawer
on board. He stood idly watching the work, then moved away, and squatted
on a low pile of bags which had been emptied of their contents.
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