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The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan | William Makepeace Thackeray | |
Chapter IV: The Indian Camp--The Sortie From The Fort |
Page 3 of 6 |
"Bismillah, mashallah, barikallah," said I; which means, "My good friend, what I have seen is not worth the trouble of relation, and fills my bosom with the darkest forebodings." "You could not then see the Gujputi alone, and stab him with your dagger?" [Here was a pretty conspiracy!] "No, I saw him, but not alone; his people were always with him." "Hurrumzadeh! it is a pity; we waited but the sound of your jogree (whistle), and straightway would have galloped up and seized upon every man, woman, and child in the fort: however, there are but a dozen men in the garrison, and they have not provision for two days--they must yield; and then hurrah for the moon-faces! Mashallah! I am told the soldiers who first get in are to have their pick. How my old woman, Rotee Muckun, will be surprised when I bring home a couple of Feringhee wives,--ha! ha!" "Fool!" said I, "be still!--twelve men in the garrison there are twelve hundred! Gahagan himself is as good as a thousand men; and as for food, I saw with my own eyes five hundred bullocks grazing in the courtyard as I entered." This WAS a bouncer, I confess; but my object was to deceive Puneeree Muckun, and give him as high a notion as possible of the capabilities of defence which the besieged had. "Pooch, pooch," murmured the men; "it is a wonder of a fortress: we shall never be able to take it until our guns come up." |
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The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan William Makepeace Thackeray |
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