happened. But then if the English had not made their appearance in Bengal, Shaibalini would never have fallen into the hands of Lawrence Foster. Therefore, his exasperation against the English became irrepressible, and Protap concluded that Foster must be caught once more and killed; and this time a cremation should be arranged for him, else he might come to life again——he might force his way up through the grave. The next conclusion he arrived at was, that the English must be extirpated from Bengal as there were many Fosters among them.
With these thoughts he went back to Monghyr in the very same skiff.
He went into the fort and found that the Nawab was going to fight the English and mighty preparations were afoot.
Protap’s heart was gladdeued. “Wouldn’t the Nawab be able to drive these ruffians from Bengal?” he asked himself. “Wouldn’t Foster be caught?”
“Everyone” he went on, “ought to help the Nawab in this affair as much as it lies in his power. Even a squirrel might bridge an ocean.” [1]
“Can I do any service? What can I do?” he next asked himself.
“I have no disciplined troops,” he again thought, “I have only clubmen—a band of desperados. Can they do any service?”
“If nothing else could be done,” he continued, “atleast, the plundering was possible. I could make raids on the villages which would help the English; I could
- ↑ The allusion is to a story in the Ramayana where a squirrel is said to have worked in its own humble way in the construction of a bridge between India and Ceylon so that Rama and his army might have an easy passage to the latter place for attacking Ravana.
