But above all, Ramcharan had yet another seasonable qualification—his cunning. He was cunning as a fox, but at the same time of unparallelled faith and devotion to his master.
On his way to open the door he thought, who should be knocking at the door at this time of the night? Is it the ascetic? Not unlikely! Whatever that might be, we have done some mischief; I should not open the door without making sure.”
With this decision he quietly came and stood at the door for a while and listened. He heard two persons whispering in a foreign tongue. Ramcharan designated it as Indil Mindil; now people call it English. He said to himself, “Wait my boy! If I should at all open the door I must have my gun in hand. Dub me a wife’s brother,[1] if you catch me trusting Indil Mindil! ”
“I am afraid one gun will not do,” further thought, Ramcharan, “let me call the master.” With this idea he turned back to call Protap.
By this time the Englishmen’s patience had been lost. “Why do you wait?” cried Johnson, “kick away. the Indian door cannot resist the British kick.”
Galstaun gave a kick. The door shock and rattled. Ramcharan begun to run. The noise had reached Protap’s ears, and he came down the steps. The door did not give way now.
Then Johnson gave another kick. The door burst away and fell down.
"Thus,” said the Englishmen, “let all India tumble down at the British kick,” and they triumphantly entered the house. The sepoys followed.
Protap met Ramcharan on the stairs. Ramcharan whispered to him, “Go hide yourself in the dark, the
- ↑ Wife's brother in Bengali is a term of abuse
