Page:History of the French in India.djvu/105

M. DUMAS KECEtVES THE WIDOW OF DOST ALI. 83 greatly strengthened, with all the means at his disposal, C ^ R the west fortifications of the place. For fifteen days 1 carts and beasts of burden were seen pouring into 1740. Pondichery laden with grain and other stores. M. Dumas superintended himself all the arrangements for procuring and storing this grain, and of ordering the defences. No point was neglected ; his industry was untiring. At the same time, the natives of the surrounding country, who had anything to lose, arrived in vast numbers, bringing with them their stores and valuables. But other and greater guests were approach- ing. On May 25th, five days after the battle, whilst the preparations we have above alluded to were still progressing, a grand cortege was seen moving towards Pondichery. This proved to be the widow of Dost Ali Khan, with her children, her dependents, her jewels and other property, under the escort of a large body of cavalry. Arriving before the walls, she at once sent a message to the Governor, praying for admission into the city. None knew better than M. Dumas, that if anything would most certainly draw down upon himself the power of the Marathas, and would infallibly induce them to move upon Pondichery, it would be the knowledge of the fact that the city contained within its walls the most valuable property of the late Nawwab. It is certain that under any circumstances, the chivalrous feelings natural to a real man would have incited him to throw wide open the gates to one who was not only a woman, but a woman in distress. But there was no occasion for him to act from mere feeling. It was in his eyes more politic to run the risk of bringing the Marathas upon Pondichery, than to undergo the certainty of being dis- honoured and contemned throughout India. Safdar Ali also was still unsubdued, and the refusal to admit his mother would undoubtedly make an enemy of one, who had even then the best chance of becoming the feudal G 2