"I have an idea, Surendra Nath: tell me what you think of it. Did you not tell me as we came up that there is a gumashta[#] of the Company at Santipur?" [#] Agent. "Certainly I did, sir." "Well, as we are, I fear, sure to be cut off by water, may we not take to the land? Could not the gumashta get us a dozen hackeris[#]? We could transfer the goods to them and elude our pursuers perhaps long enough for help to arrive from Calcutta." [#] Bullock-carts. "That is good counsel, sir; why should we not do so?" Accordingly, when they came to the spot where the high road crossed the river by a ford, Desmond ordered his men to row in to the left bank. Selecting two men who knew the country, he bade them land and make the best speed in carrying out instructions which he proceeded to give them. "You, Mohun Lai," he said, "will go to Santipur, quickly, avoiding observation, and request the gumashta in Merriman Sahib’s name to have twelve hackeris, or as many as he can collect, ready to receive loads two or three hours before to-morrow’s dawn. He must get them from the villages, not from Khulna or Amboa, and he must not tell any one why he requires the carts. You, Ishan, will go on to Calcutta, find Merriman Sahib, and ask him to send a body of armed men along the Barrakpur road towards Santipur. You will tell him what we have done, and also that Cossimbazar Fort is in the hands of the Nawab, and Watts Sahib a prisoner. He may know this already. You both understand?" The men salaamed and started on their journey. CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND *In which is given a full, true, and particular account of the Battle of the Carts.* Desmond expected that Mohun Lai would reach Santipur shortly after nightfall. He himself might hope to arrive there, if not intercepted at Khulna or Amboa, at any time between midnight and three o’clock, according to the state of the river. It was approaching dusk when he drew near to Khulna. The boats having been tied up to the bank, as the custom was, Desmond sent the Babu to find out from the Company’s gumashta whether news of the capture of Cossimbazar Fort had reached the bazar, and if any runner had come in from the north. In an hour the Babu returned. He said that there was great excitement in the bazar; no official messenger had arrived, but everybody was saying that the Nawab had captured the English factory at Cossimbazar, and was going to drive all the Firangi out of Bengal. Desmond decided to take a bold course. Official news not having arrived, he might seize the moment to present his dastaks and get away before the customs officers found any pretext for stopping him. Everything happened as he hoped. He met with no more difficulty than at Patli, and informing the official who examined the dastaks that he would drop down to Amboa before tying up for the night, he drew out again into the stream.