nhappy I was
made by these symptoms, though I was far indeed from guessing at their
cause.

Suddenly, in the midst of these private disquietudes, an event
happened which cast a shadow over the whole community of Calcutta.
Intelligence arrived that Allaverdy Khan was dead, and his nephew
Surajah Dowlah proclaimed Nabob of Bengal.

CHAPTER IX

_THE SPY_

So many accounts have been written of the events which took place in
Bengal about this time, that I shall omit as much as possible of the
public transactions in which I was concerned, dealing rather with my
own particular adventures in the midst of them.

Of Surajah Dowlah, at the time of his accession, I knew only what was
reported about him by common rumour in the settlement, which was that
he was a young man of cruel and vicious propensities, ill-disposed
towards the English in his country, and greedy for plunder. This was
enough to make me share the uneasiness about his intentions towards
us, which I found to prevail in the minds of Mr. Holwell, Mr. Byng,
and other prudent persons. On the evening of the day on which I heard
this news, therefore, I went round to Mr. Rising's house, to speak
with Marian about her situation.

It was not quite dusk when I arrived, being the month of April. To my
surprise I found the outer gate leading into the garden close shut,
and it was not till after knocking and shouting for many minutes that
the Indian porter condescended to come and open it. Being angry with
the man for this unreasonable delay, I cuffed him as I passed in--for
without some severities of this kind there is nothing to be done with
the natives of Bengal. The fellow, instead of cringing before me as is
the wont of these people, gave me a black look, and muttered
sullenly--

"The lord is harsh to his servant, but another may be harsher to the
lord."

Not knowing at this time the wonderful intelligence which prevails
among the Indians, so that news of all kinds travels about among them
by underground channels of which Europeans are not permitted to know,
I did not sufficiently understand the gravity of this threat.
Dismissing it as a mere piece of insolence, however unusual, I walked
up to the house and opening the door for myself, came into the room
where Marian usually received me and which was the same I have already
described.

I found her sitting alone by the open window, in the dusk, looking out
into the river. As I walked in she turned with t