Page:Our Indian Army.djvu/413

Rh thus afforded of a determination to screen the offender induced the Resident, with the concurrence of the Governor-General, to demand that he should be delivered into British custody.

This proposal was, of course, still more revolting to the Peishwa, who began to augment his troops; and it was understood that he was on the point of making common cause with his Minister – to flee with him from the capital, and endeavour to raise the Mahrattas against the Company. Mr. Elphinstone then considered it indispensable to order the subsidiary force to march on Poonah; but Bajee Rao, when he saw the sword about to be drawn, lost courage, and Trimbuckjee was delivered into the hands of the English. The crime with which he stood charged being aggravated in the view of the natives by having been committed on a Brahmin of high sanctity, and within the precincts of one of their holiest shrines, threw a great degree of popularity on the vigorous steps taken by the Resident for its punishment.

Our countrymen conducted their prisoner to the strong fortress of Tannah, in the Island of Salsette, and watched him so narrowly that they did not admit a single native into the guard; but, in spite of this excessive precaution, he escaped in the following manner. A common-looking Mahratta groom, with a good character in his hand, came one day to offer his services to the commanding officer; he was accepted, and had to keep his horse under the window of Trimbuckjee's prison. Nothing remarkable was observed, except a more than usual attention to his horse; and a habit, while currying and cleaning him, of singing verses from Mahratta songs, all apparently relating to his trade, but which really communicated a plan contrived for the prisoner's escape. Through a small gap in the wall of the fortress, Trimbuckjee reached a stable; and not being missed for a few minutes, he succeeded in crossing the narrow channel which separates Salsette from the continent. He immediately hastened to the southern districts, where he