the Budgrow had been shifted to deep waters by Pratap's skill. One of them made an attempt to swim up to the Budgrow to get hold of it. Pratap raising a pole, struck him with it, on the head. The man swam back—no one else ventured to advance. Touching the bottom of the river with that pole, Pratap propelled the boat. The Budgrow, taking a side turn, came upon the strong current, and moved towards the east, in great speed. With the pole in hand, Pratap turned back and found that another Telinga sepoy, kneeling down on the top of the Budgrow, was raising his gun to fire at him. Pratap struck the sepoy on his hand, with the pole. His hand became disabled, and the gun dropped down. Pratap picked up that gun and also the one which had fallen down from Foster's hand. He then spoke aloud to the men in the boat,
"Know it, my name is Pratap Roy. Even the Nawab is afraid of me. With these two guns and the pole, I can alone kill all of you. If you obey me, I shall not harm any one of you. I am going to the helm—let the boatmen all row—others should remain where they are now; death is certain if they move, otherwise they have nothing to fear."
Pratap, then, poked the boatmen with the end
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