Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-08 12:10:56HEADmain

1 files changed, 11819 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/41594-0.txt b/41594-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c9f631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/41594-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11819 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41594 ***
+
+THE DISPUTED V.C.
+
+
+
+
+  BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
+  50 Old Bailey, LONDON
+  17 Stanhope Street, GLASGOW
+
+  BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITED
+  Warwick House, Fort Street, BOMBAY
+
+  BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED
+  1118 Bay Street, TORONTO
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: HE DROPPED THE LIGHTED CANDLE ON THE THIN TRAIL
+  OF POWDER               _Page 88_              _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+THE DISPUTED V.C.
+
+
+A Tale of the Indian Mutiny
+
+
+BY
+
+FREDERICK P. GIBBON
+
+
+_Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood_
+
+
+BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
+
+LONDON AND GLASGOW
+
+
+
+
+Zenith Library
+
+  _BOYS_
+    =The Disputed V.C.= Frederick P. Gibbon.
+    =The First Mate.= Harry Collingwood.
+    =The Boy Castaways.= H. Taprell Dorling.
+    ="Quills".= Walter C. Rhoades.
+
+  _GIRLS_
+    =The Youngest Sister.= Bessie Marchant.
+    =A Princess of Servia.= Bessie Marchant.
+    =A True Cornish Maid.= G. Norway.
+    =Meriel's Career.= Mary B. Whiting.
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    CHAP.                                                       Page
+       I. TED DISAPPROVES                                          9
+      II. AN EXCITING DAY                                         22
+     III. TED DOES NOT THINK MUCH OF THE GUIDES                   29
+      IV. THE FANATICS                                            40
+       V. THE CAD OF THE REGIMENT                                 46
+      VI. THE OUTBREAK OF THE MUTINY                              52
+     VII. WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE                                  60
+    VIII. THE FIGHT IN THE ARSENAL                                69
+      IX. DEFENCE OF THE COMMISSIONER'S HOUSE                     89
+       X. HOPE AND DESPAIR                                       104
+      XI. IN THE CLUTCHES OF PIR BAKSH                           111
+     XII. THE TREACHERY OF THE GUIDES                            122
+    XIII. TYNAN MAKES HIS CHOICE                                 134
+     XIV. THE MARCH OF THE GUIDE CORPS                           145
+      XV. TED'S FIRST BATTLE                                     154
+     XVI. THE POST OF HONOUR                                     162
+    XVII. WITH THE GURKHA PICKET                                 173
+   XVIII. TED'S HOPES ARE RAISED AND DASHED TO THE GROUND        181
+     XIX. TED'S FRIENDS ARE BEWILDERED                           201
+      XX. AN ADVENTURE ON THE RIDGE                              214
+     XXI. WOMBWELL'S MENAGERIE                                   229
+    XXII. TED DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF                              243
+   XXIII. TED EXTINGUISHES HIMSELF                               255
+    XXIV. PIR BAKSH RENDERS TYNAN A SERVICE                      266
+     XXV. TO THE RESCUE                                          282
+    XXVI. LUCKNOW RELIEVED                                       298
+   XXVII. AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE NANA SAHIB                       312
+  XXVIII. THE FINAL SCENE AT LUCKNOW                             330
+    XXIX. JIM DISPOSED OF                                        342
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+
+                                                         Facing Page
+  HE DROPPED THE LIGHTED CANDLE ON THE THIN TRAIL
+    OF POWDER                                         _Frontispiece_
+
+  BATTYE ROSE IN HIS STIRRUPS AND THUNDERED FORTH
+    THE ORDER TO CHARGE                                          160
+
+  THE REBEL REELED AGAINST THE WALL                              336
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Ted Disapproves
+
+
+Ted Russell, ensign of the 193rd Bengal Native Infantry, stationed at
+Aurungpore, in the Punjab, was disgusted and irritable on this first day
+of the never-to-be-forgotten year of 1857--a year destined to bring
+untold misery to thousands of homes and families, and to many a race and
+creed throughout Hindustan and the British Isles; a year that would
+henceforward lie as a dark stain across the page of history.
+
+But our young friend's ill-humour could be traced to a much simpler
+cause than a mere prophetic dread of the future. Ensign Russell had not
+been in India many months, and during the whole of that short period he
+had looked forward with lively and pleasant anticipation to a visit from
+his brother Jim, whom he had seen but twice in the past ten years, and
+who was quite a veteran warrior in Ted's admiring eyes. For Captain
+Russell had been engaged in the Sikh war as well as in several affrays
+with the border Pathans; he was the proud possessor of more than one
+medal, and had quite a prominent scar across his face--the mark of a
+Khyber knife. For the past twelve months he had held the rank of captain
+in the ten-year-old corps of Guides, stationed near Peshawur across the
+Indus, the town that guards the Khyber Pass--the gate of India.
+
+At length this hero-brother had obtained leave of absence to visit
+Aurungpore, and great was the delight of both.
+
+Now, here is what had disgusted the ensign. Before the stalwart captain,
+who had successfully held his own against Sikhs and Afghans, had been
+with Ted a couple of days, he had actually suffered defeat at the hands
+of a slip of a girl of twenty-one--a girl about five feet in height, the
+daughter of Ted's colonel! Jim, who of all men should have been proof
+against such silly nonsense--such idiocy!--had succumbed at first sight,
+and instead of spinning yarns about his campaigns and his defence of
+Chiras Fort, he was mooning about all day long in the wake of this Ethel
+Woodburn.
+
+Ensign Russell quickly found that, whatever plans he might make for the
+day, his brother would be sure to demur, unless the programme provided
+some chance of their meeting or seeing Miss Woodburn. He would plead
+fatigue or lack of interest, and then propose as an alternative
+something either much more fatiguing, or--in the boy's eyes--much less
+interesting. The paltry excuses he made for altering the plans! Poor
+fellow, he thought that the "kid" would not see through his transparent
+subterfuges; but that sharp-witted youngster was not so easily befooled,
+and he voted the proceedings slow, and did not fail to express the
+opinion that his brother was no better than a milksop.
+
+"You say you don't 'feel inclined' to ride to Khasmi to-day," exclaimed
+Ted in disgust, "because your horse is not quite fit! Bosh! Nimrod never
+was better in his life, and he's just eating his head off. I was looking
+at him this morning; he's in the pink of condition, and he simply begged
+me to take him out. Would he be in any better condition, I wonder, if
+Ethel Woodburn was likely to be there?"
+
+Jim turned red, and sharply asked: "What had Miss Woodburn to do with
+it?"
+
+"That's what I should like to know!" Ted retorted. He then looked up at
+the ceiling, placed his hands in his pockets, and calmly observed:
+"You've no chance there, Jim, she's hooked already."
+
+"What d'you say?" exclaimed the excited captain. "It's not true. What
+d'you mean?" he repeated. "You don't say that Miss Woodburn is engaged?"
+
+"Oh, never mind Miss Woodburn!" drawled Ted in his most exasperating
+manner. "What's she got to do with it? The question is whether we ride
+to Khasmi or not."
+
+"Tell me what you mean, you little beggar," Jim went on, half angry, yet
+laughing in spite of himself.
+
+Ted crossed his legs, and, still gazing at the ceiling, drawled: "Why,
+be calm, Russell Major. You just asked what she had to do with the
+matter of our ride to Khasmi. Why this sudden interest?"
+
+Captain Russell kept his temper and laughed.
+
+"Don't try to be too smart, young 'un," he advised. "But it isn't true
+that she's engaged to be married, is it?"
+
+"Well--p'r'aps not exactly that she's engaged," Ted admitted.
+
+There was a tone of pompous condescension in his voice as he went on:
+"But I hear that Sir Arthur Fletcher, the commissioner here, you know,
+is gone on her, and, of course, as he's a splendid catch, the 'old man'
+will want her to marry him, and I don't suppose she'll need much
+pressing, for he's a jolly decent fellow. And besides him, half of our
+fellows are in love with her, though I don't know why. I don't see much
+in her myself; she seems a very ordinary sort of girl to me. And she's
+such a little thing, you know!"
+
+"You conceited young booby!" Jim laughed. "I shall have to take the
+bounce out of you, young man."
+
+Captain Russell began to hate the Commissioner of the Aurungpore
+district very cordially, as well as all the unmarried officers of the
+193rd--half of them for daring to aspire to the hand of his charmer, and
+the other half for being such soulless clods as to refrain from
+kneeling before the shrine at which he worshipped. Needless to add,
+then, that he spent a most unhappy day and sleepless night.
+
+Jim was the eldest son, and Ted the third, of Major-General Russell, a
+soldier who had distinguished himself as a youngster in the Gurkha war
+of 1815, and later in the Afghan and Sikh campaigns. Jim had been ten
+years in India, and had fought against the Sikhs and helped to conquer
+their country, the Punjab, before he had been out many months. A year or
+two later he and his cousin, Charlie Dorricot, had been shut up in the
+small fort of Chiras, with a mere handful of sepoys, and they had come
+through the siege with credit. Dorricot was now a lieutenant in the
+Sirmur Battalion, stationed in the Dehra Dun, near Simla.
+
+The evening following the above conversation, Jim burst into Ted's
+quarters. His face was flushed but beaming, and his eyes seemed to dance
+through sheer happiness. By way of brotherly greeting he struck the
+ensign in the chest.
+
+"Well, young 'un," he cheerfully exclaimed, "you may congratulate me!"
+
+"I'll--I'll knock you down!" answered Ted, staggering from the blow.
+"You bully, why am I to be permitted to congratulate you?"
+
+By way of reply, Jim took hold of his scandalized brother and whirled
+him round the room.
+
+"Because I'm engaged to be married, Ted, to the dearest, sweetest, best
+girl in the world!"
+
+"Oh!" gasped Ted. He had divined the cause of Jim's excitement, but the
+opportunity for making fun of his senior was too good to be thrown away.
+"And what's the dearest, sweetest, best, loveliest, most adorable girl
+in the world thinking of to have you? Besides, what about Miss Woodburn?
+I thought you were sweet on her, you know."
+
+Captain Russell was a sterling good fellow, but his nature was somewhat
+slower than that of his brother. He stared at the cheeky youngster for a
+moment before he grasped the meaning of the sarcasm. He recollected that
+these events formed privileged occasions for youthful wit, and grinned
+affably; having gained his heart's desire he could afford to be
+easy-tempered and tolerant of satire.
+
+"You young cub," he laughed, "you're too facetious for a small boy. It's
+Ethel Woodburn I'm engaged to, as you know very well."
+
+"Oh!" said Ted slowly. "I didn't recognize her from that glowing
+description."
+
+Russell Minor dodged out of reach, keeping the table between them.
+
+"Pax, old man, I'll apologize; I s'pose she's not a bad sort--for a
+girl. So I congratulate you--that is, if you _had_ to go and get hooked
+I don't know that you could have done better. Have you written home
+yet?"
+
+"Do be sensible. How could I? Only settled it a couple of hours ago, and
+I'm going to write now. Wonder what the mater'll think!"
+
+Captain Russell sat down and took out a pen and some writing-paper. He
+shortly rose, however, and pushed the paper from him.
+
+"No, I'll wait till to-morrow," he muttered. "I'm not quite sure that
+I'm not dreaming now, so I'll go and walk it off."
+
+This was going from bad to worse, thought Ted, as two more days passed
+and his brother was spending all his precious leave walking or riding
+about with the girl, who seemed just as stupidly happy as he. Though Ted
+believed (in spite of his chaff) that no one could help liking and
+admiring his brother, he could not see the sense of this falling in
+love. Why on earth was this foolish Ethel Woodburn continually casting
+hurried glances across the room at Jim? Still more incomprehensible was
+the look of gloom that settled on his brother's face whenever Ethel
+quitted the room for however short a period, or the sudden access of joy
+when she returned.
+
+"Thank goodness, I shall never make such a fool of myself!" he
+reflected; but even this thought did not console him for the loss of his
+brother's society. True, both Jim and Ethel frequently asked him to join
+in their rides and walks, but, recognizing the truth of the old saying
+that "two's company, three's none", he decided not to become a nuisance
+to the lovers. He was far from satisfied with the new conditions,
+however, and considered himself ill-used.
+
+"Why should Ethel Woodburn come between us in this way," he grumbled to
+himself, "when I'd been looking forward to such a good time with old
+Jim? I wish she'd stayed in England."
+
+He became morose and irritable, answering curtly when Jim spoke to him,
+and keeping out of Miss Woodburn's way as much as possible. Captain
+Russell was too happy to take much notice of the change in the "young
+'un's" manner, but Ethel observed it with pain. She liked Ted, and had
+always considered him the nicest boy in the regiment, and her love and
+admiration for Jim and the pleasure she found in being with him made her
+see more clearly how the ensign felt the loss of his brother's society.
+She hated the idea of causing a coolness between them, and determined to
+do her utmost to gain Ted's friendship and reconcile him to the
+inevitable.
+
+She therefore took the first opportunity to speak to him when Jim was
+not present.
+
+"Ted," she began, "won't you come a ride with us to-morrow? I wish you
+would."
+
+"Oh, you won't want me!" the ensign ungraciously replied. "I shall only
+be in the way."
+
+"But we do want you, really. Jim came here to see you, and it seems
+horrid of me to monopolize him as I have been doing, when you ought to
+have the first claim. You know," she continued with a sparkle of fun in
+her eyes, "that one can't help falling in love, so you must not be too
+hard on us. You and I are to be brother and sister, and I do want us to
+be good friends, and I wish to know you better, Ted. Do join us
+to-morrow!"
+
+"Would you really like me to?"
+
+"I should, honestly. You'll come, won't you?"
+
+"Thank you very much, Ethel,--only I don't want to be a nuisance."
+
+"And I don't wish you to think me a nuisance. Thank you, Ted; it's very
+decent of you to come."
+
+When she had gone, Ted was undecided whether to be pleased or not. In
+common with many others he found a certain unhealthy enjoyment in
+cherishing a grievance. Our hero was a good specimen of the type of boy
+from whose ranks the British ensign was recruited. Rather tall for his
+age, he was well built and proportioned, not weedy; fairly good-looking,
+though by no means handsome, with honest eyes that could look one
+straight in the face. A good athlete and gymnast, he had been regarded
+as the strongest forward in the school fifteen. He was also a good
+bowler, and the best outfield in the school, though he did not shine
+with the bat. His intellectual attainments had perhaps been less
+striking, though no one had ever classed him as a "duffer". Many a
+scrape had he been in, and many a punishment had he received, and he had
+never tried to clear himself by means of a lie.
+
+Being therefore a healthy-minded boy, he saw clearly, when Miss Woodburn
+had left him, that his fit of sulks and jealousy had been rather
+foolish, and that his grievances against her were imaginary. No one
+likes to appear a fool even to one's self, so, not unnaturally, false
+pride set to work to seek excuses for his conduct, and when the time
+came to join them, he was still undecided, and almost ready to take the
+first opportunity to desert them.
+
+They trotted away from cantonments, past the tank, and along a road that
+led between stretches of level fields green with the young corn. The
+faint breeze brought with it the clean smell of damp earth, recalling to
+Ted's mind many a ride at home when the wind blew from the south-west.
+Ethel and Jim were in the highest of spirits, and they chaffed one
+another freely, greatly to the edification of the ensign, who had
+anticipated unlimited "spooning"--a state of mind he loathed. He quickly
+made the discovery that his future sister-in-law was by no means bad
+fun, and when he and Jim entered into a dispute respecting the merits of
+the Guides as compared with the 193rd, Ethel took his side against her
+lover, wittily supporting the ensign's arguments and making fun of the
+Guides. Strange to say, Captain Russell appealed to like and admire the
+raillery of the girl he worshipped.
+
+Ethel Woodburn was not merely a good-looking, dainty, and sweet-tempered
+girl--she was good throughout; and as she was not above taking pains to
+gain the approval of her lover's brother, she rapidly won a place in
+that youth's by no means too susceptible heart.
+
+Ethel was a graceful horsewoman, and this accomplishment told in Ted's
+eyes, for he himself was an uncommonly good rider to hounds. Accustomed
+to horses from his earliest childhood, he loved and understood the noble
+creatures. When home from school in the winter he had rarely missed a
+meet of the Cheshire hounds, and had more than once been in at the
+death. So fond was he of horses that he had set his heart upon joining a
+cavalry regiment, but Major-General Russell had decided against that
+expensive luxury.
+
+He therefore approved cordially, and with open admiration, of Ethel's
+fearless riding and firm seat, and, muttering to himself "She'll do!" he
+began to acquiesce more willingly in the new order of things.
+
+Ted's horse--"Tommy Dodd"--a powerful roan purchased quite recently, was
+young and foolish, and started violently on the slightest provocation,
+swerving from one side of the road to the other, or prancing on
+hind-legs with frightened eyes and twitching ears. But the boy kept his
+seat with unperturbed face, soothing the steed until Tommy had recovered
+from his alarm. Ethel, for her part, watched his perfect mastery of the
+animal with undisguised admiration.
+
+"You're fond of horses, Ted; ain't they glorious?" she asked, stroking
+her chestnut affectionately. "I'm glad we have tastes in common."
+
+"Yes. I think I like riding better than anything else," the ensign
+replied with enthusiasm.
+
+"Ted's a good rider!" Jim observed approvingly; "a good deal better than
+I am. He took to it like a duck to water."
+
+"By the way, Jim, you're staying over the races, ain't you?" the younger
+brother enquired.
+
+"Let me see, when do they come off? To-day week?"
+
+"Yes, you _must_ stay!" declared Ethel.
+
+"I think I can manage it, but I must certainly leave on the following
+day."
+
+"Shall we carry off the cup, Ted?" the girl went on, appealing to the
+ensign's _esprit de corps_ with a smile that went to his heart. The
+Aurungpore cup was now in the mess-room of the 193rd, and strenuous
+efforts were to be made to wrest it from the regiment.
+
+"I don't think anything is likely to beat 'The Padre' if Markham's knee
+will only get better."
+
+"Is the regiment putting its trust in Captain Markham's mount, then?"
+asked Jim.
+
+"Yes," replied the girl. "We have two other horses entered, but they say
+that neither of them will have a chance against Lieutenant Harrington's
+of the Ahmednuggur Irregulars, or Mr. Vernon's 'Flying Fox'."
+
+"Who's he?"
+
+"Mr. Vernon? Oh, he's a civilian--a 'duck'."
+
+"Madame!" exclaimed Jim, pretending to appear shocked beyond measure.
+
+"Yes, sir; a duck!" Ethel repeated, unabashed.
+
+"Please understand, madame, that you must henceforward apply that
+endearing epithet to no one save your affianced husband," Jim
+peremptorily ordered.
+
+"I shall certainly not apply it to you, Jim," replied the laughing girl.
+"I do respect you a little, you know."
+
+"That's so," interposed Ted. "Old Jim's a good bit of an ass, you know,
+but he's not quite idiotic or depraved enough to be likened to a duck.
+Is Mr. Vernon a fool that you call him that?"
+
+"By no means; he's a most charming man. I simply intimated that until
+recently he has been employed in the Company's service in the Bombay
+Presidency. Haven't you learned that slang yet, Ted?"
+
+"No! What on earth do you mean?"
+
+"Well, if a man serves in Bengal he's a _Qui hy_; in Bombay he becomes a
+_duck_, and in Madras he's _benighted_. You know that you're a
+_griffin_,[1] I suppose?"
+
+  [1] A new-comer--equivalent to the American "tenderfoot".
+
+"Oh, yes! I know that much."
+
+"In reply to your question, then, Jim, Mr. Vernon has not been here
+long; he owns a good horse, and he's a first-rate rider. One of your
+Guide officers is in too, is he not?"
+
+"Spencer means to have a try, and he'll take a lot of beating. The men
+of the Guides cavalry can ride, understand, and you ought to feel
+honoured that one is going to take the trouble to patronize your races."
+
+"Ah, well! the 193rd don't fear any officers of the Guides; do we, Ted?"
+
+"Not a bit! The Guides are only a lot of brigands!" he made answer.
+
+"Exactly. I keep telling your brother that it will go against the grain
+to marry a man in such a disreputable corps."
+
+Jim grinned. "Then give me back my freedom," said he.
+
+"I don't know what we shall do," continued the girl, treating this
+remark with the contempt it deserved, "if Captain Markham's knee refuses
+to get right. He's a perfect steeple-chaser, and it's as much through
+his handling as the merits of his horse that we hope to win the day.
+'The Padre' is a most lovable animal, but this is his first
+steeple-chase."
+
+"Can no one take Markham's place, then, if he should be unable to ride?"
+
+"I'm afraid not. You see, none of our officers is first-class at the
+sport, and the two best are already engaged to ride their own mounts. So
+if 'The Padre's' owner doesn't ride--why, we shall lose the cup."
+
+Suddenly a bright and joyful idea seized upon the girl.
+
+"Why, Ted," she exclaimed, "I believe you could ride him!"
+
+"Oh, no! I don't know the horse, and I've never ridden in a flat race,
+much less a steeple-chase."
+
+"You'd do it very well," affirmed the elder brother, and praise from Jim
+was praise indeed. It was the first compliment he had paid the "young
+'un" during the visit.
+
+"I'm sure you would, Ted," the girl affirmed. "Do--for the honour of the
+193rd!"
+
+Flushed with excitement and with the glow of perfect health, Ethel
+Woodburn looked charming that winter morning. Needless to say that one
+man in the world thought so. Ted blushed at the compliment to his
+riding.
+
+"But what about Markham?" he objected. "I suppose you'll consult him
+first? It's hardly likely that he'd trust me on 'The Padre'."
+
+"That will be all right. I can manage Captain Markham."
+
+"Oh indeed, madame!" observed Jim. "Another wretched victim of your
+wiles, I suppose?"
+
+"Exactly so, sir. I trust this will show you the necessity for good
+behaviour if you wish to remain honoured by my favour."
+
+Ensign Russell was beginning to think that after all engaged couples did
+not of necessity behave in quite so silly a fashion as he had imagined.
+Certainly these two seemed to enjoy poking fun at one another, and
+showed no signs of "spooning", each treating the other as the best of
+friends. Ethel was undoubtedly an uncommonly jolly girl, quite without
+"side", and the boy was enjoying the ride immensely. How they behaved
+when he was not present he had no means of judging. Possibly he would
+have changed his opinion had he known.
+
+By this time the three had returned close to the regimental
+parade-ground, and, obedient to the pressure of Ted's right leg, "Tommy
+Dodd" wheeled and trotted towards his stable.
+
+Captain Markham was only too glad to learn from Miss Woodburn of our
+hero's riding capabilities and willingness to mount "The Padre". The
+owner explained to Ted that he had bestowed this name on the animal on
+account of its wonderful good temper and gentle nature.
+
+"If ever there was a genial horse it's 'The Padre'. Whatever happens,
+you feel that you simply can't lose your temper whilst you're riding
+him, he would be so shocked and hurt."
+
+"You should mount Tynan on him, then," suggested Ted, in allusion to a
+brother ensign, a lad of seventeen, who rarely omitted to include a few
+blackguardly oaths in his conversation.
+
+"That little wretch! I wouldn't allow him to touch 'The Padre', even
+with his gloves on. I shall be kicking that sweet youth one of these
+days--hard! I wish he would see the advisability of exchanging into some
+other regiment."
+
+"The Padre" was a gray four-year-old thoroughbred; a compact horse, to
+whose bold, friendly, wide-apart eyes Ted at once took a liking. His
+long lean head and well-shaped neck, firmly set on good sloping
+shoulders, augured a first-class chaser, as did also his powerful back
+and loins, strong quarters, and short flat feet. Ted looked him over,
+and knew enough to appreciate these points, and was also glad to notice
+that there was plenty of length from hip to hock.
+
+"The last half-mile of the course is downhill," Markham informed him,
+"and that is where 'The Padre's' shoulders will come in."
+
+Ted mounted the gray, and almost before his knees had gripped the saddle
+he felt that he had never been on so noble a beast before. He trotted
+and cantered up and down the parade-ground before giving the horse his
+head, and then returned to the owner flushed and joyful.
+
+The captain's eyes twinkled.
+
+"You'll do, I think, Russell; I can easily see that you like one
+another."
+
+"He's just grand!" was the boy's enthusiastic comment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+An Exciting Day
+
+
+Every morning saw the boy thoroughly practising his mount, encouraged by
+the owner, and at length the eventful day arrived.
+
+A large and gay crowd had gathered about the course, and included every
+white man and woman in the station, not to speak of the thousands of
+Sikhs, Punjabis, Afghans, and Hindus who had assembled to witness the
+Englishman's sport. The 193rd Native Infantry had turned out in
+hundreds, keen on the victory of Markham Sahib's horse, and ready to
+applaud until their voices gave out. There were officers in uniform and
+officers without uniform; many coming from distant stations to witness
+the race, which was the most important in that part of the Punjab.
+Several of the British, and one or two of the native officers of the
+Ahmednuggur Irregular Cavalry, had travelled down to back Lieutenant
+Harrington. A wild-looking native officer of the Guides, who had come to
+watch Spencer Sahib win the cup, was pointed out by Jim as a celebrated
+robber and cut-throat, Bahram Khan by name.
+
+"Rummy beggar is Bahram Khan!" declared the captain. "Dick Turpin was an
+infant to him. Look how the Punjabis and Hindus are gazing at him, and
+how he grins back--and then they begin to shiver."
+
+"Why? Are they afraid of him?"
+
+"Rather. I'll tell you who he is afterwards."
+
+"A pleasant type of man to have in one's regiment, Ted," was Ethel's
+comment in a stage aside.
+
+"Disgusting!" was the laconic response.
+
+On the outskirts of the crowd several Pathan dealers were taking
+advantage of the presence of so many lovers of horses to sell their
+ponies and country-bred steeds to the unwary. Nor were the inevitable
+jugglers and snake-charmers wanting. The fences were stiff, even to the
+lad who had hunted over the best country in Cheshire, and the
+water-jumps were big, though no wider than some he had taken "The Padre"
+over during the past few days. The course was rather more than three
+miles, the last six hundred yards being a straight run to the
+winning-post.
+
+A native officer came out of the throng and caressed "The Padre".
+
+"Mind you win, Ensign Sahib," laughed Subadar Pir Baksh, "for the honour
+of the corps."
+
+"I will try my best, Subadar," Ted assured him; and Pir Baksh showed his
+even white teeth as he playfully threatened the ensign should he lose.
+
+"Now, old boy," was Ethel's greeting, "never speak to me again if our
+'Padre' loses--he's the horse of the regiment, you must remember.
+Whatever you do don't let that horrid Guide man win. An upstart corps
+like that, recruited from Thugs and Dacoits, must never get the better
+of the old-established 193rd."
+
+"'Horrid Guide man' indeed!" laughed Jim. "Spencer's one of the best men
+I know; and remember, my lady, that you will be a Guide woman very
+soon."
+
+Changing the subject he added: "You're only fifth favourite, Ted."
+
+"Didn't know I was so high as that. Who's favourite?"
+
+"The 'horrible Guide' horse and the 'Duck's' mount, 'Flying Fox', are
+equal, the Ahmednuggur comes next, and you are fifth."
+
+"Never mind, Ted," said Ethel encouragingly. "'The Padre' was second
+favourite when it was thought that Markham would be up, and you're
+lighter than he."
+
+"But that won't make any difference; I shall have to carry the extra
+weight."
+
+"Oh, will you? That's not fair!"
+
+Jim laughed. "Go and talk to the handicapper, Ethel; use your wiles on
+the innocent man and explain the unfairness! I intended to put a couple
+of rupees, young 'un, on Spencer's 'Cabul' for the sake of the corps,
+but this tyrant has forbidden the transaction. Never get engaged, lad;
+you see what it's brought me to--I have to obey. She says that she
+objects to betting, but in reality she objects to my sticking up for my
+own regiment."
+
+"I'm ashamed of your relative, Ted," the girl asserted. "He's no
+brotherly feeling. Fancy wanting to bet against your mount!"
+
+"It's just like him!" the ensign feelingly declared. "I don't understand
+how anyone so dainty as you, Ethel, could stoop to such an Orson."
+
+Ethel blushed and Jim exploded.
+
+"Here, drop that, young 'un; you mustn't trespass on my preserves. Fancy
+the kid paying a compliment of that kind! Why, little woman, he told me
+about ten days ago that you were 'a very ordinary sort of girl', and
+that 'he didn't see much in you'."
+
+"Well, he's made up for it now. It was a very pretty compliment, Ted,
+and I thank you.... I often wonder myself."
+
+After the preliminary canter Ted brought his horse to the starting-post,
+where seven other competitors had already assembled. "The Padre" was not
+the technical favourite, yet he was decidedly the most popular horse
+there, for Captain Markham was better liked by the sepoys of the 193rd
+than any of the officers, although Colonel Woodburn and several of the
+others were highly popular with the men. The sepoys quite drowned all
+the other noises of the crowd by their vociferous acclamations, and the
+young rider was the recipient of numerous encouraging remarks and hearty
+good-wishes from his brother officers and from the ladies of the
+Aurungpore station.
+
+Lieutenant Spencer's black horse "Cabul" had now advanced to the
+position of first favourite. "Cabul" was easily the best-looking horse
+present, as his rider was the most handsome and perfect horseman. The
+officer of the Guides Cavalry sat like a centaur, and our hero saw at a
+glance that he could not hope to compete in "noble horsemanship" with
+his brother's comrade. The black, however, seemed nervous and fretful,
+and his shoulders were lightly flecked with foam. Bahram Khan, the
+famous brigand chief, sat by Spencer's side before they prepared for the
+start, soothing and caressing the noble beast as he talked earnestly to
+its rider.
+
+"He's a good horse," observed Markham, "but he's not perfect; his
+shoulders can't compare with 'The Padre's', and I doubt whether he's
+quite so game, for mine enjoys it, and that's not common in
+steeple-chasing. You should beat him down the hill."
+
+Mr. Vernon's light chestnut was also a handsome animal, far more so than
+the lean gray of the Ahmednuggur Irregulars.
+
+The ensign's nerve was largely affected by the unwonted excitement as he
+reined his mount alongside the others; an indistinguishable mass of
+white and brown humanity appeared to float before his eyes; and all he
+heard of the shouts and comments was a confused and distant murmuring,
+or rather buzzing. Mechanically he prepared for the start.
+
+The flag dropped, and the starter scurried to one side; "The Padre"
+leapt from under him and plunged away, the spectators seeming to swim
+past. He shook off the trance and partially recovered his
+self-possession. In front were Mr. Vernon's "Flying Fox", and another
+and darker chestnut. Aligned with him were the Ahmednuggur gray and a
+bay; the remaining three were slightly to the rear, for the pace was one
+that would soon tell.
+
+Miss Woodburn watched with much anxiety as they came to the first fence,
+and began to regret that she was responsible for inducing the boy to
+take part in the dangerous pastime. But "The Padre" went over like a
+bird, and no one came to grief. The second and third obstacles were well
+taken by the whole field, but the leading chestnut (the horse of a
+comrade) fell at the fourth and was out of it. At the next--a
+water-jump--the Ahmednuggur gray swerved and lost ground, and a moment
+later the bay, who had got in front, carried away one of the
+hurdles--the easiest obstacle of the course. Ted was now calm enough to
+take all this in, and he became aware that he had only two horses to
+fear, "Cabul" and "Flying Fox". The black was now about a length behind,
+whilst the chestnut was almost as much in front of him.
+
+More than two miles had been covered before "Cabul" began to forge
+slowly ahead of "The Padre", and to gain gradually on "Flying Fox", who,
+by his tail's convulsive twitching and his heaving flanks, was beginning
+to throw out signals of distress.
+
+Even at that exciting moment the boy could not but admire the strong
+seat, light firm hands, and splendid horsemanship of Lieutenant Spencer.
+They had approached a hedge side by side, and though "The Padre" was
+going quite as well as, if not even better than "Cabul", the latter
+seemed to glide over the obstacle and was away on the other side a good
+yard in front. The boy knew that the time was lost in collecting his
+horse for the jump, and after landing on the other side, and as he felt
+convinced that his mount was speedier and quicker on his legs than
+Spencer's, and had better shoulders for landing, he could not understand
+how his rival managed to fly the fences with so little decrease in his
+speed and collect himself and get away on the other side without a
+pause. And it seemed no effort!
+
+The last jump was taken by the black a length in front of the gray, who
+in his turn had beaten the chestnut by nearly as much. No other horse
+was within thirty yards of the leader. But whereas Spencer had driven
+his steed speedily at this wide water-jump, and had cleared it in
+gallant style, "The Padre" jumped slightly short, and though he quickly
+pulled himself together, he was now nearly two lengths behind. Still he
+was going merrily and gamely, with any amount of spring and stay, and
+the ensign recognized despairingly that he bestrode the swifter and more
+clever horse, and was being beaten by his rival's horsemanship and
+superior judgment.
+
+And it is now a straight run to the judge's stand. Ted fancies to his
+delight that "Cabul" appears somewhat done, and his rider is undoubtedly
+having to urge him along for the first time. But with Spencer--in
+striking contrast to the rider of the bay who came to grief at the
+solitary line of hurdles--there is no flourishing of the whip, no
+nervous jerking of the reins: the officer of the Guides preserves his
+calm and impassive demeanour, for he understands his mount. In his
+excitement the boy speaks to "The Padre", and that willing beast seems
+to comprehend and gallantly responds.
+
+From her horse's back, on a little mound near the judge's box, Ethel
+Woodburn cranes forward eagerly. Yes, down the hill the gray is slowly
+gaining on the black!
+
+One hundred and fifty yards away and "The Padre's" head is level with
+"Cabul's" tail. They see Ted for the first time touch the horse lightly
+with his heels, the spur pricking a handsbreadth behind the girths; a
+couple of quick strokes with the whip and the clever gray knows that the
+time has come, and they see him bound forward. Eighty yards away and
+Ted's knee is in line with "Cabul's" tail. The black is labouring hard,
+and under an ordinary rider would have given in, but Lieutenant Spencer
+is no ordinary rider.
+
+Two more strides and the riders are level, and amid a roar which breaks
+out on every side, and which the boy only hears as a distant murmur,
+"The Padre" wins by a neck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Ted does not think much of the Guides
+
+
+Quite dazed and half-unconscious Ted was lifted from the saddle. As in a
+dream he heard the prolonged applause of his mess-mates and the shrill
+yells of delight raised by the swarthy men of the 193rd. Lieutenant
+Spencer held out his hand to the victor and looked him approvingly in
+the face.
+
+"You young scoundrel!" he cheerfully exclaimed, "I congratulate you. You
+deserved to win."
+
+Ted heartily returned the handshake of his brother's friend, and
+muttered something to the effect that the horse should be given all the
+credit, not the rider. So great a triumph he had never before known, yet
+he bore his honours modestly. Colonel Woodburn, Major Munro, Captain
+Markham, and other mess-mates were quickly on the spot, patting and
+praising both horse and rider. The thumps on the back given to Ted were
+rather more vigorous than those awarded to "The Padre", and the ensign
+had little breath wherewith to make suitable reply to the shower of
+congratulations. Pir Baksh, the subadar, waved his sword wildly and led
+the sepoys in their volleys of deafening applause.
+
+There was one jarring note. A brother ensign who was strolling moodily
+past the group moved a step nearer to Ted and snarled in an undertone:
+
+"I've dropped two hundred rupees to-day, thanks to you."
+
+It was Harry Tynan--a tall, handsome lad with dark hair inclined to
+curl, and big brown eyes; the type of boy who from childhood is petted
+and spoilt by mothers and aunts. Unless such an one possesses an
+exceptionally strong character the result is fatal, and Tynan showed a
+weak mouth and chin.
+
+"The Padre's" owner caught the whisper.
+
+"More fool you, you young idiot!" Markham genially observed, as the
+silly youngster turned away with a muttered curse.
+
+Miss Woodburn's congratulations were even more welcome than the praises
+of his comrades.
+
+"I'm proud of my future brother," she said. "You rode just splendidly.
+Oh, it was exciting! I gave up all hope at the last water-jump.... And
+then when you began to overhaul him down the incline! Didn't the
+shouting affect your nerves?"
+
+Ted shook his head. "I don't remember hearing anything. For all I knew
+there might not have been a single person within miles except me and
+Spencer--I mean Spencer and I--Spencer and myself, I should say."
+
+"I could hardly hold myself in," went on Ethel. "I was dancing up and
+down--screaming, I'm afraid."
+
+"You were indeed, madame," interposed Jim. "You were making a most
+discreditable exhibition."
+
+"Ted," exclaimed the girl, "will you marry me? I'm tired of your
+brother."
+
+"That I will!" replied Ted. "To-morrow if you like. I never could
+imagine what you could see in that chap, you know."
+
+"Very well, I'll abandon him to his fate. He was actually cheering on
+that Guide fellow during the last hundred yards."
+
+"The brute!"
+
+"Isn't he?"
+
+"Who--the Guide fellow?"
+
+With this embarrassing query Lieutenant Spencer joined the party. Ethel
+blushed crimson, and for once in her life was at a loss for a remark.
+Jim chuckled away to himself at his sweetheart's discomfiture in most
+brutal fashion.
+
+"That's right, Spencer," said he. "Come and back me up, I'm in a
+minority here."
+
+Miss Woodburn recovered from her confusion. She had already been
+introduced by Jim to "that Guide fellow".
+
+"I really beg your pardon, Lieutenant Spencer. We were indulging in a
+little inter-regimental chaff and abuse. Captain Russell had dared to
+applaud you rather than his brother at the final burst. And you don't
+understand how fond we all are of 'The Padre'. He's the regimental
+horse."
+
+"Please don't apologize," Miss Woodburn. "I quite understand and
+sympathize with you. Indeed, I'm glad you're scorching him, for he needs
+it. And so he was cheering me in preference to your favourite? He must
+have most execrable taste."
+
+"Thank you, Spencer!" Jim hurriedly and joyfully broke in. "Thanks!...
+Be grateful, Ethel. Don't you see how very complimentary to you that
+remark is?"
+
+For a few moments Miss Woodburn struggled with her amusement, but
+laughter mastered her, and she could not speak before Spencer had
+partially recovered his senses and recognized what a left-handed
+compliment he had paid her. The Guides lieutenant was far more confused
+and nervous now than at any time during the steeple-chase.
+
+With crimson face he offered reparation.
+
+"It's my turn to apologize now, Miss Woodburn. I think you'll forgive
+me, though. It's my misfortune that I'm not very intelligent."
+
+"I couldn't dream of doing so, Lieutenant Spencer," Ethel asserted,
+still laughing. "You paid me out nicely, and I'm sure you did it
+wilfully; it was far too smart to be unintentional."
+
+"'Pon my honour, I didn't. I'm not half sharp enough to say anything of
+that kind except by accident. One can't be perfect, you know, and we
+must take into account that Russell did show poor taste in applauding
+the inferior horse and rider--especially going against your opinion,
+though we must acknowledge his perfect taste in at least one respect."
+
+"I must forgive you after that, Mr. Spencer, though it was rather
+crude," said the girl, shaking her head.
+
+"And I say, Spencer," Jim interposed, "don't talk about 'inferior
+rider'. We all know, and Ted knows, that you are a far better horseman
+than he."
+
+"Of course I do," the ensign heartily agreed.
+
+"Too much praise isn't good for a youngster," the elder brother
+sagaciously opined.
+
+Spencer placed a hand on Ted's shoulder.
+
+"All the same, young 'un, you won the Aurungpore Cup, and you deserved
+to win."
+
+The party of four came to a halt opposite Colonel Woodburn's bungalow.
+
+"What time shall we start back for Murdan to-morrow?" asked the
+lieutenant.
+
+"We must leave early," Jim replied. "Will eight o'clock suit?"
+
+"Very good," Spencer assented; "the young 'un and I will leave you
+here."
+
+"But you must not think of leaving us yet, Mr. Spencer. Won't you come
+in? My father would be delighted to know you."
+
+"Couldn't dream of it, Miss Woodburn, delighted though I should be to
+make the colonel's acquaintance. It will be some time before Russell
+gets leave again, and your last evening shall be sacred. Good-bye, Miss
+Woodburn! I'm very glad to have met you. And may I congratulate you
+both? I've known Russell well for some years, and I can congratulate
+you, and--forgive me for saying it--I've known you for a couple of days,
+and I do most sincerely congratulate him."
+
+Ethel pressed the "horrid Guide man's" hand, and when he and Ted had
+departed, observed:
+
+"Whilst congratulations are passing round, Jim, I congratulate you on
+your friend."
+
+Ted shared a small, one-story residence just outside the town with his
+chum Ensign Paterson. His bedroom was only just large enough to allow
+sleeping-room for Jim, but hearing that Captain Russell's comrade of the
+Guides was coming to Aurungpore, Paterson had placed his equally limited
+accommodation at Spencer's disposal. Arrived at home, Ted doffed the
+pigskin and discussed horses and riding with his guest until the time
+came for them to sally forth once more. A dinner was to be given by the
+officers of the 193rd in honour of the triumph of their regiment. For
+the third time in succession they had won the Aurungpore Cup, and Ted
+was the hero of the hour. He enjoyed the rôle until, his health having
+been drunk with acclamation, he was called upon for a speech.
+
+Such an ordeal had never been contemplated, and he had to be dragged to
+his feet, a victim of nervous funk. As he faced his quizzing comrades
+his mind was a blank; he stammered a few incoherent sentences intended
+for thanks, and abruptly sat down again, feeling convinced that he had
+qualified for a place in any home for the feeble-minded. Yet the older
+officers liked him better for this lack of self-confidence than had he
+shown no sign of confusion. In reply to the toast, "Our Guests",
+Lieutenant Spencer made a neat and witty speech that set everyone at his
+ease.
+
+The ordeal over, Spencer, Paterson, and Ted returned to the little
+bungalow, and settled down to await Jim's arrival. Lieutenant Spencer
+filled his pipe and lay back in the one chair that the apartment
+boasted, Paterson sat straddle-legged across a camp-stool, and Ted
+squatted on a box with his back to the wall and his legs dangling. The
+room was lighted by a candle stuck in a bottle, for were they not in the
+"Gorgeous East" where luxury and splendour reign supreme?
+
+"So you fellows of the 193rd are proud of your regiment!" the Guides'
+officer observed.
+
+"It's a first-class corps," Ted replied. "They fought like good 'uns
+throughout both Sikh wars. You see, we've Bhurtpore as well as Sobraon,
+Moodkee, and Gujerat on the colours; and the colonel says he'd lead 'em
+anywhere--they'd follow their officers to the death. Markham's the
+favourite with the men, though they're very fond of the 'old man' and
+Major Munro."
+
+"Yours is a queer corps, is it not, Lieutenant Spencer?" Paterson asked.
+
+Spencer chuckled.
+
+"It is! But I'm proud of being in the Guides."
+
+"They say," continued the Scotch boy, "that you have all the frontier
+races in the corps--Afridis, Afghans, and other Pathan tribes, Sikhs and
+Gurkhas--and that some of them have been robbers and outlaws, and
+murderers even. Is that true?"
+
+Spencer chuckled still more.
+
+"Quite true. We have all sorts--men with the best of characters, men
+with the worst, and men with no characters at all. We've outlaws and
+dacoits, thieves and murderers--though they don't call themselves
+murderers; they resemble the border raiders of Scotland of some hundreds
+of years ago. But every man who joins the Guides has to be strong,
+healthy, active, brave as a lion, able to track like a Red Indian,
+climb mountains, and think for himself. Lumsden gets hold of the most
+daring men on the border, such as Dilawur Khan and Futteh Khan and
+Bahram Khan, and makes Guides of them. They don't get coddled; and I
+guess we shall have more work to do in the future than any regiment in
+India. We've men of all races and creeds and men of no race or
+creed--mostly big truculent Pathans, and nearly a hundred jolly little
+Gurkhas sent us by the King of Nepal at Sir Henry Lawrence's request.
+Oh, it's a grand corps! and we can get as many men as we like--scores
+apply for every vacancy. Why, there are dozens of fellows learning the
+drill at their own expense, both cavalry and infantry, waiting for an
+opportunity to join us. There's no other regiment in India or England
+can say the same."
+
+"Well, I'd rather serve in the 193rd B.N.I.," Ted declared. "I shouldn't
+care to trust your Guides very far. Why, many of your Sikhs must have
+fought against us eight years ago; and as for the Afridis and Yusufzais,
+they're always raiding British territory and killing our men, whilst the
+sepoys of the 193rd have fought under British colours for half a
+century."
+
+"That's right, young 'un; stick up for your regiment."
+
+"Jim was going to tell me," Ted remarked, "something about that Pathan
+officer who was speaking to you this morning. Who is he?"
+
+"Bahram Khan, do you mean?"
+
+"Yes, that's the man. We noticed the natives shrinking from him when he
+looked at them. Why was that?"
+
+The lieutenant lay back in his chair and smiled.
+
+"His is a queer story and typical of the Guides," he replied. "A few
+years ago he was a well-known outlaw and brigand chief, who raided and
+burnt villages and robbed right and left. We could never catch him, so
+Lumsden, our colonel, offered to make him an officer if he'd join the
+Guides, and he consented and brought his brigands with him."
+
+Paterson regarded the speaker curiously.
+
+"Is that a fact?" he asked.
+
+"It is an absolute fact."
+
+"We'd keep that sort of ruffian out of the 193rd, wouldn't we,
+Paterson?" Ted asserted. "Aren't you afraid that you'll wake up some
+morning with all your throats cut?"
+
+"Not in the least. I'd rather be with the Guides than any corps. With
+all respect to your sepoys of the 193rd, they've neither the stamina nor
+the resource of our fellows."
+
+"H'm! you're welcome to them. Eh, Paterson?"
+
+"I agree with you, Ted. Have you ever seen Colonel Nicholson, Lieutenant
+Spencer?"
+
+"Jan Nikkulseyn? Rather. I sha'n't forget the first time I met him. It
+was south of Peshawur, close to the border, where a gang of Afghan
+labourers were making a road, protected by a half-company of sepoys
+under an English subaltern, for it was in a wild district. It was just
+after the rains, and a bullock-cart had stuck fast in the deep mud; and
+the bullocks, not having the grit of a horse, wouldn't make any efforts.
+I happened to be riding past with a couple of troopers. A big fellow
+standing by in civilian dress had taken his coat off and put his
+shoulder to the wheel, but they couldn't move it. This civilian, whom I
+took to be the man in charge of the work, then asked the lieutenant and
+the sepoys to lend a hand. But the sepoys coolly informed him that they
+had enlisted to fight, not to do menial work, and the officer said:
+
+"'It's no business of mine. I'm here to protect the road-makers, not to
+do their work.'
+
+"I dismounted, and so did one of my two men. The other, Hafiz Khan, bent
+down and whispered:
+
+"'I go to get help, Lieutenant Sahib'; and before I could stop him he
+was galloping away. Well, we two turned the scale--though the big
+civilian was worth us both--and at last we got the cart out and trotted
+away. A mile or two farther on we saw Hafiz Khan waiting for us, and
+when I slanged him for not staying to help us, he replied:
+
+"'But he once threatened to hang me, Lieutenant Sahib, and Jan
+Nikkulseyn never breaks his word'.
+
+"'Who?' I asked, quite taken aback.
+
+"'Jan Nikkulseyn. I am not afraid of a little pushing and pulling, but
+of Jan Nikkulseyn are we all afraid.'
+
+"The civilian was Colonel Nicholson. Hafiz Khan had been engaged in two
+or three raids before he had enlisted, and, bold as they are, there's
+not a Pathan along the border dare look Nicholson between the eyes."
+
+"And what became of the lieutenant?" asked Ted.
+
+"He applied for an important appointment at Peshawur a month later. He
+found out his mistake then, and felt sorry he'd ever been born."
+
+A clatter of hoofs interrupted their talk, and Ted ran to the outer door
+to admit his brother. Captain Russell was quiet and grave, for his happy
+days had come to an end, and to-morrow the dull routine of regimental
+work would begin again. He was evidently little inclined for
+conversation, and before long the four officers passed off into the
+adjoining bedrooms.
+
+Captain Russell was well liked by about one-half of his acquaintances,
+and disliked by a good proportion of the remainder. His friends knew him
+for a brave, good-hearted, conscientious man, and his detractors termed
+him a prig. The fault was in his manner, at times heavy, awkward, and
+solemn, largely the result of shyness, for with intimate friends he
+could be lively and full of fun.
+
+Serious thoughts occupied his mind as he undressed. Ought not he, the
+elder brother and man of experience, to give the youngster a few words
+of advice, before leaving him, on some subjects more serious than
+steeple-chasing? But how to begin? Jim Russell knew his own failings,
+and dreaded lest Ted should sneer at him as a prig; and he envied his
+chum, Spencer, who, he felt sure, could have given the lad sound advice
+and warning without the least suspicion of preaching. However, Jim was
+conscientious, and he resolved to take the risk.
+
+The ensign's evident _esprit de corps_ and delight in his regiment
+furnished an admirable opening, and sitting on the low bed
+half-undressed, the elder brother spoke like a father to the younger
+concerning his duty to the regiment.
+
+Then, as the captain was an enthusiastic admirer of the great brothers
+Henry and John Lawrence, and of their band of devoted followers, the
+first topic naturally led to a eulogy of the Punjab leaders; and Jim
+explained to the ensign how Henry Lawrence had begun, and how John
+Lawrence was now carrying on the work of showing to the wild Sikhs,
+Jats, and Mohammedans of the Punjab the highest ideal of British justice
+and uprightness.
+
+Ted listened attentively, but said nothing. He too was already filled
+with admiration for those Christian soldiers and statesmen who were soon
+to save India.
+
+"Not that I want you to be an objectionable young prig," the captain
+went on; "there's a big difference between that and the genuine article.
+You know what I mean?"
+
+The ensign nodded, and Jim continued:
+
+"I like your chum--Paterson; he seems a very decent lad. And I noticed
+on one occasion that he showed he was not ashamed of his religion. Why
+should we so-called Christians be so afraid of acting up to what we
+profess to believe? Look at the Lawrences and Herbert Edwardes, three of
+the greatest men in India! They are true Christians, and where could
+you find finer soldiers and braver men? It's a poor soldier who's
+ashamed of his colours."
+
+Ted nodded assent, and, feeling that he had done his duty, Jim bade him
+good-night and blew out the candle.
+
+An early breakfast next morning, and our ensign and his two visitors
+were in the saddle by seven o'clock. Ten minutes later Ethel Woodburn
+cantered up, attended by a sais, and Spencer and Ted ambled along,
+keeping well ahead of the lovers.
+
+"I suppose that's the fort over there?" Spencer asked, and pointed to an
+ugly square building of dark sandstone that dominated the town.
+
+"Yes, it's an arsenal too. There'd be a big smash in Aurungpore if it
+was to blow up," said Ted, who little thought of the influence that
+forbidding fortress would exert upon his career.
+
+"It has half-ruined the town already by its ugliness," Spencer mused.
+"That mosque on the left is a little gem, and that dome is perfect, but
+the arsenal spoils them as completely as a factory chimney spoils a view
+at home. The Moslems beat us at architecture."
+
+"I think I must be turning back now," Ted presently observed, "I have
+plenty to do before parade."
+
+They came to a halt and awaited the arrival of the others. The lovers
+parted, Ted shook hands with Jim and Spencer, and nodded in response to
+his brother's parting injunction to take care of Ethel. Miss Woodburn
+stayed, waving her handkerchief, until a bend of the road hid her
+betrothed from view. Joining Ted, she touched her bay lightly with the
+whip, and they trotted home without exchanging a word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+The Fanatics
+
+
+In spite of our hero's recent disgust he had quickly become reconciled
+to the sweet girl who was to be his brother's wife. There was no
+resisting her charms. He found her as full of fun and as fond of
+adventure as any boy could wish, and he soon grew very anxious to win
+her good opinion, even attempting to show off occasionally for her
+benefit. Ethel had become no less attached to the honest,
+healthy-minded, plucky lad, and wrote warningly to Jim that she had
+fallen desperately in love with his jolly young brother.
+
+A few weeks had elapsed since Captain Russell's departure, when
+something happened to attach them still more closely. One beautiful
+winter day Ethel asked the ensign if he would care to stroll through the
+native _bazar_ with her, and the lad willingly complied.
+
+Not being of a very curious disposition, he had hitherto neglected this
+quarter of the town, and had spent most of his leisure time riding and
+shooting in the country beyond. But on this occasion the girl was able
+to make the visit much more interesting than he had anticipated. She
+knew the people and more than one of the many dialects fairly well, and
+she pointed out to her companion the men of various nationalities and
+religions who swarmed in the narrow streets. He noticed with amazement
+the difference between the strong fighting men of the North-west--the
+sturdy Jat and stalwart Pathan--and the fat, mild, shrinking Babu from
+Bengal, or the slender and weaker Hindu from the South.
+
+This part of the town was quite distinct from the quarter in which the
+Europeans lived, and was much more picturesque, if also more dirty. In
+the narrow streets all the goods of the small shops were exposed to the
+passer-by. Workmen could be seen plying their trade, undisturbed by the
+inquisitive glances of the lookers-on. And what clumsy tools they had!
+It would have been impossible for such delicate, exquisite work to have
+been turned out therewith, had not the artisans put their whole soul
+into the labour: for to do his work thoroughly and beautifully is a
+religious duty with the Hindu.
+
+Passing the stalls of the money-changers, fruit-sellers, and dealers in
+native sweetmeats, their attention was attracted by certain curios in
+one of the queer shops, and our ensign looked about for something worth
+sending home. He fixed upon a queer silver bangle, set with turquoises.
+The setting was uncommon, but the stones were only poor. The turbaned,
+white-robed shopkeeper rose and came forward at once, salaaming
+profoundly, and putting on one side the hubble-bubble he was smoking.
+After a lengthy argument, in which Ted failed to understand the man's
+rapid utterance, and his own Hindustani was beyond comprehension, Miss
+Woodburn came to the rescue, fixed the price, and concluded the
+business.
+
+Attracted by the sahib's curious rendering of their native tongue, a
+number of the many idlers around had drawn near. At a corner of the
+narrow street, not fifty paces distant, voices had been meanwhile raised
+in earnest and violent harangue. Having learned even during his short
+sojourn in the land how furious an altercation may arise over a matter
+of a couple of annas, Ted had not paid much attention to the noise; but
+now the speakers rose and came towards them. Foremost was a tall,
+half-naked man, with long and flowing beard--a mass of dirt and evil
+smells; for with these strange people cleanliness is not on speaking
+terms with godliness, and the most holy men are the most filthy. His
+eyes were inflamed, and his looks and gestures wild. Ethel, from her
+longer experience, saw that the mullah had rendered himself mad with
+bhang, and that two of his companions were in a similar condition.
+
+Pointing to the Feringhis, the mullah's voice rose to a wild shriek.
+
+"What do these offspring of the evil one here? O followers of the
+Prophet, how long will ye allow yourselves to be denied by these kafirs.
+The time is even now at hand when Allah shall no longer permit this:
+then shall his wrath fall upon them, and they shall be swept from the
+face of the earth. The hundred years of the white man's _raj_[2] are
+fulfilled, and the curse shall be lifted from us!"
+
+  [2] dominion.
+
+The fanatic's voice rose to a wild shriek as he concluded the harangue.
+Ted could not follow the speech: he could only gather from the tone and
+gestures that he and his companion were the objects of abuse, and he
+guessed from the half-angry, half-cringing manner of the tradesman that
+something serious was being said. Ethel, however, understood every word,
+and was alarmed.
+
+They tried to leave the _bazar_, but found their progress barred.
+
+"Out of the way, there!" the ensign commanded, but no one moved.
+
+"Kill the kafir pigs!--there is no one to see!" called out a voice from
+the rear.
+
+"No, no!" objected others hastily. "What harm have they done? And will
+not the vengeance of the Whites be upon us all? Make way there for the
+sahib-log!"
+
+But another of the bhang-drugged fanatics, who had been swaying to and
+fro in his delirium, screamed:
+
+"Aye! Why not kill now?" and he roughly seized the white-faced girl.
+
+With a savage exclamation the English boy sprang forward and struck the
+speaker behind the ear with all his force. Not for nothing had Edward
+Russell been trained in gymnastics, in boxing and fencing--the fellow
+dropped like a log. But before Ted could turn or draw his sword the
+mullah had plucked a knife from beneath his scanty garment and plunged
+it in the lad's side.
+
+"Die, unbeliever!" he cried.
+
+As the ensign pressed his hands to his side and dropped to the earth
+with a feeble moan, the screaming and jabbering of the by-standers
+ceased as if by magic. Even the mullah and his disciples drew back
+appalled at what they had done, while the more timid of the crowd fled
+to their homes in dread of the consequences and the sure wrath of the
+sahibs, fearing lest vengeance should fall on innocent and guilty alike
+for this murder of a white man. The merchants before whose shops the act
+had been committed wrung their hands in despair, shrieking imprecations
+down upon the heads of the fanatics, who stood gazing at their
+handiwork.
+
+The mullah's hesitation lasted but a second. He turned towards the
+trembling girl, and called to his abettors:
+
+"Finish off the lad while I slay the woman!"
+
+Ethel Woodburn was a soldier's daughter: she had more than once looked
+danger in the face bravely and calmly. Had she been alone she might have
+hesitated, or had her companion been in a condition to protect her she
+might have relied on him. But, seeing the boy of whom she was so fond
+stretched at her feet, cruelly wounded and helpless, and at the mercy of
+these madmen, her instinct prompted her to do the right thing without a
+moment's hesitation, and she blessed the father who had taught her to
+carry and use a pistol.
+
+The little weapon was hardly more than a toy, but it checked the
+assassins sufficiently to enable her to bend down swiftly and snatch
+Ted's sword from its scabbard. The murderer was but a pace away when she
+pulled the trigger and stepped back. He fell, writhing, the bullet in
+his chest. The second received the point of the sword under his arm-pit
+as he raised his hand to strike. The third assailant, dazed by the blow
+from Ted's fist, had now risen, and was hesitating as to his next step,
+when a couple of native police, attracted by the report and noise, ran
+up, and, being Sikhs, they had no hesitation in securing the uninjured
+Mohammedan, and they also prevented the crowd from carrying off the
+wounded Wahabis.[3]
+
+  [3] The most fanatical and implacable Moslem sect.
+
+Never losing her presence of mind, Ethel bound the unconscious lad's
+wound to stop the bleeding, and ordered the by-standers to carry him to
+his quarters, where the regimental surgeon attended to the injury. The
+bangle had disappeared.
+
+A few weeks later, when the injured persons had recovered, the three
+would-be assassins were tried on the charge of attempted murder, and
+were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
+
+Some time elapsed before Ted was able to get about as usual. Had it not
+been for the bandage so promptly applied by Ethel he must have bled to
+death, so she had saved his life in two different ways. During his slow
+and painful recovery he was nursed untiringly by his new sister; and
+though she made light of her heroic deed, the girl's courage and
+presence of mind were the chief themes of conversation with the
+officers who frequently visited his bed-side, and the ensign's lucky
+brother became more envied than ever. Ethel invariably checked his
+expressions of gratitude, and would not allow him to talk about the
+incident.
+
+"Bosh, Ted!" she would say; "I was in such a state of abject fear that I
+didn't know what I was doing. I only shot the man because my hand
+trembled so that the trigger went off, and he happened to be in front."
+
+"Certainly, Ethel, I quite understand. I'll just read you a letter I had
+this morning from Jim. You'd p'r'aps like to hear his opinion?"
+
+"Oh, that boy's demented! I had a note also from him this morning. He's
+quite wild."
+
+"Good chap Jim,--knows a thing or two!" said Ted, nodding his head
+sagely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The Cad of the Regiment
+
+
+"This is the place where I was knifed, Paterson," said Ted, "and there's
+the old boy I had been bargaining with. Watch him eyeing me; he looks
+rather scared, don't he?"
+
+The wound was now quite healed, and impelled doubtless by a magnetic
+attraction, akin perhaps to that said to be exercised on murderers by
+the scenes of their crimes, our ensign had induced his chum Paterson to
+stroll with him through the _bazar_ one evening after duty was over for
+the day.
+
+While Ted had been down with his wound Alec Paterson had opened out in a
+remarkable manner and thrown down the last barriers of reserve. Ensign
+Paterson had only recently admitted Ted into close friendship. He was a
+Scottish lad, hailing from Lanarkshire, and no better choice of a friend
+could have been made. Physically he was tall and well-formed,
+intellectually he was ahead of most of his brother ensigns, and in moral
+character strong, upright, and healthy. He was very reserved, difficult
+to know, chary of his intimacy, and slow of speech. Tynan termed him a
+"saint", and cordially disliked him; and in return Paterson disproved
+the accusation of saintliness by being obnoxiously polite and somewhat
+ponderously playful in his dealings with the regimental _bête noir_.
+
+"He does look scared," Alec replied. "He must think you were killed, and
+that your ghost has come to jump down his throat or ride on his back,
+or whatever it is that their evil spirits do. You had better speak and
+reassure him."
+
+As Ted approached the stall, the hand of the sleek Hindu shot forth
+across the boards on which his wares were displayed and snatched
+something from the front row. Not, however, before our hero had
+recognized the identical bangle that he had bought and paid for on the
+occasion of his previous visit. His face flushed.
+
+"That is mine," he asserted. "I bought and paid for it."
+
+Understanding that the bangle had been seen, and that denial was
+useless, the shopkeeper salaamed and unabashed replied: "Nay, sahib, the
+one you bought you took away, and I have never set eyes on it since."
+
+"But you told me it was unique--that there was not another like it in
+the country."
+
+"I am the sahib's slave, and I spoke truth. There was not another like
+it in the Punjab. But since the Heaven-born's visit a Kazilbash merchant
+from Kabul, with whom I deal in turquoises, has sold me this. It is
+indeed similar to the one I sold the sahib, but the turquoises are
+larger and better. Welcome is the sight of the Heaven-born in the eyes
+of his servant, who has suffered great anxiety."
+
+"What's the row, Ted?" Paterson asked. And matters being explained, he
+at once enquired of the Hindu why he had been so anxious to prevent the
+bangle being seen if he had come by it honestly. But the "Aryan brown"
+was more than their match in guile.
+
+"In truth I remembered how the former one had brought ill-luck to the
+young sahib, and I feared lest he might take a fancy to this one also.
+And I know that the sahibs are reckless in such matters, not believing
+in omens. Rather would I lose business than bring misfortune upon the
+head of the young sahib."
+
+Alec Paterson laughed.
+
+"I'm afraid it's no go, Russell," he whispered. "The rascal is too deep
+for us, and we cannot prove that it really is the same article."
+
+"But it's robbery pure and simple!" Ted indignantly declared. "I know
+it's the same that I lost during the scuffle."
+
+The shopkeeper regarded them gravely and sadly, as though he felt deeply
+the doubts they had cast upon his honesty. He produced one article after
+another, tempting them in vain to buy. At length, guessing that the boy
+had set his heart upon the bangle, he offered him the pretty toy for
+thirty rupees, assuring him that he had given twice that sum to the
+Kazilbash.
+
+"I'll give you fifteen," said Ted, "and not an anna more."
+
+The Hindu shook his head.
+
+"I am poor man," said he, "else would I gladly beg the sahib to accept
+it as a present."
+
+"Very well," Ted firmly rejoined. "Come along, Alec."
+
+They turned to go, but the Hindu hastily recalled them.
+
+"Nay," said he, "I had forgotten that the sahib had to suffer the loss
+of the first one. For twenty rupees will I sell it, or, in truth, give
+it away, rather than that the Heaven-born should be disappointed."
+
+"Fifteen," was all Ted's answer; and once more the bangle changed hands,
+and the ensign left the shop. On the way to cantonments they overtook
+Harry Tynan, the object of their mutual dislike, and were about to pass
+with a nod as devoid of cordiality as decency would permit, when Tynan
+spoke, or rather sneered: "Why, Russell, I thought you always took a
+girl to protect you whenever you went into the _bazar_!"
+
+"Did you really now?" asked Ted banteringly. "Wasn't it an effort?"
+
+"What do you mean? Was what an effort?"
+
+"To think--so unusual, you know, for you."
+
+"Oh how clever you are! But how aren't you keeping an eye on Brother
+Jim's future wife, according to instructions? I saw her this evening
+flirting as usual with the Commissioner Sahib. You are not doing your
+duty. Captain Russell 'ud be angry if he knew."
+
+"Come along, Russell; what's the use of talking to that cad?" whispered
+Paterson. "Contemptible toad!"
+
+But his friend's ire had been aroused by the last remark. He halted and
+faced Tynan.
+
+"What d'you mean?" he demanded.
+
+Tynan slowly drew a huge cheerot from his lips and attempted to blow
+rings of smoke before replying.
+
+"You know well enough. Stunnin' little flirt is Ethel--deuced stunnin'!
+Shouldn't be surprised if she threw Brother Jim over!"
+
+"What do you mean?" repeated Ted with still greater heat.
+
+"Don't be an ass, Ted. Leave the cad alone," Paterson again whispered.
+
+Tynan was Russell's senior by nearly a couple of years, and he stood a
+clear three inches taller. Ted's anger amused him.
+
+"Why--don't you know?" he innocently enquired. "You see, our little
+Ethel had been setting her cap at Sir Arthur Fletcher for months before
+she saw your brother. But Arthur knows what's what, and the little
+darling has had to put up with a mere captain of the Guides. But she
+still hankers after the commissioner, and sighs for the handle to her
+name."
+
+"Ye leein' hyæna!" Paterson burst out, his native dialect rising to the
+surface in his excitement. "Keep a ceevil tongue in your heid, or I'll
+knock ye down!"
+
+"No, you don't, Paterson," broke in Ted. "That's my business. You cad,
+to lie like that about a girl you're not fit to speak to! Take that!"
+
+Our ensign struck his comrade across the face--a resounding smack with
+the open palm.
+
+The fight was very short. Though tall enough, Tynan was weedy and unfit.
+For several years he had considered himself a man of the world, and one
+of the chief aims--if not _the_ chief--of his life had been to convince
+his associates that he was well qualified for that dignified position,
+and the attainment of this object had, of course, necessitated abundant
+smoking and drinking. Wonderful to relate, no one had so far seemed
+greatly impressed!
+
+Five minutes after the first blow, with bleeding nose and damaged eye,
+the contemptible fellow was sullenly admitting that he had had enough.
+
+"Think it over the nicht," Paterson suggested. "If ye hev not I'll just
+gie ye seemilar satisfaction. And I'd hev ye obsairve it wad be safer to
+cam' oot wi' no mair lees o' that sort. Cam' awa', Russell!"
+
+"Wait a moment, I've not done yet," said Ted. "Let me inform you now,
+you cad, what I would not waste my breath in telling you before--that
+Miss Woodburn had refused Sir Arthur Fletcher before she became engaged
+to my brother, and that he has congratulated my brother, and is a loyal,
+honourable gentleman, of whose friendship Miss Woodburn is proud; and
+don't let me hear you speaking of her again as you did just now."
+
+The chums left the miserable being--neither man nor boy--to follow as he
+chose.
+
+"What garred ye say that last, Russell?" asked the Scottish lad, who was
+still labouring under strong excitement, as soon as they had passed out
+of hearing.
+
+"What? About Fletcher?"
+
+"Yea You'd no right to drag his refusal into the affair!" Paterson
+dropped the tell-tale accent as he spoke more slowly. "That's between
+him and Miss Woodburn, and he wouldn't thank you if he knew, nor would
+she. It was perhaps very satisfying to you, but they don't need to be
+defended from a fellow like our friend yonder."
+
+"I'm very sorry--I'm a fool! I was so angry I didn't stop to think. Bah!
+he leaves a bad taste in the mouth, that fellow!"
+
+"We should have passed him without taking any notice," Paterson went on.
+"But it served him right!"
+
+For the future Tynan gave his conqueror a wide berth, and Ted ignored
+his existence as far as their respective duties, would permit.
+
+Returning from the officers' mess that evening, Ted was accosted by Pir
+Baksh, the Mohammedan captain.
+
+"I saw you fight with Ensign Tynan," said he. "He is the kind of officer
+to ruin a regiment. Once he dared to call me a _soor_ (pig) before my
+men, and I thank you, sahib, for teaching him a lesson."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Outbreak of the Mutiny
+
+
+On the night of Monday, May 11, some weeks after Ted's recovery, Ethel's
+twenty-first birthday was celebrated, Colonel Woodburn entertaining the
+officers and British residents of Aurungpore. The season was too warm
+for more than occasional dancing, and conversation was the order of the
+night--conversation serious and frivolous, harmless flirtations between
+the younger members, and solemn interchange of views concerning the
+rumoured dissatisfaction prevailing amongst the native troops, a subject
+pooh-poohed by some and laughed at by others, but gravely regarded by a
+few--when an orderly entered and handed a missive to the colonel. As he
+opened it and read he gave a start, and his face paled for one brief
+second, but soon resumed its ordinary aspect as he slowly folded the
+paper and placed it in his pocket.
+
+A few moments later he crossed over to Major Munro, who at once left the
+room after speaking to the adjutant and another officer. These two also
+took their departure before long, and one by one the remainder of the
+officers were spoken to and retired to their mess-room, where they were
+shortly joined by Colonel Woodburn.
+
+"I have terrible news," he informed them, "but we must try to avoid
+alarming either the ladies or the sepoys. The 3rd Native Cavalry and the
+11th and 20th Native Infantry have broken into mutiny at Meerut, killed
+some of their officers, and, so the message runs, are sacking the town
+and murdering right and left."
+
+"At Meerut!" gasped Major Munro. "How at Meerut of all places? They
+couldn't--it's simply impossible!"
+
+"It must be true," declared the colonel, "though it certainly does seem
+impossible. One would think they would have broken out at Cawnpore, or
+Benares, or Allahabad, or here, or anywhere rather than Meerut. But this
+report must be exaggerated! How could they sack the town and murder in
+the face of those English regiments and the Artillery? It's
+incomprehensible!"
+
+Now even Ensign Russell, a mere griffin, knew that Meerut--a large
+station more than fifty miles north-east of Delhi--was considered a
+model cantonment, and contained the strongest British force in all
+India. Could a revolt seem more hopeless than at this station, where the
+three native corps were more than counterbalanced by a regiment of
+British dragoons, the 60th Rifles, and two batteries of the finest
+artillery in the world--a force sufficient to repress any rising within
+ten minutes--whereas throughout the seven hundred and fifty miles of
+territory along the Ganges, in the districts containing the large towns
+of Agra, Allahabad, Benares, Cawnpore, Lucknow, and Patna, there were
+only three weak British corps to oppose nearly a score of sepoy
+regiments and many thousands of armed rebels?
+
+"There's no saying how it will spread," continued the colonel. "We must
+take all precautions, though I believe our men are perfectly
+trustworthy. There must be some mistake, and I've no doubt that we shall
+hear to-morrow that the rebels have been cut to pieces. I'm afraid the
+silly fellows will be slaughtered by hundreds."
+
+But the news of the morning and of the succeeding days was no less hard
+to understand. Eighty-five men of the 3rd Native Cavalry (a corps
+composed of Hindus and Mohammedans) had refused to use the cartridges
+served out, alleging that the fat of pigs and of cows had been employed
+in the manufacture.
+
+As most readers will know, the pig is regarded as unclean by all
+Moslems, and the cow is holy to Hindus, so that to touch the fat of
+these animals would imperil their salvation and shut them out of
+Paradise. The mullahs and fakirs had been poisoning the minds of the
+soldiers by asserting that the government was taking this means of
+uprooting their religion and converting them to Christianity by
+destroying their chance of salvation as Moslems or Hindus. If they had
+no future to which to look forward as Mussulmans or Brahmans, they would
+be the more ready to listen to the Christian doctrine which might give
+them some hope.
+
+Unfortunately there is reason to believe that some foundation for the
+rumour existed, owing to carelessness on the part of those responsible
+for the manufacture, and to senseless, most blamable, disregard of the
+sepoy's religious susceptibilities. But these few unclean cartridges had
+been withdrawn, and those which the men were required to use contained
+no offensive grease, but merely oil and bees'-wax. The childish,
+credulous, superstitious sepoys were, however, only too ready to believe
+all idle tales: they accepted the statements of the fakirs, that by
+means of charms and witchcraft the English would transform them into
+animals; that their children would be born with tails like monkeys, and
+other stories equally absurd.
+
+The sepoys were now in such a panic of fear lest their precious caste
+should be defiled, that they began to suspect some attempt to destroy
+this inheritance (without which life was not worth living) in everything
+prepared for them by the government. The new cartridge-paper had a
+glazed, greasy appearance. This was enough! Here was another subtle
+attempt to make them Christians! In this fashion they argued and
+persuaded one another like foolish children, though in reality the paper
+was entirely free from fat.
+
+Many years before this a report had spread throughout Hindustan that the
+English rulers were collecting the salt (a very precious commodity in
+the East) into two heaps: over that intended for the use of the
+Mohammedans the blood of pigs was sprinkled, and over the other the
+blood of cows. This "salt" panic had occurred many years ago, but now in
+1857 an equally incredible story was believed by hundreds of thousands,
+namely, that the government had caused the bones of bullocks and of pigs
+to be ground and mixed with the flour served out to the troops. For days
+following the rumour no flour was used, the sepoys preferring to starve
+rather than eat what they believed to be defiled food.
+
+But these matters of the greased cartridges and bone-flour were by no
+means the only cause of the great mutiny: they were simply the pretexts
+for bringing matters to a head. The sepoys had been treated in widely
+different ways at various times, being now spoiled and petted, and now
+dealt with haughtily and occasionally unjustly. When first the native
+army was raised the men were allowed to dress after their own fashion,
+but early in the nineteenth century many changes had been initiated, and
+the soldiers began to be clothed and drilled according to the European
+model.
+
+They were forbidden to wear the cherished caste-marks on their
+foreheads; the ear-rings to which they were fondly attached, and which
+the Moslems regarded as a charm against evil spirits, were no longer
+permitted; they were deprived of the beards of which they had been so
+proud, and were forced to shave their chins like the "unclean"
+Englishmen; and upon their head the national turban was replaced by a
+stiff round cap. Now, not only are hats and caps the outward and
+visible signs of Christianity (for Christians are known as
+_topi-wallahs_, or hat-wearers), but this uniform cap contained leather
+made either from the hide of the abominable hog or from that of the
+sacred cow. Thus the new head-dress was an offence to Moslems and Hindus
+alike.
+
+A further cause of discontent arose from the decline in the importance
+of the native officer. In the early years of the British-Indian army the
+native officer had been a great and important man, but at this period
+his standing had declined. The English officer of sixteen had authority
+over the grizzled Rajput captain who had served the Company for thirty
+years. The native officers were not saluted by British privates, and
+frequently when they visited the tents of their white brother-officers,
+the latter had not the courtesy to offer them chairs, regarding them,
+indeed, as in no way different from the common sepoy. The native
+officers grumbled to one another in indignant tones over these
+grievances.
+
+"It is better," they said, "to serve in the armies of the native states,
+where elephants and palanquins and sumptuous tents are provided for the
+officers, than in the army of 'The Great Lord Company', in which we are
+compelled to live with the common sepoy when on the line of march."
+
+Again, most of the Hindus had enlisted on the understanding that they
+were to serve in Hindustan only and not across the sea. Now to cross
+"The Black Water" is likewise a defilement forbidden to Brahmans, and
+great dissatisfaction had been caused a few years previously because
+certain regiments had been ordered to Burma; and during this campaign
+the Brahmans had been compelled to work as labourers in the construction
+of barracks. The British soldiers had fallen to with a will, as had the
+low-caste Madras sepoys, but the men from Bengal demanded to know
+whether Brahmans and Rajputs were mere coolies that they should so
+defile themselves.
+
+In addition to the above causes of disquietude, the King of Delhi--a
+quiet old gentleman who dabbled in poetry--had been recently deprived of
+certain privileges. This monarch was the descendant of the great Mogul
+emperors, whose sway had been acknowledged by far more kings, princes,
+and nations than that of any European sovereign.
+
+Yet the heir to this magnificence was now merely the pensioner of a
+company of merchants; though permitted to dwell in an enormous
+palace--almost a town in itself--with the empty title of king, he
+possessed no real power and no authority. This fact rankled in the minds
+of all Mohammedans. In one important respect, however, the Company had
+deferred to the king's wishes. He had begged that none of their troops
+should be quartered in the imperial city, so that he might at least make
+pretence to be the real master thereof. The request was granted, and
+with the exception of a handful of men to guard the great Delhi arsenal,
+neither sepoys nor British soldiers were stationed in the town, but,
+instead, had their cantonments on the destined-to-be-famous ridge
+outside.
+
+Then, again, the great province of Oudh had been recently annexed, and
+certain privileges had been taken not only from the king thereof, but
+from the large landholders; and though in the course of time these
+changes would undoubtedly work for the good of the majority, still they
+pressed heavily on a certain class; and the poorer people, for whose
+benefit the changes were made, could not understand, and therefore
+disliked them. The King of Oudh, like his master the Emperor of Delhi,
+was a Mohammedan.
+
+There was also a Mahratta rajah, known as Nana Sahib, who had many
+grievances against the English. The Mahrattas were a powerful Hindu
+confederacy that had overawed even the Grand Moguls until Wellesley and
+Lake had broken their power.
+
+Trouble had arisen in many corps over the question of pay. For services
+outside India the sepoys were paid more than in Hindustan itself. After
+the annexation of the Punjab in 1849 this extra pay was dropped for
+regiments serving in the province, and the sepoys could not understand
+how, if the Punjab was not in Hindustan when they entered, it could
+become part of Hindustan because the government chose to term it so.
+They argued that even if the Punjab had become merged in the Indian
+Empire, it was still a foreign country in their eyes; that they were
+still serving away from their native land, and were therefore entitled
+to extra pay. Some regiments had accordingly refused to obey orders.
+
+The Brahman priests thereupon warned the Indian Government that if they
+(the priests) chose to forbid Hindus to enlist, the British would have
+to make shift without a sepoy army. This threat rather frightened "John
+Company", but not Sir Charles Napier, the commander-in-chief at the
+period. He promptly took matters into his own hands, and disbanding the
+66th Native Infantry, which had refused to obey orders, he gave their
+title and colours to the Nasiri Gurkha Battalion, who thereupon became
+the 66th Infantry of the Line.
+
+This step scared the Brahmans, for they saw that if the government was
+minded to fill their places with Gurkhas, those intrepid little
+mountaineers would be only too delighted to enlist in the regular army
+instead of in irregular battalions with less pay, as at present. The
+occupation of the Brahman sepoys would then be gone, at least to a
+larger extent than they desired.
+
+Now, in India the status of a soldier is a most honourable one, and the
+army is not mainly recruited from the lower classes, as in England, but
+from the most respectable natives of the middle and higher ranks of
+life; and families consider it a great privilege to have a son in the
+army, even as a private. Judged by Indian standards the pay is very
+good, and the pension will keep a family in ease and comfort. The
+British soldier often enlists because he has no taste for settled
+employment, or because he has been tempted by coloured placards setting
+forth "the advantages of the army", or has been attracted by the ribbons
+of the recruiting-sergeant. Perchance he has been jilted by his
+sweetheart, or done something of which he is ashamed, and so has run
+away from home. Often he has taken another name, and has lost sight and
+touch of the parents at home.
+
+But the sepoy, as soon as his name is on the regimental roll, becomes
+the pride and prop of his house. He visits home regularly and is
+regarded as a great man in his village, and his family comes under the
+special protection of the state. Many families boasted that they had
+eaten the salt of "The Great Lord Company" from generation to
+generation. The sepoys usually had a real pride in their colours; they
+rejoiced in the honourable and well-paid service that was sought by the
+very flower of the people, by the highest castes in Bengal.
+
+Napier's prompt action checked the spread of revolt, but dissatisfaction
+still rankled in the sepoys' breasts. In 1857 each injustice was
+recalled to mind, and thousands of the mutineers honestly believed that
+they had been very badly treated.
+
+A further incitement to revolt was this. The Moslems cherished a
+prophecy that India would be ruled by the Feringhis for exactly one
+hundred years, after which the Mogul Empire would resume its sway. The
+year 1857 was just a century after Plassey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Weighed in the Balance
+
+
+The principal causes of the great mutiny having now been explained, let
+us go back to Meerut and its eighty-five mutineers. These men were
+sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and in the presence of the
+sepoy regiments the fetters were placed upon their limbs. The sight of
+the degradation angered and alarmed their comrades, and rumours spread
+through the town to the effect that all the black soldiers were to be
+disgraced in the same way, and at this date no report was too ridiculous
+for the sepoys.
+
+On the Sunday evening, 10th May, the 60th Rifles assembled for church
+parade. At once the rumour flew round that the white soldiers were
+preparing to fall upon their brown comrades, and the absurd tale gained
+ready credence. The sepoys were taunted by the women of the town, were
+called cowards for permitting their comrades to suffer disgrace; and no
+sooner had the Rifles marched off to church than the native troops lost
+all control of themselves, broke open the jail, set their eighty-five
+comrades free, and, encouraged by the convicts, they began to fire on
+the white residents.
+
+All the _budmashes_ of Meerut joining in, pandemonium ensued. Houses
+were broken into and set on fire; Englishmen and women were brutally
+murdered. Yet whilst this was going on in one part of the town, in
+another quarter the sepoys of the same regiments were saluting their
+officers and guarding the Treasury as usual.
+
+Back came the 60th Rifles from church and quickly reassembled with arms
+and ammunition, but by this time the mutineers were on the road to
+Delhi. Though the British dragoons were at once ordered out, their
+commanding officer could not grasp the need for prompt punishment. He
+allowed the roll to be called in the ordinary way, wasting precious
+moments, whilst the rebel sepoys were hastening nearer and nearer to the
+imperial city.
+
+Night fell quickly, and as the general commanding did not know which way
+the rebels had fled, he did not order pursuit, arguing that the troops
+must remain behind to protect the residents of Meerut from the thousands
+of _budmashes_ and escaped jail-birds.
+
+Had the dragoons at Meerut been ordered down the road to Delhi (for the
+general might easily have guessed that the rebels would take that
+direction), the 60th Rifles and the Artillery were strong enough to have
+swept all the _budmashes_ in Meerut out of existence; and the dragoons
+would certainly have overtaken and destroyed the two foot regiments, and
+might have come up with the 3rd Native Cavalry. In the face of the
+British horsemen the populace of Delhi would not have dared to
+sympathize with the mutineers; the revolt would perhaps have died out,
+and the terrible massacres of Delhi, Cawnpore, and other places might
+never have occurred. But it is easy to be wise after the event, and the
+general commanding at Meerut, though a brave man, was not a far-seeing
+one. He was content to save and defend his own station, failing to
+recognize that a spark kindled in Delhi, the real capital of India,
+would set the whole land ablaze. As it was, the mutineers, scared out of
+their wits by the fear of a terrible retribution, hearing in their
+frightened imaginations the thundering of the dragoons behind them, got
+safely into Delhi and attempted to rouse that city against the
+Feringhis. But the people of Delhi said one to another:
+
+"No! The English will be here presently with their terrible horsemen and
+still more terrible artillery. Let us take no part in this!"
+
+But not a British soldier was in sight next day from the city walls, and
+the rumour soon gained ground that all the white troops in Meerut had
+been slain, and that Allah had taken from them their vigour and their
+courage. "The Feringhis are _lachar_[4]!" was the cry.
+
+  [4] helpless.
+
+And the populace and the sepoys around Delhi joined their brethren from
+Meerut, proclaiming Bahadur Shah, the old gentleman poet, "Emperor of
+all India"; they massacred the fifty English men and women in the city,
+and before many days had passed most of the regiments throughout Bengal
+and the Punjab were on the brink of mutiny, hesitating to take the
+plunge. Had there been at Meerut on that fatal Sunday a Lawrence or an
+Edwardes, a Cotton, Nicholson, or Neill, the revolt might have been
+crushed with one decisive blow.
+
+So the news brought to our friends at Aurungpore was too true. Through
+the whole land, from Peshawur to Calcutta, spread the black terror, and
+though most officers of sepoy regiments trusted their own particular
+corps, each feared lest other regiments should throw off their
+allegiance and murder without remorse not only the officers, but the
+Christian women and children of the towns.
+
+The colonel and officers of the 193rd never doubted that their beloved
+regiment would prove true to its salt, for the most friendly feeling
+existed between officers and men. Some of the former had more than once
+risked their lives for their men, and in return several of the sepoys
+had rescued their officers from situations of great peril by their
+pluck and devotion.
+
+Terrible as were many of the acts committed by the mutineers, we must
+not consider them as so many fiends in the shape of men, nor must we
+believe that their delight was to shed human blood. In 1857 the sepoy
+was a madman inflamed with rage and bitter hatred against those whom he
+mistakenly considered his oppressors; and many who suffered most from
+his fury were in truth his best friends and well-wishers.
+
+Most inconsistent were his actions, and his character was a mass of
+contradictions. He was simple and credulous as a child, and at the same
+time crafty and designing; his cruelty was frequently evident, and never
+more so than in this terrible year, yet as a rule he was gentle and
+kindly. It was no uncommon sight for the hardened sepoy warrior to be
+found watching beside his English officer's sick-bed, and no woman could
+be a more gentle nurse; he was devoted to his sahib's children, and
+loved to make them happy. Generally he was languid and indolent, yet
+capable of being roused to passionate energy; at times light-hearted and
+cheerful, at times depressed and given to brooding over his wrongs, both
+real and fancied. Mutinies had not been unknown before the year 1857,
+but on previous occasions the outbreaks had resembled the naughtiness of
+a child, and like a child the sepoy usually injured himself more than
+others.
+
+Though no condemnation of those who participated in the murdering of
+women and children can be too severe, yet we must not paint the sepoy in
+colours too black. Let us try to put ourselves in his place, and see
+what it meant. Suppose that he honestly believed that the English were
+seeking his destruction, can we not imagine his despair and panic? Many
+of the mutineers, however, believed the explanations of their English
+officers, and felt assured that the cartridge-paper contained no
+offensive matter, and these men tried to put everything right. And what
+was the result? Their comrades believed that these sensible sepoys had
+sold themselves to the Feringhis; they were taunted and jeered at as
+Christians; they became outcasts, and none would eat with them. Not only
+did their fellow-soldiers shun them, but also their parents and brethren
+and the people of the village who used to crowd round and bow before
+them when they visited their homes. They all refused friendship and
+connection with the outcasts; the letters written home were never
+answered, and no wonder that these well-meaning fellows were
+terror-stricken at the thought of their shameful position, and cursed
+the English and their unclean ways that had brought this to pass.
+
+Three days after the Meerut revolt Colonel Woodburn addressed his men on
+the subject of the crisis. Assuring them of the mighty power of England,
+and of the terrible punishment that would be meted out to rebels, he
+reminded them of their glorious regimental history, and asked if they
+would willingly tarnish their good name. Ted's heart glowed as he
+listened to the stirring speech, and the men broke into a shout of
+enthusiasm, cheered their colonel, and Pir Baksh, stepping forward,
+expressed their willingness to march against the mutineers. At mess the
+officers congratulated one another, overjoyed at the splendid spirit
+animating those under their command.
+
+With renewed courage and in the highest spirits they buckled on their
+swords for the next morning's parade.
+
+"I hope we shall get orders to march against the mutineers," Ted
+confided to Paterson as they walked towards the parade-ground in front
+of the arsenal.
+
+"And what would happen to our countrymen and country-women at
+Aurungpore if the regiment left?" his chum asked with a laugh. "Would
+you make the rebels a gift of the fort and arsenal?"
+
+Ted was crestfallen.
+
+"Oh! I'd forgotten them," he replied. "Still, half the regiment would be
+enough to defend the town. I'm jolly glad our men are showing such a
+good spirit, but I'm afraid for Jim and Spencer. I don't suppose their
+Guides are likely to remain loyal very long."
+
+"I've been thinking of them all morning," Alec observed musingly, "and
+of all Spencer was telling us the night he was here. I don't think
+there's much doubt but that those fellows will sell themselves to the
+highest bidder, and he will be the emperor at Delhi. They may pull
+through all right though, if they are within reach of Nicholson. He and
+Edwardes will be towers of strength along the frontier."
+
+"Don't it make you mad to think of the way they bungled it at Meerut?
+Whoever was responsible for such a fiasco ought to be kicked out of the
+army."
+
+"Now, Ted Russell, you know nothing about it," the cautious Scot
+reproachfully asserted. "It's very easy to say afterwards what ought to
+have been done, but we don't know all the circumstances. Here's the
+colonel. He's a fine-looking man, and no wonder the sepoys are proud of
+him."
+
+The companies were called to attention, numbered, and wheeled into line.
+Before the wheel was completed a sepoy suddenly levelled his musket and
+pulled the trigger. Two officers at once rushed towards the would-be
+assassin, but were met by the fire of some twenty men of the same
+company, and fell riddled with bullets.
+
+One-half of the sepoys stood irresolute--some fingering their triggers
+menacingly; others, taken by surprise, screamed, "No, no, we must not
+slay our officers!"
+
+"Nay, slay them all!" roared a subadar, "whether we love them or not! If
+we do not kill them they will persuade us against our will!"
+
+And a shrill clamour approved the advice.
+
+Still five hundred men hesitated. Some of the waverers shouted to the
+Englishmen, urging them to run. It was as though they had been bitten by
+a mad dog, and, while yet sane, knowing that the poison was working in
+their veins, they wished to save bloodshed before the madness should
+overpower them and render them pitiless.
+
+Almost broken-hearted by this proof that his trusted regiment had
+mutined, Colonel Woodburn lifted up his voice in a last appeal to their
+loyalty. Before he had spoken a dozen words, Pir Baksh--dreading lest
+the colonel's influence should wreck his plans, even when success seemed
+assured--stepped behind a crowd of gesticulating sepoys and took
+deliberate aim.
+
+Colonel Woodburn fell from his horse grievously wounded, and Ted and one
+of the subalterns dashed forward to convey him to a place of safety.
+Captain Markham placed himself at the head of his own hundred men and
+appealed to them, for the sake of all they had gone through together, to
+remain loyal and true. His company, composed of Hindustanis--mostly
+Rajputs--stood silent and puzzled, undecided how to act, when shots from
+some Mohammedans of the flank company answered his appeal, and the
+well-loved captain fell.
+
+There was no longer any indecision among Markham's Rajputs. Pity for the
+murdered officer who had done so much for them, anger that he should be
+shot by the Moslems whom they did not love, these feelings turned the
+scale. Hastily closing round their captain they guarded his body and
+menaced the mutineers. The remaining officers, seeing one faithful
+company, placed themselves at its head, and called on the other Hindus
+to remain loyal and fight the Mussulmans. But the madness had worked by
+now: all the rest cast in their lot with the murderers, and, firing a
+few shots at Englishmen and faithful sepoys, whom they dared not charge,
+so great was still the influence of the officers, they rushed off to
+loot the town and shops.
+
+Including Markham, three officers were killed and two badly wounded, two
+of the slain being brother ensigns of Ted--poor little "griffins", who
+had been out but a few months.
+
+Then swift as lightning came the thought, "What of the women and
+children and civilians?" The appearance of the revolted sepoys would be
+the signal for all the _budmashes_ of the _bazar_ to join in the rioting
+and murder.
+
+A noise of firing and a babel of fiendish yells from the English quarter
+of the town, in close proximity to the fort, told their own tale. The
+white residents were being attacked!
+
+"Lieutenant Lowthian," commanded the major, "remain here with Ensigns
+Tynan and Russell and about twenty men! We'll take our wounded with us,
+the women will attend to them; and when we've cleared the streets we'll
+bring the civilians into the fort."
+
+Exhorting the faithful Rajputs to remain true to their salt and so win
+eternal fame, the major ordered bayonets to be fixed, and headed the
+charge down the street, the wounded with their guard bringing up the
+rear.
+
+A disorderly crowd of sepoys and riff-raff of the town had assembled in
+front of the large house of Sir Arthur Fletcher, the Commissioner of the
+district. The windows were being fired into and the doors battered down,
+in spite of a determined resistance from the inmates. Into the crowd
+charged the loyal sepoys. Firing a single volley at close quarters they
+at once let the rioters taste cold steel, and beneath the gallant
+major's sword fell more than one of the ringleaders.
+
+Major Munro was known as one of the strongest officers and best
+swordsmen in the army, and the mob gave back before his flashing steel
+and the glistening bayonets of his followers. But as the sepoys
+recoiled, a number of Wahabis, showering curses upon the faint-hearted,
+poured with knives and swords down upon the little band. The leader was
+all but lost. Separating him from his men, half a dozen fanatics set on
+him at once, yelling triumphantly. But the two who first came within
+reach of that mighty arm quickly lay in the dust; the third received the
+point in his heart, and a fourth was cloven almost in twain.
+
+Aghast at the fate of their comrades the others faltered. But Munro did
+not wait to be attacked; stepping over the prostrate bodies he followed
+up the advantage gained, and the pandies shrank from that fatal sword.
+Joining forces once more, the sturdy band reached the house, and,
+standing with backs to the wall, they poured volley after
+volley--irregularly, but coolly and rapidly--into the dense,
+disorganized rabble, until at length the barricades were taken from the
+door, and one by one they were admitted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+The Fight in the Arsenal
+
+
+"They are having a hard fight for it," Ted observed to Lieutenant
+Lowthian. They stood on the walls that surrounded the courtyard of the
+fort, watching the progress of their comrades through the crowded
+streets. Lowthian nodded, but, absorbed by the struggle, made no reply.
+
+"Yes, and they've left us here to be killed like rabbits," muttered
+Tynan.
+
+"Shut up! Don't whine!" Lowthian scornfully exhorted him.
+
+Ted's anxiety had so far been largely centred in the safety of Ethel
+Woodburn, the charge placed under his protection; and having rightly
+guessed that the Commissioner's house, surrounded by the clamouring mob,
+through whose masses Munro was breaking his way, contained the Europeans
+of Aurungpore, a load was lifted from his mind. The rebels had quitted
+the immediate vicinity of the fort, and the comparative tranquillity
+close at hand had made him forget his own danger. Tynan's remark and
+Lowthian's curtness startled him.
+
+"They won't be long in escorting the women here," he cheerfully opined.
+"And a hundred of us ought to hold this place easily."
+
+"Yes, but twenty cannot," Tynan sneered. "If it's as much as Munro can
+do to force his way through now, how's he going to manage it with a
+crowd of women to protect?"
+
+Tynan had gauged the situation more correctly than Ted. Reckoning
+overmuch on the prestige of British arms, Munro had calculated that the
+removal of the civilians to the fort would be an easy matter. Most of
+the disloyal sepoys had disappeared, having scattered in order to loot
+the shops and the European bungalows. They were now returning by twos
+and threes, some laden with plunder, others savage and sullen through
+disappointment, having found the bungalows deserted and the coveted
+jewels and money saved from their clutches.
+
+"Here comes that scoundrel Pir Baksh," said Lowthian as the Moslem
+subadar appeared on the scene. He began to shout some commands
+unintelligible to the watchers on the walls, and soon succeeded in
+forming the scattered groups into a dense throng.
+
+"I always detested that fellow," Lowthian continued, "and I believe he's
+at the bottom of this dastardly business."
+
+"He's got Miss Woodburn's horse too!" Ted cried in an excited voice, as
+he recognized the bay. "Look! he's pointing towards the fort It's our
+turn now!"
+
+Pir Baksh was haranguing the sepoys, gesticulating wildly, first towards
+the strong white building in which the Europeans had taken shelter, and
+then in the direction of the frowning fortress whose guns commanded
+Aurungpore, and the air was filled with shouts of "Din, Din, Allah
+Akbar!"[5]
+
+  [5] "The Faith," or "For our Faith, God is Great."
+
+"They're coming at us," Tynan whispered. There was no need to whisper,
+for the fact was only too evident. The impressive nature of the peril
+had made him unconsciously lower his voice.
+
+"Are the guns loaded?" he added, nodding towards the half-dozen cannon,
+whose grim black muzzles stared through the embrasures.
+
+"No, and it would take us an hour to load them," Lowthian replied.
+
+As a measure of precaution, all munitions for the cannon had been stored
+within the arsenal.
+
+The Rajputs on the bastions that flanked the main gate began to fire
+wildly as the rebels approached within range.
+
+"Steady, men, steady!" the commandant ordered. "Each cover his man
+before he fires! That's the way! Well aimed, Ambar Singh!"
+
+The loyal sepoys had pulled themselves together, and there was no
+further waste of ammunition. Rebel after rebel rolled over in the dust
+or limped into cover, and the rush was checked. The assailants slowly
+backed away from the walls, each man trying to dodge behind his
+neighbour to keep a shield before him as he took aim. Ted looked for Pir
+Baksh, but that astute pandy, having no intention of exposing himself so
+prominently on horseback, had dismounted, and was lost amid the mob.
+
+At last the ensign marked his quarry. For a second's space the
+ringleader had come into view to urge his reluctant hordes to the
+assault. Hastily covering him, Ted pulled the trigger. A rebel fell, but
+it was not Pir Baksh. Like the coward he was, he had skipped into safety
+behind a group of sepoys, and now the front ranks of the mutineers had
+pressed back upon the rearmost until all were beyond effective range.
+Brown Bess could not be trusted to carry far.
+
+"If there is one of the curs I should like to kill it's that traitor Pir
+Baksh!" Tynan declared with an oath. "I hope I'll live to see him
+hanged! It was he who shot the colonel; I saw him."
+
+"Are you sure of that?" Lowthian and Ted both asked.
+
+"As sure as that I am here.----What are they up to now?"
+
+Baffled for a moment, the subadar had abandoned the idea of a direct
+assault, and was seen to be exhorting the men to some new method of
+attack, for the pandies presently dispersed right and left. A hot fire
+was still kept up through the windows of Fletcher's house. Lowthian
+quietly gave an order.
+
+"Tynan, take eight men to the southern bastion, and don't show
+yourselves until you can strike home. Dal Singh, you keep watch from the
+north-west tower, and give the alarm if they gather in that direction."
+
+A number of the sepoys were reassembling at the top of the main street
+where it debouched into the open space facing the main gate. Ted and
+Lowthian exchanged a meaning look as they perceived that some had
+brought short ladders and were busily lashing them together.
+
+"If they've any grit they'll soon be over the walls," the senior
+whispered. "Ha! they mean to attack Tynan's post first."
+
+Under the impression that the garrison was too weak to be distributed,
+some hundred rebels with a ladder made a dash for the southern wall of
+the courtyard, keeping out of range from the main gate as they ran. They
+were within twenty paces when Tynan opened fire. Still they kept on, and
+planted the ladder against the wall. A second volley rang out, and the
+pandies hesitated, for the fire had been concentrated on the
+ladder-bearers, and those who were nearest to them edged farther away,
+pressing against the walls. They reasoned that it was death to touch the
+ladder, and many of their comrades were already dead. But by now another
+rush had been made for the main gate, and though a dozen fell in the
+assault, the sepoys were more in earnest and they thirsted for revenge.
+Two of the Rajputs were knocked over, and Pir Baksh yelled gleefully as
+he planted a bullet in Lowthian's shoulder.
+
+Still the fort was not yet won. Encouraged by the resolute bearing of
+their officers, the loyal men continued to fire coolly and rapidly; and
+the mutineers lacked the inspiration of a leader ready to sacrifice
+himself for their cause. They again retired out of range, and the cheer
+raised by the Rajputs at the main gate was echoed back by Tynan's men.
+
+That cheer was ill-timed. Hardly had it died away before an answering
+yell from the north, savage as a war-whoop, chilled the blood in their
+veins, for it came from inside the courtyard! A scaling-party had made
+the circuit, and were already beneath the north-western bastion when Dal
+Singh reached his post. He looked forth, and before he could give the
+alarm a bullet struck him in the forehead, the single distant report
+passing unnoticed amid the noise of battle.
+
+"Inside the fort, lads!" Lowthian shouted. "All together!"
+
+The garrison hastily descended, and, joining forces, charged across the
+courtyard to escape being cut off. But the rebels were the nearer, and
+should even one or two of them enter first and bar the door, the
+garrison was lost. In ten minutes there would be a couple of hundred
+sepoys inside the courtyard.
+
+One rebel was almost in. Ted stopped, flung his musket to his shoulder,
+and the man toppled over. Four more pandies were close upon his heels.
+As the leader fell, the hindmost of these, dreading the same fate,
+looked back over his shoulder. A trifling incident, yet that glance cost
+him dear, and was worth untold gold to the white-faces in Aurungpore.
+For as the fellow turned he unconsciously checked his pace, and a lean
+Rajput, straining every nerve, closed with the faint-hearted traitor
+before the entrance could be gained. A bayonet-thrust, a scream, and the
+wretch staggered forward and fell upon his face.
+
+But the other three were inside, and so was Karan Singh the Rajput,
+alone with his back to the door, cut off from his comrades. A barrier of
+some thirty exultant rebels had thrust themselves in front, and ladders
+were even now being set up against the walls by the main gate. If the
+thirty pandies could keep the loyalists at bay for another five minutes
+they would all be butchered like goats at the Dashera Festival. Then
+came the clang of steel, as bayonet crossed bayonet; the three officers
+emptied and reloaded their pistols, and a yard or two was gained.
+
+Suddenly Ted dodged to the right, and darted at full speed round the
+pack of sepoys, as a three-quarter back, smartly fed by the half who has
+picked up the ball from beneath the feet of the scrummagers, circles
+round his opponents before they know what has happened. He had caught a
+glimpse of the plucky Karan Singh maintaining the unequal combat, and
+the Rajput was sore wounded though one of the pandies had fallen to his
+bayonet.
+
+While still a few strides from the doorway, Ted Russell witnessed the
+death of the Hindu hero. As one sepoy kept Karan Singh at bay the other
+managed to reload and let fly, the muzzle barely a foot from the
+Rajput's breast. The brave man dropped like a log, and his body fell
+across the threshold. Though they hastily thrust the corpse aside, Ted
+was upon them before the heavy door could be closed.
+
+The enemy had not dared to pursue the ensign, fearing to turn their
+backs lest the British should be let in. His pistol was empty and his
+musket had been cast aside. One of the sepoys lunged. Ted skipped aside,
+and, turning on his heel, struck wildly at the other's bayonet that was
+darting towards his chest. The weapon was turned aside, but though his
+tunic alone was ripped and he himself was untouched, his cherished sword
+had broken off at the hilt, and he was disarmed.
+
+For the fraction of a second he stood helpless. So lightning-like is
+thought, that he had time to long for a kick at the slovenly workman who
+had turned out a weapon as untrustworthy as himself.
+
+"Quick! Close the door, Bakir Khan, while I slay the whelp!"
+
+Ted swerved, grasped the speaker's musket-barrel with his left, and with
+his right hammered the face of the bewildered sepoy, who howled, but
+held on to the weapon. The iron-clamped door slammed and the heavy bolts
+groaned as Bakir Khan shot them home and turned to assist his comrade.
+Ted tugged at the musket with all his strength, and suddenly saw at his
+feet the firearm of the dead pandy. He swooped down, seized the weapon,
+and jumped backwards just in time, as the bayonet-point flashed
+harmlessly in front.
+
+A loud pounding of musket-stocks upon the door announced that Lowthian's
+handful had broken through, or else had all been slain. For an instant
+the sound stayed the fight inside. Was he alone left after all? Or did
+it mean that, could he open the door before numbers overwhelmed them,
+they might all be saved? Hope lent him strength. There was no bayonet to
+his new weapon, so he gripped it by the muzzle, and, swinging it above
+his head, he knocked the Brown Bess out of Bakir Khan's hand as that
+false sepoy made a second lunge. Again he brought the butt-end down,
+this time with a thud upon the head of Bakir Khan. The second pandy
+recoiled, still half-dazed by the blows from Ted's sword-hilt. There was
+no way of escape for him, however, and he sprang like a tiger-cat at the
+ensign. A third time the musket was swung aloft, and the sepoy reeled
+and toppled over, stunned.
+
+Ted sprang to the door, and had drawn one of the bolts when a wild fear
+took hold of him. Who were on the other side? In all probability they
+were rebels thirsting for English blood, and why should he let them in?
+Through the thick door he seemed to see them, pitiless as famished
+wolves. Why not hide in the vast arsenal and slip out at night?
+
+In less than a second such thoughts had flashed through his mind before
+he recollected that duty bade him take the risk. The last bolt was shot
+back; he sprang aside, ready for a charge as the door swung back, and
+gave a gasp of relief as Tynan and his Rajputs dashed inside.
+
+At their heels came the rebels, and a few got through before Ted and
+Ambar Singh could close and bar the door. The fight inside the passage
+was soon over, and the Rajputs sank upon the floor and gasped for
+breath.
+
+Barely five minutes had sped since Karan Singh's body had fallen across
+the threshold, yet it seemed many hours. Ted could hardly realize that
+the main body of assailants under Pir Baksh had only just succeeded in
+storming the walls (for they had hesitated, fearing a trap) as he
+cracked the skull of Bakir Khan. Had that fourth sepoy not looked back
+the arsenal would have been lost.
+
+"Lowthian's done for, I'm afraid!" panted Tynan.
+
+Following his gaze, Ted saw that the Rajputs had brought their
+commandant in. He knelt down by the side of his friend and found Tynan's
+surmise only too true, for Lieutenant Lowthian had already breathed his
+last.
+
+"Shot just as we reached the doorway," Tynan explained; "and half a
+dozen men killed or badly wounded. What must we do, Russell? They can't
+get in except through that door, can they?"
+
+"It won't take long to batter the door down if they shape," Ted replied.
+"Luckily we've heaps of ammunition here, and any number of muskets.
+Look, this room off the passage commands the door, so set two or three
+men to bring up firearms and we'll load a few dozen."
+
+Before Ted had finished speaking, the spirited Rajputs were emptying
+their muskets through the narrow slits that loop-holed the thick walls,
+and the rebels who had been clustering round the door, vainly attempting
+to batter it down, left the spot in a hurry--at least all did who were
+able. Ted then posted a couple of men to watch the north-western face of
+the building and give the alarm if necessary. Blood had been flowing
+freely down the ensign's face, and he now found time to staunch it. He
+was not sure when he had received the wound, but at some time or other
+during the struggle in the passage a bayonet-point had torn the skin
+from mouth to ear.
+
+The lull in the storm lasted for nearly an hour. Many of the pandies
+contemptuously flouted the commands of their officers, and, giving up
+the attack on the fort, began to seek fresh plunder in the town, or
+joined in the half-hearted attempts to render the English house
+untenable. The remainder of the force, gathered together by Pir Baksh,
+kept up a long-range fire through the loopholes, in the hope that some
+bullets might find their billets.
+
+"Why don't Munro come to the rescue?" Harry Tynan bitterly demanded.
+"With eighty men he could break through this gang of cowards, if only he
+had the pluck to try."
+
+"He can't," Ted retorted; "they're penned in there like sheep. And how
+could he break through with nearly a dozen women and kids to protect?
+Would you have him leave them to their fate?"
+
+"Half his men could do it."
+
+"Not they--nor twice his whole force. It's a soldier's risk that we
+bargained for when we took our commissions. We may win through yet; and
+if not, we must just stick to it as long as we can. Well, what's the
+matter now, havildar?"
+
+Ambar Singh had left his post.
+
+"The dogs are about to make a rush, Ensign Sahib. They Have brought logs
+and beams and mean to batter down the door. Listen! They are
+volley-firing to keep us from the loopholes."
+
+The fusillade had suddenly redoubled--steady volleys this time--and a
+hail of lead pattered against the walls, and a few bullets smacked
+against the sides of the slits and cannoned shapeless into the room.
+
+"Quick, upstairs, you three!" Ted cried. "Take as many muskets as you
+can carry and fire rapidly!"
+
+Three sepoys nodded significantly and ran up the stairs. In another
+moment a succession of reports from above announced that they understood
+their business. As our hero had intended, the rebels jumped at the
+conclusion that their fire having become too hot, the garrison had
+shifted, so they changed their aim.
+
+Instantly the abandoned loopholes were occupied, just as two parties,
+each of six or eight men bearing improvised battering-rams, charged the
+door at full speed. Crack went eight muskets together, and half a dozen
+fell. Fresh firearms were handed to the marksmen, and the logs were
+dropped as the few survivors scuttled away. For a third time the reports
+rang out, and only one of the log-carriers rejoined his comrades.
+
+"Down, men!" Ted gave warning, as the rebels savagely changed their aim
+once more and swept the lower embrasures with their fire. One poor
+fellow was not quite quick enough. Before he could duck a bullet had
+entered his forehead. Setting aside the two Rajputs who were dangerously
+wounded, there were now twelve sepoys and two English lads to defend the
+place, and of these fourteen five were wounded.
+
+"Curse the bloodthirsty ruffians!" Tynan hissed.
+
+His blood was up. Springing to a loophole he fired twice, bringing down
+a man each time.
+
+"Be careful," Ted cautioned him. "That won't pay."
+
+"The sooner it's over the better," Tynan replied, but took the advice
+all the same.
+
+The hostile fire gradually slackened, and the garrison were shortly
+enabled to watch the proceedings of their adversaries. They could see
+Pir Baksh vainly exhorting the mutineers to make a second attempt. But
+the sepoys shook their heads. The danger was too great, or why did not
+Pir Baksh himself lead them, they asked. Their English officers were
+wont to share the danger with the sepoys, but he, Pir Baksh, was careful
+to keep out of range whenever he sent them forward. No, they preferred
+to wait for night, when the risk would be small.
+
+Judging that they would be safe for another hour at least, the two
+Englishmen ordered food to be prepared. They anticipated that the crisis
+would come with the sunset, and strength must be kept up.
+
+"What are you grinning at?" asked Tynan, as they sat cross-legged over
+the meal.
+
+"I was thinking what a rummy go it is," Ted replied, "that we two of all
+the officers should be here together. We haven't been friends, Tynan,
+but if ever we get out of this hole I hope we will be. And if we don't
+get out, I trust we can die without any bad feeling between us. Shake
+hands on it, old chap."
+
+Tynan leant forward to meet the proffered hand.
+
+"All right, Russell! I'm agreeable. It ain't my fault that we've not
+been friends."
+
+This was not a very gracious speech, and Ted's ardour was damped. He
+shook hands, however, saying:
+
+"We must back one another up to-day."
+
+"Right! But look here, you mustn't forget that I'm senior officer here.
+You've been giving orders pretty freely."
+
+"Because you didn't seem ready with any suggestions."
+
+"It's my turn now, remember," Tynan asserted in an aggrieved tone; and
+Ted felt sorry he had spoken, as the other seemed incapable of sinking
+his personal feelings even at such a time. Unless his senior officer
+showed more sign of rising to the occasion, he determined to continue to
+issue orders.
+
+Though the magazine at Aurungpore was not a large one, its capture would
+prove an enormous boon to the rebel cause, for therein was stored a
+quantity of ammunition and material of war. Armed therewith, all the
+rabble of the town would soon be equipped as soldiers, and our ensign
+understood what would then become of his friends and comrades, and above
+all of his brother's sweetheart. A shiver ran down his spine as he
+remembered Jim's parting whisper, and there rose before him the picture
+of the girl who had saved his life and whom he secretly adored. He vowed
+to do his duty manfully, and never to despair while there remained the
+least hope of preventing the ravening wolves outside from gaining access
+to the stores.
+
+"What the deuce are you up to now?" Tynan broke in.
+
+The senior ensign had been regarding the junior's meditations with
+considerable curiosity, wondering how he could become so absorbed at so
+critical a time. His query had been called forth by a sudden change of
+expression that had overspread his comrade's features. Ted's eyes had
+opened wide, and he had given an almost imperceptible gasp, sure signs
+that some startling idea had come upon him unawares.
+
+"What is it, Russell?" Tynan repeated.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing!" Ted hastily assured him. "I was just thinking
+what an awful business this is."
+
+"Has that only just occurred to you?" his comrade sullenly inquired,
+convinced that Ted was keeping something back.
+
+And so he was. Not that he wished to mislead his brother officer but
+rather because the idea that had so unceremoniously thrust itself in
+front of him, suggested an action so appalling as almost to stupefy him.
+He must think, think, think. Could he bring himself to do it? Ought he
+to do it?
+
+Hardly the place or time this for quiet meditation, for the weighing of
+pros and cons. One of the watchers signalled that the pandies had again
+lost patience, and to confirm his words the heavy fusillade recommenced,
+and the ensign ceased to ponder and began to act. The rebels had now got
+the range with deadly accuracy, and unless he courted death, none of the
+garrison dared return the fire.
+
+Our hero did make one such attempt, and reduced the number of one of the
+battering-crews. But before he could get in a second shot the muzzle of
+his musket was struck and dented, and a bullet whistled through his
+hair, grazing the skin. He crouched down and put his hand to his head,
+fearing he was done for. A soft thud and rattle beside him announced the
+fall of a sepoy who had followed the rash example with fatal courage.
+Forgetting his own wound the ensign knelt beside the Rajput and raised
+his head. The poor fellow still breathed but was going fast, and a
+shudder ran through the boy as the man died in his arms, true to the
+end.
+
+"Are you hurt?" Tynan asked.
+
+"I'm not quite sure. I don't think so."
+
+"Let me see. Oh, it's only a scratch."
+
+The sepoys in the room above, less hampered by the rebel fire, were
+answering back to some purpose until they too were silenced, one of
+their number being mortally wounded. A crash against the stout door
+seemed to shake the house, and before the vibration ceased another bang
+was heard. Englishmen and Rajputs were firing hastily whenever an
+opportunity occurred, but the pandies now held the upper hand. A
+splintering noise followed the next crash.
+
+"What can we do, Russell? What can we do?" Tynan cried. "They'll be in
+in a moment!"
+
+Backed by the strength of half a dozen men the logs crashed once more
+against the barrier, and the hearts of the garrison were heavy as lead.
+
+"We're not done for yet," Ted stoutly replied. "We must wait for them in
+the passage. We may yet hold the passage, Ambar Singh; and should we
+die, men will speak of your deeds from generation to generation."
+
+"We can hold them back for a time, sahib. Come, my children, and thou,
+Bisesar Rai, and thou, Dwarika Rai, load and pass us the muskets as we
+lie in the doorway."
+
+Of the twenty-two Rajputs ten were still able to fight, and three others
+remained alive though sorely wounded. They were now all together, and
+Ted, Ambar Singh the havildar, and as many others as could crowd in,
+were lying full length before the wide-arched entrance to the room. From
+the slowly-yielding door the passage ran straight for a few paces before
+curving to the right, and an enemy coming round the bend would be at a
+great disadvantage, for the best marksmen of the garrison waited with
+ready muskets, their elbows on the threshold, their bodies within the
+room. Behind them two comrades stood, a loaded musket in each hand, to
+exchange for the emptied weapons, and beside them knelt Bisesar Rai and
+Dwarika Rai busily loading the firearms. The pandies could not take aim
+without coming into full view, but the defenders could fire with a
+minimum of exposure, and could draw back their heads into safety
+whenever they saw a musket-barrel pointing at random towards them.
+
+A louder crash, a shrill yell, and a mob of maddened sepoys swept inside
+and round the bend. Six muskets cracked at once, and the yells changed
+to howls of dismay. A second volley--not in unison this time, but no
+less effective--and the sepoys turned and fled. The victory was not to
+be so easy as they had imagined. Had the garrison been armed as were
+they, with one Brown Bess apiece and a limited supply of ammunition, it
+would all have been over long ago they told themselves, but when volley
+followed volley with such rapidity, it was like facing a regiment. The
+sepoys were not cowards as a rule, but they knew they were playing a
+traitor's part. In a good cause, well led, they would have risked the
+danger, even as the handful of loyal Rajputs were devoting their lives
+to their duty.
+
+A nerve-ruining silence, broken only by the moans of the wounded who lay
+on the floor, followed the shrill outcries. The rebels were baffled but
+not defeated. Slowly, painfully the minutes dragged, then two black
+heads showed round the bend, and two spurts of flame flashed out. Before
+the reports had reached them, Ted and Ambar Singh had pressed their
+fingers, and two sepoys fell forward on their faces. The defenders were
+untouched, the rebels having fired at random, and for a while none dared
+follow their example.
+
+In despair several of the raging mob pushed their musket-barrels round
+the bend and let fly, in the hope that an occasional bullet out of many
+might reduce the number of their dogged antagonists. But Ted drew his
+men back from the doorway until the sepoys were tired of this amusement.
+
+Each rebel urged his neighbour to face the fire of those death-dealing
+muskets; each man knew that the end was at hand, and preferred to hold
+himself back that he might share in the plunder. Now that they were no
+longer a glorious regiment but a mere mob of rebels, none was ready to
+give his life for the cause. The garrison also knew that the end was
+drawing near, and were in no way deceived by the momentary calm.
+
+"Hullo!" Ted cried, and stared open-mouthed. "What's that for?"
+
+A white cloth tied round the barrel of a musket had been poked round the
+corner.
+
+"A truce, sahibs!" a voice called in Urdu. "We wish to treat with you
+and save your lives. May I step forward in safety?"
+
+"One man may," Tynan replied, "but he will be a dead man should there be
+any sign of treachery."
+
+"Sahib, there will be none; I give my word of honour."
+
+So saying, Pir Baksh stepped round the bend, armed only with a smile
+that he doubtless intended to be ingratiating.
+
+"Ye are gallant warriors," he began, when Ted, interrupting the flow of
+words, ordered the rascal to speak in English, not Urdu. The subadar
+showed the whites of his eyes as he smiled, and grimly shook his head.
+For the benefit of the Rajputs he resumed in the vernacular:
+
+"Ye cannot hope to hold out much longer, so let there be no further
+bloodshed. Surrender the fort and we will spare your lives."
+
+"What do you think, Russell?" Tynan hurriedly whispered. "Do you believe
+they mean it?"
+
+"Not they!" was Ted's scornful reply.
+
+"Perhaps they do, though. I'll ask him what they intend to do with us."
+
+"Why, you can't mean to give up the magazine under any conditions?" our
+astonished ensign demanded, his eyes contracting as he stared at his
+senior officer.
+
+"They'll have it all the same if they kill us, though," Tynan muttered,
+lowering his eyes, unable to meet his comrade's gaze. "So what's the
+odds. May as well save our lives while there's a chance."
+
+He thereupon made answer to the jemadar.
+
+"If we surrender, what will you do with us?"
+
+"We will keep you captive, but promise you your lives," came the prompt
+reply.
+
+"Will you allow us to join our friends over yonder? If not, we shall
+still fight, and we are not so helpless as you think." Tynan was not
+quite a coward, and he used the threat with some show of spirit.
+
+"I cannot promise that without consulting my friends."
+
+So saying, the subadar retired for further instructions. Ted had had
+time for reflection.
+
+"Tynan," he announced, "I sha'n't agree to surrender. We've no right to
+do it! Look what a lift it would give them if they could get all these
+arms and ammunition."
+
+Our ensign had quite made up his mind what to do. If his death would
+make more secure the position of his comrades in the town he was
+prepared to die. There was satisfaction in the reflection that Ethel
+Woodburn would know that he had been staunch to the last. Poor Tynan had
+no friends among the officers of his corps, and consequently there was
+nothing to uplift his soul above the fear of death, and he had clutched
+eagerly at the straw of hope held out by Pir Baksh.
+
+"Well, they'll get it all the same after they've done for us," he
+bitterly replied. "May as well live to fight another day. I was a fool
+ever to come to this accursed land. What right had Munro to leave us
+here?"
+
+Before Ted could reply the white flag was thrust round the corner and
+the subadar returned.
+
+"We agree to what you ask," said he. "We will permit you to rejoin your
+friends in safety."
+
+"I tell you I shall not agree to surrender," the junior ensign angrily
+declared.
+
+"You fool! What's the good of holding out any longer? Well, I shall
+surrender, and I'm chief here."
+
+"You're not! You're under Munro's orders, and those were to hold the
+fort until he sends help. If you attempt to surrender you're a
+traitor."
+
+Ted turned to Ambar Singh and the sepoys.
+
+"Do not listen to the dogs," said he. "Let us fight to the end, as your
+forefathers did against the Moguls. They are not to be trusted; they
+will assuredly slay us if we yield."
+
+The sepoys stoutly assented. They had little faith in the Mohammedans,
+who were seeking their lives,--the men who had murdered Markham Sahib.
+
+"You are right, sahib," said the havildar, "and we will fight by your
+side. That low-caste hound," pointing to Pir Baksh, "is afraid of us,
+and wishes to disarm us with soft words, but we know him."
+
+Tynan saw his authority taken from him, the sepoys understanding and
+looking to Ted as their leader.
+
+"How dare you?" he hotly demanded.
+
+"Oh, go away! You've nothing to do with this business." Ted sneered, not
+too generously, for Tynan had disgusted him. With the same breath he
+ordered Pir Baksh to clear away, and the firing recommenced.
+
+The time had come for him to act upon the resolve he had made, a resolve
+to sacrifice himself and his already-doomed handful, rather than allow
+the capture of the stores to endanger the safety of his countrymen. The
+idea of blowing up the magazine had come upon him suddenly as he
+remembered the news that had arrived yesterday from Delhi,--how
+Lieutenant Willoughby and his nine heroes had blown up the immense
+arsenal there and destroyed hundreds of rebels.
+
+The entrance to the magazine was through the room in which they lay. The
+rebels were quiet, plotting some new move, no doubt, so, leaving the
+trusty Ambar Singh in charge, Ted proceeded to the spot and began to lay
+a train of powder to connect the barrels with their post. Before the
+others had guessed his intention he had brought the train within the
+room, and the white-faced senior ensign, who had lost by now the last
+remnant of his pluck, jabbered incoherently and attempted to interfere,
+until Ted roughly threatened to blow his brains out. Dazed and trembling
+the wretched boy shifted as far as he could from the black trail. The
+Rajputs looked on with frightened eyes, half-paralysed by the shock of
+this new terror; and Dwarika Rai fell on his knees and begged the ensign
+to have mercy, for such a fate meant more than death to these Hindus.
+
+For a moment the boy's heart failed him; the thought was too awful. To
+be blown into a hundred pieces, how terrible it seemed! And what right
+had he to condemn these faithful men to such a death?
+
+Then out spake the havildar.
+
+"If we have to die, let us die like men. Fire the train, sahib!"
+
+"Nay, not yet. Our duty is to stand by our post until the last. No man
+must leave the room, though."
+
+He lighted a candle and placed it within easy reach, that the flame
+might be ready on the shortest notice.
+
+"Ha!" whispered Ambar Singh, and there was a reckless note in his voice.
+"The jackals are cunning. See!"
+
+Round the bend was pushed forward a large sack full of sand, then
+another; and soon a third filled up the space. As the last was clumsily
+poked into its place between the others it tottered and overbalanced,
+and a couple of pandies leant forward to lift it up. Two muskets spat
+forth flame and the rebels rolled over in a heap, upsetting another
+sack. Quick as thought, as the sepoys were engaged in pulling their
+wounded comrades back, Ted ran with light steps down the passage,
+keeping close to the farther wall, and seizing a sack with either hand,
+dragged them away before the amazed mutineers had time to fire.
+
+To make doubly sure of his safety Ambar Singh and his men let fly, and
+the bullets, sweeping across the bend, covered the lad's return. Amid
+the cheers of the loyalists the bags were propped in the doorway to
+serve as a rampart for them, and they began to mock the traitors.
+
+But this triumph could merely put off the evil moment. In another
+half-hour fresh sand-bags had been brought in, and before long the
+pandies were in a position to command the doorway. As the news spread
+that the end was near the mob of sepoys increased, and Ted smiled to
+himself. He addressed the Rajputs:
+
+"You have done your duty in a manner worthy of your ancestors, and I am
+going to do mine. Run for your lives!"
+
+"No, Russell, you sha'n't!" cried Tynan, whose nerve had completely
+broken down. "I surrender,--Pir Baksh, I surrender!" He tried to snatch
+the light from his comrade's hand. Ted covered him with his pistol, and,
+pointing across the passage, said simply:
+
+"Run for your life!"
+
+Hot all over, his fingers tingling and his head ringing--partly dread of
+the horror and partly a glorious exultation--the boy dropped the lighted
+candle on the thin trail of powder, and darted from the room as a horde
+of sepoys rushed in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Defence of the Commissioner's House
+
+
+When Major Munro's eighty officers and men arrived inside the house of
+refuge, they found that the few civilians, ladies, and children of
+Aurungpore had all escaped thereto, having been warned in time. At the
+first sign of outbreak they had found access to the fort impossible, and
+had taken refuge in the Commissioner's house, the largest and strongest
+in the town, situated within easy reach of all the European bungalows,
+and close to the fort itself. They were in sore plight when the soldiers
+forced their way in--another half-hour would have been too late.
+
+From roof, loophole, and sheltered parapet blazed the muskets of the
+Rajputs, lending their aid to the rifles of the English gentlemen, and
+the mob drew back, raging furiously, but afraid to strike at close
+quarters. The sad story was told; dry-eyed but heavy-hearted the
+residents heard of the murder of their friends. The wounded men were
+speedily given every possible assistance, and the ladies left nothing
+undone to alleviate their pain. To tend the sufferers was their first
+care, but the great-hearted Englishwomen insisted on taking their share
+in the defence, refusing to leave the posts of danger for the
+comparative safety of the inner rooms whilst there were rifles and
+muskets to load and hand to the marksmen.
+
+Greatly to his dismay Munro found it quite impossible to send aid to the
+little garrison of the fort, the route being blocked by hundreds of
+fanatical savages. If he should despatch even half his command to break
+their way through they would be destroyed, and the remaining half would
+fall an easy prey to the triumphant rebels.
+
+The continued fusillade from the direction of the fort told him that the
+handful of defenders he had left behind was being hotly assailed, and he
+sadly feared that he had left them there to die. Bitterly the major
+regretted his error. Such concentrated fury on the part of the
+inhabitants had never been anticipated; he had felt sure of clearing the
+street and bringing the party safely back, and he had made a mistake.
+
+Colonel Woodburn's wound, though serious, was not dangerous, and before
+long Ethel was able to leave him for a short time. Whilst the soldiers
+were breaking their way through the crowd, she had seen her father
+carried in their midst, and had eyes for none but him. Now she looked
+around for Ted and could not see him.
+
+"Where is Ted Russell, Major Munro? He's not--surely he has not been
+murdered!"
+
+Munro was agitated, and showed it.
+
+"He's in the fort, Ethel; I left Lowthian, Tynan, and Russell with a few
+sepoys to guard it, and they're being attacked. Listen! I ought not to
+have left 'em. Leigh," he exclaimed, turning to an officer beside him,
+"is there nothing to be done? Can we leave those fellows to die? And if
+the fort is captured there is no escape for us!"
+
+Lieutenant Leigh shook his head.
+
+"We are helpless, sir. If we make a sortie not one of us would reach the
+fort, and the women would be left without protectors."
+
+Still the rattle of musketry kept up, and the inmates listened with
+troubled hearts for the firing to cease--the signal of the capture of
+the fort and the death of its garrison.
+
+"It's stopped!" groaned Sir Arthur Fletcher, and a shudder ran through
+the house.
+
+Ethel Woodburn turned pale, shuddered, and gripped the table for
+support. Ted Russell murdered by those savages! She recalled the
+ensign's merry looks and honest nature, and realized what a place the
+boy had won in her heart. Could it be possible that she would never see
+him again? How terribly cut up Jim would be!
+
+Jim! Aye, what of him? If her own trusted, well-tried regiment could so
+suddenly transform itself into a horde of fiends, what might not have
+happened to the Guides, that collection of outlaws and robbers? In all
+probability her lover had already been murdered. Her grief for Ted gave
+way to a greater anxiety regarding the fate of her betrothed. She walked
+aimlessly towards the window and looked out upon the distant mob, her
+thoughts far away from Aurungpore.
+
+"Miss Woodburn, for heaven's sake come away from the window!" Sir Arthur
+Fletcher almost shrieked as he planted himself in front of the girl.
+"They are not firing now, but--"
+
+A bullet crashed through the shattered window, and passing within an
+inch of the Commissioner's head, flattened itself against the far wall.
+Ethel awoke and skipped aside, and, seeing that she was safe, Sir Arthur
+followed suit. She had forgotten her own danger; she had not reflected
+that, even had the Guides proved true to their salt, nothing seemed less
+likely than that Jim Russell would ever see her again. She thanked Sir
+Arthur mechanically, and began to wonder how poor Jim would bear the
+news of her death. Having no doubt of his great love for her, her grief
+was more for him than for herself, horrible as the outlook was.
+
+Led by Major Munro, the men grimly went on with their work of
+strengthening the defences of the house, whilst their picked shots
+replied to the random firing.
+
+Suddenly another volley rang out from the direction of the fort; then a
+second; then the loud irregular firing of the pandies.
+
+"They're not done for yet!" Munro cried. "Thank God, there is still a
+chance!"
+
+For half an hour the distant firing was heard, and intense anxiety
+prevailed as it gradually died away. The tension was nerve-shattering;
+so much so, that a half-hearted attack upon the house came almost as a
+relief from the suspense. Strong in their defences, they once more beat
+the rebels back with heavy loss, and another weary period of waiting
+ensued.
+
+Volley after volley, regular and disciplined as though with blank
+cartridge on parade, caused their hearts to beat more wildly. What could
+it mean? The volley was too heavy to have been the work of the little
+garrison, and so far the traitors had fired independently, as each man
+thought best, without regard to any word of command. Could help have
+come?
+
+They looked out towards the parade-ground, and the unconcerned
+appearance of the groups that moved restlessly up and down destroyed
+this wild hope. Besides, who could possibly have come to the rescue?
+They had heard the cracks of the volleys that covered the first rush of
+the battering crews. Unable to fathom its meaning, they rejoiced therein
+as a proof that their comrades still held out.
+
+Again a lull, and again an assault upon their own stronghold, directed
+this time against the rear of the house. For a space they had no time to
+think of the fort, so hotly were they engaged; but the rabble lacked
+resolute leaders, and the budmashes would obey no commands. Thirty of
+their bravest were slain, and the others sneaked away like a pack of
+wolves, beaten and cowed. So far the garrison had lost only two men
+killed and one badly wounded.
+
+The sun was wheeling slowly downwards beyond the fort, and for a time no
+sound had been heard save the yells of the excited mob ebbing and
+flowing through the streets.
+
+"It seems wicked to stay here in safety, Major," Ethel whispered, "and
+to think of our plucky fellows at the mercy of those fiends."
+
+The major made no reply. For hours that same thought had made him
+wretched, but he knew better than she how helpless was their own
+position.
+
+"Could we not make a sortie?" the girl continued. "Might it not be
+possible, as soon as darkness comes, for us all to make a rush for the
+fort? We might take them completely by surprise, and once inside, a
+hundred could hold it for weeks. If only we could get the guns!"
+
+Munro shook his head sadly.
+
+"A hundred to one that we should find the rebels in possession, Ethel,"
+he made answer, "and then all would indeed be lost. But we should never
+get so far. Here we may hold our own for days--unless indeed the pandies
+take the fort and are able to load the guns--but not for half an hour in
+the street with women to protect and wounded men to carry. No, it is not
+possible; would it were! Believe me, Ethel, there is not a man here but
+would gladly take the risk if we had only ourselves to think of."
+
+"I know it well," she admitted, "and I know you are right; but it is
+horrible, horrible to think of, and it is our fault. If we were not here
+you men could rescue them. That seems so hard."
+
+"Listen!" said Leigh. "I think I hear the sound of firing again. It is
+very faint."
+
+Everyone listened intently, and Ethel could hear the ticking of her
+watch. She was the first to break the silence.
+
+"I think I hear it. The sound comes from inside the fort."
+
+She had hardly spoken the words when the roar of a tremendous explosion
+filled their ears and almost deafened them. The house shook, and a
+column of dense smoke rose where the fort had been. They looked at one
+another with blanched faces and then at the ruin in front. That portion
+of the fort which contained the magazine was demolished, and some
+buildings that had partially obstructed their view were dismantled or
+levelled with the ground. Streams of natives rushed to and fro in wild
+confusion, shrieking with pain and fear. Masses of timber and masonry
+fell around, killing numbers in the closely-packed streets, and the
+scene was one of destruction and desolation.
+
+Major Munro clapped his hand to his thigh; his face glowed with
+admiration and enthusiasm.
+
+"Lowthian's done that!" he exclaimed. "He's saved the arsenal from their
+clutches.----Gallant fellows!"
+
+"But what of Ted Russell?" Ethel breathlessly asked. "And of Lieutenant
+Lowthian and the others?" she added as an afterthought.
+
+Munro hesitated before replying.
+
+"I'm afraid there's little hope for them, my dear Ethel; though they do
+say that those nearest sometimes escape better than others farther
+away." This was also an afterthought, added from a weak desire to cheer.
+
+The girl turned away her head to hide her emotion and returned to her
+father's room. In awed whispers the men discussed the glorious act, and
+various conjectures were hazarded as to the manner of its doing and the
+possibility of their comrades' escape.
+
+Away in the west the sun had just vanished below the horizon and
+darkness set in swiftly. The vicinity of the Commissioner's house seemed
+deserted, and no fresh attack was made that night. Evidently that
+bloodthirsty crew was awed and its ardour damped by the appalling
+vengeance taken by the unbeaten handful. Scores had been killed, and yet
+more injured, by the force of the explosion.
+
+They had been taught the lesson that it does not pay to push white men
+too far, and Munro felt assured that for that night at least the house
+was safe. Yet he neglected no precaution, and guards were set on every
+side, whilst the remainder of the garrison were ordered to rest whether
+they wished to or not. Few could sleep, try as they would, and a loud
+challenge by one of the sentries at the rear brought men and women
+flocking to the scene, ready for the fray.
+
+Ethel hastened to the spot, in time to see the door thrown open, and two
+ragged figures, black with smoke and grime, enter the house. A loud
+cheer was raised as the door was shut and barricaded.
+
+"Ted!" she joyfully cried. "You, Ted?"
+
+To our hero's embarrassment she stepped forward and kissed his
+smoke-begrimed countenance.
+
+Yes, Ensign Russell had escaped! Strange to say, he and Havildar Ambar
+Singh, the other survivor, had been the nearest to the magazine when the
+explosion occurred, and yet they had escaped its worst effects. The
+havildar had pluckily waited for the ensign when the others ran for
+safety, and, as they dashed out of the room, they crashed into the thick
+of the triumphant pandies.
+
+But no attempt was made to kill them. The rebels had pulled up short as
+they saw and heard the spluttering powder, wild terror in their eyes;
+and the foremost tried to back away from the spot. The crush was too
+great, however, though Ted and Ambar Singh had time to bore their way
+into the crowd. They remembered no more. When they came to themselves it
+was dark, and they were lying amid a heap of killed and injured men,
+with stones and bricks scattered all around. They were both cut and
+badly bruised, and Ambar Singh's foot was crushed. In the darkness they
+had been able to steal away, stumbling over dead bodies and wrecked
+masonry, until they found themselves in the open. So great was the awe
+that had come upon the rebels that the neighbourhood was deserted, so
+they crept stealthily through the streets, the havildar nearly dead with
+pain. Accosted once or twice, Ambar Singh had answered, passing himself
+and his companion off as rebels.
+
+As Ted was speaking the plucky Rajput sergeant fainted away, and was
+carried to the hospital-room. Munro interrupted the congratulations and
+showers of questions by ordering everyone to lie down again, except the
+guards. Ted at least was not sorry to obey the command.
+
+Next day he told the tale of the defence of the fort, of the death of
+Lowthian, and of the heroism of Ambar Singh and his Rajputs. Men and
+women forgot their own danger for a space, and crowded round to listen
+to the ensign's story. No need to say that he was silent respecting
+Tynan's willingness to surrender to Pir Baksh. He used the word "we",
+not "I", throughout.
+
+"But who first thought of destroying the magazine?" asked the
+commandant. "You say 'we' decided to do it. The thought would not occur
+to both Tynan and yourself at once."
+
+Ted admitted that the plan was his; also, in reply to the next question,
+that it was he who had fired the train.
+
+"But it was Tynan's job as senior officer to do that."
+
+"Well, you see, sir, I was the one to--to suggest it; so it was only
+fair that I should carry it out."
+
+"Humph!" said the major, who had his own opinion about the affair.
+
+"You're a plucky fellow, Russell, and it's possible that you've saved us
+all. The pandies seem thoroughly disheartened to-day."
+
+Paterson passed his arm through Ted's and whispered:
+
+"Well done, old man! I--I can't say what I think about it;" and as he
+caught Ethel's glance of admiration, approval, and affection there was
+no prouder officer in all India than Ensign Russell.
+
+"I hope that rascal Pir Baksh has been killed," he said presently. "Did
+you know, Major, that it was he who shot the colonel?"
+
+"No. Are you sure, Ted? He always seemed such a plausible fellow."
+
+"I didn't see him myself, but Tynan told us that he saw the deed.
+Certainly Pir Baksh seemed to be the leader in the attack on the fort."
+
+"Pir Baksh!" said Havildar Ambar Singh as he limped into the room. "The
+hound is surely dead. Major Sahib, I have written down the names of all
+my men who perished in the fort yesterday, so that their families may
+get the pension if you English win, and that their names may be recorded
+as true to their salt."
+
+"Thank you, Havildar! It's a good officer who thinks first of his men.
+How is your foot to-day?"
+
+"Better, sahib; better, thanks! I do not grudge the injury if that son
+of a hyena, Pir Baksh, has been killed. If the young sahib here had not
+been resolute and taken over the command, he would have deceived Tynan
+Sahib, and we should have been delivered into their hands to be
+murdered."
+
+"Ah!" said Munro, pricking his ears; "so Russell Sahib had to take over
+the command? How was that?"
+
+"The other was scared, Major Sahib. True, he was but a lad, and it is
+hardly to be wondered at. But Russell Sahib refused to surrender, and
+appealed to us, and we put aside the other and looked to this one as our
+leader. Ha! Russell Sahib played the man, for he threatened to shoot his
+comrade when the other objected to being blown up. He will make a
+general, will the Ensign Sahib."
+
+"Is this story true, Russell?" demanded Munro.
+
+"It's true, sir; but you oughtn't to be hard on Tynan. He was plucky
+enough most of the time."
+
+"John Lawrence shall know about this if I live," said the major with
+unwonted emphasis. "All England shall know about it."
+
+"But you won't say anything about Tynan, sir?" Ted asked.
+
+"No, that wouldn't do. We must treat him as dead--ignore his presence in
+the fort altogether."
+
+Colonel Woodburn's condition was hopeful. The bullet had been
+successfully extracted, and he was doing well. He sent for Ted, and made
+him tell the story from beginning to end. Our hero was getting rather
+tired of it, and Ethel was merciless. She would not allow him to cut out
+the least incident. The colonel was mightily pleased.
+
+"Do you know," the ensign observed as they quitted the invalid's room,
+"in the midst of the crowd I noticed the three fanatics who set on us in
+the bazaar. I expect the poor beggars are blown to bits by now."
+
+"I suppose there is no chance," Miss Woodburn asked, "that that poor boy
+Tynan has survived?"
+
+"I'm afraid not. I think the havildar and I are the only survivors, but
+of course there was no time to make certain."
+
+"Poor Tynan!" she murmured, more to herself than to her companion. "I
+have always felt so sorry for the boy since he joined us."
+
+"Have you? Why? Don't think me a brute, Ethel, if I say that since that
+event most of our fellows seem to have pitied the regiment most."
+
+"You have no right to say that, Ted," Ethel declared, her clear,
+steadfast eyes regarding the ensign reproachfully. "Tynan has lost his
+life, we believe, and you know the Latin tag about speaking good or
+nothing at all of the dead."
+
+Ted was rather surprised. A few moments ago he had tried to omit all
+mention of Tynan's cowardice, but she had insisted on the whole truth.
+He recollected having read that even the most charming members of the
+sex were changeable and unaccountable.
+
+"I'm sorry," said he. "I won't say anything harsh about Tynan; but why
+were you so sorry for him all along?"
+
+"Because it struck me as so pitiable that he made no real friends, and I
+never once noticed him looking downright happy. The most he seemed to
+get out of life was a miserable pretence of enjoyment--a mere attempt to
+persuade himself that he was having a good time. His has been such a
+wasted life, Ted. I have thought a great deal about it this morning and
+last night, and it has seemed so very sad. None of the healthy pleasures
+and pursuits that have meant so much to you and Paterson appealed to him
+in the least."
+
+"What have Russell and I been doing now, Miss Ethel?" a well-known voice
+broke in, and Paterson joined them.
+
+Miss Woodburn hesitated and turned red. To speak freely with her future
+brother-in-law was one thing, to discuss serious subjects with a couple
+of light-hearted ensigns at once was quite another. Ted came to the
+rescue.
+
+"Miss Woodburn was saying how sorry she has always been for poor Tynan,"
+he explained.
+
+"So have I," said Alec slowly; "at least at times, when he was not in
+the way, but I'm sorry to say I couldn't stand him when he was close at
+hand. I wish now that I hadn't tried so hard to be sarcastic."
+
+"You would have risked your lives to save him from death or danger,"
+said Ethel, "but it was harder to try and save him from himself. At
+least I found it so, for more than once I resolved to try to gain his
+confidence and interest him in more sensible pursuits, but being too
+cowardly and selfish, I was too easily discouraged."
+
+"He was hardly the sort one could make a friend of," Paterson mused
+aloud. "You're right though, Miss Ethel, it was just selfishness and
+conceit on our part to regard ourselves as superior beings just because
+we didn't happen to like the sort of things he cared about."
+
+"We looked at everything from a different point of view," Ethel resumed
+after a pause, "and got more enjoyment out of life."
+
+"I never saw it in that light before," said Ted, "but I think I know
+what you mean. For instance, when we were all so excited over the race,
+he had no sympathy whatever with the horses or riders, but just regarded
+the affair as so much money to be won or lost."
+
+"Yes, but don't be scornful, Ted. Think of all he has lost during his
+short lifetime by not having a healthy mind. Think of all the happiness
+you have enjoyed from your love of sports and games, through your
+friendships and your admiration for what is good and right. But you are
+rather young quite to grasp what I mean."
+
+Ethel Woodburn, aged twenty-one, spoke as though she felt the wisdom of
+ages within her, and the boys could not help glancing at one another.
+She caught the glance, and her eyes twinkled as she continued:
+
+"One could easily see that Tynan was a spoiled child, cursed with
+foolish parents. I think, Ted, that of all selfish people, those parents
+who are too generous to deny their children anything, or too
+tender-hearted to punish them, are the most criminally selfish. And
+that's what made me so sorry for the boy. Once or twice I was on the
+point of asking you to give him a bit of your friendship, but somehow I
+didn't quite like to do it."
+
+"Well," said Ted, "I'm sorry for my share in any rows we had, and I
+forgive him his share."
+
+"Rather easy for us to forgive one who is dead, is it not, Ted? Can we
+forgive now, at this moment, those rebels who want to kill us?"
+
+"I suppose that you forgive 'em, Ethel, but I can't say that I do."
+
+"But I didn't forgive Tynan, Ted. I heard of that fight you had; in
+fact, I met Tynan just afterwards, and very tactlessly asked him what
+had happened, supposing he had met with an accident. Unluckily he had
+not had time to cool down, and--well, he laughed in my face and forgot
+himself. You see, his people are wealthy, but not quite--you know what I
+mean?--he's not a gentleman, and he hinted at the cause of your fight."
+
+"The cad!" said Ted.
+
+"Steady, old boy! I felt as if I could never forgive him, so please
+don't imagine I'm making myself out better than you. I feel bad about it
+now, and if by any chance he should escape I should find it easy to
+forgive him, though there's little credit in that."
+
+"I didn't think he could have done such a thing," said Ted. "I forgive
+that mullah and his friends who knifed me, so long as I think they've
+both been killed, but if I should see 'em to-morrow I'm afraid I should
+still remember that I owe 'em one."
+
+"Yet, as I said before, you'd risk your life willingly enough to save
+theirs, just as they do in the story-books." Miss Woodburn laughed as
+she went on: "I must say that it annoys me to read those tales entitled
+_A Noble Revenge_ or _Coals of Fire_, or something of the kind, where
+someone who has been greatly injured takes his revenge by saving his
+enemy from drowning, or climbs to the top story of a burning house and
+rescues the evil-doer, who promptly repents. It's all very noble, of
+course; but it's such a thorough vindication, and such glory for the
+rescuer, that a more complete triumph over one's enemy couldn't be
+wished for. What could one desire better than to make your enemy feel
+small, and acknowledge how much nobler you are than he?"
+
+"I should like," said Ted, with feeling, "to make these beggars outside
+feel small. We've drifted into a curious talk, considering our
+situation."
+
+"Not a bit of it," said Alec. "I quite agree with you, Miss Ethel. I
+must go and relieve Leigh now, and you relieve me in a couple of hours,
+Ted. Miss Woodburn, I'm glad we've had this talk, and I sha'n't forget
+it."
+
+"And I must go back to father now," said Ethel, whereupon Ted turned to
+accompany her.
+
+The colonel was fast asleep, breathing easily.
+
+"Good-bye for a few hours, Ethel!" said the ensign; and added in a low,
+hesitating tone, "You're a saint."
+
+"I! Oh, Ted, you little know me--you and Jim. It's easy to forgive one
+who can no longer injure you, but it's hard to live your ordinary life
+with a person who wishes to injure you, or who has done so, and who
+hates and despises you. What a terrible prig you must think me, Ted! I
+know I can't feel like that myself. I only wish I could."
+
+Ted glanced guiltily round. There was no one in the room save Colonel
+Woodburn, and he was sleeping, undisturbed by their whispering. Seizing
+the girl's hand he kissed it, awkwardly and nervously, then hastily
+dropping it blushed furiously.
+
+"There!" exclaimed the ensign jerkily. "I knew I should do it some day.
+I'm sure Jim never did that."
+
+"Oh--?"
+
+Ethel's face was also flushed, and she looked radiantly charming as she
+gave utterance to the long-drawn, quizzing exclamation, and a new light
+broke in upon Ted.
+
+"What! Old Jim?" he asked. "Well, who'd have thought it? Lucky beggar!
+It's a dainty little hand."
+
+"Silence, sir! I must ask you to leave the room."
+
+"Good-bye, then, little sister!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Hope and Despair
+
+
+Two more weary days passed inside the fortified house. Numerous attacks
+had been made, and though they had invariably failed, some damage had
+been inflicted on the besieged. As the assailants were retiring in
+disorder after one of these futile attempts, a big, light-featured man
+in scanty costume sidled up to the house, waving a sealed letter.
+
+"Quick! let me in!" he shouted. "I'm a sepoy of the Guide Corps!"
+
+The door was hurriedly thrown open, but not before the besiegers had
+divined the man's intentions, and bullets whizzed perilously near his
+head before he was safe inside. Espying our hero, the Guide handed him
+the letter, and Ted recognized the fellow as Faiz Talab, his brother's
+orderly.
+
+He opened the note, and his face glowed. He whistled, then shouted in
+great excitement, "Hurrah! the Guides are coming!"
+
+"The Guides!" echoed Sir Arthur, and a joyful light came into Ethel's
+eyes. Faiz Talab, the Pathan, grinned gleefully.
+
+The letter, dated from Manghur, thirty-two miles away, ran as follows:--
+
+"We were starting for Delhi when the Aurungpore news arrived, and as we
+pass so close I obtained permission to detach 120 men to your aid. A
+greater number cannot be spared, as Delhi is all-important. So, old man,
+tell Ethel I'll soon be with her."
+
+The great news quickly spread from one end of the big house to the
+other. Food was prepared for the bearer of good tidings, and Faiz Talab,
+Yusufzai, was fêted as he had never been before. He described the route
+by which the Guides would come, and stated when they might be expected.
+
+"Russell Sahib will be here to-morrow, and by the beard of the Prophet,
+we shall teach these curs a lesson!" he concluded.
+
+"You seem to know this district well," said the Commissioner. "You have
+been here before," and the man grinned slyly.
+
+"I was a youngster, sahib, when first I saw Aurungpore. We Yusufzais
+came down at night and lifted the cattle and raided the villages, and we
+laughed at Ranjit Singh's army that followed, for we knew that we had a
+good start, and the Sikhs would not venture into the hills. Ah, those
+were the good old days! Yet people say they have come again, and that
+Delhi is a richer town to loot than Aurungpore."
+
+The Yusufzai smacked his lips at the prospect. Here, thought Ted, was
+another sample of the robbers that apparently formed the backbone of the
+Guide Corps. The brightness of the prospect revealed by Faiz Talab's
+message was fast fading away, and as the garrison had time to think it
+over there came a diminution of enthusiasm. Ted voiced the general
+opinion when he abruptly asked:
+
+"But of what use is a single company against such swarms of rebels and
+budmashes, even if they are to be trusted?"
+
+"But we are the Guides, sahib," said Faiz Talab proudly.
+
+That self-same day came tidings that more than destroyed the hopes
+raised by Jim's letter. Into Aurungpore marched the 138th Bengal Native
+Infantry, rebels and murderers, flushed with success. They had shot down
+their officers and looted the treasury, to guard which had been their
+duty. Dire was the consternation caused by the arrival of the new
+contingent, and great was the dismay.
+
+But when, next morning, our friends noticed that the six 9-pounders of
+the fort were being moved by certain of the new-comers into a position
+whence their place of refuge could be bombarded, dismay gave place to
+utter despair. The sepoys of the 193rd did not understand the handling
+of these guns, and had regarded them with some awe as fearsome weapons
+that might turn against themselves. But the 138th counted a couple of
+hundred Sikhs amongst their number.
+
+Now the Sikh maharaja, Ranjit Singh, had maintained a splendid force of
+artillery, and many of the Sikh sepoys, who had enlisted under British
+colours, had previously been gunners in the army of the Khalsa,[6] and
+they saw at once how the little garrison might be speedily destroyed. A
+few hours' search brought to light a quantity of material that had not
+been demolished in the explosion. All day long the exploration went on,
+and plenty of ammunition to feed the guns was soon stored close at hand.
+
+  [6] The title of the Sikh Confederacy.
+
+The time of the expected arrival of the Guides drew nigh.
+
+"Better that they should not come," Major Munro wearily opined. "They
+would only share our fate. What chance would they have against 1500
+trained soldiers?"
+
+"Do you think they will turn back, sir, when they hear of the arrival of
+this fresh lot?" Ted enquired in an anxious tone.
+
+"I certainly do. It would be foolish--idiotic--to attempt a rescue in
+the face of such odds. Were I in your brother's place I should feel it
+my duty to government, as well as to my men, not to throw them away on
+so helpless an undertaking. It will be very hard for him to leave his
+affianced wife in such dreadful peril, but that is one of a soldier's
+risks. His men belong to the government, not to him, and he has no
+right to risk them where there is no chance. We are short enough of men
+as it is."
+
+Ethel, standing by, grew pale as she thought of the danger to her
+beloved. Her own peril, and even her father's, were forgotten for the
+moment.
+
+"Oh, Major Munro," she exclaimed, "let us hope that they will turn back!
+They cannot do us good by throwing their own lives away!"
+
+And this was the opinion of all.
+
+The devoted Rajputs of Captain Markham's company never for a moment
+wavered in their allegiance. They fought and took their turn on guard,
+and fought again as staunchly as the white men, and many were the acts
+of heroism they displayed. Twice was the staff of the Union Jack, that
+still floated above the house, broken by missiles, and on each occasion
+some of the intrepid Hindus volunteered to splice the wood. In full
+sight of the enemy, who fired wildly at them, they achieved this, and
+again the silken folds waved freely in the breeze.
+
+Again and again the mutineers advanced on every side, with great noise
+and waving of weapons. Again and again they approached more peaceably,
+shouting to the Hindus that they should come out and join their
+comrades, promising them gold and silver in abundance should they
+deliver the white men into their hands.
+
+Each attack was met with steadfast courage; the noisy firing was
+answered by a steadier rattle of musketry, and the rebels dropped fast;
+unwavering fidelity rejected both bribes and friendly advances; and on
+more than one occasion a determined, vigorous sortie was the only reply
+vouchsafed by these gallant dark-faces.
+
+Slowly and anxiously the day wore on. Care-worn faces wistfully regarded
+the threatening nine-pounders that would soon begin to pour destruction
+upon them. For a moment the attacks ceased as the rebels crowded round
+the guns that were placed upon an open eminence overlooking the house.
+
+Fascinated by the sight, the whole garrison gathered before the windows,
+powerless to avert their gaze from the instruments of destruction.
+
+But what means that sudden commotion--that loud shrill cheering? The mob
+is seen to part right and left, the rebel sepoys fling their caps in the
+air and wave their muskets excitedly as a body of fine, well-set-up men,
+fierce of aspect, turbaned, and clad in drab uniforms, marches into the
+courtyard of the fort. Though no word of command is given, the fresh
+arrivals there halt, fall out, and at once begin to fraternize with the
+mutineers. Behind the tall men appear a score of much smaller figures,
+clothed in the same uniform, and these shout and gesticulate more wildly
+than any.
+
+"The Guides!" gasps Lieutenant Leigh.
+
+"Traitors, by George!" thunders Major Munro, with intense and vehement
+bitterness. "Traitors!"
+
+A long pause followed. The Britons gazed upon one another with blank,
+haggard faces. The whole Indian Empire was tumbling down, and none was
+loyal! Until this moment not a man amongst them but had known some ray
+of hope, however feeble.
+
+"Are they truly the Guides?" asked one. "Who, then, are the little
+beggars?" pointing to the rearmost.
+
+"Gurkhas of the Guide Corps," answered Leigh, no less bitterly. "And
+their officers have always maintained that Gurkhas can be trusted when
+all others fail. Well, we live and learn."
+
+"Aye, we learn,--but not the other," was Munro's grim aside.
+
+Momentarily forgetting their predicament, Ted stared with great
+interest at the short figures and Tartar laces that grinned in fiendish
+anticipation; for his father had often spoken in terms of the highest
+praise of these reputedly fearless Himalayan mountaineers, against whom
+he had fought, and whom he had afterwards led.
+
+"Well, if those are Gurkhas, I don't think much of 'em," said the
+ensign, his critical spirit asserting itself even at this crisis. "Our
+seventy Rajputs could tackle a hundred of them."
+
+As for Faiz Talab, his eyes seemed to be starting from his head.
+
+"The pigs! the curs!" he gasped at length. "What can it mean?"
+
+As the Yusufzai spoke he grasped an Enfield rifle, brought it to his
+shoulder, and fired at the mass of drab uniforms, then fell to cursing
+his comrades afresh for the shame they had brought upon their corps. The
+onlookers could distinguish their own disloyal men pointing out the
+British stronghold to the Guides, who seemed to be examining the
+situation with keen interest. The siege was temporarily raised, whilst a
+general confabulation took place among the rebel leaders.
+
+"Faiz Talab, what have they done to my brother?" asked Ted.
+
+The Yusufzai shook his head. "I know not," said he.
+
+"Hadst thou no word or hint of this intended treachery?"
+
+"Neither word nor hint, sahib. Surely I must be dreaming, for yesterday
+we were all loyal to the backbone, and we loved thy brother greatly. I
+do not understand it."
+
+"Yesterday," interposed Lieutenant Leigh, "they had not heard of the
+mutiny and entry of the 138th. Perhaps that decided the rascals to throw
+over the British raj."
+
+"It must indeed be so, yet it does not seem possible."
+
+"Think you they have allowed the Captain Sahib to escape?" asked Alec
+Paterson, guessing that Ted could not bring himself to ask this question
+for fear of the reply.
+
+"Nay, that could hardly be. If they have been so base as to prove untrue
+to the salt they have eaten, they would not hesitate to kill their
+officer."
+
+"Though you pretend that they loved him?" Ted bitterly demanded.
+
+"The better reason for slaying him. They would kill him first of all,
+because they loved and honoured him, so that he might never know their
+shame. Yet I cannot believe it. May my father's grave be defiled if I do
+not kill some of the traitors before I die!"
+
+Ted walked to the window and gazed forth upon the distant hubbub.
+Paterson followed, and laid his hand upon the shoulder of his chum.
+
+"It will be worse for the poor lassie, I'm thinking, Ted," he said.
+
+Our hero nodded, but could not trust himself to speak.
+
+"We must keep the news from her as long as we can," Alec continued. "She
+is with her father now, and has not heard. The others will not tell
+her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+In the Clutches of Pir Baksh
+
+
+Three hours after Ensign Russell and Havildar Ambar Singh had entered
+the besieged house, a swarthy man in the uniform of a native officer
+picked himself tenderly up from the ground, and wondered to find himself
+still alive. It was Pir Baksh the subadar. For hours he had lain
+unconscious, deaf to the moans of the maimed and dying men who lay
+stretched on every side amid the chaos of shattered timber and masonry.
+
+His right arm was broken, his head bleeding, and the fallen beam that
+had caused the fracture had lain all night across his body, bruising him
+sorely. He wriggled from underneath, and finding himself too weak to
+rise he called loudly for help.
+
+But what was this thing so soft below him, that had served as a pillow
+for his head all night? He passed his hand lightly over the object. It
+was a corpse--no, the flesh was warm! He placed his hand on the mouth
+and nostrils, and found that there was still breath in the body. His
+hand passed higher up until he touched the hair, and Pir Baksh gave a
+start. It was one of the two accursed Feringhis to whom he owed the
+agony he was now enduring. He sought for a knife, a bayonet, to plunge
+again and again into the unconscious body.
+
+But Pir Baksh changed his mind. No, he would wait until the Englishman
+could feel and taste the bitterness of death. Revenge would be as
+nothing unless the victim could feel pain as great as his own. He there
+and then resolved to save the life of his enemy until he could plan and
+carry out his vengeance, for Pir Baksh had less pity than a tiger.
+
+Again and again he called for help in the name of Allah, and at length
+his cries were heard. A few sepoys of his company approached with great
+caution, for day had not yet come.
+
+"Who is there?" they called.
+
+"It is I, Pir Baksh. Water!--bring me water if ye are followers of the
+Prophet!"
+
+The cry for water from one Mussulman to another cannot be neglected, and
+a sepoy ran for a water-skin, while the rest made their way to the
+injured officer.
+
+"All my bones are broken, I think," said he. "Ye have been long in
+coming. Look! here is a Feringhi boy still alive. Nay, do not kill him;
+he shall die more slowly."
+
+He drank the water feverishly.
+
+"Now, carry us to my brother's house, and do not let all the people know
+that we have a prisoner, lest in their rage they should straightway kill
+him, for I mean to torture him by raising hopes. Bear me gently."
+
+As they raised him the subadar fainted away. Tynan--for he, of course,
+was the Englishman--was still unconscious, and before the light that
+precedes the dawn had shown across the sky, the pair had been safely and
+secretly conveyed into the house of Muhammed Baksh on the outskirts of
+the town.
+
+The sun had risen and was high in the heavens before Ensign Tynan
+recovered consciousness. He raised himself painfully in the creaking
+string bed, and gazed in a bewildered manner, like an owl in the
+sunshine, around the small unfurnished room in which he lay. The
+shutters were closed, darkening the chamber, and, unable to make out
+his surroundings, and too weary to attempt to solve the mystery, he
+sank down again with a smothered groan. His head was badly cut; he had
+lost a lot of blood; and, though no bones were broken, he had hardly a
+sound, unbruised spot on his body. The roar of the explosion was ringing
+in his ears, and he still shivered with fright.
+
+For a long time he could not sleep, though, after what seemed to him an
+eternity of suffering, he at length fell into a fitful slumber, waking
+up between his nightmares in a cold perspiration of dread.
+
+During one of these intervals the door opened, and a Mohammedan sepoy
+entered bearing a little bread and a brass vessel containing water.
+Tynan devoured these to the last drop and crumb.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked the man. "Tell me, where am I?"
+
+The sepoy answered not a word and left the room. The food and drink had
+done the ensign good, brain and body becoming more brisk. He rose
+groaning from the bed and tried the door. It was locked, and he
+understood at last that he was a prisoner. A tremor ran down his back,
+and he felt cold, though the room was like a hothouse. A captive among
+the mutineers! Horrible prospect! But why should they have brought him
+here? he asked himself. Why not have straightway killed him? Could it be
+that they meant to torture him? The wretched boy groaned aloud, and in a
+frenzy of rage and despair kicked and beat the door, though every blow
+was anguish.
+
+He had not long to wait. Muhammed Baksh, his host, called angrily to
+Ghulam Beg, the silent waiter, and together they entered the room and
+began to belabour the unlucky ensign with long bamboo canes.
+
+Tynan fiercely sprang at his assailants, but being in no condition to
+do battle, he was soon driven ignominiously into a corner, where he
+cowered and shrieked for mercy. One of his tormentors pointed to the
+bed; Tynan crawled upon it, and without having spoken a word the two
+quitted the room.
+
+Again the boy rose and dragged himself towards the window, where his
+last spark of hope died out. The shutters were clamped down, and even
+had he been fit and strong he could not have removed them without the
+aid of tools. He sank down upon the charpoy, a prey to the most
+realistic horrors that could be conjured up by a dull imagination. How
+long he lay there, miserable in mind and aching all over, he knew not.
+It seemed that whole days must have passed before the silent Ghulam Beg
+brought in a meagre supper. Worn-out nature then reasserted itself; as
+he lay on the bed his aching head seemed to grow larger and larger,
+filling all the room, and soon he was lost to consciousness.
+
+Aroused by the entrance of his breakfast of chupattis and water, he
+implored the sepoy to speak to him and let him know his fate. But the
+man might have been a mute. Without a word, or gesture, or sign of
+comprehension Ghulam Beg left the prison-chamber, and another day of
+horror was passed, and a night in which blessed sleep almost forsook the
+captive boy.
+
+The sound of a key creaking in the rusty lock aroused him, and he rose
+to his feet as the sepoy attendant brought in the unappetizing fare.
+Behind him Pir Baksh stalked in, his arm in a sling, his cruel eyes
+leering horribly as he gazed upon his victim.
+
+"I trust, Ensign Sahib," said he with much politeness, "that my servant
+has been courteous and attentive, and has not disturbed your repose by
+chattering too much. I am greatly honoured that the heaven-born should
+deign to share our humble roof, and I trust that our guest has been
+comfortable."
+
+The unceasing pain and the solitude had taken most of the spirit out of
+poor Tynan. Instead of resenting this insolence he implored the brute to
+tell him what his fate was to be.
+
+"Ungrateful Feringhi!" exclaimed the subadar indignantly. "Not a word of
+thanks for my hospitality! Art thou aware that I have saved thy life?"
+
+"Indeed, subadar, I thank you," said Tynan humbly.
+
+"And I thank thee," said Pir Baksh, pointing to his injured arm, and
+continuing:
+
+"Yea, I thank thee for this, and for many an hour of pain. 'Twas a
+clever trick to blow up the arsenal, but thou didst little think,
+infidel dog, that there would be a heavy price to pay. Thou didst reject
+my offer of terms, and all that I have suffered since, aye, and double
+and treble that, thou shalt know before death shall mercifully release
+thee."
+
+Tynan trembled in every limb, and weakly replied:
+
+"It was not I who blew up the magazine. I was against the deed. And dost
+thou not remember, subadar, that I would have surrendered to thee had
+not the other prevented me?"
+
+"Well, he is dead, and thou shalt pay for the sins of thy brother."
+
+"Nay, spare me, and my father will pay thee well."
+
+A sudden thought seemed to strike the subadar. He reflected for a few
+moments before answering the appeal.
+
+"Wilt thou swear thou hadst no hand in the explosion?" ha asked, after a
+pause.
+
+"I will--indeed, I swear it."
+
+"I must needs think it over," said Pir Baksh musingly. He quitted the
+room, leaving the boy torn by conflicting emotions. The consciousness
+that he had not played a manly part, the conviction that his rival Ted
+Russell would never have been so weak, gave a sharper point to his fears
+and troubles. On the other hand, had he not been given a faint hope of
+escape? Do not judge the lad too harshly. It was not death alone, but
+the prospect of torture that had unnerved him; and remember that the
+pain of his injuries and the workings of his imagination during the past
+two days of solitary confinement were calculated to break the spirit of
+any man above the average, and poor Tynan had hardly the makings of a
+hero in his character. His case was one for pity rather than contempt.
+Only those who would have withstood the temptation have the right to
+despise him utterly, and they would be the last to do so.
+
+His hopes of mercy were misplaced. The amount of that quality nourished
+in the breast of Pir Baksh would have shamed a famished wolf. The rascal
+had changed his tone because he recollected that the greater his
+victim's hopes, the more poignant would his suffering be on finding
+himself deceived. Next evening he again visited the prisoner, and
+brought paper, pen, and ink.
+
+"What was that sound of cheering an hour or two ago?" asked Tynan. He
+had heard the acclamations that had greeted the arrival of the mutinous
+Guides, and wondered if help had come.
+
+"It means that we have had reinforcements, and that within twelve hours
+not one of your friends will be alive."
+
+Tynan looked keenly at the speaker as he continued.
+
+"Perhaps there may be one Feringhi left alive in Aurungpore; it depends
+on thee. I have been thinking it over, and am inclined to save thy life.
+We both hate Russell Sahib, and we may prove useful one to another."
+
+The prisoner's heart began to beat more hopefully, and he expressed his
+thanks towards the callous brute.
+
+"But on conditions," resumed Pir Baksh. "First, I must have five
+thousand rupees--a promise in writing for that amount."
+
+"You shall have it," said Tynan eagerly. "My father will not grudge it."
+
+The subadar nodded his head solemnly and went on:
+
+"Secondly, thou must write me a _chit_ in English and Urdu,
+acknowledging that thou dost owe thy life to my mercy and loyalty."
+
+"I will do that, and never shall I forget thy goodness."
+
+"Thou shalt also write that I, Pir Baksh, was loyal to the Kumpani
+Bahadur, though forced to appear disloyal. That I tried to restrain the
+sepoys during the attack on the fortress, and to save the lives of the
+English officers, but was prevented by the rebels, who threatened to
+kill me as a traitor ... What! Thou dost hesitate?"
+
+Tynan had turned pale. Could he sign that lying document and be himself
+a traitor? Had not Pir Baksh shot the colonel?
+
+"No, subadar, I cannot do that," he said, with hesitation, not decision.
+
+"Very good, sahib."
+
+The fierce light that came into the eyes of Pir Baksh sent a thrill of
+despair through Tynan's breast. He began to find excuses. He told
+himself that the proposed statement would be partly true, for Pir Baksh
+had offered to spare their lives. He caught at that weak saving-clause,
+and enlarged upon it until he had almost persuaded himself that he could
+only be blamed for exaggeration, not for downright lying. Then he
+remembered how Pir Baksh, by shooting the colonel, had brought the
+mutiny to pass, and was guilty of all the bloodshed.
+
+The subadar noted his indecision, and said:
+
+"There will be none to contradict, your countrymen are as good as dead."
+
+"I will write as you say," said Tynan slowly, "if you will swear to save
+my life."
+
+He had decided. He was ready to sign a paper absolving this villain from
+the reward of his treachery and blood-guiltiness. And the final
+inducement had been the assurance that the traitor's plot would be
+crowned with such success that all Tynan's compatriots would be slain.
+And this was the man he was ready to hold up as a loyal subject fit to
+be rewarded for his fidelity!
+
+"By the Prophet's beard I will do my best to save thee," the subadar
+declared. "We must escape from the town, or I too shall suffer the
+penalty."
+
+Seizing pen and ink in feverish haste to get it over, Tynan wrote as the
+Mohammedan directed him. First, the promise to pay five thousand rupees
+on one sheet of paper, and then a document that might save Pir Baksh
+from all consequences of mutiny and murder in the event of his capture
+by the British. When he had finished, his gaoler took the pen and wrote
+in Urdu at the foot:--
+
+"I, Pir Baksh, subadar of the 193rd B.N.I., do solemnly promise, on my
+oath as a Moslem, to do my best to effect the escape of Ensign Tynan of
+the same regiment, a prisoner among the rebels in Aurungpore. Filled
+with admiration of his courage in risking his life in the execution of
+his duty by planning and carrying out the blowing up of the magazine, I
+also risk my life to save his."
+
+"But I've already told you I didn't do that," the ensign protested, as
+he read the added words. "It was Russell's doing altogether."
+
+"No need to say so, sahib," said Pir Baksh. "He is dead, and so indeed
+will all the Feringhis be to-morrow, and no one can claim the credit.
+Russell Sahib I hate, for do I not owe him this broken arm and bloody
+head? And if I mistake not, he is no friend of thine, so why not take
+the credit of the deed and be promoted and raised to honour? Help me,
+sahib, and I will help thee."
+
+Tynan found nothing to say in reply. He remembered the many injuries he
+fancied he had received at Russell's hands--the thrashing of a week or
+two ago, the contempt with which he had been treated in the fort when
+his junior took the command from him and threatened him in front of the
+men. Why not pay him out? After all, what did it matter now? It could be
+put right if necessary when he should have reached a place of safety.
+The first consideration was to save his own life.
+
+"We shall slip away to-morrow," said the subadar. "I will go and make
+all arrangements now. Remember that my life also is sacrificed if we are
+discovered."
+
+So saying the double traitor took his leave. Outside the door he
+chuckled grimly and proceeded to tear up the "promise to pay" the five
+thousand rupees. For a very good reason he had no intention of claiming
+that, but the other papers he carefully preserved. After the boy had
+been murdered, he could easily make up some story and fabricate some
+evidence to show that they had been followed and attacked, and that he
+escaped by the skin of his teeth, more alive than dead, and never saw
+the ensign again. Pir Baksh meant to run with the hare and hunt with the
+hounds so long as the British held their own.
+
+But most of all he meant to kill Harry Tynan.
+
+Left to himself Ensign Tynan sat down upon the string bed, and leant
+forward to think it all over, elbows on knees and his chin resting in
+the palm of his right hand. As a rule he was not a very thoughtful
+person, but the nightmare of the past few days might well effect a
+change. Of habit, not of character though! Peril, suffering, and anxiety
+may develop the good or bad that is there already, but will hardly
+transform a weak character into a strong one.
+
+For a long time the boy sat motionless, wondering what Pir Baksh really
+meant. Was he genuine? Did he mean to save him? Tynan did not trust the
+man, yet he assured himself again and again that the Mohammedan must be
+intending to try, or why should he have demanded the promise of a
+reward--a document useless unless he was actually saved. And what about
+that other paper? Ted Russell would never have signed it, conscience
+whispered.
+
+"I only wish Russell was here instead of me," he muttered, and gave the
+bedstead a vicious kick.
+
+"But he's dead," came a reminder from his better self, and there
+followed a recollection of the statement added by the subadar, the lie
+that robbed the dead of the credit of a glorious deed.
+
+"Everything seems to go wrong with me," he sullenly muttered. "I've no
+luck like other people. Never mind, it's not of much consequence. What
+I've got to think about is how to get out of this hole. I believe after
+all that that black brute means to murder me. Well, I'll try to sleep on
+it."
+
+He lay down, and an idea occurred to him. Rising to his feet he knelt
+down in the attitude of prayer. Hardly ever since he had left home for
+school had he so much as made believe to pray for help and guidance, but
+now he wondered he had not thought of it before. Had he lived two or
+three hundred years ago he would have vowed invaluable offerings to the
+shrine of his patron saint, and, the danger over, would as promptly have
+forgotten to fulfil the vow.
+
+Parrot-like, he repeated the Lord's Prayer without considering in the
+least its meaning, and then he prayed wildly to be saved from death. But
+not once did he dream of asking earnestly for forgiveness, not once did
+he seriously repent his foolish, harmful life, nor did he make the least
+resolve to cancel in the morning the lies to which he had signed his
+name that night.
+
+He rose from his knees and once more lay down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Treachery of the Guides
+
+
+The shadows were slowly lengthening, and the whistling of the kites that
+circled overhead, waiting until the groups of sepoys should disperse,
+was being supplemented by the querulous howls of the equally impatient
+jackals. Yet no fresh attack had been made upon the English post, though
+more than an hour had passed since the Guides had joined forces with the
+mutineers. That they had not been idle, however, was testified by the
+stack of round-shot and grape rescued from the fort and piled ready to
+hand behind each cannon.
+
+A guard had been mounted over the guns and ammunition to check any
+desperate sortie that might be made by the besieged, and the town
+gradually became less riotous. This restoration of order only
+intensified the despair of the Europeans, who drew the conclusion that
+the rebels were now being controlled by men more able--and therefore
+more dangerous--than their late leaders. The more capable their enemies,
+the more perilous the situation of the garrison.
+
+That is, if anything more perilous could be imagined.
+
+Just after sunset, and before darkness had set in, a Hindu sepoy was
+observed creeping stealthily towards the house, apparently anxious to
+attract the attention of the inmates, and equally bent on avoiding
+observation from outside. As the man drew near, Ambar Singh and Ted both
+recognized him as Dwarika Rai, one of their comrades in the arsenal. He
+was quickly smuggled inside, and told the story of his escape from
+death and concealment up to the present, when duty had urged him at all
+risks to inform his comrades and the Englishmen of the changed
+situation.
+
+He explained that the detachment of the Guides had mutinied as soon as
+they heard of the arrival of the 138th; they had murdered the only white
+officer with them, and had appointed Ressaidar Bahram Khan as
+commandant. The announcement was not unexpected, yet up to this moment
+Ted had hoped against hope that Jim had escaped.
+
+"Art thou certain, Dwarika Rai, that they have slain my brother?" he
+asked after a painful pause.
+
+"Quite, sahib; they make boast of it. And look, their leader is wearing
+his uniform."
+
+Ethel Woodburn had entered the room unobserved, and, standing behind
+them, had overheard. She grasped a chair to steady herself, and shook
+her head as Ted besought her to retire to the ladies' room. There was a
+long silence.
+
+"Bahram Khan?" enquired the major presently, hardly knowing what to say.
+"Is that he, then, in the English officer's uniform and wearing his
+medals?" pointing to a muscular man who could be made out in the
+distance apparently ordering the sepoys about.
+
+"That is the hound, sahib," replied Dwarika Rai. "He has sworn to
+exterminate you all before noon to-morrow. He has taken command of all
+the treacherous curs."
+
+Ethel, half-stunned by the terrible tidings, was now seated, and Ted
+leaned against the girl's chair, gently stroking her hand,--dimly
+recognizing that her sorrow was even greater than his own. The shock of
+Captain Russell's murder was too sudden for her to realize fully, and
+the rest of the news seemed dwarfed to mere insignificance. The poor
+girl attempted to pull herself together by thinking how greatly her
+helpless father stood in need of her.
+
+"Bahram Khan!" said Ted bitterly. "Why, he is the cur who was present at
+the steeple-chase,--a robber and outlaw! However could such a crew have
+been trusted?"
+
+"It was Sir Henry Lawrence's doing," said Leigh. "It's rare for him to
+make a mistake, but here is the result of his great 'Guides' scheme.
+Evidently they don't mean to make the grand assault until to-morrow."
+
+"I wish they would," said Ted with feeling; "and end it, to-night."
+
+To give the boy credit, he was thinking more of the hours of bitter
+grief Ethel Woodburn was doomed to endure than of himself.
+
+It may be readily surmised that very few of the garrison contrived to
+sleep that night. Soon after sunrise all--women, civilians, black
+soldiers, and white officers--were gathered together to watch the
+mutineers assemble for the final assault. Of its issue there could be no
+doubt. As they stood there awaiting their fate Ethel Woodburn could not
+remain insensible, even at so trying a moment, to the beauty of the
+early Indian morning. The slanting rays of the Eastern sun were gilding
+the mosques and minarets of the town and lighting up with lurid glow the
+reddish buildings behind the fort, and the thought of Nature's beauty
+added to her sorrow. But the greater number of those doomed people had
+weightier matters to occupy their thoughts.
+
+In and around the courtyard of the fort itself all was bustle and
+confusion; some could be both seen and heard giving commands, and others
+obeying the same, though the vast majority of the assembled hundreds
+appeared to display a total lack of discipline. Inside the
+commissioner's house the feeling of helplessness and suspense was
+horrible. The wisdom of a sortie, a mad rush on the guns,--to die
+fighting rather than cooped up and made a target of,--was debated, and
+not a man there but would have preferred the chance of striking back.
+There were women, however, to be considered, and to leave them was out
+of the question.
+
+"Whilst there's life there's hope," declared the Commissioner, with an
+attempt at cheerfulness. "The house is not destroyed yet."
+
+He barely succeeded, however, in convincing even himself that there was
+the faintest glimmer of hope. No British troops were within three days'
+journey. The handful of unfortunates bade good-bye to one another, shook
+hands all round, and prepared to meet their death with a smile upon
+their faces, without flinching or showing the least sign of weakness
+before the eyes of their gallant and devoted Rajputs. Nor were the women
+behind the men in respect of courage.
+
+Major Munro, after consulting his officers, had advised the faithful
+sepoys to save their lives as best they could, either by cutting their
+way through at night, or by pretending to desert and to fall in with the
+views of their rebel comrades.
+
+To give them this chance was only fair, thought the major; the Rajputs,
+having done their duty, deserved consideration, and though the
+Englishmen could not leave the wounded and the women, yet the
+dark-faces, now that resistance was hopeless, should be allowed to save
+their lives. To Munro's delight, however, the gallant fellows announced
+a firm resolve to stand by their duty to the last. They took their
+places shoulder to shoulder with the pale-faces, grimly waiting and
+watching now that the last glimmer of hope had died out.
+
+For in the great square of the fort more than two thousand men were
+under arms; and in another moment the nine-pounders were charged with
+grape, under the supervision of Bahram Khan and a score of picked Sikhs
+and Pathans of the Guide Corps--men who had served in the old Khalsa
+Artillery and who thoroughly understood their work.
+
+Behind the guns and flanking them the remaining hundred men of the
+Guides, conspicuous by their powerful and soldierly bearing, maintained
+some appearance of discipline, whereas the majority of the sepoys and of
+armed fanatics and budmashes were acting as seemed best in their own
+eyes.
+
+Ressaidar Bahram Khan, however, insisted with many threats and much
+strong language on some kind of order being maintained. He placed the
+193rd Sepoys in one position, the poorbeahs[7] of the 138th in another,
+and the Sikhs of the latter corps to the right front of the guns.
+
+  [7] A name given to the Oudh sepoys.
+
+"When the guns have battered down the walls," thundered the rebel
+commandant, "then must ye take the house by storm. The Feringhi dogs
+prevail against us because they trust to the bayonet, instead of staying
+to fire as ye do, for the bayonet is more certain than the bullet. We
+must learn from them and attack as they would, for our aim must be to
+destroy utterly the hated tyrants; not one must escape our vengeance."
+
+The mob applauded, shouting "Din! din! Death to the Feringhis!" And the
+ressaidar went on:
+
+"Take, then, the charges from your muskets, lest ye be tempted to stop
+and fire, for if ye do that doubtless many of the dogs may escape our
+wrath. Trust to the bayonet! Kill the infidels with the steel! Now,
+unload!"
+
+The charges were withdrawn.
+
+"That dacoit fellow has some idea of discipline; he seems to know what
+he's about,--though he's placing some of his men in queer positions, to
+be sure!" commented Major Munro stoutly, bent on showing an undaunted
+front to the end.
+
+"Oh for a good, wholesome, red-coated regiment," sighed Lieutenant
+Leigh, "to wipe these fiends off the earth! Watch that treacherous,
+murdering Pathan! What's he up to now?"
+
+"Trusting to the bayonet!" exclaimed Munro in astonishment. "That's not
+like an Asiatic, but he's right."
+
+They heard but could not distinguish Bahram Khan's commands, and saw the
+sepoys empty their muskets and begin to fix bayonets. Their hearts were
+beating wildly, and small shame to them, for they were helpless and
+could not strike back--as helpless as condemned criminals bound and
+gagged. Would the word never be given to fire? What was the matter now?
+
+Waiting in silent agony for the fatal word, they perceived the Pathan
+commandant turn hastily to his gunners, who stood port-fire in hand.
+
+Quick as thought, before rebels or onlookers could realize what was
+taking place, the muzzles of the guns were turned slightly to the right
+and lowered, and ere the assemblage had time to wonder, a shower of
+grape was belched forth into the clustered ranks of the faithless Sikhs
+of the 138th. At the very same instant, before sepoys or besieged were
+able to take in what had happened, the hundred men of the Guides--or as
+many of them as were not helping their gunner comrades--brought their
+rifles (for theirs were still loaded) to the shoulder, and blazed away
+into the helpless mass of brown humanity. The rebels fell in scores,
+mown down by the heavy discharge. One or two of the native officers
+attempted to rally them, but the cannon, well and promptly served by the
+Guides, cut lanes through the mob; and the well-aimed, disciplined
+volley-firing of the Pathans and Gurkhas augmented the confusion.
+
+For some seconds open-mouthed wonder kept all our friends silent. The
+whole world seemed topsy-turvy.
+
+Then one man grasped the situation.
+
+"Oh, splendid!... Well played, Guides, well played!" shouted Leigh; and
+the garrison screamed and danced in a delirium of enthusiasm as their
+senses came back to them, and they understood.
+
+"What is it? What does it mean?" demanded Ethel breathlessly and the
+sick from the hospital-room echoed the cry.
+
+"It's the Guides!" was shouted back. "The Guides have been shamming
+mutiny. They've got possession of the guns, and have turned them on the
+traitors!"
+
+Thrice did the mutineers attempt a rally, but the Sikhs--the staunchest
+of the rebels--had been almost blown away by the discharge of grape, and
+the poorbeahs dared not face that terrible fire--those spurts of flame
+that blazed forth, section by section, without hurry and without
+confusion, from the steady, levelled rifles.
+
+In the Commissioner's house the Pathan messenger howled and shrieked in
+his excitement, then, snatching up rifle and sword, he darted from the
+sheltering walls and cut his way through the terrified rebels to the
+side of his comrades.
+
+"Look!" cried Lieutenant Leigh. "Bahram Khan has given aver the
+command--to a private soldier, too!"
+
+He pointed towards a dark-visaged man, of middle height and sturdy
+build, in the uniform of a sepoy of the Guide Corps, who was now
+directing the sectional volley-firing. At the same moment the mutineers
+broke away in all directions--two thousand men cowed by six score!
+
+"Why, that's Jim!--that's my brother!" screamed our ensign joyfully.
+Ethel gave one look, recognized the long scar that showed on the stained
+face, and sank down, and to Ted's bewilderment burst into tears.
+
+"Well, that's a rummy go!" he murmured under his breath. "What on earth
+should she blub for now that she knows he's safe?"
+
+As the flying, panic-stricken mutineers approached the beleaguered
+house, they received a fresh and hardly less deadly fusillade from the
+jubilant garrison. They scattered in all directions, staggering in
+blind terror. Through the narrow streets ran and stumbled the defeated
+sepoys, and after them rushed fifty of the terrible men in drab, the
+active little Gurkhas being ever to the front. So thorough was the panic
+evoked by the surprise, that here and there a dozen or even a score of
+the rebels might be seen running with terrified eyes and panting breath
+from a single fierce Afridi or Yusufzai of the hills, or still fiercer
+Gurkha from the Himalayan snows; and Ted acknowledged his error of
+judgment as he saw one of these little Nepalese Highlanders charge
+single-handed a group of ten or a dozen Wahabi fanatics who were
+attempting a rally. Cutting down four in rapid succession with his
+kukri, heeding the long knives no more than cardboard, the fearless
+little fellow scattered the remainder like sheep, and chased them until
+their long legs carried them far out of his reach.
+
+Up flew the Union Jack to the top of the fort flagstaff, and Captain
+Russell, recalling his pursuing men, posted guards around the place. The
+loyal Rajputs, rejoicing now that they had not accepted Major Munro's
+permission to desert, had not dared join in the fray except by their
+fire from windows and roof, for had they shown themselves outside they
+would undoubtedly have been slain by the rescuers.
+
+But now the little garrison marched out in safety, carrying the wounded
+in their midst, for not a rebel was to be seen. Never had surprise been
+more complete! At the same moment Captain Russell issued forth at the
+head of half his men to escort the survivors inside the wing of the fort
+that had not been demolished.
+
+There was no time for more than a hasty grip of the hand and a look
+exchanged between two pairs of eyes, telling more eloquently than any
+speech of the lips its tale of love, anxiety, and deep, grateful joy.
+Ethel had thought her lover dead; Jim had hardly dared to hope that both
+sweetheart and brother had survived the massacre. We can imagine the
+unspoken joy. Leaving Leigh and Ted with a strong guard within the fort,
+Munro, Captain Russell, and Paterson sallied forth at the head of one
+hundred and fifty Guides and no less eager Rajputs, and chased the
+panic-filled pandies from street to street to prevent them from
+reassembling. Long before mid-day the rebels had streamed out of the
+town in all directions, a wholesome fear planted deep within their
+breasts.
+
+One room had been apportioned to the ladies, and others to officers and
+sepoys, but all the Europeans came together to cheer their rescuers.
+Colonel Woodburn was now well enough to greet his future son-in-law,
+whose exciting story all gathered round to hear. Jim told it simply.
+
+"Well, for a gang of double-dyed traitors commend me to the Guides and
+their English and native officers!" exclaimed Munro, his eyes twinkling
+with delight at the thought of the trick.
+
+"All Bahram Khan's idea," laughed Jim. "We'd sent scouts ahead, and
+yesterday we heard of the arrival of the 138th and learned that they
+possessed artillery. I felt that I'd no right to risk my handful against
+such overwhelming odds, so I consulted the ressaidar[8]. That gentlemen
+also thought the task hopeless at first, then he suddenly burst out into
+a demoniacal laugh.
+
+  [8] A native officer of cavalry.
+
+"'Why, Captain Sahib,' said he,'why shouldn't we mutiny? We could kill
+you and make friends with the poorbeahs. Then I'd take command of the
+rebels--the curs will only be too glad to have me--and I could get
+possession of the guns and post the men as I choose. With our men at the
+guns and behind the guns, we can sweep the poorbeahs from off the
+earth!'
+
+"It was a glorious idea; we explained it to the men, who took it in like
+so many school-boys. Those little Gurkha fiends turned somersault as
+they thought of the pandies[9] being taken in; and they laughed till the
+tears rolled down their smooth cheeks. I stained my face and put on one
+of the men's uniforms, whilst Bahram Khan squeezed himself into mine,
+and everything worked beautifully."
+
+  [9] A nickname for rebels. Mongul Pandy was the name of the
+      first noted mutineer.
+
+"And did no one suspect?" asked the major.
+
+"Not a soul! You see, there never were such rabid haters of the British
+as we have been for the past twenty-four hours! We were quite willing to
+eat you all, either cooked or raw; no half-measures with the Guides!"
+
+"You disgustin' treacherous brutes!" chirped our ensign, who was in a
+state of wild and gleeful excitement.
+
+Bahram Khan stood by, grinning, well pleased with his handiwork, as were
+all these stalwart soldiers of the Guide Corps. Jim Russell's story
+ended, the deputy-commissioner passed his arm through Munro's, and,
+announcing that he wished to consult him with respect to granting a
+reward to the loyal Rajputs, he led the major from the room. The remark
+was accompanied by a significant look, and, taking the hint, the
+remaining officers made some excuse to leave.
+
+The ladies saw and understood, and in a few moments Jim and Ethel were
+left alone. They were grateful, yet for some moments not a word was
+uttered by either. The precious time was not exactly wasted, though.
+
+"My poor girl, what you must have suffered!" Jim murmured as he held her
+hands within his own and fondled them.
+
+"Are you really here, Jim, or am I dreaming? It seems too good to be
+true."
+
+"I think I really am here," was the reply, and Jim set to work to
+convince her.
+
+"You have heard how poor Markham was killed, and Tynan and Lewis and
+Arden?"
+
+Jim nodded and tightened his grip of the hands until she winced.
+
+"What a brute I am!" he penitently exclaimed, covering the little hands
+with kisses.
+
+"I--I liked it, Jim.---- But you know you oughtn't to reward yourself
+for being a brute."
+
+There was another interval of silence.
+
+"And so the young 'un has behaved like a brick!" said Jim at length.
+"I'm proud of the kid."
+
+"I should just think he has. I really believe I shall have to marry you,
+Captain Russell, if only to have Ted for a brother. I think he likes me
+now."
+
+"I'll punch the young 'un's head if he doesn't," declared the brutal
+Jim. "It's very decent of the others to give us this good time, little
+woman."
+
+"It is, indeed. Oh, Jim, are you sure we're not dreaming? Can you stay
+here with your men?"
+
+The captain shook his head sadly.
+
+"I don't know what to do until I have consulted Munro and Fletcher and
+your father. We must follow the rest of the corps as quickly as
+possible, and I think the best plan will be for you all to come with us,
+if we can obtain horses and ekkas for the wounded and the ladies, until
+we can drop you at the first safe place."
+
+"Cannot Sir Arthur, as head of the district, countermand your orders to
+join the Guide Corps at once? If he says that you are needed here, I
+should think he has authority to detain you. Besides, you and your men
+are now under father, or rather under Major Munro, whilst you remain
+here, and you will have to do as they order."
+
+Jim laughed.
+
+"I wish it were so; but it happens to be John Lawrence himself who has
+sent us to Delhi, and he said he wanted us to get there quickly. And
+when Jan Larens says 'do this' you've got to do it, and do it smartly.
+The major is a brave man, and so is Fletcher, but I shall be very much
+surprised if either of them dare trifle with Jan."
+
+Major Munro had assembled the loyal Rajputs and thanked them in a
+straight soldierly speech that touched their faithful hearts and brought
+a glow of pride to their eyes. The Commissioner, moreover, deemed it
+well to let congratulations take a more substantial form. He therefore
+distributed the sum of five thousand rupees amongst the seventy
+survivors--a welcome reward for their loyalty and courage.
+
+On the following morning Jim's anxiety and hesitation were removed, as a
+detachment of the 4th Sikhs--a glorious, loyal regiment--marched in and
+maintained order in the town.
+
+Miss Woodburn's safety being thus assured, Captain Russell at once set
+out to rejoin his comrades in their seven hundred and fifty miles' march
+to the Mogul capital, and, to the delight of Ted and Paterson, the
+colonel allowed the boys to accompany the gallant corps.
+
+We shall hear later on of that memorable march of the Corps of Guides to
+Delhi--the finest march in Indian history, if not indeed in the records
+of any army--as well as of their doings during the famous siege.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Tynan makes his Choice
+
+
+The door of Tynan's prison opened and the captive's heart beat wildly.
+Was it life or death? Only Ghulam Beg bringing his chupatties and water.
+
+"Where is Pir Baksh?" he enquired. "I want to see him."
+
+"The Subadar Sahib has gone out," replied the sepoy, leaving the room
+before any other questions could be asked. Tynan turned to his humble
+fare and regarded it with disgust. He felt wronged that he should be fed
+so meanly by the man he was to reward so handsomely. It was all there
+was, however, and hard bread was better than nothing, so he devoured it
+to the last crumb.
+
+What was that? The loud booming of cannon roused him to his feet, an
+Englishman again, and he made desperate attempts to force open the
+shutters. The sharper crack and rattle of musketry--volley upon
+volley--followed the booming of the guns; then the cannon spoke again,
+and loud cries of alarm, exhortation, and triumph filled the air.
+
+Surely it must be a rescue! He stamped up and down the narrow chamber
+like a caged wild beast, fuming and raging. Still no one came; he
+shrieked and stormed in vain.
+
+His suspense was not for long. The door was flung open, and Pir Baksh,
+followed by his brother, Muhammad Baksh, Ghulam Beg, and another sepoy,
+rushed into the room. Tynan assumed an attitude of defence.
+
+"Fool!" cried the subadar, anger and impatience in his voice. "I am
+come to save you. Quick! put on these clothes."
+
+He flung down the garments of a sepoy, and Tynan hesitated. Why was Pir
+Baksh so excited? There was fear also in his eyes.
+
+"What mean the noise of cannon, Pir Baksh?" he demanded.
+
+"Quick, on with the uniform or we shall all be slain!" the Moslem
+angrily replied. "The rebels are mad, and they suspect that I have saved
+a Feringhi, and will soon be here, though I know not who has told them.
+The noise thou didst hear was the cannon with which they have utterly
+destroyed the house of the Commissioner Sahib, and they have killed
+every man, woman, and child therein. Hasten! Hasten! In the name of the
+Prophet, hasten or thou art lost, and I too for being so foolish as to
+help thee!"
+
+Another bitter disappointment for the lad. Hurriedly doffing the uniform
+of his rank and donning the disguising raiment, he followed his four
+warders outside, and away from the town--and from safety--the wild yells
+becoming fainter and fainter.
+
+Presently the subadar turned into a road that led northeastwards, and
+slackened the pace to a walk, neither he nor his prisoner being in fit
+condition to run far. They walked on and on at a quick swinging stride,
+every step causing intense pain. Though Tynan begged them to rest
+awhile, Pir Baksh refused. His limbs and body had been rubbed and
+anointed; his bruises were nearly healed, and the rate of marching did
+not affect his broken arm. The lad's anguish was pitiful to see.
+
+"Have we not gone far enough?" whispered one of the sepoys at last. "Let
+us halt here and put the cub to death. There is no one to interrupt."
+
+The subadar was not so sure. The fact that he, Pir Baksh, had contrived
+to get hold of one of the Feringhi officers was not such a secret as he
+had led Tynan to believe, and he knew that some of his neighbours, in
+order to curry favour with the winning side, would probably impart the
+news to the Commissioner Sahib. Being an arrant coward he feared lest a
+rescue party should be following on his trail, and he knew what trackers
+the Gurkhas were. Until his anxiety on this head should be lifted, he
+did not mean to rid himself of his hostage.
+
+He pressed the party forward until close upon sunset, when Tynan was
+absolutely incapable of another step. The heat had told upon his wasted
+strength, and he was on the point of fainting. Nothing save the hope of
+escape could have kept him up so long. They halted in a small clearing
+among the trees.
+
+"For heaven's sake, subadar, let me have something to eat!"
+
+"I think the place will suit our purpose," Pir Baksh observed, calmly
+ignoring the boy's request.
+
+The words and tone struck Tynan as a whip-lash across the face. He
+looked round for a way of escape, and his arms were seized from behind.
+
+Unnecessary precaution! He was much too weak to resist, and Ghulam Beg
+threw him roughly to the ground. Pir Baksh contemptuously kicked his
+fallen enemy.
+
+"Fool!" he snarled. "Didst thou think to escape my vengeance so easily?"
+
+The wretched boy saw the look of hatred in the brute's eyes, and felt
+that he was doomed. There was no hope of mercy there. He knew at last
+that the blackguard's object had been to increase his misery by raising
+his hopes, and the vile scheme had succeeded.
+
+"Remember your oath," the ensign gasped. "Remember the reward, Pir
+Baksh."
+
+"And dost thou think," the traitor retorted with an air of virtue that
+sat badly upon his vicious face, "dog of an unbeliever, that we of the
+Faith would sell our souls for money?"
+
+Again he kicked the prostrate Tynan.
+
+"In what manner shall we slay him?" asked Muhammad Baksh.
+
+"Bury him alive," suggested Ghulam Beg.
+
+"With our bayonets?" sneered the third sepoy. "Let us talk sense."
+
+"Tie him to yonder tree, then," said Tynan's late attendant, "and make a
+target of him. Fire first at hands and feet and legs and arms."
+
+"Aye, and make a noise that may be heard for miles?" the leader angrily
+retorted.
+
+Pir Baksh had his reasons for wishing to put his victim away more
+quietly. In a state of abject terror Tynan listened to the horrible
+suggestions. The nightmare of suspense and despair experienced in his
+prison chamber was as nothing to this.
+
+"I have a better plan," said the subadar quietly. "Ye will tie him hand
+and foot to yonder tree, gag his mouth, and leave him there. There will
+be little left of him in the morning except bare bones, and clever as
+the Feringhis are, they will find no mark of knife or bullet should they
+chance to come across what is left. Ye have the cords. Tie him up."
+
+Tynan shouted for help until a cloth was bound over his mouth. Then the
+frenzy of despair lent him strength, but the struggle was short, and he
+was quickly pushed and pulled towards the tree indicated by Pir Baksh.
+
+Something moved in the undergrowth behind, and a squat little man
+stepped into the light. A musket was in his hand, and a grin upon his
+hairless face. In an unknown tongue he addressed a question to the men
+who held the struggling Tynan, and being regarded with a stare of
+mingled amazement and terror, he peered into the face of the captive.
+Then the grin died out of his face, for he saw the white skin of an
+Englishman and understood.
+
+Again he jabbered in the strange language, then quick as thought he drew
+from its scabbard a curved knife, whose keen broad blade flashed thrice
+like a heliograph as it caught the slanting rays of the disappearing
+sun. The sepoys had let go their hold of Tynan, and had raised their
+muskets, but before the triggers could be pulled the vicious kukri blade
+had descended twice, and the traitors sank on the sward, cut through the
+shoulder.
+
+Crack went the musket of Muhammad Baksh, and a bullet skimmed over the
+cap of the ugly little stranger. Before the echo had died away an
+answering report rang out, and as Muhammad Baksh paid the penalty of his
+treachery, a second Gurkha stepped from behind a tree-trunk within
+fifteen paces of Pir Baksh. The subadar turned and ran.
+
+"Shoot, brother!" sang out the Gurkha, whose musket was empty.
+
+The first-comer's weapon was already covering the runagate. He pulled
+the trigger, and when the smoke had rolled away, there lay the
+arch-traitor writhing upon the ground, alternately calling down curses
+upon the little mountain demons who had frustrated him, and calling upon
+the Englishman for mercy. Evidently he was not very badly wounded, or he
+could not have made so much noise.
+
+The Gurkhas trotted towards him with bared knives, and though the
+Mohammedan still held his loaded musket the little hillmen never
+hesitated. Pir Baksh was consistent in his cowardice. Dropping the
+weapon he held up his hands in token of surrender, and called upon Tynan
+Sahib to save him from the fiends.
+
+Harry Tynan had barely realized what had happened, and what a very
+narrow squeak he had had.
+
+"Do not kill him!" he shouted in Urdu, as he limped towards the wounded
+savage. He wanted to see what Pir Baksh would have to say for himself
+before he handed him over to be hanged or blown away. The fact must be
+admitted that Tynan meant to gloat over the failure of the subadar's
+vile plans.
+
+The Gurkhas did not understand the words, but they divined his meaning.
+
+"Sahib," implored the subadar, "save me from these demons. I spared your
+life, so do not leave me to be murdered."
+
+"You spared my life!" Tynan indignantly repeated. "You mean you brought
+me here to torture me."
+
+"Sahib, you wrong me. I did but pretend. I had no influence over those
+three curs who lie dead--praised be Allah!--and they insisted on slaying
+you. They would have murdered me had I not feigned to fall in with their
+plans, and we must all safeguard our own lives first. But I meant to
+save you, and that is why I rejected their proposals as to the manner of
+death. I would have tied you to the tree, and, after giving them the
+slip in the darkness, would have returned to set you free."
+
+"But you kicked me and spat upon me."
+
+"That was to remove their suspicions. The more I seemed to hate you the
+more easy would it be to help you."
+
+Not being a particularly intelligent youth, Tynan began to think there
+might be something in what the subadar said.
+
+"Well, thou art my prisoner now, and for the present I will save thy
+life. Where is thy wound?"
+
+"Indeed, sahib, I fear they have slain me."
+
+Pir Baksh placed his hand to his leg and indicated the nature of the
+wound. One of the Gurkhas bent down, sliced off some of the cloth with
+his kukri, and burst out laughing.
+
+"The _kafar_ (coward)!" he cried to his companions.
+
+The bullet had grazed the rebel's thigh, tearing off a little strip of
+skin. Feeling the sharp sting, Pir Baksh had clapped his hand to the
+spot and drawn it away covered with blood. Concluding that he was done
+for, he had tumbled over and howled.
+
+"Get up!" said Tynan brusquely. "You're not hurt."
+
+Turning to the Gurkhas he motioned them to lead the way. Picking up the
+four muskets, the party set forth, the prisoner in the midst rendered
+very unhappy by the knowledge that a loaded musket was within a few
+inches of his backbone, and he dreaded carelessness on the part of the
+Gurkha. The precaution was unnecessary, for the roaring lion of half an
+hour ago was now as harmless as a dove.
+
+An hour's walk brought them within sight of camp fires, and before long
+they had passed the sentries, and Tynan was in the commandant's tent. He
+was a small wiry man of about twenty-five, tough as whip-cord.
+
+"Hullo!" he cried, holding a lantern above his head so that the light
+fell full upon Tynan's face. "Who are you?"
+
+"Ensign Tynan of the 193rd. I've just been rescued from a gang of
+cut-throats by these two men of yours. They tackled four and killed
+three."
+
+"Take the prisoner to the guard-tent."
+
+The Gurkha saluted and retired, and the officer continued: "Now, Mr.
+Tynan, you'll be hungry, so just fall to. If you'd come half an hour ago
+there would have been a better spread."
+
+"I'm very hungry, thanks. What force is yours?"
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon! I'm Captain Hornby of the Kumaon Gurkha
+Battalion. I've a hundred men here, and we are _en route_ for Sadalpur.
+We are expecting orders from John Lawrence--for Delhi, I hope. I won't
+listen to your tale until you've finished."
+
+The meal over, the fugitive narrated his adventures since the outbreak
+of the mutiny until the moment of his rescue. When he came to the
+account of the explosion he hesitated, and finally said: "We decided to
+blow it up rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the rebels."
+
+Ted Russell had also used the word "we", but from what different
+motives!
+
+"You were senior officer?" questioned the captain.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good!" Hornby held out his hand. "I'm proud to shake hands with you. I
+heard a rumour yesterday that the Aurungpore arsenal had been blown up."
+
+Harry Tynan felt ready to sink into the ground with shame. His hand fell
+limp from the grasp, and he hastily resumed his story.
+
+"I can't make up my mind about Pir Baksh," he said. "He may have been
+only pretending to fall in with the views of the majority, but if so, he
+was a very good actor."
+
+"You've had a rough time, youngster, so just lie down and sleep as well
+as you can. There's my mattress, and I'll get another. Good-night! I'm
+going the rounds."
+
+The camp was astir soon after sunrise. Hornby asked how the ensign had
+slept, and explained that the two rescuers had informed him how they had
+tracked the party and followed them for nearly a mile, but had not been
+able to fathom their proceedings until they had seen the white skin.
+Pir Baksh was conducted before Captain Hornby to be examined with regard
+to his share in the mutiny. Before any questions could be asked, the
+traitor drew forth the documents signed by Tynan, and handed them to the
+Gurkha officer.
+
+"There, sahib, they will prove I am a true man. Tynan Sahib has reason,
+I admit, to doubt me, and I should have whispered my intentions to him
+as we ran away, had not my comrades kept close at hand all the time,
+being suspicious."
+
+Captain Hornby read the papers, and regarded the ensign with a puzzled
+expression.
+
+"This is your signature?" he asked; and Tynan, who was nervously toying
+with his sword-hilt, stammered an admission of the fact.
+
+"H'm! It certainly seems that the fellow's story is true, though I don't
+like his looks. However, if he tried to save your lives and to restrain
+his comrades, it looks as if he really meant to be loyal, does it not?"
+
+Tynan agreed that it did, and as he recollected how the treacherous
+subadar, now bowing and salaaming with an ingratiating smile, had shot
+down his colonel and helped to murder Lowthian, he cursed the lies he
+had signed. Yet he had not the moral courage to disavow them, and so lay
+himself open to the charge of cowardice.
+
+"And of course," went on the captain, "of course he treated you badly in
+the house in order to allay the suspicions of his men, who might
+otherwise have murdered you. It was rough on you, but probably for the
+best."
+
+Tynan acquiesced with a nod, and felt very uncomfortable. Hornby read
+for a second time the note added by Pir Baksh, and said:
+
+"I see why you hesitated when you were speaking of the explosion, and I
+respect your modesty. So it was your plan to blow up the magazine, and
+no wonder he admired you for it. The other ensign was killed, I
+suppose?"
+
+"Yes; I think I am the only one saved."
+
+"Poor beggar! Well, you must stop with us until I can hand you and the
+prisoner to Colonel Bratherton at Jehanabad. These papers should
+certainly save him from death, and I should say that he deserves a
+reward."
+
+Tynan looked utterly miserable, and there is no reason to doubt that he
+was. How he wished he had never signed that fatal paper! How he wished
+he had had the pluck to tell the whole story to Hornby last night,
+admitting that he was half-mad with pain and fear when he signed the
+statement! But no; he had lied to Hornby then, and had backed up the lie
+in the morning through cowardice, and the wretched boy now resolved that
+the easier course would be to stick to the lie. No one could contradict
+him now, except the subadar. As the thought occurred to him that Pir
+Baksh knew the truth, and that unless he, Tynan, was prepared to state
+on oath at the trial that was bound to take place, that the subadar had
+saved his life and attempted to save them all--unless he did that, the
+prisoner could and would ruin him, he groaned to himself and kicked
+viciously at the nearest object. One lie had led to another and yet
+another, and he had made a net for himself, from whose entanglement he
+saw no way of escape.
+
+Yet, bad as the prospect seemed to him, he little guessed the real state
+of affairs.
+
+And Pir Baksh understood as well as he. As this hopeful gentleman had
+been led back to the guard-tent he had winked slyly at the ensign,
+clearly intimating that they would stand or fall together. It was a
+sickening thought. Having had time to think it over, Tynan felt sure
+that Pir Baksh had meant to murder him, and he bitterly regretted having
+moved a finger to save him from the Gurkhas. He had not even the
+consolation of thinking that he had shown mercy to an enemy, for he had
+only saved him then in order to have him hanged.
+
+Ten minutes later camp was struck, and they moved off towards
+Jehanabad.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The March of the Guide Corps
+
+
+Four days after Jim and Ted Russell and Alec Paterson had set out from
+Aurungpore with the detachment of the Guides, they overtook the
+head-quarters of their regiment. The rapid rate of marching, the
+excitement of recent events, and the prospect of taking part in the
+assault on the capital of Hindustan and in the crushing of the mutiny,
+had proved sufficiently exhilarating to keep up the spirits and health
+of the boys in spite of the great heat.
+
+Both Ted and Alec had been provided with horses before leaving
+Aurungpore, "Tommy Dodd" having been stolen by some budmashes; and they
+found the march enjoyable at times, especially in the cool of the
+morning before the sun had mounted high, and on moonlight evenings. Of
+course their detachment was lightly equipped, and had little impedimenta
+to carry, whereas the rest of the corps had to drag along and guard
+their tents, commissariat, baggage, and ammunition, otherwise they would
+never have been overtaken.
+
+Right across the vast Punjab swept the famous corps of Guides, through
+shady groves of peach and apricot trees, and over dusty plains destitute
+of shelter; across the five rivers to which the land owes its name,[10]
+each day bringing the stalwart frontiersmen nearer to the goal of their
+desire. Every man in that band was eager for the fray.
+
+  [10] Punjab means "the country of the five rivers".
+
+Afridis, Afghans, and the various Pathan tribesmen of the corps looked
+forward to the sacking of the wealthy city. For centuries past their
+forefathers had marched down at frequent intervals to plunder the rich
+plains of Hindustan, and, as children, they had listened to glowing
+accounts of the vast wealth of the Mogul capital. The Sikhs of the corps
+were equally ready to loot, for the Sikh is nearly as rapacious as the
+Pathan, and much more miserly. They remembered also the bitter enmity
+between their ancestors and the Mohammedan rulers of Delhi, and their
+persecution at the hands of the Moslems. The single company of little
+Gurkhas, though by no means grasping like their comrades, were no less
+eager to come in contact with the mutinous hordes. The "Irishmen of
+Asia" these short-legged warriors might be called, from their readiness
+for battle and love of a fight at all times and seasons.
+
+The Guide Corps consisted of three troops of cavalry and six companies
+of infantry, about eight hundred men in all, under the command of
+Captain Daly. The greater part of both infantry and cavalry were
+Pathans, and they were the best irregular horsemen in the world. The
+troopers supplied their own horses, and were men of some wealth and
+standing in their own country. As the fierce borderers rode and marched
+along, laughing as they spoke of the fun they would have at Delhi,
+Bahram Khan grimly told of the punishment meted out to the rebels of
+Aurungpore, and boasted of having played the most important rôle in the
+hoax.
+
+"Truly it was all my idea, not Russell Sahib's," he repeated. "But for
+me all the Sahib-Logue would have been dead ere this."
+
+"Tell us, how did it all happen, cousin?" enquired a duffadar, a
+relation of the ressaidar's, Nawab Khan by name.
+
+"When Ishar Das brought the news that another rebel regiment had marched
+into Aurungpore," began the quondam bandit, gratified by the
+opportunity thus afforded of displaying his triumph, "assuredly we knew
+not what to do. Russell Sahib called a halt, and there we consulted
+together. Truly brothers, for a moment even I thought we must give up
+the attempt. But what is impossible to the true believer? and the idea
+came into my mind, placed there doubtless by the Prophet. Thereupon I
+advised our officer to call the men together, that we might instruct
+them secretly to prepare for mutiny. Then with many oaths we slew
+Russell Sahib and threw his body into the ditch"--(here the Pathan
+chieftain chuckled gleefully and his comrades laughed out loudly)--"then
+we dressed him up as a sepoy, and darkened his face, whilst I robbed him
+of his watch and his sword and took the command, and we marched along
+swiftly in great disorder, proclaiming that Bahadur Shah was king in
+Delhi, and that not a Feringhi should escape our swords. Truly, my
+brothers, we were fiercer and more bloodthirsty than any of the real
+rebels. The mutinous dogs, as they heard of our approach, sent out men
+to meet us, and we rejoiced with them, though we should have greatly
+loved to slay them. As we entered the courtyard at Aurungpore they
+greeted us with cheers and great praise, and I spoke scornfully of their
+methods of fighting. Yea, I laughed in the face of their commandant, for
+he had no authority, and told him, so that all might hear, that he would
+never exterminate the infidels. Therefore they placed me in command, as
+I intended they should, and because I treated them as little better than
+curs, they became my dogs, and allowed me--the fools!--to place my men,
+with Sultan Jan and Dayal Singh the Sikh in command, in charge of the
+guns.
+
+"They watched over them all night, and when morning came--ho! ho!--I
+made the madmen--surely the Prophet had smitten them all with madness--I
+made them, I say, empty all their firearms in the air, pretending that
+we must trust in the bayonet as soon as the cannon had done their work.
+
+"'Aye,' said I, 'if your muskets are still loaded ye will lie down and
+fire as they escape. Ye must surround them with a ring of steel,' I
+said. So the madmen delivered themselves into my hands! Then I gave the
+order, and Sultan Jan of Kohat and Dayal Singh the Sikh cried out, and
+we let fly into their midst, first destroying the Sikhs, for they are
+true soldiers, though unbelieving dogs, and the others were but
+children. Yea, by the beard of the Prophet we destroyed them! Aye, we
+swept them away, mown down like the yellow corn in the Tirah before the
+strokes of the sickle.
+
+"So they ran, and we followed; through the streets they ran screaming
+and throwing down their weapons, and we slew them by scores and by
+hundreds. But 'twas I, Bahram Khan, who saved Aurungpore. By the
+Prophet's beard, 'twas I!"
+
+Loudly the Afghan horsemen applauded the strategy of the ressaidar. They
+laughed and shouted with glee as they listened, and greatly they
+regretted that they had not been present to participate therein.
+
+Bahram Khan also told his countrymen how the boy-officer riding beside
+them--younger than any of their own officers, for the Guides required
+strong men to handle them--had blown up the magazine and miraculously
+escaped death; and the stern warriors looked approvingly at our hero,
+and one remarked in English, "Truly, we shall make a Guide of you,
+sahib!" Officers as well as men treated him as an equal, because of the
+experience he had gained, and the way in which he had looked death in
+the face.
+
+For Captain Daly, Ted soon felt an ardent admiration. Said this gallant
+soldier to the lad on the day that the main body of the regiment was
+rejoined, "Well, youngster, do you know that you're taking part in what
+is going to be the best march in Indian history?"
+
+"I'm glad I'm here, sir," replied Ted; and indeed he looked content.
+
+"Yes," continued the commanding officer; "seven hundred and fifty miles
+is the distance from Murdan to Delhi, and I'll do it in thirty days. We
+shall probably be the only native regiment that can be trusted to take
+part in the siege."
+
+Ted had looked in vain for his brother's friend Spencer, until Jim
+explained that this unlucky officer had been shooting in Kashmir when
+the outbreak occurred, and so had not yet been able to rejoin his
+regiment. Ted admired Spencer greatly, and was very sorry to miss him.
+He was soon attracted, however, by a new acquaintance, Quintin Battye,
+the noble and well-loved lieutenant of the Guides, whose name was soon
+to gain such tragic fame.
+
+Through Attock and Rawal Pindi along the frontier, through the large
+Sikh capitals of Ludhiana, Amballa, and Kurnaul, had marched the famous
+corps, and wherever they went the Sikh and Punjabi inhabitants looked on
+in wonderment. As the great troopers in khaki (for the Guides were the
+first to wear that uniform), sitting their horses as though born in the
+saddle, rode haughtily past the gaping countrymen, at whom they hardly
+deigned to look, or as with firm step the six hundred infantry marched
+easily through the villages, the knots of men gathered under the shade
+of the banyan-tree discussing the fall of the English raj,[11] would
+quickly disperse to their houses, and from that shelter watch the
+regiment swing past.
+
+  [11] Government or dominion.
+
+"Ah! did I not tell thee, Maun Singh, that the English had not all been
+swept away?" one would say.
+
+"True, brother. Let us mind our own business and look after our fields,
+it is not safe to meddle with the Feringhis," would be the reply.
+
+"Who were they, Father?" a youngster would ask. "Were not our countrymen
+amongst them? But many were Afghan dogs!"
+
+"Those are the Guides, my son. They have told us lies who said the
+English had lost their power. Consider, my brothers. How could the
+Guides be spared from the frontier unless the Sikhs and the Pathans, the
+Afghans and the Afridis, were on the side of our white rulers? Let our
+village have no part in this rebellion, else shall we all suffer."
+
+So province after province was passed, and the people, noticing how
+proud and confident the Guides looked, thought, "Surely the English are
+still masters of India."
+
+And old Sikh and Jat soldiers of "John Company",[12] men who had been
+hesitating, who had been offered bribes to fight against the Feringhi,
+and who had been told that the whites were all being swept into the sea,
+hesitated no longer. They cleaned their swords, harnessed their horses,
+and veterans brought their sons, requesting permission to enlist in the
+new Punjab regiments which John Lawrence, the mighty commissioner of the
+Punjab, was raising for the reinforcement of the army before Delhi.
+
+  [12] The Honourable East India Company, also called "Koompanie
+       Bahadur", or "The Great Lord Company".
+
+"The Punjab," said the leader of the Guide Corps, "is paying back India
+all she has cost her, by sending troops stout and firm to her aid."
+
+While still more than a hundred miles from Delhi, the Guides were
+required to quell a disturbance in a neighbouring district. Captain
+Daly, impatient at the delay, desired to forward despatches to General
+Anson, whose army lay some miles to the north of the great city. He
+consulted Captain Russell.
+
+"Your brother is a plucky youngster," he remarked, "but what is his
+friend like? He hasn't much to say for himself, but I think he's to be
+trusted."
+
+"Paterson seems one of the quiet sort you can depend on," Jim replied.
+"If you are thinking of sending them on to the commander-in-chief, I
+think they'd enjoy the job and would carry it through. I suppose you
+would give them an escort?"
+
+Daly beckoned the two ensigns, and handing the papers to Paterson, he
+explained the mission, and advised them to ride as much as possible at
+night.
+
+"You shall have half a dozen troopers as escort," he concluded. "The
+country will be quiet until you get near Delhi. No monkey tricks, mind,
+youngsters, and don't stop to blow up any arsenals on the road!"
+
+The boys and their six Pathan troopers hastily provisioned themselves,
+and, pricking their steeds, dashed joyously away. A ride of a hundred
+miles with no one to give them orders! They commanded the party, and the
+general himself was not half so proud of his command as our ensigns of
+foot were of their half-dozen huge, wild, black-bearded troopers. For a
+day and two nights they rode without incident, but on the morning of the
+third, as they drew near to Alipore, and saw the towers and minarets of
+Delhi glittering in the sun a dozen miles to the south-east, they heard
+the sound of firing. Proceeding cautiously, they presently perceived a
+number of rebel horsemen flying before a body of English dragoons, as
+the eight topped the crest of the slight incline which had hidden them
+from view. The Carabineers had already given up the pursuit, and were
+sending a few shots after the galloping rebels, who, seeing the
+dark-faced, turbaned horsemen, took them for men of the mutinous
+irregular cavalry, and raised a cheer.
+
+Ted looked hopefully at Alec, who hesitated for an instant. He was as
+keen as Ted, but ought he to risk his men and the safety of the
+despatch?
+
+"Now, sahibs!" whispered Nawab Khan, the Pathan duffadar (corporal).
+
+That decided the young commandant.
+
+"Charge, men!" Alec cried, and waved his sword. "Charge!"
+
+Eight blades flashed in the sunlight, as with a wild yell the little
+band hurled themselves like a thunderbolt into the midst of the
+bewildered sepoys. Ted, Nawab Khan, and a trooper, their chargers
+straining to the utmost, rode side by side, the other five close behind,
+and the rebel rank broke at once. A dozen men of the 3rd Native
+Cavalry--the regiment that commenced the great mutiny--fell before that
+charge, the leader being unhorsed and severely wounded by Ted himself,
+and before they could recover from their confusion the Carabineers were
+on their heels. Without waiting to take revenge on the insolent handful,
+the rebel cavalry scattered and galloped away, the ensigns and the
+Pathans following hard. At Paterson's command five men ceased their
+pursuit, but the duffadar, engaged in a running fight with two pandies
+at once, would not turn back. At length one sowar[13] dropped with
+cloven skull, and the other--a rebel captain--was being disposed of,
+when a dozen sepoys turned their horses round to help their officer.
+Quick as thought the Pathan seized the wounded subadar by the collar and
+jerked him out of the saddle; then, leaping from his own horse on to the
+rebel's, he laughed at the sepoys, and quickly rejoined his comrades.
+"He had wounded my horse, sahib, and his was the finest steed I've
+seen, so I prevailed on the dog to exchange, ho! ho!" and Nawab Khan
+laughed. And well he might; the beast, a beautiful dark chestnut, was
+indeed a grand charger.
+
+  [13] A native trooper or horse-soldier.
+
+"Well, of all the cool cheek!" exclaimed the officer of the 6th Dragoons
+(known as the "Carabineers"), laughing as he came up. "Anyone hurt?"
+
+"None of us, sir," replied Ted with a grin; "but I fancy some of the
+rebels are."
+
+"And who on earth are you?" was the next question.
+
+"Guides, sir," was Paterson's laconic but very proud answer.
+
+"Guides! Is this all the regiment?"
+
+"I should think not!" exclaimed Ted indignantly, and Paterson proceeded
+to explain his errand.
+
+"Well, are the rest like these?" asked the astonished captain, who was
+but newly from England.
+
+"Quite as good. You'll soon see, sir," Ted confidently assured him,
+whilst the Pathans slowly looked the Carabineers over from head to foot,
+and evidently approved of the inspection--a compliment returned by the
+British troopers. Together they entered the camp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Ted's First Battle
+
+
+General Anson, Commander-in-chief in India, had died a few days
+previously; his successor, General Barnard, received and read the
+despatch in silence.
+
+He then looked up with stern face, but twinkling eyes. "Do you think,
+young gentlemen, that it shows good judgment to charge seventy horsemen
+with only six?" for the captain of the Carabineers had reported the
+incident to his chief.
+
+Ted stammered out, "We didn't think, sir."
+
+"Think! I should imagine not. You must learn caution, if ever you hope
+to get on in your profession."
+
+The boys saluted and turned to go, when the general continued:
+
+"Let me see; which of you was it who blew up the magazine at
+Aurungpore?"
+
+Ted blushed as Alec replied. The general rose from his chair, shook
+hands solemnly as with an equal, and the ensign departed, his heart
+nearly bursting with pride. No amount of praise could have pleased him
+so much as did this simple act.
+
+The dragoon captain found sleeping quarters for them and for their men,
+and they made a tour of the encampment. In the camp the British soldiers
+(for their six men were the only dark-skins), horse and foot, were
+gathered in groups talking over the strange changes that had occurred,
+and eagerly discussing the latest tidings. The slaughter of the
+helpless ladies and children in the city before them had maddened the
+men, and all vowed vengeance on the cruel foe.
+
+"There's not a black regiment to be trusted, I don't care who they are,"
+declared one.
+
+"Oh, there may be some who are all right! we mustn't condemn the lot,"
+replied another.
+
+"Indeed! Who are your precious heroes, then?" sneered a third.
+
+"Well, I don't know," the more hopeful red-coat replied; "but they say
+that the Guides and the Sirmur Battalion of Gurkhas are coming to help
+us."
+
+"Guides and Gurkies be blowed! You'll just see; the niggers'll come as
+far as it suits them, then they'll kill their officers and march into
+Delhi. They ought to have been disarmed, Guides and Gurkies and everyone
+else, straight away."
+
+"Hear, hear!" joined in the others. "We don't want no niggers helpin'
+us."
+
+"They don't know much about the Guides, do they, Ted?" Alec whispered.
+
+"They don't. But they spoke of the Sirmur Gurkhas. I wonder whether they
+are coming here? My cousin Charlie Dorricot is with them, so I hope they
+are. He's a jolly beggar is Charlie."
+
+"They say Gurkhas are always to be trusted," Alec replied; "and from
+what these fellows say, it's evident they haven't mutinied so far....
+Hullo! what's up now? The 'Alarm'! By Jove, the pandies are attacking
+us!"
+
+A bugle had sounded the 'Alarm'; the men sprang to their feet, rushed
+for their arms, and prepared to fall in. In an instant the whole camp
+was alive.
+
+"What is it? Who are they?"
+
+"Over there! Look! It's an attack on our rear."
+
+The bugle blew again, and the alarm gradually subsided. All eyes were
+directed towards a body of men marching wearily, but with correct,
+well-drilled step, along the road leading towards the British camp. They
+seemed dark, very short of stature, and curiously attired, and that was
+all that could be made out. Though not Europeans, they were evidently
+friends, because the "Alarm" sounded by the first bugle had been
+contradicted by the second call.
+
+And now that the sepoy regiments were proving false right and left, what
+Asiatic corps except the Guides could be trusted so near the
+head-quarters of the rebels? John Lawrence would take good care that no
+doubtful regiments should be sent to Delhi, and that no Mussulman nor
+Brahman of the Bengal army should be given such an excellent chance of
+turning traitor at the critical moment.
+
+The strangers drew nearer, and the camp turned out to meet them. Then
+the word passed from lip to lip that these were the Gurkhas--Reid's
+Gurkhas.
+
+"It's the Sirmur Battalion, Alec," said Ted; and he executed a little
+_pas seul_ to proclaim his delight.
+
+"Who are they?" asked some of the Tommies. "Where 'ave they come from?
+Can they fight?"
+
+"Fight? Can't they just!" replied one of the knowing ones, a sergeant
+with a dozen years' Indian experience. "They come from Dehra Dun, up in
+the hills."
+
+"I wouldn't give a dog-biscuit for all the native regiments in India," a
+young private declared. "They're all rotten with treachery."
+
+"You'll never be commander-in-chief, Sammy," the sergeant retorted. "You
+know a dashed sight too much, and yet not 'arf enough. If you wasn't so
+ignorant you'd know that these Gurkies ain't natives but furriners in
+Injia same as us, livin' in a furrin country called Nepal, up amongst
+the Himalayas, which you've never 'eard on, I dare say. And the Gurky
+king ain't a subject of the queen, like the Injian rajahs and nawabs and
+nizams and such, but free and independent, like voters at an election.
+I've fought side by side with 'em, Sammy, and they're as good pals on a
+battle-field as any chaps from Battersea."
+
+Ted and Alec laughed at the sergeant's harangue, and strolled down the
+road to meet the reinforcements. The short-legged, tough, little Gurkhas
+were almost dropping from fatigue and heat. They had marched many, many
+miles that day under the scorching Indian sun, and they were no more
+accustomed to the heat of the plains than were their British comrades.
+
+"Hurrah for the Gurkies! Three cheers for the little 'uns!"
+
+The cry was taken up by hundreds of the red-coats, who were now lining
+both sides of the road, cheering again and again as the weary Mongolians
+marched sturdily through their ranks with soldierly swagger. The little
+fellows grinned and tried to cheer and joke in return, but, being dead
+beat and almost famishing, the attempt was a failure. Many British
+soldiers ran out to help their new allies along, by lending the support
+of an arm or shoulder.
+
+"That's him, Alec!" Ted, regardless of grammar, informed his chum.
+
+He made straight for a lieutenant of the Gurkhas, a tall, jolly-looking
+man of about five-and-twenty, and tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+"Please, sir," said the ensign, with great deference and as vacant an
+expression as possible, "is there an officer of this regiment of pandies
+named Dorricot, because he's wanted in camp."
+
+"Pandies! you impudent puppy!" the enraged lieutenant replied.
+"Pandies! I like your cheek! My name's Dorricot. Who wants me?"
+
+"Please, sir, I think it's a tailor with a lot of unpaid bills--"
+
+The lieutenant opened his mouth, and, gripping Ted's wrist, looked him
+squarely in the face. He burst into a laugh.
+
+"Ted Russell! What on earth are you doing here, you cheeky chimpanzee?"
+
+He wrung Ted's hand heartily, and was unceremoniously introduced to
+Paterson.
+
+"What are you doing here, Ted?" Dorricot repeated. "Your regiment has
+mutinied, has it not?"
+
+"Yes. Seeing we were at liberty, the general sent for Paterson and me to
+come and give him a lift. We're his military advisers, ain't we, Alec?"
+
+"Oh, Ted's altogether too modest," said Paterson. "In reality he's the
+actual commander here, and General Barnard takes orders from him."
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" Dorricot replied. "Well, look here, come to my
+tent as soon as we've settled down. I want to have a talk with you."
+
+The Sirmur Battalion passed within the lines, and General Barnard
+himself came out to welcome them.
+
+"Get something to eat sharp!" he exhorted Major Reid. "Sorry you're dead
+beat, but we may have to turn out at any moment."
+
+Luckily this was not necessary, as the expected attack did not come off,
+and the tired Gurkhas were granted a few hours' well-earned rest. Soon
+after they had settled down our two ensigns paid the promised visit to
+Lieutenant Dorricot, and fought their battles over again, talking and
+laughing over their several adventures, interrupting, contradicting, and
+agreeing with one another as they discussed the situation and the causes
+that had combined to bring it about.
+
+The elder cousin was full of a natural curiosity concerning Jim's
+engagement, soon persuading the ensign--and in truth it was no difficult
+matter--to give his opinion of Miss Woodburn, her accomplishments and
+attractions.
+
+"Hullo!" interrupted Charlie, as the boy waxed particularly eloquent on
+the subject. "You're sure it's Russell Major who's in love, and not
+Russell Minimus."
+
+Ted blushed, laughed outright, and sought to change the subject; but
+Charlie was determined to extract further information relating to his
+cousin's love affairs--a matter on which he was conventionally
+facetious.
+
+"So you really think that old Jim's done well--eh, young Solomon?"
+Dorricot resumed after a few moments' reflection.
+
+"I tell you he's a jolly lucky chap!" declared the ensign emphatically.
+"Jolly lucky, I should say. You should just have seen her when she
+whipped her pistol out as soon as that beggar had knifed me in the
+_bazar_!"
+
+"What was that, Teddy? You never told me about that."
+
+So our ensign related the incident with great gusto, and the elder
+cousin whistled as he heard of the girl's coolness.
+
+"She's the right sort for Jim," he agreed, as Ted concluded the
+narration. "But I must be toddling off to bed now, I'm badly in need of
+some sleep. By-bye, young 'un!"
+
+"Good-night, Charlie! It's just stunning to see you again. Jim'll be
+downright glad when he comes; he's bound to be here in a day or two
+now."
+
+"His men must be rattling good marchers if he is! I hardly think it
+possible."
+
+With a hearty handshake the cousins separated, the ensigns returning to
+their own quarters in the highest possible spirits, looking forward with
+great eagerness to the coming struggle.
+
+A few days later General Barnard advanced and gave battle to the enemy
+at Badli-Ka-Serai, six miles from the city. Not a soldier there but was
+burning to meet the traitors, but none was more keen than the little
+Gurkhas, who, to the delight of the amused Tommies, turned somersaults
+and played leap-frog when they heard that an attack was to be made.
+
+The multitudes of sepoys fought with courage and fierce determination,
+but were hurled back by the little army, which occupied position after
+position as the mutineers recoiled. At his cousin's request Ted was
+allowed to act with the Sirmur Battalion until the arrival of the Guide
+Corps, whose absence the boy greatly regretted.
+
+"How mad they will be to have missed this!" he whispered to Charlie as
+they led the Gurkhas at the double to the foot of the ridge, where they
+halted and attempted to dislodge the enemy by rifle-fire. The bullets
+whistled around, and many a gallant fellow fell, and it must be
+confessed that our ensign felt uncomfortable. He hoped that this waiting
+"would jolly soon be over", but, with the eyes of the little Mongolians
+upon him, he scorned to show signs of flinching even when a bullet
+flattened on the stone beside him. The fire had little effect on the
+rebel regiments above; the swarthy faces seemed to glare down upon them
+in demoniacal fashion, defying their approach.
+
+At length came the welcome order to storm the ridge. With a cheer
+Britons and Gurkhas rose and dashed up the slope, racing like
+school-boys for the top. The Gurkhas yelled and shrieked, challenging
+the 60th Rifles to the race; the English had no breath left for
+cheering, but they put in all they knew, not to be outdistanced by "them
+Gurky chaps". The little mountaineers, however, had had far more
+practice in rapid climbing than their British comrades, and were soon
+well in front, with Major Reid and Lieutenant Dorricot at their head.
+Though Ted toiled manfully forward, he could only arrive at the top with
+the rear sections of his regiment, with whom were mixed the
+dark-coated English riflemen. The sepoys were standing no longer. Their
+ranks broken up by the furious charge from right and left, their guns
+taken and leaders slain, they dared no longer face the glistening
+bayonets and determined faces of vengeful Englishmen and furious
+Gurkhas, but broke and fled towards the city. After them ran the
+infantry, and in the plains below the cavalry charged and re-charged the
+flying mobs, scattering them again as they tried to reform. The battle
+of Badli-Ka-Serai was over.
+
+  [Illustration: BATTYE ROSE IN HIS STIRRUPS AND THUNDERED FORTH THE
+  ORDER TO CHARGE]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+The Post of Honour
+
+
+A great victory had been won! The temper of the men had been tested and
+found true as steel; the only loyal dark-faced battalion had been tried
+and found worthy to rank side by side with the steadiest of English or
+Highland regiments. The praises of the Gurkhas were in every mouth.
+
+Besides these tests two great material advantages had been gained. This
+was the first. Less than a mile from the walls the Aravelli range of
+hills ended, and underneath this ridge lay the place where the troops
+had dwelt before the mutiny. Had the enemy not been driven from the
+Ridge, the old cantonments and parade-ground could not have been
+occupied, as they would have been swept by the fire from above.
+
+Now that the Ridge had been won, however, the army could safely rest
+below, protected by the high ground from the fire of the heavy guns on
+the Delhi bastions.
+
+In the second place, the rebels had not only been disheartened by their
+first defeat, but the tidings would quickly spread all over India that
+the English were still strong enough to defeat thrice their number. This
+news would be worth a thousand men, for people were saying that Allah
+had deprived the Feringhis of their strength, that they were _lachar_
+(helpless), and could no longer fight.
+
+The rebel stronghold lay before the victors, vast, powerful, and filled
+with myriads of brave and warlike men. Well might they be defiant, for
+what could that tiny army achieve against their great strength. For you
+must know that by all the rules of warfare an army attacking a
+strongly-fortified place should be much more numerous than the defending
+host, and have more powerful or quite as powerful artillery. The
+assailants should be able to surround the place to prevent the entrance
+of food or reinforcements. But the walls of Delhi measured seven miles
+in circumference; the army investing it could with difficulty guard its
+own quarters, and rebel reinforcements entered as they pleased. Though
+we were supposed to be engaged in an assault on Delhi, yet in reality,
+during that summer of 1857, we were on our defence--the defenders of the
+Ridge against countless rebel attacks.
+
+At the southern extremity of the Ridge stood a large mansion, built many
+years ago by a Mahratta gentleman named Hindu Rao. This house, strong
+and well built, commanded a good view of Delhi, and all movements could
+be observed therefrom. No force could issue from the walls to surprise
+the camp or retake the Ridge without being noticed by the picket holding
+the position. So Hindu Rao's house became the post of honour, and the
+post of honour is always the post of danger. Less than 1200 yards from
+the mansion the 24-pounders of the Mori bastion overlooked the Ridge,
+and the house presented an easy target for the shot and shell of the
+huge guns.
+
+The little cannon of our soldiers were as pop-guns compared to these
+monsters, and not only was the advantage in size, but the sepoys
+possessed a dozen heavy guns for every light one of ours, besides vast
+stores of ammunition and material of war. The walls had been further
+strengthened not many years before by English engineer officers, who had
+made a glacis that protected all except the top ten feet of the walls
+from injury by shot or shell.
+
+A glacis is a huge bank of earth sloping outwards from the walls, and
+not only does it shield the lower portions, but, should an enemy
+attempt to escalade the walls or carry the city by assault, they would
+first have to run up this glacis, and there they would present such a
+target that trained gunners could sweep the assailants away by hundreds.
+The engineers, who had so skilfully and carefully constructed these
+defences, little thought that their handiwork would merely serve to keep
+India in a ferment for many months. The batteries were manned by
+artillerymen who had learned their profession--and learned it, alas! too
+well--under the tuition of English officers. Within the walls were more
+than 20,000 trained and disciplined sepoys, men who had proved their
+valour on many a well-fought field, not to mention thousands on
+thousands of armed fanatics, warriors by birth and by tradition. All
+these fought under shelter, which our brave fellows lacked. But ours
+were British, "strong with the strength of the race to command, to obey,
+to endure", save the one Gurkha battalion and the Guide Corps (now close
+at hand), and these were soon admitted as equals by the British
+soldiers.
+
+The British army was small--very small--but the lack of powerful
+artillery was an even greater source of weakness. An army without
+artillery, matched against even an equal force well supplied with
+powerful guns, would have as much chance of success as a man armed with
+a light cane fighting another possessed of sword and revolver.
+
+Thousands of people in England and in India, who eagerly devoured the
+news and anxiously awaited the fall of the capital, impatiently asked,
+"Why are they so long? Why don't they take the city?" These worthy folks
+could not understand the difficulties; they could not realize that mere
+pluck and endurance avail nothing against stone walls and mighty cannon.
+As the weeks rolled by and Delhi was still untaken, other persons, still
+more ignorant, exclaimed, "Why don't they leave Delhi if they can't
+capture it, and go and help Sir Henry Lawrence at Lucknow?" They did
+not see that even if that small army appeared to be doing little, it
+still kept shut up in the city forty thousand armed rebels who might
+otherwise be spreading over the country conquering and slaying. Nor did
+they grasp the fact that had the English army left Delhi unconquered the
+warlike Punjab, and then all India, would have risen. To have left the
+Mogul capital would have been a confession of weakness; it would have
+been to say: "We are beaten, we can do nothing here", and when once the
+English say that in India, their empire will collapse.
+
+So, though Barnard's handful was attacking Delhi contrary to all the
+rules of war, we must remember what Mr. Rudyard Kipling has pointed out,
+that had our British generals never acted against those rules the
+boundaries of the empire would have stayed at Brighton beach.
+
+It will be readily understood, even by boys who have engaged in no
+battles save those in which snow-balls form the most dangerous missiles,
+that this ridge of elevated ground was of the highest importance. Had
+the rebels been able to retake it and plant guns thereon, the British
+camp would have been at their mercy, and the Punjab would have been
+ablaze. As the Ridge defended the British army, so Hindu Rao's house
+defended the Ridge.
+
+Let us rejoin the comrades we had left victorious after the battle of
+Badli-ka-Serai. The army now occupied its old parade-ground below the
+Ridge, and our friends, who had escaped uninjured, were awaiting further
+orders, when Major Reid, who had been conversing with the general, came
+towards them, his face aglow.
+
+"Grand news, Dorricot!" he shouted. "The Sirmur Battalion is to defend
+that house," pointing to the distant mansion of Hindu Rao.
+
+"Score for our Gurkhas!" Dorricot shouted back.
+
+"What do you think of that, youngsters?" he continued, turning to Ted
+and Alec. "I feel as though I'd been made a K.C.B. at least. We must
+fall the men in and be off."
+
+The Gurkha bugles sounded and the battalion fell in, whilst their
+commandant informed them that the general had paid them the great
+compliment of selecting them for the post of honour, and he had no doubt
+that they would show themselves in every way worthy to uphold the
+traditions of their race. The little men grinned, well pleased, as their
+officer went on to warn them that it would also be the post of danger;
+that upon the house of Hindu Rao would fall the brunt of all the rebel
+attacks, and that the building would be the main target for the Delhi
+artillery.
+
+The little men huzzaed at the prospect. The fiercer the battle waging
+around them the better pleased would they be. They meant to hold their
+post tooth and nail.
+
+"What plucky little fiends they are!" Alec whispered. "Danger evidently
+appeals to them as a most delightful prospect."
+
+When the news spread that the Gurkhas had been awarded the post of
+honour, the soldiers assembled to cheer their comrades from the
+mountains of Nepal as they marched away. Never did general make a wiser
+selection. Prominent amidst the glorious achievements during the siege
+of Delhi stands out the dogged pluck of the Gurkha picket, who
+successfully held the house of Hindu Rao during a hundred days of
+terrific fighting and bombardment, though only a handful escaped death
+or wounds.
+
+Rooms were apportioned to the various ranks, and the Sirmur men were
+speedily settled in their new quarters. Ted and Charlie strolled round
+the mansion, and, gazing upon the Imperial City, entered into an
+argument respecting their distance from the big cannon of the Mori
+bastion.
+
+They were still disputing, when a pleasant-looking, gentlemanly young
+Gurkha officer joined them, and, jerking our ensign round by his jacket
+collar to face the new-comer, Charlie observed:
+
+"I ought to have introduced you two before. Goria Thapa, can you guess
+who the ensign sahib is? He is Ensign Russell, son of your father's
+comrade, of whom you have often heard. Ted, this is Jemadar Goria Thapa,
+son of Jaspao Thapa, your guvnor's great pal of 1815."
+
+Goria Thapa's jolly countenance became wreathed in grins. He held out
+his hand, saying:
+
+"I have heard much of thy father, Russell Sahib, who was my father's
+brother. I am glad to fight side by side with thee as our fathers
+fought."
+
+Ted pressed the young jemadar's hand. This was, then, the grandson of
+the famous Nepalese general, Amir Sing Thapa, who had kept our troops at
+bay for so long a period in the year of Waterloo. Ted had often heard
+the story, and was glad indeed to meet the hero's grandson.
+
+That night the troops slept soundly both on and below the Ridge. In the
+early morning the Gurkha picket heard the sound of cheering from the
+British camp, and the report ran round that the Guide Corps was marching
+in. Ted, Paterson, and their four Pathans--two had fallen on the
+previous day--went down to rejoin their regiment, which was being
+greeted with the same enthusiasm that had been accorded to the Sirmuris
+a few days before.
+
+Though the Guides had taken no part in the battle they had already
+covered themselves with undying glory. Daly had promised that the seven
+hundred and fifty miles should be covered in a month, and he had done it
+in twenty-eight days. The stately height and military bearing of the
+frontiersmen and the perfect horsemanship of the cavalry took everyone
+by surprise, and such exclamations as "A splendid lot!" "Fighters every
+inch of them!" were heard on all sides. Though they had accomplished the
+magnificent march--a march that still holds the record--during the
+hottest season of the year, they came in, as an onlooker remarked, "as
+firm and light of step as if they had marched only a mile".
+
+The Guides had barely arrived before they contrived to give the Delhi
+rebels a taste of their temper. Large bodies of horse and foot had been
+sent out from the city to harass our advanced posts, and, full of a
+fierce joy, the Guides were ordered to the front.
+
+Charlie was engaged in chaffing his cousin, Ted throwing in a word here
+and there, when Lieutenant Quintin Battye strolled up, a smile on his
+handsome face. He nodded towards the two ensigns.
+
+"I've a bone to pick with you two," he gaily remarked. "What do you mean
+by risking the lives of my best troopers by charging a regiment with
+half a dozen men? Throw your own lives away if you like, but remember
+that our sowars are of value to the state."
+
+Ted had a joke on the tip of his tongue before the slower Paterson had
+framed any suitable reply, when the order came for the Guides Cavalry to
+advance.
+
+Battye rose in his stirrups, and, thundering forth the order to charge,
+dashed straight for the ranks of the mutinous 3rd Native Cavalry. The
+sabres of the loyal and disloyal crossed, and down went man and horse
+before that furious onslaught. Through the second ranks of the rebels
+crashed those Pathan and Sikh troopers, their steel flashing in the
+sunlight as the sabres rose and fell again, now tinged with red, in the
+fierce conflict. Ever in the forefront rode Quintin Battye. Captain
+Daly, with the infantry, looked on in admiration at his subaltern's
+charge and could not contain himself.
+
+"Gallant Battye! Well done, brave Battye!" he cried in his enthusiasm.
+
+At that very moment a rebel turned round, and, riding straight for the
+English subaltern, discharged his piece into Battye's body from a
+distance of twenty yards. The deed was avenged! Subadar Merban Sing,
+captain of the Gurkha company of the Guides, had dashed forward and cut
+down the sepoy as he fired, but too late to save that precious life.
+Battye was carried off the field, wounded mortally; and as he lay dying
+in terrible pain, he turned to the chaplain who attended him, and
+smiling said: "_Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori!_"
+
+Thus died a gallant officer and true gentleman. Since that date there
+has hardly been a campaign in which the Guides have not been officered
+by a Battye.
+
+The Guides Infantry were now allotted a position on the Ridge, under the
+orders of Major Reid, who had been placed in command of the advanced
+posts. Two companies of the 60th Rifles also took up their quarters in
+Hindu Rao's house, for it soon became evident that the Sirmur Battalion
+would have to bear the brunt of all attacks.
+
+But the little Himalayans did not grumble at that.
+
+On the very first opportunity that presented itself, our three friends
+foregathered to talk over the events of the past few years. The two
+seniors placidly smoked their pipes and congratulated themselves on
+belonging to regiments that had proved their loyalty.
+
+Jim was forced to submit, with as much good-temper and cheerfulness as
+could have been expected under the circumstances, to his cousin's
+quizzing enquiries and humorous comments in the matter of his love
+affair and engagement. Charlie simply wanted to know everything, and,
+with as good a grace as possible for a shy young man, Jim laughingly
+endeavoured to parry the embarrassing questions.
+
+"Well, tell me what she's like, man, can't you? Teddy here can't say
+anything concerning her appearance, except that he's head over heels in
+love with her himself.---- And I'm sure that's no recommendation for any
+girl!" Captain Dorricot added, as an afterthought.
+
+Ted hereupon indulged in an exclamation and gesture expressive of
+dissent, and of the supreme contempt in which he held his cousin.
+
+"What's that, Ted? You never said anything of the sort? Why, you young
+bargee, of course you did!" went on the tormentor. "You talked of
+poisoning Jim's grub, and what not.---- Well, Captain Russell, once
+more: Are her eyes black, blue, brown, purple, violet, green, yellow,
+red, or a mixture, or perchance, is she an albino?"
+
+"Oh, I dunno! Something between green and blue, as you seem so anxious
+to know."
+
+"Peacock-blue, shall we say? That's a pity! Violet is the favourite hue
+with lady novelists--either violet, or purple, or heliotrope. Did you
+ever see a woman with eyes of heliotrope hue, young 'un?"
+
+"No, nor don't want to."
+
+"That's very decided. Now then, Jim, cut along! Eyes, peacock-blue;
+nose, Roman, Grecian, snub, or what? Grecian? Right. Jot it down. Size?
+Ted says she's a dwarf. What? Ted a liar? Surely the boy has not been
+deceiving me who trusted in him?"
+
+"I never said anything of the kind!" interrupted Ted indignantly. "Don't
+believe a word he says, Jim."
+
+"Oh, Teddy, Teddy, this to your loving cousin? Now, you know that you
+said she was smaller than you!" Charlie asserted with a show of
+indignant surprise at the ensign's perfidy.
+
+"Well, we're getting at it slowly," Dorricot continued. "Nose Grecian;
+peacock-blue eyes; size five feet nothing; hair brown; rides well;
+shoots mullahs in the _bazar_ for sport, failing partridges; loads
+rifles with considerable ease--for a woman; sings divinely--isn't that
+the expression?--"
+
+"Hold on, old man, that's the whole catalogue!" interrupted Jim. "You'll
+see her some day, I hope. Now what about this present business?"
+
+Captain Russell then proceeded to give an account of their great march,
+and Dorricot told of the temptations placed before his men.
+
+"As we halted one day on the march down to Meerut," he informed the
+brothers, "a number of sappers who were on the point of mutiny
+approached our lads and began to talk earnestly to them. We pretended to
+take no notice, but when the sappers had left, Reid called a couple of
+the Gurkhas to him. The little men trotted up, quivering with anger and
+indignation.
+
+"'Well, what did those fellows want, my lads?' he enquired.
+
+"'They asked us if we were going up to Meerut to eat the _ottah_ (flour)
+sent up specially by government for the Gurkhas,' one of them replied.
+'And they said that the _ottah_ at Meerut was nothing but ground bullock
+bones, and that we should be defiled.'
+
+"'And what was your answer?' asked Reid.
+
+"The little beggars drew themselves up proudly.
+
+"'We said that we were going wherever we were ordered; that our regiment
+obeys the bugle-call!'"
+
+"Good little men!" commented the captain of the Guides, as his cousin
+concluded. "Our own Gurkha company would be hard to beat. Look at
+Subadar Merban Sing! the man who tried to save poor Battye. His men
+simply adore him; they'd do anything for him, and go anywhere with him.
+But aren't your 'almond-eyed Tartars' Hindus by religion? How did they
+take the greased-cartridge yarn?"
+
+"They're Hindus, right enough, but they are soldiers first. They don't
+worship either Siva or Vishnu one-half so fervently as they adore their
+rifles and kukris. So they simply said that they would believe whatever
+Major Reid told them, and when he assured them that the cartridges and
+the cartridge-papers were free from offence, they replied, without a
+moment's hesitation:
+
+"'Then serve them out to us! We'll use them, and everyone may see!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+With the Gurkha Picket
+
+
+On the morning of the 12th of June our friends on the Ridge were out
+soon after dawn, visiting their respective pickets and receiving
+reports. All was quiet. They gazed with admiration on the wonderful
+panorama, at the stately mosques, minarets, and towers of the royal
+city, at the huge mass of walls bulking in threatening manner before
+them, at the king's palace--a town in itself--that stood to the far side
+of the city, and at the blue waters of the Jumna glittering and
+sparkling in the sun, washing the opposite walls to those whose heavy
+guns had poured shot and shell at our men but a few hours ago. To the
+south of the Ridge lay the picturesque suburbs of the Kishengang and the
+Sabzi-mandi, with their magnificent buildings, walled gardens, and shady
+groves.
+
+The peaceful scene was not of long duration. The guns of the Mori and
+Kashmir bastions presently belched forth a shower of shot and shell,
+and, under cover of the heavy fire, two large bodies of mutineers poured
+out to the attack, one charging the Gurkha picket, the other pushing its
+way through the gardens, sheltered by trees and walls. Those sepoy
+regiments attacking Hindu Rao's mansion saw only dark faces between them
+and their desire.
+
+"Come over to us!" the Brahmans shouted to the Gurkhas. "Come over, and
+we'll reward you; you shall have treasure and honour. You are of our
+religion. Siva, the Destroyer, is fighting on our side. Join us in
+driving away the white men. Come!"
+
+"Yes, we are coming! Wait for us!" shouted back the Nepalese. And they
+went, with bayonets fixed and kukris bared; but the rebels waited not.
+Terrified by the determined faces and gleaming steel, they turned and
+fled, pursued for some distance by the fierce little mountaineers.
+Thenceforward the Gurkhas were hated with a hatred as bitter as that
+accorded to the British.
+
+"Those monkeys of Gurkhas are renegades to their faith!" declared the
+Brahman priests to those mutineers in Delhi who were of their
+persuasion. "They prefer to receive the Englishman's pay rather than
+follow the dictates of their holy men. Let them be outcasts! Spare them
+not! When we have destroyed the white men, then shall we deal with them,
+if any have escaped by that time!"
+
+The attack made at the same time on the troops stationed below the Ridge
+met with no better success. The British soldiers down there were no less
+eager than their comrades up above to give the foemen a taste of their
+quality. After some hours' hard fighting, the rebels were repulsed with
+heavy loss, and our men began to feel happy, fondly imagining that the
+tide was already turning in their favour.
+
+The unthinking ones and the least experienced talked confidently of
+entering Delhi in a few days, or a week or two at most. They underrated
+the strength of the enemy, and also the determination of the
+mutineers,--a mistake the British soldier is wont to make.
+
+Undismayed by this reverse, the enemy came out to attack our posts every
+day between the 12th and 17th of June, and every day they were beaten
+back. Time after time they flung themselves in heavy masses against the
+small force defending the Ridge, only to be hurled back again and again
+by the Gurkhas, the Guides Infantry, and the Englishmen of the 60th
+Rifles, who all fought with equally unflinching gallantry.
+
+But on the 17th of June, Major Reid, to his delight, was ordered to act
+on the offensive. The enemy had commenced to erect batteries outside the
+walls, in the Kishengang and Trevelyan-gang suburbs, commanding the
+British positions, and this could not be allowed. Reid's men, with
+another column from the main force, sallied forth and stormed the
+positions, routed the foe, and destroyed the works. But not without loss
+was this accomplished. Our foemen were no cravens; they flung themselves
+not once but many times with desperate courage against their assailants,
+making little impression, however, on the stern warriors of England,
+Scotland, and Ireland, of the Punjab, and of Nepal.
+
+When morning dawned next day the officers reminded the British soldiers
+that this was Waterloo-day, and the remembrance of that glorious
+victory, and of the valour of their fathers, roused a new enthusiasm. On
+this day the Guides Cavalry had their turn, and acquitted themselves
+like the heroes they were. But once more they paid a price for so
+distinguishing themselves, for Captain Daly, their gallant leader, was
+carried away severely wounded.
+
+The knowledge that his men had proved themselves so worthy consoled
+Captain Daly in his pain. There were few soldiers in the force now who
+were not ready to admit, and to back their opinion with curious and
+unnecessary oaths, that these two native regiments were an invaluable
+acquisition to the force--that Guides and Gurkhas were worthy to uphold
+the reputation of the British army.
+
+Little of importance happened during the next three or four days, though
+the batteries were continually playing on the Ridge. One round-shot came
+crashing through the portico of Hindu Rao's house with terrible effect,
+killing an English officer and eight Gurkhas.
+
+On June the 23rd the rebels made a vow. This day was the centenary of
+the battle of Plassy. For just one hundred years had the Feringhis'
+dominion lasted, and now, according to the Moslem prophets, their time
+was come. So the sepoys, maddened by the resistance offered to their
+attacks, furious that these Gurkhas should persistently remain at their
+post, ever watchful and ever eager for the fray in spite of the
+incessant cannonade, vowed that on this day Hindu Rao's house should be
+captured.
+
+About mid-day the attack on the Ridge began, the insurgents swarming up
+on every side. Beaten back, but reinforced by fresh hordes, they again
+came to the attack with desperate valour, to be once more repulsed by
+the Gurkhas. Foiled but not done with, the enemy recommenced a brisk
+cannonade of the handful who opposed them. Under cover of this fire a
+fresh assault was made, and for a moment the post seemed lost. The dark
+uniforms of the English riflemen, the drab of the Guides, and the ugly
+dress of the Gurkhas, seemed lost amidst those swarming thousands.
+Somehow Ensign Russell found himself in the front with the Gurkha
+company of the Guides. Little Subadar Merban Sing, the captain of the
+company, stood at his elbow, as mild in appearance as usual, smiling
+pleasantly and serenely as he watched the straining and tugging bodies,
+the uplifted and downfalling arms, the musket flashes on every side, the
+thrusting of bayonets and slicing of kukris, and, as calmly as if on
+parade, he gave directions to his men.
+
+Inspired by his companion's coolness and absolute lack of fear, Ted
+fought manfully at his side. A Guide in front of him stumbled, badly
+wounded. It was Merban Sing's brother. Quick as thought Ted dashed
+forward and stood over the body as half a dozen sepoys ran to thrust
+their bayonets into the helpless Gurkha. With his pistol Ted shot one,
+gave another the point of his sword, and Merban Sing, again at his side,
+struck down two more whose bayonet-points were almost plunged in the
+ensign's breast. The Gurkha subadar, felled from behind, dropped over
+his wounded brother, who at the same time received his death-wound. A
+rush from behind brought a dozen more Guides around the lad, who saw
+steel flash in front of his face, and felt a burning sensation in his
+cheek; then his head seemed to split, and he remembered no more.
+
+With yells of triumph the myriad enemy pushed forward, but not to
+victory. Major Reid's voice rang out clear, keeping his men together,
+and with a cheer the gallant fellows responded. The riflemen closed up,
+shoulder to shoulder, and, first pouring a withering fire into the mass,
+dashed forward with the bayonet, followed by the Guides, who also used
+that best of weapons. The little Nepalese, throwing down musket and
+bayonet, drew their razor-edged kukris and plunged into the thick of
+their opponents, hewing them down and scattering them on every side by
+the fury of their charge. The foe gave ground and the crisis had passed.
+The officers cheered, the men responded, and again a bayonet and kukri
+charge drove the pandies farther back. Then the Rifles and Guides,
+kneeling down, sent volley after volley into the mass of wavering
+sepoys, and followed up their advantage by again charging home, and the
+danger was passed. But the enemy, though disheartened, were not routed;
+the conflict still raged fast and furious. The rebel guns, which had
+ceased firing during the hand-to-hand fighting, again gave tongue with
+deadly effect. Taking advantage of the diversion thus created, the
+plucky sepoys made a last desperate effort to fulfil their vow, only to
+receive further punishment. As the sun went down and the light faded,
+the rebels lost heart and retired, discouraged and cowed, to the shelter
+of their walls, hastened on the way by the bullets which dropped amongst
+them.
+
+Everywhere had the attack failed, both on the Ridge and below. But
+though a severe blow had been dealt to the mutineers, too many of our
+own had been slain; for the sepoys in Delhi could better spare a
+thousand men than could the army before Delhi afford to lose fourscore.
+To resist an attack was one thing; to storm the city successfully would
+be quite another.
+
+When Ensign Russell came to himself he was back in the Mahratta's
+mansion, his brother and cousin by his side as the doctor examined him.
+
+"Thank God that you've a thick head, young man," observed that official;
+and turning to the others he added, "He'll be all right in a few days."
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the boy. His head was ringing and singing,
+and he felt sick.
+
+"Crack on the head with the butt-end, Teddy," answered Charlie. "It
+knocked you senseless, and Goria Thapia carried you out of danger. Good
+job you've got the Russell skull. I expect the musket was smashed to
+bits! Without joking, old boy, you've had a narrow escape."
+
+"What's the matter with my cheek--it's stinging frightfully?" asked Ted.
+
+"Your cheek?" replied Jim, laughing. "Oh, nothing's the matter with
+that! It's as big and fine and well-developed as usual." Jim then placed
+his hand on his brother's brow. "A sword or bayonet has just grazed your
+cheek, Ted, old man, and taken the skin off. It will be painful, but
+you'll hardly feel it in a week's time. Now, go to sleep."
+
+"But how did the fight go after I was dropped, Jim? Was Merban Sing
+killed?"
+
+Captain Russell related the stirring incidents of the day, and told how
+Merban Sing and two of his brothers had laid down their lives to defend
+their trust.
+
+For some time after this determined assault the rebels became more
+cautious, whilst our men sat tight, waiting for reinforcements and for a
+siege-train with which to batter those heavy walls whereon our little
+guns made no impression.
+
+When off duty, officers and men would stroll from one regiment's lines
+to another, the chief meeting-place being the Flagstaff Tower on the
+north end of the Ridge, well out of range. Games at cricket and quoits,
+as well as polo-matches and races, were arranged. Numerous were the
+visitors to Hindu Rao's house, as men from all the regiments came to see
+this important outpost, to note the damage done by shot and shell, and
+to scrutinize those wonderfully tough little Gurkhas who were the first
+line of defence, and who were enjoying themselves hugely.
+
+But though Major Reid[14] had many visitors, he himself never once left
+his post during these months of bitter fighting. He was guardian of the
+Ridge, and cricket, quoits, and races appealed to him in vain.
+
+  [14] Afterwards General Sir Charles Reid, K.C.B.
+
+The 60th Rifles and the Sirmuris had become the best of friends and
+closest of chums, and in the early days of the fighting, when tobacco
+was still to be obtained without difficulty, little Gurkhas and heavy
+Yorkshiremen or sprightly Cockneys might be seen sitting side by side,
+smoking their pipes contentedly, and offering one another tobacco by
+signs, being unable to exchange a word.
+
+By the end of June the casualties among the Rifles, Guides, and Gurkhas
+had been terrible, and the top room of the house had been turned into a
+Gurkha hospital, for the wounded Nepalese refused to leave their post.
+Their British comrades offered to carry them to the big hospital in the
+cantonments below, where comparative peace and quietness reigned, and
+where they might have the best medical aid, but the Gurkhas would have
+none of it. They preferred to stay by their comrades, to listen to the
+shot and shell whistling around, to hear the news each day--who had
+distinguished himself, and whether their beloved Major Reid and his
+officers were still unharmed. So Reid, with tears of pride in his eyes,
+yielded to the wish of his children, and there they stayed.
+
+The troops had been reinforced, but no siege-train had arrived. At their
+various posts in the Punjab John Lawrence, Herbert Edwardes, and John
+Nicholson were recruiting the wild Sikhs and still wilder Pathans into
+regiments of irregular cavalry and infantry. Edwardes, Nicholson, and
+Brigadier Cotton, in command at Peshawur, the gate of India, had so
+impressed the tribes under their sway with the might of England, that
+these fierce men, though at first ready to join the rebels, had changed
+their tone, and now volunteered to fight against the sahibs' enemy.
+
+Old men, young men, and men of middle age brought their horses and
+weapons before these great Englishmen, and begged to be allowed to
+enlist. So week by week some Punjabi,[15] Sikh, or Pathan regiments of
+foot or horse would march proudly to the Delhi camp, sent down by
+command of John Lawrence, who himself could ill afford to spare them.
+The first reinforcements to arrive were the 1st and 2nd Punjab Infantry
+and the 4th Sikhs. The 1st P.N.I, were commanded by Major Coke, and were
+known as "Coke's Rifles" or as "Cokeys", and a gallant lot they proved,
+as did indeed their comrade corps.
+
+  [15] The Punjabi corps would consist chiefly of Mohammedan
+       inhabitants of the Punjab, Sikhs, and Pathans, with some
+       Jats and Dogras.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Ted's Hopes are raised and dashed to the Ground
+
+
+"Have you seen the new arrivals, Ted?" asked Jim, as he came back from a
+visit to cantonments one day.
+
+"No, who are they?"
+
+"Hodson's Horse, the 'Flamingoes' as they've been nicknamed, from the
+colour of their sashes. Go down and look at them; they're worth seeing,
+and so is Hodson, their commandant."
+
+"Is he the Lieutenant Hodson who once commanded our regiment?" asked
+Ted, who had heard of the famous freelance.
+
+"That's the man. He got into trouble with the Guides, and now he's been
+allowed to raise this regiment of horse."
+
+So the two chums waited until both were free from duty, and went down to
+look at the stalwart Sikh and Pathan horsemen, who afterwards became
+known to fame as the 9th and 10th Bengal Lancers throughout Hindustan
+and its frontiers, and in China, Egypt, the Soudan, and Abyssinia. A
+crowd had gathered round the gaudily-attired "Flamingoes", who sat their
+horses proudly, much gratified by the reception. They were about to
+exercise the horses.
+
+"Not so bad," said Ted approvingly; "but not quite up to our Guides--eh,
+Alec?"
+
+"They look good soldiers," Paterson replied. "Why,--well, I'm blowed!
+What's Boldre doing there?"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Claude Boldre! See, that kid on the rat-tailed dun, with a Flamingo
+sash. I left him at school, and didn't even know he'd got a commission.
+His father's the colonel of a regiment that mutinied recently, I heard.
+He's a decent sort."
+
+Paterson walked behind his friend, who had not yet perceived them, and
+dealt him a sounding smack on the thigh.
+
+"Come down off that horse, Boldre!" was his salutation. "Do you imagine
+yourself a Flamingo?"
+
+"Who are--why, if it ain't Alec Paterson, by all that's wonderful! How
+did you come here?"
+
+Alec explained briefly, and introduced Ted.
+
+"Oh, I've heard of you, Mr. Russell," said the horseman, "and I'm proud
+to meet you."
+
+"Well, explain what you are doing here in that uniform. Didn't know they
+had ensigns in Hodson's."
+
+"I'm a loot'nant," laughed Boldre; "that is, temporary rank conferred by
+John Nicholson. I've no commission at all really, but I helped to raise
+a troop or two of these fellows by sheer good luck."
+
+"You helped to raise them?"
+
+"Yes; I'll tell you the story some other time. They had captured me, and
+were about to shoot me, when the news of Nicholson's disarming the
+sepoys at Peshawur came to hand. Then they changed sides cheerfully, and
+wanted to enlist under Nicholson, and I brought them along to Peshawur.
+They are rummy beggars! It's first-class being with them. Where are you
+now--upon the Ridge?"
+
+Ted explained their position, and Boldre promised to look them up as
+soon as he could. Hodson then appeared on the scene, and the Flamingoes
+trotted away.
+
+Early in July General Barnard died of cholera after a few hours'
+illness. His successor, General Reed, had to relinquish the command
+through ill-health before the middle of the month, so Sir Archdale
+Wilson was appointed. He was the fourth general who had commanded the
+force within the space of ten weeks.
+
+Now and again Ted was sent by Major Reid to bear his reports to the
+general in command. On one of these occasions he had no sooner entered
+the head-quarters tent than General Wilson greeted him with the amazing
+words:
+
+"Ensign Russell! This is fortunate, for I was about to send for you."
+
+"Yes, sir," Ted replied, and wondered what was coming.
+
+"You distinguished yourself at Aurungpore, I understand?"
+
+"I was at Aurungpore, sir."
+
+The general regarded him curiously for a moment before he resumed.
+
+"Major Munro, who commanded your late regiment after the disablement of
+the colonel, has recommended you for the Victoria Cross. I have looked
+into the matter carefully, and cordially approve the recommendation, so
+there is little doubt that you will obtain the decoration. I
+congratulate you, Ensign Russell; you acted as an English lad should."
+
+Sir Archdale Wilson shook hands, and at the same time a man rose
+painfully from his chair by the general's side--a man lame and feeble,
+worn out by disease; a man who should have been in hospital, had not his
+spirit been stronger than his body. He grasped the boy's hand, and
+cordially exclaimed, "Well done, youngster! well done!"
+
+That man was Colonel Baird Smith, the great engineer, the man in whose
+hands General Wilson had left all the operations for the capture of
+Delhi; the man who was even now forming his great plan and scheming his
+wonderful works for the assault.
+
+Ted left the tent, walking as if in a dream, hardly knowing whether he
+stood on his head or his feet. The V.C.! He, Ted Russell, to have the
+V.C.!
+
+He hurried back to consult with Alec, and it seemed as though every man,
+horse or foot, officer, private, or humble bhisti, was looking at him
+and discussing his good fortune. He started and came to himself as
+Claude Boldre touched him on the shoulder.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Russell?" he said. "If you are going up towards the
+Gurkha picket I should like to go with you. Alec Paterson used to be a
+great chum of mine at school. Oh! allow me to introduce you to
+Lieutenant Roberts of the Bengal Artillery."
+
+Ted nodded to Boldre's companion, a young man, slight and short of
+stature, with a frank, open countenance that told of an active,
+intelligent brain, and a brave, true heart. He was attired in the
+handsome uniform of the dashing Artillery Corps, and Ted liked his new
+acquaintance at once.
+
+"I've only just arrived," said the gunner, "and I want to see
+everything. Tell me all about Hindu Rao's house."
+
+Glad of the opportunity, the ensign told the story of the Ridge, and for
+a few moments forgot the V.C.
+
+"You seem to have enjoyed yourself," Boldre commented.
+
+Ted blushed. "Well, it has been rather exciting, and you see I've not
+suffered. It's different for those fellows who have."
+
+The artillery lieutenant smiled as he looked at the boy's cheek.
+
+"You seem to have had one cut at least," he observed.
+
+"Oh, that was nothing!" Ted replied.
+
+They had approached the Valley of the Shadow of Death, as a hollow on
+the Ridge was called on account of its exposure to the rebel fire, when
+a shell burst not forty yards away. Ted noticed with admiration that
+though Boldre and he both started as if hit, the gunner officer never
+turned a hair, but calmly completed the remark he was making. The boy
+felt that he was in the presence of no ordinary man. Before taking his
+visitors into the house Ted pointed out the different gates and bastions
+of the city. As they were surveying these, Alec and Charlie came up.
+Lieutenant Roberts looked steadfastly at the latter and exclaimed:
+
+"Hullo, ain't you Lieutenant Dorricot?"
+
+Charlie looked keenly at his questioner.
+
+"That's my name, but I don't know you from the Grand Mogul."
+
+"That's not strange; I was only thirteen and in the fourth form at Eton
+when you left. I'm Fred Roberts, and we were both under the same tutor,
+the Rev. Eyre Young. You were some years older than I, and I chiefly
+remember you because I admired the way you once gave a jolly good
+thrashing to a bully--I forget his name, but he was ill-treating a
+youngster."
+
+Charlie laughed and shook hands, saying, "Turkey Bletcher, you mean! So
+you remember that? What are you doing here?"
+
+"I've just come. Been with the Movable Column, but applied to come here,
+and they gave me permission."
+
+"Are you on the staff?"
+
+"Yes; I've just applied for the post of
+deputy-assistant-quartermaster-general for artillery, and I've been
+lucky enough to get it."
+
+"So you're the D. A. Q. M. G., are you?" said Dorricot, with some
+respect that one so young should have obtained this important post.
+
+They little thought that this slight and young lieutenant was destined
+to become one of Britain's greatest and best-beloved soldiers,
+Field-marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar and Pretoria, V.C.
+
+"So you've been with Nicholson?" said Paterson, who was a great admirer
+of that frontier hero and demi-god. "He's a wonderful leader, I
+suppose?"
+
+"The finest soldier in the world!" Lieutenant Roberts quietly asserted.
+
+"Rather!" chimed in Claude Boldre. "He's a grand man. I've been lucky in
+experiencing what the Pathans along the frontier think of him. They
+consider him a sort of second Mahomet."
+
+"I suppose he's performing miracles in the Punjab," said Alec. "Is it
+really true that they worship him as a god?"
+
+"Up in Hazara," replied the artilleryman, "they've formed a sect called
+the Nikkulseyns, and though Nicholson only thrashed them when they
+worshipped him, they considered it an honour to be whipped by him, and
+those who didn't get a licking envied their more fortunate neighbours.
+The fakir who founded the sect bothered Nikkulseyn to give him his old
+beaver hat, and as he received no encouragement, the wily old gentleman
+procured one like it. He then went the round of the shops at the busiest
+time of the day, and placed the hat in the doorway, so that none might
+leave or enter without removing or kicking it over. When customers were
+about to enter, the fakir called out, warning them not to desecrate the
+topi which had been worn by the great and mighty and holy Nikkulseyn.
+Nicholson was such a power in the land that none dared remove it, and at
+last the old fraud consented to take it away on being paid one rupee by
+the shopkeeper. He would thereupon proceed to another shop and repeat
+these tactics. When Nicholson heard of this he gave the fakir and his
+disciples a sound hiding all round, but they only sang hymns of praise
+to him."
+
+"He was worshipped in Bunnu almost as much as in Hazara, was he not?"
+enquired Paterson; and Claude Boldre replied:
+
+"Yes, he was both worshipped and feared. Before he went there, an orphan
+boy had been cheated out of his land by his guardian uncle, named
+Allodad Khan. A few years later the young man went to law in order to
+recover his property, but Allodad Khan, who was a rich powerful man, had
+bribed and threatened all the village, and none would give evidence
+against him. Nicholson heard of this, and guessed how matters stood. One
+morning, just after dawn, a villager, going out early, was spell-bound
+at seeing Nicholson's well-known white mare cropping the grass outside
+the village. He ran back and breathlessly told the news. All the
+inhabitants turned out to gaze, and someone quickly perceived Nicholson
+himself tied to a tree close by. Their first thought was to run away,
+but a few plucked up sufficient spirit to go tremblingly to the
+commissioner's aid. In terrible wrath Nicholson asked who had dared to
+treat him like this. They bowed before him, but so terrified were they
+that no one could answer. 'Whose land is this, then?' he demanded. 'The
+owner of the land is responsible.' The villagers pointed to Allodad
+Khan, who fell on his knees, declaring, 'No, no, sahib, the land is my
+nephew's. He is responsible for the outrage.' Nicholson sternly made him
+swear to this before the whole village, and then the ruffian saw that
+he'd been made a fool of. So the nephew got possession of the estate and
+money, and Allodad Khan, finding the village too warm for him, went on a
+pilgrimage to Mecca."
+
+"He must be a wonderful man," Alec murmured half to himself. "I wish
+he'd come to Delhi."
+
+"He will," said Claude Boldre. "He as good as told me so when he sent me
+off with the Flamingoes."
+
+Ted was all impatience to impart his great news, but modesty forbade him
+while the strangers were present. The two visitors having inspected the
+defences of the famous mansion, and criticised most favourably the
+appearance of the Rifles, Guides, and Gurkhas, took their departure.
+
+"The general's told me that I'm to have the V.C., Alec," Ted whispered.
+
+"Honour bright?"
+
+Our ensign nodded.
+
+"Congratulations, old man,--and I think you deserved it. Ensign Russell,
+V.C.!... Splendid, Ted!"
+
+"What's that?" asked Jim, who had joined the group. "You're to have the
+V.C., young'un?"
+
+Ted then related what had passed, and Charlie Dorricot thumped him
+violently in the small of the back.
+
+"Well done, Ted!" he shouted excitedly. "I am glad; you deserve it, you
+cheeky little beggar!"
+
+Ted being called away for a moment, Jim gravely observed:
+
+"Well, I'm not so sure that I'm glad. He's having too much luck, and
+will be thinking no end of himself unless he's careful. Of course I'm
+very proud of him, but I'd have preferred him to win it a few years
+later."
+
+"Oh, Ted's all right!" Charlie assured him. "He won't be spoiled. He's a
+sterling sort of kid."
+
+At that moment the subject of the conversation returned, and a pause
+ensued before the elder brother spoke.
+
+"Ted, I was just saying that I'm not quite sure whether I am very glad
+or not."
+
+The ensign's face fell.
+
+"You won't misunderstand me, old chap, or think I'm jealous, but you're
+very young, and too much luck is apt to turn our heads. I'm not saying
+that you didn't deserve it, but don't go about thinking that you're a
+very wonderful youngster, for there's many an ensign here would have
+done the same. If it makes you conceited, Ted, it will be a very bad
+thing for you ever to have won it. But if you're a man, and if you don't
+put on 'side', all of us will rejoice in your honours."
+
+Ted was silent for a few moments, then held out his hand to his brother.
+
+"I understand, old man; I know there are many who'd have done it, and
+perhaps done it better. I'll try to remember that."
+
+"Well done, Ted!" cried his cousin. "I think you'll do, young 'un. Jim's
+rather inclined to preach, but he's all right."
+
+Ted and Alec repaired to the Flagstaff Tower, the meeting-place of the
+British camp, situated on the Ridge about a mile north of the Gurkha
+picket, overlooking the artillery lines and the head-quarters camp, the
+latter being about half a mile farther to the north-west. From the
+Flagstaff Tower the road ran straight to the Kashmir Gate, and as the
+ground was high and the place well out of range, it was a favourite spot
+whence to gaze at the rebel town.
+
+Ted was very thoughtful, and Alec very silent. The former's ardour had
+been damped by his brother's speech, and he wondered whether Jim really
+was jealous of his good fortune. He dismissed the idea as unworthy of
+Jim, whose honour and grit he appreciated fully. Still, it was rather a
+damper, and he could not help wishing that his brother had been less
+candid.
+
+It was at the Flagstaff Tower that our friends of the Gurkha picket were
+accustomed to hear the news of the camp. There they learned of many
+deeds of valour; of the wonderful daring of Tombs of the Artillery, how
+he had rescued his equally brave subaltern, Hills, from certain death,
+and how he had had five horses shot under him already. "One almost every
+time he goes out," commented Ensign Collins of the 8th Foot. It was
+there they had heard of the arrival of Colonel Baird Smith, the chief
+engineer. "He's the man who'll take Delhi," a youngster of the "Cokeys"
+had prophesied; and that lad was not far wrong.
+
+But on this day the bearers of news from camp wore troubled looks. Some
+unwelcome tidings had evidently arrived since Ted's visit below.
+
+"Anything wrong to-day?" Alec anxiously enquired.
+
+"Cawnpore has fallen, and the black fiends have murdered the whole
+garrison, women and children too--the hell-hounds!"
+
+Ted shuddered as he listened to the details of that awful butchery.
+
+Edward Russell was a lad who had faults enough, but he had never been
+cruel. He would not needlessly torture the humblest of God's creatures,
+yet he felt, as he listened to the horrible tidings, that nothing would
+give him greater pleasure than the blowing up of Delhi and of every
+sepoy therein. Unhappily this red-hot indignation was nursed by many
+Englishmen until they forgot the traditions of their race.
+
+The few hundred Englishmen in Cawnpore had been attacked by Dundu Pant,
+Rajah of Bithur, better known as the infamous Nana Sahib, a man who had
+posed as a civilized Asiatic, an imitator of the English. The garrison,
+composed of detachments of several regiments, of civilians, and of
+officers whose regiments had risen, was trapped in a position unsuited
+to a long defence. After a gallant stand, General Sir Hugh Wheeler was
+convinced that in another day or two all would be over, and for the sake
+of the women and children, who numbered more than three hundred, he
+agreed to make terms. Dundu Pant swore that if they would give up the
+entrenchment, the guns, and the treasure, he would have them all
+conveyed in boats down the Ganges to a place of safety. The black
+Mahratta's promises and protestations deceived them all, and they
+embarked. The boats were taken out into mid-stream, when suddenly a
+bugle blew; the boatmen sprang into the river, and from both banks lines
+of hidden sepoy marksmen began to pick off the betrayed Feringhis. Four
+Europeans escaped to tell the tale. The lucky ones were those who were
+killed by the bullets. Many were taken alive from the water, and of
+these the men were murdered at once; the women and children were led
+away to endure a captivity of more than a fortnight's duration. Hearing
+of Havelock's approach, Dundu Pant then performed the second act of the
+ghastly tragedy which has made his name world-infamous. The poor
+captives, numbering perhaps two hundred, were hacked to death, and their
+bodies thrown down a well.
+
+Small wonder that British blood should boil over when the story was
+told; small wonder that the men of the 60th Rifles should shake their
+fists as they looked from the Ridge into the rebel capital, towards the
+distant palace and home of vice, and should vow vengeance on every
+faithless sepoy, be he Mohammedan like the King of Delhi or Hindu like
+the Mahratta rajah.
+
+And Cawnpore was not the only scene of murder and outrage. The army
+before Delhi was cut off from Calcutta and the Gangetic provinces, and
+news did not come every day. But with the tale of the vilest tragedy of
+all came also the bad tidings from Allahabad, where the poor ensigns
+were foully murdered, from Benares and Jhansi, from Fyzabad,
+Shahjehanpur, and Dinapur. Right along the Ganges the provinces and
+towns seethed with mutiny and murder, regiment after regiment having
+risen against the alien; and Oudh, the kingdom from which the Native
+Bengal Army was chiefly recruited, was ablaze from one end to another,
+the people joining hands with the rebels in their hatred of the
+foreigners who had dethroned their wicked king.
+
+There was one patch of blue in the lowering sky. Lucknow, the capital of
+Oudh, was holding out bravely. There the best and greatest and most
+loved man in India was holding the rebel troops at bay with his handful
+of Englishmen and a number of loyal sepoys, who thereby won everlasting
+honour. This was Sir Henry Lawrence, the elder brother of John Lawrence.
+He it was who had pacified the Punjabis, and first taught the stout
+Sikhs and Pathans and Jats that Englishmen ruled for the benefit of the
+natives. He it was who gathered round him and trained that band of noble
+men who ruled the Punjab in such manner that Englishmen came to be
+respected and honoured and even loved by those who had hated the
+Feringhis most, a few years before. Men like his brother John, John
+Nicholson, Herbert Edwardes, and others who became famous as great
+soldiers and the best administrators the world has ever known--they were
+all proud to call themselves the disciples of Henry Lawrence. Henry
+Lawrence governed the Punjab as supreme ruler--as king, in fact, though
+not in name, when the Punjab was the most turbulent and unruly kingdom
+in Asia, and he had made it the best-governed. When he was called away
+his brother John had worthily filled his shoes, and but for the devotion
+and genius and goodness of heart of these two brothers, England might
+have lost India.
+
+When the mutiny broke out, Henry Lawrence was Resident of Oudh. Had he
+been there a few years longer, the men of Oudh would not have
+entertained that hatred of the British which now filled their hearts,
+but his beneficent rule had hardly had time to make itself felt. He
+alone--though he sympathized with and loved the natives of India more
+than any other Englishman--had foreseen the possibility of the rising,
+and he had taken steps to meet it in Lucknow. Owing to his foresight and
+generalship the Residency had been fortified and provisioned, and when
+the rising took place all the Europeans were within the fort, and the
+mutineers raged furiously but in vain.
+
+Our friends at Delhi learned that Havelock and Neill were leading a
+small column to the rescue of Lucknow, fighting every inch of the way.
+Neill had been hastily summoned from Madras with his gallant regiment,
+and had already done splendid work. Lord Canning, the viceroy, had risen
+to the occasion. Without hesitating he had brought back Outram's Persia
+Expeditionary Force, and had courageously taken upon himself to stop at
+Colombo the ships which were taking troops to China, and divert them to
+Calcutta. China might wait, India could not.
+
+In the Punjab the poorbeahs had shot their bolt and had missed. First
+Chamberlain and then Nicholson, with the movable column, were giving the
+rebels no rest, harrying them from one province to another, and
+punishing them severely.
+
+It was not at the Flagstaff Tower, but at their own post that they heard
+the news that made each man feel as if he had lost a dear friend. Henry
+Lawrence was dead. Yes, one of the pillars of the empire had fallen, and
+even the roughest soldiers felt the shock.
+
+"Ah, he was a man, he was!" murmured a rifleman. "We sha'n't see another
+like him."
+
+A sergeant of the 60th gazed thoughtfully over the city.
+
+"My two kids are in that asylum he built up at Sanawar," said he. "He
+was the sojer's friend. The kiddies 'ud have bin dead by now if it
+hadn't bin for 'im."
+
+"You're right there," said another non-commissioned officer, shaking
+his head. "He's done more for us than any man. Who cared what became of
+the poor little beggars, whether they died like flies or not, till he
+raised the money for the asylums?"
+
+"What asylums are them?" asked a young private.
+
+"Have ye no' heard o' the Lawrence Asylums?" demanded a man from Lanark.
+"They're built on the hills, whaur the air is as guid as at Rothesay,
+an' they're for the soldiers' bairns."
+
+"Aye!" said the sergeant; "and though he was only a poor man for one in
+his position, they said he spent nearly all his salary in charity."
+
+"Lucknow won't be long now he's dead," muttered another. "They can't
+hold out for ever, and the rebels are swarming round Havelock. He's had
+to fall back."
+
+But Lucknow was not destined to fall.
+
+"Well, I'm not a cruel man," muttered the young private, "but I could
+kill a few o' them sepoys with pleasure, the black-'earted villains!"
+
+We may regret this longing for vengeance, but can we wonder at it? The
+men had heard of their comrades murdered in cold blood, of the women and
+children tortured and slain most barbarously, and their blood boiled at
+the outrages. Afterwards it was found that the tales of torture and
+cruelty had been exaggerated, and that the helpless women and children
+had been slain quickly and not after prolonged suffering. But even then
+matters were black enough to excuse the cries for vengeance. Many good
+and usually gentle men steeled their hearts at this time and gave no
+quarter to rebel soldiers, but let us thank God that there were many
+brave Englishmen--the Lawrences foremost among them--who forgave a great
+deal to the sepoys, and who took into account their temptations and
+their untamed nature, and who would much rather have won the rebels
+over by kindness than by slaughter had it been possible.
+
+But that was not possible.
+
+A number of the older soldiers of the Guides came up as the riflemen
+were still discussing the latest news. A veteran native officer, grief
+depicted on his weather-beaten countenance, addressed Captain Russell in
+tones of mingled sadness and anxiety.
+
+"Is it true, Captain Sahib, that Henry Larens is dead? Tell us it is
+false."
+
+Jim's voice faltered. Henry Lawrence had been the hero he had
+worshipped.
+
+"It is true," said he, simply.
+
+"I would have given my life to save his, sahib," said the old Sikh. "His
+was the brain that raised the Corps of Guides, and he it was who gave me
+my commission. Oh, my brothers, a great man is dead! Let us go and mourn
+for Larens Sahib."
+
+The veteran drew his sword and shook it at the sepoys on the walls.
+
+"Wait a little while," he added, "and there will be many mourners in
+that den of jackals."
+
+The heat was now terrible--a torture that could not be imagined by the
+people at home; that took the life and energy from the strongest, while
+as for the others--well, they must suffer the fate of the weak. In the
+daytime the pitiless Indian sun blazed down upon them, awful in its
+power and wrath, and at night they gasped for air, and choked, and
+cursed, or grimly joked, or called upon God, according to their nature.
+
+Ted Russell, healthy and in good condition, with no superfluous flesh,
+suffered less than most. He had one slight attack of cholera in the
+early days of July. One day, having been on duty all night, he lay
+within the house, in little more than bathing-costume, vainly trying to
+snatch an hour's sleep, for the Mori guns were hard at work. Overhead
+the sky was of a uniform deep-blue, broken only by the mass of fire
+almost directly above, and by the haze along the horizon.
+
+As if by magic, the thundering of the guns from the Delhi bastions
+ceased, and the well-known strains of our National Anthem were wafted by
+the south wind from the Mogul city.
+
+"'God Save the Queen!'" gasped Ted. "What's the meaning of that?"
+
+All listened in bewilderment. What could it mean? Had the sepoys
+suddenly repented and become loyal again? As the band ceased, the big
+guns of the city thundered forth a royal salute, and then were silent as
+the band again played "God Save the Queen!".
+
+"What cheek! What awful cheek!" Alec indignantly exclaimed. "Well, that
+beats everything!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Ted again. "What are they playing that tune for?"
+
+"They are mocking us," Claud Boldre angrily replied. "They have heard
+what we heard this morning. The curs have captured Agra town, and now I
+suppose they're gloating over their victory and making fun of us."
+
+His guess was true; the sepoys had taken this strange method of
+celebrating their triumph. It shows they were not without some sense of
+humour.
+
+Among the crowd attracted to the "Flagstaff" meeting-place by the
+unusual strains were many of our hero's new chums. Both he and Alec had
+formed close friendships with a number of the junior officers from the
+camp below the Ridge, and Ted particularly had become very popular. He
+had both proved himself courageous and shown good commonsense, and he
+never once attempted to put on "side". The terrible danger he had gone
+through at Aurungpore had steadied down his love of fun and joking, and
+made him realize his responsibilities. Had he come straight to Delhi
+without having undergone that trying experience in the arsenal, he would
+soon have found some mischief in which to entangle his Guides and
+Gurkhas. They would have been only too delighted to have joined in any
+fun, however rash and hazardous.
+
+"I say, Russell," observed Ensign Collins of the 8th Foot, "you're a
+lucky beggar, you know. You've had your fair share of the fun."
+
+"Fair share!" growled Claud Boldre. "Why, in his twelve months' service
+he's had more than most colonels can boast of in as many years. First he
+goes exploding magazines up and down the country, and instead of being
+blown up he gets the V.C. Then he's boxed up and besieged, and
+thrillingly rescued like a scene out of a melodrama; after that he's
+lucky enough to take part in the grandest march on record; and now he's
+on duty at Hindu Rao's picket, where all the fighting is. Fair share,
+indeed! It ought to have been divided amongst half a dozen of us."
+
+"And it ain't that he's particularly handsome," laughed Alec.
+
+Ted grinned. He was too decent a fellow to become conceited, and he
+admitted that he had had more than his share of the luck.
+
+They were still joking when something happened that tended to confirm
+their belief in our ensign's luck. One of the general's aides came up
+and told Ted that Sir Archdale wished to speak to him at once.
+
+"You'll come back a lieutenant at least, Ted," was Alec's unasked-for
+opinion.
+
+"Lieutenant indeed!" laughed Collins. "I expect he's going to order
+Russell to blow up Delhi _à la_ Aurungpore."
+
+"Or else resign the command in Russell's favour," was Boldre's
+suggestion.
+
+Ted grinned back at them all, but his heart beat somewhat rapidly as he
+was ushered into the head-quarters tent, and it was to beat much more
+wildly before he left.
+
+Sir Archdale looked up as the boy entered, and went on with his work for
+some moments, and Ted stood at attention and wondered what was going to
+happen. At length the general again glanced up from his papers. He was
+evidently very busy.
+
+"You sent for me, sir?" Ted faltered.
+
+"Yes. I am sorry that my duty is much less pleasant than on the previous
+occasion, when I prematurely raised your hopes of the V.C."
+
+Ted gasped.
+
+"I hope it may still be all right," General Wilson continued, "but this
+morning I received notice from Colonel Munro that there is another
+claimant to the honour of having exploded the magazine at Aurungpore."
+
+Ted was utterly bewildered. He could not find a word to say.
+
+"It seems that another officer of yours--let me see," the general took
+up a letter that lay on the table, and referred thereto. "Ah, Ensign
+Tynan!--was taken prisoner by the sepoys, but rescued; and his story is
+that he was in command of the party holding the fort, and that it was he
+who fired the train. His account is confirmed by a native officer who
+saved his life, and who was present."
+
+"Why, sir, there was no native officer in the party," Ted exclaimed, "no
+one higher than a havildar, and he was with me all the time.--So Tynan
+is really alive, sir?"
+
+"Evidently. Of course, I am in no position to judge between you, and I
+know nothing beyond the bald facts just related. If you dispute his
+statements an enquiry will have to be held later."
+
+"His statements!" said Ted indignantly. "Why, sir, he implored me to
+surrender, and not to fire the train, and Ambar Singh, the havildar,
+will bear me out. Thinking he was dead, I never told that to a soul,
+sir; but if he has lied in this way, he deserves to be shown up."
+
+"I trust that no British officer would act as you allege, Ensign
+Russell," said the general coldly. "At present I can say nothing more,
+and I am very busy. Rest assured that justice will be done."
+
+Ted saluted stiffly, and walked out. If he had felt dazed on the
+previous occasion, what were his feelings now? Full of indignation
+against his dishonourable messmate, and of intense disappointment
+because of the probable loss of the coveted honour, he strode back to
+the Gurkha picket, and told Jim and Paterson what had happened.
+
+They could hardly credit the story. They both knew Tynan's character,
+and Alec had heard Ambar Singh's free version of the incident, and they
+felt no doubt regarding the result of any enquiry.
+
+"Don't be downcast, Ted, old boy," said Jim affectionately. "It will
+soon be all right."
+
+"But who can the native officer be?" Alec wondered. "It's a mystery."
+
+"I can't make it out," Ted replied. "Anyway Ambar Singh and Dwarika Rai
+will give evidence, and then where will Master Tynan be?"
+
+"But look here, Ted," said his brother in an agitated voice. "Where are
+those two? They may have been drafted into some other regiment and sent
+a thousand miles away, or both may be killed. Or they may have been
+allowed to return home, and have left no trace. In that case it would be
+your word against Tynan's, and though no one who knows you both could
+have any doubt, yet his word will be as good as yours at the enquiry. I
+do hope it will come out all right, old boy."
+
+"I'm sure it will," said Alec. "Cheer up, Ted!"
+
+More easily said than done, and our ensign went about his work with a
+heavy and angry heart. Fortunately for his peace of mind, when the news
+spread, Boldre, Collins, and all his chums rallied round him, and voted
+the absent Tynan a beast and a liar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+Ted's Friends are Bewildered
+
+
+The 4th Sikhs had left Aurungpore for Delhi, and the fort was garrisoned
+by a corps of the newly-recruited Punjab Irregulars, of whom Major Munro
+was in command, with Leigh as his second in command. Colonel Woodburn
+was now able to hobble about, helped by a stick and his daughter's arm.
+Sir Arthur Fletcher had resumed the administration of justice, the shops
+were open once more, and the town had settled down almost to its normal
+state.
+
+One day late in June Ethel and her father were seated in the officers'
+quarters of the fort, whither the colonel was wont to resort daily to
+talk over the latest rumours and reports. Munro and Leigh were lamenting
+their fate, tied down to police and depot duty, when they wanted to be
+up and doing before Delhi.
+
+"I am sending a draft to Delhi to-morrow," said the major, "and there's
+a new batch of recruits due to-day--raw peasants, who must be polished
+up."
+
+"It is rough on us being shut up here," said Leigh, "drilling and
+training the raw material, and as soon as they are soldiers, comes an
+order from John Lawrence saying, 'How many can you send to Delhi?'
+Still, if we were not here, there'd soon be a rumpus again."
+
+"How many do you send off to-morrow?" the colonel asked.
+
+"A hundred; all Sikhs, and fine men too. They go to Lahore first to be
+inspected by Sir John, and then they join other detachments going to
+Delhi.---- Well, what is it?"
+
+An orderly had entered.
+
+"The draft has arrived, sahib."
+
+"Very good. Send the officer in charge to me."
+
+Who should enter the room but Ensign Tynan? The four occupants started
+to their feet. They had not heard of his escape from death, and firmly
+believed he had been blown to pieces, his body never having been found,
+for the best of reasons. Tynan was white, and looked ill both in body
+and mind, and he trembled from head to foot.
+
+"Tynan! Can it be possible, my lad?" cried Colonel Woodburn, holding out
+his hand. "I never thought to see you again."
+
+Tynan saluted his colonel, and bowed to Ethel. He hesitated, however,
+and his face flushed as she stepped forward with outstretched hand to
+greet him. Stammering some more or less appropriate reply, he sat down
+in a palpable and inexplicable state of nervousness.
+
+In reply to the shower of questions, he told the story of his rescue.
+Not the true story, but one he had had plenty of time to fabricate, and
+had repeated over and over again to himself in readiness for the dread
+moment. He was committed now to the statements contained in that
+detestable document--the trap set for him by the unscrupulous Pir Baksh.
+The paper had passed from hand to hand, from one officer to another, and
+he would have to attest its truth before Colonel Woodburn and Major
+Munro. No wonder he was agitated. Before strangers he had repeated the
+lie with comparative calmness and confidence, but the officers of the
+193rd knew both Russell and himself too well, and he had little doubt
+whom they would be most ready to believe.
+
+He had only recently heard that Ted and the two sepoys had also been
+saved from destruction, and he did not know what account of the incident
+Ted had given to the world, neither was he aware that his cowardice had
+been reported by Ambar Singh.
+
+He told the story of his escape with unusual caution and deliberation,
+and painted in more glowing colours the services rendered by Pir Baksh,
+to whom he gave credit for risking his life in order to save Tynan's.
+His audience opened their eyes, and Munro interposed:
+
+"But Russell distinctly stated that Pir Baksh was one of the
+ringleaders."
+
+"So he appeared to be, sir, but he was forced to play that rôle. He
+tried to save us in the fort, but Russell would not trust him. I felt
+sure that he was genuine, and was doing his best to hold the others
+back."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" said the major drily; "yet Russell informed us that you
+told him and Lowthian that you saw Pir Baksh shoot the colonel."
+
+"Russell told you that, sir!" Tynan replied with an air of great
+surprise. "He must have misunderstood me completely."
+
+Tynan had forgotten his unlucky remark, and bitterly he repented the
+cowardice that had landed him in this net. It was the old story of the
+first easy lie that had to be supported and buttressed by innumerable
+untruths.
+
+"Not Pir Baksh, sir," he continued hastily. "It was Abdul Din who shot
+Colonel Woodburn. I think I see how it was. When they were attacking us,
+Abdul Din stood by the side of Pir Baksh, and when I pointed, saying,
+'That's the fellow who fired the shot!' they must have thought I meant
+Pir Baksh."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+His hearers hardly knew what to think. Tynan's tale was plausible
+enough, and Ted might easily have been mistaken. Perhaps after all Pir
+Baksh had been judged too hastily, and had been less of a scoundrel
+than they had imagined. He had always seemed a friendly fellow,
+apparently proud of his regiment.
+
+"And after your rescue by the Gurkhas?" asked Colonel Woodburn.
+
+"I had the fever for at least a fortnight, sir. My first thought when I
+heard that Aurungpore was saved was to report myself, and I received
+orders from Colonel Bratherton at Jehanabad to take Pir Baksh with me,
+as an investigation of his conduct must be held by his C.O. We were to
+have accompanied the 49th Punjabis, but at the last moment they were
+ordered to Delhi, so I was told to wait for this draft and bring them
+here."
+
+"I suppose," asked Colonel Woodburn "that some enquiry was held,
+considering the suspicious conduct of Pir Baksh at the moment of your
+rescue?"
+
+"Yes, sir;" and Tynan's agitation increased. "I have to hand you the
+statement signed by the officer whose men rescued me, and of course the
+subadar's character must be cleared."
+
+He handed various documents to the major, and broke into a perspiration
+as he anticipated the coming amazement, incredulity, and growing
+suspicion. He hated Ethel Woodburn for being there, and would have given
+anything to have induced her to leave.
+
+It was surely by the irony of fate that Tynan, being in command of the
+draft, was also responsible for the safe custody of Pir Baksh, whose
+final disappearance he longed and prayed for. The Moslem had tried hard
+to find some excuse for slipping away, but Captain Hornby had kept him
+under arrest, and so had Colonel Bratherton, both having their own
+opinion of the fellow's loyalty. Pir Baksh was no more anxious to be off
+than was Tynan to rid himself of his "old man of the sea".
+
+In fact the subadar of the 193rd was having a less anxious time than his
+accomplice, for he still hoped, by force of lying, to pull through the
+enquiry. He reflected that in all probability he had not been recognized
+by anyone except Russell, who was at Delhi, having been more concerned
+with the attacks on the fort than with those on the house, and neither
+he nor Tynan were aware that Ambar Singh and Dwarika Rai had been saved.
+Of course the budmashes of Aurungpore would know the part he had played,
+but they would say nothing for fear of incriminating themselves.
+
+Major Munro first read through Colonel Bratherton's covering letter and
+looked hard at Tynan, who was sitting in profound contemplation of his
+boots, and boorishly repelling the friendly advances made by Ethel.
+Munro then read Hornby's report of the rescue, and finally the
+remarkable papers signed by Tynan and Pir Baksh. Colonel Woodburn,
+watching him narrowly, saw that the major was striving hard to overcome
+some strong emotion. The contents mastered, he handed the documents to
+his former colonel without a word.
+
+"I don't believe a word of it," said the latter, throwing the papers on
+the table.
+
+Tynan flushed.
+
+"My word should be as good as Russell's," he muttered; "but he was
+always in favour, and you were always down on me."
+
+"It has been your fault, Tynan," said the major mildly, "if we have had
+a higher opinion of Russell than of you. Russell said nothing about this
+affair, and gave you as much credit as himself, until Ambar Singh told
+us the whole story."
+
+This was another blow for Tynan, for he had not heard that Ambar Singh
+was to be reckoned with. He was becoming more and more entangled in the
+meshes.
+
+"Ambar Singh?" said he after a moment's hesitation. "I expect he did it
+to curry favour by praising Russell."
+
+It was now Ethel's turn to flush. She was on the point of expressing a
+very decided opinion, when a look from her father checked the words. It
+was no business of hers at present.
+
+"That is not very likely, Tynan," the major replied. "To speak plainly,
+this won't wash with us, though it may do for strangers who know nothing
+about the matter. You've had fever, and you've imagined all this and
+forgotten what really happened."
+
+Tynan heartily wished that this had been the case, and the colonel
+pointed out that the document was signed before the fever, not after.
+
+"But I expect the poor fellow was raving," said Munro, "after the shock
+and the blow on his head."
+
+"It's perfectly true," Tynan vehemently asserted as the major's words
+gave him an idea. Dull though he was, like many foolish people he had a
+certain amount of cunning.
+
+"Why should it not be true?" he continued. "I don't wish to say anything
+against Ted Russell, but I don't see why he should have the credit
+that's due to me."
+
+"Tell us, then," suggested Colonel Woodburn, "what really did happen in
+the fort, and when the idea of blowing up the magazine first occurred to
+you."
+
+"As soon as we got inside," Tynan doggedly answered, "I whispered to
+Russell that perhaps we should be reduced to that. I whispered, because
+I did not wish the Rajputs to suspect. Then during one of the quiet
+intervals I slipped away and laid a trail of powder from the magazine to
+the door of the room we were holding. I didn't carry it farther, for the
+same reason--fear of our sepoys' terror."
+
+Tynan had now completely abandoned himself to the father of lies, and he
+went on recklessly.
+
+"When Pir Baksh offered to save our lives I felt convinced that he
+really wished to help us. Russell and I quarrelled because he would not
+trust him."
+
+"Then you admit that you would have surrendered the stores and munitions
+had it not been for Russell?" the colonel coldly remarked.
+
+"No, sir, I would not. I should first have made conditions that before
+we marched out the sepoys must clear away and leave the streets clear
+for us, and I believe Pir Baksh could have induced them to agree, and I
+should have lighted a slow match as we left the place and run for it.
+But Russell would not give me the chance of explaining, and he
+influenced the sepoys against me and closed the negotiations before I'd
+any chance of showing what I meant."
+
+"Well, go on," said the colonel more kindly.
+
+"Well, sir, I will say this for Russell, that he was very plucky, and at
+the end, when all was hopeless, he finished the powder-trail. Until then
+Ambar Singh and the others had not dreamt of my plans."
+
+He broke off abruptly, and, as though suddenly enlightened, continued:
+
+"I see it now! I dare say that Ambar Singh really did think that Russell
+alone was responsible. When it came to firing the powder I claimed the
+right to do it, but he had hold of the candle, and said he had taken
+over the command, that he'd deposed me, and he would do it. We had a bit
+of a scuffle, and he threatened me with a pistol. So he set the powder
+alight. But I claim that I was in command; it was my suggestion, and I
+laid most of the train, and therefore I should have the credit. I will
+say for Russell that he backed me up well, and was plucky. That's all
+I've got to say."
+
+Woodburn and Munro were silent for some time. Tynan's tale was certainly
+plausible enough, and it seemed as if there might have been
+misunderstanding. Perhaps Ted had been too hasty in thinking that Tynan
+was willing to surrender unconditionally. Still, it was very strange
+that he had never mentioned that Tynan had first suggested the
+explosion, and that he had laid the train. Though, now they came to
+think of it, Ted had at first said "we". They had put it down to
+modesty, yet the words might have been correct. Could it be that when
+Ambar Singh had given his version, the temptation to take the credit to
+himself, now that he believed Tynan dead, had been too strong for the
+boy?
+
+This was not like Ted, but in justice to Tynan they must admit that it
+was possible.
+
+"We must consider your report, Tynan," said the major. "If any wrong has
+been done to you, we will try our best to get at the truth without any
+favouritism. Go and see to your men now. We dine in an hour."
+
+"Well, Woodburn, what do you make of it?" he continued, when the ensign
+had departed.
+
+"I can't make head or tail of it. There is evidently room for doubt, and
+it may have been as he says."
+
+"I'm afraid I was hasty in sending off that recommendation for the
+V.C.," said Munro, "because if Tynan's tale is true, Ted will not be
+entitled to it."
+
+"You'd better put that right at once," advised the colonel. "Write and
+explain that there is some doubt."
+
+"I will at once. I hope the letter may be received before anything has
+been said to Ted. It would be cruel to raise the lad's hopes."
+
+"I don't believe a word of what Tynan has said," Ethel declared. "I'm
+sure he was lying. I was watching his eyes all the time, and there was
+no truth in them."
+
+"It may be so, but I must write," said Munro.
+
+For a long time the major wrestled with pen and paper before he
+composed a letter to his satisfaction. The contents we already know, and
+how they dashed Ted's hopes to the ground. The missive sealed, the
+colonel observed:
+
+"I suppose we can trace Havildar Ambar Singh? His evidence will be
+wanted."
+
+Ambar Singh had returned to his home in Merwar. The 193rd had been
+disbanded, and the few who remained loyal had been drafted into the
+newly-raised corps. But the havildar was not in a fit condition to
+endure the strain of a campaign, so he had gone home to recruit his
+health. However, they thought they knew where to find him.
+
+"We can hold no enquiry," said the major, "until Delhi has fallen and
+Ted is free again, and the case ought certainly to be tried before
+officers other than those of the 193rd. We are hardly impartial, our
+sympathies being with Ted. Luckily Dwarika Rai is still here, and he may
+throw some light on the subject."
+
+For Dwarika Rai, the fourth survivor of Lowthian's handful, had been
+promoted to the rank of havildar, and was now employed in drilling the
+raw material and teaching them the beauties of the goose-step.
+
+"I'll drive Ethel home," said the colonel, "and come back presently with
+Sir Arthur, and we'll examine Dwarika Rai."
+
+When the Woodburns had gone, Tynan returned to dine with Munro and
+Leigh. The colonel and the deputy-commissioner entered as the officers
+were smoking after their meal, and Dwarika Rai was sent for.
+
+The Rajput entered the room, and in the act of saluting started back on
+beholding Tynan, who also gave a start and rose to his feet.
+
+"Why!" he gasped, for no warning had been given him, "what is he doing
+here? I thought only Russell and I and Ambar Singh were saved."
+
+Dwarika Rai still stood open-mouthed as though he had seen a ghost.
+
+"He also was saved," explained the major. "Dwarika Rai, it is indeed
+Tynan Sahib."
+
+"I am rejoiced to see him, for I thought he was dead," said the soldier
+simply.
+
+"We wish to recall to your memory some of the events that took place in
+the fortress when you were attacked," Munro began. "Didst thou notice
+the part taken by Pir Baksh during the fighting? Was he a ringleader?"
+
+"Indeed, sahib, I'm not sure. Russell Sahib and Ambar Singh considered
+him so, but I could not help thinking that he wished us well. He seemed
+to fire without aiming, and never hit anyone, and I verily believe that
+he wished to save our lives. But the others would not trust him, and
+perhaps they were right."
+
+Munro and the colonel looked at one another.
+
+"Your opinion, then, was that he had been forced to rebel?"
+
+"I thought it might be so, Colonel Sahib; in fact, once after the firing
+had been hot, Bisesar Singh whispered to me that the heart of Pir Baksh
+was not in the affair. When I asked him why, he replied that the subadar
+had covered him with his musket, and then winked at him and fired high.
+Yet sometimes he appeared to lead the dogs; but perhaps that was to
+divert suspicion, perhaps he had to feign to be as faithless as
+themselves whenever they were watching him."
+
+"That is probable enough," Sir Arthur whispered to his colleagues.
+"Under the circumstances I can quite understand a man doing that."
+
+"Yes, so can I," the colonel agreed. "Ted and Ambar Singh might easily
+have been mistaken, and have misjudged him."
+
+When Leigh had finished recording the evidence, Major Munro asked Tynan
+to retire for a few moments. He then questioned Dwarika Rai as to who
+laid the powder train.
+
+"Russell Sahib, I think," was the reply.
+
+"Did you notice Tynan Sahib enter the magazine?"
+
+"Yes, sahib, before they battered the door in. He was away some time,
+and I wondered why."
+
+The major turned to his colleagues and observed in English:
+
+"Tynan's tale is true so far;" and the others nodded assent.
+
+"Tell us, then," asked Leigh, "is it true that Tynan Sahib tried to
+prevent Russell Sahib firing the train?"
+
+"In short," said the deputy-commissioner, "did Ensign Tynan act as an
+officer or as a coward?"
+
+"Nay," the man earnestly replied, "I do not like Tynan Sahib overmuch,
+greatly preferring Russell Sahib, but he was not a coward. He was very
+much excited, as we all were, and he tried to snatch the candle from his
+comrade's hand. But I thought they were contesting who should light the
+train, as if it matters who did it. The important thing is that it was
+done."
+
+The Englishmen whispered together, and presently Munro said: "You may
+go, Dwarika Rai."
+
+"I must say," began Colonel Woodburn, "his evidence confirms Tynan's in
+every important respect. I'm afraid we've done the lad a serious
+injustice."
+
+"Yet his account differs from Russell's in point of actual fact, not
+merely in the interpretation put upon facts," the deputy-commissioner
+argued.
+
+"Ted was probably excited, and the shock may have temporarily affected
+his memory," Leigh suggested.
+
+"Ted is certainly to blame," said Munro. "He may easily have mistaken
+Tynan's excitement for terror."
+
+Said Leigh:
+
+"We forget. Ted Russell never accused Tynan of cowardice. That was Ambar
+Singh."
+
+"But Ted did not deny it," said Munro, "and he ought to have done so.
+But when asked, he did state implicitly that the suggestion was wholly
+his. Either he or Tynan is lying. We must have a full enquiry, and
+meanwhile Tynan must be treated as 'not guilty' of cowardice."
+
+"My humble opinion," said Leigh thoughtfully, "is that I'd believe Ted
+Russell's word against Tynan's oath. I don't understand it."
+
+Had he seen Dwarika Rai's cheerful nod, as, returning to the men's
+quarters, he passed Ensign Tynan, he might have understood it better.
+
+The havildar was a brave and loyal fellow, but he was a Hindu with a
+Hindu's respect for truth. Tynan, returning after the first interview
+with his superior officers, had almost run into Dwarika Rai as he
+entered the men's quarters. The surprise was great on both sides.
+
+"I'm done for," was the first thought of our unscrupulous ensign. "This
+fellow will knock my tale on the head." His next was: "Why not bribe him
+to confirm what I have said?"
+
+No one was looking on; he drew the Rajput aside into the orderly-room
+from which he had just emerged, and offered him a big bribe to bear
+false witness. The sepoy was greatly in want of money. In common with so
+many others of his class, the fields owned and tilled by many
+generations of his forbears were hopelessly mortgaged to the
+money-lending parasites, the curse of Hindustan. Here a sum was offered
+that might redeem them, and save his family from disgrace and ruin.
+
+He hesitated. Would his evidence injure Russell Sahib? Tynan assured him
+it would not, he simply wanted a share of the credit for himself; and
+the Rajput consented. Tynan warned him what questions would be asked,
+and coached him to give suitable replies. He cunningly advised him not
+to appear too eager, and not to pretend to know too much, the chief
+points being that Pir Baksh was to be absolved, and that he, Tynan, was
+to have a share of the credit attached to the destruction of the
+magazine. The sharp-witted Hindu quickly understood his part, and
+improved upon his teacher's suggestions.
+
+"It will do Russell Sahib no harm," he reflected.
+
+Tynan then warned him that when they should meet in the room they were
+both to express the utmost amazement, and Dwarika Rai nodded in
+acquiescence.
+
+He thoroughly earned his pay, as Tynan discovered when he rejoined his
+comrades.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+An Adventure on the Ridge
+
+
+The attacks on the Ridge outposts had become less frequent and less
+dangerous, though the cannonade was as brisk as ever.
+
+Early on the morning following the receipt of the amazing news from
+Aurungpore, Ted Russell of the Hindu Rao picket was roughly aroused from
+slumber. All was hurry and scurry as company after company of the Guides
+and Rifles ran to the assistance of the Gurkhas, who were bearing the
+brunt of a cleverly-designed attack by ten times their number. Jim,
+Alec, and Ted raced to the scene of action, arriving just in time to
+pursue the already defeated foe.
+
+"Charlie means to have that rag," Ted panted to his chum, as they raced
+side by side.
+
+Shouting, "Follow me, lads!" Dorricot had made a dash for the colours of
+a rebel regiment, and was rapidly overhauling the flying
+standard-bearer, a score of mixed-up Rifles, Guides, and Gurkhas
+following as best they could. The fight and pursuit were being carried
+on over a great extent of ground, and only the few in Dorricot's
+immediate neighbourhood knew what was taking place. Seeing that the
+pursuers were so few in number, a large body of the enemy interposed
+between the officer and his followers, barring their progress. Charles
+Dorricot broke through, cut down the colour-bearer, grasped the
+standard, beat back his assailants, and for a few moments cleared a
+space around him. But what could one man do against so many? Before help
+could come Dorricot was beaten to his knees, sorely wounded, though
+still attempting to defend himself.
+
+He collapsed, a sword-thrust through his breast, just as Corporal
+Thompson, a huge rifleman, forced his way through the mob by sheer
+strength and weight and judicious use of the butt-end. In the wake of
+the corporal came Motiram Rana, a Gurkha, and Hassan Din of the Guides,
+but, as they got through, the rebels closed up again behind them,
+baffling the efforts of Ted and his men to follow. Whether their officer
+was dead or wounded the three knew not; they meant to guard his body
+with their own. At bay they stood back to back--representatives of the
+three regiments that had held the Ridge--and, facing them, the rebels
+snarled like a pack of wolves around a wounded lion. Those behind
+pressed on those in front, and sepoy after sepoy fell before the weapons
+of the dauntless three, the Englishman trusting to the butt, the Pathan
+to the bayonet, and Motiram Rana, of course, to his patron saint, the
+kukri. The rifle in the Gurkha's left hand was still loaded. Using the
+weapon as a pistol, the little man pulled the trigger, and the bullet
+passed through two pandies at least. Having now more room, the gigantic
+Thompson swung his rifle round and round and up and down like a flail,
+and cleared a breathing space. The stock broke into splinters, but
+before the mutineers could get in he snatched a musket, cracked the
+owner's head, and the pandies again recoiled.
+
+"He's down!" Ted gasped. "At 'em, Guides!"
+
+He and Alec with their Guides around them were pushing and thrusting and
+smiting their way through the opposing crowd, the pandies on this
+portion of the sloping ground having rallied round their standard.
+Suddenly the mob bulged in close by where they fought, as a pricked
+tennis-ball when squeezed; and amid a babel of shrill yells and
+jabberings in an unknown tongue, a lane was opened up. A Gurkha
+corporal had passed the word that Dorricot was down, and, collecting a
+couple of dozen furious men, had charged at their head. The vicious
+kukris flashed and flickered and bit deep, and the sepoys fell to right
+and left of that living wedge of Himalayans. Behind them Ted and Alec,
+Guides and Riflemen, found their way, and the sepoys broke and fled.
+
+Ted was quickly beside his fallen cousin, and gave a little cry of joy
+on finding that Charlie still breathed. The cry was echoed by the
+Gurkhas, who started in pursuit now they were assured of their officer's
+safety, but Ted restrained them. Dorricot's hand still grasped the
+colours for whose capture he had risked so much, for which he might yet
+have to pay with his life.
+
+Ted signed to the Gurkhas to help him carry back their wounded officer.
+Motiram Rana proffered his aid, but Thompson motioned him back, saying:
+
+"Tha needs carryin' thysen, Johnny; tha'rt bleedin' like a stuck pig."
+
+Up came Major Reid, bringing his men forward at the double from another
+part of the battle-field where the enemy's rout had been complete. His
+face fell as he caught sight of his sorely-stricken comrade.
+
+"The rash fellow!" exclaimed the commandant. "He had no right to push
+the pursuit so far with such a handful. I cannot spare Dorricot. Carry
+him gently; and you, Paterson, run and bring a doctor to the house."
+
+Right glad was Ted, and hardly less glad were the Gurkhas, when the
+doctor promised hope in spite of no fewer than four sword or bayonet
+wounds.
+
+"I have not an unwounded officer left, youngster!" exclaimed Major Reid
+dolefully. "Would you care to serve with me again?"
+
+"There's nothing I should like better, sir." And then the boy paused.
+"Except that I should be sorry to leave the Guides."
+
+"Well, go to Daly; he's better off for officers than I am, and ask if
+he'll transfer you for a few days."
+
+Ted obeyed. Permission was granted, and he again found himself with the
+Sirmuris.
+
+There were scenes in camp of a less tragic nature witnessed daily by our
+two ensigns from Aurungpore. The peculiar methods of fraternizing
+adopted by the British riflemen and the Asiatics of the Guide Corps and
+Sirmur Battalion provided plenty of amusement for the onlookers. The
+Gurkhas soon picked up a smattering of English, and a few began to speak
+the language fairly well, whilst on the other hand the English riflemen
+gave vent to their feelings in words which they imagined were
+Hindustani. "Good-morning!" the little men would say with a cheerful
+grin; and the riflemen, not to be outdone, would reply: "Ram Ram, Johnny
+Gurkha! Ram Ram!"
+
+Mixed groups would gather after any severe fighting to discuss the
+conflict and the conduct of the various regiments engaged, amid roars of
+laughter at the interpreter's attempts to translate the remarks. They
+were, indeed, the best of comrades; for brave men, of whatever race or
+creed, cannot but admire one another.
+
+One evening in early August, Ted and Alec, after a long visit to poor
+Dorricot, joined their good friend Jemadar Goria Thapa, who was sitting
+on the shady side of the house-fortress watching the men larking. He
+gave the new-comers a welcoming grin.
+
+"Good little man is Goria," whispered Ted. "We may as well sit by him.
+Those chaps are enjoying themselves, ain't they? Ram Ram, Jemadar
+Sahib!"
+
+Goria Thapa returned the greeting, and enquired after the health of his
+wounded officer and friend.
+
+"He's doing splendidly, thanks! He must be as strong as a horse and as
+fit as a--what's the native for fiddle, Alec?"
+
+"Dunno; call it a tom-tom. Are you having a good time, Jemadar Sahib, or
+do you wish you were back in Nepal?"
+
+Goria Thapa grinned broadly.
+
+"I like it," said he simply.
+
+"Hullo, Paterson!" broke in Claude Boldre, who had just strolled up.
+"How's your cousin, Russell? I came to ask after him."
+
+"Doing finely considering, thanks! Look at these chaps. They're as fond
+of horse-play as a lot of kids."
+
+It was certainly an amusing scene, and though the merest clowning, even
+this kind of fooling serves to keep men in good spirits and temper.
+
+The corporal, Thompson, who had carried the wounded Dorricot out of the
+fight, stood 6 feet 4-1/2 inches in his stockings, and was perhaps the
+biggest man in the Delhi force. The men were sitting about in groups
+playing practical jokes, and Thompson caught hold of Karbir Burathoki,
+the smallest Gurkha there, a lad under five feet high, and led him to an
+open space within sight of the others. He there offered to teach the
+Gurkha how to box, and Karbir quickly entered into the joke. Both pulled
+off their jackets, and the Gurkha's face was entirely hidden by his
+grin. The difference in build between the two men was too much for the
+spectators, who shouted and yelled--"Go it, little 'un!" "Jump up and
+'it 'im in the face!" "Fetch a step-ladder!" "Now, corpril, go on your
+knees and give 'im a chanst!"
+
+After a lot of preliminary feinting and puffing and blowing and striking
+high above the Gurkha's head, the giant began to retire backwards,
+Karbir following amidst roars of laughter, the Nepalese spectators
+being quite as delighted as their English comrades.
+
+At length Thompson caught hold of the little man and held him in the
+air, kicking and shrieking in pretended wrath. As the corporal put the
+little Himalayan down, he laughingly remarked: "Na, Johnny, tha con haud
+me up like if tha wants thee revenge."
+
+The Gurkha examined him from head to foot.
+
+"Hould the spalpeen up, Johnny, ye scutt!" advised an Irish corporal. To
+the astonishment of all, the little man calmly proceeded to place the
+giant on his back like a sack of potatoes. Thompson offered no
+objection, and Karbir was soon staggering from one group of laughing
+spectators to another. Suddenly upsetting the rifleman full length on
+the ground, he sat on his chest and proceeded to light his pipe,
+whereupon the onlookers shrieked. Thompson arose, tossing the Gurkha
+from his perch, and the two strolled back arm in arm, attempting to keep
+step, and quarrelling every few yards as to whose pace was at fault.
+
+Reid had come behind the ensign, and was looking on with twinkling eyes.
+Noting that Ted appeared astonished at Karbir's strength, he observed:
+"They're terribly strong are Gurkhas in the back, loins, and legs."
+
+When they had settled down again one of the Nepalese observed:
+
+"This war will soon be over. Jung Bahadur is going to march down to
+Lucknow with his army."
+
+"An' 'oo the dickens is young Bardoor?" asked a rifleman.
+
+"He is our prime minister and commander-in-chief in Nepal. He offered to
+bring an army down to help you English two months ago, and now the
+government has accepted his offer."
+
+"An' so 'e's goin' to wipe out the rebels, eh, all hon 'is own 'ook?"
+
+The Gurkha did not understand all this.
+
+"What chance will those dogs have," said he, "against ten thousand
+Gurkhas? Truly, he will slay them all!"
+
+"Bedad, then," interrupted an Irishman, "tell him, will ye, wid me
+compliments--Privut O'Brien's compliments--to lave a few fer us. Sure,
+we're wishful to git hould av some av thim Cawnpore and Lucknow haythen.
+Tell him to bear that in moind."
+
+Then the Gurkhas began to speak of their own beloved country of Nepal,
+by the mighty snow-clad Himalayas, of its wonderful beauty, and of its
+unequalled sport and wealth of animal life; and the Englishmen tried to
+explain the extent of their empire and the wonders of London, and told
+of their mighty ships of war and great sea-borne commerce. They also
+related the histories of their regimental colours, of the recent Crimean
+War, and of the fights between Wellington and the French. The Nepalese
+were very much interested in all the tales of war, for they also had
+tattered regimental colours of which they were very proud, and which had
+cost them many lives.[16]
+
+  [16] Before the end of the siege Riflemen and Gurkhas spoke of one
+       another as "brothers", and at the close of the war the Sirmur
+       Battalion begged that it might be granted a uniform similar to
+       that of their brethren of the 60th, the request being willingly
+       granted. The 2nd Gurkhas are very proud of the little red line
+       on their facings, and the uniform thus gained at Delhi they
+       wore in London at King Edward's Coronation forty-five years
+       later.
+
+By this time the Gurkha hospital was very full. More than half of those
+five hundred men had been stricken down, and the Guides had also
+suffered severely. And the great city still defied the British power.
+
+A few more reinforcements were coming in, but no heavy guns had yet
+arrived. One or two new Sikh and Mohammedan cavalry corps and Punjab
+infantry regiments, recruited from the Sikhs, Punjabi Mohammedans, Jats,
+Pathans, and Dogras, as well as the Kumaon Gurkha Battalion (now the
+3rd Gurkhas), were fighting on our side. The big Sikh horsemen, who were
+proud of their new uniform and despised the rebel cavalry, quickly
+snatched at opportunities to cover themselves with glory. The
+"Flamingoes", as Hodson's Horse were called, had not been in camp many
+days before they were in action, distinguishing themselves in a way that
+none but the very best of troops dare attempt. Faced by a greatly
+superior force, Hodson, with supreme confidence in the steadiness and
+valour of his men, feigned a retreat, and when he had drawn the enemy
+into the open by this manoeuvre, the Flamingoes turned round at his
+command and charged into the black mass. The foemen hesitated, confused
+and bewildered; they glanced at the steady line of stalwart, bearded
+cavaliers, heard the thunder of the galloping horses almost upon them,
+and were routed, broken and scattered before the oncoming of those
+determined Sikhs and Pathans.
+
+Though daily witnessing such instances of dash and courage, Ted Russell
+marvelled less thereat than at the quiet indifference to peril displayed
+by the native servants. These men were not of the fighting castes: a
+dozen of them would have fled cringing from the anger of a single
+Englishman, Pathan, Sikh, or Gurkha. Yet, in such different ways is
+courage shown, they performed without flinching duties which most
+Britons would have shrunk from. They would sit at their work or at their
+meals in the most exposed places, with bullets flicking up the dust all
+round, no more concerned than a bullock would have been.
+
+To bring meals and provisions to Hindu Rao's house they were forced to
+cross the dangerous "Valley of the Shadow of Death". Any soldier who
+might have to pass this spot would await the opportunity to dart across;
+but these mild non-combatants would calmly walk over, and should any of
+their number be struck down, would stop to shed a few tears over the
+corpse and then resume the even tenour of their way.
+
+The army before Delhi was absolutely dependent on these servitors. In
+that terrible heat the English could not have existed without them; and
+yet, it must be sorrowfully confessed, they were occasionally
+ill-treated by some of the more churlish and lawless of those to whose
+wants they ministered. The boy who bullies at school remains often
+enough a bully when he has grown up. Bullies are generally stupid
+fellows, and in the eyes of such men one "nigger" was much the same as
+another, and the faithful brown servants had to suffer for the sins of
+the Cawnpore murderers. There was one man in particular, a major of the
+15th Derajat Infantry, whose bullying propensities had more than once
+aroused indignation in the breasts of Ted's friends. Fortunately there
+were not many Englishmen of his stamp.
+
+One day Ted was told off for picket duty with half a dozen men some
+distance from the "Sammy" House. When close to his lonely post his
+attention was attracted by the strange demeanour of a group of
+wild-looking frontiersmen, assembled in a sheltered hollow. He drew
+nearer, and perceived to his disgust that a miserable native servant had
+been tied up and was being flogged with bamboo rods, while a white
+officer looked on approvingly. Ted recognized the man, and his blood
+boiled. Taking no account of the difference in rank, he hastened to the
+spot, and hotly demanded what the poor fellow had been doing to deserve
+such treatment. The major of the Derajats--for he it was--opened his
+eyes in amazement, and his face became convulsed with anger. Controlling
+his rage he contemptuously asked:
+
+"And who are you, little boy?"
+
+Thereat one or two of the Punjabis laughed.
+
+"I'm in command of this picket, sir, and I can't allow this where I'm
+responsible. Look! the poor beggar is fainting!"
+
+The officer looked round--first at the miserable Hindu, whose back was a
+mass of bleeding weals, and then continued to gaze about him as though
+in search of someone.
+
+"Where is she?" he asked at length. "I can't see her."
+
+"Whom do you mean, sir?" asked Ted in bewilderment.
+
+"Why, your nurse, of course; she'll be looking for you everywhere."
+
+Our ensign's face flushed, and his temper rose at the insult. He turned
+to the Gurkha _naik_[17].
+
+  [17] Corporal.
+
+"Karbir, cut that man loose!"
+
+The little man promptly drew his kukri and cut the thongs. One of the
+Panjabis stepped forward and laid his hand on the naik to prevent him.
+Karbir turned on him like a tiger, with kukri uplifted, and the Punjabi
+jumped back. The major could no longer restrain his anger. He stepped up
+to Ted and struck him across the mouth with clenched fist, loosening a
+couple of teeth and felling the lad to the ground. Quick as thought
+Karbir dashed at the Englishman, but Ted, from the ground, shrieked out
+just in time:
+
+"Back, Karbir, you must not touch him!" and the little man reluctantly
+obeyed. Ted rose, now as white as he had before been red. The major
+laughed.
+
+"Consider yourself fortunate, young man, if I take no further notice of
+your insolence. Do you know that you have been guilty of mutiny--rank
+mutiny--and that I could have you dismissed from the service? Now, you
+may go, and explain the loss of your teeth as you best please. No--stay!
+I've not done with you yet. I'll teach you the difference in our rank.
+Order that corporal of yours to tie up that beast again, and then
+command each of your men to give him half a dozen strokes."
+
+Ensign Edward Russell cared a deal for his commission, and had no wish
+to be broken for disobedience, but this order he would not obey. His
+eyes gleamed as he scornfully cried:
+
+"You great detestable brute! Break me if you can! I'd rather lose my
+commission as an officer than forget my duty as a gentleman!"
+
+"Did you hear my command?" the major repeated.
+
+Ted was silent. He glanced around, and beheld a tall, bearded man, whom
+he had never seen before--a man with stern and forbidding look, in
+untidy civilian attire. The major's glance followed, and an expression
+of annoyance came into his face as he noticed the stranger.
+
+"Well, my good fellow, what do you want here?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I? Oh, I'm just looking round."
+
+"Oh! Then you'd better get back to whatever your business may be."
+
+The man was silent for a moment.
+
+"Won't that lad obey you?" he asked presently.
+
+"No, that I shall not," Ted asserted firmly, though feeling very
+miserable.
+
+"What right have you, lad," continued the stranger sternly, "to question
+your superior officer's commands? Your business is to obey."
+
+"And obey he will," the major declared with an oath, "or I'll know the
+reason why!"
+
+"That's right, sir," agreed the tall man. "Always insist on obedience
+from your juniors."
+
+Ted was becoming nervous and feeling very lonely. Though assured he was
+in the right, the boy could not but feel unhappy.
+
+The batteries of the Mori Bastion once more commenced their horrible
+work. Round-shot and grape whistled overhead.
+
+"What does it matter to you, young man, whether you obey the command or
+not?" asked the tall man harshly. "That _bhisti_ will be flogged just
+the same; he won't benefit by your refusal."
+
+"No, that he most certainly won't!" asserted the major with a repulsive
+laugh. "Nor will he thank you for your interference."
+
+"I'm an officer, not a hangman," said Ted stoutly.
+
+"Well, you will not be an officer long," declared the major.
+
+The stranger had approached, and now stood by their side.
+
+"If you won't obey him," he said in tones of authority, "you must obey
+me! I order you to place that man under arrest," pointing to the major.
+"Do you hear me, boy?" as Ted hesitated in his bewilderment.
+
+The major swore furiously. "Who on earth may you be? What do you mean by
+this impertinence, you drunken civilian?"
+
+The tall man took not the slightest notice. He looked at the boy with
+stern set face, and there was something in his look that enforced
+obedience. Still doubtful, but unable to resist the tone of authority,
+Ensign Russell stepped towards the bully, saying:
+
+"You must consider yourself under arrest, sir."
+
+Naik Karbir understood some English, and was attentively following the
+course of events. He whispered to his men, and a couple at once placed
+themselves, with bayonets fixed, on either side of the Englishman. The
+prisoner foamed at the mouth.
+
+"What do you mean by this outrage, you young whipper-snapper? Take your
+men away! You'll repent this, you impertinent hound!"
+
+Our hero looked towards the stranger, who fixed his eyes on the boy, but
+took no further notice. Then the major appealed to his men.
+
+"My lads, drive these Gurkhas away, and take that English cub prisoner.
+Kill those little fiends if they resist!"
+
+Nothing loth, ten men of the 15th Derajats sprang forward, and the
+Gurkhas closed round their officer. The stranger raised his hand
+imperiously.
+
+"Stop, my children! Come back!" cried a shrill voice, that quavered with
+fear; and the Punjabis pulled up short and regarded the speaker with
+amazement as profound as that of Ted. His new ally was the native
+officer of the party, a grizzled Waziri from the Bannu district.
+
+"It is an order, my children; we must obey," the old man continued to
+the wondering sepoys.
+
+Their own subadar and chieftain on the side of the Gurkhas and of that
+infidel dog of a _bhisti_! What could it mean? But most astounded of all
+were the major and the ensign.
+
+"What! Ahmed Khan!" exclaimed the bully. "Wilt thou suffer me to be
+insulted in this way?"
+
+"What can I do, sahib? It is an order," the Waziri answered in troubled
+tones.
+
+Then the stranger spoke again.
+
+"Ensign, you are on duty here, and here you had better remain. I relieve
+you of the prisoner." Turning to the Waziri subadar he continued: "Ahmed
+Khan is thy name?"
+
+The subadar fell on his knees. "It is thy servant's name, O Hakim[18]!"
+
+  [18] Lord.
+
+"Ahmed Khan, I see that thou dost know me, and therefore thou wilt obey.
+I charge thee to escort this officer--thine officer no longer, whose
+commands thou must not obey--to the tent of General Wilson, and there
+say who sent thee. Also, see that this _bhisti_ is carried gently to the
+hospital, and treat him well. It is my command."
+
+The Waziri salaamed.
+
+A shell whistled overhead and burst some way in front. A second quickly
+followed, and splinters flew around.
+
+"This is becoming warm, youngster," remarked the tall man, smiling.
+"Ahmed Khan, begone quickly!"
+
+The subadar whispered to his men, who thereupon glanced hurriedly, with
+awe-stricken eyes, at the bearded Englishman, placed two on each side of
+the prisoner, with bayonets fixed, and gave the word to march. The
+escort moved rapidly away, the major too dazed and cowed to attempt
+resistance.
+
+The stranger advanced and placed a hand on Ted's shoulder. His face was
+no longer stern and forbidding; it was the face of a great and good man.
+
+"My lad," he said kindly, "let this be the last time you disobey your
+senior officer. On this occasion you were right No gentleman, no
+Christian, could have obeyed his brutal order. But such a case rarely
+happens, and you must beware lest you take too much upon yourself."
+
+Ted bowed his head. He knew already that he was in the presence of the
+greatest and noblest man he had ever seen.
+
+The stranger continued:
+
+"I see you are with the Sirmur Battalion. I have heard of their glorious
+deeds."
+
+Ted, full of the subject, and more at his ease now, poured forth for
+five minutes an account of the valour displayed by Rifles, Guides, and
+Gurkhas, then stopped, ashamed at having spoken so much. But, moved
+thereto by the kind expression of interest in the man's face, he added:
+
+"When are we to make the assault, sir?"
+
+The stranger's countenance lighted up.
+
+"It will not be very long now, lad; the time is at hand. Well, I have
+much to do; good-bye, ensign!"
+
+The man held out his hand, adding, "Remain a true, God-fearing
+gentleman, of whom your country may be proud, as it is not of that man
+who has just left us."
+
+"Good-bye, sir!---- But would you tell me your name?"
+
+"I am Brigadier Nicholson," was the simple reply.
+
+Ted's heart glowed with pride and pleasure. He had shaken hands with
+this famous man; he had actually enjoyed ten minutes' private talk with
+him--a thing half the officers in the camp would have given much for.
+The name of the young general was on everyone's lips. Over the heads of
+his seniors in rank John Nicholson had been given the command of the
+Punjab Movable Column, and wherever that column had marched victory had
+crowned its arms, no matter what the odds. Along the frontier of the
+Indus, amidst the wild robber clans of Bannu, he was worshipped as a
+deity; and Ted now understood what had been incomprehensible before,
+namely, the strange behaviour of the subadar, and the sudden awe that
+had fallen upon the Pathans as soon as Ahmed Khan had whispered the
+magic words "Jan Nikkulseyn".
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+"Wombwell's Menagerie"
+
+
+On his return in the early morning of the following day, Ted related his
+adventures to brother and cousin, and told of his interview with the
+hero of the Punjab.
+
+"Yes," replied Jim, "Nicholson has been here inspecting our defences and
+examining our men. He's left his column behind and galloped on to confer
+with our general. Lucky for you, young 'un, that he happened to be
+present. But, then, you are such a lucky beggar!"
+
+"I wonder what they'll do to your friend the major?" observed Charlie,
+whose splendid constitution was doing wonders for him.
+
+"Ask him to resign, I expect," Jim opined.
+
+But that officer of the 15th Derajats had already resigned. Before he
+and his escort had left the Ridge a shell from one of the Mori
+24-pounders exploded in their midst, killing the major and one sepoy and
+wounding four others. Ted, however, did not learn this until the
+following day, and at the same time he heard that Nicholson had left the
+camp and ridden out to bring in his column, which was now close at hand.
+
+"Before I forget, here's something for you, Ted," Jim exclaimed, after
+the three had discussed the ensign's adventures at some length. "The
+mail came while you were away, and I had a letter from Ethel enclosing
+this for you."
+
+Jim handed his brother a note, which Ted promptly opened and read.
+
+"It's very jolly of her! The colonel has nearly completely recovered,
+she says, and they are quite safe. Will you swop letters, Jim?"
+
+"Wouldn't you like to? Cheeky young cub!"
+
+Charlie laughed.
+
+"I've already offered him half my daily pay for a sight of the precious
+document, and he's waiting for me to raise the bid. He's been looking so
+radiantly absurd, young 'un, since he received it, that I've been
+longing to throw my boots at him, but unfortunately I can't get at
+them."
+
+Jim winked solemnly at his cousin, and appeared far too happy to be
+abashed by the satire of his facetious relatives.
+
+Before long news reached the Ridge that the Punjab Movable Column was
+coming in. The whole camp turned out to meet Jan Nikkulseyn's
+ever-victorious men. Brigadier Nicholson was, of course, under General
+Sir Archdale Wilson, yet the whole army looked upon him as the man
+destined to lead them to victory. All felt that a great soldier was in
+their midst--nor were they disappointed. Hardly had he arrived before he
+led them out to attack the foe at Nujufgurh, where a splendid success
+was won, and the enthusiasm of the wearied troops was aroused.
+
+On the 4th September the last reinforcements came in. The remainder of
+the 60th Rifles arrived from Meerut to join their brethren, the comrades
+of the little Gurkhas at the house of Hindu Rao, as well as a contingent
+from the Dogra ruler of Jummu and Kashmir. But the whole camp turned out
+to cheer a still more welcome reinforcement which accompanied these.
+
+Escorted by the Rifles came the guns--the big guns, the siege guns, the
+real guns at last! With slow and stately tread, as though conscious of
+their importance and of the impression they were making, the massive
+elephants--two harnessed to each gun--appeared in sight, hauling the
+ponderous cannon to the place that needed them so much. With what
+delight the long-looked-for guns were greeted may well be imagined. The
+fortunate soldiers of 1857 had never heard the classic phrases "Now we
+sha'n't be long!" and "Let 'em all come!", but if they had, they would
+certainly have used them.
+
+In the thick of the crowd was Ted, who had got leave of absence from the
+Ridge, and as Alec could not accompany him, he looked out for any other
+chums who might be there, and soon caught sight of the khaki and blazing
+scarlet of Claude Boldre, gay with the colours of the "Flamingoes". They
+greeted Lieutenant Roberts, who was busy with his multifarious duties as
+D. A. Q. M. G., but cheerful and brisk as ever, and stood behind a group
+of hilarious Tommies.
+
+"Here come the guns at last!" cried a carabineer in an ecstacy of
+enthusiasm.
+
+"Git away wid ye, it's Wombwell's menagerie comin' to give us an
+entertainment!" declared an Irish private.
+
+"Nice little ponies them are, drorin' them!" was another comment.
+
+"What--the uttees? Three cheers for the bloomin' uttees!"[19]
+
+  [19] "Uttee" is Mr. Thomas Atkins' rendering of "hathi", the
+       Hindustani for elephant, as readers of _The Jungle Book_
+       will know.
+
+"What'll we do wiv the huttees when we've got the guns fixed hup?
+They'll heat their 'eads hoff 'ere. There won't be none of hus left for
+fightin'; we shall hall 'ave to go hout foragin' for food for the
+helephints hall day," observed a soldier of Cockney extraction.
+
+"Ay," a friend replied, "and they'll want exercising. Bill, you'll 'ave
+to go and take 'arf a dozen helephints for a run every mornin' before
+breakfast, same as you used to do them fox-terriers you used to have."
+
+Bill was wont to boast of the ratting qualities of his dogs at home.
+
+"Ay, Bill," chaffed another. "Go an' take 'em rattin' along the banks of
+the Jumner; they're beggars for rats are uttees."
+
+Bill was equal to the occasion, however, and readily replied:
+
+"Nothin' of the sort! General told me has the helephints was comin'
+to-day, an' 'e says to me, 'Bill,' sez 'e, 'wot are we to do with them
+uttees when they come?' 'General,' sez hi, 'why not mount the Gurkeys on
+'em an' make 'em into light horsemen?--there's nobody else's legs 'ud go
+round a huttee.' 'Bill,' sez 'e, 'you're a genius!'"
+
+The laugh that followed showed that Bill had scored, and a group of
+officers standing by, who had up to this point tried to preserve a
+sedate demeanour, joined in the merriment at the thought of a little
+Gurkha perched astride one of the monsters. Regardless of the jests at
+their expense, the huge pachyderms came steadily on through the
+clustered ranks of interested and gaping spectators.
+
+"By gum, boys, them are guns! We'll soon be in Delhi now!"
+
+"Three cheers for the Bengal Artillery! and three more for John Lawrence
+who sent them!"
+
+The cheers were lustily given, for hopes ran high.
+
+"They ought to make short work of the walls," said Claude. "I think
+we're going to have a look in at last."
+
+"Yes; we're all getting a bit sick of waiting. Hope we can get a good
+place in the stalls when the theatre doors open," Ted replied.
+
+"And I hope Nicholson leads us. By the way, I suppose you've heard
+nothing fresh from Aurungpore?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"That's rough on you. It must be horribly upsetting to have the matter
+hanging over so long."
+
+"It is. I'm glad we're kept so busy, though, as I haven't much time to
+think of it."
+
+"Never say die! Truth will out, you know, and you'll be all right. Alec
+Paterson told me the whole story. That chap Tynan must be a pretty
+average cad. More guns coming!"
+
+"'Ullo!" exclaimed our friend Bill as the end of the procession came
+into sight, "where's the rest of the show? There's nothing but huttees!"
+
+"No more there isn't. This is a bloomin' fine circus, this is!"
+
+"Here, you!" shouted a dragoon to a dignified mahout, "where's yer
+giraffes, an' 'ippopotamusses, an' ricoconoseroses, an' kangeroos? Why,
+there ain't no clowns nor hacrobats!--this is a fraud! Gimme me money
+back, I can see a better menagerie than this in Hengland!"
+
+"Ay, give us our money back!" chimed in the others in tones of simulated
+indignation; and roars of laughter went up, to the astonishment of the
+staid Sikhs and Punjabis, and to the delight of the jolly little
+Gurkhas.
+
+But though the whole camp was in such high spirits, the more knowing
+ones understood that Delhi had not fallen yet, and that these cannon
+were no bigger, and were greatly inferior in number to those mounted on
+the city walls. Also that the mutineers' guns, being sheltered by the
+solid masonry, were twice as effective as their own unprotected
+armament.
+
+During the next few days the whole camp helped the Engineers to put into
+execution the plan of attack which Colonel Baird Smith's masterly brain
+had planned. At dead of night the soldiers constructed batteries and
+shelter-trenches between the English camp and the walls, in positions
+where it would have meant death to have worked by daylight. Before long
+thousands of gabions[20] and acres of fascines[21] had been made for the
+protection of gunners.
+
+  [20] Gabions are hollow cylinders of basket-work filled with earth.
+
+  [21] Fascines are large bundles of brushwood faggots.
+
+On the eventful morning of 8th September, 1857, Major Brind of the
+Artillery--a man concerning whom an officer present observed: "Talk
+about the V.C., why, Brind should be covered with them from head to
+foot!"--is given the honour of commencing the bombardment from No. 1
+Battery, only seven hundred and fifty yards from the walls. In spite of
+all Brind's labours of the night, the sun rises before his battery is
+ready for action, and the mutineers at once perceive his designs.
+Pitiless showers of well-directed grape plunge in and around the
+battery. Though but half-sheltered from this terrible fire, Brind's
+gunners, assisted by a detachment of the Gurkhas of the Kumaon
+Battalion, go on with the rapid completion of the work. At length a
+single howitzer is dragged into position, and the first shot of the real
+bombardment is fired. It is but a feeble retort to the thundering giants
+of the Mori and Kashmir bastions, and the foemen laugh as they continue
+to pound the gallant little band with round-shot, grape, and shell. Ted
+from his post on the Ridge looks on with disappointed eyes.
+
+But before long a second gun is on its platform, and then a third, and
+the rebels laugh no longer. And soon the battery is complete; five
+18-pounders and four 24-pounders, magnificently aimed and served, are
+replying in earnest, as though the very cannon knew how long the army
+had been waiting for them, and had resolved to do their duty and show
+that the waiting had not been in vain. With high hopes and expectations
+thousands of British, Gurkha, Pathan, Sikh, and Dogra soldiers look on
+at the awful duel. Idle spectators are they, unable to assist, and safe
+from the venomous fire of the rebel cannon which are now all directed to
+the destruction of this impertinent No. 1 Battery. The insurgents stand
+manfully to their guns, but the finest artillerymen in the world are
+serving under Brind, and at length, to the delight and amid the
+resounding cheers and hurrahs of the spectators, the massive masonry of
+the Mori Bastion, that looked but yesterday strong enough to defy an
+earthquake, begins to crumble away. The answering fire slackens and
+dwindles down.
+
+By this time No. 2 Battery (Campbell's) is ready, but is directed to
+wait until No. 3 can also be prepared, in order that the enemy's
+surprise may be the greater. With No. 2 is a party of the Jummu
+contingent, who are at first unwilling to ply spades and shovels or pile
+sand-bags, murmuring that they are come to fight, not to do coolie work.
+As the mutineers blaze away, these Dogra Rajputs, throwing down shovels,
+seize their muskets and fire harmlessly at the stone walls, to the great
+danger of the artillerymen. They are at once told by Major Campbell that
+they are there to work and not to play at fighting, and they manfully
+settle down to the uncongenial task.
+
+The attention of the foe having been purposely attracted by No. 1
+Battery, No. 3 (Scott's)--partially prepared during the night, and
+concealed by grass and branches of trees--has been secretly at work, and
+is ready on the morning of the 12th. Dangerously near to the rebel
+cannon is No. 3; less than two hundred yards separate the British
+gunners from their antagonists. Almost at the same moment No. 4 Battery
+(Major Tombs') prepares for action. To achieve the secret completion of
+these batteries has been the brilliant work of Colonel Baird Smith and
+of his worthy second in command, Engineer-Captain Alexander Taylor.
+
+For three days Brind's guns have been reducing the gigantic and
+formidable Mori Bastion to powder, whilst the other three batteries have
+been preparing to lend him a hand.
+
+"Not much left of our old friend!" observes Major Reid cheerfully to a
+small group of his officers, who stand gazing upon the work of
+destruction on the evening of September the 11th.
+
+As Reid speaks, another shell strikes their ancient antagonist, the Mori
+Bastion, towards which he is pointing.
+
+"They're defending it well, though, sir," replies Captain Russell, as
+gun after gun is brought forward by the rebels, who are making
+praiseworthy efforts to silence Brind. "We've got so used to the old
+bastion that one feels almost sorry to see him going to the dogs in this
+way."
+
+"He's losing flesh rapidly," Ted joins in, as yet another of Brind's
+kind regards is sent crashing against the once rock-like wall and a
+fresh shower of dust is thrown up.
+
+"I can't say that I feel much pity for him," Reid grimly declared. "He
+has too many of my brave lads' lives to answer for," the commandant
+added with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
+
+"Well, the rest will be merely child's play, I fancy," conjectured a
+young lieutenant standing by.
+
+Major Reid solemnly regarded the author of this remark for a few seconds
+before replying.
+
+"You think so, young man?" he asked. "Better keep the playing until it
+is over. The hard work is yet to come."
+
+Whilst the bombardment proceeds, the Ridge is tolerably safe, for the
+Delhi guns are too much occupied with Brind's pestilent battery to pay
+much heed to any other place. The duel continues, waxing hotter and
+still more hot.
+
+"Splendid practice our fellows are making!" says Jim presently.
+
+"They're a long time with those other batteries," our ensign hazards.
+"I wish to goodness they'd hurry them up, and then for storming the
+place!"
+
+"Don't be impatient, youngster," Reid replies. "If we play our part as
+well as the Artillery and Engineers are doing theirs, our country will
+have precious little cause for complaint. They are doing their work
+magnificently; they've already accomplished wonders, and it's a lot more
+easy to talk about it and to criticise them, than to get guns into
+position in the face of those bastions."
+
+Feeling somewhat abashed by his chief's rebuke, as he doubtless deserved
+to be, Ted discreetly remains silent.
+
+Darkness closing in brings the artillery duel to an end, and the troops
+lie down for the night.
+
+Not all, however.
+
+Under cover of the night the sappers and miners and gunners are hard at
+work completing the preparations for batteries Nos. 3 and 4. Our fellows
+work like true Britons, for their hearts are in their labour. Encouraged
+by Captain Taylor, who superintends the work, and by their other
+officers, all of whom lend a hand like the meanest private, they toil on
+with steadfast, energetic purpose, and daylight finds them prepared.
+
+Word has mysteriously reached the Ridge that to-morrow's sun will see a
+bombardment the like of which has never before been known in the East,
+and our friends are stirring soon after sunrise, waiting in exultant
+anticipation.
+
+"Is it true, sir," asks Ted, "that all four batteries will be playing on
+the town this morning?"
+
+"I'm hoping so, but I can't say how far they got last night."
+
+At length the longed-for moment arrives. At eight o'clock on the morning
+of the 12th nine 24-pounders of No. 2 Battery open fire simultaneously
+on the Kashmir Bastion. Ringing cheers of triumph greet this, the
+greatest salvo of the whole war, for, as the smoke clears away and the
+deafening thunder and reverberating echoes die down, our friends and
+their fellow-spectators see that this very first discharge is bringing
+down huge masses of masonry.
+
+A moment of profound silence follows: then a mighty cry of exultation
+bursts forth.
+
+"Ah! Well done! Well aimed, Campbell!" scream the enthusiastic
+onlookers.
+
+But the insurgent guns hotly and strenuously reply, and Campbell's
+battery seem likely to suffer severely, for the rebel fire is not only
+hot, but is also exceedingly well directed.
+
+"They're keeping their tails up pluckily enough. Villains though they
+are, they're not cowards," murmurs one.
+
+"That's true! Seems to me that No. 2's in a tight place enough. I only
+hope--"
+
+What that officer hoped will never be known.
+
+A deafening roar from another direction interrupts his expression of
+opinion and announces that Major Tombs' Battery (No. 4) is dealing with
+the rebel guns.
+
+"Hurrah! Tombs is givin' it 'em 'ot! Tombs 'e's a-silencin' of 'em!"
+shout the riflemen.
+
+"Ulu-ulu-ulu!" scream the delighted Gurkhas.
+
+"Ah!" gasp the astounded Sikhs and Pathans, who have never before seen
+cannonade like this.
+
+Whilst the British riflemen estimate and argue the distance of the
+battery from the walls and the probable duration of the bombardment, the
+Guides and Gurkhas chatter and scream with excitement. Many of these
+allies of ours have been somewhat prone to consider themselves quite as
+good soldiers as their employers, but now they are beginning to
+understand a little more clearly the extent of the British power and
+resources. And such consideration is good for them.
+
+Again Tombs's gunners fling their iron hail against the Delhi cannon,
+putting them out of action one by one.
+
+"Why, Tombs has got within two hundred yards!" a spectator guesses.
+
+"No, hardly so close as that," declares a second.
+
+"Well, he ain't much farther away," another joins in. And exclamations
+of "Well done, Tombs!" "Well aimed, sir!" ring out from the Ridge
+unheeded, because unheard by the gunners steadily plying their grim
+trade. For Major Tombs is a general favourite; stories of his prowess
+and dare-devilry have spread throughout the British camp, and the
+approving cheers are echoed from scores of throats.
+
+"Might this be a cricket match?" suavely enquires a captain of the 60th
+Rifles as he smiles at the enthusiasm.
+
+The mutineers are aghast! How have those batteries been brought there
+and concealed and protected? And then, only one hundred and sixty yards
+from the Water Bastion, No. 3 unmasks. But, alas! the work has
+necessarily been done at night, and in the darkness a serious mistake
+has been made. The big piles of covered sand-bags, which had been placed
+to hide the guns from the watchful enemy, as well as to protect our
+gunners from their fire when the moment should come for unmasking, are
+found to have been carefully piled in a wrong position, so as to
+obstruct the aim of our guns. For men to go outside the shelter in order
+to remove the obstruction will not only take a long time, but will
+expose to almost certain death any brave enough to venture out. So
+thinks the heroic commandant of the battery, who fears nothing for
+himself, but hesitates to order his men to be shot down one by one, for
+so close are they under the walls that the rebel gunners can hardly miss
+them. But while he pauses in doubt, a Sikh sapper calmly springs outside
+and commences to throw down the pile before his own gun. With one accord
+the other sappers and gunners follow the noble example, and the
+clearance is effected with such rapidity that the guns are ready to open
+fire before the sepoys have grasped the fact of the battery's presence.
+
+Then is hurled forth such a shower of shell and heavy shot from that
+short distance that the traitors are filled with dismay. The iron
+hurricane teaches them at last what English artillery can do even in the
+face of such tremendous odds. This salvo of heavy guns heralds the
+turning-point of the Sepoy war, and determines the fate of the Indian
+empire. As the huge Water Bastion crumbles into a shapeless mass of
+masonry and is crushed into atoms by these 18-and 24-pounders, so the
+great mutiny is crushed and crumbled at the same time. The last hope of
+the mutineers is quenched; they may fight on, they may inflict great
+damage on the Feringhi, they may still accomplish further murders and
+massacres in various places throughout the land, but all hope of final
+triumph, all chance of overthrowing the British raj is gone for ever,
+destroyed by the fire of this magnificent artillery.
+
+In Hindustan news travels from mouth to mouth over hundreds of miles
+almost as quickly as by telegraph; so north and south, east and west,
+flew the tidings that the walls and gates of Delhi were being battered
+down, that in the course of a few days the great city would be in the
+hands of the sahibs and the Mogul emperor a captive. Amongst the Pathan
+tribes along the Punjab frontier, in Afghanistan, Beluchistan,
+Waziristan, Kashmir, the Black Mountain country, and in Nepal, the news
+was told, and Afghan, Beluchi, Waziri, Afridi, Mohmand, Bunerwal, Swati,
+Yusufzai, Mamund, and Punjabi, who would most eagerly have helped to
+rout and destroy the British had our army retired beaten from Delhi, now
+scornfully turned a deaf ear to all appeals of the mutineers to come
+over and help them. For the Pathan worships success and despises the
+fallen.
+
+"Nay," said they, "if you with forty thousand men and nearly two hundred
+cannon, entrenched behind strong walls and with every advantage, if you
+could be held in check for weeks by two or three thousand British and
+five hundred Gurkha monkey-men, and a few hundred more of our brethren
+of the Guides whom ye could not defeat, and then suffered your walls to
+be battered down as soon as this small army had been reinforced by more
+of our countrymen and neighbours, what chance will ye have now, driven
+out of your stronghold? And are not fresh red-coated regiments and corps
+of fierce, tall men in women clothes even now arriving from beyond the
+seas? Nay, we will not join you; rather will we fight on the side of the
+_kafirs_,[22] together with the Gurkha pigs and vile Sikh infidels."
+
+  [22] _Kafir_ (infidel) is a term frequently applied by Mohammedans,
+       to denote a European.
+
+So the tribesmen now offered their services in such numbers that they
+had to be refused. They brought wild horses that would not suffer any
+man to mount them, and they came with ancient, worn-out steeds, blind,
+lame, and weak at the knees, swearing and protesting that these were all
+splendid chargers, perfectly trained and in superb condition. With these
+they would fight the mutineers, if only the great sahibs, Edwardes and
+Jan Larens, would give them a soldier's pay. So John Lawrence,
+Commissioner of the Punjab, was enabled to send down more than fifty
+thousand men to uphold the British raj.
+
+Day and night throughout the 12th and 13th of September the breaching
+operations continued, fifty guns grinding mercilessly at the rock-like
+walls. Though defeat stared them in the face the sepoys showed a
+courageous front to the end, and as their cannon were one by one knocked
+out of action, they brought fresh guns up and returned a rapid and
+well-aimed fire. Their sharp-shooters were told off to pick out the
+English gunners, and no easy task had those gallant fellows. To our hero
+and to the hundreds of onlookers the bombardment formed a grand but
+awful spectacle. Fascinated by the sight, they watched the salvoes of
+artillery directed at the bastions, every shot striking home, sending up
+clouds of dust, and followed often enough by a fall of masonry. The
+rebel shots whistled and rattled in the air, guns flashed and shells
+exploded both over their own men and over the doomed city. From the
+highest to the lowest, from the general in command to the youngest
+drummer-boy, all knew that this was the crowning work of anxious months
+of toil. Proud men were the engineer officers, Baird Smith and Taylor,
+one the brain, the other the hand that had thought out and directed this
+supreme finish. Proud also were Brind, Tombs, and the other
+artillerymen, for without their magnificent heroism and skill the plans
+of the engineers would have come to naught.
+
+One building there was in Delhi close to the Kashmir Gate and the Water
+Bastion, which the Sikhs and Pathans and Gurkhas, and the rebel sepoys
+themselves, began to regard with awe--a white-domed edifice not unlike a
+mosque, save for the cross surmounting its cupola. It was the English
+church; and though shot and shell had crashed around and over it, the
+cross remained untouched.
+
+On the 13th of September Captain Taylor declared that the breaches in
+the walls were large enough to admit of a successful assault, so Baird
+Smith, ill and harassed, weak and lame as he was, mapped out precise
+directions for five columns to attack the city at various points.
+Nicholson was appointed to the first column, and when the others should
+join him in the city he was to take command of the whole force.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+Ted Distinguishes Himself
+
+
+Our friends were with the 4th Column. This force, of which Reid (though
+but a major) was made commandant in consideration of the splendid way in
+which he had held the Ridge, consisted of detachments of European
+regiments, the Sirmur Battalion, the Guides Infantry, and the Rajah of
+Jummu's contingent. Its duty was to sweep through the suburbs of
+Paharunpur and Kishengang, clearing these of the enemy, and then enter
+the city by the Lahore Gate. Major Reid gathered his officers together
+to give them final instructions, and then, accompanied by Ensign
+Russell, entered the Gurkha hospital, where he told his wounded heroes
+the plans for the morrow. The scene was one that cut Ted to the heart.
+Of those five hundred men, whose proud arrival he had witnessed three
+months ago, only five score remained fit for duty, and many even of this
+hundred had been wounded or were now suffering from injuries which the
+tough and indomitable little fellows did not consider sufficiently
+severe to keep them from their work. On the floor (for there were no
+cots) lay one hundred and fifty badly-wounded and maimed Gurkhas--the
+remainder had lost their lives guarding their trust. The hearts of the
+officers could not but be greatly touched by the sight of such suffering
+so nobly borne, but Reid's sadness was mingled with pride that he
+commanded so gallant a regiment. The Gurkhas glanced up at their officer
+with dog-like looks of affection, and right proud they were too of such
+a commandant. Sorrowfully he told the men lying there, listening,
+regardless of their pain, that only one hundred of his own plucky lads
+would be able to follow him to the assault. As though the word of
+command had been given, every little Gurkha in that room sprang up or
+painfully rose to his knees and vowed to follow the chief, even if he
+had to crawl or limp to the attack. Tears came to the eyes of both
+Englishmen at the sight of such loyal devotion, and they endeavoured to
+dissuade, but the little hillmen insisted. Of those hundred and fifty
+men who had been reported by the doctor as unfit for service,
+ninety-five were allowed to go,[23] and we can guess what torture from
+unhealed wounds and from sickness they must have cheerfully undergone.
+But go they would, for the honour of the Sirmur Battalion, and Reid's
+heart was cheered by the thought that he had now two hundred of his own
+mountaineers at his back.
+
+  [23] This incident is literally true.
+
+Next morning an order was given; the roar of the heavy guns ceased as if
+by magic; and Nicholson's column, springing up with a shout, rushed to
+the assault in the teeth of a tremendous and deadly fire. Up the slope
+of the glacis they rushed and on they surged, fired at by musketry and
+grape, thrust at by bayonet and spear, with showers of bricks and stones
+from the crumbling walls hurled down on their heads. At the other gates
+the 2nd and 3rd Columns behaved with equal gallantry, and the small
+force left to guard the ridge and camp watched their progress with
+interest and anxiety. Up the glacis and through the breach of the
+Kashmir Bastion they rushed, appearing at that distance like a swarm of
+bees clustering on the slope, then, reaching the top, they disappeared
+into the town.
+
+But the adventures of these columns, stirring though they were, cannot
+be related here; we must return to Reid's force, where our friends are.
+Through no fault of their plucky leader, the 4th Column was soon in
+difficulties. It should have been supplied with artillery to clear the
+suburbs, but though three guns were lent to them, no gunners were
+present. Now, special training is required for the working of artillery,
+and guns are useless without trained gunners, so Major Reid sought high
+and low for men to work the guns, but none could be found, and
+reluctantly, as though giving up hope of real success, he left the
+cannon behind. They had not proceeded far before they found barricades
+and breast-works erected in the way, and, sheltered by these, thousands
+of rebels poured forth a heavy fire from every side. The Gurkhas and
+Guides, dashing forward at the double, quickly dislodged the sepoys, put
+them to rout, and cleared the way; but farther on they found the foe in
+much greater force. Had Reid possessed gunners the barricades would soon
+have been cleared, but nothing less than a cannonade would now dislodge
+them, for more than ten thousand men opposed him. Unfortunately the
+Jummu contingent formed the larger part of his force, and though Dogras
+make gallant and loyal soldiers, these men had not had the benefit of
+British training, so they became confused, and fell back in disorder.
+Britons, Guides, and Gurkhas fought magnificently to retrieve the day,
+but what could they do against such odds? Their progress was stayed, and
+worse was to follow. The gallant Reid was struck in the head by a
+bullet, and fell unconscious. Forty of the few Gurkhas were slain and
+scores wounded, the Rifles and Guides were also losing heavily, though
+without flinching, and the Rajah of Jummu's troops were doing more harm
+than good. Major Reid's successor reluctantly gave the order to retire,
+and, followed by thousands of the triumphant foe, the 4th Column fell
+back in good order, fighting to the last.
+
+The pressure became more and more severe, and the men of the Jummu
+contingent were fast getting out of hand. Large bodies of the mutineers
+pushed forward on both flanks, forming a semicircle that threatened to
+envelop our men. Several parties from the stauncher battalions were
+detailed to delay these flanking movements, and of one of these,
+composed of about thirty picked shots of the Gurkhas, Ted was placed in
+charge, with Goria Thapa as second in command. He was sent some distance
+to the left, with instructions to roll back the right flank of the enemy
+for as long a time as possible. A stone breastwork, abandoned by the
+sepoys earlier in the day, was pointed out to him, and he had orders to
+rejoin the main body with all haste as soon as his position should
+become really dangerous.
+
+Ted's command, bending low, scurried to the breastwork, and found not
+only good shelter, but a favourable position commanding the enemy's
+advance on this flank. Their muskets began to speak, and the discourse
+seemed persuasive. Throughout the whole length of the horse-shoe the
+action was resolving itself into a series of detached and separate
+engagements. Ted's gallant fellows broke up one party after another of
+the pandies, aiming with such cool accuracy that every bullet seemed to
+find its billet. But while the enemy's right was held at bay, their
+centre and left swarmed forward, and our hero, holding on too long,
+presently found himself in danger of being cut off.
+
+Meanwhile the main body continued its retirement, the Rifles now forming
+the centre of the rear-guard. The British soldiers soon began to find
+the ground unfavourable, and the enemy pressed the more eagerly.
+
+Inspired to greater audacity by their success, a large body of mutineers
+made a plucky dash forward, and surrounded a half-company of riflemen
+and a few Guides in a deep nullah, from which they were in the act of
+retiring. These men of the Rifles had been fighting gloriously, and had
+spent their last cartridge before they grasped the fact that they were
+unsupported and the sepoys were upon them. Hidden from view of their
+comrades by the high sloping banks that enclosed the broad river-bed,
+now almost dry, they fought for their lives with the overwhelming foe,
+and prepared to die like the heroes they were.
+
+The wild charge of the pandies was checked half a dozen paces from those
+lines of quivering steel. The hesitation was but momentary. With yells
+of triumph the sepoys rushed upon the bayonets, only to be hurled back.
+They recoiled, and those in the rear lay down and fired from between
+their comrades' legs, and man after man of the Rifles dropped. The
+lieutenant gave the order to charge, and back they crashed over the
+stony bed; and the pandies gave way, separated, and fired again and
+again as they kept clear of the bayonets. It seemed only a question of
+moments before the detachment should be exterminated. Already the young
+Englishman in charge of the half-dozen Guides was down, when a score of
+Gurkhas, led by Ensign Russell, suddenly topped the bank of the nullah,
+and tumbled in upon the rebels. In a moment all was confusion.
+Unprepared, the sepoys turned upon their new assailants, and the kukris
+were keen. Huddled together as the rebels were, the bullets went through
+more than one body.
+
+Twenty men were all that Ted had left, but so sudden and unexpected was
+their descent upon the scene that the charge was equal to that of a
+whole company. How many were following, the sepoys did not know, and a
+panic set in. The riflemen rose to the occasion, and before the
+mutineers could rally, or realize how insignificant was the
+reinforcement, British bayonets were hustling them to and fro, and their
+leaders had fallen. The spurt of pluck--of their old courage that had
+stood England in good stead on many a hard-won field--had died away;
+they had no British officers to inspire and lead them, and a blind panic
+set in. Each flashing bayonet, each shimmering kukri seemed multiplied
+twenty-fold to the eyes and senses of the terror-stricken rebels.
+
+Ted was hotly engaging a lean pandy subadar, a typical Oudh Mohammedan.
+The man was slowly giving way as Ted pressed upon him with rapid
+thrusts, when the subadar snatched off his turban and caught Ted's blade
+upon it. Before the boy could divine his intention he was at the rebel's
+mercy.
+
+Not quite, though. The subadar stumbled awkwardly, let go turban and
+sword, and Ted took the opportunity to run him through before he
+understood what had happened. Stretched on the ground behind the subadar
+lay Alec Paterson, the wounded officer of the Guides. Summoning all his
+remaining strength, he seized the sepoy's foot as he was in the act of
+slicing at his chum, and so upset his balance. The dead man fell across
+Alec's chest, and he fainted away.
+
+Within three minutes from Ted Russell's arrival not a pandy remained in
+the hollow who was able to leave it. The lieutenant called his men
+together, nodded approvingly towards Ted, and gave the order to continue
+the retirement. They joined the main body without encountering any
+dangerous opposition.
+
+"Well, you are cool customers, you and your Gurkhas!" remarked the
+subaltern in command of the 60th's detachment, as soon as he could find
+time to make comments. "Pluckiest thing I've ever seen, to storm a
+position like that with such a handful."
+
+"It was nothing," Ted muttered, turning away.
+
+"It probably saved us a few lives, young man, and I'll take care that it
+is reported."
+
+As he spoke, the officer who had succeeded to the command of the column
+when Major Reid fell hastened to the spot, and hurriedly enquired:
+
+"What happened just now? I was looking on, unable to send you help, when
+I saw some Gurkhas come up from behind and drive the pandies from that
+nullah."
+
+"He was in command," the subaltern replied, nodding towards the ensign.
+"Had about twenty men with him. I never saw such a thing, and how he
+managed to escape unhurt I can't understand."
+
+The enemy again began to press, though not so dangerously. Yet every
+yard had to be contested, and the odds against our fellows were
+enormous.
+
+Of all those gallant officers and men none fought more pluckily than
+Captain Russell of the Guides; animating and encouraging his splendid
+fellows, he was ever nearest to the foe, as many a mutineer found to his
+cost. Inspired by the example, Ted emulated his brother's courage, and
+with the Gurkhas did his best to retrieve the day, and always by his
+side fought the young officer Jemadar Goria Thapa, son of his father's
+friend. As they retired towards the Ridge the boy was more than once
+engaged in single combat. Two assailants he had placed _hors de combat_
+with sword or pistol, when he perceived that his brother was struck,
+though Jim, stifling his pain, continued to fight and to inspire the
+men. Ted, gazing anxiously at his brother, forgot for a moment his own
+dangerous position, when Goria Thapa knocked him roughly on one side.
+Just in time! A bullet flew through the air where Ted's head had been,
+and his career would have been ended there and then had not the young
+Gurkha officer been on the alert. At the same moment two sepoys, one
+being the fellow who had fired the shot, rushed at the boy, who vainly
+strove to fend their bayonets with his sword. One of the mutineers soon
+broke down his guard and lunged. The steel passed through the fleshy
+part of Ted's arm, and the sepoy fell at his feet, slain by the sword of
+Goria Thapa. The second pandy turned to flee, but a Gurkha standing near
+bowled him over also, and again the little force fell slowly back, the
+pandies snarling just out of musket-shot, waiting for a leader brave
+enough to inspire them.
+
+Our ensign's wound was extremely painful He tied a handkerchief round
+the arm, and remembering his brother's example, gave no sign. As they
+drew nearer to camp, two hundred men of the 9th Lancers and four hundred
+Sikh horse poured out to their support, charging like a thunderbolt into
+the enemy's masses, whilst the few Guides and Kumaon Gurkhas, who had
+been left to protect the Ridge, also came out to check the rush of
+victorious sepoys. At that moment Jemadar Goria Thapa sank to the ground
+with a bullet in his thigh. Here was Ted's chance to repay his debts!
+Forgetting his wounds, he dashed at the three men who were rushing to
+polish off the Gurkha, and again his life hung by a thread.
+
+But a couple of his Sirmur men had sprung after him, and with their
+kukris they quickly despatched two of the pandies. Then with Ted's
+assistance the wounded man was hurriedly carried away into the midst of
+their Kumaon countrymen, and safety was reached.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Major Reid recovered consciousness, he found himself on the back of
+one of his faithful Gurkhas, who had carried him out of the fight. The
+wound, though severe, was happily not mortal. The Nepalese crowded
+around, their eyes plainly expressing both alarm and grief, and the man
+who had had the good fortune to carry their beloved chief to safety
+became an object of envy to his comrades.
+
+"What a lucky fellow," thought they, "to have had the glorious privilege
+of saving the life of our wounded leader!"
+
+When Reid became aware of all that had happened since his fall, his
+disappointment was intense, and the bitter sorrow occasioned by his
+failure to assist the other columns aggravated the pain of his wound. No
+less bitterly mortified were all his comrades, the surviving officers
+and men of the 4th Column, both British and Asiatic, the reflection that
+without artillery to aid, their attempt was doomed to failure, consoling
+them but little. Their defeat was the more grievous because of the high
+hopes and anticipations engendered by the striking success of the
+bombardment. It was generally thought that this would have filled the
+rebels with terror, and that the opposition offered to an assault would
+have been much less sturdy.
+
+"Are you badly hurt, Jim?" asked Ted, as they looked on while the
+surgeon dressed the wounds of their much-injured chief.
+
+"No, not badly. No bone touched. You're not hit, are you?"
+
+"Sword-cut here, but it's only a scratch. It hasn't bled much. Will he
+do well, doctor?"
+
+"Sure to. Now I'll have a look at your scratches! Oh, you're right for
+once, youngster. It is only a flesh wound, though I guess it hurts."
+
+He pronounced Jim's injury rather worse than Ted's, and ordered him to
+take things quietly for some days. Ted accompanied his brother to the
+Guides' post to see how Alec was getting on.
+
+"I wonder what's happened to the other columns?" said Ted as they left
+their wounded commandant. Jim grunted, and vouchsafed no reply. He was
+in a sullen mood, defeat being particularly bitter after such high
+hopes.
+
+"Dare say they met with no better success," hazarded the ensign. "What
+the dickens were they doing to send us out without guns?--the idiots!
+It's a badly managed business anyway!"
+
+"Oh, don't talk so much," Jim replied. "We'll know about the other
+columns soon enough--they're all right! And don't be so ready with your
+'idiots'. A man directing operations on this large scale has a lot more
+to think about than an ensign has, you know; though perhaps he don't
+know quite as much as some, to hear you youngsters talk! Do your work,
+and don't growl!"
+
+Ted shut up. He would have dearly liked to say something cutting, but
+could not think of any suitable retort on the spot. And by the time a
+brilliant repartee had come to him, he had perceived that his brother
+was at least as much upset as himself. Thereupon he remained discreetly
+silent.
+
+"There's Alec lying over there. He looks bad."
+
+"Well, Alec, old chap, not very bad, I hope?"
+
+"Not dead yet! They've got the bullet out all right, and I'll soon be
+about again. By Jove, Ted, you're a wonder! It was a mad thing to do,
+but rather a good job for all of us."
+
+"What was that?" asked Jim in great surprise. He had not yet heard of
+Ted's great feat.
+
+"Nothing; it's all bosh," interrupted Ted, colouring and looking
+somewhat sheepish.
+
+"What! Do you mean that you haven't heard?" Paterson demanded, and
+proceeded to relate the story of their rescue by the Gurkhas. "It was
+one of the pluckiest things I've heard of," he concluded, "to charge a
+couple of hundred with twenty. You've saved fifty lives, and ought to be
+sure of the V.C. now, in spite of Tynan."
+
+Jim rose from his seat, and solemnly shook hands with his brother.
+"Ted," said he, "I'm sorry I was such a beast just now."
+
+Ted turned very red, and his hand remained limp as Jim shook it. His
+chum's very evident admiration did not seem to give him any pleasure.
+
+"I s'pose you've not heard anything of the other columns yet?" asked the
+invalid.
+
+"Not yet.... I'm afraid we shall hear soon enough."
+
+On the following day, news of the achievements of the other columns
+arrived; good news mixed with bad, for Nicholson lay dying, shot through
+the body as he headed the charge and led his men to victory.
+
+Soon came also tidings of the glorious acts of the heroes of the 3rd
+Column, of Lieutenants Home and Salkeld, of Sergeants Burgess,
+Carmichael, and Smith, and of Bugler Hawthorne--the heroes who had taken
+their lives in their hands and had blown up the Kashmir Gate, after
+overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, a deed with which all
+England rang. Of these six men, four were subsequently awarded the
+Victoria Cross; and the other two, Burgess and Carmichael, would have
+been honoured in the same way had they survived.
+
+Truly, even in this year of heroes and heroic deeds, the story of these
+glorious men and of their act of devotion stands out clear to dazzle our
+imaginations, to lead us to thank God that they were of our breed, to
+make us wonder what we of the same blood would have done had we been in
+their place. Then let us hope we become more humble in our pride.
+
+By the 18th of September the Lahore Gate and Bastion were also captured,
+and on the 20th the whole of Delhi was in our hands.
+
+The Palace taken and the king a prisoner, the Indian Mutiny had lost its
+sting.
+
+Yet, in spite of victory, gloom was over the camp, for a hero lay dying,
+and there was no hope of saving his life. John Nicholson's wound had
+proved mortal: a life that had promised to be of unusual brilliance
+would soon be cut short, even before its work was more than half
+done--but that half had been done well. The career of this dying leader
+of men had been unique, even in the annals of British rule in India,
+whose pages teem with the deeds and lives of heroes in the noblest sense
+of that word--men worthy of all admiration, men whose lives inspire
+others to follow the gleam.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+Ted Extinguishes Himself
+
+
+"Where shall I find Ensign Russell?" enquired a messenger from
+head-quarters as he approached the outpost. Ted was quickly found, and
+his agitation may be imagined when he learned that General Nicholson had
+sent for him. Nervously, reverently, and full of sorrow, he entered the
+tent. The somewhat stern and haughty look, so well known to all
+evil-doers who had chanced to cross his path, had vanished from the
+great man's countenance as he greeted the boy.
+
+"So, young man, you've escaped unwounded?"
+
+"Yes, sir, ... at least only very slightly."
+
+"Ah, your arm, I see!" began the general. "Perhaps you can guess why I
+sent for you? Somehow I took a strange liking to you that day I arrived
+on the Ridge, ... though I ought not to approve of disobedience,"
+continued the wounded man, smiling.
+
+Ted bent his head and was silent.
+
+"You are the son of Major-general Russell, I hear? I knew your father
+well. I served with him in Afghanistan, and he will be a proud man when
+he hears that by an act of conspicuous bravery you perhaps averted a
+disaster to a whole column."
+
+John Nicholson was silent for a few moments before resuming:
+
+"I have since heard how you distinguished yourself when your regiment
+mutinied. You have begun well, keep on in the same way. Put duty first,
+and your country may one day be proud of you, as she is to-day of Tombs
+and Brind and Reid."
+
+Here the wounded general was interrupted by the entrance of Sir Archdale
+Wilson, who, with grave and anxious face, had come to enquire as to the
+condition of his second in command.
+
+Nicholson turned to him.
+
+"This is the lad, Wilson, of whom we were speaking yesterday. You
+received a report from the officer commanding the 4th Column, stating
+how Ensign Russell had helped to bring it safely in."
+
+Ted stood by with downcast eyes, and as he fumbled nervously with his
+sword-hilt he looked anything but a hero. Once or twice he opened his
+mouth as though he wished to speak, but could not overcome his
+nervousness.
+
+General Wilson spoke cordially and kindly to him.
+
+"So you are Ensign Russell? I must tell you that your storming of that
+nullah was worthy of the best traditions of our young officers. I am
+proud of commanding an army in which deeds of heroism are of daily
+occurrence, and young as you are, on General Nicholson's advice, I
+intend to mark my appreciation by recommending you for promotion. Whilst
+awaiting formal confirmation, I take upon myself to raise you to
+subaltern rank. Good-day, Lieutenant Russell!"
+
+"Good-bye, lad!" echoed Nicholson.
+
+"Thank you, sir!" Ted mumbled and moved away, then stopped in some
+confusion, and again made as if to speak, but the eyes of the two
+generals were turned away.
+
+Anticipating some such reward for his brother's display of courage and
+resource, Jim had accompanied him to the camp, and was now walking up
+and down at some distance from the general's tent.
+
+"Well, what is it, old boy?" he asked excitedly, for Jim was feeling
+proud of his younger brother's distinction.
+
+For a few paces the boy walked on without replying. Then he said quietly
+and wearily:
+
+"They complimented me about something or other. I'm sick of it."
+
+"What's the matter, young 'un, you look miserable? Is your cut smarting,
+or had you set your heart on promotion and feel disappointed? It's a
+shame! I think you ought to be promoted!"
+
+"No, it isn't," Ted contradicted testily.
+
+"Ted, whatever is the matter?"
+
+"Oh, I'm not well, Jim! I'm sorry I'm such a brute."
+
+"You look bad, young 'un; you must have that cut seen to. I thought you
+were queer as we came along."
+
+Ted turned on his heel.
+
+"Don't wait for me," he muttered, and retraced his steps towards the
+tent he had just quitted, leaving Jim staring in bewilderment.
+Recognizing the ensign, the sentry gave admittance without question.
+General Wilson was still with his junior, and both turned their heads as
+he entered.
+
+"Well, Russell, what is it?" General Wilson asked with surprise.
+
+"I'm very sorry, sir," faltered Ted, "I've been deceiving you."
+
+"How? What do you mean?"
+
+"I never meant to attack that nullah or rescue the fellows in it," the
+boy replied, now speaking eagerly and hurriedly. "I never knew there was
+such a place. I had lost a lot of my men, sir, and as the enemy were
+being reinforced in front, I ordered the men to double back to where I
+thought our supports were. The ditch was hidden from us by an
+embankment, and we stumbled into the midst of the rebels, and if it
+hadn't been that the Gurkhas are so sharp and never get flurried, we'd
+all have been cut up, sir. As it happened, the pandies were more
+surprised than we were, and they thought, I suppose, that we were in
+force, and so they cut away. And everyone thought I had done it on
+purpose, and they didn't give me a chance to explain. And then, as
+everyone has been congratulating me, and I hadn't denied it at once, I
+found it still harder to explain afterwards. And--well, sir, after what
+you and General Nicholson said just now, I couldn't stand it any longer.
+And I'm very sorry, sir."
+
+General Wilson glanced at General Nicholson, who laughed The former laid
+his hand on Ted's shoulder.
+
+"Don't be alarmed, youngster," he said; "I think I see how it was. Of
+course I can't send in the recommendation now. You understand that, of
+course?"
+
+"Of course, sir."
+
+"Come here, Ensign Russell," said John Nicholson.
+
+Ted approached.
+
+"I like to shake hands with an honest man. Oblige me by taking my
+hand--I can't take yours very well."
+
+Gently and reverently Ted pressed the hero's hand, then silently turned
+and left the tent, lighter at heart than when he had entered it.
+
+Almost boisterously he greeted his brother, who had anxiously retraced
+his steps, and was now awaiting him.
+
+"I'm all right now, Jim!" he cried, and proceeded to relate the whole
+story, concluding:
+
+"You'll explain to Charlie and the others, won't you? I don't like to.
+There's a good fellow!"
+
+"I'm rather glad it's turned out this way, young 'un," said the elder.
+"I knew you were plucky enough before, now I know you're something
+better."
+
+"I say, Jim," Ted blurted out after a few moments' silence, "suppose
+Tynan's been done the same way?"
+
+"Done? What way?" asked the slower Jim.
+
+"I mean that perhaps someone began praising him for something he'd never
+done, and didn't give him a chance to put it right at once, and then he
+stuck to it for fear that people would blame him for not denying it
+straight off. If it has happened that way I'm sorry for him, for he'll
+be jolly miserable."
+
+"It's hardly likely," said Jim.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Outside the dying man's tent a few fierce tribesmen from Hazara and wild
+cut-throats from Bannu (in these two provinces Nicholson had been
+commissioner) had collected from the various Punjab regiments, and were
+loudly lamenting the supposed death of their idol.
+
+"Jan Nikkulseyn is dead! The great sahib is no more!" they wailed, as
+Ensign Russell appeared before them.
+
+"Tell us, _huzoor_[24]" a veteran native officer eagerly demanded, "is
+he indeed dead?"
+
+  [24] A title of respect.
+
+Ted assured the men that their idol still lived; but they shook their
+heads, crying that the English were merely trying to keep the death a
+secret, and the wailing recommenced still more noisily. A loud voice
+from the other side of the canvas thundered:
+
+"Budmashes! Why do ye disturb my peace with that unseemly noise? Wali
+Khan, drive the rascals away and thrash them well! Know ye then that Jan
+Nikkulseyn is still very much alive!"
+
+At the sound of the well-known voice a cry of joy went up, and Wali
+Khan, the old subadar-major, at once proceeded to carry out his order
+with vigour. So he mercilessly thrashed those whose chorus he had just
+been leading, scattering them in all directions.
+
+"Allah be praised!" yelled the men of Bannu, as they jumped out of reach
+of Wali Khan's stick. "Allah be praised! Nicholson Sahib is indeed
+alive!"
+
+He only lingered, however, for a very short time. On the 23rd September,
+1857, John Nicholson died at the early age of thirty-five, having done
+his duty to God and to his country. Heavy were all British hearts that
+day, not only with the Delhi army but throughout the Punjab. May our
+country never lack such a son in time of trouble!
+
+The tidings of his death were soon proclaimed along the border, and men
+went about heavily as though mourning for a father. Many a villainous
+fellow, whose evil ways and dark deeds had incurred the displeasure of
+the commissioner, felt a sense of personal loss now that Jan
+Nikkulseyn--his father and mother and hero--was no more.
+
+Shortly after the arrival of the news, a number of his devotees in Bannu
+(a place which has been described as a "hell upon earth", because of its
+wickedness, before Nicholson was made commissioner thereof) gathered
+together to mourn their beloved chief. A _malik_, or headman, rising,
+spoke of the general's virtues, his love of truth and justice; then,
+suddenly ending, cried:
+
+"Oh, my brothers, what good is there in life now that our sahib is
+dead?"
+
+As he uttered the last word, the malik drew a knife quickly across his
+throat, and fell in their midst--a corpse.
+
+"He speaks truly! What is there to live for now?" cried others. But a
+pious man of great influence arose, and, stretching forth his hands to
+restrain them, spoke:
+
+"My children, think ye that our dead master would approve of this? Our
+brother was mistaken; that is not the way to honour him. Let us rather
+seek to learn something of the God who was worshipped by Nicholson
+Sahib."
+
+The listeners considered and approved this idea, and forthwith a number
+set out for Peshawur. From that town a visit was paid to the nearest
+missionary, with the result that several were converted to the Christian
+faith.
+
+To this day, when the wind blows strongly between the mountains, men
+along that frontier declare that they hear the tramp of Nicholson's
+war-horse.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The heroes of the Siege of Delhi were without number, but of all the
+regiments engaged, the Sirmur Battalion had carried off the highest
+honours. With tooth and nail had they defended their post, by day and by
+night, for more than three months. No fewer than twenty-six distinct and
+determined attacks (one lasting all day and all night) had been made on
+them by overwhelming hordes of the enemy, by brave men bent on obtaining
+possession of that all-important post, and twenty-six times had they
+been hurled back by the handful of loyal, steadfast little highlanders.
+
+Their dogged achievements were not passed by unnoticed.
+
+Twenty years later, when the Prince of Wales paid his visit to India, he
+held a review of British and Native troops on the historic Ridge, and
+the 2nd Gurkhas (the old Sirmur Battalion) were given the place of
+honour in front of Hindu Rao's house, the post with which the corps will
+ever be associated.
+
+On that spot the prince spoke to them of the heroic deeds of their
+predecessors, and conferred upon the regiment the title of "The Prince
+of Wales' Own Gurkhas"; and you can imagine how the little men,
+listening on that spot to the words of the great Queen's son, would feel
+their hearts stirred within them, and would resolve that they would play
+their part as their fathers had done, that the regiment might never
+suffer disgrace.
+
+The Guide Corps was also awarded a special recognition of their services
+(though not at the same date), the queen granting them the title of "The
+Queen's Own Corps of Guides", a compliment of which they are justly
+proud. The king is now the colonel of both the "Guides" and the 2nd
+Gurkhas, the latter being the corps that distinguished itself so greatly
+with the Gordon Highlanders at the storming of Dargai a few years ago.
+
+To return to our story. The capture of Delhi broke the back of the
+mutiny. By that feat the British gained the upper hand and kept it, and
+thenceforward their part was to attack and hunt the rebels from one
+place to another, instead of being constantly attacked and pressed
+themselves. The regiments that had taken part in the siege of the Mogul
+capital were despatched to various points, to join the different forces
+engaged in subduing the revolt.
+
+Charlie Dorricot was too seriously injured to take any further part in
+the campaign, and he had left for England before Lucknow was finally
+relieved. Alec Paterson had been less seriously injured, and was on his
+feet again within a fortnight.
+
+Captain Russell and the Guides returned to the Punjab, for that corps,
+as well as the Sirmur Battalion, had suffered terribly during the
+three-months' fighting, and they were not employed in Sir Colin
+Campbell's campaign along the Ganges. Jim, however, succeeded in
+obtaining his majority towards the conclusion of the Sepoy war, and not
+very long afterwards he was given the command of one of the newly-raised
+Punjab infantry regiments.
+
+Ted, with his usual good luck--as his brother did not forget to inform
+him,--was remembered by General Wilson, and was attached to one of the
+regiments that was now ordered to reinforce the Lucknow Relief Force.
+
+But before he could join his new regiment an order came for him to
+proceed to Lahore, where a court of enquiry would decide whether he or
+Tynan was unfit to wear Her Majesty's uniform. The court consisted of
+Colonel Bratherton and two captains. Tynan, Pir Baksh, and Dwarika Rai
+swore on oath to the truth of the statements made before their officers
+at Aurungpore. Colonels Woodburn and Munro gave evidence as to the
+character borne by the two ensigns, and related all they had gathered
+from Ambar Singh. Ethel Woodburn and Sir Arthur Fletcher corroborated.
+
+Unfortunately for Ted, Ambar Singh, the havildar, could not be traced.
+He had evidently been restored to health, for all that could be
+discovered pointed to the fact that he had re-enlisted in one of the
+newly-enrolled regiments, and was probably with Sir Colin Campbell.
+
+In his evidence Ted flatly denied all Tynan's statements, one by one.
+
+First, he swore that he was positive Tynan had pointed out Pir Baksh by
+name as the man who shot Colonel Woodburn; secondly, that Tynan had
+cursed Pir Baksh more than once as a ringleader; and thirdly, that Tynan
+had never suggested blowing up the arsenal, nor indeed had any idea that
+such a step was contemplated. Fourthly, that Tynan had tried to prevent
+him from lighting the train, and that there could have been no possible
+doubt of his intention when struggling for possession of the light.
+
+Ted's evidence and the manner in which it was given impressed the court
+favourably. Tynan's did not. His manner was not convincing, and it was
+evident that he shrank from the gaze of the other ensign. Still, there
+were three witnesses for him, and Ted's word stood alone.
+
+Then came new evidence to spring a surprise upon Ted's party. Two sepoys
+of the Rajputs deposed that Ambar Singh had confessed to them that his
+conscience upbraided him for having taken money from Russell Sahib to
+blacken the character of the dead ensign--meaning Tynan Sahib.
+
+The feeling in court at once swung round in Tynan's favour, and the
+officers of the 193rd looked at one another aghast. Sir Arthur Fletcher
+smiled. He knew something about native witnesses. Ethel quietly
+whispered to Lieutenant Leigh, who was acting as counsel for Ted, and
+his face brightened.
+
+"Admitting the probability of bribery," he said, "what, then, is the
+evidence of these two men worth? Mr. Tynan has had better opportunities
+and more time than Mr. Russell to resort to such means--and, I may say,
+a far greater supply of the wherewithal to bribe."
+
+But in reply to questions of the opposing counsel, Munro admitted that
+when Dwarika Rai first gave evidence there was practically no
+possibility of collusion with Tynan. Dwarika Rai had at that moment
+heard that he was alive, and Tynan was evidently greatly surprised to
+see Dwarika Rai.
+
+The court retired to consider their judgment. The evidence was in favour
+of one--the bearing and character in favour of the other. They reported
+to Sir John Lawrence that they could arrive at no decision in the
+matter. The great man listened attentively, and proceeded to give the
+matter his consideration. Something must be settled without delay, he
+resolved, for the position was intolerable for that one of the two
+ensigns who had right and justice on his side.
+
+Sir John requested the senior of the three officers to remain when the
+others retired. Colonel Bratherton was a power in the district, with an
+excellent reputation among the Sikhs and an unusually intimate knowledge
+of the men he commanded.
+
+"Tell me your private opinion about this affair, Bratherton?" asked the
+chief commissioner.
+
+Colonel Bratherton was silent and thoughtful for some time.
+
+"Well, Sir John, the evidence is against young Russell, but somehow I'm
+convinced that he's straight and that the other is not."
+
+"Um!"
+
+A look of annoyance came over those masterful eyes, and the broad brow
+was knit in perplexity. But not for long. A humorous twinkle took the
+place of the frown, and the ruler of the Punjab presently whispered to
+the soldier, whose expression of deep concern gradually resolved itself
+into a smile in sympathy with his chief. They conferred for at least ten
+minutes before the colonel rose to take his leave.
+
+"I'll arrange it all, Sir John," said he. "There will be little
+difficulty, for I have the very men we want. Kendal will do it
+admirably, and he can make up to the life. Where shall we be, though, if
+they both hold out?"
+
+"Both?" Sir John's eyes sparkled as he added: "You forget there will be
+a third--Pir Baksh. But of the ensigns one is evidently quite
+unscrupulous, and will no doubt give himself away."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+Pir Baksh renders Tynan a Service
+
+
+This conversation with the chief commissioner took place one morning in
+late September. In the afternoon of the same day, Ted Russell was
+ordered to attend upon Sir John Lawrence. The great man looked at the
+boy with a keen penetrating glance, which, though it seemed to pierce
+him through and through, yet brought with it an assurance of confidence
+and kindness.
+
+Sir John seem pleased by the inspection.
+
+"So you are the lad who blew up the arsenal?" he asked, a wonderfully
+pleasant smile lighting up the rugged face.
+
+"It's still in dispute, sir," said Ted, smiling in spite of his
+trepidation.
+
+"What do you suppose has caused Ensign Tynan to make this claim?"
+
+"I wish I knew, sir. Whilst watching them in court yesterday the idea
+struck me that Pir Baksh, the mutineer, had somehow got a hold over
+him."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Yes, sir. He was watching Tynan as a cat watches a mouse, and it struck
+me that he had made some sort of a bargain with Tynan to save him from
+death at the hands of the rebels if Tynan would whitewash his character.
+And it struck me that Tynan was sorry he'd ever been trapped into such a
+bargain."
+
+Sir John's elbow was on the table and his head rested on the palm of
+his hand. Ted felt that he was reading his inmost thoughts.
+
+"And perhaps," he remarked at length, "perhaps Pir Baksh considered that
+such whitewashing would be of little avail if it could be shown that
+Tynan had been guilty of cowardice, and so the lad has to pose as a
+hero? ... Um! It's just possible."
+
+"I never thought of that, sir," said Ted with obvious admiration.
+
+"I do not doubt your honour, Ensign Russell, and I mean to employ you
+upon an errand needing strength of character. Take this sealed letter to
+the officer in command at Amritsar. It is in cipher, and the key is
+found by reading every sixth word beginning at the end. The road, though
+safe enough for large bodies, is perilous for a small number; but
+Colonel Bratherton can only send two troopers with you. Go to him at
+once for horse and escort."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And understand, Ensign Russell, that should you be captured and have no
+time to destroy the letter, you must on no account disclose the key--on
+_no_ account!"
+
+"I will not, sir."
+
+Ted saluted and withdrew, greatly pleased by this signal mark of the
+confidence reposed in him. An hour after he had started, Ensign Tynan in
+his turn was standing before Sir John Lawrence.
+
+"And so you believe that Russell meant to ruin your reputation out of
+spite? That is a very grave accusation, young man."
+
+"I can't help it, sir. It's a fact, and my word is as good as his, and I
+have witnesses whilst he has none."
+
+"Native evidence, I must remind you, Mr. Tynan, is not difficult to
+obtain. However, I cannot decide between you, and I have not sent for
+you to discuss that affair."
+
+He proceeded to give Tynan a similar letter and precisely the same
+instructions and warning as those given to Ted. Tynan repaired to
+Colonel Bratherton, who supplied him with an escort consisting of Pir
+Baksh and two troopers, and with these he set out for Amritsar.
+
+Night closed in with Indian abruptness before Tynan had covered half the
+distance. Suddenly a body of horsemen blocked the way. Tynan drew a
+pistol, but before he could take aim his arms were seized by the
+troopers of the escort, and he was roughly dragged to the ground. A
+search was made, and the letter was quickly brought to light.
+
+Pir Baksh had been seized in like manner and was dropped beside Tynan,
+bound hand and foot. Tynan recognized the uniform of his assailants as
+that of the 60th Native Cavalry, and he remembered hearing that this
+rebel corps had been hovering about this stretch of the Grand Trunk Road
+for some days. The two troopers of his escort declared for the rebels at
+the first hint of danger. Somehow Harry Tynan was much more cool and
+collected than on the last occasion of a similar experience, and he was
+not nearly so frightened. Perhaps the explanation can be found in the
+fact that his present state of existence was so miserable that no change
+could be greatly for the worse.
+
+The sowars took little notice of their prisoner. Two native officers,
+who seemed to have some knowledge of English, were eagerly scrutinizing
+Sir John's communication, the rest looking on. But the missive was
+evidently a poser, and the expressions of triumph changed to annoyance
+and chagrin as they shook their heads and gave up the puzzle.
+
+"They will understand it," said one. "Make them explain."
+
+The speaker nodded towards the prostrate captives, who were quickly
+kicked into a sitting posture and ordered to supply the key to the
+cipher. Pir Baksh was eagerness itself. He hastened to assure them that
+nothing would delight him more.
+
+"This pig beside me," said he, "he knows the secret, and will quickly
+inform if you threaten him. As for me, I hate the Feringhis, having been
+their prisoner. Set free my hands, and I myself will question this cur
+and make him confess. Ugh! the very sight of him makes me ill. Coward,
+liar, and traitor is he!"
+
+"If thou dost hate him so," asked a Mohammedan ressaidar, "why wert thou
+riding by his side as a friend? Thou canst not take us in so easily."
+
+"Because my own safety obliged me to call him friend. This fellow blew
+up the Aurungpore magazine--he says he did so. Of course we must believe
+him, though I myself saw him trembling like a leaf begging for mercy. By
+me was he saved from the debris, saved that I might have the better
+revenge; and first I humbugged him into giving me a _chit_, saying I was
+loyal--I, Pir Baksh, leader of the rebels in Aurungpore!"
+
+The subadar related the whole of the miserable business.
+
+"It is true," said Tynan with quiet despair. "Save his life, for he is
+the blackest villain in Asia, and I had rather die alone than with him
+as comrade. Kill me and I shall be glad to get away from him."
+
+A native officer cut the bonds, and bade Pir Baksh get up.
+
+"Get the key from the cub, then. If he gives it willingly his life shall
+be spared. If not, do as thou wilt."
+
+Pir Baksh smiled in pleasant anticipation, and humbly addressed his
+quondam officer.
+
+"Will the protector of the poor deign to supply his slave with the
+explanation of that letter?"
+
+Harry Tynan looked him straight between the eyes and said never a word.
+The poor lad had suffered much during the past three months, and again
+and again his own vileness had been laid bare to him. He had enough of
+good in his nature to shudder at the prospect. The lies he had told, the
+public whitewashing for his own ends of the villain Pir Baksh, the
+bribing of Dwarika Rai and the other Rajputs, all these had gone against
+the grain, but never had he seen his own meanness so clearly, until now
+that he knew that even this most contemptible scoundrel regarded him
+with far greater contempt.
+
+Pir Baksh had rendered Tynan a service at last, for he had made a man of
+him. Then and there the ensign resolved that nothing should drag from
+him the secret of the cypher--that Pir Baksh should understand he was
+not wholly a coward. The rascal poised his sword above the boy's head.
+
+"First I am going to slice off the right ear, then the left. If that is
+not enough, Ensign Sahib, I fear that the nose must go. After that--"
+Here he smiled and added: "But I think the sahib will not be so
+discourteous as to refuse his slave's request. Speak quickly or thine
+ear goes!"
+
+Tynan turned a few shades paler, but he bit his lip and answered not a
+word. Amazed at this unlooked-for defiance the subadar hesitated--and
+someone sprang in front of Tynan, a fist shot out and was stopped by the
+nose of the Mussulman, who toppled over, and was instantly disarmed by
+two sowars, who knelt upon the traitor's chest and mocked his cries of
+rage.
+
+"It's all serene, Tynan, old chap!" cried the voice of Ted Russell.
+"We're going to scrag that brute!"
+
+He cut Tynan's bonds, whilst others trussed up the rebel, and I fear
+that no trouble was taken to spare him discomfort.
+
+"It's all been a put-up job," Ted went on. "They collared me in the same
+way, meaning to test us by threats, to find out if either would betray
+the cipher. This is Lieutenant Kendal who's in command."
+
+A short and rather "tubby" figure, arrayed in a rebel garb, came forward
+from the background and apologized for having been compelled to treat
+them roughly. He was obeying instructions, and assured them of his
+pleasure that neither had betrayed the trust.
+
+"Yes, but you know everything now," said Tynan sullenly. "It was mean of
+you, Russell, to play this trick."
+
+"I had no hand in it, Tynan, and was treated in much the same way an
+hour ago, except that they only threatened me with death, not torture;
+so you came out of the ordeal better than I, and I respect you for it."
+
+"That's all very well. You come out with flying colours and I'm ruined.
+I say, Lieutenant Kendal, let me clear away. I don't care what happens
+to me, but I simply can't face the fellows who knew me. Only let me go,
+and I'll disappear completely."
+
+"Sorry I can't do that, Mr. Tynan, but I have orders to take you back
+before Sir John. By Jove, I'll say all I can for you, though, and though
+Jan Larens can be stern he's really kindness itself. Make a clean breast
+of it, youngster."
+
+They rode back in silence, and the pretended rebels repaired to their
+comrades of the Sikh Cavalry to relate a marvellous story of the wisdom
+of Jan Larens, from whom nothing could remain hidden. The great
+statesman was still hard at work at his unending task, but when he heard
+the lieutenant's tale he bade him send Tynan in. He greeted the boy with
+mingled kindness and sadness.
+
+"This is a pitiable tale, youngster," he said, "though you have done
+your best to redeem it to-night, I am told. Tell me all about it, and
+keep nothing back. Regard me as one who wishes to help you."
+
+Tynan broke down under the prolonged strain, and, bursting into tears,
+sobbed like a child. Bit by bit the grim though kindly ruler drew forth
+the whole story of temptation, hesitation, and fall, of misery and of
+lie upon lie that had gradually sunk the boy deeper in the morass.
+
+"Sit down," he said. "You have been punished. Are you sorry it has all
+come to light?"
+
+"Indeed I am not, sir. I feel as though a great weight had been taken
+away. I suppose I shall be hounded from the service at least, sir."
+
+"I hardly think you would wish to remain in the army?" said Sir John
+gravely.
+
+"I want to get away from everyone, sir, and I know I don't deserve any
+consideration. But I never meant to do it, sir. He led me on, and got me
+in his power."
+
+"You have been punished--and you may be thankful for it, my lad, for you
+will have a better chance of a happy useful life than had your claim
+proved successful. This evening you acted like a man, and I will take
+upon myself to accept your resignation."
+
+"Thank you, sir!" said Tynan joyfully, for he had never expected this.
+"Oh, thank you, sir! I will try to do better."
+
+"You may set out again for Amritsar this night, and join Green's column
+at Umballa as a volunteer under an assumed name, if you can overtake
+them. I will give you credentials, and when the mutiny is crushed you
+may leave the country as you think best. My advice is to do your duty
+like a man as long as there is fighting to be done, and then return at
+once to England."
+
+"Thank you, sir! I could wish for nothing better, and it's more than I
+deserve. I'll be a different man after this lesson. Indeed I will, sir."
+
+"God help you to keep that resolution, my lad! Good-night!"
+
+Breakfast was just over when the summons came for Ted. Sir John motioned
+him to take a seat.
+
+"You have been thoroughly vindicated, Mr. Russell. Tynan has told me
+everything, and I congratulate you on having done your duty. You have
+suffered great anxiety and disappointment, but there is no doubt that
+you will obtain the reward you so highly deserve."
+
+This virtual promise that the former recommendation would hold good, and
+that the Victoria Cross--most coveted of honours--would be his, dazzled
+our hero for a space. To Ted's credit be it said that his next thought
+was for poor Tynan.
+
+"Thank you, sir! I--I hope Tynan won't be disgraced, sir. It was not
+altogether his fault."
+
+"It will be necessary," said Sir John gravely, "to make public
+sufficient to clear your character. I have allowed him to resign, and he
+clears out to-night. I am glad, my lad, that you should have considered
+him."
+
+"Wait a moment," said the ruler of the Punjab as Ted rose to go. "How
+would you like a commission in a corps of Irregular Horse?"
+
+"Punjabis, sir?"
+
+"Yes. Colonel Boldre, whose regiment has mutinied, is raising a corps in
+the Balandghar district, and he has written to ask me if you may join
+him. I think it would be a good thing, and should advise you to jump at
+the chance."
+
+"Is there any likelihood of seeing active service with them, sir?"
+
+The great statesman burst into one of his hearty laughs. He remembered
+the days when he was the age of Ted Russell--how he had longed to be a
+soldier like his father, who had led the forlorn hope at Seringapatam,
+or like his hero-brother Henry. The chuckles ceased, giving place to a
+sad smile as he thought of those past days. "A soldier I was born, and
+a soldier I will be!" he had declared as a lad, for all his family were
+soldiers. But the Lawrences were poor, and the civil service gave better
+remuneration than the military, and for his mother's and sisters' sakes
+John Lawrence had put aside the dream of his boyhood that he might earn
+enough to keep them from want. He knit his great brows and looked Ted up
+and down, and the boy did not know whether the grim administrator was
+pleased or displeased with him.
+
+"So you have not smelt enough powder, eh?" he asked at length.
+
+"I want to do my share, sir."
+
+"Boldre's Horse are going to Cawnpore to join Sir Colin Campbell at
+once. The colonel will be setting out from Balandghar in a day or two,
+with perhaps a couple of hundred sowars, Sikhs, Pathans, and Punjabi
+Mohammedans. Mr. Jackson is raising a few score Sikhs and Dogras for him
+in the Jalandar district, and you are to set out at once to take charge
+of them, joining your commandant at Delhi."
+
+"Thank you, sir! it's just what I should have chosen."
+
+"Very good! but remember this. Do your duty with just as much
+thoroughness whether it seem attractive or the reverse. Should your fate
+tie you to duties of an uneventful nature, should you be out of the
+fighting and excitement, and have little chance of distinguishing
+yourself, remember that your work may be quite as necessary and useful,
+if not so showy. So, whatever you may be called upon to do, do it
+gladly. I will write to Jackson.---- Oh! I forgot--I am sending Colonel
+Boldre a couple of Sikh native officers for his regiment, tried men who
+have been proved and found faithful. They will go with you. They are
+good men; remember that. Good-day!"
+
+Delighted with the turn of events Ted hastened to call upon the two
+Sikh officers. "Jim was right," he said to himself as he swung his leg
+over the saddle, "I am a lucky beggar. It's better being in a British
+regiment than in a poorbeah lot, but better still to be with Sikh and
+Pathan cavalry or Gurkha infantry, because Tommy has to be taken such
+care of, or he'll have sunstroke or cholera, or he'll wander away and
+get his throat cut, or else walk into an ambush. But these Cossacks of
+the Punjab are in at most of the fun, and they catch Pandy in snares
+instead of being caught by him."
+
+Colonel Bratherton presented him to the two Sikhs. They were brothers,
+and in spite of a few years' difference in age, he could hardly tell one
+from the other. Each was dressed in white--no colour being more popular
+among the Sikhs--the snowy turbans setting off the triangle of dark face
+left visible, with piercing eyes, deep-set and determined, the
+well-shaped nose, tight mouth, and long beard and moustache twisted and
+turned upwards over the ears. They were tall and strong, with thin but
+sinewy legs--in fact, all that Sikhs should be.
+
+Ted asked their names. Govind Singh was the elder, named after the last
+of the Sikh high-priests; Hira Singh the younger. He told them who he
+was, and that they must set out for Jalandar that night; and they looked
+him up and down with doubtful eyes, evidently not too favourably
+impressed by his youthful appearance. Ted found himself somewhat afraid
+of those eyes; they seemed to hold so much in reserve. But he felt that
+in a tight place he would be glad to be backed by men with eyes like
+theirs.
+
+"When will you be ready?" he asked.
+
+"Now," said Govind Singh.
+
+"Then we set out after sundown."
+
+"Very good, sahib! We go to Lucknow to help Henry Larens."
+
+"But he is dead," Ted informed him.
+
+Govind Singh shook his head.
+
+"That is a poorbeah lie," said he. "As if those jackals of Oudh could
+kill the great chief!"
+
+Astounded by the Sikh's incredulity, Ted asked if he had seen Sir Henry
+Lawrence.
+
+"I? I knew him well, and so did Hira Singh, my brother. When the English
+fought the Afghans, nearly twenty years ago, we were at Peshawur in the
+Sikh army under Avitabile. The Sikh government had granted you Feringhis
+a passage through the Punjab, but we Sikh soldiers preferred our old
+enemies the Afghans, and we refused to fight on your side. We were ready
+to eat up your Khyber column in those days, and would have done it too,
+but for Henry Larens Sahib, who won our hearts, so that we fought for
+him, aye, even to Kabul. Then when we challenged you to war six years
+later and were beaten, he ruled the Punjab justly and with righteous
+dealing, as his brother does to-day. Jan Larens is a good and great man
+likewise, but Henry we loved most. We knew him well."
+
+"It is true," echoed Hira Singh. "If all the Feringhis were like unto
+Henry Larens there would have been no mutiny. Just is he, and he
+understands us and knows our ways of thinking as no other white man has
+ever done. He loved us, yet was he firm--firm as is his brother, and
+never was there a braver man. How he defied us all at Peshawur, though
+at our mercy! And so great was his ikbal (prestige), that he forced us
+to aid him even against our will. Jan Larens is a just and good man, but
+for Henry Larens we would gladly lay down our lives. I know that he is
+dead, but my brother will not believe it."
+
+"We will be ready before sundown, sahib," Govind Singh assured Ted as he
+left them, greatly impressed by this evidence of the influence of one
+good man, who had so won over his former enemies that they had become
+his staunchest friends.
+
+Ensign Russell's kit was not extensive. He was now quite an old
+campaigner, having learned at Delhi how to do without many luxuries that
+he had formerly considered necessities. He gave his Mohammedan servant
+instructions to prepare for a long journey, and Kasim Ali received the
+news as a matter of course. Strange must be the lives of these Indian
+servants, who are ready to change their place of abode at a moment's
+notice for another hundreds of miles away. At Delhi, after the capture
+of the town, Ted had picked up a bargain in the shape of a nice Arab,
+good-tempered, robust, and speedy. But he also needed an animal for
+Kasim Ali, and another for his kit and supplies, so he now called upon
+an Afghan dealer whose horses he had previously noticed. The Afghan
+brought out one sorry brute after another and tried to pass them off as
+veritable treasures, such as Aurungzebe himself might have envied. Ted
+looked guileless, and the Afghan was pained to hear him remark:
+
+"I'm in a hurry. If you have no horses, say so, and I'll go elsewhere."
+
+The wily coper began to see that his customer was no ignorant griffin,
+so he changed his tone, dropped his protestations, and finally brought
+out a couple of serviceable beasts, not showy, but strong and in good
+condition. Ted at once declared that they would suit, and named the sum
+he was prepared to give; and the Afghan, seeing that it was "take or
+leave", ceased to haggle, and closed the bargain, not dissatisfied with
+the profit he had made. Kasim Ali led the steeds away.
+
+"Must go and say good-bye to Ethel and the colonel next," said the
+ensign to himself.
+
+Colonel Woodburn and his daughter had remained in Lahore after the
+unsatisfactory conclusion of the trial, in order to be able to give the
+lad any advice or assistance within their power. They were staying with
+a civilian friend of the colonel, towards whose bungalow Ted turned his
+horse's steps. The news that he had been cleared was already out, and
+Ethel waved her hand joyously as he hove in sight. Sending a servant to
+take the horse, she motioned the ensign to join her in the verandah.
+
+"I am delighted, Ted!" she began. "Do you feel like a free man again?"
+
+Ted sank luxuriously into the easy-chair.
+
+"Ethel," he said with unwonted seriousness, "I feel like the man in the
+_Pilgrim's Progress_, whose burden has rolled from his shoulders. I
+suppose you have heard how the truth came out?"
+
+"Yes; Lieutenant Kendal has told us the whole story this morning. But
+what has become of Tynan? What is to be done with him? Poor lad! he's
+had a harder time than you, Ted."
+
+"Yes," Ted slowly answered, "I know he has. I'm sorry for him, and I
+don't know what has become of him. I don't think that Sir John has been
+hard upon him. Perhaps he's been able in some way to give him another
+chance. Sir John was very kind to me."
+
+"They say he is stern, but I've never found him so.---- Well, father,
+here's the innocent victim of conspiracy, righted at last, and let off
+on condition that he won't do it again."
+
+Colonel Woodburn and his host had entered the verandah. They
+congratulated Ted, and Mr. Moncrief added:
+
+"You'll have tiffin with us, Mr. Russell? Make yourself at home here
+while you stay in Lahore."
+
+"You're very good, Mr. Moncrief, but I'm leaving in a few hours. I'll
+stay to lunch, though, thanks!"
+
+"That's right. Where are you going, then?"
+
+Ted related the offer made to him by Sir John, and expressed his delight
+at the prospect. He had come to say good-bye.
+
+"Colonel Boldre is a very nice man," Ethel said meditatively. "Father
+knows him well. I suppose you're an ensign no longer, then? I am glad to
+meet you, Lieutenant Russell."
+
+Ted laughed.
+
+"It's a promotion in a way, I suppose," said he, "but I'm not gazetted
+lieutenant yet."
+
+"You soon will be, though," Colonel Woodburn assured him. "Your
+appointment is practically equal to promotion. Boldre is a good soldier.
+I wish I were equal to it."
+
+"Do you still suffer any pain from the wound, colonel?" Ted asked.
+
+"Hardly now, Ted. Still, I'm not fit for active service, only for
+garrison and depot."
+
+"Tiffin is ready," Mr. Moncrief announced. "Lead the way, Miss
+Woodburn."
+
+By seven o'clock Lieutenant Edward Russell, Risaldar[25] Govind Singh,
+Ressaidar Hira Singh, and Kasim Ali were on their way to Amritsar by the
+very road along which Ted had journeyed twenty-four hours ago. Jalandar
+was reached on the second day without mishap, and without any incident
+more exciting than a half-hour's alarm occasioned by the approach of a
+body of Native Horse. They turned out to be a detachment of the force
+maintained by the Sikh Raja of Kapurthala, a loyal prince who, in
+response to John Lawrence's invitation, had assisted the British at
+Delhi, and whose men were now engaged in keeping a portion of the great
+highway clear of budmashes and guerrilla mutineers.
+
+  [25] The cavalry ranks of _Risaldar_ and _Ressaidar_ correspond
+       in some degree to the English _Major_ and _Captain_. The
+       senior native officers, however, rank below the Junior
+       British officers.
+
+Ted was hospitably received by Mr. Jackson, a civilian official of the
+Cis-Sutlej States, who had enlisted some forty or fifty horsemen--Sikhs
+from the Jalandar Doab and Dogras from Kangra. A few days were needed in
+order to give the levies a little polish and complete their equipment,
+and during this period Ted stayed with Mr. Jackson. Then they set out
+for Delhi, through Ludhiana and Amballa.
+
+Five months before a certain ensign had ridden along that road with the
+Corps of Guides, a lad in the highest of spirits. "Glory of youth glowed
+in his soul", as he rode by his brother's side and surveyed that
+splendid regiment, the pride of the Punjab, and, engrossed in the
+splendour of the martial array, he had given little thought to the
+horrors.
+
+Five months ago! At times it seemed as many years, and yet again, as
+they passed some landmark, and a vivid recollection of some chance
+remark flashed across his brain, at such a time it seemed but yesterday.
+His spirits were still high, but experience had somewhat sobered him. He
+thought of the great events of that fateful period, of the scenes of
+carnage, of the lost friends and comrades, of the great Nicholson, of
+the plucky little Gurkhas, and those days at the house of Hindu Rao. How
+many of those grand men of the Guides, with whom he had ridden across
+the Punjab, had gone back to their depot at Hoti Mardan? How many of the
+little Gurkhas, whose arrival in the British camp he had witnessed, had
+marched back to their station in the hills of Dehra Dun? What months
+those had been for India and for himself! Then the rebels were winning
+at every point, except in the Punjab. Now the Mogul capital was once
+more in the hands of the British, the emperor was a captive, and though
+much remained to be done, the end of the great mutiny was in sight.
+
+In the towns along the Ganges and its tributaries the sepoy hordes still
+held the upper hand, and their numbers were daily increasing. Gallant
+Havelock and chivalrous Outram had at length broken their way through
+and relieved the intrepid garrison of Lucknow, but the mutineers had
+closed behind them, and they in their turn were shut up in the
+Residency, and Henry Lawrence, the best-loved Englishman who had ever
+set foot in India, was dead. Hardly a big town along the Ganges but had
+its tale of murder and black treachery to unfold.
+
+Delhi had been captured, but its swarms of mutineers had gone to augment
+the ranks of the sepoys who were holding a reign of terror in Oudh; and
+though Sir Colin Campbell was at the head of a fine army, there were
+still threescore rebels against each white man.
+
+Arrived at the Mogul capital, Ted learned that Colonel Boldre had gone
+on to Agra, whither he was to proceed with all speed. The route thus far
+was open, for the Delhi column under Hope Grant and Greathed had cleared
+the way, and fifty mounted Irregulars had little to fear from
+undisciplined and cowardly budmashes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+To the Rescue
+
+
+The sun had just risen when Hira Singh, riding fifty paces ahead of the
+cavalcade, suddenly waved his hand as a signal to halt, leapt from his
+horse, and led it behind the bushes that bordered the road. His
+companions reined in their steeds and awaited the explanation.
+
+The Englishman threw his reins to the nearest sowar and stealthily
+joined the ressaidar, who was peering through the bushes. They were
+passing through a well-wooded tract, abounding with mango, pipal,
+tamarind, and other trees, with plenty of tropical undergrowth, giving
+good cover.
+
+"What is it?" Ted asked.
+
+"I don't know," said the Sikh. "The dust hides everything."
+
+About half a mile away dense clouds of dust were rising in the air and
+falling again to the rear, concealing all traces of the makers of the
+disturbance, except that a few armed horsemen in front were partially
+visible.
+
+"I thought at first it might be a body of rebel horse," observed Hira
+Singh, "but it moves too slowly for that."
+
+"Bullock-carts, I should say," suggested the young officer, as he
+trained his glasses on the spot.
+
+"That is what I think. There is an escort, so perhaps they carry the
+poorbeahs' stores or ammunition or loot. Anyhow, we had better mount and
+capture it."
+
+They were now within about thirty miles of Agra, and the sun's rays
+were darting through the foliage, the golden light playing upon the
+flashing sabres and glittering lance-points as the troop swept forward.
+Ted's men were curiously equipped, some with shields, a number with
+carbines; some had sabres, others lances, and many had both; and all
+were seated upon native saddles of felt. Yet Ted was a proud boy that
+morning, for, motley as was the collection, they were fine-looking men,
+and were they not acting under his orders! He would have been less proud
+had he known what his men were charging.
+
+The fine dust deadened the drumming of the hoofs, and until half the
+intervening distance had been covered the cloud in front moved forward,
+and rose and fell with regular cadence. Then the procession halted; they
+had been seen or heard.
+
+Hira Singh laughed, and, lowering his lance-point, tightened the grip of
+his knees on the saddle.
+
+"Only a rebel escaping with his goods and family," said he; "but we may
+as well slay them, sahib, for without doubt they deserve it."
+
+"Not so, Hira Singh. Let us speak them fair. We cannot tell who they
+are."
+
+There were two curtained _gharris_ or carts, each drawn by two soft-eyed
+bullocks. Protecting these rode three horsemen, who now stood awaiting
+the onslaught, two with levelled muskets, the third with drawn sword. It
+was evident that the gharris contained their womenfolk, as for nothing
+less would they have stood their ground against fifty.
+
+Crack! Crack! At two hundred yards' distance they had fired into the
+cloud of dust, and a bullet struck Ted just below the heart. He doubled
+forward with the pain, nearly losing his grip, and the bullet quietly
+dropped upon the saddle. He glanced at his tunic; there was not a tear,
+and he slowly realized that he was still alive. The bullet was spent,
+and it had struck him with no more force than a thrown stone of the
+same size. He was hurt, but not injured.
+
+Hira Singh's lance was couched again, and the horses were at the gallop.
+The shots had roused the fierce Sikh blood, and it would have gone hard
+with the horsemen had not Ted sufficiently recovered his wits, and,
+spurring his Arab to the front, had called upon the ressaidar to pull up
+his horse to a walk.
+
+He was puzzled that the three should have stood their ground so
+valiantly when escape would have been easy, and he did not mean to
+suffer friends to be slain. Besides, the carts probably contained women,
+who would not be safe from the fury of his wild levies once they had
+tasted blood. He caught Hira Singh's bridle and shouted the command to
+halt, and the troop pulled up about thirty paces from the daring
+wayfarers. Ted rode out in front of his men.
+
+"Who are you?" he demanded.
+
+Instantly the strangers lowered their loaded muskets, and the handsome
+old man in the centre took his sword by the blade and held the hilt
+towards the Englishman.
+
+"Allah give you victory, sahib!" said the old man, stroking his gray
+beard with nervous fingers. "I thought ye were budmashes who had cut us
+off. I did not see that thou wast a Feringhi until this moment."
+
+"We hope that no man was hurt by our shots," added the youngest of the
+three, a slight but muscular and well-made man, twenty years of age
+perhaps. There was something in his appearance that took Ted's fancy--a
+dignified bearing and demeanour.
+
+"But what do ye here?" asked our lieutenant, "and why should ye fire at
+strangers?"
+
+"I am Yusuf Khan of Paniwar, and these are my sons. In the
+bullock-gharris are our womenfolk. We have fled from our home through
+fear of the anger of the rebels. Know then, young sahib, that I have
+raised my voice on the side of our alien rulers, warning and advising
+our young men to abstain from acts of madness. The stain of blood is not
+on my hands."
+
+He stretched out his open palms as he spoke. There was an honest ring in
+the old man's voice, and his eye was open and steady.
+
+"It is true," said Ramzan Khan, the younger son. "We have remained loyal
+to the Sirkar."
+
+"I am from Paniwar," continued the old Mohammedan, "but for years I was
+surveyor with Henry Lawrence Sahib, from Gorakhpur to Allahabad, and I
+swore that his people should be as my people, and that for his sake
+would I help any Feringhis who might be in need. He was my master and my
+true friend, and I loved him."
+
+The fierce-eyed Govind Singh walked his horse to the side of Yusuf Khan
+and looked him between the eyes.
+
+"So thou art also Larens Sahib's man?" he chuckled. "I also. Thou art an
+eater of beef and I an accursed infidel, yet for that we are bound by
+the same ties to the same master--we are brothers. Dost thou believe
+that he is dead?"
+
+"Aye, I know that he is dead, alas!"
+
+"Thou art a faint-hearted disciple, old man. He lives, I say.... Well,
+tell me thy story."
+
+The Mohammedan turned once more to the English officer and continued:
+
+"The men, and the women also--and their abuse was the harder to
+bear--taunted me, called me an unbeliever and a renegade, a taker of
+English gold, because that I opposed the hot-heads. And then it came to
+pass that I did that which caused all my neighbours to hate me. We
+found--I and my sons--a small party of English men and women wandering
+about the jungle, having escaped the fate of their murdered countrymen,
+and we guided them safely into Agra Fort. All would have been well had I
+not foolishly given my name to an Englishman who asked for it, and their
+gratitude led them to recommend me to government for a reward. But for
+that my neighbours would never have known.
+
+"And this is the reward, that we have been stoned and our lives
+threatened, and to save ourselves from worse we left home last night
+with what valuables we could bring away, and set forth for Agra."
+
+"But," objected Ted, "you are going towards Delhi, not Agra."
+
+The old man turned and pointed backwards.
+
+"Over there," said he, "half an hour's walk away, our road from Paniwar
+joins the Agra-Delhi road, and we turned to the right instead of to the
+left in order to escape our pursuers. For my son, Ramzan Khan, had
+lingered near the village to see if we should be followed. We had a few
+hours' start before we were missed, and, guessing whither we were
+journeying, a number of the rascals followed, some on horseback, others
+on foot. With bullocks we cannot travel at more than a snail's pace, and
+we were unable to procure horses for the carts, so capture was certain.
+But Ramzan Khan, having a very swift horse, overtook us just after we
+had turned into the Agra road. Hearing the news that he brought, we
+tried to throw them off the scent by facing about towards Delhi instead
+of going on to Agra."
+
+"I came much quicker than the budmashes," put in Ramzan Khan. "Some of
+them were on foot, and the horsemen were trotting slowly to allow the
+runners to keep up with them, thinking that they could not fail to
+overtake the bullocks."
+
+"What, then, do ye intend to do?" asked Govind Singh. A trooper to whom
+he had been whispering dismounted, and, leaving the dusty road, stole
+forward under cover of the trees and undergrowth.
+
+"Allah knows," replied Yusuf Khan. "Perchance, having picked up our
+trail, they will ride on in their haste towards Agra without taking
+further notice of the tracks we leave in the dust. If so, we may hide
+until the danger is past. If, however, they notice that we have doubled
+back, all will soon be over unless ye choose to help us. When we fired
+we thought ye were the very sons of Shitan themselves, who had worked
+round and cut us off."
+
+"Ah!" said Hira Singh reprovingly, "that was not a soldierly thing to
+do, to fire before making sure."
+
+"But," said the stranger, "did we not see you charging upon us with
+spears and swords?"
+
+"He is right," said Ted, with a laugh at Hira Singh's expense. "Why,
+ressaidar, didst thou not wish to slay them all without stopping to make
+sure?"
+
+Rishan Chand, a Dogra, stepped forward with a suggestion.
+
+"Let the women descend from the carts," said he, "and place some of us
+inside, and let the bullocks retrace their steps. The troopers and you,
+sahib, keep out of sight, but near enough to aid. Then when the
+budmashes come, the zamindar (farmer or yeoman) and his sons, and the
+drivers, can pretend to run away and leave the women at the mercy of the
+rebels. Then shall we surprise them when they peer in through the
+curtains, and before they can escape ye should be upon them."
+
+"The Dogra has sense," said Hira Singh. "Let it be so, sahib."
+
+"If the zamindar approve, it shall be done. What sayest thou, Yusuf
+Khan?"
+
+"It is good; all except that we should run away, I and my sons. We do
+not run from jackals."
+
+"Nay, but they will suspect otherwise," Ted explained. "And if ye resist
+they will fire at you and at the carts, and all will be spoiled. Ye must
+consent to play the coward."
+
+"Sahib, it is for me to obey you," said the zamindar.
+
+The three refugees walked their horses to the side of the conveyances,
+from behind whose curtains veiled faces were already peeping in anxious
+bewilderment; and presently an elderly dame and three younger ones
+descended and were led by the elder son--a married man--into the shelter
+of the bushes. Sikhs and Dogras began to peer inside the vehicles, and
+two of the former jumped in. But Govind Singh was too quick for them.
+
+"Outside, dogs!" he shrilled. "Put back that which ye have stolen. Are
+there not enough enemies from whom to steal that ye must rob friends,
+and one who has served with Larens Sahib? Outside, I say!"
+
+Inside the carts was strewn in confusion as much of the old Mohammedan's
+portable property as could be put together in their haste. Abashed, the
+Sikhs dropped the few ornaments they had seized, and came out with
+sullen, crest-fallen expressions.
+
+"Ho, zamindar!" called the risaldar. "Wilt thou or one of thy sons go in
+this cart to see that naught is stolen? Our men are thieves; they are
+but recruits who know no better."
+
+"Nay," replied the old man, with simple dignity. "Ye are my friends. If
+they save my honour, I do not grudge them my goods."
+
+"If so much as the value of an anna is taken," said Ted sternly, "the
+thief shall answer it. Let three or four of the Dogras get in each cart;
+they ate smaller than ye Sikhs, and will have more room to aim. Tumble
+in!"
+
+"Hide, you rascals, hide!" broke in Govind Singh abruptly. He pointed
+eastward, whence the scout was running towards them, in and out among
+the tree-trunks, gesticulating as he ran.
+
+"He is signalling us to take cover," continued the risaldar. "Sons of
+owls, disappear among the bushes before ye are seen! Inside the carts,
+ye Dogras! Quick!"
+
+The Dogras squeezed inside and drew the curtains across; and in a moment
+all the troopers had disappeared, leaving Ted, Govind Singh, and the two
+Mohammedans beside the carts to await the scout.
+
+"They are within sight from up there," he informed them. "I climbed a
+tree and saw the dust they raised. They come at a trot, and will soon be
+here."
+
+"What shall we do, sahib?" asked the zamindar. "We obey thy orders."
+
+"Go forward as before, thou and thy sons," said Ted. "We shall hide on
+both sides of the road. When the budmashes come close, fire at them, and
+then set spurs to your steeds, keeping straight along the road, not into
+the bushes where we hide. We can see to the rest, can we not, risaldar?"
+
+Govind Singh grunted acquiescence, and with Ted left the glaring road
+for the shade of the trees, and the little caravan went on.
+
+"Will they not mark the track of our horses?" Ted asked, being
+apprehensive lest the plot should fail.
+
+"Once they see their prey they will take no further heed to the trail.
+Dismount here, sahib; we can see without being seen."
+
+A view-halloo from the distance, faint yet savagely exultant, told that
+the pursuers were within sight of the slowly-trudging bullock-carts. A
+moment or two of suspense, then a shot rang out. A second report, and
+two horsemen flashed round the bend and galloped past the watching
+officers. Ted and Govind Singh were less than a hundred yards from the
+road; the rest of the troop, dispersed over a large area, were rather
+farther back on either side, hidden in groups behind clumps of trees and
+patches of bush.
+
+"There's the cart," whispered Ted, as the zamindar and his son dashed
+past them.
+
+With a twist of the bullocks' tails to urge them forward, Yusuf Khan's
+two servants left their charges and scuttled into the woods. The stolid
+bullocks, unmoved as ever, went forward snail-like, and the foremost
+pursuers ranged alongside.
+
+Lieutenant Russell trembled with excitement. The Dogras were at the
+mercy of the blackguards, should they have courage enough to take
+revenge for the trick played upon them, rather than seek first to make
+good their escape.
+
+The first four or five leapt from their horses, jabbering something that
+the watchers could not make out. Their actions, however, were easy to
+understand. They tore aside the curtains, laughing noisily; a silver
+streak flashed forth from each window, and a couple of the scoundrels
+staggered aside and rolled over heavily. Their comrades jumped back as
+though stung, and the expression of blended terror and amazement
+depicted on their faces caused Govind Singh to give utterance to a low
+pleased chuckle. Said he:
+
+"It is the story of the hunter who chased the sambhur deer, and when he
+was close upon her, and sure of his prey, she vanished amid the bushes,
+and lo! he was face to face with a tiger.---- Ha!---- badly aimed! They
+have shot but two of the curs."
+
+As their assailants recoiled the Dogras had fired. Some of the
+budmashes, their courage quickly cooled by unexpected resistance, seemed
+anxious to leave the scene without striking a blow, but the handful of
+revolted sepoys who were with them were less cowardly, and they who had
+muskets were already loading their weapons. Meanwhile Hira Singh and a
+dozen troopers were rapidly skirting round to the rear, and Ted knew
+that the time had come. He gave a clear whistle, and the rebels turned
+abruptly round.
+
+Wild and shrill were the yells of those troopers as they sprang to the
+saddle and converged from various points upon the mutineers, spoiling
+their aim, so that not a Dogra was touched. The budmashes had no mind
+for further lingering. But they had hesitated too long. The lances were
+already couched and sabres bared, and the Sikhs close upon them, and the
+troopers' horses were fresher than were theirs, and better animals
+withal. Down the Agra road clattered the would-be murderers, Ted, Govind
+Singh, and Ramzan Khan at their heels. Round the bend they went, and,
+behold, the road was blocked by Hira Singh and his dozen Sikhs, who
+awaited the mob with levelled carbines.
+
+The terrified rascals tried to turn aside, and the carbines cracked and
+the lance-points fell and rose again, and Ramzan Khan's tulwar was
+merciless. There was no fight left in these rebels. They had set out to
+murder and despoil those weaker than themselves; they had hunted the
+deer, as Govind Singh had said, and had caught the tiger.
+
+"Have mercy! Have mercy!" they whined, throwing down weapons and holding
+their hands aloft, and Ted commanded that the fight should cease. He was
+obliged to repeat the order more sternly and accompany it by a threat,
+and even then the command might have availed little with the fierce
+Sikhs had the young lieutenant not been backed up by the veteran
+brothers. As for Yusuf Khan, the zamindar, the moment Ted had spoken, he
+had wiped his blade and thrust it back into the wooden sheath. His were
+the wrongs, but, thought he, it was not for him to disobey the
+countryman of Henry Lawrence, who had come to his help in time of sorest
+need.
+
+The prisoners numbered sixteen; eight or ten were slain, barely half a
+dozen escaping. The mounted men were ordered down from their seats and
+tied in fours, right wrist to left wrist, and bade march in front. The
+women were replaced in the carriages, and the procession moved forward
+at a walk, three or four sowars scouting in advance.
+
+"Sahib," said the old Mohammedan, "we are grateful. You have saved us
+from a great evil."
+
+"Ye also saved the lives of my countrymen," Ted replied, "so ye owe me
+naught. Indeed, ye have lost by your deed of kindness; I have lost
+nothing. Believe me, I will tell your story at Agra, and the government
+will not forget you when the rebellion is over."
+
+The zamindar engaged his sons in a whispered conversation. After a few
+moments he said:
+
+"Your servant is not a fighter, sahib,--that much I have seen. Take my
+son, Ramzan Khan, as orderly, to fight by your side. He is a good
+swordsman, and not without courage."
+
+Ted jumped at the offer. Ramzan Khan met his gaze and said:
+
+"I am your servant, sahib. I cannot forget what you have done for us."
+
+And so it was settled that Ramzan Khan should accompany Lieutenant
+Russell to Lucknow.
+
+Next day they crossed the Jumna by the bridge of boats, and Ted landed
+his convoy and his prisoners safely in Agra Fort, where he was warmly
+welcomed by Colonel Boldre, who was introduced by no less a person than
+Claude himself. Ted's new colonel was a little man, of slight build, and
+of rather insignificant appearance, until one noted his eyes and mouth.
+Ted soon perceived that he was active and alert, with an air of
+decision, and the lieutenant took to his commandant at once. Colonel
+Boldre listened to the youngster's narrative, and laughed at the story
+of the trick played upon the rebels. He inspected his new troops, and
+was particularly pleased with the look of Govind and Hira Singh, whose
+hearts he quickly won. Colonel Boldre had a thorough knowledge of Sikh
+character, and understood their ways, and when his poorbeah regiment had
+mutined, the Sikhs had remained loyal, and had saved their colonel's
+life.
+
+Ted made a good meal of salt beef and pickles, and when tiffin was over
+he and Claude left the colonel and strolled outside the rambling
+building.
+
+"I never expected to see you here," said Ted as they quitted the room.
+
+"I suppose not. As soon as I heard that the pater had been given
+permission to raise a corps I asked him to apply for my exchange. He did
+so, and here I am. Knowing that you would prefer this sort of work to
+being in the regulars, I asked him to put in a word for you also. I
+cracked you up no end as a horseman and soldier."
+
+"You're a brick! It was jolly good of you to think of it. I suppose you
+didn't much care to be under Hodson after what's happened?"
+
+Claude Boldre turned on Ted with a queer expression in his eyes--half
+vexation, half amusement.
+
+"You're alluding to the shooting of the old emperor's sons, I suppose?"
+said he.
+
+Ted nodded. "Hodson's a brave man--there's no one who risks his own life
+more; but one can hardly respect an English officer who could
+deliberately shoot his prisoners in cold blood."
+
+"Cold blood be hanged, Russell! Your blood wouldn't be very cold if you
+were faced by ten times your own number, clamouring for the rescue of
+your prisoners."
+
+"Perhaps not, but they were not resisting. They were not showing fight,
+and he ought not to have killed them. They were men like himself, but
+he showed no more compunction than if they'd been wolves or tigers."
+
+"Those prisoners were a jolly sight worse than wolves or tigers,
+Russell, a jolly sight more wicked. I don't think you can know the whole
+story. Hodson has a number of enemies because he's been so prominent,
+and he is rather arrogant and zubberdusty (high-handed) at times. He has
+trodden on other people's corns, and they've been too ready to believe
+the worst without taking all the circumstances into account."
+
+"But, you know, he got into trouble over the Guides," Ted interrupted.
+"Falsified the accounts and collared the money, or something of the
+sort."
+
+"Not a bit of it. He had a row with one of the Pathan officers, and he
+was rather zubberdusty; but as for the dishonesty, that was only a tale
+set afloat by busybodies. The affair was investigated by Reynell Taylor,
+and you'll admit that he would never condone anything wrong."
+
+"Yes," Ted agreed, "if he absolved Hodson it's all right."
+
+"Well, he did so. He said there was not an anna not accounted for, and
+that the books were badly kept, because Hodson wasn't cut out for a
+clerk, being always in the saddle, doing police and soldier work. Now,
+as to this other business. It was Hodson who captured the old Mogul when
+perhaps no other man could have done it, and he didn't put him to death.
+Then he offered to go and bring in the princes--the vicious brutes who'd
+murdered the English men and women in Delhi. With a handful of his
+troopers he set out for the tiger's lair and captured them. They begged
+him to spare their lives when they surrendered, but he resolutely
+refused to give any promise. On the way back he was cut off by a mob of
+armed fanatics, who were keen on rescuing the princes. Hodson's own
+account, and that of his sowars, is that if he had hesitated a moment he
+would have been overwhelmed and killed and they would have escaped, and
+he was determined that the vile murderers should be punished and made an
+example of. Without hesitation he answered the clamour of the mob by
+shooting the princes himself; and his promptness cowed the fanatics.
+They melted away, and not one of his men was hurt."
+
+"Yes; but was he not exaggerating the danger?" contended Ted.
+
+"He's the only one who can judge of that," Boldre replied. "And with all
+his faults, I believe Hodson to be an honourable man. The prisoners were
+bound to be hanged. No one even attempted to deny their guilt, and their
+lives being forfeit, I don't suppose Hodson considered it wrong to
+anticipate their fate by a day or two, when by so doing he could save
+the lives of his own men.
+
+"It was a big responsibility," Claude continued as Ted remained
+thoughtful, "and he had the courage to take it, believing it to be the
+right course. He may have been wrong. I admit I don't like the thought
+of it, but it was done from no motive of cruelty."
+
+"You've put the affair in a new light," Ted confessed; "but all the
+same, I wish he had not done it."
+
+"So do I," agreed Boldre. "But look here, Russell, suppose the princes
+had been rescued to spread rebellion by the magic of their name as the
+descendants of the Grand Mogul. Would not those who are now decrying him
+most have been the first to attack him for having allowed them to
+escape?"
+
+"Well, perhaps they would," said Ted.
+
+"No, I did not exchange because of that," Claude went on, reverting to
+Ted's earlier question, "but because I wished to serve under the pater.
+I've seen so little of him for years, and he's a good soldier, everyone
+say so. Very few of the Company's colonels have been given new commands,
+you may have noticed, and the pater is one of the few."
+
+"Yes, it's rather marked that the newly-raised regiments are mostly
+commanded by lieutenants and captains."
+
+A hand tapped Ted's shoulder. Turning, he perceived his new orderly,
+Ramzan Khan. In reply to the look of enquiry the Mohammedan said:
+
+"It is not safe to go so far from the fort, sahibs. The people of Agra
+do not love the English."
+
+"He's right," said Claude. "We'd better get back."
+
+"Is there any--" Ted stopped short with a little gasp. He stood staring
+with wide-open eyes, and his companions followed his gaze.
+
+"Is that the famous Taj Mahal?" he asked in a tone of awe; and Claude
+nodded.
+
+Our lieutenant of Irregular Horse having become accustomed to the
+wonders of the East was not easily moved to admiration thereby. But now
+he was spell-bound by the beauty, the exquisite perfection of that
+lovely dream-palace, perhaps the most awe-inspiring work of men's hands.
+In the ardour of argument he had not noticed the wonder, and now he
+could not take his eyes from that central dome, white and ethereal
+against the deep blue of the Indian sky, with its cluster of smaller
+pearly domes, the whole great and grand and yet unreal, as if the vision
+must shortly fade away. Men have attempted to depict the Taj Mahal in
+prose and poetry and painting, and have all admitted the feat
+impossible. "Go to India," Lord Roberts has said; "the Taj alone is
+worth the journey."
+
+This vast tomb, known as the Taj Mahal, was built by the Emperor Shah
+Jehan in memory of his wife, and finished about the year 1640, when the
+Moslems were the great architects of the world. Forbidden by their
+religion to make images of men by painting or sculpture, they devoted
+their genius to architecture; and the mosques and tombs of Hindustan,
+and the Alhambra and other Moorish buildings in Spain, bear witness to
+their surpassing power.
+
+Ramzan Khan looked downcast as they turned away.
+
+"Ah!" said he sadly, "in those days were the true believers the leaders
+of mankind. We are unworthy children of our great fathers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+Lucknow Relieved
+
+
+Pushing forward with all speed past Mainpuri and Bewar, Colonel Boldre
+arrived in the British camp on November 13th, shortly after Sir Colin
+Campbell had assumed command of the Relief Force. The column was
+encamped within and around the grounds of the Alambagh, a big mansion
+enclosed by a high wall, three or four miles south of Lucknow. Here they
+met many of their Delhi friends, who had come down with Colonel Hope
+Grant, and one of the first to greet them was Alec Paterson. There was
+plenty to say on both sides.
+
+Ted found that Alec, who still limped a little in walking, had been
+appointed an extra aide-de-camp by the brigadier, who had noticed the
+lad's great energy and thoroughness at Delhi. Alec told his chum how
+glad he was that his name had been cleared, and wanted to know all about
+the trial at once; but Ted was too anxious to look round the camp and
+find out the notables, so, observing that the story would keep, he asked
+Alec to act as guide. Paterson, by the way, did not mention the little
+fact that he had greatly distinguished himself under Greathed at Agra on
+the way down, and had been recommended for promotion. Ted found that out
+from another source.
+
+"We advance to-morrow," the aide-de-camp informed his chums, and broke
+off abruptly to call their attention to a big, square-shouldered man in
+blue tunic, white cords, and jack-boots. "Here, do you see that man with
+the reddish hair and beard? He's a plucky chap. He's a clerk, not a
+soldier, but he's done a feat that any man might be proud of."
+
+"What's he done?" asked Claude.
+
+"Well, he don't look much like a mild Hindu or any other sort of
+Asiatic, does he? But he volunteered to disguise himself and break
+through the rebel lines with a note from Outram and plans of the enemy's
+weak points and advice for Sir Colin. And he did it. Fancy a man of his
+build and hair and features disguised as a native of Oudh! He must have
+a nerve. But he got through, and the general now has the plans; and if
+we succeed, Kavanagh will deserve a share of the credit. He's in the
+Volunteer Cavalry now."
+
+"I want to see Sir Colin," said Ted. "Is he likely to be about?"
+
+"I'll point him out if we see him. And who do you think is going to
+conduct the force to-morrow?"
+
+"Who? How should I know?"
+
+"Why, Lieutenant Roberts, the Artillery D.A.Q.M.G. at Delhi. That young
+man will be a major-general before any of us commands a battalion. He's
+a wonderful fellow, but so modest that nobody is jealous."
+
+"Fine-looking lot those Highlanders!" Alec observed as they passed a
+group of men wearing the kilt and bonnet and white gaiters.
+
+"They're the 93rd, I suppose," said Ted. "Hoot, mon, what for do ye no
+don the kilt yourself, Sandy?"
+
+"I should like to," Alec replied. "The 93rd's a grand regiment, and I'm
+proud of being a countryman of theirs."
+
+"Hear, hear!" said Ted. "They look fit."
+
+The three friends entered the Alambagh enclosure.
+
+"Who are those two?" asked Claude, nodding towards a couple of
+distinguished-looking officers who were walking about slowly, in earnest
+conversation.
+
+"Ssh!--not so loud. Why, the older man is Sir Colin himself, and the
+taller one with glasses is General Mansfield, his chief of staff."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+The boys looked with keen interest upon the commander-in-chief. They saw
+a spare man, with a slight stoop, but a soldier to the backbone--an
+elderly man with furrowed brows, bearing the marks of long and arduous
+service; but there was no sign of weakness about the firm mouth, or the
+eyes so clear and alert.
+
+"Yes, that's the commander-in-chief," said Paterson again. "Now, Ted,
+I've shown you round, and it's your turn to enlighten me now. I only
+know the bare facts that you have been cleared, and that Tynan is a
+howling cad."
+
+So Ted had once more to tell what had befallen Tynan and himself at
+Lahore, and when he had finished the narrative, Alec asked:
+
+"And what became of Pir Baksh?"
+
+"He was condemned to death and shot the day before I left Lahore.
+Colonel Woodburn and Munro were almost as pleased as I was when the
+truth came out, for I really think that they believed that I had been
+unjust to poor Tynan. But Ethel Woodburn had stuck up for me through
+thick and thin."
+
+"Miss Woodburn is the nicest, jolliest girl in India," said Alec with
+conviction, "and your brother's a jolly lucky fellow."
+
+"He is so. Yes, she's all that and more, and she kept my spirits up when
+I was feeling jolly well down in the mouth. Wasn't she glad when I was
+cleared! It was almost worth while having gone through it all. I don't
+suppose I'll ever see Tynan again. Poor beggar, I'm sorry for him, for I
+don't think he ever meant to do it."
+
+"What became of those Rajputs he'd bribed?"
+
+"They were dismissed from the service. Dwarika Rai begged my pardon
+before he went. He said that he hadn't understood that his evidence
+might disgrace me until it was too late for him to draw back, and I
+believed him."
+
+"It was a funny business altogether," was Claude's opinion, given in a
+tone of unusual thoughtfulness. "The man must have been mad."
+
+"He was a born cad," said Paterson, "and deserved the same fate as Pir
+Baksh."
+
+"I don't agree with you," said Ted. "I think there's some good in him."
+
+"Precious little. But I haven't time to argue; I must make a strategical
+retirement. See you to-morrow."
+
+After Alec's departure Claude and Ted found their way to the roof of the
+Alambagh, where were one or two officers whom they did not know. Over
+the expanse of wooded plain they caught glimpses of the mosques and
+minarets and gilded spires of Lucknow, rearing their heads above the
+abundant foliage of the parks and great gardens. The city seemed to
+stretch as far as the eye could reach, and they both experienced a
+curious thrill as they gazed thereat.
+
+"And that's where Sir Henry Lawrence died, and where Outram and Havelock
+are now," observed Ted, almost in a whisper.
+
+"Eighty-seven days they held out before Havelock got through," Claude
+reflected aloud. "It was a grand defence. I wonder whereabouts the
+Residency is?"
+
+"Over there, due north," said a voice beside them.
+
+"Thank you!" Claude replied; and they looked at the speaker, a
+clean-shaven man with hair inclined to wave, attired in a dress that
+seemed singularly out of place there, even among so great a variety of
+uniforms. He wore a blue frock-coat, and his white trousers were
+unstrapped; there was a white cover to his cap, and hunting-spurs
+adorned his shoes.
+
+"Where are you youngsters from?" he asked.
+
+"Delhi," Ted replied. "We've just arrived with some Irregular Horse."
+
+"Delhi! And you two had the luck to take part in the siege?"
+
+"I served all through," Ted answered with a little pride. "I went there
+with the Guides."
+
+"Lucky young cub! Wish I could have taken my boys there."
+
+"Rummy customer!" was Claude's comment, as the stranger turned away.
+"Who is he?"
+
+"I wonder. Looks more like a sailor than a soldier. But whoever he is,
+he's accustomed to command; I could see that. But I fancy it's time to
+find our way back to our own lines."
+
+At 9 a.m. next day the column moved off in high spirits, Lieutenant
+Roberts conducting the advance, with the aid of a native guide he had
+secured. The enemy had been led to believe that the movement would be
+made direct, by the northern route taken by Havelock two months
+previously. But from the Alambagh the column struck eastwards for the
+Dilkusha (Heart's Delight) Palace. The ruse was successful. Having made
+their plans to meet the direct assault, the sepoys were not prepared for
+the flanking movement, and no time was given them to strengthen the
+defences of the positions now threatened. Outside the wall of the
+Dilkusha Park the column halted until a large enough breach had been
+made by the guns, and Ted watched the Highlanders of the 93rd pulling up
+carrots in a field, and, after a hurried scrape, munching them with
+great content.
+
+The obstruction was short; a portion of the park wall was soon broken
+down, and in went the Highlanders, eager to close. But the rebels had
+fled. A staff-officer, short and slight, trotted past as Ted's Arab was
+picking its way over the fallen masonry.
+
+"There goes plucky wee Bobs!" he heard a sergeant of the 93rd remark to
+his mate; and Ted recognized the officer as Lieutenant Roberts. It was
+the first time he had heard the affectionate nickname bestowed upon the
+much-loved hero by the soldiers of forty-five years ago. Roberts, an
+artillery officer, had, of course, never served with the 93rd, but the
+"Scotties" had seen much of him lately, and even so early in his career
+he had won a place in their hearts rarely filled by any whose name is
+not prefixed by "Mac". "Bobs" they had christened him, "Plucky wee
+Bobs". To be known by such a name among these gallant fellows of the
+93rd--the famous Thin Red Line of Balaclava--told of unusual coolness
+and daring.
+
+Ted saw Lieutenant Roberts shoot ahead to reconnoitre, a native trooper
+following. The artillery officer halted, gazed in front, and signalled
+for the guns to advance. As he did so the roar of cannon thundered from
+behind the yellow palace. The rebels had opened point-blank upon the two
+solitary horsemen from a hidden battery, cutting the orderly's horse in
+two, and the trooper fell beneath his dead steed. Roberts was seen
+coolly to dismount in the face of the guns, and a loud huzza rose from
+the throats of the Highlanders as he dragged the orderly from under the
+weight, though the grape whizzed about them.
+
+Under his direction the guns advanced, and the mutineers did not stay to
+test the British marksmanship, but made off with all speed in the
+direction of the Martinière. Almost without a pause the cavalry cantered
+across the high swards of the Dilkusha Park, the startled deer scudding
+away on all sides in vain endeavour to escape the noise.
+
+As the Horse Artillery and cavalry drew nearer, the Martinière was
+quickly deserted, and Boldre's Horse and a few squadrons of regulars and
+irregulars pursued the sepoys as far as the canal. There was no dressed
+line of thundering horses, for the troopers broke off in threes or
+fours, whenever they saw a chance of engaging the pandies; and Ted,
+spurring after Govind Singh, who, having the start of him, was hotly in
+pursuit of one body of rebels, suddenly saw his friend Boldre busily
+engaged with three faithless sowars and in sore plight. Turning to
+Claude's aid, he drew off one, and, with a clever thrust, was able to
+disable the man's sword-arm. Boldre, who was no swordsman, by good luck
+cut down a second, and the third fled as Ramzan Khan came up at a
+gallop.
+
+"Thanks, Russell!" said Claude. "But look out! here are half a dozen
+more."
+
+Perceiving that the two Englishmen were separated from their comrades, a
+number of rebel troopers--men of the Irregular Cavalry who had deserted
+Henry Lawrence at Chinhut five months before--charged down upon the
+little group with sharp, angry cries. Before the lads had resolved how
+to withstand the shock, Ramzan Khan shot out to meet the pandies, and
+there was nothing for it but to back him up.
+
+"Plucky beggar! He'll be killed!" groaned Claude; but to their amazement
+the orderly showed himself a consummate wielder of the sword. He swerved
+aside as they bore down upon him, and slashed at the nearest rebel as he
+passed, the man tumbling like a sack of flour from his horse. Parrying a
+blow, he disarmed another by a turn of the wrist, and smote a third over
+the shoulder just as Ted arrived on the scene and made for the pandy on
+his orderly's right. Ted swung his sword aloft--and then his head seemed
+to split, and he saw the stars dancing in their courses. The sword fell
+from his grasp, but his knees instinctively retained their grip, and the
+blood streamed down his face.
+
+"I'm not killed anyhow," said he to himself, and began to look about
+him. Ramzan Khan was engaged with two at once, and the cruel-looking
+little pandy at whom he had ridden was clearly getting the better of
+Boldre. Ted urged his restive Arab alongside the sepoy's horse, and,
+having no sword, clutched the man by his tunic collar and under his left
+arm, and putting forth all his strength, he swung him from the saddle.
+Before he could drop him, the sowar, turning half round in the air, got
+his knee on the neck of Ted's horse and aimed a vicious cut at his
+captor. The blow would have done for Ted, had not Claude been able to
+strike up the sword and give the point, and the pandy sank at the
+horse's feet. Ramzan Khan's remaining opponents had fled.
+
+"You've saved me twice to-day, Russell," said Boldre quietly. "Are you
+hurt?"
+
+"I don't know. Something struck me in the face, but I can't imagine what
+it was. It seems as if my nose is bleeding."
+
+Claude roared most ungratefully.
+
+"Why," said he, "as you charged the pandy, he suddenly backed his horse
+away from Ramzan Khan, and your Arab cannoned into it, and,
+half-rearing, he threw up his head and caught you full on the nose as
+you were leaning forward. Then I drew the pandy's attention from you."
+
+"Is that how it was? Where did my sword go?---- Ah! there it is; but
+what an ass I am!"
+
+"Why particularly so?"
+
+"I never had the sense to use my pistol." He took out his Deane and
+Adams revolver and fingered it regretfully, adding to the orderly as
+they turned back towards the Martinière and again joined their
+comrades:
+
+"We owe our lives to your courage and skill, Ramzan Khan. You are
+bleeding. Are you hurt?"
+
+The Mohammedan grinned, showing his even teeth and the whites of his
+eyes.
+
+"It is nothing. I owed you a debt, sahib, so let there be no talk of
+thanks. It was for this purpose that my father sent me to ride by your
+side."
+
+"I thank you no less," Ted assured him; and added, "You can use your
+sword."
+
+"Ah! my father taught us. He is indeed a swordsman. He will be pleased
+that I have proved of service."
+
+As they drew near to the Martinière Claude exclaimed:
+
+"Hullo, there's our friend of yesterday! Why, of course it's Peel! What
+duffers we were not to guess!"
+
+Peel! Captain Peel of H.M.S. _Shannon_, commanding the famous Naval
+Brigade with the big guns from the man-of-war at Calcutta. Yes, he it
+was who had shown them the position of the Residency. Right glad were
+the troops in Ladysmith of the aid of the sailors and their splendid
+guns, and glad were the raisers of the Lucknow siege when Peel and his
+jolly tars came to bear a hand.
+
+The sailors had unyoked the stolid bullocks--"cow-horses" they
+contemptuously termed them--and were hauling on the drag-ropes, drawing
+the mighty engines of destruction along as though they were but wooden
+toys, and the Punjabis of Boldre's Horse gazed in bewilderment at this
+new species of Feringhi. Shorter men than themselves, but what giants in
+strength!
+
+"Who are they, sahib?" asked Govind Singh. "Is it a new kind of soldier
+like those big warriors in petticoats we first saw yesterday?" And Ted
+tried hard to explain to the Sikhs how Britain's chief strength lay, not
+in her comparatively small army, but in her glorious navy.
+
+"But why are they doing coolie work? They are indeed strong as
+bullocks."
+
+"Do bullocks take a pride in their work, or can they do it half so
+well?" Ted replied. "These men love their guns, and they rejoice in
+their strength, and so they are invincible."
+
+In all probability Ramzan Khan had saved our hero's life that November
+afternoon, but the same night he was fighting desperately against an
+equally remorseless foe, against whom his orderly's swordmanship was of
+no avail. For he was again down with cholera, and this time a far worse
+attack than the slight one at Delhi, and when his chums left his bedside
+next morning they hardly dared hope to see him again. For days he lay
+between life and death, and then, thanks to a tough constitution and a
+healthy life, he rallied and began to pick up.
+
+The Martinière, in which he lay, was a vast palace built by Claude
+Martin, a French adventurer who had amassed great wealth in Lucknow. It
+was a curious building, with statues placed wherever they would stand,
+in grotesque profusion. The Frenchman had hoped to sell the palace to
+his friend the King of Oudh, naming a price of one million sterling. But
+the monarch had laughed at the idea, informing old Monsieur Martin that
+by their law the property would belong to the sovereign on the death of
+the owner. So Martin determined to outwit the king, and prepared his own
+tomb within the building. In due course Claude Martin died and was
+buried therein, thus circumventing his royal master, for no Mussulman
+dare live in a building in which the body of an unbeliever has lain.
+Previous to the siege the Martinière had been used as a school for the
+children of soldiers.
+
+As Ted lay in helpless pain the booming of the guns never seemed to
+cease. In spirit he was back again with the Gurkhas on the Ridge,
+watching Brind's battery pounding at the walls of Delhi. At last the
+thunder of the cannon ceased, and he fell asleep. When he woke up Alec
+Paterson was talking to the doctor, and he heard the latter say: "I
+think he's all right now; he's had a bad time, though."
+
+"Hullo, Alec! Has Brind breached the walls yet?"
+
+"Brind? You're wandering, old man; we're just outside Lucknow." And,
+faintly remembering, Ted began to collect his scattered wits.
+
+"I've been dreaming," said he. "I thought we were still on the Ridge. I
+remember now. Sir Colin is attacking to-day, isn't he?"
+
+"Not to-day; we're retreating to-day."
+
+"What? D'you think you can pull my leg so easily?"
+
+"It's a fact. The force is retiring, and I've come on with instructions.
+Listen! Those are Blunt's guns."
+
+"And do you mean to say that we're leaving Lucknow to the rebels?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"And Outram and Havelock, and the women and children?"
+
+"No," laughed his chum; "we've brought them away. I've just ridden from
+the Dilkusha, where preparations are being made to receive them. I've
+been ragging you. We have relieved Lucknow, but, not being strong enough
+to hold the town, Sir Colin is retiring on Cawnpore. He means to send
+the women to Allahabad and wait for reinforcements. You've missed a lot,
+old man. Your luck deserted you this time."
+
+"How did our fellows behave?"
+
+"Boldre's Horse? Hardly engaged. The brunt of the work fell on the 53rd,
+93rd, and 4th Sikhs. It was fine to see the two last regiments storm the
+Sikanderbagh, the Sikhs going off with a rush and the Highlanders after
+them, racing like mad. A Highlander jumped first through the breach and
+was killed, then Sikhs and Pathans and Highlanders all mixed. It was
+fine! The Englishmen and Irishmen of the 53rd did some good work too."
+
+"Have you seen Havelock and Outram?"
+
+"Rather! Saw the meeting between them and Sir Colin and Hope Grant.
+Havelock looks bad; I'm afraid he's a dying man. I wouldn't have missed
+these last few days for anything, Ted. Did you hear where I went the
+night you were taken bad?"
+
+"No. Were you on a _daur_[26]?"
+
+  [26] A surprise expedition on a small scale.
+
+"Not exactly. We had run out of ammunition almost, and Sir Colin was mad
+with the responsible artillery officer. He sent for little Roberts, and
+asked if he could find his way back to the Alambagh in the dark with a
+mob of camels to bring back the ammunition before morning. It was a
+dangerous bit of night-work, but Roberts said he'd do it. So the chief
+told him to get one hundred and fifty camels and an escort from Grant,
+and also take back the wretched artillery officer and leave him at the
+Alambagh in disgrace. Roberts had left his native guide in charge of
+some Afghans, but the fellow had given his guard the slip, and he was
+floored. However, without letting on, he asked for an escort of native
+cavalry. Grant wished him to take English lancers, but Roberts said
+Englishmen were too noisy and jingly, and helpless if separated. In
+charge of the escort were Younghusband and Gough, and I begged leave at
+the last moment.
+
+"Roberts was in a sweat. Before the previous day he'd never been over
+the ground, and the night was black, and we were liable to wander in any
+direction but the right one, and unless he got back with the ammunition
+within a few hours all the general's plans would be upset. However, with
+his usual genius for doing the right thing, he landed us within a short
+distance of the Alambagh, and went on alone to explain, being afraid
+lest the garrison, mistaking us for rebels, should fire and stampede
+the _oonts_ (camels), and then we should be left. He soon came back to
+say that they were getting the ammunition-boxes ready, so we quickly
+loaded the camels and got back in good time. Sir Colin was awfully
+pleased with him. It was rather exciting. If young Roberts lives long
+enough he'll be a great man."
+
+"He's a jolly decent fellow."
+
+"Yes, I saw him do another fine thing a day or two ago. We'd captured
+the mess-house close to the Residency, and Roberts planted the Union
+Jack on the top as a signal that we should soon rescue them. He was
+exposed to the rebel fire, and they soon bowled the flag over. Up he
+went again, and though they missed him they brought the staff down
+again. He set it up a third time, and for the third time they knocked it
+down. But he beat 'em in the end."
+
+"Good!"
+
+"There was a drummer-boy named Ross," Alec continued, "who did a similar
+thing. When the Shah Nujif, the highest mosque in Lucknow, was captured,
+he climbed like a monkey to the very top, and there he blew the 93rd's
+bugle-call towards the Residency while the pandies were making a target
+of him. Only a kid of twelve too! But I must go now, old chap. Hope
+you'll be all right for the final assault."
+
+A few days after the arrival of the rescued garrison of Lucknow at the
+Alambagh, Ted Russell was on his legs again, and the risaldar Govind
+Singh was describing the part Boldre's Horse had played in the assault.
+The veteran's deep-set eyes flashed as he spoke of deeds of daring, when
+suddenly he changed his tone and his countenance softened.
+
+"He is indeed dead, sahib," he said quietly. "I saw his grave, and they
+tell me that the English words on the tombstone mean that he tried to do
+his duty. The old Mohammedan was right."
+
+Ted understood that the grim Sikh was referring to his hero, Sir Henry
+Lawrence, and he asked Govind Singh to tell him more about the saintly
+warrior. They strolled into the grounds, and in the square their
+attention was attracted by a solemn group, who stood bareheaded and
+downcast. Ted approached, in time to see a coffin lowered.
+
+"Who is dead?" he asked in a whisper of a sergeant of the 93rd, who
+stood by. The Highlander looked dourly at his questioner.
+
+"Wha should it be but the best of a'?" said he.
+
+"Not Havelock?"
+
+The Highlander nodded, and continued to gaze into the grave. It was
+indeed the hero of the First Relief of Lucknow who had died, and
+disappointed the millions who had looked forward to welcoming the
+victorious soldier home to England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+An Encounter with the Nana Sahib
+
+
+Knowing that his present force would be lost in the mazes of Lucknow,
+Sir Colin awaited reinforcements. Jung Bahadur, the Gurkha prime
+minister and commander-in-chief, was marching down to his assistance
+with a strong column of the Nepal army, and Lord Canning, the
+governor-general, had advised Sir Colin to wait for the Gurkhas, as
+their general was keen on taking part in the siege, and Jung Bahadur
+would be annoyed if he had to return to Nepal without having had a share
+in any important fighting, and his friendship was worth something to the
+British. The troops were therefore employed in keeping open
+communications, and in small expeditions to Bithur, where Nana Sahib
+lived, and whithersoever the rebels were gathered in force.
+
+Christmas came and went, and a new year opened, before Ted Russell took
+part in another fight. In the early days of January, 1858, the rebels
+were attacked at the village of Khuda-ganj, north-west of Cawnpore.
+
+No sooner were the troops within range than the native gunners opened
+fire, and showed how excellent had been their training. The shells
+whizzed viciously overhead, and one burst with a crash between Ted and
+Ramzan Khan, who were within ten paces of each other, the fragments
+whirring about their ears without touching man or beast. Boldre's Horse
+were ordered to retire out of range, and the Horse Artillery began to
+talk back, and Peel's tars came running up, dragging their big guns
+along without apparent effort, and, wheeling them smartly into action,
+were soon pumping shot and shell into the rebel stronghold.
+
+The rest of the troops were ordered to take cover and lie down until the
+cannon should have played havoc among the mutineers, and prepared the
+way for a bayonet charge. And now Ted and Claude, from behind the
+sand-hills, witnessed an unusual incident, no less than open defiance of
+the commander-in-chief himself, by an English regiment--flat mutiny in
+fact.
+
+The men of the 53rd firmly believed that Sir Colin favoured the
+Highlanders unduly, and gave them more than their due. Having learned
+that he had selected the 93rd for the honour of leading the stormers,
+they quietly determined to baulk their rivals. The rebel fire was still
+unsilenced--indeed both Sir Colin and General Hope Grant had just been
+hit by spent bullets--when one of the 53rd rose and ran forward yelling.
+A howl of triumph and a cheer, and the regiment dashed after him.
+
+Sir Colin was furious--but the 53rd must be supported, even though they
+had upset his plans. He gave the 93rd the order to back them up, and
+Hope Grant advanced his cavalry.
+
+A thrill of delight passed through the nerves of our two lieutenants as
+the "Charge" was sounded, and the line of British Lancers and Sikh and
+Pathan Irregulars shot forward at a gallop, knee to knee as though on
+parade, the earth quivering beneath the hammering, the horses straining
+as if they entered into the feelings of their riders. It was a supreme
+moment, and Ted could tell that his good Arab was as excited as himself
+as the line thundered onwards. And then the regularity of the gallop was
+spoiled and the better-horsed shot ahead, for the lads of the 53rd had
+broken Jack Pandy's heart, and he was already scudding away with his
+guns. One party of rebels after another was overtaken and scattered, and
+on went the cavalry until all the guns were captured and hardly a rebel
+was left in sight. Then they turned and charged back upon those who had
+escaped the first shock.
+
+"Hurt at all?" asked Ted as he came up with Claude Boldre.
+
+Boldre pointed to his leg, from which the blood was welling. "Bit of a
+bayonet prick from a pandy who was down. I don't think much of it."
+
+"Better have it bathed, though.---- By Jove, look there! Roberts is a
+dead man--no, he's cut the sepoy down!"
+
+The troop of native cavalry with which the future hero of Kandahar and
+Pretoria was riding had come across a body of mutineers, who, unable to
+escape, had turned and fired, mortally wounding Younghusband, the
+commandant. Roberts was hurrying to his friend's aid, when he noticed a
+pandy in the act of slaying one of his troopers. He instantly engaged
+the rebel, and, cutting him down, saved the life of the Punjabi. Turning
+round Lieutenant Roberts perceived a couple of sepoys hurrying off with
+a standard, so he pursued and overtook them, and, seizing the standard
+with his left hand, he killed the bearer. As he did so the other sepoy
+let fly, his musket barely a foot away. Luckily for England it missed
+fire, and the second opponent was speedily disposed of, and Lieutenant
+Roberts bore away the standard and thereby gained the V.C.
+
+"Well done, Roberts!" exclaimed Ted as they watched him ride away.
+
+"Didn't you shiver when you saw the pandy pull the trigger?"
+
+"I went cold all over. I thought he was done for. But come along and
+bathe your cut if you don't want to be laid up."
+
+"I don't want that, thanks--not until we've driven the beggars out of
+Lucknow.
+
+"I like that nag of yours better every time I see him," observed Boldre,
+as his own horse stumbled towards camp, winded by the long gallop.
+
+"Yes, he was a bargain. I should like to know who owned him originally.
+By the way, I wonder what Sir Colin will do to the 53rd. The chief can
+be a peppery old gentleman when he likes, and I expect there'll be a
+row."
+
+"Yes, I shouldn't care to be in their shoes."
+
+They were not present to witness the scene, but for once in his life Sir
+Colin was vanquished. Whenever he attempted to "dress down" the
+regiment, the "bhoys" of the 53rd, highly elated by the success of their
+trick, would interrupt with shouts of "Three cheers for the
+commander-in-chief, boys!" And so rapturously did they applaud and with
+such hearty good-temper that the old general was forced to laugh in
+spite of himself; and after that it was no use to pretend to be angry.
+He rode away amid a storm of cheers. The 53rd had won.
+
+After a prolonged stay at Fatehghar, Boldre's Horse returned to
+Cawnpore. Now for the first time Ted had leisure to look round this
+town, so sorrowfully interesting to the English race. Alec knew the
+place well, having stayed there before Ted came down from Lahore; so he
+took his chum to the ghaut where the massacre had begun, and then to
+that last sad scene of the murder.
+
+There were gruesome sights still to be witnessed in Cawnpore, and,
+partially inured as the lads now were to the horrors of war, there was
+that in Cawnpore to make them shudder--bones bleaching on the many
+sand-banks of the broad river, and corpses floating down its sacred
+stream.
+
+But the saddest sights of all were those which recalled the foul
+treachery of the previous summer. Nowhere did the British soldiers so
+long to close with the sepoys, hand to hand and steel against steel, as
+at Cawnpore. Ill fared it, then, with any natives of that town whom the
+soldiers suspected of having helped, or even looked on, at that dire
+tragedy. It is to be feared that the innocent sometimes suffered for the
+sins of the guilty, for the soldiers were not in a mood to discriminate,
+and they did not know then that sepoys, even of the rebel regiments, had
+absolutely refused to obey the Nana, when he gave the order for the
+women and children to be murdered.
+
+The Sikh and Pathan allies had old scores to pay off against the Oudh
+sepoys, and they were with difficulty restrained. More than one harmless
+Hindu, who had taken no part in the outrage--who had perhaps risked his
+life for his master--fell a victim to their vengeance.
+
+Our two Aurungpore officers were gazing upon the waters of the Ganges,
+some distance east of the ghaut, silent and meditative. Ted was
+picturing the scene of the massacre, and the terrible agonies of the
+women as they saw their husbands being killed off by the concealed
+marksmen without a chance to retaliate; and the horror of all as the
+survivors were dragged to shore amid the gleeful shouts of the ruffians.
+Perhaps a pandy had been lying down there where he and Alec stood. His
+hand went to his sword-hilt at the thought.
+
+Paterson on the other hand was trying to realize that this muddy stream
+was actually the great Ganges, the wonderful river of which he had heard
+and read so much in childhood--Mother Ganges, the deity of the Hindus.
+
+A nearly-naked Hindu entered the sacred stream, a brass vessel in his
+hand. Wading until his knees were covered he dipped the loto in the
+filthy water and drank therefrom, or rather filled his mouth and let it
+trickle out again. Then he splashed his body from head to foot, and
+presently crouched down in the water and prayed to Mother Gunga.
+
+"Well," observed Ted with disgust, "if that chap ain't poisoned he
+deserves to be purified. Ugh! drinking that filth!"
+
+"He keeps looking at us," said Alec. "I wonder what he wants."
+
+"No good, I'll be bound. He's praying now."
+
+The devotee came to the bank and began to smear himself with holy mud,
+facing in turn north, east, south, and west. A number of Hindus were now
+in the water, but none was so devout as he, whom the others watched in
+respectful admiration. Quite suddenly he raised his arm on high, and,
+fixing the two with his rolling eyes, he cursed them aloud. Pretending
+not to notice, the boys turned away, but the _yogi_ ran after them, the
+holy water dripping from his hair and body as he ran.
+
+Calling them to halt, he fired off another volley of curses in a high
+shrill voice, greatly to the delight of his co-religionists. He called
+heaven to witness that he hated the unclean Feringhi, and vowed that
+destruction would come upon them suddenly unless they gave heed to him
+and returned to their own country.
+
+By this time the yogi had approached within a pace or two of the lads,
+who were quickly walking away from the scene, and fifty yards to the
+rear followed admiring groups. The yogi leaned his head forward,
+spitting forth his curses, and then ostentatiously drew a knife from the
+folds of his loincloth, and changed his tone in a most unexpected
+manner.
+
+"Take me prisoner! Quick, sahibs!" he hurriedly whispered. "I have news
+for you. Your pistols, quick!" and then he made pretence to strike at
+the nearer boy.
+
+Alec was the quicker to act. He whipped out his revolver, and,
+springing towards the yogi, who had recoiled, placed the muzzle against
+his head. The group of Hindus howled with rage.
+
+"Come along, you rebel dog!" Alec shouted in Urdu. "Well see how you
+like being shot out of a cannon."
+
+"That's right," whispered the yogi encouragingly, and aloud he shrieked
+appeals to his gods to destroy the Englishmen. Ted had now hold of one
+of the strange fellow's arms, and together they dragged him along, he
+making pretence to resist.
+
+"What do you want?" Alec whispered.
+
+"I am loyal, but I am suspected, and there are spies perhaps watching
+even now. If I had come to the English camp with the news, or even
+spoken to you in a friendly manner, I might have lost my life. Three
+times have I performed _puja_ here in the hope of a chance of speaking
+to an English officer unsuspected. My news is that Dundu Pant of Bithur
+is at Pindijang. Now let me wrest myself free, and you must chase me."
+
+"How can we know that your news is true?" asked Ted dubiously.
+
+"Ask Lawson Sahib if he will believe Pancham Tewari. He will know."
+
+An adroit twist and wrench and the yogi was free and running down the
+road. Ted fired--and missed--and Alec followed suit, both taking care
+not to hit the man. The onlookers howled with delight at the supposed
+discomfiture of the Feringhis, and the yogi turned and cursed them
+afresh, and the boys judged it best to retire when they saw the mob pick
+up stones and advance to protect the holy man.
+
+"We'd better clear away," said Alec. "I know Major Lawson; he'll tell
+whether the man is genuine."
+
+"Hope his news is true. It'll be a feather in our caps if we help to
+catch the Nana. Where is Pindijang?"
+
+"No idea. It's rather a fishy business altogether, and I'm afraid it's a
+trap."
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised," Ted replied. "I hope not, though, for it may
+be a great score for us if we help to catch the ruffian."
+
+They lost no time in reaching camp, and Alec led the way to Major
+Lawson's quarters, where they told the story of the encounter with the
+mysterious yogi, and how they had been referred to him for a character.
+
+"Pancham Tewari is to be trusted," said the major. "He's an old friend
+of mine, and he loves the Nana Sahib about as much as we do, for the
+scoundrel has dispossessed the Tewari family of their lands by fraud
+some time ago, and Pancham would do anything to get even with him. I'll
+see this matter through. Not a word to a soul, mind."
+
+They kept their own counsel, and had heard no more about the matter when
+they turned in for the night. But Ted Russell felt sure that something
+was in the air, and could hardly sleep for excitement. He dreamt that he
+was engaged in hand-to-hand conflict with a yogi, who quite casually
+changed to the infamous Rajah of Bithur, and, emerging from the bed of
+the Ganges, chased him for many miles, finally tripping him up;
+whereupon Ted caught him by the throat, and the murderer began to groan.
+He awoke and listened. Surely someone was groaning close at hand! Alec
+had of late been sharing his tent, and he stretched out his hand and
+groped for his chum.
+
+"What's wrong?" came a growl.
+
+"Listen!"
+
+"It is only the silly camels warbling. Go to sleep."
+
+"So it is. You can whiff 'em, too! We get too much camel here. I wish
+the wind 'ud change."
+
+The camel, that useful but detested animal, grunts and grumbles all
+night long, and the soldier blesses him in picturesque language. The
+fact that, moreover, "'e smells most awful vile" does not tend to
+increase his popularity.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't spoil my beauty-sleep whenever you have a
+nightmare," Paterson sleepily grumbled, as he rolled over and became
+blissfully unconscious.
+
+But Ted was restless and could not sleep. The camels kept up their
+serenade until he longed to sally forth with a whip. Presently a
+footstep was heard outside and the tent-flaps parted. Ted rose to a
+sitting posture and laid hold of his pistol.
+
+"Who's there?" he demanded.
+
+"'For Valour'!" came the cool reply. "Why, my V.C. winner, you're as
+frightened as a babu! Get up! we're going on a daur."
+
+It was Claude Boldre. Giving Alec a joyous kick, Ted hurriedly dressed
+and went out. The sun had not yet risen, but the camp was fitfully
+lighted by the wood-fires, around which half-clad native servants
+squatted and shivered. Others were running to and fro, aimlessly to all
+appearance, and the horses had begun to neigh. Away to the right he
+could make out against the walls of white canvas the dark forms of
+Govind Singh and Hira Singh superintending the preparations of their
+men.
+
+"Come along, Ted, and have some breakfast," said Claude, appearing from
+behind the tents. "Your horse is being looked after. We start in half an
+hour."
+
+Linking his arm in Ted's he marched him into the colonel's tent, calling
+to Paterson to follow. As they entered, Colonel Boldre looked up from
+his map, nodded, and motioned towards the breakfast-table. The
+coffee-pot was steaming thereon, and the boys did not hesitate. The tent
+was not more than a dozen feet square, and there was only one spare
+chair. Claude sat on the pallet-bed and Ted on a trunk.
+
+"Are we going to Pindijang?" asked the latter, "and if so, where is it?"
+
+"Why!" exclaimed the colonel in surprise, "how did you know?"
+
+Ted and Alec laughed.
+
+"This is our daur, colonel. Didn't you know?"
+
+"Your daur! What on earth do you mean?"
+
+"We brought the news last night that the Nana was there," Alec replied.
+"We had it from a spy."
+
+Colonel Boldre regarded them with interest.
+
+"You never told me," said Claude.
+
+"We were told to keep it quiet," said Ted.
+
+"Quite right!" observed their commandant. "Pindijang is about nine miles
+away, and this is to be a cavalry affair. Our fellows are going, with a
+detachment of Hodson's and Probyn's, and a squadron of the 9th Lancers,
+and a troop of Horse Artillery."
+
+"The pater's in command," whispered Claude.
+
+"I congratulate you, colonel," said Alec promptly.
+
+In came Major Lawson, and the boys cleared out. The wild-looking men of
+Boldre's Horse had broken their fast and were eager for the fray,
+chattering in groups, discussing the probable destination, and hazarding
+all kinds of wild conjectures. A few moments later without any sound of
+bugles, the regiment was in the saddle and trotting away to the
+north-west.
+
+Paterson sorrowfully watched them depart, for he had not obtained
+permission to accompany the force.
+
+"Where are the others?" Ted enquired of Claude.
+
+"Don't know.... Who are these?--oh! the Flamingoes, and there are the
+Probyn ruffians. We've done it very quietly."
+
+A blurred mass appeared presently away to the right.
+
+"Those will be the Lancers and the guns," Ted hazarded his opinion.
+"Yes, there's no mistaking that music. Good old Horse Artillery!"
+
+With joined forces the little flying column pushed forward at a trot,
+the pleasant clatter of hoofs and jingle and rattle of the guns forming
+an accompaniment, inspiring with its martial noise.
+
+A flash of yellow light gleamed far away on the eastern horizon, as the
+metal upon one of the tall minarets of Lucknow caught the first rays,
+and the sun had risen. There before them lay the fortified village of
+Pindijang in the dip hollowed out by the shallow tributary running
+south-east to join the Granges. The place was walled, and they could see
+the black muzzles of cannon peeping from the embrasures. The
+neighbourhood was well wooded, affording good cover for sharp-shooters.
+
+Colonel Boldre grumbled at his hard luck. Half an hour earlier and he
+could have taken the village by surprise. The fault was not his, for the
+map showed Pindijang as nine miles from Cawnpore. It had proved not less
+than a dozen, and would have to be taken by hard fighting, not by a
+_coup_.
+
+He sent the Lancers with two of the horse-guns away to the right to cut
+off retreat in the direction of Lucknow, the Irregular Horse remaining
+concealed by a wood until the flanking party should be ready to
+co-operate. Ted and Claude stood watching the Englishmen ride off,
+admiring the gallant bearing of the splendid Bengal Horse Artillery, a
+corps that has given so many famous men to India. The lances of the
+cavalry flashed and glittered as the steel points caught the sun,
+making, with the picturesque trappings of the Artillery and the
+fascination of their guns, one of the bright and beautiful scenes of
+war. The other side of the picture was presently to be seen.
+
+"We're quite on a hill here," said Ted. "I should not have thought the
+ground dipped so much. They're out of sight."
+
+"There will be a stream to cross down there."
+
+Presently a myriad flashing of tiny points of moving fire, like the
+facets of waves dancing in the sun, and the Lancers were seen emerging
+from the hollow and trotting up the slight incline. But the guns were
+not with them, for the wheels had sunk deep in the mud of the far bank.
+A score of the Lancers had remained to help, while the remainder trotted
+across the plateau to cut off the retreat.
+
+Suddenly a bank of smoke obscured the trunks of the trees, and the ranks
+of the Lancers seemed to break up, as the crash and rattle of musketry
+rang in the ears of the distant onlookers. Then were seen gaps and empty
+saddles and maddened horses. The officer in command, himself wounded,
+could be seen steadying his men, and, resisting the temptation to charge
+in among the trees, he drew them off rapidly and in good order, and
+brought them under cover, where they dismounted, and their carbines
+began to seek out the hidden pandies.
+
+Colonel Boldre was visibly agitated. The sepoys had seen their approach
+and laid a trap, and, should they be strong enough to overwhelm the
+cavalry, the stuck guns would be lost.
+
+He was about to give the order to support the Lancers, when there was
+heard a clang and a clatter and a rattle, and a whirl of dust was seen
+rushing up the slope, as though wind-impelled.
+
+"B. H. A. for ever!" Ted exclaimed. "By George! they are going!"
+
+The sound of firing so close at hand had put double strength into the
+backs of the gunners, and they tugged and pushed, and the plucky horses
+also heard the sound, and out of the mud came the guns. Mounting
+rapidly, the drivers cracked their whips and urged forward their teams
+of six good horses. The dust rose and enveloped them as they bounded
+along; then they wheeled, stopped sharply, and unlimbered.
+
+Colonel Boldre's face relaxed, and he gave no command. The watchers saw
+the gunners busy as ants; then came a flash and a roar as a shell
+hurtled among the trees, and a second was in the air before the first
+had burst.
+
+With hardly a pause a third and fourth shell exploded among the pandies,
+apparently with deadly effect. Their fire slackened, died down; they
+wavered, and another shell fell amongst them. Panic-stricken they
+streamed away towards the sheltering walls. The Lancers mounted their
+horses; the guns scattered another shell or two amid the fugitives, and,
+limbering up, rattled after them.
+
+But the surprise had failed, and there was now little chance of
+capturing the arch-traitor. With poignant disappointment Colonel Boldre
+saw the troops pouring out of the village through the north-western
+gate, the exit farthest from them. He gave the word, and the Irregulars
+galloped away to their left front to cut them off.
+
+Ted's Arab was both fleet and great-hearted, and he and Govind Singh
+were soon to the front, half a length in advance of the ragged line. It
+was a race, not a charge, and Ted remembered with a smile how he had
+once guided "The Padre" to victory. The pace of the runaways was checked
+by the river which, bending from the north-east, looped round the
+western and southern sides of the village, leaving only the eastern side
+open, and _there_ were the British Lancers, now quite near to the
+walls. Close behind him Ted could hear the jingle of a gun and the mad
+galloping of its team, tearing the big weapon along with jolt and
+clatter. Few sights are there to surpass horse artillery galloping into
+action, and few sounds more musical; and the noble horses seem inspired
+thereby, and enter into the spirit of the movement with a zest as great
+as that of the men.
+
+They were now level with the ghaut, or ford, and a few hundred yards to
+the west thereof. The guns unlimbered, and, after sending a couple of
+shells after the leading fugitives who had made good their escape, they
+opened on the ghaut and got range with the second shot. More than half
+the pandies were checked; on the one side were English cavalry and a
+couple of those deadly guns, on the other the only way of escape was a
+death-trap. Colonel Boldre despatched a body of Probyn's Horse and of
+his own men under Claude to ride down to the ghaut and take charge of
+the prisoners. The rest continued in the track of the Nana.
+
+Ted, Govind Singh, and a handful of the better-mounted men had kept on
+their way without a pause, and they quickly perceived that they were
+overhauling the sepoys, the hindmost of whom presently began to scatter
+across the fields and swampy ground, making for the woods and jungle.
+And after them went most of the pursuers.
+
+But Ted and Govind Singh with some of their Jalandar men kept straight
+ahead. They had noticed that amongst the runagates who had stuck to the
+road were two or three men of consequence, to judge by their costumes
+and the caparisons of their steeds. And some instinct told our ensign
+that he in the middle of the group, decked out in a conspicuous saffron
+shawl, with a glittering turban, was none other than the Nana himself.
+Heedless of all other considerations he urged his handful onward,
+speeding farther and farther away from the main body, intent only on
+slaying or capturing the Mahratta ruffian.
+
+They were now within a hundred yards of their quarry, and almost up with
+the laggards, some of whom broke away into the paddy-fields, while those
+who were not quick enough received short shrift from Govind Singh's
+compatriots. With hardly a pause the Punjabis again swept forward, their
+number reduced by one. As they lessened the distance separating them
+from the rear-guard a couple of pandies swiftly swerved aside, off the
+track, and fired as the Sikhs, unprepared for the manoeuvre, flew past
+in a bunch. The sowar on the right of Govind Singh reeled in his saddle
+and then his horse shot to the front, relieved of its burden, and Ted
+noticed that a second of his men winced, let his carbine fall, and
+clapped a hand to his side.
+
+"Forward!" shouted the young officer as the men began to pull on the
+reins. "Forward! Never mind those two; there's a big reward for him who
+catches that saffron fellow in front!"
+
+With much reluctance the Punjabis allowed the two pandies to continue
+their flight unmolested. The chieftain and his body-guard were within
+pistol-shot, and Ted fired twice, and unhorsed the sepoy who rode next
+to the leader, at whom he had aimed. And suddenly the rebels turned and
+with savage yells charged back upon their pursuers. Ted again aimed at
+the leader and again missed, and the Nana's men were upon them, three to
+one.
+
+With a yell as savage as theirs Govind Singh rose in his stirrups and
+felled his nearest opponent with one mighty blow, and, leaning forward,
+buried his tulwar in the shoulder of another. Before he could recover
+his blade a lance was thrust into his breast, and he dropped like a log.
+Ted saw the fall of his right-hand man, and was near enough to cut down
+the striker just as another of the mutineers rode full tilt at him.
+
+The lance-point grazed his tunic, and he caught the shaft under his
+arm-pit, gave the pandy his point, and went forward, straight for the
+man with the saffron shawl, who was keeping well in the background. He
+cut at the villain's head, but a tulwar interposed, caught his blade,
+and snapped it off at the hilt. And at this moment, when the superior
+strength and size and courage of the Punjabis were barely enabling them
+to hold their own, the two pandies who had escaped had now wheeled round
+and charged to the aid of their comrades, taking Ted's two or three
+unexpectedly in the rear and deciding the issue.
+
+A tremor of cold fear ran through our hero's frame as he found himself
+armed only with a useless sword-hilt wherewith to defend himself. The
+vile Mahratta raised his pistol, and, at a distance of three paces,
+fired point blank at the lad's breast. Ted Russell's career would have
+ended then and there had not his Arab, at the very moment that the
+trigger was pulled, trodden on the edge of a naked blade. The horse
+reared, received the bullet in its head, and rolled over dead, almost
+crushing its rider.
+
+One Sikh and one only of the reckless few who had galloped in the wake
+of Ted and Govind Singh remained alive, and he was unhorsed and fighting
+valiantly on foot. He hacked his way to the rescue of his officer, and
+wounded the pandy who, having disarmed Ted, was about to deal a
+finishing blow. Then he in his turn was laid low. Ted still had his
+revolver; raising himself on his elbow he took aim at the Nana, who
+instantly set spurs to his horse, and his two surviving retainers
+followed his example. But Ted had the Mahratta rajah covered. Filled
+with exultation at the thought that the murderer was at last at his
+mercy he pulled the trigger.
+
+There was no report, and he realized with a heavy heart that the
+weapon's chambers were all empty, that the arch-traitor had escaped, and
+that he was helpless!
+
+He rose and looked about him, and a reaction of thankfulness followed
+the bitter disappointment as the thought stole upon him that he had
+escaped with no injury more serious than a scratch or two. He perceived
+that it was lucky that his enemies, as well as he himself, had been
+under the impression that the revolver was still loaded. What would have
+been his fate had they known the truth?
+
+He began to search for Govind Singh's body. The veteran risaldar had
+ceased to breathe; he had died as he would have wished, fighting against
+odds. The boy had come to regard his grim old comrade with an affection
+that had been returned by the risaldar. The other Sikhs were also all
+dead, so fierce had been the hand-to-hand combat; and of the Nana's
+following at least a dozen were slain or were dying. One of the latter,
+a youngster barely sixteen, was regarding the Feringhi with eyes in
+which hatred and a desire to propitiate struggled mutely for mastery.
+Ted divined the meaning of that look and hastened to hand his
+water-bottle to the sufferer, who greedily gulped the water down and
+regarded his benefactor with gratitude.
+
+"Tell me," said Ted, "who was he with the saffron shawl?"
+
+"That was the Rajah of Bithur," replied the wounded lad.
+
+With a glance of regret towards the good Arab that had served him so
+well, Ted mounted Govind Singh's horse, which was standing beside its
+dead master, and sped away to rejoin his comrades, some of whom could be
+seen in the distance returning from the chase. Colonel Boldre had many
+prisoners and several guns to show as the result of the daur, but the
+main object of the expedition had escaped.
+
+"I was afraid you had been killed, Russell," said he.
+
+"I've lost Govind Singh, the risaldar, and a good many men, sir, and we
+just missed the Nana. He unhorsed me, and I should have shot him if I'd
+had the sense to reserve a bullet for him."
+
+"Unhorsed you? Dundu Pant himself?" exclaimed the commandant.
+
+Ted reported the affair, and Colonel Boldre, uncertain whether to praise
+or blame, remained deep in thought.
+
+"You had a narrow squeak," said he at last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+The Final Scene at Lucknow
+
+
+Lieutenant Boldre lolled back in his camp-chair and smiled a superior
+smile, while Ted Russell scratched his head and gazed with puzzled
+expression at the carved pieces upon the chess-board.
+
+It was undoubtedly checkmate, and he asked himself, almost angrily, how
+on earth he could have allowed himself to be outmanoeuvred and
+surrounded, and his communications cut off, in so absurdly simple a
+manner. Now that it was too late to avert defeat, he could clearly see
+how his opponent's attack could have been met and repulsed.
+
+"You've licked me this time," he acknowledged. "I'm playing like an
+_oont_ this morning."
+
+The tent was Claude's, and it was pitched to the rear of the Dilkusha,
+or "Yellow Bungalow" as the soldiers called the palace. Ten days had
+passed since the raid on Pindijang, and many things had happened in the
+meanwhile.
+
+Having received reinforcements, Sir Colin had once more occupied his old
+position a few miles south-east of Lucknow. He meant the final attack
+upon that city to be deliberate and scientific, not a wild rush,
+entailing perhaps the sacrifice of thousands of lives in the narrow,
+winding streets, where Englishmen would be at a disadvantage. There was
+plenty of time, therefore, for an occasional game of chess.
+
+"Have your revenge?" asked Boldre confidently; and Ted replied that he
+was willing, when in stalked Paterson.
+
+"Well, how's the deputy-assistant, extra-honorary, supernumerary
+aide-de-camp? Is he acting as postman?" asked Ted, noticing that Alec
+had brought letters.
+
+"The mail has just come in, so I picked yours out to save time. Catch!"
+
+"Thanks, old man!" said Ted, as he picked up the scattered missives.
+"I'll do as much for you some day, if ever _I_ become a great man.
+Here's one for you, Boldre, from Simla."
+
+"That's from the mater, and I owe her one or two already. It's no end of
+a fag writing letters. Are yours from home?"
+
+"One is," Ted replied. "The other is from Aurungpore;" and silence
+prevailed for several minutes.
+
+"Good news from home, Ted, I hope?" said Alec presently.
+
+"Yes, they're all well. The pater is wishing he was here with us. He's
+been particularly interested in my last letters telling of our doings
+with the Sirmur Battalion, because he was taken prisoner by the Gurkhas
+in the Nepal war of 1815, and made friends with a lot of them. The mater
+is wishing I was back at home. Why do women cross their letters so much,
+Alec? It's worse than a Chinese puzzle."
+
+"Nay, Ted, don't ask me. I don't get shoals of letters in feminine
+handwriting."
+
+Ted turned red, laughed, and changed the subject.
+
+"This reads very funnily now. They write to say how glad they are that
+Delhi has fallen, and that Jim and I escaped without harm, and they
+suppose that by now the fighting will all be over."
+
+He opened the second envelope, and Alec winked at Claude, who raised his
+eyebrows enquiringly.
+
+"Surely it ain't?" said he, rising quickly to the joke; and Ted looked
+up in feigned bewilderment.
+
+"Of course it is," Alec answered. "Don't he look rapturous?"
+
+"And so young!" murmured Claude.
+
+"Yes; he cut me out too. She preferred the colour of his hair, and
+fancied that she detected more signs of a moustache."
+
+Alec dodged, as Ted most irreverently threw a bishop at his head, and
+resumed:
+
+"A nice little girl too, daughter of one of our officers. Does she send
+any message for me, Ted?"
+
+Our hero was blushing violently. He sprang to his feet suddenly, caught
+his chum by the collar, and rolled both him and his seat over the floor
+of the tent, smashing the stool and damaging Claude's bed. Then, feeling
+better, he resumed his seat, and Alec picked himself up, laughing.
+
+"It's a bad case, Claude," said he. "What does she say, Ted?"
+
+"Well, if you want to know, she asks if I still chum with that ass
+Paterson, or whether he's been knocked on the head by a praiseworthy
+pandy, and a good job too!"
+
+"That's fiction," commented Alec solemnly. "Go ahead."
+
+"She says that the weather is sometimes fine, though not so hot as it
+will be in June."
+
+"More fiction. Seems suspicious, Claude, that he should have to
+extemporize."
+
+Claude nodded acquiescence.
+
+"He's in a bad way, that's plain," said he. And Ted went on unheeding:
+"And that Colonel Woodburn is hardly inconvenienced by his wound; that
+she herself is very well, and has seen Jim several times lately; and
+that everything is quiet along the frontier; and that Jim is continually
+wishing that the Guides could have been spared for Lucknow; and that
+she's heard of what you did at Agra."
+
+Here was Alec's turn to blush.
+
+"Never mind all that," he interrupted hastily. "What we want to know is
+what she says about you."
+
+But Ted winked, and, pocketing the letter, once more assumed an
+aggressive demeanour.
+
+"Pax!" said Alec, retreating. "I'm not going to fight a chap who's in
+the habit of exploding gunpowder beneath his opponents. By the way, have
+you seen our allies?"
+
+"Not yet. Shall we pay them a visit? Come along."
+
+Among the latest reinforcements were Brigadier Franks' column and Jung
+Bahadur's army from Nepal. Franks had been operating with great effect
+in Eastern Oudh, from the Nepal border, and his men were mostly Gurkhas,
+lent by the Nepal Government. They had done excellent service, and had
+won one or two quite remarkable victories. Jung Bahadur's force, nearly
+ten thousand strong, had just come in, and as the army was aware that
+Sir Colin had been waiting for these Gurkhas, it was expected that the
+real struggle was about to begin.
+
+The three lieutenants strolled down to the Gurkha camp to inspect the
+new-comers, and Ted thought of that day on the Ridge when Reid's little
+Mongolians were indulging in horse-play with their comrades of the
+Rifles, and he remembered how one of the Gurkhas had foretold that Jung
+Bahadur would bring his troops to assist the British. He little thought
+then that he should be present to witness the arrival of the famous
+_shikarri_.
+
+The Nepalese allies did not, in Ted's opinion, look quite so tough or so
+soldierly as his friends of the Sirmur Battalion, and their officers
+compared unfavourably with Merban Sing and Goria Thapa. There was plenty
+of good material, but the average, though taller in stature, seemed less
+sturdy and considerably dirtier. These Nepalese were not all the true
+Magar and Gurung Gurkhas; there was a mixture of other clans and races,
+with a bigger proportion of Hindu blood. These were not quite so ugly as
+little "Johnny", and they did not possess the true military swagger and
+jolly recklessness. Approaching a group whose faces seemed to bear the
+right stamp, he addressed them in Magar-Kura, of which tongue Goria
+Thapa had taught him a smattering.
+
+The Gurkhas were delighted at being spoken to in their own dialect,
+understood by so few foreigners, and they responded eagerly. He tried to
+explain how he had served with their brethren at Delhi, and it chanced
+that when he mentioned the name of his friend Goria Thapa, one of the
+new arrivals repeated the name, and it turned out that he knew the
+Sirmur officer, and Ted Russell at once became their blood-brother.
+
+As they conversed, barely half understanding one another, the men round
+about sprang up to attention, and Alec Paterson nudged Ted in the ribs
+with his elbow. Turning to see what Alec wanted, he perceived Sir Colin,
+and by the general's side rode a distinguished-looking, dark-skinned
+man, clad gorgeously, and ablaze with diamonds.
+
+It was the Gurkha prince himself, one of the bravest of the brave, as
+Ted had heard, but by no means a merry, good-natured personage, such as
+his friends of the Ridge. Jung Bahadur motioned one of the Gurkhas to
+his side, and, looking suspiciously at Ted, he whispered to the man, who
+informed him in reply how it came about that this English youth had
+picked up enough of their language to converse with them.
+
+Sir Colin beckoned Ted to approach, and asked questions similar to those
+being answered by Jung Bahadur's informant.
+
+"Went all through the siege of Delhi, eh?" said he, when his enquiries
+had been satisfied. "And your friend also? Acting as lieutenants of
+Boldre's Horse now?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Were you the fellows who got that information about the Nana a week or
+two ago?---- You were, eh? You seem to know the natives well. Wish more
+of my officers did. I'll see about---- Well, what does Mr. Jung want
+now?"
+
+The Gurkha prince rode up and addressed Ted in Urdu.
+
+"You were with my countrymen at Delhi?" said he. "How did they fight?"
+
+"Like heroes," Ted replied.
+
+"Ah, that was a fight of giants!" exclaimed the Gurkha with animation.
+"Would I had been there! But I heard about it, and the death of
+Nikkulseyn."
+
+The generals rode on, the boys saluted, and Ted said ruefully:
+
+"I believe he was going to say that he would see about confirming our
+appointments when old Jung interrupted."
+
+"Russell," said Claude solemnly, "I'm going to kidnap that Gurkha chap
+some dark night with a few of our Sikhs. Did you notice his diamonds? He
+just dazzled. Hullo, who's this?"
+
+With a group of English officers who had witnessed the incident was a
+gentleman wearing an unmilitary frock-coat and Hessian boots, whom Ted
+had observed more than once in intimate conversation with the
+commander-in-chief. He now greeted the boys, and courteously asked what
+had interested the Maharaja so. Ted explained, and the stranger thanked
+him, and after a few moments' conversation, in which he drew out the
+youngsters to speak of those things which interested them most, he
+rejoined his friends.
+
+"Who's that, Alec?" asked Ted. "He seems a clever chap. Decent too."
+
+"Don't you know? It's your namesake of the _Times_."
+
+"What? Dr. Russell?---- Crimea Russell?"
+
+"That's the man. Sir Colin seems to think a lot of him, and trusts him
+absolutely with his plans."
+
+Next day began the movements on Lucknow. On the morning of March 6th,
+Outram, with Hope Grant as second in command, set out to make a flanking
+movement and co-operate with Sir Colin from the north bank of the Gumti.
+They were to work along the north-east and north of the city with a
+strong column, while the main force pushed forward from the east and
+south-east, the two armies being in touch and their artillery able to
+play upon the same positions from different sides. The rebel defences,
+it must be borne in mind, were vast and strong.
+
+Outram's force marched away to the east, and to those ignorant of its
+destination it appeared to be deserting Lucknow. Before reaching the
+southward bend of the river the engineers constructed a bridge of
+floating barrels, over which the column crossed and proceeded
+northwards, and presently wheeled to the west and encamped, having
+completed the half of a circle. Alec Paterson was with Outram, Boldre's
+Horse with the Southern Army.
+
+On March 9th a Union Jack floating over the Chaka Palace told that
+Outram had captured an important outpost, and that night he almost
+completed the circle, and encamped hardly more than a mile due north of
+Sir Colin, on the other side of the Gumti. The two armies were soon in
+direct communication, and as a consequence the rebels abandoned their
+first line of defence. The British loss was slight, but Sir William
+Peel, the newly-promoted seaman, had been mortally wounded.
+
+On the 11th began the first serious fighting for the southern force. Sir
+Colin gave Jung Bahadur's army charge of the operations along the
+south-eastern line of defence, across the canal, whilst he attacked from
+the east, in touch with Outram. The Begum Kothi, a fortified palace
+which blocked the way, was stormed with splendid gallantry by
+Highlanders and Sikhs, the rebels being driven out after they had lost
+many hundreds of their comrades. A number of guns were captured, and
+Hodson was slain whilst performing one of his typical feats of valour.
+
+  [Illustration: THE REBEL REELED AGAINST THE WALL         _Page 340_]
+
+Boldre's Horse had little to do, the work lying with the artillery and
+infantry until the rebels fled, when the cavalry completed the rout. It
+was not safe to pursue too far, and Ted's Punjabis had the order to
+retire, when their young officer chanced to notice that in the confusion
+a handful of Gurkhas, whose zeal had outrun discretion, were faring
+badly at the hands of a number of better-armed pandies. He clapped spurs
+to his steed, and called on his men to charge. A Gurkha officer, his
+back to a wall, was defending himself gamely against five sepoys with
+bayonets. In the nick of time Ted sliced at one who, having reloaded,
+was in the act of firing, and his horse bowled over a second, while the
+lance of a Dogra sowar disabled a third.
+
+The long lances of the Punjabis and the force of their charge prevailed,
+and, taking the surviving Gurkhas in their midst, they trotted back
+amidst a shower of badly-aimed bullets. Ted then perceived that the
+Gurkha officer was the man who knew Goria Thapa. His gratitude was
+great, but there was little time for speech-making.
+
+The capture of the Begum Kothi was not only a brilliant, but also a
+useful, piece of work, by which they were soon to profit. The way was
+almost opened to the Kaiserbagh Palace, now a huge fortification
+mounting very powerful cannon, and this was the key to the position. But
+before this all-important defence could be carried by storm, it was
+first necessary to gain possession of the Imambara Mosque, and the
+infantry were held back for a time until Outram's guns from the north
+and Lugard's from the east should have made some impression upon the
+thick walls of the two stout buildings.
+
+When the time did come for the infantry to act, a glorious response was
+made. General Franks sent forward the 10th Foot to support. For a time
+the resistance was fierce and courageous, but the English and Punjabis
+would not be denied. Pressing forward sternly, the rear ranks filling
+the gaps as the leaders fell, their determination at length cowed the
+pandies, and their bayonets cleared the Imambara. Then the way lay open
+to the Kaiserbagh, and British hearts beat high.
+
+Sir Colin had not intended that his brigadier should attempt more than
+the Imambara that day, but seeing that the pandies had lost heart,
+Franks wisely took upon himself to strike a more decisive blow. While
+hotly pursuing the rebels from the Imambara the British troops had
+penetrated to a strong position overlooking the Kaiserbagh. It would be
+a thousand pities to relinquish this advantage. So Franks pushed forward
+reinforcements, and within a few hours the Kaiserbagh was in our hands,
+and to all intents Lucknow was gained and a decisive victory had crowned
+the British arms. The day had been brilliant and decisive, but marred by
+one unfortunate result of the commander-in-chief's over-caution.
+
+Had Outram been allowed to swoop down from the north upon the broken
+rebels their collapse would have been complete; in fact the rebellion in
+Oudh would have been smashed. Outram was not only prepared, he was most
+anxious to do this. But Sir Colin, hardly realizing how thorough was the
+demoralization of the pandies, how real was their dread of the British
+bayonet, feared lest Outram's men should suffer heavily in securing the
+iron and stone bridges over the Gumti for the passage of his troops. He
+therefore gave Outram strict orders not to cross the river until he
+could do so without the loss of a single man. Outram could do nothing
+but obey and look on while the glorious chance slipped away.
+
+There was still fighting in the streets of Lucknow, though the mutineers
+had lost their hold on the great city. Next in importance to
+Nicholson's storming of Delhi, the capture of Lucknow was the most
+severe blow the sepoys had received. Though the army would be employed
+for months sweeping the sepoys into the Terai jungle across the Nepal
+border, where Nana Sahib was finally lost, and though Sir Hugh Rose
+should chase the Nana's slim general, Tantia Topi, from pillar to post
+throughout the spring and summer of 1858 as Kitchener's generals chased
+De Wet, everyone understood that all danger to the British raj was over
+through this day's work.
+
+Ted Russell was on foot in the streets of Lucknow with two or three
+Sikhs as Claude Boldre swept past with threescore troopers behind him.
+
+"Horses been shot?" he called out in passing; and Ted nodded that it was
+so. Any attempt to pursue on foot would be useless, so they were turning
+back towards the Kaiserbagh, where the soldiers, Englishmen,
+Highlanders, Irishmen, Punjabis, and Jung Bahadur's Gurkhas, were busy
+looting the treasures of the palace. There were no pandies in sight, and
+Ted's dismounted sowars left their officer and ran off to share in the
+plunder.
+
+The solitary Englishman was not unobserved, though there seemed to be no
+enemy at hand; in fact this particular street was deserted, except for a
+group or two of Englishmen and Irregulars several hundred yards away in
+the direction of the Kaiserbagh, and Ted's sowars, now half-way between
+these groups and their officers.
+
+So the young Feringhi seemed an easy prey to the three concealed pandies
+who were furtively watching him from behind the curtains. A gleam of
+hateful satisfaction lit up their dark faces as they noiselessly slipped
+out of the house. Too late to draw his pistol, Ted heard the stealthy
+tread, but he had kept his sword drawn, and, turning quickly, he raised
+his blade to guard his head and ward off the blow that instinct told him
+was being aimed thereat. The tulwar, instead of cleaving his skull,
+glanced off the sword, and with diminished force bit into his shoulder.
+He sank with a moan of pain, and the traitor raised his weapon for a
+deadlier stroke.
+
+But before the blow could be repeated a pistol rang out, and the rebel
+reeled against the wall, then sank to his knees and tried to crawl away.
+His companions, who had been a few yards to the rear of their comrade,
+hesitated, trying to make up their minds whether to run at once or first
+to despatch the wounded enemy. An Englishman in volunteer uniform and
+one of Ted's Sikhs, who had turned back, threw themselves upon the
+pandies, who hesitated no longer but fled like hares. Before a dozen
+steps had been taken in pursuit, one of the pandies turned, and, still
+running, fired. The Englishman staggered, spun round and dropped dead,
+and, as he fell, Ted saw his face, and knew that Tynan had wiped out the
+blot upon his honour. Then the ensign fainted away.
+
+The Sikh brought back his comrades, and they carried their officer to
+the nearest surgeon, who was fortunately able to take the case in hand
+at once, or the boy would have died ere the sun rose upon another day.
+
+Owing to the ignorance of the Sikhs the gush of blood had not been
+staunched, until the doctor, with quick grasp of the situation, did what
+was necessary to retain the young life that was fast ebbing away.
+
+Next day Ted Russell was removed on a doolie to the Dilkusha, and he
+took no further part in the fighting that ensued before the Mutiny was
+finally extinguished. Recovery was slow, and a couple of months elapsed
+before he was able to walk even a short distance without fatigue. But no
+permanent injury had been caused by the blow, and by the end of July he
+could get about as usual, both on foot and on horseback; and on the day
+that he reported himself as fit for duty, he received the intimation
+that both he and his chum Paterson had been officially gazetted as
+lieutenants in the corps known as Boldre's Irregular Horse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+Jim Disposed Of
+
+
+That dignity had hardly been attained when an interesting ceremony, in
+which Ted played but a subordinate part, took place in Simla. Major
+Russell and Ethel Woodburn, finding how much they had to talk about, and
+how many thrilling experiences must be related, very sensibly came to
+the conclusion that their best course would be to marry with as little
+delay as possible.
+
+Colonel Woodburn's natural objections to such haste had first to be
+overcome, but having at length become reconciled to the idea of losing
+his daughter, he allowed the date to be fixed. Charlie and Ted were sent
+for, and at the latter's urgent request, Subadar Goria Tapa was invited
+to the wedding. The Sirmur Battalion's head-quarters were then, as now,
+situated at no great distance from Simla, so that neither Captain
+Dorricot nor the subadar found any difficulty in attending. Captain
+Spencer was another guest whom Ted was glad to meet again. Rapidly as he
+had returned from Kashmir on hearing the news of the outbreak, he had
+been too late to join his regiment and take part in the march to Delhi.
+John Lawrence had found employment for him with the Movable Column, and
+he had been badly wounded in the fighting that took place while
+Nicholson was in command.
+
+Three days before the wedding date Ted entered Simla and greeted his
+brother with a salute. Now that the dull days of exile and inaction had
+come to an end he was in the merriest of moods.
+
+"Come to report myself, sir," said he with a solemn face.
+
+"Hullo, Lieutenant Russell, V.C.!" was his brother's greeting as Jim
+looked up from a table strewn with papers. "Glad you're looking fit
+again. I'm blest if I know what you want here, but Ethel would have you.
+Nice nuisance you'll be, I know."
+
+The words of this truly fraternal greeting were belied by the hearty
+handgrip. Ted retorted in kind.
+
+"Well, that's brotherly love if you like," said he. "Wretched man! Here
+I've come, my heart swelling with sympathy and pity for you, and this is
+your return. I won't be sorry for you any longer, not one bit. Serves
+you jolly well right. Hope you forget the ring, and gash yourself whilst
+shaving, and that you're late, and that you get stuck in the service,
+and that your collar comes undone, and your tie crawls round your neck."
+
+"Much obliged, I'm sure," replied Jim, laughing at his brother's
+boisterous spirits.
+
+"Bless you, Major Russell, you're very welcome."
+
+Jim winked with much deliberation, whereupon Ted thumped him between the
+ribs and continued his chaff.
+
+"Cheer up, old man; it'll soon be over, and p'raps you'll recover.
+You're not the first fellow to be married, though I suppose you imagine
+that there's never been such an important affair upon this poor old
+globe before. Cheer up! I've heard of fellows who've survived it."
+
+"Thanks! I'm fairly cheerful considering, but being with the Lucknow
+Army don't seem to have improved your at-no-time very admirable
+manners."
+
+"Never had any. Everybody used to tell me how much I took after my
+eldest brother. Seriously, Jim, I wish you'd been with us at Lucknow.
+I've had a great time."
+
+And Jim listened, leaning back with legs crossed and hands clasped
+behind his head, while Ted recounted some of the most striking episodes
+of the campaign and of his own adventures.
+
+"You're a decent sort of kid, Ted," the elder brother allowed. "I wish
+the Guides had been there. Now I believe you're dying to have a chat
+with Ethel, and I know she's as anxious as can be to see you again. So
+go and find her, young 'un. I'm horribly busy and can't go with you. I
+would if I could, you may be sure."
+
+"I will go and condole with her. _She_ needs some genuine sympathy and
+consolation, and she shall have it. How far is it? Worth taking the
+horse out again?"
+
+"No, not five minutes away."
+
+Before Ted had proceeded a couple of hundred yards, he beheld the object
+of his search riding towards home, her thoughts uplifted far above the
+humble wayfarer whom she was about to pass without recognition.
+
+"Evening, Miss Woodburn!" said Ted.
+
+Ethel gave a start and reined in her horse.
+
+"Why, Ted, I didn't know you'd arrived."
+
+"Just come. Affectionate brother intimated that, as he had no room for
+thinking of anyone but you, I disturbed him."
+
+"So you were coming to see me? You are looking well, Ted. I half
+expected to see a decrepit invalid with crutches and bandages."
+
+"I'm all right now. Should have come though to see you married if I'd
+had to be brought on a doolie."
+
+He assisted the girl to dismount, and, giving the horse in charge of the
+sais, they entered the house.
+
+"I am glad you look so well," repeated Miss Woodburn. "Paterson kept us
+posted up as to your state so long as he remained at Lucknow. We had an
+anxious time for a week or two."
+
+"You heard about Tynan, I suppose? He proved a brick in the end, did he
+not?"
+
+"Yes, I was glad when I read Alec's account of how he died. That is--you
+know what I mean?"
+
+Ted nodded.
+
+"Had you not seen him since that night at Lahore?" Ethel continued.
+
+"Never once until that moment. I've not been able to find out anything
+about him either. He must have enrolled in the Volunteers, under an
+assumed name, of course."
+
+Colonel Woodburn, looking his old self again, was genuinely pleased to
+welcome the boy. For half an hour he drew him out on the subject of the
+Lucknow campaign, and then Ethel claimed her brother-in-law again.
+
+"Come and see my presents, Ted," she ordered.
+
+"With pleasure--oh, by the way, I've brought my little contribution.
+Hope you'll like it."
+
+She gave a little scream of delight as he handed her an open box.
+
+"Oh, how beautiful! How lovely! Ted, you shouldn't have given me
+anything like this. It's much too good."
+
+"It's not half good enough."
+
+"Look at this necklet, father! Is it not exquisite?"
+
+Colonel Woodburn examined the present, and gave a whistle of amazement.
+
+"Ted, my boy, wherever did you get this?" he asked. "It's worth hundreds
+or I'm no judge. Diamonds and rubies of this size! And what
+workmanship!"
+
+"It's from Lucknow, colonel. Loot, I'm afraid."
+
+"Loot?" The colonel looked more serious, as he asked the question.
+
+"I'm not certain--only circumstantial evidence. You see, there was a lot
+of looting when we entered Lucknow, and the Sikhs and Jung Bahadur's
+Gurkhas got nearly everything. Jung's men took several thousand carts
+filled with loot back to Nepal. A day or two before I was wounded I
+happened to save the life of one of Jung's Gurkhas who was being set
+upon by a crowd. He seemed to be an officer of good standing, and he was
+very grateful, and when I spoke to him in Magar-Kura, he was just
+delighted. When I was well enough I found that this parcel had been
+handed to me, and this necklace was inside, and not a word of
+explanation. So I guess they came from him, but couldn't make sure as
+he'd gone. It was probably one of many things he'd picked up in the
+palace, but I don't know that for certain. They were allowed to loot for
+a little while to repay their services, so it's come by perfectly
+honestly, Ethel. I offered it to the general of our column for him to
+send to the common stock, but he sent back word that it was mine, right
+enough. So it's quite right, isn't it, Colonel Woodburn? Mayn't she
+accept it with a clear conscience?"
+
+"Certainly, except that it's much too costly a present to accept, Ted."
+
+"It is indeed, old boy. I'm very, very grateful, and it's very generous
+of you, but you must keep it. You'd be sorry in a year or two, and you'd
+blame me for taking it."
+
+Ted began to grow angry. "If you won't take it, Ethel," he sullenly
+declared, "I'll throw it on the fire. I mean it."
+
+"But, Ted, you'll be married some day, and think how you would like your
+wife to have this--and she _ought_ to have it. Then you would think it
+mean of me to have taken it."
+
+He laughed scornfully.
+
+"Marry? Me? I'm not going to get married! I don't want anyone to have it
+but you; I meant it for you as soon as I saw it."
+
+A way of escape occurred to the girl.
+
+"Let us strike a bargain, old boy. If I accept it now, will you allow me
+to present it to your wife on the day you get married?"
+
+Again Ted laughed, this time with light heart.
+
+"I agree to that--it amounts to the same thing."
+
+"Do you approve of the arrangement, father?"
+
+"Trust a woman to find some way out," said the colonel. "I think the
+arrangement a good one. Honour satisfied on both sides."
+
+"Now, Ted, I can thank you properly--especially for your thought on
+first seeing the necklet. But come and see the rest of the 'loot', as
+your unprincipled and shameless brother calls it."
+
+"He calls it that, does he? Good judge, Jim."
+
+"Yes, his first daily enquiry is, 'Any more loot to-day?' After being
+satisfied on that point he condescends to enquire after me."
+
+"I shouldn't have thought he was ever 'satisfied on that point'."
+
+Ethel Woodburn laughed merrily.
+
+"Quite true, he's not. He invariably grunts, 'Is that all to-day?' and
+tells me that I ought to have laid myself out to be particularly nice to
+everyone for the past fortnight."
+
+"Greedy brute, isn't he? But I say, Ethel, isn't he content with these?
+I call it a jolly good show considering that the presents from England
+haven't come yet. I s'pose it's just Jim's peculiar way of expressing
+his gratitude."
+
+"Have you shown him the necklet?"
+
+"No fear; he'd have collared it and stuck to it, and pawned it before
+you could see it. He wouldn't have had your scruples."
+
+"I'm afraid that you have a very poor opinion of my husband
+that-is-to-be, Lieutenant Russell."
+
+Ted laughed, and most rudely winked.
+
+"About as bad as your own, I guess, Mrs. Major Russell."
+
+Ted walked round from table to table reading the cards and asking who
+was who.
+
+"Sir Arthur Fletcher," he read out, halting before one of the presents.
+"That's jolly nice of him!"
+
+"I see Charlie Dorricot's sent nothing yet?" he added. "He's due
+to-night, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, I expect to make his acquaintance shortly."
+
+"Ripping good chap, Charlie! You'll like him.
+
+"He's very anxious to inspect you," the young subaltern continued. "He
+did all he could to draw Jim out about you, but it was no go--Jim just
+gazed amiably upon him. Then he drew a fancy picture of you."
+
+"Who did? Jim?"
+
+"Don't jeer! You know who I mean. He also offered bribes to read your
+letters--precious small bribes, though! But nothing could make Jim
+wrathy when he was reading the epistles of Ethel."
+
+"You helped him, I suppose?"
+
+"Helped Jim--to read them? Who's mixed with the personal pronouns now?"
+
+"From your account of your cousin," Ethel observed, disdaining to answer
+the gibes, "I think it very doubtful that I shall like him. He appears
+to have been--well--impertinent."
+
+"Regular impudent beggar he is! I knew you'd think so; that's why I told
+you. Never mind, Ethel, you may be sure of this, that he'll like you.
+Besides, I stuck up for you, as Jim wouldn't."
+
+"I am indeed grateful, Lieutenant Russell."
+
+"You do look nice when you laugh, Ethel. Ah! here they are, I can hear
+Charlie's voice."
+
+They went down to greet the new-comers.
+
+"I seem to know you quite well already, Captain Dorricot," Ethel
+remarked as they were introduced.
+
+"I'm afraid I can hardly say that I know you at all," Charlie replied,
+"as Jim would never venture on a description, however greatly I
+encouraged him, feeling, no doubt, his inability to do the subject
+justice."
+
+"That's really rather nice, you know," Ted commented, with a grave air
+of abstraction; and the girl blushed becomingly.
+
+An awkward pause ensued. Then four people spoke together. Three stopped
+respectfully.
+
+"Can you guess, Jim, what Ted has given us for a present?"
+
+"That's a hint for you, Charlie. Open your packages at once. I am about
+to marry a most sordid little woman, whose absorbing thought is:
+'Presents, and how to obtain them'."
+
+"Sir, you speak that which is not true. Look at this!"
+
+"Whew! You've been looting, young man. Where?"
+
+"Not at all--present--Lucknow--Gurkhas. By the way, Charlie, did you
+know that young Roberts, your school-fellow, won the V.C.? Won it twice
+over, in fact--I saw him."
+
+"Well done, D.A.Q.M.G.! That young man will make his mark in the world.
+He's a man that understands men--and things."
+
+Ethel then related Ted's story of the jewels and the bargain made, and
+Charlie presented his gifts, a pair of paintings brought back with him
+from England two months before. To everyone's surprise he next dragged
+out a pair of silver-mounted kukris, Goria Thapa's present to Major
+Russell, in memory of their father's friendship.
+
+Charlie and Ted returned to Jim's quarters, leaving the lovers half an
+hour of solitude.
+
+"My stars, Ted, that's a pretty girl!" observed the former.
+
+"Isn't she stunning? She's no end fun either, though she looks so
+demure."
+
+"Jim has displayed unusual discrimination, I must say."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The day, by custom termed "auspicious"--though why the bridegroom cannot
+tell--came round at last. Major Russell appeared as joyous as could
+reasonably be expected--and no more. Whilst awaiting the bride's
+appearance Captain Dorricot, as best man, apparently considered his a
+most gladsome task. Why does "a best man" consider it necessary to be
+ribald?
+
+"Major Russell," he whispered, "are you or are you not going to hold
+yourself straight? Think of me! You're disgracing me before all these
+people. Don't look so cheap, man; you'll get used to it!
+
+"Now remember my advice and start from to-day as master; let her see
+that you won't be trodden upon."
+
+"Oh, don't be an idiot!"
+
+"Bless us, he thinks, poor fellow, that it'll be rather nice to be
+trodden upon by her! Quick! She's coming! Take your eyes from the roof
+and try to look as though you'd been here before and could do it on your
+head."
+
+Good as the advice was it passed unheeded, for all eyes were now turned
+towards the church porch as Ethel Woodburn entered--charmingly sweet,
+and shyly happy.
+
+The ceremony over, our friend Ted forgot his new-born dignity and became
+a boy again, and a perfectly irrepressible one, until Jim and his
+dainty wife had driven away in the direction of the everlasting hills.
+
+Then came the reaction of depression that must inevitably attend the
+happiest and best-suited marriages.
+
+"Poor old colonel seems cut-up!" said Charlie, as he and Spencer and Ted
+lounged in the veranda some hours later gazing at the spangled velvet of
+the sky.
+
+"No wonder," mused Spencer. "He's left alone now, poor fellow! It's
+hardly a joyful occasion for him. Have a cheroot, Russell?"
+
+"No, thanks!" Ted replied.
+
+"Teddy's a good boy," Dorricot laughed.
+
+"He's quite right," said Spencer. "Nothing to be ashamed of in knowing
+that one is not old enough to have stopped growing."
+
+"She's a pretty girl!" Dorricot observed thoughtfully after a pause.
+"Hope I may do as well as Jim when my time comes."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ted Russell's adventures as a boy were over. Readers interested in his
+subsequent career, if any such there be, may care to know that shortly
+after his return to India after serving under Sir Hope Grant in China,
+he obtained twelve-months' home leave. While in England the necklet,
+curiously enough, did again change hands, and Captain Edward Russell was
+by no means so greatly astounded by the circumstance as, to judge from
+former declarations, he ought to have been.
+
+Throughout the Second Afghan War he commanded one of the regiments of
+Roberts' army, and Colonel Paterson distinguished himself during the
+same campaign at Ahmed Khel, his regiment being with Sir Donald Stewart.
+The old friends met at Kabul, and Ted took part in the famous march to
+Kandahar, whilst Paterson proceeded with his general to the Kyber, and
+thence to Peshawur.
+
+A few years later Colonel Russell was in command of a brigade in one of
+the North-west Frontier expeditions, and he finally retired from the
+army with a hammered slug in his right leg, as Major-general Russell.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Disputed V.C., by Frederick P. Gibbon
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41594 ***