Chapter Twenty Three.The excitement was still high, as we all sat in our places about a couple of hundred yards from the forest, and then Brace cried—“Attention!”Save the champing of bits by the horses, there was not a sound.“There, my lads,” he cried, “I feel now as if I can look you all once more in the face, for the dear old troop is itself again.”“God bless you, sir!” shouted the oldest corporal we had. “The bravest act ever done in the British army.”“Silence!” cried Brace, but not angrily. “You must not thank me, my lads, but Mr Vincent and Sergeant Craig.”I wanted to say, “Yes, Craig; let me fetch him;” but discipline forbade, and I knew that Brace would do him justice.“Then three cheers for Sergeant Craig, if I lose my stripes for it,” shouted the corporal again, who was as intoxicated with excitement as if he had partaken of drink—the vile arrack that ruins so many of our men.But Brace was lenient then.“Yes,” he cried, “three cheers for Sergeant Craig,” and they were given with a will.Then, to my great delight, he gave orders; four men reined back, and sprang from their horses, with the corporal, and went off at the double toward the wood, from where they soon reappeared, bearing the litter with poor Craig.Brace rode forward to meet him, and leaned over the litter to shake hands, when a low murmur of satisfaction rose from the line, but I did not hear what he said, though I longed to ride up and thank him too. To my great delight, though, they brought him close up to me, and we exchanged a nod and smile.“I thought that would do it, sir,” he said feebly.“What do you say, doctor? Do you think we could safely take him on the ammunition-waggon?”“So long as you don’t blow it up,” said the doctor, shortly. “You think you could sit up now?”“I will sit up, sir,” said Craig, firmly.“But the jolting and shaking, my man?”Craig laughed.“Why, sir, I’m used to all that; I’ve ridden so many times on the limbers of gun-carriages, that being knocked about’s natural to me.”“Let him try,” said Brace, sharply. “Watch him, doctor, and he must take to the dhooly again if he cannot bear it. Quick! I must advance at once.”I looked at him wonderingly, having been under the impression that now we had succeeded in the object we had in view we should retire.Brace’s words quite overset that notion. It was evident that he meant to give the rajah a severe lesson, for the troop was in motion directly after, and as we advanced, we could see that the town was in a state of the most intense excitement, people running here and there. But before we had gone far, Brace halted, the guns were unlimbered, loaded, and then as we stood ready for action, scouts were sent out to right and left; the former soon returning, while a minute later, those sent off to the left came galloping in to announce that the rajah and his men were in rapid retreat along the bank of the river.This was a fresh move in the game of war, for in expectation of firing from the town, the gunners stood ready to send shot and shell crashing into the defences. So orders were given, guns were limbered up again, and away we went at a gallop in full pursuit.“We must capture the rajah,” Brace cried to Haynes, as we followed on, soon coming within range of quite a mob of hurrying men, who, for the most part, threw away their arms, made for the patches of wood which bordered the river, and hid among the trees unnoticed by our men, for, in the distance, we could see in full flight, about forty well-mounted men, among whom the rajah was conspicuous by his brilliant costume; and as we tore on, we saw them ride down a slope leading to the river, and directly after take to the water, swimming their horses as soon as it grew deep, for the opposite bank.I saw at a glance that the guns could not follow, and knew directly that Brace had come to the same conclusion, for he halted the troop, and unlimbering a couple of the guns, began to scatter grape shot with terrible effect amongst the escaping fugitives, horse after horse being struck and swept away by the rushing stream.Those were exciting moments, mingled, to me, with horror, as at every discharge and puff of white smoke, I saw the water torn up by the grape, and some horse make a frantic plunge, rear up, fall over, and horse and man disappear.It was only a matter of a few minutes, though, before we saw the rajah and the greater part of his followers mounting the opposite bank, and then galloping off to disappear beyond the trees that came down nearly to the water’s edge.“Let me pursue, with twenty or thirty men,” said Haynes, excitedly. “We’ll take him.”But Brace shook his head.“What I should like to do myself,” he said; “but I cannot. No; they are well-mounted; they know the country, and they have the start. Besides, we are too weak as it is, and I can’t afford to risk losing the guns again by sending half of my force away. We don’t know yet what reception we may meet with in the town.”Very soon after we were trotting back toward the place in full expectation of being fired upon; but we did not receive a shot, and as we rode boldly in, we did not encounter a single military-looking man, those who crowded the streets being the ordinary traders and work-people, who treated us with a quiet cold stare.The first task was to scout through the place with a couple of pickets, while our guns were drawn up on an open space in the middle of the town, where some of the principle people came with offerings of sweets and chupatties, beside more substantial food and offerings.The place was so small that our men were not long in bringing in a report that there was not an armed man visible, the whole of the fighting element having retreated with the rajah, as soon as it was seen that the guns were retaken. But our numbers were so small, and the position so precarious, that Brace used every precaution, throwing out posts in the two directions from which danger was likely to approach, while the men were rested and refreshed, and a search made for ammunition, of which there was none too much in the boxes.This was for a time in vain, but as soon as Dost was taken into consultation, he salaamed, started off, and in a quarter of an hour was back again to announce that he had discovered two ammunition-waggons in a kind of shed, and upon my following him with half a dozen men and a couple of teams of horses, he led us to the spot where I found that the rajah and his men had brought away as many cartridges, with ball, grape, and canister, as the two waggons would hold.These were drawn out at once, and taken to the halting-place, where the gunners gave a cheer as they saw that for some time to come their six-pounders would not want for food.The heat was intense, but we could not afford to study that; and after a little council of war, in which I felt proud to be allowed to participate, it was debated as to what should be our next move.Haynes was still eager to go on in pursuit of the rajah, and the doctor expressed his opinion that it would give him profound satisfaction to make him prisoner, while to me the excitement of such a chase sounded very tempting, although somehow I could not help feeling that the rajah had had some cause for the steps he had taken. Then Brace spoke.“My feelings go with all of you,” he said, “but I am obliged to oppose you. Our chase would be a long one, and into country about which we know scarcely anything. Consequently we should have very little prospect of success. As it is, we have crippled him almost completely, and our troop would be invaluable to any officer who is coming down from Calcutta or Barrackpore with a regiment or two.”“But is any one coming down?” said Haynes.“For certain. The news of the rising at Rajgunge must have reached there, and the mutiny of other regiments. Depend upon it, the Government is straining every nerve to check the wildfire from spreading far.”“Then what do you propose doing?” said Haynes.“Starting at once back to Rajgunge, and finding out the state of affairs there as we pick up the major. Possibly we shall find a European regiment or two there already. If not, we can continue our way. I don’t think we need fear meeting any of the enemy.”“Fear?” said the doctor. “I only wish we may. If we do, depend upon it they will give us a wide berth. Then we move east at once?”“At once,” said Brace. “Yes; what is it?” he cried, as Dost once more made his appearance, this time to announce that he had found the stables of the rajah’s elephants—three huge beasts, with their howdahs, pads, and mahouts.“We don’t want them now,” said Haynes. “No time for tigers.”“We do want them now,” said Brace, eagerly. “They will carry a quantity of provisions, and one of them can take Sergeant Craig as well. It will be better than pressing bearers into our service, more than we absolutely want for grass-cutters. We must keep our train as small as possible now.”So the elephants were brought out, and the mahouts duly admonished upon the dangers they would run if they attempted any treachery. Loads were adjusted, and just at midday, when the sun was hottest, our little column was set in motion, and we marched out of the little town that we had watched so intently, hardly able to realise how successful we had been.There were plenty of people about, old men and boys, and there was a sullen, lowering look in their amber eyes as we rode by, but no voice was raised against us, so wholesome a dread had they of the guns, of whose power they had all more or less heard—a power which might at any moment be directed against their homes.To the delight of all, the horses proved to be in admirable condition, and in their excitement and glee, the men never seemed to trouble about the heat, but rode on, chatting together and discussing the morning’s feat and the value of the long, careful drilling, whose results had been shown in the way in which the horses had behaved.The road was dusty, but fairly good; and as the three elephants shuffled slowly along, I ventured to approach the one which bore Craig, time after time, but generally to find that he was sleeping, and upon calling the doctor’s attention to the fact, he said abruptly—“Best thing for him. Nature goes on best with her mending when a man is asleep. Phew! how hot it is.”“Worse walking,” I said.“Yes. Thank goodness, we are all well-mounted again. What a fish out of water one does feel without a horse.”We were not destined to reach Rajgunge without adventure, for that same evening we were thinking it time for a halt when the advance-guard galloped back to announce the coming of what seemed to be a regiment of native lancers.The elephants were sent into the rear instantly, with a guard to ensure us against flight on the part of the mahouts; and, quick as thought, the guns were unlimbered and loaded, while we anxiously waited to see whether these were friends or enemies. But we were not kept long in doubt, for their confused, disorderly advance proved that they were without English officers, and they came on at a gallop, evidently in chase of our advance-guard, their lance-points glittering as they were brought down to the charge, the dust in front raised by our men partly hiding us till they were well within range, and one shot would have torn through their line and littered the dusty road with struggling men and horses.But the word was not given, for no sooner did the front men grasp the peril into which they were galloping, than they raised a loud yell of warning, wheeled off to right and left, wheeled again, and scattered in wild flight, leaving us to pursue our way in peace, for there was nothing to be gained by pursuit, a duty reserved for the light cavalry.It was another warning, though, of the state of the country, this being evidently one of the native cavalry regiments which had mutinied, and, perhaps, slain their European officers, though of course we could not be sure; and to have fired upon them when they first advanced might have been a grievous error.
The excitement was still high, as we all sat in our places about a couple of hundred yards from the forest, and then Brace cried—
“Attention!”
Save the champing of bits by the horses, there was not a sound.
“There, my lads,” he cried, “I feel now as if I can look you all once more in the face, for the dear old troop is itself again.”
“God bless you, sir!” shouted the oldest corporal we had. “The bravest act ever done in the British army.”
“Silence!” cried Brace, but not angrily. “You must not thank me, my lads, but Mr Vincent and Sergeant Craig.”
I wanted to say, “Yes, Craig; let me fetch him;” but discipline forbade, and I knew that Brace would do him justice.
“Then three cheers for Sergeant Craig, if I lose my stripes for it,” shouted the corporal again, who was as intoxicated with excitement as if he had partaken of drink—the vile arrack that ruins so many of our men.
But Brace was lenient then.
“Yes,” he cried, “three cheers for Sergeant Craig,” and they were given with a will.
Then, to my great delight, he gave orders; four men reined back, and sprang from their horses, with the corporal, and went off at the double toward the wood, from where they soon reappeared, bearing the litter with poor Craig.
Brace rode forward to meet him, and leaned over the litter to shake hands, when a low murmur of satisfaction rose from the line, but I did not hear what he said, though I longed to ride up and thank him too. To my great delight, though, they brought him close up to me, and we exchanged a nod and smile.
“I thought that would do it, sir,” he said feebly.
“What do you say, doctor? Do you think we could safely take him on the ammunition-waggon?”
“So long as you don’t blow it up,” said the doctor, shortly. “You think you could sit up now?”
“I will sit up, sir,” said Craig, firmly.
“But the jolting and shaking, my man?”
Craig laughed.
“Why, sir, I’m used to all that; I’ve ridden so many times on the limbers of gun-carriages, that being knocked about’s natural to me.”
“Let him try,” said Brace, sharply. “Watch him, doctor, and he must take to the dhooly again if he cannot bear it. Quick! I must advance at once.”
I looked at him wonderingly, having been under the impression that now we had succeeded in the object we had in view we should retire.
Brace’s words quite overset that notion. It was evident that he meant to give the rajah a severe lesson, for the troop was in motion directly after, and as we advanced, we could see that the town was in a state of the most intense excitement, people running here and there. But before we had gone far, Brace halted, the guns were unlimbered, loaded, and then as we stood ready for action, scouts were sent out to right and left; the former soon returning, while a minute later, those sent off to the left came galloping in to announce that the rajah and his men were in rapid retreat along the bank of the river.
This was a fresh move in the game of war, for in expectation of firing from the town, the gunners stood ready to send shot and shell crashing into the defences. So orders were given, guns were limbered up again, and away we went at a gallop in full pursuit.
“We must capture the rajah,” Brace cried to Haynes, as we followed on, soon coming within range of quite a mob of hurrying men, who, for the most part, threw away their arms, made for the patches of wood which bordered the river, and hid among the trees unnoticed by our men, for, in the distance, we could see in full flight, about forty well-mounted men, among whom the rajah was conspicuous by his brilliant costume; and as we tore on, we saw them ride down a slope leading to the river, and directly after take to the water, swimming their horses as soon as it grew deep, for the opposite bank.
I saw at a glance that the guns could not follow, and knew directly that Brace had come to the same conclusion, for he halted the troop, and unlimbering a couple of the guns, began to scatter grape shot with terrible effect amongst the escaping fugitives, horse after horse being struck and swept away by the rushing stream.
Those were exciting moments, mingled, to me, with horror, as at every discharge and puff of white smoke, I saw the water torn up by the grape, and some horse make a frantic plunge, rear up, fall over, and horse and man disappear.
It was only a matter of a few minutes, though, before we saw the rajah and the greater part of his followers mounting the opposite bank, and then galloping off to disappear beyond the trees that came down nearly to the water’s edge.
“Let me pursue, with twenty or thirty men,” said Haynes, excitedly. “We’ll take him.”
But Brace shook his head.
“What I should like to do myself,” he said; “but I cannot. No; they are well-mounted; they know the country, and they have the start. Besides, we are too weak as it is, and I can’t afford to risk losing the guns again by sending half of my force away. We don’t know yet what reception we may meet with in the town.”
Very soon after we were trotting back toward the place in full expectation of being fired upon; but we did not receive a shot, and as we rode boldly in, we did not encounter a single military-looking man, those who crowded the streets being the ordinary traders and work-people, who treated us with a quiet cold stare.
The first task was to scout through the place with a couple of pickets, while our guns were drawn up on an open space in the middle of the town, where some of the principle people came with offerings of sweets and chupatties, beside more substantial food and offerings.
The place was so small that our men were not long in bringing in a report that there was not an armed man visible, the whole of the fighting element having retreated with the rajah, as soon as it was seen that the guns were retaken. But our numbers were so small, and the position so precarious, that Brace used every precaution, throwing out posts in the two directions from which danger was likely to approach, while the men were rested and refreshed, and a search made for ammunition, of which there was none too much in the boxes.
This was for a time in vain, but as soon as Dost was taken into consultation, he salaamed, started off, and in a quarter of an hour was back again to announce that he had discovered two ammunition-waggons in a kind of shed, and upon my following him with half a dozen men and a couple of teams of horses, he led us to the spot where I found that the rajah and his men had brought away as many cartridges, with ball, grape, and canister, as the two waggons would hold.
These were drawn out at once, and taken to the halting-place, where the gunners gave a cheer as they saw that for some time to come their six-pounders would not want for food.
The heat was intense, but we could not afford to study that; and after a little council of war, in which I felt proud to be allowed to participate, it was debated as to what should be our next move.
Haynes was still eager to go on in pursuit of the rajah, and the doctor expressed his opinion that it would give him profound satisfaction to make him prisoner, while to me the excitement of such a chase sounded very tempting, although somehow I could not help feeling that the rajah had had some cause for the steps he had taken. Then Brace spoke.
“My feelings go with all of you,” he said, “but I am obliged to oppose you. Our chase would be a long one, and into country about which we know scarcely anything. Consequently we should have very little prospect of success. As it is, we have crippled him almost completely, and our troop would be invaluable to any officer who is coming down from Calcutta or Barrackpore with a regiment or two.”
“But is any one coming down?” said Haynes.
“For certain. The news of the rising at Rajgunge must have reached there, and the mutiny of other regiments. Depend upon it, the Government is straining every nerve to check the wildfire from spreading far.”
“Then what do you propose doing?” said Haynes.
“Starting at once back to Rajgunge, and finding out the state of affairs there as we pick up the major. Possibly we shall find a European regiment or two there already. If not, we can continue our way. I don’t think we need fear meeting any of the enemy.”
“Fear?” said the doctor. “I only wish we may. If we do, depend upon it they will give us a wide berth. Then we move east at once?”
“At once,” said Brace. “Yes; what is it?” he cried, as Dost once more made his appearance, this time to announce that he had found the stables of the rajah’s elephants—three huge beasts, with their howdahs, pads, and mahouts.
“We don’t want them now,” said Haynes. “No time for tigers.”
“We do want them now,” said Brace, eagerly. “They will carry a quantity of provisions, and one of them can take Sergeant Craig as well. It will be better than pressing bearers into our service, more than we absolutely want for grass-cutters. We must keep our train as small as possible now.”
So the elephants were brought out, and the mahouts duly admonished upon the dangers they would run if they attempted any treachery. Loads were adjusted, and just at midday, when the sun was hottest, our little column was set in motion, and we marched out of the little town that we had watched so intently, hardly able to realise how successful we had been.
There were plenty of people about, old men and boys, and there was a sullen, lowering look in their amber eyes as we rode by, but no voice was raised against us, so wholesome a dread had they of the guns, of whose power they had all more or less heard—a power which might at any moment be directed against their homes.
To the delight of all, the horses proved to be in admirable condition, and in their excitement and glee, the men never seemed to trouble about the heat, but rode on, chatting together and discussing the morning’s feat and the value of the long, careful drilling, whose results had been shown in the way in which the horses had behaved.
The road was dusty, but fairly good; and as the three elephants shuffled slowly along, I ventured to approach the one which bore Craig, time after time, but generally to find that he was sleeping, and upon calling the doctor’s attention to the fact, he said abruptly—
“Best thing for him. Nature goes on best with her mending when a man is asleep. Phew! how hot it is.”
“Worse walking,” I said.
“Yes. Thank goodness, we are all well-mounted again. What a fish out of water one does feel without a horse.”
We were not destined to reach Rajgunge without adventure, for that same evening we were thinking it time for a halt when the advance-guard galloped back to announce the coming of what seemed to be a regiment of native lancers.
The elephants were sent into the rear instantly, with a guard to ensure us against flight on the part of the mahouts; and, quick as thought, the guns were unlimbered and loaded, while we anxiously waited to see whether these were friends or enemies. But we were not kept long in doubt, for their confused, disorderly advance proved that they were without English officers, and they came on at a gallop, evidently in chase of our advance-guard, their lance-points glittering as they were brought down to the charge, the dust in front raised by our men partly hiding us till they were well within range, and one shot would have torn through their line and littered the dusty road with struggling men and horses.
But the word was not given, for no sooner did the front men grasp the peril into which they were galloping, than they raised a loud yell of warning, wheeled off to right and left, wheeled again, and scattered in wild flight, leaving us to pursue our way in peace, for there was nothing to be gained by pursuit, a duty reserved for the light cavalry.
It was another warning, though, of the state of the country, this being evidently one of the native cavalry regiments which had mutinied, and, perhaps, slain their European officers, though of course we could not be sure; and to have fired upon them when they first advanced might have been a grievous error.
Chapter Twenty Four.Bajgunge proved to be strongly occupied by the enemy, and after due reconnoitring, Brace felt that nothing could be done there, and determined to strike off across country for Arbagh, a town where one of the queen’s foot regiments was stationed, so as to form a junction with the infantry, and co-operate in holding the place, or marching with them to one of the larger towns, or to some place where help might be required.Five days were taken up in hot, weary marches, but the men were all full of eagerness, and looking longingly forward to having a brush with the enemy.We passed village after village, sometimes to be well received, at others meeting with heavy, sullen looks, which told too plainly of the disaffection spreading everywhere, and the knowledge in the country that an attempt was being made to throw off the English rule.It was toward the evening of the fifth day that we suddenly came upon a party of dusty, weary-looking natives, who at a glance were seen not to be villagers, for they wore the aspect of being domestic servants, and, as we approached, they made no attempt to imitate the action of the villagers on our route by taking flight, but drew up on one side to let us pass.Brace halted, and signed to Dost to approach and act as interpreter.But there was no need, for one of the party, a venerable-looking, grey-headed man in a white turban, salaamed, and then waited with crossed arms to be questioned.“Salaam, sahib,” he said humbly.“Where are you from?” said Brace.“Arbagh, sahib. You come too late.”“Too late? What is their trouble, then?”“Trouble, sahib? The mem sahibs, and the little children and their fathers—”He did not finish, but groaned.“Speak out. What is it?”“All slain.”“But there was a regiment there—a whole regiment of foot.”“Yes, sahib; but they were called away to fight the budmashes, and the evildoers from the bazaar at Miapore; and when they had marched away the budmashes came. The sahibs strengthened one of the houses, and fought bravely for two days, but they were only few in number, and there was neither food nor water at last.”“And then?”The old man shook his head, and uttered a low groan.“And the wretches who have done all this?” cried Brace.“They are there, sahib, with two regiments who have risen up against their officers. It is not safe to go. The white sahibs have marched to Miapore, away yonder to the west.”“And where are you going?” asked Brace, who looked suspiciously at the people behind their spokesman.But they were unarmed, and carried no plunder. The words of the old man were evidently the truth, as he said—“To be at peace, and away from those who rob and slay. To Rajgunge, sahib.”“Turn back,” said Brace. “You are going to where there are worse troubles, man. Better follow us.”There was a low moan from the little group, for Brace’s words filled them with consternation.“But you will not go on to Arbagh, sahib?” said the old man, who seemed to have been the native butler to some family.“Yes; to drive these wretches out,” was the reply; and the march was resumed. “Yes, we must drive these scoundrels out, Gil,” he said again. “We need have no compunction about firing now. Likely enough our friends the sowars may be there. They headed for the south. Now, if we could send a message on to Miapore.”I turned round soon afterwards, and found that the weary, footsore party were tramping back with us, close to the elephants, apparently trusting in Brace’s power to protect them, and restore peace in the place that had been their home.Dost came alongside soon after to tell me more of these people’s experience, for they had all been servants to the European residents at Arbagh. It was a terrible experience, but very similar to our own at Rajgunge. The English residents and officers had been in utter ignorance of the impending peril. They had heard rumours of troubles in connection with cartridges being issued to the men greased, so that they might pass more easily down the rifle barrels, the Mahommedan soldiers considering that they would be defiled by touching paper moistened with the fat of the pig; and the Hindus, jumping at the conclusion that the fat used was that of the cow—an animal held sacred in their religion; while, in all probability, the fat used would be prepared from neither of these animals, the whole being an excuse for the irruption in which Mahommedans and Brahmins made common cause.“It has all been hatching for a long time, sahib,” Dost said to me; “and the men have been waiting for an excuse. You English officers and gentlemen have known nothing; but the sepoys and sowars have been prepared.”“And you knew this?” I said sternly.“I? No, sahib; not till after the men broke out. The soldiers had their message sent round to be prepared to rise, and slay every white man, woman, and child, to destroy all Nazarenes, and restore the great king again at Delhi.”“At Delhi?” I said. “Then there are troubles there too?”“There are troubles all through the country by now, sahib. Of course they did not trust us, who were our lord’s servants, and not fighting men. They said to themselves, these men have blood now like water; they live amongst the white people, and have defiled themselves by eating their food and drinking out of their vessels—they will go and betray us to their lords. We know nothing, sahib; but they, the men of the native regiments, had the lotus flower sent round to them.”“The lotus flower?” I said, wonderingly.“Yes, sahib. It was a secret way of communication. A man came to a regiment bearing a lotus flower, and this was passed on from man to man right through the regiment, till the last had the blossom, and he had to take it to the next regiment.”“But what did it mean?” I asked.“I can tell you no more, sahib. It was their secret sign. And then, after a time, the chupatties were sent round to the villages.”“Chupatties? The little cakes?”“Yes, sahib, and that was a sign. A messenger went to the head man of a village, and gave him six little cakes of Indian corn. ‘These are for you,’ he said. ‘You will make six more, and send them on to the next village.’ This the head man did, and the cakes passed on from village to village, as a sign that the rising was to take place, and all were to be ready when the time came.”“But it seems so stupid,” I said. “Why not have sent a messenger?”“The cause was too great to risk anything. It was more mysterious to send like that. They knew what it meant; but if the collector or the police heard, and said, ‘What is this?—ye are plotting against your lords;’ they could reply, ‘No, it is nothing; the head man of the next village has only sent me a few chupatties.’ Who else would think it was a secret sign?”I knew comparatively little about the people then, and the question seemed to me unanswerable.I rode on, depressed and thoughtful, for a terrible idea had taken root in my breast. These people of Arbagh had been surprised, and, saving a few who had escaped, murdered without mercy, and with horrible indignities. Suppose there had been such a sudden rising at Nussoor, where my father’s regiment was stationed, what of my mother and my sister Grace?A cold perspiration broke out all over me, and a mist rose before my eyes, through which the horrors that had taken place at Arbagh rose out, at first dimly, and then clearer and clearer; but with those I loved as victims, and I was shuddering with horror, and so wrapped up in my own thoughts, that I did not notice that Brace had ridden up alongside, and he had gripped my arm before I knew he was there.“Why, Gil, lad,” he said sharply, “what is it? The sun? Come, I can’t afford to have you ill.”“Ill?” I gasped. “No, I’m not ill.”“Then why do you look so strange?”I made an effort to recover myself, and told him as calmly as I could all that Dost had said to me.“Yes,” he said, after hearing me patiently to the end, “the man is honest enough; and there must have been some such mystic message sent round. These people are believers in symbolism and parable. It is bad news, Gil, and I am afraid too true. The rebellion is widespread; but what of that? We must put it down. England is not going to have her great conquests wrenched from her hands like this.”“Put it down?” I faltered.“Yes, man. If you and I and a trumpeter could do such a thing as we did at a hint from our brave sergeant yonder, don’t you think that the many regiments of Englishmen here in India, with all our magnificent troops of horse artillery, moved by the combined brain-power of our most gallant officers, will be able to restore order through the country?”“Yes, I suppose so,” I said, but in an unconvinced tone of voice.“You are getting hungry, Gil, my lad,” he said merrily. “You will not be depressed like this when we have halted at Arbagh, scattered those dogs, and had a good meal. For we must fight first,” he cried fiercely. “Gil,” he said, sinking his voice, “I was never meant for a soldier—this blood-shedding is abhorrent to me. I shrink from using my sword; but since I have heard the horrors these wretches are perpetrating—slaying English ladies, murdering sweet innocent children, my nerves thrill as I grasp my blade, and I feel as if I would gladly aim every gun, and send the grape and canister hurtling amongst the hounds—no, it is an insult to a dog to call them so—these savage, bloodthirsty tigers. Come, lad, you must set aside compunction, and be ready to strike—for you can.”“You do not understand me,” I said sadly.“Oh yes, I think I do, Gil. I have studied you pretty well. You were thinking that we shall be beaten, after listening to Dost’s account of the rising at this town. Ah, if I had only known of this when we met that regiment of sowars! Why, Gil, theymustbe the scoundrels who murdered their European officers here.”“I’m afraid so,” I said.“Then we must strike, and strike hard now, Gil. I am not unmerciful, but for the sake of home, and our English kindred, we must be stern as well as just. Come, you are better already.”“No,” I said gloomily, “I am horribly troubled.”“About what?”“Nussoor.”“Ah! where your father’s regiment is stationed?”“Yes. My mother and sister are there. Oh, Brace, if my father has been surprised as these people were here, and—”I stopped short—the words choked me.“My dear Gil!” cried Brace, gently, “I see now. Yes; such thoughts are enough to chill any one. I had not thought of them. But come, come; we have enough to do to fight with real troubles. You must not build up imaginary ones. Your father is a good soldier, I have heard, and his regiment is noted for its discipline. Let us trust that he has not been surprised, but had warnings of the trouble to come, and has placed your mother and sister and the other ladies of his station in safety.”“Thank you,” I said quietly, for his words were comforting; and I knew that my trouble was imaginary.“Hah, that’s better!” he cried. “Come, we must be getting near the town.”We were passing through a wooded part of the country now, the road being cut in several places through patches of forest; and scouts and flankers were sent out to make sure against surprise, as we were getting so near the enemy’s lair.Ten minutes later there was an alarm in front, shouts and the clashing of swords, and in a wonderfully short time a couple of guns were unlimbered and ready for action, while Haynes was sent forward to support our men as they were out of sight beyond the trees, and did not return.But before Haynes had gone far, he met them coming back, to report that they had surprised a picket of half a dozen sowars who were watching our road.“And you let them gallop off,” cried Brace, angrily, “to alarm their comrades?”“No, sir,” said the corporal, who was at the head of the advance; “we went at ’em directly.”“How many got back?”“None on ’em, sir.”“Anybody hurt?”“No, sir. Scratch or two on the horses’ heads and necks; that’s all.”The orders were given to limber up again, and we advanced once more, as soon as the farriers had roughly seen to the injuries the horses had received; and as we went on, I caught a glimpse or two of the white uniforms and puggrees of the sowars in amongst the trees to right and left, the broken-down twigs and herbage showing where the running fight had taken place.Brace reined up by one of the dead men.“Why, Gil,” he said, “this must be the same regiment as the one we met.”I was thinking the same, and said so.“The scoundrels! If we could only surprise them. We are so weak in numbers, I hardly dare leave my guns; otherwise, with a troop of our lads to act as cavalry, I could pretty well cut them up, and scatter the rest, so that they would not do much more mischief for months to come.”“Hush!” I whispered, as I caught his arm. “What’s that?”“The first gun bumping over bad ground and rattling.”“No; it’s firing,” I whispered, though the sound must have been a mile away.“Yes; you are right. What is going on now? some fresh outrage?”Our pace was increased, and orders given to the advance-guard to increase their distance ahead.The firing grew fiercer, and a halt was called, the guns took up position, and we waited full of anxiety for news from the scouts sent out.We had not long to wait in our uncertainty, for one of our men galloped back with the information that the firing was on this side of the town, and, directly after, a second man dashed up with the news that a regiment of cavalry in white coats was in full retreat toward us.“Then they are being driven out by the foot regiment, which must have returned. Stand fast, my lads, if they charge us; but I doubt whether they will come right up to the guns.”A few exciting minutes passed, and then, as the running, trampling noise of a large body of horse came nearer, Brace rode from gun to gun, giving his order that no shot should be fired till he was certain these were not friends, and then the fire was to be concentrated on the advancing column.The sun had gone down, and night was coming on fast, but as the head of the regiment came into sight, the firing having ceased beyond them, Brace’s glass satisfied him as to whom these were.“The sowar regiment!” he cried. “Fire!”One after the other rapidly the six guns thundered forth a terrible reception, just as, in fairly good order, the regiment in full retreat came on at a gallop, and in perfect ignorance of our proximity.It was the work of a moment; I saw the white column galloping toward us looking dim and strange, like some strange body rushing along beneath a cloud of dust; then it was rent and torn and thrown into confusion, as round shot and canister hurtled through the rank; and at the sixth report the road was littered with struggling horses, and then the fields on either side dotted with galloping fugitives, and the sowar regiment that had been tearing across the road towards us was non-existent.Six shots; no more. By the time another one had reloaded, there were only flying individuals to aim at as they galloped over the plain, and Brace looked in vain for a rallying point, and the gathering together of a troop at which a round shot could be aimed.“Sauve qui peut!” cried Brace, as orders were given for a fresh advance. “We cannot pursue them. Now forward for the town.”“Some one coming,” I said, as the galloping of a horse was heard.“Their last man,” said Brace. “Open out, my lads, and capture him.”The horseman came on at a swinging gallop, and made straight for us, checking his charger as he drew near, and we saw that the face of the rider was white.“Where’s your officer?” he cried hoarsely, as he reined up, with his sword hanging by the knot from his wrist.“Here,” replied Brace.“Thank God!” cried the new-comer. “I’m Mason—Captain Mason, 04th Highlanders. You fired on those bloodthirsty scoundrels.”“And scattered the regiment. I could do no more.”“Ah, if you could have shot them to a man! We were called away to help at Miapore, where a sepoy regiment mutinied. It was a long march, and as soon as we had gone—the European officers of that cursed regiment answering for their men’s fidelity—they rose and murdered the poor fellows who trusted them, and then—”He stopped there and groaned.“My wife—her sister—two of my little children—the whole of the English residents, and— Oh, why don’t you pursue? Hah!”“Take care!” I roared, as I snatched sword from sheath, pistol from holster, and fired, for, from out of the gathering darkness, a dozen of the sowars, men who had recovered their horses, or those of slain men, dashed down upon us like a whirlwind right for where Brace stood talking to the Highland officer.As I fired into the thick of them, I saw one man throw up his sword, but I also saw a fierce-looking savage charge right at Brace, who was unprepared; the sowar’s sword was raised, and he made a tremendous cut at our captain, one which must have ended his career; but, quick with the quickness begotten by practice and peril, our new friend caught and raised the point of his sword; and in the act of delivering his cut, the man was literally transfixed. He fell back over the cantrel of his saddle, and as his horse dashed on, he was dragged out of the saddle by Captain Mason’s jerk to withdraw his sword.I saw all this, and almost at the same moment was conscious of a crushing blow on the head, accompanied by a terrible shock, and then I was looking stupidly at the doctor, who was kneeling by me in the road.“Here, what is it?” I cried angrily. “Who was it rode me down? Is my horse hurt?”“Never mind your horse, Gil. Speak, lad. Doctor. His head?”“Oh, his head’s right enough,” said the doctor, as I struggled into a sitting position, and felt very sick and giddy. “I say, Vincent, my lad, you will have to send the accoutrement-maker a testimonial. Here’s a tremendous dint in your helmet, but it has saved your life.”“Then he isn’t killed, sir?” cried a familiar voice.“No, my lad; only a bit stunned,” said the doctor.“Hooray!” rose in a tremendous cheer, in which every man in the troop seemed to join.“Nice to be a favourite,” I heard Haynes say.“But, look here,” I cried in an irritated way, “I don’t quite understand it. My head’s all—I— Why, some one must have knocked me down. Did I pitch on to my helmet, then?”“My dear boy, you were struck down by a sowar, and your helmet saved your life.”“The savage brute!” I cried pettishly. “It couldn’t have been the one who rode at you, because— Yes, I remember. Then the man who rode at me got off free.”“Humph!” ejaculated the doctor, turning round and looking off to our right.I followed his eyes, and saw a white figure lying face downward among some green corn.“Yes,” said the doctor, “that is he; and you may thank Haynes for saving your life.”“Oh, nonsense!” cried my brother-officer hastily. “We can’t be talking about that sort of thing; it’s nonsense. I only did what any one else would have done. Steady there, my lads. Silence in the ranks.”The word was given to advance directly after, and in a few minutes there was a burst of cheers from on in front, where a skirmishing party of Captain Mason’s regiment had come upon our advance-guard.This was answered by our troop, and directly after the officers were eagerly talking together as we marched into the outskirts of the little town, and soon after were congratulating ourselves on the excellent quarters we had found, the foot regiment being most eager in showing us where we could obtain provisions, and the necessaries for a restful night.About an hour after, when the sentinels and outposts had been visited, and the round made of the horses, I was one of a party in one of the ruined rooms of the residency, where the officers were debating what steps should be taken at daylight the next morning, and matters were still in doubt as to whether we should march east or west when a prisoner was brought in. This was a shivering non-combatant, who eagerly gave every information he knew about the movements of the rebels, and was able to inform us, by way of buying his own life, as he thought, that the sowars were going to join the rajah, Ny Deen, the next morning, when their arrangements were suddenly upset by the return of the foot regiment which, on finding out that it had been deluded, came back by a forced march, but too late to save those at the station.“Then the relics of the regiment will still seek to join this revolted rajah,” said the colonel of the foot regiment. “But his power has been broken up,” said Brace. “We put him to flight.”“They’ll try to join him, all the same,” cried the colonel.“The only hope of these men,” he continued, “is in co-operation. Depend upon it, the scoundrels will move west, and I say we ought to follow. Our march must be on Badhpore, and from thence in the direction of Nussoor. What do you say?”“I say,” cried Brace, “that we are weak without infantry, and you are feeble without guns. It is a question of expediency, sir, and our force may prove to be the nucleus of a little army strong enough to sweep the mutineers from the land.”
Bajgunge proved to be strongly occupied by the enemy, and after due reconnoitring, Brace felt that nothing could be done there, and determined to strike off across country for Arbagh, a town where one of the queen’s foot regiments was stationed, so as to form a junction with the infantry, and co-operate in holding the place, or marching with them to one of the larger towns, or to some place where help might be required.
Five days were taken up in hot, weary marches, but the men were all full of eagerness, and looking longingly forward to having a brush with the enemy.
We passed village after village, sometimes to be well received, at others meeting with heavy, sullen looks, which told too plainly of the disaffection spreading everywhere, and the knowledge in the country that an attempt was being made to throw off the English rule.
It was toward the evening of the fifth day that we suddenly came upon a party of dusty, weary-looking natives, who at a glance were seen not to be villagers, for they wore the aspect of being domestic servants, and, as we approached, they made no attempt to imitate the action of the villagers on our route by taking flight, but drew up on one side to let us pass.
Brace halted, and signed to Dost to approach and act as interpreter.
But there was no need, for one of the party, a venerable-looking, grey-headed man in a white turban, salaamed, and then waited with crossed arms to be questioned.
“Salaam, sahib,” he said humbly.
“Where are you from?” said Brace.
“Arbagh, sahib. You come too late.”
“Too late? What is their trouble, then?”
“Trouble, sahib? The mem sahibs, and the little children and their fathers—”
He did not finish, but groaned.
“Speak out. What is it?”
“All slain.”
“But there was a regiment there—a whole regiment of foot.”
“Yes, sahib; but they were called away to fight the budmashes, and the evildoers from the bazaar at Miapore; and when they had marched away the budmashes came. The sahibs strengthened one of the houses, and fought bravely for two days, but they were only few in number, and there was neither food nor water at last.”
“And then?”
The old man shook his head, and uttered a low groan.
“And the wretches who have done all this?” cried Brace.
“They are there, sahib, with two regiments who have risen up against their officers. It is not safe to go. The white sahibs have marched to Miapore, away yonder to the west.”
“And where are you going?” asked Brace, who looked suspiciously at the people behind their spokesman.
But they were unarmed, and carried no plunder. The words of the old man were evidently the truth, as he said—
“To be at peace, and away from those who rob and slay. To Rajgunge, sahib.”
“Turn back,” said Brace. “You are going to where there are worse troubles, man. Better follow us.”
There was a low moan from the little group, for Brace’s words filled them with consternation.
“But you will not go on to Arbagh, sahib?” said the old man, who seemed to have been the native butler to some family.
“Yes; to drive these wretches out,” was the reply; and the march was resumed. “Yes, we must drive these scoundrels out, Gil,” he said again. “We need have no compunction about firing now. Likely enough our friends the sowars may be there. They headed for the south. Now, if we could send a message on to Miapore.”
I turned round soon afterwards, and found that the weary, footsore party were tramping back with us, close to the elephants, apparently trusting in Brace’s power to protect them, and restore peace in the place that had been their home.
Dost came alongside soon after to tell me more of these people’s experience, for they had all been servants to the European residents at Arbagh. It was a terrible experience, but very similar to our own at Rajgunge. The English residents and officers had been in utter ignorance of the impending peril. They had heard rumours of troubles in connection with cartridges being issued to the men greased, so that they might pass more easily down the rifle barrels, the Mahommedan soldiers considering that they would be defiled by touching paper moistened with the fat of the pig; and the Hindus, jumping at the conclusion that the fat used was that of the cow—an animal held sacred in their religion; while, in all probability, the fat used would be prepared from neither of these animals, the whole being an excuse for the irruption in which Mahommedans and Brahmins made common cause.
“It has all been hatching for a long time, sahib,” Dost said to me; “and the men have been waiting for an excuse. You English officers and gentlemen have known nothing; but the sepoys and sowars have been prepared.”
“And you knew this?” I said sternly.
“I? No, sahib; not till after the men broke out. The soldiers had their message sent round to be prepared to rise, and slay every white man, woman, and child, to destroy all Nazarenes, and restore the great king again at Delhi.”
“At Delhi?” I said. “Then there are troubles there too?”
“There are troubles all through the country by now, sahib. Of course they did not trust us, who were our lord’s servants, and not fighting men. They said to themselves, these men have blood now like water; they live amongst the white people, and have defiled themselves by eating their food and drinking out of their vessels—they will go and betray us to their lords. We know nothing, sahib; but they, the men of the native regiments, had the lotus flower sent round to them.”
“The lotus flower?” I said, wonderingly.
“Yes, sahib. It was a secret way of communication. A man came to a regiment bearing a lotus flower, and this was passed on from man to man right through the regiment, till the last had the blossom, and he had to take it to the next regiment.”
“But what did it mean?” I asked.
“I can tell you no more, sahib. It was their secret sign. And then, after a time, the chupatties were sent round to the villages.”
“Chupatties? The little cakes?”
“Yes, sahib, and that was a sign. A messenger went to the head man of a village, and gave him six little cakes of Indian corn. ‘These are for you,’ he said. ‘You will make six more, and send them on to the next village.’ This the head man did, and the cakes passed on from village to village, as a sign that the rising was to take place, and all were to be ready when the time came.”
“But it seems so stupid,” I said. “Why not have sent a messenger?”
“The cause was too great to risk anything. It was more mysterious to send like that. They knew what it meant; but if the collector or the police heard, and said, ‘What is this?—ye are plotting against your lords;’ they could reply, ‘No, it is nothing; the head man of the next village has only sent me a few chupatties.’ Who else would think it was a secret sign?”
I knew comparatively little about the people then, and the question seemed to me unanswerable.
I rode on, depressed and thoughtful, for a terrible idea had taken root in my breast. These people of Arbagh had been surprised, and, saving a few who had escaped, murdered without mercy, and with horrible indignities. Suppose there had been such a sudden rising at Nussoor, where my father’s regiment was stationed, what of my mother and my sister Grace?
A cold perspiration broke out all over me, and a mist rose before my eyes, through which the horrors that had taken place at Arbagh rose out, at first dimly, and then clearer and clearer; but with those I loved as victims, and I was shuddering with horror, and so wrapped up in my own thoughts, that I did not notice that Brace had ridden up alongside, and he had gripped my arm before I knew he was there.
“Why, Gil, lad,” he said sharply, “what is it? The sun? Come, I can’t afford to have you ill.”
“Ill?” I gasped. “No, I’m not ill.”
“Then why do you look so strange?”
I made an effort to recover myself, and told him as calmly as I could all that Dost had said to me.
“Yes,” he said, after hearing me patiently to the end, “the man is honest enough; and there must have been some such mystic message sent round. These people are believers in symbolism and parable. It is bad news, Gil, and I am afraid too true. The rebellion is widespread; but what of that? We must put it down. England is not going to have her great conquests wrenched from her hands like this.”
“Put it down?” I faltered.
“Yes, man. If you and I and a trumpeter could do such a thing as we did at a hint from our brave sergeant yonder, don’t you think that the many regiments of Englishmen here in India, with all our magnificent troops of horse artillery, moved by the combined brain-power of our most gallant officers, will be able to restore order through the country?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” I said, but in an unconvinced tone of voice.
“You are getting hungry, Gil, my lad,” he said merrily. “You will not be depressed like this when we have halted at Arbagh, scattered those dogs, and had a good meal. For we must fight first,” he cried fiercely. “Gil,” he said, sinking his voice, “I was never meant for a soldier—this blood-shedding is abhorrent to me. I shrink from using my sword; but since I have heard the horrors these wretches are perpetrating—slaying English ladies, murdering sweet innocent children, my nerves thrill as I grasp my blade, and I feel as if I would gladly aim every gun, and send the grape and canister hurtling amongst the hounds—no, it is an insult to a dog to call them so—these savage, bloodthirsty tigers. Come, lad, you must set aside compunction, and be ready to strike—for you can.”
“You do not understand me,” I said sadly.
“Oh yes, I think I do, Gil. I have studied you pretty well. You were thinking that we shall be beaten, after listening to Dost’s account of the rising at this town. Ah, if I had only known of this when we met that regiment of sowars! Why, Gil, theymustbe the scoundrels who murdered their European officers here.”
“I’m afraid so,” I said.
“Then we must strike, and strike hard now, Gil. I am not unmerciful, but for the sake of home, and our English kindred, we must be stern as well as just. Come, you are better already.”
“No,” I said gloomily, “I am horribly troubled.”
“About what?”
“Nussoor.”
“Ah! where your father’s regiment is stationed?”
“Yes. My mother and sister are there. Oh, Brace, if my father has been surprised as these people were here, and—”
I stopped short—the words choked me.
“My dear Gil!” cried Brace, gently, “I see now. Yes; such thoughts are enough to chill any one. I had not thought of them. But come, come; we have enough to do to fight with real troubles. You must not build up imaginary ones. Your father is a good soldier, I have heard, and his regiment is noted for its discipline. Let us trust that he has not been surprised, but had warnings of the trouble to come, and has placed your mother and sister and the other ladies of his station in safety.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly, for his words were comforting; and I knew that my trouble was imaginary.
“Hah, that’s better!” he cried. “Come, we must be getting near the town.”
We were passing through a wooded part of the country now, the road being cut in several places through patches of forest; and scouts and flankers were sent out to make sure against surprise, as we were getting so near the enemy’s lair.
Ten minutes later there was an alarm in front, shouts and the clashing of swords, and in a wonderfully short time a couple of guns were unlimbered and ready for action, while Haynes was sent forward to support our men as they were out of sight beyond the trees, and did not return.
But before Haynes had gone far, he met them coming back, to report that they had surprised a picket of half a dozen sowars who were watching our road.
“And you let them gallop off,” cried Brace, angrily, “to alarm their comrades?”
“No, sir,” said the corporal, who was at the head of the advance; “we went at ’em directly.”
“How many got back?”
“None on ’em, sir.”
“Anybody hurt?”
“No, sir. Scratch or two on the horses’ heads and necks; that’s all.”
The orders were given to limber up again, and we advanced once more, as soon as the farriers had roughly seen to the injuries the horses had received; and as we went on, I caught a glimpse or two of the white uniforms and puggrees of the sowars in amongst the trees to right and left, the broken-down twigs and herbage showing where the running fight had taken place.
Brace reined up by one of the dead men.
“Why, Gil,” he said, “this must be the same regiment as the one we met.”
I was thinking the same, and said so.
“The scoundrels! If we could only surprise them. We are so weak in numbers, I hardly dare leave my guns; otherwise, with a troop of our lads to act as cavalry, I could pretty well cut them up, and scatter the rest, so that they would not do much more mischief for months to come.”
“Hush!” I whispered, as I caught his arm. “What’s that?”
“The first gun bumping over bad ground and rattling.”
“No; it’s firing,” I whispered, though the sound must have been a mile away.
“Yes; you are right. What is going on now? some fresh outrage?”
Our pace was increased, and orders given to the advance-guard to increase their distance ahead.
The firing grew fiercer, and a halt was called, the guns took up position, and we waited full of anxiety for news from the scouts sent out.
We had not long to wait in our uncertainty, for one of our men galloped back with the information that the firing was on this side of the town, and, directly after, a second man dashed up with the news that a regiment of cavalry in white coats was in full retreat toward us.
“Then they are being driven out by the foot regiment, which must have returned. Stand fast, my lads, if they charge us; but I doubt whether they will come right up to the guns.”
A few exciting minutes passed, and then, as the running, trampling noise of a large body of horse came nearer, Brace rode from gun to gun, giving his order that no shot should be fired till he was certain these were not friends, and then the fire was to be concentrated on the advancing column.
The sun had gone down, and night was coming on fast, but as the head of the regiment came into sight, the firing having ceased beyond them, Brace’s glass satisfied him as to whom these were.
“The sowar regiment!” he cried. “Fire!”
One after the other rapidly the six guns thundered forth a terrible reception, just as, in fairly good order, the regiment in full retreat came on at a gallop, and in perfect ignorance of our proximity.
It was the work of a moment; I saw the white column galloping toward us looking dim and strange, like some strange body rushing along beneath a cloud of dust; then it was rent and torn and thrown into confusion, as round shot and canister hurtled through the rank; and at the sixth report the road was littered with struggling horses, and then the fields on either side dotted with galloping fugitives, and the sowar regiment that had been tearing across the road towards us was non-existent.
Six shots; no more. By the time another one had reloaded, there were only flying individuals to aim at as they galloped over the plain, and Brace looked in vain for a rallying point, and the gathering together of a troop at which a round shot could be aimed.
“Sauve qui peut!” cried Brace, as orders were given for a fresh advance. “We cannot pursue them. Now forward for the town.”
“Some one coming,” I said, as the galloping of a horse was heard.
“Their last man,” said Brace. “Open out, my lads, and capture him.”
The horseman came on at a swinging gallop, and made straight for us, checking his charger as he drew near, and we saw that the face of the rider was white.
“Where’s your officer?” he cried hoarsely, as he reined up, with his sword hanging by the knot from his wrist.
“Here,” replied Brace.
“Thank God!” cried the new-comer. “I’m Mason—Captain Mason, 04th Highlanders. You fired on those bloodthirsty scoundrels.”
“And scattered the regiment. I could do no more.”
“Ah, if you could have shot them to a man! We were called away to help at Miapore, where a sepoy regiment mutinied. It was a long march, and as soon as we had gone—the European officers of that cursed regiment answering for their men’s fidelity—they rose and murdered the poor fellows who trusted them, and then—”
He stopped there and groaned.
“My wife—her sister—two of my little children—the whole of the English residents, and— Oh, why don’t you pursue? Hah!”
“Take care!” I roared, as I snatched sword from sheath, pistol from holster, and fired, for, from out of the gathering darkness, a dozen of the sowars, men who had recovered their horses, or those of slain men, dashed down upon us like a whirlwind right for where Brace stood talking to the Highland officer.
As I fired into the thick of them, I saw one man throw up his sword, but I also saw a fierce-looking savage charge right at Brace, who was unprepared; the sowar’s sword was raised, and he made a tremendous cut at our captain, one which must have ended his career; but, quick with the quickness begotten by practice and peril, our new friend caught and raised the point of his sword; and in the act of delivering his cut, the man was literally transfixed. He fell back over the cantrel of his saddle, and as his horse dashed on, he was dragged out of the saddle by Captain Mason’s jerk to withdraw his sword.
I saw all this, and almost at the same moment was conscious of a crushing blow on the head, accompanied by a terrible shock, and then I was looking stupidly at the doctor, who was kneeling by me in the road.
“Here, what is it?” I cried angrily. “Who was it rode me down? Is my horse hurt?”
“Never mind your horse, Gil. Speak, lad. Doctor. His head?”
“Oh, his head’s right enough,” said the doctor, as I struggled into a sitting position, and felt very sick and giddy. “I say, Vincent, my lad, you will have to send the accoutrement-maker a testimonial. Here’s a tremendous dint in your helmet, but it has saved your life.”
“Then he isn’t killed, sir?” cried a familiar voice.
“No, my lad; only a bit stunned,” said the doctor.
“Hooray!” rose in a tremendous cheer, in which every man in the troop seemed to join.
“Nice to be a favourite,” I heard Haynes say.
“But, look here,” I cried in an irritated way, “I don’t quite understand it. My head’s all—I— Why, some one must have knocked me down. Did I pitch on to my helmet, then?”
“My dear boy, you were struck down by a sowar, and your helmet saved your life.”
“The savage brute!” I cried pettishly. “It couldn’t have been the one who rode at you, because— Yes, I remember. Then the man who rode at me got off free.”
“Humph!” ejaculated the doctor, turning round and looking off to our right.
I followed his eyes, and saw a white figure lying face downward among some green corn.
“Yes,” said the doctor, “that is he; and you may thank Haynes for saving your life.”
“Oh, nonsense!” cried my brother-officer hastily. “We can’t be talking about that sort of thing; it’s nonsense. I only did what any one else would have done. Steady there, my lads. Silence in the ranks.”
The word was given to advance directly after, and in a few minutes there was a burst of cheers from on in front, where a skirmishing party of Captain Mason’s regiment had come upon our advance-guard.
This was answered by our troop, and directly after the officers were eagerly talking together as we marched into the outskirts of the little town, and soon after were congratulating ourselves on the excellent quarters we had found, the foot regiment being most eager in showing us where we could obtain provisions, and the necessaries for a restful night.
About an hour after, when the sentinels and outposts had been visited, and the round made of the horses, I was one of a party in one of the ruined rooms of the residency, where the officers were debating what steps should be taken at daylight the next morning, and matters were still in doubt as to whether we should march east or west when a prisoner was brought in. This was a shivering non-combatant, who eagerly gave every information he knew about the movements of the rebels, and was able to inform us, by way of buying his own life, as he thought, that the sowars were going to join the rajah, Ny Deen, the next morning, when their arrangements were suddenly upset by the return of the foot regiment which, on finding out that it had been deluded, came back by a forced march, but too late to save those at the station.
“Then the relics of the regiment will still seek to join this revolted rajah,” said the colonel of the foot regiment. “But his power has been broken up,” said Brace. “We put him to flight.”
“They’ll try to join him, all the same,” cried the colonel.
“The only hope of these men,” he continued, “is in co-operation. Depend upon it, the scoundrels will move west, and I say we ought to follow. Our march must be on Badhpore, and from thence in the direction of Nussoor. What do you say?”
“I say,” cried Brace, “that we are weak without infantry, and you are feeble without guns. It is a question of expediency, sir, and our force may prove to be the nucleus of a little army strong enough to sweep the mutineers from the land.”
Chapter Twenty Five.A thrill ran through me at the colonel’s mention of Nussoor, and I listened eagerly to Brace’s reply, for I had felt in a dread lest he should oppose the plan of marching on that city, though I was obliged to own that it was quite possible that my father’s regiment might have left there in these disturbed times, and of course he would have placed my mother and sister where they would be safe.After a little discussion, it was decided that we should stay twenty-four hours where we were, to recruit the men and horses, for, though the men all declared their readiness to go on at once, the infantry had had a very severe forced march or two, and required rest.It was a terrible experience—a walk or two I had about the town with Brace during that halt, one which was utilised for collecting an ample supply of provisions and recruiting followers for our little camp, and I remember asking Brace whether he thought it wise to trust the natives.“Yes and no, Gil,” he said. “I am not blind; I can see that every one here in this place humbles himself to the dust before us as the conquerors, and is ready to obey our slightest command; but, if we met with a reverse, they would rise and trample on us to a man, and glory in murdering such a set of unclean, infidel dogs as we are. But it is a necessity, my lad. We want our lads to fight, and they must be always ready for action. We cannot have them exhausted in this terrible climate, carrying loads, cutting grass for the horses, foraging for the elephants, and cooking. We must have hewers of wood and drawers of water, my dear boy, and keep a strict watch over these modern children of Gibeon. We cannot trust them, but we must have their services.”“Yes, I see,” I replied.“And there is this advantage: we are journeying through a strange country, which they know. We must eat, so must they. We should not be able to forage; they are, and in finding food for themselves they are compelled to find it for us. No, we cannot trust them. Look here. For aught we know, the men who are bowing down before us, and calling us sahibs, had a hand in this.”We had reached a large bungalow, which, we afterwards learned, had been the commissioner’s house, and as I went with my companion from room to room, which at one time must have been furnished in exquisite taste, there were traces of the wanton destruction of a savage mob. Furniture had been smashed, the floor was littered with the remains of mirrors and ornaments; curtains and carpets were torn to shreds, and everything that could be battered and destroyed was in pieces.It was so in the next room, and we were about to pass on to others, with the picture rising to my mind of what this place must have been before the rising, when Brace suddenly stepped before me, swung me round hastily, and gave me a push.“Here, let’s get out of the miserable place, Gil,” he said hastily.“You were too late,” I said. “I saw it the same moment. It’s of no use; I may as well get accustomed to such things, even if I am a mere boy.”For, in one corner of the once handsome room, there were spots and splashes on the white wall, and terrible stains on the floor. The plaster of the sides, too, was scarred and dotted with bullet holes, and we could grasp the terrible fact that some one, probably more than one, had made a desperate defence in that corner, for there was a sword, broken in two pieces, lying behind a shattered piano, in whose woodwork were dozens of cuts, such as might have been given by savage men trying to get at those behind who had made it their breastwork; and as I saw all this, I could not refrain from going close—Brace making no opposition now—to see other terrible traces of the desperate fight of which this place must have been the scene.One of the first things I saw behind the broken piano was a white handkerchief, horribly stained. It had been apparently hastily folded into a bandage, and tied round some one’s head, the knots being still there, and the kerchief lying on the floor, forming a rough circle. Close by were pieces of a woman’s dress, one fragment being a sleeve, evidently torn off in a desperate struggle. But the most horrible traces were those which told in simple language the result of the desperate defence that must have taken place; for, at the far end of the piano, where it stood about three feet from the wall, there lay a double rifle, broken off at the stock, a bayonet snapped at the socket, and between them, marks which showed only too plainly that the defenders of that corner of the room had been dragged out by the feet, and out through a farther door.“Come away, Gil,” said Brace, hoarsely; “it only makes me feel mad against these wretches; and at a time when, with the work I have in hand, I want to be calm and cool as a judge.”At that moment there was a furious roar from somewhere at the back of the house, and Brace’s hand went to his sword on the instant, mine naturally following suit.“Draw, lad!” he cried. “We had no business to come without an escort. Keep close to me.”But a second burst of shouting reassured us. No one but Englishmen could raise an indignant cry such as we heard.“What does it mean?” I said, as we hurried out through the door, out of which the poor creatures who had defended themselves had been dragged, and we came directly upon about a dozen of our men, with some of the foot regiment.“This way, sir—this way!” cried one of the men, who was in a terrible state of excitement; and unable to grasp more than that the men had been foraging about, and had made some discovery, they hurried us on to what must have been a kind of summer-house in a pleasant garden with a goldfish tank, and various other proofs of the taste of the late occupants of the place.In this tank were various objects, apparently thrown in by the fierce mob which had plundered the house; while, as we drew near, there was just before us a heap of furniture and household goods, which had been piled up in front of the summer-house entrance, and fired, evidently to blaze furiously for a time, and with the object of burning down the summer-house as well.A number of the half-burnt and charred things had been dragged away by the soldiers so as to clear the doorway, prompted, no doubt, by curiosity to see what was in the place the mob had tried to burn down; and, as we neared the spot, and the men, who were half mad with excitement, made way for us to look in, I felt for the moment as if turned to stone, and then the tears started to my eyes, weak as it may sound to say so, and formed a veil which shut out the horrors of the scene before me.Shall I describe it? Yes; from no morbid wish to dwell upon the frightful scenes which, alas! grew too common, but as some palliation of the acts of our men, against whom charges were plentiful about their want of mercy.Twelve poor creatures lay there, but only two were men in the prime of life, and who, hacked almost to pieces, had died bravely in the defence of their wives, sisters, and the helpless children, who lay in a heap with them—nine white women and children; and, holding it tightly to her breast even in death, a black woman, the faithful ayah or nurse of the infant she held, in protecting and trying to save which she had died.I will try to describe no more, save that the funeral pyre, which the murderers had raised to hide their crime, had not reached them, not a garment being singed.The men stood back, panting as if after a hard run, watching us now, as if to see what effect it would have upon us, and the silence after their fierce oaths and shouting was terrible.As we drew back, one of our corporals cried fiercely—“We don’t want no more rest, sir. Take us on at once.”“Oh,” shouted another, “how can we hold our hands after this, sir?”“Ay,” cried an Irish gunner, who was one of the party, “we were ready to foight the mutineers as min again min; but it isn’t min, lads—it’s savage bastes. And, hurrah! boys, come and take a last look of the poor darlins, to harden your hearts!”“Halt!” cried Brace, sternly. “Joliffe,—Brian, advance; draw! Stand sentry at this door. No one is to profane the resting-place of our dead. Go back, my lads; you want no such sight to nerve your arms for the work we have to do.”The men uttered a low murmur of acquiescence, and, without orders, fell in and marched behind us to the spot we had made our head-quarters. Here there was a short consultation between the officers, and directly a party of men was marched out to the foot of a clump of trees, where one great shallow grave was dug, and an hour afterwards, every man under arms, and the infantry lining the road to keep back the crowd of natives gathered from all parts of the town, the remains of the unfortunate people were borne, reverently draped, on the guns and tumbrils of our troop, to the open grave, laid therein carefully, the colonel said a short prayer, a volley was fired, the last resting-place of the two civil officials and their families was filled in, and a cross carved upon the nearest tree.Long before the little ceremony was over, I saw that the natives, of whom a great crowd had collected, were beginning to steal away, till scarcely a soul was left; but I thought very little of this, for supposing that their curiosity was satisfied, it did not appear strange to me that they should go back to their homes. Perhaps, I thought, they may think we shall take vengeance upon them.But this fact suddenly took Brace’s attention, just as the final duties were being paid to the dead; and, turning sharply to the colonel of the foot regiment, he said sharply—“The people are drawing off; there must be some reason.”Hardly had he spoken, when a shot was fired at a distance, followed by another and another; and in an instant our men sprang to their places, while half a mile down the road we could see the infantry, which had lined the sides, running back as hard as they could, men from each flank joining them, and the road growing full of a retreating detachment, toward which a couple of officers ran, giving orders as they went, with the result that the men nearer to us fell in and took position, line behind line, across the road, while those retreating in the extreme distance suddenly halted in the same formation.The next minute the cause was evident, for a strong body of mounted men dashed into sight far down the road, and tore along as if to ride over the little line of men, and then sweep the place.But their shouting and yelling did not scare the men in the least. They stood firm, waiting in double line, till the sowars were close upon them, and then delivered a sharp volley, the front rank going down on one knee directly, with their bayonets sloping upward, while the rear rank formed a second bristling line of sharp points on a level with their shoulders.We had a glimpse of this as the smoke rose, and, to use the familiar expression, my heart was in my mouth, as I strained my eyes to pierce the cloud, expecting to see the poor fellows who kept the road ridden over, and the sowars come tearing on to where the next line was now drawn up a hundred and fifty yards nearer.But as the smoke lifted, to my great delight I saw the sowars all in confusion, and cantering away, while the little line of infantry was doubling back towards their supporting line, through which they passed, and formed up again nearer to us.There was another yelling, and a fresh body of sowars came tearing down the road, but only to be sent to the rightabout in the same way, for the volley they received emptied several saddles, and they dared not face the double line of bayonets, but turned and cantered back.Then the same evolution was gone through again by the line of foot, and this was repeated twice with the effect of drawing in the straggling force, till the foot regiment was condensed, and our position strengthened.“I don’t think much of their charging,” I said to Brace. “Why, our men wouldn’t have turned back like that. We should have gone through them, guns and all.”Brace smiled, as we stood close beside a couple of our pieces, all there was room for in that narrow road, waiting for an opportunity to bring them into action, which, so far, we had been unable to do for fear of injuring our own men. Two of our guns were planted further back, facing in the other direction, in case of an attack in our rear, while, right and left, the men of the foot regiment held the houses which lined the road.For a few minutes after the repulse of the last charge by the sowars, the enemy made no sign, and a quick consultation was held between the colonel of the foot regiment and Brace, in which it was decided to advance at once further into the town to where we had made our head-quarters, and where our provisions and ammunition were stored, so as to occupy that much stronger position, in case the enemy was in force, as only a small guard had been left. For that was a good central position selected for its opportunities for defence, and an advance was made at once.We only had about a quarter of a mile to go, and as the men sent in front were about half-way along the road toward where we should have to turn off at right angles, we suddenly became aware of the advance of a stronger body of cavalry, and this time the guns were brought into action, a couple of shots checking their advance, and giving us time to reach the open square, and the large buildings which we had occupied for quarters in conjunction with the foot regiment.The men left as baggage-guard over the stores and elephants gave a loud cheer as we trotted into the square with the guns, the foot regiment following at the double, to occupy the roof and windows of the big buildings, while our guns were planted so as to command the approaches, outposts being placed all round.We were none too soon, for hardly had the position been occupied, than from the outposts and from the top of the building we had reports of the enemy’s approach from the west, a second regiment of native cavalry being in advance, while a cloud of dust gradually resolved itself into quite a little army of native infantry, followed by a huge crowd of camp-followers with horses, donkeys, elephants, and camels.The colonel was on the roof, making good use of his glass, and he shouted down to where Brace was standing with the two reserve guns—“Lucky we got back,” he said. “Their fighting men must be about three or four thousand strong.”In spite of their numbers, the inclination was to advance at once and attack them, before they had time to get in order or into a strong position, Brace being naturally strongly in favour of this course, his branch of the service being, of course, adapted for field duty; but the colonel of the foot regiment was more cautious. His men were, opposed to so great a force, strongest behind walls defending such a building as that they occupied, and Brace had to give way. And there we waited, while the mutineers marched into the place. From where I was stationed with two of the guns I had an uninterrupted view before me, for about half a mile, of the scouting parties, mounted and on foot, which came to spy out our position, some of them going so far as to begin firing, the balls stirring up the dust in front of us, and the practice getting warmer, till one of the balls struck and glanced off from the gun nearest to me, while the carriage was struck directly after, the sound being like a sharp rap.But about half a dozen pretty good marksmen replied from our side, and the firing was soon silenced.After this a knot of sowars rode down into sight from time to time, offering our men a tempting mark for a discharge of grape, but there was no firing, for such shots could do no good, and they were reserved for a time when they could have a demoralising and scattering effect upon some attacking party.All at once, as I stood there, hot and weary in the scorching sun, I saw another party ride up reconnoitring, one evidently composed of the leaders of the little army that was now closing us in, for scouts had brought us word how the enemy had occupied positions all around.They were evidently examining us carefully; and I could not help admiring the daring of the well-mounted, gaily-dressed men who had halted about a couple of hundred yards away, right in front of our guns, which, at a word, would have belched forth a shower of grape.There was not much for them to see, only the gunners with their linstocks, and the heads of the support of infantry, sheltering for the most part in the houses on either side of the road, the limbers and horses of each gun, and those of the gunners being back in an opening a few yards away, and completely hidden from the party in front.And as I watched them, I could not help thinking that a clever officer who was not sparing of his men, might easily take our guns, for if one party made a dash at them, and drew our fire, a reserve party might dash in, and sabre the gunners before they had time to reload.Just then I was conscious of a curious movement among our men, eyes being turned to me appealingly, while every gunner was on thequi vive, and I could see that at a word the guns would be rapidly discharged.But I had no orders to commence hostilities, unless an attack was made, and I stood as eager as the men, watching the scouting party, as there was a sudden movement among them. They opened out, and one whom I had not before seen rode through them quite to the front, and just then a voice behind me whispered—“Look, Gil! Do you see?”Yes, I had seen; and I had been so taken up by the sight that I had not heard Brace come up to the guns.“I could fetch that dandy chap down, and a dozen more,” I heard a man whisper.“Silence there,” said Brace, sternly. Then to me, “Why, Gil, I thought he must be miles and miles away from here.”“Then it is Ny Deen,” I said excitedly. “I thought I must be wrong.”“Yes, it is he,” replied Brace. “And I feel as if I ought to fire, and sweep the whole gang away; but it seems such a cowardly thing to do.”The temptation to fire was removed directly after, for the party drew back and disappeared, while all was still in the blazing sunshine, saving a dull humming sound of many voices, telling that the little town was densely thronged by the new-comers. And once more Brace drew back as if to go, but stopped short, for the colonel and major of the foot regiment appeared, and Brace signed to me to come to his side.“I think I should have given him the two charges,” the colonel was saying as I came up; and then, soon after, “Well, perhaps you are right.”“I am sure I am,” Brace said eagerly. “If my men were a company or two of infantry like your own, I should say, by all means let us strengthen the residency, and after getting together all the provisions we could, stand fast till more help came; but with my guns and horses cooped up here in these streets, I am almost useless. We can fire afewtimes, and then, if the enemy makes a bold dash, there will be a short struggle, and they must capture the guns again. You see, my horses are in the way here, where there is no room to manoeuvre.”“Yes; that is quite right. But we might get them in the compound, and turn your guns into pieces for our little fort.”“Yes,” said Brace; “and how are you going to feed the poor beasts when you have them in the compound? There is no begging the question, sir; I can make my troop invaluable, and act as cavalry as well, out in the open; but here we cannot develop our strength.”“He’s quite right,” said the major.“Then what would you propose?” said the colonel.“We have abundance of ammunition, and our waggons and elephants. Moving out as soon as it is dark.”“They will not let us move; and it would be murderous for my poor lads to carry on a hand-to-hand fight in these narrow lanes.”“More murderous to be shut up in that residency, to be attacked day after day by a force that will always be increasing, while we grow weaker.”“Unless help comes.—But you would move out?”“Yes.”“And what then? Retreat and leave these scoundrels in possession?”“No; they will think we are retreating, and follow us. We can keep on retiring till you have got into a good position, when I can literally mow them down from a distance.”“Unless their cavalry take your guns.”“I am not afraid of that, sir,” said Brace, with a laugh.“And they will be six or seven to one,” said the colonel.“The odds were greater at Plassy,” said Brace, quietly. “Depend upon it, if we get them out on fair ground—which we will—they will receive a tremendous check.”“What do you say?” said the colonel, turning to his brother-officer, the major.“I side with Captain Brace, decidedly. If we shut ourselves up, we are crippling a dashing troop of artillery; and, worse still, letting the scoundrels think they are our masters. That they must never think. No: retreat, but as a ruse. We are their masters still, and we will show them we are.”“Yes,” said the colonel, firmly. “I shrink from it, as being a very grave responsibility, weak as we are; but I quite agree with you both. We shall be stronger in the field; and if we are not attacked before night, we will march out.”“Why wait for the darkness, and the confusion it will cause?” said Brace. “I was of the opinion that we might retreat under cover of the darkness, but I think now it would be best to dash out and give battle at once.”“Yes,” said the colonel, drily; “that’s easy enough for you and your troop. You can rattle out at full gallop; but we have got to march, and fight our way step by step.”“Exactly. But I can take up a position at once and cover you; and I will.”The colonel bowed and stood frowning and thoughtful for a few moments. Then I saw his face clear, and he held out his hand.“It is good advice,” he said; “and I shall look for your co-operation to its fullest extent. Ah! what’s this?”For at that moment a bugle rang out; and, as I turned, I saw a sowar officer advancing with a trumpeter, and one of his men beside him, bearing a white flag on his lance, while several followers rode behind.
A thrill ran through me at the colonel’s mention of Nussoor, and I listened eagerly to Brace’s reply, for I had felt in a dread lest he should oppose the plan of marching on that city, though I was obliged to own that it was quite possible that my father’s regiment might have left there in these disturbed times, and of course he would have placed my mother and sister where they would be safe.
After a little discussion, it was decided that we should stay twenty-four hours where we were, to recruit the men and horses, for, though the men all declared their readiness to go on at once, the infantry had had a very severe forced march or two, and required rest.
It was a terrible experience—a walk or two I had about the town with Brace during that halt, one which was utilised for collecting an ample supply of provisions and recruiting followers for our little camp, and I remember asking Brace whether he thought it wise to trust the natives.
“Yes and no, Gil,” he said. “I am not blind; I can see that every one here in this place humbles himself to the dust before us as the conquerors, and is ready to obey our slightest command; but, if we met with a reverse, they would rise and trample on us to a man, and glory in murdering such a set of unclean, infidel dogs as we are. But it is a necessity, my lad. We want our lads to fight, and they must be always ready for action. We cannot have them exhausted in this terrible climate, carrying loads, cutting grass for the horses, foraging for the elephants, and cooking. We must have hewers of wood and drawers of water, my dear boy, and keep a strict watch over these modern children of Gibeon. We cannot trust them, but we must have their services.”
“Yes, I see,” I replied.
“And there is this advantage: we are journeying through a strange country, which they know. We must eat, so must they. We should not be able to forage; they are, and in finding food for themselves they are compelled to find it for us. No, we cannot trust them. Look here. For aught we know, the men who are bowing down before us, and calling us sahibs, had a hand in this.”
We had reached a large bungalow, which, we afterwards learned, had been the commissioner’s house, and as I went with my companion from room to room, which at one time must have been furnished in exquisite taste, there were traces of the wanton destruction of a savage mob. Furniture had been smashed, the floor was littered with the remains of mirrors and ornaments; curtains and carpets were torn to shreds, and everything that could be battered and destroyed was in pieces.
It was so in the next room, and we were about to pass on to others, with the picture rising to my mind of what this place must have been before the rising, when Brace suddenly stepped before me, swung me round hastily, and gave me a push.
“Here, let’s get out of the miserable place, Gil,” he said hastily.
“You were too late,” I said. “I saw it the same moment. It’s of no use; I may as well get accustomed to such things, even if I am a mere boy.”
For, in one corner of the once handsome room, there were spots and splashes on the white wall, and terrible stains on the floor. The plaster of the sides, too, was scarred and dotted with bullet holes, and we could grasp the terrible fact that some one, probably more than one, had made a desperate defence in that corner, for there was a sword, broken in two pieces, lying behind a shattered piano, in whose woodwork were dozens of cuts, such as might have been given by savage men trying to get at those behind who had made it their breastwork; and as I saw all this, I could not refrain from going close—Brace making no opposition now—to see other terrible traces of the desperate fight of which this place must have been the scene.
One of the first things I saw behind the broken piano was a white handkerchief, horribly stained. It had been apparently hastily folded into a bandage, and tied round some one’s head, the knots being still there, and the kerchief lying on the floor, forming a rough circle. Close by were pieces of a woman’s dress, one fragment being a sleeve, evidently torn off in a desperate struggle. But the most horrible traces were those which told in simple language the result of the desperate defence that must have taken place; for, at the far end of the piano, where it stood about three feet from the wall, there lay a double rifle, broken off at the stock, a bayonet snapped at the socket, and between them, marks which showed only too plainly that the defenders of that corner of the room had been dragged out by the feet, and out through a farther door.
“Come away, Gil,” said Brace, hoarsely; “it only makes me feel mad against these wretches; and at a time when, with the work I have in hand, I want to be calm and cool as a judge.”
At that moment there was a furious roar from somewhere at the back of the house, and Brace’s hand went to his sword on the instant, mine naturally following suit.
“Draw, lad!” he cried. “We had no business to come without an escort. Keep close to me.”
But a second burst of shouting reassured us. No one but Englishmen could raise an indignant cry such as we heard.
“What does it mean?” I said, as we hurried out through the door, out of which the poor creatures who had defended themselves had been dragged, and we came directly upon about a dozen of our men, with some of the foot regiment.
“This way, sir—this way!” cried one of the men, who was in a terrible state of excitement; and unable to grasp more than that the men had been foraging about, and had made some discovery, they hurried us on to what must have been a kind of summer-house in a pleasant garden with a goldfish tank, and various other proofs of the taste of the late occupants of the place.
In this tank were various objects, apparently thrown in by the fierce mob which had plundered the house; while, as we drew near, there was just before us a heap of furniture and household goods, which had been piled up in front of the summer-house entrance, and fired, evidently to blaze furiously for a time, and with the object of burning down the summer-house as well.
A number of the half-burnt and charred things had been dragged away by the soldiers so as to clear the doorway, prompted, no doubt, by curiosity to see what was in the place the mob had tried to burn down; and, as we neared the spot, and the men, who were half mad with excitement, made way for us to look in, I felt for the moment as if turned to stone, and then the tears started to my eyes, weak as it may sound to say so, and formed a veil which shut out the horrors of the scene before me.
Shall I describe it? Yes; from no morbid wish to dwell upon the frightful scenes which, alas! grew too common, but as some palliation of the acts of our men, against whom charges were plentiful about their want of mercy.
Twelve poor creatures lay there, but only two were men in the prime of life, and who, hacked almost to pieces, had died bravely in the defence of their wives, sisters, and the helpless children, who lay in a heap with them—nine white women and children; and, holding it tightly to her breast even in death, a black woman, the faithful ayah or nurse of the infant she held, in protecting and trying to save which she had died.
I will try to describe no more, save that the funeral pyre, which the murderers had raised to hide their crime, had not reached them, not a garment being singed.
The men stood back, panting as if after a hard run, watching us now, as if to see what effect it would have upon us, and the silence after their fierce oaths and shouting was terrible.
As we drew back, one of our corporals cried fiercely—
“We don’t want no more rest, sir. Take us on at once.”
“Oh,” shouted another, “how can we hold our hands after this, sir?”
“Ay,” cried an Irish gunner, who was one of the party, “we were ready to foight the mutineers as min again min; but it isn’t min, lads—it’s savage bastes. And, hurrah! boys, come and take a last look of the poor darlins, to harden your hearts!”
“Halt!” cried Brace, sternly. “Joliffe,—Brian, advance; draw! Stand sentry at this door. No one is to profane the resting-place of our dead. Go back, my lads; you want no such sight to nerve your arms for the work we have to do.”
The men uttered a low murmur of acquiescence, and, without orders, fell in and marched behind us to the spot we had made our head-quarters. Here there was a short consultation between the officers, and directly a party of men was marched out to the foot of a clump of trees, where one great shallow grave was dug, and an hour afterwards, every man under arms, and the infantry lining the road to keep back the crowd of natives gathered from all parts of the town, the remains of the unfortunate people were borne, reverently draped, on the guns and tumbrils of our troop, to the open grave, laid therein carefully, the colonel said a short prayer, a volley was fired, the last resting-place of the two civil officials and their families was filled in, and a cross carved upon the nearest tree.
Long before the little ceremony was over, I saw that the natives, of whom a great crowd had collected, were beginning to steal away, till scarcely a soul was left; but I thought very little of this, for supposing that their curiosity was satisfied, it did not appear strange to me that they should go back to their homes. Perhaps, I thought, they may think we shall take vengeance upon them.
But this fact suddenly took Brace’s attention, just as the final duties were being paid to the dead; and, turning sharply to the colonel of the foot regiment, he said sharply—
“The people are drawing off; there must be some reason.”
Hardly had he spoken, when a shot was fired at a distance, followed by another and another; and in an instant our men sprang to their places, while half a mile down the road we could see the infantry, which had lined the sides, running back as hard as they could, men from each flank joining them, and the road growing full of a retreating detachment, toward which a couple of officers ran, giving orders as they went, with the result that the men nearer to us fell in and took position, line behind line, across the road, while those retreating in the extreme distance suddenly halted in the same formation.
The next minute the cause was evident, for a strong body of mounted men dashed into sight far down the road, and tore along as if to ride over the little line of men, and then sweep the place.
But their shouting and yelling did not scare the men in the least. They stood firm, waiting in double line, till the sowars were close upon them, and then delivered a sharp volley, the front rank going down on one knee directly, with their bayonets sloping upward, while the rear rank formed a second bristling line of sharp points on a level with their shoulders.
We had a glimpse of this as the smoke rose, and, to use the familiar expression, my heart was in my mouth, as I strained my eyes to pierce the cloud, expecting to see the poor fellows who kept the road ridden over, and the sowars come tearing on to where the next line was now drawn up a hundred and fifty yards nearer.
But as the smoke lifted, to my great delight I saw the sowars all in confusion, and cantering away, while the little line of infantry was doubling back towards their supporting line, through which they passed, and formed up again nearer to us.
There was another yelling, and a fresh body of sowars came tearing down the road, but only to be sent to the rightabout in the same way, for the volley they received emptied several saddles, and they dared not face the double line of bayonets, but turned and cantered back.
Then the same evolution was gone through again by the line of foot, and this was repeated twice with the effect of drawing in the straggling force, till the foot regiment was condensed, and our position strengthened.
“I don’t think much of their charging,” I said to Brace. “Why, our men wouldn’t have turned back like that. We should have gone through them, guns and all.”
Brace smiled, as we stood close beside a couple of our pieces, all there was room for in that narrow road, waiting for an opportunity to bring them into action, which, so far, we had been unable to do for fear of injuring our own men. Two of our guns were planted further back, facing in the other direction, in case of an attack in our rear, while, right and left, the men of the foot regiment held the houses which lined the road.
For a few minutes after the repulse of the last charge by the sowars, the enemy made no sign, and a quick consultation was held between the colonel of the foot regiment and Brace, in which it was decided to advance at once further into the town to where we had made our head-quarters, and where our provisions and ammunition were stored, so as to occupy that much stronger position, in case the enemy was in force, as only a small guard had been left. For that was a good central position selected for its opportunities for defence, and an advance was made at once.
We only had about a quarter of a mile to go, and as the men sent in front were about half-way along the road toward where we should have to turn off at right angles, we suddenly became aware of the advance of a stronger body of cavalry, and this time the guns were brought into action, a couple of shots checking their advance, and giving us time to reach the open square, and the large buildings which we had occupied for quarters in conjunction with the foot regiment.
The men left as baggage-guard over the stores and elephants gave a loud cheer as we trotted into the square with the guns, the foot regiment following at the double, to occupy the roof and windows of the big buildings, while our guns were planted so as to command the approaches, outposts being placed all round.
We were none too soon, for hardly had the position been occupied, than from the outposts and from the top of the building we had reports of the enemy’s approach from the west, a second regiment of native cavalry being in advance, while a cloud of dust gradually resolved itself into quite a little army of native infantry, followed by a huge crowd of camp-followers with horses, donkeys, elephants, and camels.
The colonel was on the roof, making good use of his glass, and he shouted down to where Brace was standing with the two reserve guns—
“Lucky we got back,” he said. “Their fighting men must be about three or four thousand strong.”
In spite of their numbers, the inclination was to advance at once and attack them, before they had time to get in order or into a strong position, Brace being naturally strongly in favour of this course, his branch of the service being, of course, adapted for field duty; but the colonel of the foot regiment was more cautious. His men were, opposed to so great a force, strongest behind walls defending such a building as that they occupied, and Brace had to give way. And there we waited, while the mutineers marched into the place. From where I was stationed with two of the guns I had an uninterrupted view before me, for about half a mile, of the scouting parties, mounted and on foot, which came to spy out our position, some of them going so far as to begin firing, the balls stirring up the dust in front of us, and the practice getting warmer, till one of the balls struck and glanced off from the gun nearest to me, while the carriage was struck directly after, the sound being like a sharp rap.
But about half a dozen pretty good marksmen replied from our side, and the firing was soon silenced.
After this a knot of sowars rode down into sight from time to time, offering our men a tempting mark for a discharge of grape, but there was no firing, for such shots could do no good, and they were reserved for a time when they could have a demoralising and scattering effect upon some attacking party.
All at once, as I stood there, hot and weary in the scorching sun, I saw another party ride up reconnoitring, one evidently composed of the leaders of the little army that was now closing us in, for scouts had brought us word how the enemy had occupied positions all around.
They were evidently examining us carefully; and I could not help admiring the daring of the well-mounted, gaily-dressed men who had halted about a couple of hundred yards away, right in front of our guns, which, at a word, would have belched forth a shower of grape.
There was not much for them to see, only the gunners with their linstocks, and the heads of the support of infantry, sheltering for the most part in the houses on either side of the road, the limbers and horses of each gun, and those of the gunners being back in an opening a few yards away, and completely hidden from the party in front.
And as I watched them, I could not help thinking that a clever officer who was not sparing of his men, might easily take our guns, for if one party made a dash at them, and drew our fire, a reserve party might dash in, and sabre the gunners before they had time to reload.
Just then I was conscious of a curious movement among our men, eyes being turned to me appealingly, while every gunner was on thequi vive, and I could see that at a word the guns would be rapidly discharged.
But I had no orders to commence hostilities, unless an attack was made, and I stood as eager as the men, watching the scouting party, as there was a sudden movement among them. They opened out, and one whom I had not before seen rode through them quite to the front, and just then a voice behind me whispered—
“Look, Gil! Do you see?”
Yes, I had seen; and I had been so taken up by the sight that I had not heard Brace come up to the guns.
“I could fetch that dandy chap down, and a dozen more,” I heard a man whisper.
“Silence there,” said Brace, sternly. Then to me, “Why, Gil, I thought he must be miles and miles away from here.”
“Then it is Ny Deen,” I said excitedly. “I thought I must be wrong.”
“Yes, it is he,” replied Brace. “And I feel as if I ought to fire, and sweep the whole gang away; but it seems such a cowardly thing to do.”
The temptation to fire was removed directly after, for the party drew back and disappeared, while all was still in the blazing sunshine, saving a dull humming sound of many voices, telling that the little town was densely thronged by the new-comers. And once more Brace drew back as if to go, but stopped short, for the colonel and major of the foot regiment appeared, and Brace signed to me to come to his side.
“I think I should have given him the two charges,” the colonel was saying as I came up; and then, soon after, “Well, perhaps you are right.”
“I am sure I am,” Brace said eagerly. “If my men were a company or two of infantry like your own, I should say, by all means let us strengthen the residency, and after getting together all the provisions we could, stand fast till more help came; but with my guns and horses cooped up here in these streets, I am almost useless. We can fire afewtimes, and then, if the enemy makes a bold dash, there will be a short struggle, and they must capture the guns again. You see, my horses are in the way here, where there is no room to manoeuvre.”
“Yes; that is quite right. But we might get them in the compound, and turn your guns into pieces for our little fort.”
“Yes,” said Brace; “and how are you going to feed the poor beasts when you have them in the compound? There is no begging the question, sir; I can make my troop invaluable, and act as cavalry as well, out in the open; but here we cannot develop our strength.”
“He’s quite right,” said the major.
“Then what would you propose?” said the colonel.
“We have abundance of ammunition, and our waggons and elephants. Moving out as soon as it is dark.”
“They will not let us move; and it would be murderous for my poor lads to carry on a hand-to-hand fight in these narrow lanes.”
“More murderous to be shut up in that residency, to be attacked day after day by a force that will always be increasing, while we grow weaker.”
“Unless help comes.—But you would move out?”
“Yes.”
“And what then? Retreat and leave these scoundrels in possession?”
“No; they will think we are retreating, and follow us. We can keep on retiring till you have got into a good position, when I can literally mow them down from a distance.”
“Unless their cavalry take your guns.”
“I am not afraid of that, sir,” said Brace, with a laugh.
“And they will be six or seven to one,” said the colonel.
“The odds were greater at Plassy,” said Brace, quietly. “Depend upon it, if we get them out on fair ground—which we will—they will receive a tremendous check.”
“What do you say?” said the colonel, turning to his brother-officer, the major.
“I side with Captain Brace, decidedly. If we shut ourselves up, we are crippling a dashing troop of artillery; and, worse still, letting the scoundrels think they are our masters. That they must never think. No: retreat, but as a ruse. We are their masters still, and we will show them we are.”
“Yes,” said the colonel, firmly. “I shrink from it, as being a very grave responsibility, weak as we are; but I quite agree with you both. We shall be stronger in the field; and if we are not attacked before night, we will march out.”
“Why wait for the darkness, and the confusion it will cause?” said Brace. “I was of the opinion that we might retreat under cover of the darkness, but I think now it would be best to dash out and give battle at once.”
“Yes,” said the colonel, drily; “that’s easy enough for you and your troop. You can rattle out at full gallop; but we have got to march, and fight our way step by step.”
“Exactly. But I can take up a position at once and cover you; and I will.”
The colonel bowed and stood frowning and thoughtful for a few moments. Then I saw his face clear, and he held out his hand.
“It is good advice,” he said; “and I shall look for your co-operation to its fullest extent. Ah! what’s this?”
For at that moment a bugle rang out; and, as I turned, I saw a sowar officer advancing with a trumpeter, and one of his men beside him, bearing a white flag on his lance, while several followers rode behind.