CHAPTER X.ALIWAL AND SOBRAON.Finding that the British army did not follow up its success at Ferozeshah, the Sikhs determined to maintain their position on the left bank, and proceeded to construct a bridge of boats at Sobraon, not far from the spot where they had crossed the river in their flight. In front of the head of this bridge an exceedingly strong work was thrown up. The position was very well chosen, the bridge being placed in a curve of the river, and the artillery posted on the bank, which on their side was high, was therefore able to sweep the ground across which a force must advance to attack the work. Ten thousand men under the Sirdar Runjoor Singh were also thrown across the river near Loodiana, in order not only to menace the place with its small garrison, but to cut off the passage of supplies for Ferozepore and to interrupt the communications between the two posts.As soon as the force at Meerut, consisting of the 9th and 16th Lancers, the 10th and 53d Foot, and the 43d and 59th Native Regiments, arrived with the battering-train, steps were taken to reinforce Loodiana and Basseean with some heavy guns; additional troops were sent to each of these posts, and the sick, with the women and children, were removed thence and sent to Umballa.Sir Harry Smith's division was increased to seven thousand men and twenty-four guns, and he was despatched to drive the force that threatened Loodiana across the river and to cover the line of the British communications.The whole country in that quarter was in a state of disorder. The advance of Runjoor Singh had caused great excitement among the peasantry, while it created something like a panic among the European residents of Umballa and Simla, either of which places could have been reached and plundered by the Sikhs, who from the crossing point near Loodiana were two days' march nearer to them than was the army of the commander-in-chief. It was all-important to Sir Harry Smith to reach Loodiana, where, being on the flank of the Sikh army should they advance, it would be necessary for them to meet and defeat him before they ventured upon a raiding expedition. But to do this it was necessary to pass within a short distance of Runjoor Singh's position, and as the column passed along the Sikhs sallied out, opened a heavy fire, and cut off a considerable portion of the baggage of the force, taking several officers prisoners. Sir Harry Smith did not suffer himself to be diverted from his object or to be forced to fight a battle save on ground of his own choosing. Without returning the fire he pressed forward until he reached Loodiana, the troops being completely exhausted with the efforts they had made.Some more political officers having come up with the force from Meerut, Sir Henry Hardinge had placed Percy's services at the disposal of Sir Harry Smith. "He is a mere lad," he said to the latter, "but you will find him quite as valuable for most purposes as any older man would be. He speaks the language like a native, can go in disguise and obtain any information you may require, and has plenty of pluck. He was close behind the commander-in-chief and myself all through the fight here, and was one of the few of the staff who escaped uninjured. He is a volunteer serving without pay, no doubt in the hope of obtaining civil employment under the government in the future. This he has already richly earned, not only by his service in the battle of Ferozeshah, but by obtaining most valuable news by going in disguise to the Sikh camp before they crossed the river. Poor Broadfoot reported on his conduct very warmly indeed, in almost the last official document he sent me in, and having seen the young fellow under fire I shall certainly, at the proper time, take advantage of Broadfoot's report to recommend him to the Board of Directors for an appointment in the Civil Service, and for special employment upon this frontier."Being recommended to him in such a manner, Sir Harry Smith had at once taken Percy upon his staff, and more than once sent for him and questioned him as to the country, the width of the river, and other points; and as Percy had on his way down crossed the Sutlej not far from Aliwal, he was able to give some valuable information on the subject. As soon as they reached Loodiana he went to see his friend Mr. Fullarton."Back again, Groves? You were fortunate in getting through that fight at Ferozeshah, where poor Broadfoot and several other politicals were killed or wounded. I had a note from him written the day before, saying how useful he had found you. You have come up with Sir Harry Smith, I suppose?""Yes, sir, they are very short of officers who speak the language, and so sent me on with him.""It shows they think well of you; I am glad you are doing credit to my recommendation. You see it was very much better for you to go with the army than to remain here with me. Now you have been through two battles, and have fairly earned your right to a permanent post in the service. But, mind, don't let them put you on the uncovenanted branch; you will get very few chances of real promotion there. Should an offer be made to you, you had better decline respectfully and say that you would rather wait in the hope of entering the Company's service in the regular way. Three or four years' waiting would do you no harm, though I do not suppose you will have to wait anything like that time before you get appointed to our service.""I am quite content to wait, sir, for at my age it would be absurd to think of getting such an important appointment; but I am very glad, indeed, to have found the opportunity of seeing so much.""We shall have another battle here in a day or two," Mr. Fullarton said. "I have just seen Sir Harry. He says he must give the troops a couple of days' rest before he advances to attack Runjoor Singh. Indeed there is no hurry; now that he is here the Sikhs dare not advance, and he is therefore master of the situation. It was a bad affair losing so much of the baggage at Buddeewal, but the general was right in not bringing on a battle. The troops were worn out with their long march, and would have fought at a great disadvantage. It would not have made much difference to the white soldiers, who are always ready to fight however tired they may be; but it is not so with the natives. Fatigue, hunger, or thirst always depress their spirits, and a native who, in the morning, would have fought stoutly by the side of our own men, would be worth nothing if taken into the field tired and hungry on the evening of the same day. I hear that some of the native regiments did not do at all well at Ferozeshah, and I have no doubt that this was the reason of it. They will have a very short march before they fight this time."After a day's rest the force moved out again to Buddeewal. Runjoor Singh's force had just received a reinforcement of four thousand regular troops, with twelve guns, and his army now amounted to nineteen thousand men and sixty guns. Early in the morning of the 28th of January Sir Harry Smith marched from Buddeewal towards the enemy. The Sikhs were so inspirited by the success that had attended their attack on the column during its passage—a success which they attributed to fear on the part of the British—that, instead of waiting to be attacked in the intrenchments they had formed, they moved forward, and took up their post in the open, the village of Aliwal being the key of the position.The troops were already advancing in order of battle, and a column was at once directed to attack and carry the village, the artillery preparing the way by a heavy fire. The Sikh guns opened all along their line, but their fire was very wild; most of the shot went far overhead, and the attacking force suffered but little. They did not fire a shot in return, but when within a short distance of the village went at it with a rush, carrying it at the point of the bayonet, and driving the Sikh infantry headlong before them. The guns defending it fell into their hands, and as soon as they established themselves in the village, the rest of the force moved forward with admirable regularity, and the whole Sikh line was driven backwards, leaving their guns behind them.The 16th Lancers charged the enemy, who were falling back sullenly and in order. The Sikhs threw themselves down on the ground and slashed at the horses with their swords as they passed over them, or discharged their muskets at their riders, and the regiment lost upwards of a hundred men killed and wounded. As they fell back the horse-artillery opened upon the dense masses of Sikhs, the infantry continued their steady advance, and the cavalry again and again charged. Instead of retiring towards their intrenchments, which having been denuded of their guns were now untenable, the enemy retreated direct upon the river, which they crossed at the ford. Their loss was comparatively small to that which they had suffered at Perozeshah, but the whole of their guns fell into the hands of the British.Only one had been carried across the river. This was captured and spiked by the irregular horse and horse-artillery, who crossed the river in pursuit. The total loss of the British in killed and wounded in the battle of Aliwal was only four hundred—an astonishingly small amount when it is considered that they attacked a brave enemy of double their strength both in men and guns. The victory was a most important one. It relieved the north-west of all fear of invasion, and enabled the commander-in-chief to direct his whole attention to concentrating his force against the main body of the Sikh army at Sobraon.Percy had watched the conflict from a distance. He had, as usual, taken his place among the staff when the general mounted his horse to advance against the Sikh intrenchments; but when Sir Harry Smith's eye fell upon him he said, "You will not ride with me to-day, Mr. Groves. I can have no occasion for your services as a political officer, and will not have you risk your life uselessly by your exposing yourself to fire. You will, therefore, please follow at considerable distance, and will, when we get within the enemy's range, take up any position you like that will enable you to see what is going on and at the same time keep you out of fire."Percy looked a little downcast, and Sir Harry added kindly: "It is no reflection on your courage, lad, that I send you back. The governor-general himself told me how fearlessly you had exposed yourself at Ferozeshah; but as I do not require you on duty I have no justification for taking you with me under a heavy fire."Percy brightened up as he rode off. Sir Harry Smith's staff were for the most part strangers to him, as he had not been connected with it until it marched, and he had feared at first that it might be thought the general had ordered him to the rear because he doubted his steadiness under fire."I am only to look on to-day," he said to his two followers as they joined him when he reined up his horse on a little knoll affording a view of the enemy's position half a mile away."And a very good thing too, sahib," Bhop Lal said bluntly. "I had quite enough of being shot at the other day, and have no stomach for sitting on horseback again doing nothing while they are pelting us with shot and bullets. If the sahib said 'Charge!' I would follow into the middle of the Sikh incampment, but as for sitting doing nothing I want no more of it.'"Besides," Akram Chunder put in, "we know all about it now; for if what people say is true as to Runjoor Singh's strength, the odds are not so great as they were at Ferozeshah, even though they have seventy guns to our thirty. But what is that? The British are not to be stopped by guns; they will do as they did the other day, go right at the Sikhs and beat them. The Sikhs have thrown away their only chance by coming out from their intrenchments. Besides, they will not fight so well as they did last time. Then they thought they were invincible, now they know that the British are better fighters than they are, and that makes all the difference.""We may as well dismount," Percy said, "and picket the horses down behind. We can see well enough over the jungle on foot, and if the Sikh gunners should notice three mounted men they might take us for officers of importance and send a few shot in this direction."The Sikh gunners, however, were too occupied with the foes marching against them to notice the detached figures, and no shot came in their direction during the battle. Percy and his two followers watched the capture of Aliwal, and then saw the whole British force advance, and with scarce a pause push back the Sikhs all along the line."Truly it is wonderful," Bhop Lal said, stroking his beard. "These men in red coats make no more of the fire of sixty guns than if they were children's playthings. As for the Sikh infantry, though more than twice their numbers, they seem to sweep them before them like chaff. I thought I knew something of fighting, but I feel to-day that I know nothing, for I have seen nothing like this from the day when I first handled a sword.""The loss cannot have been very heavy," Percy said, "it has been done too quickly.""That is the way, sahib," Akram Chunder remarked. "If men have but the courage to go on in the face of a heavy fire they suffer much less than if they hesitate and delay; but it is only lions who rush forward with sixty cannon firing at them, to say nothing of thousands of men with muskets. That is what takes the life out of the Sikh fighting. They are brave, but they are accustomed to victory, and when they see men rushing on against them in spite of the fire which they thought would have swept them all away, they lose their confidence in themselves, and say, what use is it to fight against men like these?""Bring up the horses, Bhop Lal; we may as well ride forward now that the battle is nearly over, for I believe the roll of musketry and the discharge of guns still going on are caused by our troops firing at the Sikhs as they recross the river."Great was the satisfaction that prevailed among the troops at the splendid victory they had gained over an enemy of nearly thrice their force in men and guns, and that with a loss which, considering the numbers engaged and the strength of the intrenchments, was trifling. As after so crushing a defeat as this there was little chance of Loodiana being again threatened, or of any large force endeavouring to intercept our communications, Sir Harry Smith marched back with his army and rejoined the commander-in-chief on the 8th of February.On the following day the heavy guns from Delhi arrived, and orders were given for the whole force to prepare for the attack on Sobraon. During the fortnight that Sir Harry Smith had been absent the Sikhs had continued to labour unceasingly at their intrenchments, which were erected under the superintendence of two or three of the foreign officers who had been in Runjeet Singh's service. These were not regarded by the Sikhs with the same hostility with which they viewed Colonel Groves and two or three other English-speaking officers. They had, indeed, been deprived of their commands at the demand of the army, who objected to the European discipline and to the severe methods by which it was enforced; but several of them had been allowed to remain in the country, and the Sikhs, when the war began, gladly availed themselves of their scientific knowledge in the erection of intrenchments.The enemy had surrounded their position with works of great strength, which could only be surmounted by the aid of scaling-ladders. The works were so arranged that they afforded complete protection to three lines of infantry, one above another, who could thus pour a tremendous fire upon an advancing foe. These works were held by 34,000 men with seventy guns. They were connected by a well-built bridge, and also by a ford, with another camp of 20,000 men across the river, and the guns of this force, placed on the high bank, were in a position to play upon the flanks of an army advancing against Sobraon.To attack this formidable position Sir Hugh Gough had but 16,224 men, of whom 6533 were Europeans and 9691 natives. His force, therefore, was numerically inferior by 1500 men to that with which he attacked the Sikhs at Ferozeshah. His artillery force had, however, been augmented to ninety-nine guns by the addition of thirty-four heavy guns and mortars, and the commander-in-chief relied upon his artillery to clear the way for the assault of his infantry. The army was to be in motion at half-past three in the morning, in order that darkness should not, as at Moodkee and Ferozeshah, intervene to prevent the full results of victory being obtained.The troops were under arms punctually, and at precisely the hour named marched in silence against the Sikh position. The battering guns and most of the field batteries took up their post in an extended semicircle, so as to open fire against every point of the Sikh intrenchments. It was intended that they should commence the attack as soon as it was light enough for the men to point their guns. A heavy mist, however, hung over the country, and it was not until half-past six that this lifted sufficiently to allow a view to be obtained of the enemy's works. Then the cannon opened along the whole line, and a storm of shot and shell was poured in by the gun and mortar batteries, while rockets were discharged in numbers against the intrenchments.The Sikhs replied with equal vigour, and for a time the roar of artillery was unbroken. It had been intended that the cannonade should be continued for four hours before the infantry were called upon to make their advance, but so rapidly did the gunners work their pieces that the ammunition carried with them was becoming exhausted long before that time had elapsed, and the elephants who should have brought up reserves had become unmanageable from their terror at the tremendous din. But even had the fire continued during the whole day, it could not have made any serious impression upon such strong and extended earthworks, and its object was rather to shake the courage of the defenders than to produce any material damage. The loss of the Sikhs was afterwards found to have been heavy, but they and their general were confident that they could repulse any attack upon the tremendous works they had erected, Tej Singh having been assured by Ins chief engineer, a French officer named Mouton, that the position was absolutely impregnable.While the artillery duel was in progress the British infantry had remained inactive in the rear of the guns, longing for the time when they should be called upon to take their share in the action; and there was a general feeling of satisfaction when the fire began to slacken, and orders were given for the advance to begin. On the left were two brigades of General Sir Robert Dick's division; these were to commence the engagement. The seventh brigade, commanded by General Stacey, was to lead the attack, headed by the 10th Foot reinforced by the 53d, and supported by the other brigade.General Gilbert's division was in the centre, Sir Harry Smith's on the right, while Brigadier-general Campbell's command was thrown back between Gilbert's right and Sir Harry Smith's left. A part of the cavalry threatened to cross a ford and attack the enemy's horse on the opposite bank, the rest of the cavalry were in reserve. At nine o'clock Stacey's brigade, supported by three batteries, moved to the attack. The former marched steadily on in line, the latter took up successive positions at a gallop, until within three hundred yards of the heavy batteries of the enemy. The fire of cannon, camel guns, and musketry was so tremendous, that it seemed to the lookers-on impossible that any troops could advance successfully under it.The two British regiments, and the 43d and 59th Native Infantry brigaded with them, advanced, however, with splendid bravery. This brigade had not been present at the previous battles, and had been specially selected for the desperate service of effecting the first breach in the enemy's lines because their ranks were still intact, and they had not gone through the terrible ordeal at Ferozeshah which had, in spite of their eventual success, greatly impressed those engaged in it with the courage and obstinacy of the Sikhs in defending a strong position. Well did the seventh brigade deserve the confidence the commander-in-chief placed in it. With scarcely a pause the troops pressed steadily forward, surmounted every obstacle until they reached the crest of the intrenchments, and drove the Sikhs from their guns.The moment the success of the attack was apparent General Gilbert and Sir Harry Smith were ordered to advance with their divisions, and Brigadier Ashburnham began to move forward his brigade to support Stacey. Gilbert's advance took him in front of the centre and strongest portion of the enemy's line, and although unsupported by artillery, the 29th and the 1st Light Infantry dashed forward under a withering fire and crossed a dry nullah in front of the intrenchments, but they then found themselves in front of a high wall too steep for them to climb and exposed to a terrible fire from above. To remain there would have been to be annihilated, and the regiments were withdrawn, but only to charge again at a fresh point.Thrice they reached the walls, thrice they had to fall back, each time followed by the Sikhs, who cut the wounded to pieces. The second division, however, managed at several points to effect a lodgment within the intrenchments, while Stacey's and Ashburnham's brigade maintained themselves in the position the former had captured, in spite of the desperate efforts of the Sikhs, who in vast numbers swarmed down upon them and tried to recapture it. Thus for a while the battle raged, nor were the British able to advance beyond the points where they had gained a footing, until the sappers cut a narrow opening through the works, by which the cavalry were able to pass in single file. As soon as the 3d Dragoons had entered the work they formed up, and charging along in the rear of the intrenchment, cut down the Sikh gunners in their batteries and captured their field-guns.As their fire ceased the rest of the infantry poured into the works, and advancing along the whole line, while the field batteries which had entered joined their fire to that of the musketry, they pressed the Sikhs before them in masses across the river. The bridge was an excellent one, but one of the Sikh commanders had caused two of the boats forming it to be removed, in order that his men, seeing there was no mode of retreat, should defend their works the more desperately. The river had risen during the night, and the ford, which had the day before been but breast-deep, was now scarcely passable.The scene was a terrible one; the crowded masses of the enemy threw themselves into the river, and strove to cross by wading and swimming, while the guns of the British horse-artillery, which had come up, played upon them unceasingly, and the infantry poured volleys of musketry into them, all feeling of pity being for the time dissipated by the fury with which the murder of our wounded by the Sikhs during the early portion of the fight had inspired the troops.Hundreds of the enemy fell under the cannonade; very many hundreds were drowned. The battle terminated at noon, the infantry having been engaged without intermission for three hours. Sixty-seven cannon were captured, and upwards of two hundred camel guns. This great and decisive victory cost those engaged in it dearly. The 29th Foot had 13 officers, 8 sergeants, and 167 men killed and wounded; the 1st European Light Infantry, 12 officers, 12 sergeants, and 173 men; the 31st, 7 officers and 147 men; the 50th, 12 officers and 227 men; the 53d, 9 officers and 111 men.These were the heaviest losses, but all the regiments engaged suffered severely, as the total loss was 2383 in killed and wounded. The losses among the staff of officers wore small compared to those which they had suffered at Ferozeshah, as it was not necessary at Sobraon for the governor-general and commander-in-chief to expose themselves close to the enemy's intrenchments as they had done on that occasion. General Sir Robert Dick, who had gone through the Peninsular War, and led the 42d Highlanders at Waterloo, was killed as he led his men forward against the Sikh intrenchments; and Brigadier-generals M'Laren and Taylor also fell. The loss of the Sikhs was never known; but the carnage was, in proportion to the numbers engaged, enormous, and many of their leading sirdars were among the slain.At Ferozeshah, the greater proportion of the loss among the assailants was caused by the grape-shot from the enemy's guns. At Sobraon, on the other hand, in spite of the number and weight of the enemy's guns, and of their very numerous camel pieces, it was the musket that inflicted the great proportion of loss. This was due, in the first place, to the fact that a large number of the skilled Sikh gunners had fallen in the previous battles, and that the artillery fire was in consequence very wild and ill-directed. In the next place, the artillerymen were unable to depress their pieces sufficiently to play upon the British when they reached the foot of the intrenchments, while the infantry, well sheltered behind their earthworks, were able to keep up a murderous fire upon their helpless foes. These facts account for the unusually large number of men wounded in proportion to the killed.As the division of Sir Harry Smith had only reached the camp two days before the battle, Percy remained attached to his staff and rode behind him in the engagement. He had wished his two men to remain in camp, but they resolutely declined to do so."If you were killed, sahib, how could we face the colonel, and tell him that while you were killed we were cooking our dinners four miles away? No, sahib, whatever comes, we must ride behind the general's escort. Had we not seen Ferozeshah, we should say that success to-morrow is impossible, for the intrenchments there were but dirt-heaps in comparison to the great works opposite. We can see with our own eyes how big and high they are. They say there are three lines of parapets for the infantry to fire over, besides all their guns. But now we know that nothing is impossible to the white troops, and believe that somehow, though we cannot say how, they will capture it, and drive the Sikhs across the river. If we live through it, it will be a thing to talk of for the rest of our lives; and if we die, you will tell the colonel, sahib, that we did our duty. He told us to watch over you, and though no watching can turn the course of shot or bullet, we can at least be near to carry you off should you fall wounded."However, Percy escaped without being hit, as did most of the staff, though he did his share in carrying orders to the officers commanding the different regiments in the division. As they rode back from the field after the engagement was over the general called him up to his side."I ought to have kept you out of the battle, lad," he said kindly; "but I did not like to baulk you again. You have done very well, and I shall mention your name in my report as among the members of my staff who did good service."The battle of Sobraon completely broke the power of the Sikhs. In these and the preceding fights all the picked regiments of the regular infantry had been destroyed or dispersed, and two hundred and twenty of their guns captured. No time was lost by the commander-in-chief in following up his success. A bridge of boats had been already thrown across the river half-way between Ferozepore and Sobraon, and messages were sent to Sir John Grey, who commanded a force there, and to Sir John Littler at Ferozepore, to cross at once. At daybreak next morning six regiments crossed the Sutlej from Ferozepore, while Sir John Grey, with two regiments of cavalry, three of infantry, and a battery, crossed by the new bridge, both forces thus placing themselves on the road by which the defeated Sikhs would retire upon Lahore. This speedy movement completed their discomfiture. Cut off from the capital, and deprived of the leadership of all the principal sirdars, they dispersed to their homes, and the bridge at Sobraon having been repaired on the day following the battle, the British crossed without opposition.Ghoolab Singh, who had all this time been negotiating secretly with the British, while promising the Sikhs that he was on the eve of advancing to join them with his whole force, now endeavoured to figure as mediator, and came secretly into the British camp with the object of persuading the governor-general to abstain from making an advance against Lahore. Sir Henry Hardinge refused to receive him, and sent a message to him by his political officers that terms of peace would be dictated at the capital. The crafty sirdar was not to be defeated; riding back to Lahore, he took the young maharajah and rode with him to the British camp. Sir Henry received the young prince kindly, but was not to be diverted from his purpose of moving forward to Lahore, where the army arrived without a shot being fired.Here terms of peace were dictated to the humbled Sikhs. The expenses of the war, estimated at a million and a half, were to be paid, all the guns taken were to be retained, and all others that had been used against us during the war were to be handed over; the troops were to be disbanded, and the fertile province known as the Jalindar Doab, situated between the Beas and Sutlej rivers, was to be handed over to the British. Many of the officers considered that it would have been better to have annexed the whole of the Punjaub, but even with the army that was marching from Scinde under Sir Charles Napier the force was insufficient for the work. The Sikhs had strongly fortified cities, that could scarcely have been taken without a regular battering train, and the hot season was coming on. Besides, although the army trained with so much care by Runjeet Singh had been broken up and scattered, the Sikh nation had as yet taken but little part in the struggle. It was, however, certain that they would, under their great chiefs, fight desperately to preserve their independence, and the whole of the dispersed soldiery would speedily be reunited under the banners of the leaders.The crafty Ghoolab Singh gained the advantages he had hoped, for the treasury of Lahore was empty, and with the greatest difficulty half a million was raised to pay the first instalment of the indemnity. Ghoolab Singh, therefore, out of his vast resources paid another half million, on condition that Cashmere should be handed over to him, and that from being merely the governor of that province, he should become its independent ruler. The price paid by him for this rich province was absurdly inadequate, but so far as the British were concerned the bargain was a politic one. There was little doubt that a second war would, sooner or later, have to be undertaken; Ghoolab Singh could put a very large army into the field, and by making him ruler of Cashmere his interests were at once separated from those of the Sikhs, and his neutrality, if not his active alliance, were secured in any future struggle. It was arranged that a British force should remain in Lahore for a year, nominally to insure the payment of the rest of the indemnity, but really to maintain the authority of the maharanee and the boy maharajah, who were in no way responsible for the war against us, and who doubtless would have been overthrown by some ambitious sirdar, aided by the disbanded troops, had they been left unsupported by British bayonets.CHAPTER XI.AN AMBUSH."Mr. Fullarton had accompanied the army to Lahore, his knowledge of the country and people being so valuable that the governor-general sent over on the evening after the Sikh intrenchments at Sobraon had been stormed, to request him to join the army at once, as Loodiana had for the present ceased to be a station of importance. He had, as soon as he joined the camp, claimed Percy Groves' services, and in the negotiations that followed, and as interpreter between the British and Sikh authorities, he was found of great use, especially after they reached Lahore, where many of the Sikh sirdars, especially those whose possessions lay in the Jalindar Doab, considered it prudent to come in and to assume an appearance of friendship with the British."Now, Groves, what are your wishes as to entering the service?" Mr. Fullarton said to him one day, when the various court ceremonials were over, and preparations were beginning for the withdrawal of the main body of the army. "The governor-general mentioned your name to me to-day, and said that you had rendered very valuable services during the campaign. Mr. Broadfoot had reported most favourably of you; you had acted as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief at Ferozeshah and to Sir Harry Smith at Sobraon; the latter had mentioned you in his report, as Sir Hugh Gough and himself had both observed your coolness and readiness to carry messages under the heaviest fire at Ferozeshah; and that since then your services as interpreter had been very valuable."He said that you had earned an appointment, and that he should be glad to write to the Board of Directors to request one for you, but that he feared the board would consider you too young. He said, however, if you strongly desired to enter the service at once, he would put the matter in such a light that they could hardly refuse; for as you had been doing man's work throughout this campaign, you could do it during peace time. I think his own opinion was that it would be better for you to wait for another two or three years, for that, if you received an appointment now, you might be sent down to an office in Calcutta. You see that at your age you could hardly occupy a post that would not only place you in communication with native chiefs, as the British representative, but might place you in a position where, as political officer, you might have to requisition the assistance of troops and of officers old enough to be your father.""I quite think so," Percy said, "and would much rather not enter the service for another three years, sir; even then I shall only be nineteen.""That is about the right age to enter," Mr. Fullarton said, "and you will have great advantages over other young fellows just out. There would be your record in your favour, and your knowledge of the language and people, and you would be certain to obtain an appointment in this province such as a man direct from England could hardly hope for until after at least ten years' service. I think if I were you, I should turn my attention for the next two years to acquiring as thorough a knowledge of the Pathan language as you now have of Punjaubi. When we have annexed the Punjaub, which is a question of a few years, we shall be in direct contact with the hill tribes, who are nominally subject to Afghanistan, but are practically independent, and if you happened to be stationed in any of the northern districts you would find the knowledge of that language invaluable. You have evidently a knack of picking up languages, and your knowledge of Punjaubi will, of course, help you considerably in learning Pathan."As Percy was anxious, now that everything was settled, to return as speedily as possible to his uncle's, he at once wrote a formal request that his services as a volunteer might be dispensed with.The next day Mr. Fullarton said to him: "I informed Sir Henry Hardinge yesterday evening that you had sent in your resignation, and he requests me to bring you to him this morning that he might say good-bye to you, and thank you for your services."The commander-in-chief was with the governor-general when Mr. Fullarton called at the palace, where he had taken up his quarters, but on his name being taken in he was requested to enter at once, which he did with Percy."I should have been sorry had you gone without saying good-bye to me, Mr. Groves," Sir Henry said. "Both the commander-in-chief and myself have noted your conduct very favourably, and reports to the same effect have been made by Mr. Broadfoot and Sir Harry Smith. I think you are wise to decide to wait another three years before entering the service. I shall write to the Board of Directors requesting them to appoint you to their civil service at once. But I shall ask them to date the appointment three years on, and at the same time to send instructions to the officer who will remain as Resident here to the effect that should there be any signs of fresh trouble before that time, he can at once ante-date the appointment and employ you in any way in which your knowledge of the country and language, and your zeal and activity, can be utilized. Should I still be in India, I shall make it a point to see that you have an appointment in this province; and should I return to England before that time, your name will be placed in the list I leave behind for my successor of promising and intelligent officers. Sir Hugh Gough will also, he tells me, keep an eye on your interests, and doubtless you will receive a notification from the Court in due time as to your appointment. You will do well, after you receive it, to write to the Resident here, telling him that although you do not wish for employment until the date of your appointment, your services are at his disposal should they be required. I have no doubt Mr. Fullarton will, before leaving, speak to him personally on the matter."The commander-in-chief added a few words, and Percy on returning to the house began preparations for his departure."We shall have to be careful as we ride back, sahib," Bhop Lal said. "Things are quiet enough about here, but from what I learn the country is overrun with disbanded soldiers. They have gone back for the most part to their own villages; but what will they do there? They have lived an idle life for years, and quite considered themselves masters of the country. They will never set to at steady work to plough the fields, they will soon tire out their friends, and then they will wander away and gather in bands, and become dacoits. I hear in the bazaar that the country is everywhere unsafe for travel; that merchants dare not send their goods except in strong parties guarded by a force of disbanded soldiers they pay to act as guards. The peasants are robbed and plundered, and things are even worse than they were before the war began. After getting through the battles without so much as a scratch, it would be unfortunate, indeed, should ill befall us now that the war is all over.""There is one thing, Bhop Lal. We shall have no dangers except from an accidental encounter with robbers. Now that Ghoolab Singh is ruler of Cashmere, he will have too many other matters to think of to trouble further about my uncle and his little district.""Nothing is too small, as nothing is too large, sahib," Akram Chunder said, "for the greed of Ghoolab Singh. He may now have a kingdom, but that will not prevent him from fleecing a trader if he has an opportunity. See how he has filled his coffers at the expense of the people. Has he not paid half acroreof rupees to your people for Cashmere, and I doubt not he would have paid three times as much if it had been needed. There are many other sirdars could have paid the half crore, but they say that Ghoolab could buy up any four of them. It is true there is no fear that he will now try to seize the colonel sahib's government by force, at least until fresh troubles begin; but if he can have him quietly removed you may be sure he will do so, as he could then easily enough get the maharanee and the Lahore durbar to confirm the former appointment of his son as governor."The colonel need no longer fear force, but he must be more than ever on his guard against treachery. Still, sahib, I agree with you that just at present Ghoolab must have too many things to think of to be giving attention to your matter, and that we can travel without fear of him. As for thebudmashes, we shall have to be careful of them, as my comrade says; and we must mind that no one suspects for a moment that you are English; for although the people here are respectful enough, you may be sure that outside the range of your guns there is not a Sikh, save perhaps the humblest cultivators, who is not full of rage and hatred against the English. Have you not defeated them in four battles, humbled their national pride, and taken their richest province? To be suspected of being an Englishman would be your death-warrant in the smallest village of the Punjaub. The sahib would do well to-morrow not to wear his dress of a sirdar, but to dress as he did when we visited the camp of Tej Singh. Then, if we are questioned, it is we who will do the talking; while, if you are dressed as a chief, it is to you the questions will be put. Besides, most of the sirdars are known by name, at least to the bulk of the people, and it would be difficult for you to reply to close questioning; whereas, passing as disbanded soldiers, who are tired of doing nothing in our native village, and are going north to take service with Ghoolab Singh, our story is simple and natural enough.""But Ghoolab himself cannot be popular in the country at present," Percy said; "they must all see now that he has been playing a double part; and that he has, moreover, wrenched from the Punjaub a territory as valuable as that which we took after such hard fighting.""That is so, but Ghoolab is everywhere feared; no man offends him or his without paying for it; and besides, they may hope that if there is again trouble, Ghoolab may join them against the British. They may not like him, but there must be many disbanded soldiers who have been going to take service under him, and the people will bear us no ill-will for that: it is the most likely story for us to tell, and the one that will be least questioned.""I think you are right, Akram Chunder; at any rate I will ride to-morrow dressed as you are."The next morning they started from Lahore at daybreak, and rode north. They had agreed to travel by the main road, as they would there attract no attention; whereas passing through villages on unfrequented roads, their passage would excite comment. After riding for fifteen miles they came upon a party of ten men, evidently disbanded soldiers, seated in the shade of a clump of trees by the roadside, cooking their breakfast."Better stop and talk with them," Bhop Lal said; "it will look strange if we ride on."They reined in their horses, and Bhop Lal gave the usual salutation. After the customary return of greetings, one of the men said, "Will you not dismount and share our breakfast?""We took food before we started from Lahore," Bhop Lal replied."Ah, you came from Lahore: what is the last news there?""There is nothing new, everything is quiet, and they say that most of the English will soon march away.""We will make short work of the maharanee and her son as soon as they go," the man said savagely. "They are but puppets now in the hands of the English, and have signed away the best doab in the Punjaub so as to buy protection for Dhuleep Singh. He is no longer a Sikh prince, and we will speedily place one of our own sirdars on the throne.""That is what we all mean to do," Bhop Lal agreed; "we want no boy as our ruler now, but a sirdar who can lead us to battle. It will be different next time; last time we despised the English, and so they beat us; next time it will be they who will make too sure, and we shall beat them.""Where are you going?""We are thinking of taking service under Ghoolab Singh.""The old fox is a traitor," the man said angrily, while a general murmur broke from his comrades."There is no doubt that he played us false," Bhop Lal agreed; "but now that he is master of Cashmere he may think it his interest to go with us next time; and besides, at present his gold is as good as another's, and none of the other sirdars will increase their forces until the English have retired; so there is just the choice of taking service with Ghoolab or of starving.""There is no occasion to starve for those who have got arms," the man said; "and we find it easier to help ourselves and to be our own masters than to serve anyone else. You had better join us, comrades.""Thank you; we have thought it over, you may be sure; but we have had enough of marching about and sleeping in the air for the present, and we are likely at any rate to sleep and eat our meals in peace with Ghoolab. There is little chance of any rising for a long time yet, and till then, at any rate, there will be peace in Cashmere. When fighting begins again here, we have made up our minds to come back, if we find that Ghoolab has forgotten that he is a Sikh. And now, with your permission, we will be riding on," and Bhop Lal turned his horse, and with his companions trotted off."We got through that well enough," Percy remarked."They did not think we were worth robbing, sahib; and as we are well armed, it would not have been worth their while to meddle with us. Besides, you see their horses are on the other side of the grove, and they must have noticed that we were well mounted, and could have got a long start before they were off. It is as likely as not that they did not believe my story, but thought we were on our way to join some other band we knew of. I have no fear of these fellows if we meet them openly in the daytime. The danger will be if we come upon them suddenly, and they attack us before they see what we are."In the course of the day they passed several parties of threes and fours, sometimes mounted and sometimes on foot; but they did not draw rein, and contented themselves with the exchange of passing salutations. Only once they came upon a large party. It consisted of twenty carts laden with merchandise, and escorted by some thirty men armed to the teeth."You see they get employment both ways, sahib," Akram Chunder remarked; "some of them make money by turning robbers, others make money by selling their services to merchants to protect their goods from robbers. No doubt those carts are on their way down from Serinagur and Jummoo, and are laden with shawls and embroidery, and such other goods as the merchants think the English officers at Lahore will be glad to buy to send home to their friends.""I should think they will make a good venture," Percy said, "for the bazaars at Lahore are very poorly stocked. Trade has been bad there for a long time, owing to the troubles and disturbances, and I hear that many of the traders who had remained fled when the news came of the defeat at Sobraon, fearing that the English army would act as the Sikhs would have done under the circumstances, and would march straight to Lahore and plunder the city. What part of Cashmere do you come from, Akram?""From the hills fifty miles north of Serinagur. Cashmere has no authority there, and the hill tribes have their wars with each other without interference. I was fifteen when our village was attacked and destroyed by a tribe we had raided a few months before. Most of the people were killed, but I was fleet-footed and got away. I worked for a time at Serinagur, but got tired of carrying burdens from morning till night, so I went on to Jummoo, and stopped there for three or four years; and then, when I was about one-and-twenty, went down to Lahore, and finding it hard work to get a living in any other way, I took service in Runjeet Singh's army, and had the good luck to enlist in the regiment of my lord your uncle, and there I have remained ever since. It was a lucky day when I chose his regiment, and I did so because I heard two soldiers in the street speak well of him. Had I been in one of the others, I should most likely have fallen at Ferozeshah or Sobraon, even if I hadn't been killed before."That night they slept at a khan in the town. There were but few other guests, and the keeper of the place bitterly bemoaned the change of times."In the days of Runjeet," he said, "there were seldom less than a hundred travellers stopping here nightly; after his death the number fell to about twenty, for who would go to Lahore if he could help it, when, for aught he knew, he might find fighting going on in the streets, or the city being sacked when he arrived there? Now it is rare for more than three or four to pass the night here; no one will travel for trade or for pleasure; no one will go to Lahore as long as the English are there. Sometimes, it is true, a caravan comes down, such as that which stayed here last night; but there are few of these, and were it not for the passage of those who, like yourselves, are on their way to their homes, or to take service in Cashmere, I might as well close and lock the gates, and go away to earn my bread at some other business. The country is being ruined fast. There are even those who say that it would be better the English should come and be our masters; there would be peace then, and they would soon put a stop to robbery and dacoitism, as they have done wherever they have established their rule, and the peasants would be able to plough their fields, and the traders to carry on their business without fear of any man so long as they paid their taxes and kept the law. I do not say that those are my opinions," he added hastily, "but I know that such is the talk among the peasants, who have had, it must be owned, a rough time since Runjeet Singh died. Heavily taxed they were in his time, but beyond that they had nought to complain of; but of late, what with one trouble and another, their lot has been hard.""There is no doubt about that," Bhop Lal agreed heartily. "I have been a soldier, but I have been a peasant too, and know where the shoe pinches. Perhaps things will be better now."The man shrugged his shoulders. "I see not how this is to be," he said; "the Lahore durbar is under the protection of foreigners, and no one heeds it, as it has no power save in the city. Better a thousand times a prince who can make himself obeyed, even were it Ghoolab Singh, or else a strong foreign rule. I would rather have a native prince; but far better than the nominal rule of a boy, protected by foreign bayonets, would be the rule of the foreigners themselves, for they, at least, can make the law respected, punish ill-doers, and preserve peace and order.""I fancy there are a great many who think as you do," Bhop Lal said; "but these for the most part keep their thoughts to themselves. Well, we shall see what we shall see. Things will never go on long as they are at present; and, as you say, the Punjaub will either be ruled by a strong native prince, or it will, like Scinde, become a possession of the English. I have had enough of fighting, and mean to remain quiet until one or other of these things comes about.""There are many like you; but some of the soldiers who come through say they would like to fight the English again.""Then take my word for it," a soldier sitting by said, "the men who said that were not among those who fought on the Sutlej. There were brave men there, and plenty of them, but I do not believe one of those that fought there will ever wish to fight the white troops again. There was no withstanding them. They came on as if they minded the rain of iron and lead no more than if it had been a thunder-shower. It was that which beat us; we were told by our chiefs that it was impossible, absolutely impossible, for men to force their way into our lines, and when we saw them do it, we said to ourselves it is hopeless to fight against such men; and we who, under Runjeet, have won victory after victory, and that against stout fighters like the Afghans, lost heart for the first time in our lives, when we felt that we, though two to one, were no match for these terrible soldiers.""Is it true," the keeper of the khan asked, "as all have told me, that they neither plunder nor rob; and though really masters of Lahore, the English go about quietly, ill-treating none?""It is quite true; they have discipline; brave as these men are, they are quiet and orderly, as our troops never were even in the days when Runjeet was strong and firm. Not a man has been robbed, nor a woman insulted, since they crossed the Sutlej. They are our enemies, but they are a great people.""If you have aught to lose, gentlemen," the other said, "be careful how you ride to-morrow; scarce one has arrived from the north for the last week who does not complain bitterly of being robbed on the way. Some were wounded sorely, having ventured on resistance. They say there are as many as two hundred disbanded soldiers lurking among the woods and bushes between this and the next town. The Sirdar Lal Mizrah, moved by the complaints of the country people, cleared the road of them a few days since, breaking up their parties, and killing many; therefore, at present they are more cautious. That is how the convoy got through safely yesterday. I should advise you, therefore, to travel by country roads, though even these are not safe, for the robbers, finding that people have deserted the main road and have taken to these paths, have beset them also.""We have nothing to lose but our lives," Bhop Lal said, "but as these are somewhat precious to us, we will take all the care we can to avoid these gentry you speak of."After a consultation with Percy, it was agreed that, as time was no particular object, they would strike off at once to the west, travel for a day in that direction, and then make north, thereby getting well out of the line followed by travellers from Lahore."After having been through three battles," Percy said, "it would be folly to risk getting our throats cut merely for the sake of saving a day's journey."Accordingly the next morning they took this route. They passed several villages in the course of the day; as they were seen approaching, men and women ran into their houses and closed the doors, and not a soul was to be seen in the streets as they passed through."We need not have been afraid of being questioned," Percy said; "it is evident that the whole population of the country is scared by the exactions of these disbanded soldiers, and that they are only too glad to see us pass by without interfering with them. It would have been well for the country if the Sutlej had risen another foot on the day of the storming of Sobraon, it would have relieved the country of some thousands more of these plunderers."They met with no adventure whatever until they arrived within a few miles of the fortress. Then, as they were riding along through a wood, a party of men on foot suddenly sprang out from among the trees. Before they had time to draw their swords Akram Chunder and Percy were struck from their horses. Bhop Lal, who happened to be a horse's length behind his comrades, snatched his pistol from his belt, and shot two of the assailants; then a ball from a matchlock struck him, and he fell from his horse. As he lay he was gashed with a dozen severe wounds, and was speedily stripped of his arms and clothes; the party then gathered round the two prisoners."I know this man," one of them said, stooping over Akram Chunder; "he is one of the men at the white colonel's fortress. I know him because he was servant to one of the officers, and when I went in there with ghee, he bought some of me and came back accusing me of having sold him false weight. He fetched his master, who examined my scales, and found that somehow a bit of lead had got stuck under one of them, and the villain had me flogged, and told me if ever I entered the place again he would cut off my ears. I swore I would pay this fellow out some day, and having changed my appearance somewhat went back some time ago to find him and pay him with a knife stab if I got a chance, but I heard from a friend I had there that he had gone away; he had ridden off with a party that went with the colonel's nephew. The rest had returned all but this fellow and another; and as it was just when the war broke out, it was supposed they had gone with the young sahib to act as his servants, for both were accustomed to that sort of work.""Well, there are three of them here," the other said; "maybe it is a lucky day for us, and that the third of them is the white lad.""Sure enough it's the governor's nephew," one of the men exclaimed as he walked across to Percy, who was lying a little apart. "I have seen him a dozen times at the fortress.""Then this is a fortunate day for us indeed," the leader of the party exclaimed; "put them both on their horses again and mount without delay; we will settle what to do with them afterwards. We have two strings to our bow: it is certain that we can get a handsome ransom from the colonel, but I fancy Ghoolab Singh would give us still more. You remember the talk there was of a party of his men lying in ambush here to capture this lad as he came up two years ago; and everyone knows it was his doing that the place was besieged three months since.""Would it not be as well to give this fellow a stab and leave him here?" the man who had recognized Akram Chunder asked."Not at all," the leader said harshly; "at any rate not at present. We may find him useful if we want to send a messenger in to the white colonel. Besides, if we ransom the boy to his uncle it is no use setting him against us by killing his servant. Even if the colonel agreed to leave us unmolested, some of his men might take the matter up and make the country too hot for us. I am always against killing unless there is something to be gained by it, and I see nothing to be gained by this fellow's death."Percy had been stunned by the blow from the heavy cudgel that struck him off his horse, but he heard the latter part of the conversation. He knew that resistance would be fatal, and submitted quietly to be placed on his horse. His hands were first bound in front of him, the reins were then cut, and two horsemen, one on either side of him, took the ends. Akram Chunder was similarly treated, and, surrounded by the whole party, numbering about twenty, they rode off. By their dress and attire he judged the men into whose hands they had fallen were not discharged soldiers but regular dacoits, and when he heard one of them address the leader by the name of Goolam Tej, he recognized it as that of a dacoit who had for years been a scourge to that part of the country, although he had seldom ventured to molest the villages in the colonel's district, knowing how speedy and relentless would be the pursuit. He had heard numberless stories of the atrocities committed by this band; how they had tortured men and women to force them to reveal the hiding-places of their money; how they had slaughtered not only those who ventured to offer resistance, but their wives and families. However, he had no fear as to his own safety; there was nothing to be made by killing him, while there might be a large sum to be obtained as a ransom from his uncle or by his sale to Ghoolab Singh.The band were all mounted on wiry little ponies, and for some hours they rode at a rapid pace. They halted in a wood at the foot of the hills. Here the leader, upon asking the question whether any of them had ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt that the man they had left behind was dead, was furious at finding that none of them had done so. The men who had stripped him declared they felt quite certain of it: "He had half a dozen wounds any one of which must have killed him," one of them said; "and that being so, I did not think of putting my hand on his heart to feel if it beat. Make yourself easy, Goolam Tej, the fellow is dead beyond all doubt.""There is never any saying," his leader replied; "some men are so tough that they get over wounds which should have been sufficient to kill them a dozen times. It is always well to make sure, either by a stroke with a dagger through the heart, or by cutting off the head. There is no great trouble about either job, and it prevents mistakes occurring. If I determine on sending to Ghoolab Singh first, I don't want the colonel to know what has happened till we are at the other end of the country. If that fellow should be found on the road, and his wounds bound up, he may recover so far as to tell them what has happened, and then we shall have the colonel scouring the whole country with his force. Besides, he may send to Lahore and lay a complaint before the durbar, and as he and the boy are English they would get up a hue and cry after us through the whole of the Punjaub. I daresay the man is dead, still there ought not to be a possibility of a doubt about it, and I blame myself as much as I do you for not having given a thought to the matter."On dismounting, Percy's legs were firmly bound, and he was laid down on the ground at a short distance from his follower, a dacoit with a gun and sword taking his seat by each of them, so that even conversation was impossible. The next morning they started up the hills, and after some hours' riding crossed the crest, and then, leaving the bridle-path by which they had travelled, dismounted and led their horses along the steep face of the hill until they reached a perpendicular crag standing out from it, upon the summit of which stood a castellated building. A long shed had been erected upon a comparatively flat piece of ground among the trees at its foot; into this the dacoits led their ponies, and then mounted, a path a few inches wide cut in the rock, and leading up to a strong door which gave access to the building. A watchman on the wall had seen them coming, and as they entered they were greeted with cries of joy by a number of women.Percy saw at once that the building was ancient, but that it had recently been roughly repaired, and doubted not that it was a deserted fortalice that the band had occupied and made their head-quarters. During that day's ride the dacoits had taken the precaution of bandaging the eyes of their prisoners, and only unloosened the wraps when, on nearing the place, the ground had become so steep and difficult that it was necessary for them to have the use of their eyes. The prisoners were taken to a small room in a little tower at one of the angles of the building, their cords were then unloosened, and they were left alone together."This is a nice fix that we are in, Akram Chunder," Percy said."It is, indeed, sahib. I care not so much for myself, but to think that you, after going through those battles, should be seized by these robbers within a few miles of home, cuts me to the heart.""I am awfully sorry for Bhop Lal," Percy said. "Do you think he was killed?""That I cannot say, not having seen his wounds, but if they were not in a vital place he may live through them, for he is as hard as a piece of iron, and was not given to drink. Men who drink have but little chance of making a good recovery. He would have the sense, I know, to lie still and sham dead; but I hope ere this he may have carried the news to your uncle. He would obtain help and assistance from the first passer-by when he told his story, for there is not a peasant in the district who does not love the colonel."
CHAPTER X.
ALIWAL AND SOBRAON.
Finding that the British army did not follow up its success at Ferozeshah, the Sikhs determined to maintain their position on the left bank, and proceeded to construct a bridge of boats at Sobraon, not far from the spot where they had crossed the river in their flight. In front of the head of this bridge an exceedingly strong work was thrown up. The position was very well chosen, the bridge being placed in a curve of the river, and the artillery posted on the bank, which on their side was high, was therefore able to sweep the ground across which a force must advance to attack the work. Ten thousand men under the Sirdar Runjoor Singh were also thrown across the river near Loodiana, in order not only to menace the place with its small garrison, but to cut off the passage of supplies for Ferozepore and to interrupt the communications between the two posts.
As soon as the force at Meerut, consisting of the 9th and 16th Lancers, the 10th and 53d Foot, and the 43d and 59th Native Regiments, arrived with the battering-train, steps were taken to reinforce Loodiana and Basseean with some heavy guns; additional troops were sent to each of these posts, and the sick, with the women and children, were removed thence and sent to Umballa.
Sir Harry Smith's division was increased to seven thousand men and twenty-four guns, and he was despatched to drive the force that threatened Loodiana across the river and to cover the line of the British communications.
The whole country in that quarter was in a state of disorder. The advance of Runjoor Singh had caused great excitement among the peasantry, while it created something like a panic among the European residents of Umballa and Simla, either of which places could have been reached and plundered by the Sikhs, who from the crossing point near Loodiana were two days' march nearer to them than was the army of the commander-in-chief. It was all-important to Sir Harry Smith to reach Loodiana, where, being on the flank of the Sikh army should they advance, it would be necessary for them to meet and defeat him before they ventured upon a raiding expedition. But to do this it was necessary to pass within a short distance of Runjoor Singh's position, and as the column passed along the Sikhs sallied out, opened a heavy fire, and cut off a considerable portion of the baggage of the force, taking several officers prisoners. Sir Harry Smith did not suffer himself to be diverted from his object or to be forced to fight a battle save on ground of his own choosing. Without returning the fire he pressed forward until he reached Loodiana, the troops being completely exhausted with the efforts they had made.
Some more political officers having come up with the force from Meerut, Sir Henry Hardinge had placed Percy's services at the disposal of Sir Harry Smith. "He is a mere lad," he said to the latter, "but you will find him quite as valuable for most purposes as any older man would be. He speaks the language like a native, can go in disguise and obtain any information you may require, and has plenty of pluck. He was close behind the commander-in-chief and myself all through the fight here, and was one of the few of the staff who escaped uninjured. He is a volunteer serving without pay, no doubt in the hope of obtaining civil employment under the government in the future. This he has already richly earned, not only by his service in the battle of Ferozeshah, but by obtaining most valuable news by going in disguise to the Sikh camp before they crossed the river. Poor Broadfoot reported on his conduct very warmly indeed, in almost the last official document he sent me in, and having seen the young fellow under fire I shall certainly, at the proper time, take advantage of Broadfoot's report to recommend him to the Board of Directors for an appointment in the Civil Service, and for special employment upon this frontier."
Being recommended to him in such a manner, Sir Harry Smith had at once taken Percy upon his staff, and more than once sent for him and questioned him as to the country, the width of the river, and other points; and as Percy had on his way down crossed the Sutlej not far from Aliwal, he was able to give some valuable information on the subject. As soon as they reached Loodiana he went to see his friend Mr. Fullarton.
"Back again, Groves? You were fortunate in getting through that fight at Ferozeshah, where poor Broadfoot and several other politicals were killed or wounded. I had a note from him written the day before, saying how useful he had found you. You have come up with Sir Harry Smith, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir, they are very short of officers who speak the language, and so sent me on with him."
"It shows they think well of you; I am glad you are doing credit to my recommendation. You see it was very much better for you to go with the army than to remain here with me. Now you have been through two battles, and have fairly earned your right to a permanent post in the service. But, mind, don't let them put you on the uncovenanted branch; you will get very few chances of real promotion there. Should an offer be made to you, you had better decline respectfully and say that you would rather wait in the hope of entering the Company's service in the regular way. Three or four years' waiting would do you no harm, though I do not suppose you will have to wait anything like that time before you get appointed to our service."
"I am quite content to wait, sir, for at my age it would be absurd to think of getting such an important appointment; but I am very glad, indeed, to have found the opportunity of seeing so much."
"We shall have another battle here in a day or two," Mr. Fullarton said. "I have just seen Sir Harry. He says he must give the troops a couple of days' rest before he advances to attack Runjoor Singh. Indeed there is no hurry; now that he is here the Sikhs dare not advance, and he is therefore master of the situation. It was a bad affair losing so much of the baggage at Buddeewal, but the general was right in not bringing on a battle. The troops were worn out with their long march, and would have fought at a great disadvantage. It would not have made much difference to the white soldiers, who are always ready to fight however tired they may be; but it is not so with the natives. Fatigue, hunger, or thirst always depress their spirits, and a native who, in the morning, would have fought stoutly by the side of our own men, would be worth nothing if taken into the field tired and hungry on the evening of the same day. I hear that some of the native regiments did not do at all well at Ferozeshah, and I have no doubt that this was the reason of it. They will have a very short march before they fight this time."
After a day's rest the force moved out again to Buddeewal. Runjoor Singh's force had just received a reinforcement of four thousand regular troops, with twelve guns, and his army now amounted to nineteen thousand men and sixty guns. Early in the morning of the 28th of January Sir Harry Smith marched from Buddeewal towards the enemy. The Sikhs were so inspirited by the success that had attended their attack on the column during its passage—a success which they attributed to fear on the part of the British—that, instead of waiting to be attacked in the intrenchments they had formed, they moved forward, and took up their post in the open, the village of Aliwal being the key of the position.
The troops were already advancing in order of battle, and a column was at once directed to attack and carry the village, the artillery preparing the way by a heavy fire. The Sikh guns opened all along their line, but their fire was very wild; most of the shot went far overhead, and the attacking force suffered but little. They did not fire a shot in return, but when within a short distance of the village went at it with a rush, carrying it at the point of the bayonet, and driving the Sikh infantry headlong before them. The guns defending it fell into their hands, and as soon as they established themselves in the village, the rest of the force moved forward with admirable regularity, and the whole Sikh line was driven backwards, leaving their guns behind them.
The 16th Lancers charged the enemy, who were falling back sullenly and in order. The Sikhs threw themselves down on the ground and slashed at the horses with their swords as they passed over them, or discharged their muskets at their riders, and the regiment lost upwards of a hundred men killed and wounded. As they fell back the horse-artillery opened upon the dense masses of Sikhs, the infantry continued their steady advance, and the cavalry again and again charged. Instead of retiring towards their intrenchments, which having been denuded of their guns were now untenable, the enemy retreated direct upon the river, which they crossed at the ford. Their loss was comparatively small to that which they had suffered at Perozeshah, but the whole of their guns fell into the hands of the British.
Only one had been carried across the river. This was captured and spiked by the irregular horse and horse-artillery, who crossed the river in pursuit. The total loss of the British in killed and wounded in the battle of Aliwal was only four hundred—an astonishingly small amount when it is considered that they attacked a brave enemy of double their strength both in men and guns. The victory was a most important one. It relieved the north-west of all fear of invasion, and enabled the commander-in-chief to direct his whole attention to concentrating his force against the main body of the Sikh army at Sobraon.
Percy had watched the conflict from a distance. He had, as usual, taken his place among the staff when the general mounted his horse to advance against the Sikh intrenchments; but when Sir Harry Smith's eye fell upon him he said, "You will not ride with me to-day, Mr. Groves. I can have no occasion for your services as a political officer, and will not have you risk your life uselessly by your exposing yourself to fire. You will, therefore, please follow at considerable distance, and will, when we get within the enemy's range, take up any position you like that will enable you to see what is going on and at the same time keep you out of fire."
Percy looked a little downcast, and Sir Harry added kindly: "It is no reflection on your courage, lad, that I send you back. The governor-general himself told me how fearlessly you had exposed yourself at Ferozeshah; but as I do not require you on duty I have no justification for taking you with me under a heavy fire."
Percy brightened up as he rode off. Sir Harry Smith's staff were for the most part strangers to him, as he had not been connected with it until it marched, and he had feared at first that it might be thought the general had ordered him to the rear because he doubted his steadiness under fire.
"I am only to look on to-day," he said to his two followers as they joined him when he reined up his horse on a little knoll affording a view of the enemy's position half a mile away.
"And a very good thing too, sahib," Bhop Lal said bluntly. "I had quite enough of being shot at the other day, and have no stomach for sitting on horseback again doing nothing while they are pelting us with shot and bullets. If the sahib said 'Charge!' I would follow into the middle of the Sikh incampment, but as for sitting doing nothing I want no more of it.'
"Besides," Akram Chunder put in, "we know all about it now; for if what people say is true as to Runjoor Singh's strength, the odds are not so great as they were at Ferozeshah, even though they have seventy guns to our thirty. But what is that? The British are not to be stopped by guns; they will do as they did the other day, go right at the Sikhs and beat them. The Sikhs have thrown away their only chance by coming out from their intrenchments. Besides, they will not fight so well as they did last time. Then they thought they were invincible, now they know that the British are better fighters than they are, and that makes all the difference."
"We may as well dismount," Percy said, "and picket the horses down behind. We can see well enough over the jungle on foot, and if the Sikh gunners should notice three mounted men they might take us for officers of importance and send a few shot in this direction."
The Sikh gunners, however, were too occupied with the foes marching against them to notice the detached figures, and no shot came in their direction during the battle. Percy and his two followers watched the capture of Aliwal, and then saw the whole British force advance, and with scarce a pause push back the Sikhs all along the line.
"Truly it is wonderful," Bhop Lal said, stroking his beard. "These men in red coats make no more of the fire of sixty guns than if they were children's playthings. As for the Sikh infantry, though more than twice their numbers, they seem to sweep them before them like chaff. I thought I knew something of fighting, but I feel to-day that I know nothing, for I have seen nothing like this from the day when I first handled a sword."
"The loss cannot have been very heavy," Percy said, "it has been done too quickly."
"That is the way, sahib," Akram Chunder remarked. "If men have but the courage to go on in the face of a heavy fire they suffer much less than if they hesitate and delay; but it is only lions who rush forward with sixty cannon firing at them, to say nothing of thousands of men with muskets. That is what takes the life out of the Sikh fighting. They are brave, but they are accustomed to victory, and when they see men rushing on against them in spite of the fire which they thought would have swept them all away, they lose their confidence in themselves, and say, what use is it to fight against men like these?"
"Bring up the horses, Bhop Lal; we may as well ride forward now that the battle is nearly over, for I believe the roll of musketry and the discharge of guns still going on are caused by our troops firing at the Sikhs as they recross the river."
Great was the satisfaction that prevailed among the troops at the splendid victory they had gained over an enemy of nearly thrice their force in men and guns, and that with a loss which, considering the numbers engaged and the strength of the intrenchments, was trifling. As after so crushing a defeat as this there was little chance of Loodiana being again threatened, or of any large force endeavouring to intercept our communications, Sir Harry Smith marched back with his army and rejoined the commander-in-chief on the 8th of February.
On the following day the heavy guns from Delhi arrived, and orders were given for the whole force to prepare for the attack on Sobraon. During the fortnight that Sir Harry Smith had been absent the Sikhs had continued to labour unceasingly at their intrenchments, which were erected under the superintendence of two or three of the foreign officers who had been in Runjeet Singh's service. These were not regarded by the Sikhs with the same hostility with which they viewed Colonel Groves and two or three other English-speaking officers. They had, indeed, been deprived of their commands at the demand of the army, who objected to the European discipline and to the severe methods by which it was enforced; but several of them had been allowed to remain in the country, and the Sikhs, when the war began, gladly availed themselves of their scientific knowledge in the erection of intrenchments.
The enemy had surrounded their position with works of great strength, which could only be surmounted by the aid of scaling-ladders. The works were so arranged that they afforded complete protection to three lines of infantry, one above another, who could thus pour a tremendous fire upon an advancing foe. These works were held by 34,000 men with seventy guns. They were connected by a well-built bridge, and also by a ford, with another camp of 20,000 men across the river, and the guns of this force, placed on the high bank, were in a position to play upon the flanks of an army advancing against Sobraon.
To attack this formidable position Sir Hugh Gough had but 16,224 men, of whom 6533 were Europeans and 9691 natives. His force, therefore, was numerically inferior by 1500 men to that with which he attacked the Sikhs at Ferozeshah. His artillery force had, however, been augmented to ninety-nine guns by the addition of thirty-four heavy guns and mortars, and the commander-in-chief relied upon his artillery to clear the way for the assault of his infantry. The army was to be in motion at half-past three in the morning, in order that darkness should not, as at Moodkee and Ferozeshah, intervene to prevent the full results of victory being obtained.
The troops were under arms punctually, and at precisely the hour named marched in silence against the Sikh position. The battering guns and most of the field batteries took up their post in an extended semicircle, so as to open fire against every point of the Sikh intrenchments. It was intended that they should commence the attack as soon as it was light enough for the men to point their guns. A heavy mist, however, hung over the country, and it was not until half-past six that this lifted sufficiently to allow a view to be obtained of the enemy's works. Then the cannon opened along the whole line, and a storm of shot and shell was poured in by the gun and mortar batteries, while rockets were discharged in numbers against the intrenchments.
The Sikhs replied with equal vigour, and for a time the roar of artillery was unbroken. It had been intended that the cannonade should be continued for four hours before the infantry were called upon to make their advance, but so rapidly did the gunners work their pieces that the ammunition carried with them was becoming exhausted long before that time had elapsed, and the elephants who should have brought up reserves had become unmanageable from their terror at the tremendous din. But even had the fire continued during the whole day, it could not have made any serious impression upon such strong and extended earthworks, and its object was rather to shake the courage of the defenders than to produce any material damage. The loss of the Sikhs was afterwards found to have been heavy, but they and their general were confident that they could repulse any attack upon the tremendous works they had erected, Tej Singh having been assured by Ins chief engineer, a French officer named Mouton, that the position was absolutely impregnable.
While the artillery duel was in progress the British infantry had remained inactive in the rear of the guns, longing for the time when they should be called upon to take their share in the action; and there was a general feeling of satisfaction when the fire began to slacken, and orders were given for the advance to begin. On the left were two brigades of General Sir Robert Dick's division; these were to commence the engagement. The seventh brigade, commanded by General Stacey, was to lead the attack, headed by the 10th Foot reinforced by the 53d, and supported by the other brigade.
General Gilbert's division was in the centre, Sir Harry Smith's on the right, while Brigadier-general Campbell's command was thrown back between Gilbert's right and Sir Harry Smith's left. A part of the cavalry threatened to cross a ford and attack the enemy's horse on the opposite bank, the rest of the cavalry were in reserve. At nine o'clock Stacey's brigade, supported by three batteries, moved to the attack. The former marched steadily on in line, the latter took up successive positions at a gallop, until within three hundred yards of the heavy batteries of the enemy. The fire of cannon, camel guns, and musketry was so tremendous, that it seemed to the lookers-on impossible that any troops could advance successfully under it.
The two British regiments, and the 43d and 59th Native Infantry brigaded with them, advanced, however, with splendid bravery. This brigade had not been present at the previous battles, and had been specially selected for the desperate service of effecting the first breach in the enemy's lines because their ranks were still intact, and they had not gone through the terrible ordeal at Ferozeshah which had, in spite of their eventual success, greatly impressed those engaged in it with the courage and obstinacy of the Sikhs in defending a strong position. Well did the seventh brigade deserve the confidence the commander-in-chief placed in it. With scarcely a pause the troops pressed steadily forward, surmounted every obstacle until they reached the crest of the intrenchments, and drove the Sikhs from their guns.
The moment the success of the attack was apparent General Gilbert and Sir Harry Smith were ordered to advance with their divisions, and Brigadier Ashburnham began to move forward his brigade to support Stacey. Gilbert's advance took him in front of the centre and strongest portion of the enemy's line, and although unsupported by artillery, the 29th and the 1st Light Infantry dashed forward under a withering fire and crossed a dry nullah in front of the intrenchments, but they then found themselves in front of a high wall too steep for them to climb and exposed to a terrible fire from above. To remain there would have been to be annihilated, and the regiments were withdrawn, but only to charge again at a fresh point.
Thrice they reached the walls, thrice they had to fall back, each time followed by the Sikhs, who cut the wounded to pieces. The second division, however, managed at several points to effect a lodgment within the intrenchments, while Stacey's and Ashburnham's brigade maintained themselves in the position the former had captured, in spite of the desperate efforts of the Sikhs, who in vast numbers swarmed down upon them and tried to recapture it. Thus for a while the battle raged, nor were the British able to advance beyond the points where they had gained a footing, until the sappers cut a narrow opening through the works, by which the cavalry were able to pass in single file. As soon as the 3d Dragoons had entered the work they formed up, and charging along in the rear of the intrenchment, cut down the Sikh gunners in their batteries and captured their field-guns.
As their fire ceased the rest of the infantry poured into the works, and advancing along the whole line, while the field batteries which had entered joined their fire to that of the musketry, they pressed the Sikhs before them in masses across the river. The bridge was an excellent one, but one of the Sikh commanders had caused two of the boats forming it to be removed, in order that his men, seeing there was no mode of retreat, should defend their works the more desperately. The river had risen during the night, and the ford, which had the day before been but breast-deep, was now scarcely passable.
The scene was a terrible one; the crowded masses of the enemy threw themselves into the river, and strove to cross by wading and swimming, while the guns of the British horse-artillery, which had come up, played upon them unceasingly, and the infantry poured volleys of musketry into them, all feeling of pity being for the time dissipated by the fury with which the murder of our wounded by the Sikhs during the early portion of the fight had inspired the troops.
Hundreds of the enemy fell under the cannonade; very many hundreds were drowned. The battle terminated at noon, the infantry having been engaged without intermission for three hours. Sixty-seven cannon were captured, and upwards of two hundred camel guns. This great and decisive victory cost those engaged in it dearly. The 29th Foot had 13 officers, 8 sergeants, and 167 men killed and wounded; the 1st European Light Infantry, 12 officers, 12 sergeants, and 173 men; the 31st, 7 officers and 147 men; the 50th, 12 officers and 227 men; the 53d, 9 officers and 111 men.
These were the heaviest losses, but all the regiments engaged suffered severely, as the total loss was 2383 in killed and wounded. The losses among the staff of officers wore small compared to those which they had suffered at Ferozeshah, as it was not necessary at Sobraon for the governor-general and commander-in-chief to expose themselves close to the enemy's intrenchments as they had done on that occasion. General Sir Robert Dick, who had gone through the Peninsular War, and led the 42d Highlanders at Waterloo, was killed as he led his men forward against the Sikh intrenchments; and Brigadier-generals M'Laren and Taylor also fell. The loss of the Sikhs was never known; but the carnage was, in proportion to the numbers engaged, enormous, and many of their leading sirdars were among the slain.
At Ferozeshah, the greater proportion of the loss among the assailants was caused by the grape-shot from the enemy's guns. At Sobraon, on the other hand, in spite of the number and weight of the enemy's guns, and of their very numerous camel pieces, it was the musket that inflicted the great proportion of loss. This was due, in the first place, to the fact that a large number of the skilled Sikh gunners had fallen in the previous battles, and that the artillery fire was in consequence very wild and ill-directed. In the next place, the artillerymen were unable to depress their pieces sufficiently to play upon the British when they reached the foot of the intrenchments, while the infantry, well sheltered behind their earthworks, were able to keep up a murderous fire upon their helpless foes. These facts account for the unusually large number of men wounded in proportion to the killed.
As the division of Sir Harry Smith had only reached the camp two days before the battle, Percy remained attached to his staff and rode behind him in the engagement. He had wished his two men to remain in camp, but they resolutely declined to do so.
"If you were killed, sahib, how could we face the colonel, and tell him that while you were killed we were cooking our dinners four miles away? No, sahib, whatever comes, we must ride behind the general's escort. Had we not seen Ferozeshah, we should say that success to-morrow is impossible, for the intrenchments there were but dirt-heaps in comparison to the great works opposite. We can see with our own eyes how big and high they are. They say there are three lines of parapets for the infantry to fire over, besides all their guns. But now we know that nothing is impossible to the white troops, and believe that somehow, though we cannot say how, they will capture it, and drive the Sikhs across the river. If we live through it, it will be a thing to talk of for the rest of our lives; and if we die, you will tell the colonel, sahib, that we did our duty. He told us to watch over you, and though no watching can turn the course of shot or bullet, we can at least be near to carry you off should you fall wounded."
However, Percy escaped without being hit, as did most of the staff, though he did his share in carrying orders to the officers commanding the different regiments in the division. As they rode back from the field after the engagement was over the general called him up to his side.
"I ought to have kept you out of the battle, lad," he said kindly; "but I did not like to baulk you again. You have done very well, and I shall mention your name in my report as among the members of my staff who did good service."
The battle of Sobraon completely broke the power of the Sikhs. In these and the preceding fights all the picked regiments of the regular infantry had been destroyed or dispersed, and two hundred and twenty of their guns captured. No time was lost by the commander-in-chief in following up his success. A bridge of boats had been already thrown across the river half-way between Ferozepore and Sobraon, and messages were sent to Sir John Grey, who commanded a force there, and to Sir John Littler at Ferozepore, to cross at once. At daybreak next morning six regiments crossed the Sutlej from Ferozepore, while Sir John Grey, with two regiments of cavalry, three of infantry, and a battery, crossed by the new bridge, both forces thus placing themselves on the road by which the defeated Sikhs would retire upon Lahore. This speedy movement completed their discomfiture. Cut off from the capital, and deprived of the leadership of all the principal sirdars, they dispersed to their homes, and the bridge at Sobraon having been repaired on the day following the battle, the British crossed without opposition.
Ghoolab Singh, who had all this time been negotiating secretly with the British, while promising the Sikhs that he was on the eve of advancing to join them with his whole force, now endeavoured to figure as mediator, and came secretly into the British camp with the object of persuading the governor-general to abstain from making an advance against Lahore. Sir Henry Hardinge refused to receive him, and sent a message to him by his political officers that terms of peace would be dictated at the capital. The crafty sirdar was not to be defeated; riding back to Lahore, he took the young maharajah and rode with him to the British camp. Sir Henry received the young prince kindly, but was not to be diverted from his purpose of moving forward to Lahore, where the army arrived without a shot being fired.
Here terms of peace were dictated to the humbled Sikhs. The expenses of the war, estimated at a million and a half, were to be paid, all the guns taken were to be retained, and all others that had been used against us during the war were to be handed over; the troops were to be disbanded, and the fertile province known as the Jalindar Doab, situated between the Beas and Sutlej rivers, was to be handed over to the British. Many of the officers considered that it would have been better to have annexed the whole of the Punjaub, but even with the army that was marching from Scinde under Sir Charles Napier the force was insufficient for the work. The Sikhs had strongly fortified cities, that could scarcely have been taken without a regular battering train, and the hot season was coming on. Besides, although the army trained with so much care by Runjeet Singh had been broken up and scattered, the Sikh nation had as yet taken but little part in the struggle. It was, however, certain that they would, under their great chiefs, fight desperately to preserve their independence, and the whole of the dispersed soldiery would speedily be reunited under the banners of the leaders.
The crafty Ghoolab Singh gained the advantages he had hoped, for the treasury of Lahore was empty, and with the greatest difficulty half a million was raised to pay the first instalment of the indemnity. Ghoolab Singh, therefore, out of his vast resources paid another half million, on condition that Cashmere should be handed over to him, and that from being merely the governor of that province, he should become its independent ruler. The price paid by him for this rich province was absurdly inadequate, but so far as the British were concerned the bargain was a politic one. There was little doubt that a second war would, sooner or later, have to be undertaken; Ghoolab Singh could put a very large army into the field, and by making him ruler of Cashmere his interests were at once separated from those of the Sikhs, and his neutrality, if not his active alliance, were secured in any future struggle. It was arranged that a British force should remain in Lahore for a year, nominally to insure the payment of the rest of the indemnity, but really to maintain the authority of the maharanee and the boy maharajah, who were in no way responsible for the war against us, and who doubtless would have been overthrown by some ambitious sirdar, aided by the disbanded troops, had they been left unsupported by British bayonets.
CHAPTER XI.
AN AMBUSH.
"Mr. Fullarton had accompanied the army to Lahore, his knowledge of the country and people being so valuable that the governor-general sent over on the evening after the Sikh intrenchments at Sobraon had been stormed, to request him to join the army at once, as Loodiana had for the present ceased to be a station of importance. He had, as soon as he joined the camp, claimed Percy Groves' services, and in the negotiations that followed, and as interpreter between the British and Sikh authorities, he was found of great use, especially after they reached Lahore, where many of the Sikh sirdars, especially those whose possessions lay in the Jalindar Doab, considered it prudent to come in and to assume an appearance of friendship with the British.
"Now, Groves, what are your wishes as to entering the service?" Mr. Fullarton said to him one day, when the various court ceremonials were over, and preparations were beginning for the withdrawal of the main body of the army. "The governor-general mentioned your name to me to-day, and said that you had rendered very valuable services during the campaign. Mr. Broadfoot had reported most favourably of you; you had acted as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief at Ferozeshah and to Sir Harry Smith at Sobraon; the latter had mentioned you in his report, as Sir Hugh Gough and himself had both observed your coolness and readiness to carry messages under the heaviest fire at Ferozeshah; and that since then your services as interpreter had been very valuable.
"He said that you had earned an appointment, and that he should be glad to write to the Board of Directors to request one for you, but that he feared the board would consider you too young. He said, however, if you strongly desired to enter the service at once, he would put the matter in such a light that they could hardly refuse; for as you had been doing man's work throughout this campaign, you could do it during peace time. I think his own opinion was that it would be better for you to wait for another two or three years, for that, if you received an appointment now, you might be sent down to an office in Calcutta. You see that at your age you could hardly occupy a post that would not only place you in communication with native chiefs, as the British representative, but might place you in a position where, as political officer, you might have to requisition the assistance of troops and of officers old enough to be your father."
"I quite think so," Percy said, "and would much rather not enter the service for another three years, sir; even then I shall only be nineteen."
"That is about the right age to enter," Mr. Fullarton said, "and you will have great advantages over other young fellows just out. There would be your record in your favour, and your knowledge of the language and people, and you would be certain to obtain an appointment in this province such as a man direct from England could hardly hope for until after at least ten years' service. I think if I were you, I should turn my attention for the next two years to acquiring as thorough a knowledge of the Pathan language as you now have of Punjaubi. When we have annexed the Punjaub, which is a question of a few years, we shall be in direct contact with the hill tribes, who are nominally subject to Afghanistan, but are practically independent, and if you happened to be stationed in any of the northern districts you would find the knowledge of that language invaluable. You have evidently a knack of picking up languages, and your knowledge of Punjaubi will, of course, help you considerably in learning Pathan."
As Percy was anxious, now that everything was settled, to return as speedily as possible to his uncle's, he at once wrote a formal request that his services as a volunteer might be dispensed with.
The next day Mr. Fullarton said to him: "I informed Sir Henry Hardinge yesterday evening that you had sent in your resignation, and he requests me to bring you to him this morning that he might say good-bye to you, and thank you for your services."
The commander-in-chief was with the governor-general when Mr. Fullarton called at the palace, where he had taken up his quarters, but on his name being taken in he was requested to enter at once, which he did with Percy.
"I should have been sorry had you gone without saying good-bye to me, Mr. Groves," Sir Henry said. "Both the commander-in-chief and myself have noted your conduct very favourably, and reports to the same effect have been made by Mr. Broadfoot and Sir Harry Smith. I think you are wise to decide to wait another three years before entering the service. I shall write to the Board of Directors requesting them to appoint you to their civil service at once. But I shall ask them to date the appointment three years on, and at the same time to send instructions to the officer who will remain as Resident here to the effect that should there be any signs of fresh trouble before that time, he can at once ante-date the appointment and employ you in any way in which your knowledge of the country and language, and your zeal and activity, can be utilized. Should I still be in India, I shall make it a point to see that you have an appointment in this province; and should I return to England before that time, your name will be placed in the list I leave behind for my successor of promising and intelligent officers. Sir Hugh Gough will also, he tells me, keep an eye on your interests, and doubtless you will receive a notification from the Court in due time as to your appointment. You will do well, after you receive it, to write to the Resident here, telling him that although you do not wish for employment until the date of your appointment, your services are at his disposal should they be required. I have no doubt Mr. Fullarton will, before leaving, speak to him personally on the matter."
The commander-in-chief added a few words, and Percy on returning to the house began preparations for his departure.
"We shall have to be careful as we ride back, sahib," Bhop Lal said. "Things are quiet enough about here, but from what I learn the country is overrun with disbanded soldiers. They have gone back for the most part to their own villages; but what will they do there? They have lived an idle life for years, and quite considered themselves masters of the country. They will never set to at steady work to plough the fields, they will soon tire out their friends, and then they will wander away and gather in bands, and become dacoits. I hear in the bazaar that the country is everywhere unsafe for travel; that merchants dare not send their goods except in strong parties guarded by a force of disbanded soldiers they pay to act as guards. The peasants are robbed and plundered, and things are even worse than they were before the war began. After getting through the battles without so much as a scratch, it would be unfortunate, indeed, should ill befall us now that the war is all over."
"There is one thing, Bhop Lal. We shall have no dangers except from an accidental encounter with robbers. Now that Ghoolab Singh is ruler of Cashmere, he will have too many other matters to think of to trouble further about my uncle and his little district."
"Nothing is too small, as nothing is too large, sahib," Akram Chunder said, "for the greed of Ghoolab Singh. He may now have a kingdom, but that will not prevent him from fleecing a trader if he has an opportunity. See how he has filled his coffers at the expense of the people. Has he not paid half acroreof rupees to your people for Cashmere, and I doubt not he would have paid three times as much if it had been needed. There are many other sirdars could have paid the half crore, but they say that Ghoolab could buy up any four of them. It is true there is no fear that he will now try to seize the colonel sahib's government by force, at least until fresh troubles begin; but if he can have him quietly removed you may be sure he will do so, as he could then easily enough get the maharanee and the Lahore durbar to confirm the former appointment of his son as governor.
"The colonel need no longer fear force, but he must be more than ever on his guard against treachery. Still, sahib, I agree with you that just at present Ghoolab must have too many things to think of to be giving attention to your matter, and that we can travel without fear of him. As for thebudmashes, we shall have to be careful of them, as my comrade says; and we must mind that no one suspects for a moment that you are English; for although the people here are respectful enough, you may be sure that outside the range of your guns there is not a Sikh, save perhaps the humblest cultivators, who is not full of rage and hatred against the English. Have you not defeated them in four battles, humbled their national pride, and taken their richest province? To be suspected of being an Englishman would be your death-warrant in the smallest village of the Punjaub. The sahib would do well to-morrow not to wear his dress of a sirdar, but to dress as he did when we visited the camp of Tej Singh. Then, if we are questioned, it is we who will do the talking; while, if you are dressed as a chief, it is to you the questions will be put. Besides, most of the sirdars are known by name, at least to the bulk of the people, and it would be difficult for you to reply to close questioning; whereas, passing as disbanded soldiers, who are tired of doing nothing in our native village, and are going north to take service with Ghoolab Singh, our story is simple and natural enough."
"But Ghoolab himself cannot be popular in the country at present," Percy said; "they must all see now that he has been playing a double part; and that he has, moreover, wrenched from the Punjaub a territory as valuable as that which we took after such hard fighting."
"That is so, but Ghoolab is everywhere feared; no man offends him or his without paying for it; and besides, they may hope that if there is again trouble, Ghoolab may join them against the British. They may not like him, but there must be many disbanded soldiers who have been going to take service under him, and the people will bear us no ill-will for that: it is the most likely story for us to tell, and the one that will be least questioned."
"I think you are right, Akram Chunder; at any rate I will ride to-morrow dressed as you are."
The next morning they started from Lahore at daybreak, and rode north. They had agreed to travel by the main road, as they would there attract no attention; whereas passing through villages on unfrequented roads, their passage would excite comment. After riding for fifteen miles they came upon a party of ten men, evidently disbanded soldiers, seated in the shade of a clump of trees by the roadside, cooking their breakfast.
"Better stop and talk with them," Bhop Lal said; "it will look strange if we ride on."
They reined in their horses, and Bhop Lal gave the usual salutation. After the customary return of greetings, one of the men said, "Will you not dismount and share our breakfast?"
"We took food before we started from Lahore," Bhop Lal replied.
"Ah, you came from Lahore: what is the last news there?"
"There is nothing new, everything is quiet, and they say that most of the English will soon march away."
"We will make short work of the maharanee and her son as soon as they go," the man said savagely. "They are but puppets now in the hands of the English, and have signed away the best doab in the Punjaub so as to buy protection for Dhuleep Singh. He is no longer a Sikh prince, and we will speedily place one of our own sirdars on the throne."
"That is what we all mean to do," Bhop Lal agreed; "we want no boy as our ruler now, but a sirdar who can lead us to battle. It will be different next time; last time we despised the English, and so they beat us; next time it will be they who will make too sure, and we shall beat them."
"Where are you going?"
"We are thinking of taking service under Ghoolab Singh."
"The old fox is a traitor," the man said angrily, while a general murmur broke from his comrades.
"There is no doubt that he played us false," Bhop Lal agreed; "but now that he is master of Cashmere he may think it his interest to go with us next time; and besides, at present his gold is as good as another's, and none of the other sirdars will increase their forces until the English have retired; so there is just the choice of taking service with Ghoolab or of starving."
"There is no occasion to starve for those who have got arms," the man said; "and we find it easier to help ourselves and to be our own masters than to serve anyone else. You had better join us, comrades."
"Thank you; we have thought it over, you may be sure; but we have had enough of marching about and sleeping in the air for the present, and we are likely at any rate to sleep and eat our meals in peace with Ghoolab. There is little chance of any rising for a long time yet, and till then, at any rate, there will be peace in Cashmere. When fighting begins again here, we have made up our minds to come back, if we find that Ghoolab has forgotten that he is a Sikh. And now, with your permission, we will be riding on," and Bhop Lal turned his horse, and with his companions trotted off.
"We got through that well enough," Percy remarked.
"They did not think we were worth robbing, sahib; and as we are well armed, it would not have been worth their while to meddle with us. Besides, you see their horses are on the other side of the grove, and they must have noticed that we were well mounted, and could have got a long start before they were off. It is as likely as not that they did not believe my story, but thought we were on our way to join some other band we knew of. I have no fear of these fellows if we meet them openly in the daytime. The danger will be if we come upon them suddenly, and they attack us before they see what we are."
In the course of the day they passed several parties of threes and fours, sometimes mounted and sometimes on foot; but they did not draw rein, and contented themselves with the exchange of passing salutations. Only once they came upon a large party. It consisted of twenty carts laden with merchandise, and escorted by some thirty men armed to the teeth.
"You see they get employment both ways, sahib," Akram Chunder remarked; "some of them make money by turning robbers, others make money by selling their services to merchants to protect their goods from robbers. No doubt those carts are on their way down from Serinagur and Jummoo, and are laden with shawls and embroidery, and such other goods as the merchants think the English officers at Lahore will be glad to buy to send home to their friends."
"I should think they will make a good venture," Percy said, "for the bazaars at Lahore are very poorly stocked. Trade has been bad there for a long time, owing to the troubles and disturbances, and I hear that many of the traders who had remained fled when the news came of the defeat at Sobraon, fearing that the English army would act as the Sikhs would have done under the circumstances, and would march straight to Lahore and plunder the city. What part of Cashmere do you come from, Akram?"
"From the hills fifty miles north of Serinagur. Cashmere has no authority there, and the hill tribes have their wars with each other without interference. I was fifteen when our village was attacked and destroyed by a tribe we had raided a few months before. Most of the people were killed, but I was fleet-footed and got away. I worked for a time at Serinagur, but got tired of carrying burdens from morning till night, so I went on to Jummoo, and stopped there for three or four years; and then, when I was about one-and-twenty, went down to Lahore, and finding it hard work to get a living in any other way, I took service in Runjeet Singh's army, and had the good luck to enlist in the regiment of my lord your uncle, and there I have remained ever since. It was a lucky day when I chose his regiment, and I did so because I heard two soldiers in the street speak well of him. Had I been in one of the others, I should most likely have fallen at Ferozeshah or Sobraon, even if I hadn't been killed before."
That night they slept at a khan in the town. There were but few other guests, and the keeper of the place bitterly bemoaned the change of times.
"In the days of Runjeet," he said, "there were seldom less than a hundred travellers stopping here nightly; after his death the number fell to about twenty, for who would go to Lahore if he could help it, when, for aught he knew, he might find fighting going on in the streets, or the city being sacked when he arrived there? Now it is rare for more than three or four to pass the night here; no one will travel for trade or for pleasure; no one will go to Lahore as long as the English are there. Sometimes, it is true, a caravan comes down, such as that which stayed here last night; but there are few of these, and were it not for the passage of those who, like yourselves, are on their way to their homes, or to take service in Cashmere, I might as well close and lock the gates, and go away to earn my bread at some other business. The country is being ruined fast. There are even those who say that it would be better the English should come and be our masters; there would be peace then, and they would soon put a stop to robbery and dacoitism, as they have done wherever they have established their rule, and the peasants would be able to plough their fields, and the traders to carry on their business without fear of any man so long as they paid their taxes and kept the law. I do not say that those are my opinions," he added hastily, "but I know that such is the talk among the peasants, who have had, it must be owned, a rough time since Runjeet Singh died. Heavily taxed they were in his time, but beyond that they had nought to complain of; but of late, what with one trouble and another, their lot has been hard."
"There is no doubt about that," Bhop Lal agreed heartily. "I have been a soldier, but I have been a peasant too, and know where the shoe pinches. Perhaps things will be better now."
The man shrugged his shoulders. "I see not how this is to be," he said; "the Lahore durbar is under the protection of foreigners, and no one heeds it, as it has no power save in the city. Better a thousand times a prince who can make himself obeyed, even were it Ghoolab Singh, or else a strong foreign rule. I would rather have a native prince; but far better than the nominal rule of a boy, protected by foreign bayonets, would be the rule of the foreigners themselves, for they, at least, can make the law respected, punish ill-doers, and preserve peace and order."
"I fancy there are a great many who think as you do," Bhop Lal said; "but these for the most part keep their thoughts to themselves. Well, we shall see what we shall see. Things will never go on long as they are at present; and, as you say, the Punjaub will either be ruled by a strong native prince, or it will, like Scinde, become a possession of the English. I have had enough of fighting, and mean to remain quiet until one or other of these things comes about."
"There are many like you; but some of the soldiers who come through say they would like to fight the English again."
"Then take my word for it," a soldier sitting by said, "the men who said that were not among those who fought on the Sutlej. There were brave men there, and plenty of them, but I do not believe one of those that fought there will ever wish to fight the white troops again. There was no withstanding them. They came on as if they minded the rain of iron and lead no more than if it had been a thunder-shower. It was that which beat us; we were told by our chiefs that it was impossible, absolutely impossible, for men to force their way into our lines, and when we saw them do it, we said to ourselves it is hopeless to fight against such men; and we who, under Runjeet, have won victory after victory, and that against stout fighters like the Afghans, lost heart for the first time in our lives, when we felt that we, though two to one, were no match for these terrible soldiers."
"Is it true," the keeper of the khan asked, "as all have told me, that they neither plunder nor rob; and though really masters of Lahore, the English go about quietly, ill-treating none?"
"It is quite true; they have discipline; brave as these men are, they are quiet and orderly, as our troops never were even in the days when Runjeet was strong and firm. Not a man has been robbed, nor a woman insulted, since they crossed the Sutlej. They are our enemies, but they are a great people."
"If you have aught to lose, gentlemen," the other said, "be careful how you ride to-morrow; scarce one has arrived from the north for the last week who does not complain bitterly of being robbed on the way. Some were wounded sorely, having ventured on resistance. They say there are as many as two hundred disbanded soldiers lurking among the woods and bushes between this and the next town. The Sirdar Lal Mizrah, moved by the complaints of the country people, cleared the road of them a few days since, breaking up their parties, and killing many; therefore, at present they are more cautious. That is how the convoy got through safely yesterday. I should advise you, therefore, to travel by country roads, though even these are not safe, for the robbers, finding that people have deserted the main road and have taken to these paths, have beset them also."
"We have nothing to lose but our lives," Bhop Lal said, "but as these are somewhat precious to us, we will take all the care we can to avoid these gentry you speak of."
After a consultation with Percy, it was agreed that, as time was no particular object, they would strike off at once to the west, travel for a day in that direction, and then make north, thereby getting well out of the line followed by travellers from Lahore.
"After having been through three battles," Percy said, "it would be folly to risk getting our throats cut merely for the sake of saving a day's journey."
Accordingly the next morning they took this route. They passed several villages in the course of the day; as they were seen approaching, men and women ran into their houses and closed the doors, and not a soul was to be seen in the streets as they passed through.
"We need not have been afraid of being questioned," Percy said; "it is evident that the whole population of the country is scared by the exactions of these disbanded soldiers, and that they are only too glad to see us pass by without interfering with them. It would have been well for the country if the Sutlej had risen another foot on the day of the storming of Sobraon, it would have relieved the country of some thousands more of these plunderers."
They met with no adventure whatever until they arrived within a few miles of the fortress. Then, as they were riding along through a wood, a party of men on foot suddenly sprang out from among the trees. Before they had time to draw their swords Akram Chunder and Percy were struck from their horses. Bhop Lal, who happened to be a horse's length behind his comrades, snatched his pistol from his belt, and shot two of the assailants; then a ball from a matchlock struck him, and he fell from his horse. As he lay he was gashed with a dozen severe wounds, and was speedily stripped of his arms and clothes; the party then gathered round the two prisoners.
"I know this man," one of them said, stooping over Akram Chunder; "he is one of the men at the white colonel's fortress. I know him because he was servant to one of the officers, and when I went in there with ghee, he bought some of me and came back accusing me of having sold him false weight. He fetched his master, who examined my scales, and found that somehow a bit of lead had got stuck under one of them, and the villain had me flogged, and told me if ever I entered the place again he would cut off my ears. I swore I would pay this fellow out some day, and having changed my appearance somewhat went back some time ago to find him and pay him with a knife stab if I got a chance, but I heard from a friend I had there that he had gone away; he had ridden off with a party that went with the colonel's nephew. The rest had returned all but this fellow and another; and as it was just when the war broke out, it was supposed they had gone with the young sahib to act as his servants, for both were accustomed to that sort of work."
"Well, there are three of them here," the other said; "maybe it is a lucky day for us, and that the third of them is the white lad."
"Sure enough it's the governor's nephew," one of the men exclaimed as he walked across to Percy, who was lying a little apart. "I have seen him a dozen times at the fortress."
"Then this is a fortunate day for us indeed," the leader of the party exclaimed; "put them both on their horses again and mount without delay; we will settle what to do with them afterwards. We have two strings to our bow: it is certain that we can get a handsome ransom from the colonel, but I fancy Ghoolab Singh would give us still more. You remember the talk there was of a party of his men lying in ambush here to capture this lad as he came up two years ago; and everyone knows it was his doing that the place was besieged three months since."
"Would it not be as well to give this fellow a stab and leave him here?" the man who had recognized Akram Chunder asked.
"Not at all," the leader said harshly; "at any rate not at present. We may find him useful if we want to send a messenger in to the white colonel. Besides, if we ransom the boy to his uncle it is no use setting him against us by killing his servant. Even if the colonel agreed to leave us unmolested, some of his men might take the matter up and make the country too hot for us. I am always against killing unless there is something to be gained by it, and I see nothing to be gained by this fellow's death."
Percy had been stunned by the blow from the heavy cudgel that struck him off his horse, but he heard the latter part of the conversation. He knew that resistance would be fatal, and submitted quietly to be placed on his horse. His hands were first bound in front of him, the reins were then cut, and two horsemen, one on either side of him, took the ends. Akram Chunder was similarly treated, and, surrounded by the whole party, numbering about twenty, they rode off. By their dress and attire he judged the men into whose hands they had fallen were not discharged soldiers but regular dacoits, and when he heard one of them address the leader by the name of Goolam Tej, he recognized it as that of a dacoit who had for years been a scourge to that part of the country, although he had seldom ventured to molest the villages in the colonel's district, knowing how speedy and relentless would be the pursuit. He had heard numberless stories of the atrocities committed by this band; how they had tortured men and women to force them to reveal the hiding-places of their money; how they had slaughtered not only those who ventured to offer resistance, but their wives and families. However, he had no fear as to his own safety; there was nothing to be made by killing him, while there might be a large sum to be obtained as a ransom from his uncle or by his sale to Ghoolab Singh.
The band were all mounted on wiry little ponies, and for some hours they rode at a rapid pace. They halted in a wood at the foot of the hills. Here the leader, upon asking the question whether any of them had ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt that the man they had left behind was dead, was furious at finding that none of them had done so. The men who had stripped him declared they felt quite certain of it: "He had half a dozen wounds any one of which must have killed him," one of them said; "and that being so, I did not think of putting my hand on his heart to feel if it beat. Make yourself easy, Goolam Tej, the fellow is dead beyond all doubt."
"There is never any saying," his leader replied; "some men are so tough that they get over wounds which should have been sufficient to kill them a dozen times. It is always well to make sure, either by a stroke with a dagger through the heart, or by cutting off the head. There is no great trouble about either job, and it prevents mistakes occurring. If I determine on sending to Ghoolab Singh first, I don't want the colonel to know what has happened till we are at the other end of the country. If that fellow should be found on the road, and his wounds bound up, he may recover so far as to tell them what has happened, and then we shall have the colonel scouring the whole country with his force. Besides, he may send to Lahore and lay a complaint before the durbar, and as he and the boy are English they would get up a hue and cry after us through the whole of the Punjaub. I daresay the man is dead, still there ought not to be a possibility of a doubt about it, and I blame myself as much as I do you for not having given a thought to the matter."
On dismounting, Percy's legs were firmly bound, and he was laid down on the ground at a short distance from his follower, a dacoit with a gun and sword taking his seat by each of them, so that even conversation was impossible. The next morning they started up the hills, and after some hours' riding crossed the crest, and then, leaving the bridle-path by which they had travelled, dismounted and led their horses along the steep face of the hill until they reached a perpendicular crag standing out from it, upon the summit of which stood a castellated building. A long shed had been erected upon a comparatively flat piece of ground among the trees at its foot; into this the dacoits led their ponies, and then mounted, a path a few inches wide cut in the rock, and leading up to a strong door which gave access to the building. A watchman on the wall had seen them coming, and as they entered they were greeted with cries of joy by a number of women.
Percy saw at once that the building was ancient, but that it had recently been roughly repaired, and doubted not that it was a deserted fortalice that the band had occupied and made their head-quarters. During that day's ride the dacoits had taken the precaution of bandaging the eyes of their prisoners, and only unloosened the wraps when, on nearing the place, the ground had become so steep and difficult that it was necessary for them to have the use of their eyes. The prisoners were taken to a small room in a little tower at one of the angles of the building, their cords were then unloosened, and they were left alone together.
"This is a nice fix that we are in, Akram Chunder," Percy said.
"It is, indeed, sahib. I care not so much for myself, but to think that you, after going through those battles, should be seized by these robbers within a few miles of home, cuts me to the heart."
"I am awfully sorry for Bhop Lal," Percy said. "Do you think he was killed?"
"That I cannot say, not having seen his wounds, but if they were not in a vital place he may live through them, for he is as hard as a piece of iron, and was not given to drink. Men who drink have but little chance of making a good recovery. He would have the sense, I know, to lie still and sham dead; but I hope ere this he may have carried the news to your uncle. He would obtain help and assistance from the first passer-by when he told his story, for there is not a peasant in the district who does not love the colonel."