CHAPTER XVI.SEVEN HOURS OF SUSPENSE.Lieutenant Edwardes pressed forward with all speed, in hopes of effecting a junction with the Bhawulpoor force before the Mooltan army could fall upon them. Unfortunately the River Jelum intervened between the allies, and had the rebel army used expedition they could have annihilated the Bhawulpoor contingent before Edwardes joined them. The latter had already made every preparation for his advance, having sent on messengers ahead to collect boats at Koreyshee, with instructions that his ally should avoid battle if possible and retire before the enemy until joined by him.On reaching the Jelum late in the evening he heard that the Mooltan force had just arrived at a point three miles from the camp of his ally, but had established themselves and evidently did not intend to attack until the next morning. "You had better start at once across the river, Groves, and see that the nawab's force is in a position to defend itself if the enemy attack before I can get across. Its commander is an old man, and, as I hear from our agent, Peer Ibraheem Khan, hopelessly muddle-headed and inefficient. You will find Ibraheem himself a thoroughly good and reliable officer, and he will aid you in every way. It is he who has got all these boats collected in readiness for us. Two or three of the nawab's regiments are commanded by Englishmen. If you find that the general will do nothing, I authorize you to take the command out of his hands, and to make the best dispositions you can under the advice of Ibraheem. The boats are coming up fast, and I shall begin to cross at daylight with the infantry to aid the Bhawulpoor men in keeping the enemy at bay until Cortlandt can get the guns across. Until we have them to help us we shall be at a terrible disadvantage, for the enemy have at least twelve pieces. Remember to-morrow is the 18th of June, the anniversary of Waterloo; it is a good omen for us."As Percy was about to ride down to the river bank a boat came across, and he stood chatting with Lieutenant Edwardes until it arrived. It contained a messenger from Peer Ibraheem, saying that the force would march down to a point opposite the ferry during the night and so cover the crossing."Could you guide this officer," Lieutenant Edwardes said, "so that he can meet the army on the march?"The messenger said that he could do so, and Percy with his two men and horses took his place in the boat. After two hours' ride from the other side of the river they met the head of the approaching column, and Percy, hearing that Peer Ibraheem was with the regiment that followed, waited till he came along and then handed him a pencil note that Edwardes had given him, repeating to Peer Ibraheem the instructions he had already given Percy."I am very glad that you have come, sahib," the officer said. "Futteh Muhommud pays no attention to what is going on, and is in fact no better than an idiot. I received authority from Edwardes sahib yesterday to supersede him if it were absolutely necessary, but it might possibly cause discontent among the troops, and it were better to leave him in nominal command."The morning was breaking when they approached the river. When half a mile distant they met three thousand of the Pathans, who with fifty mounted chiefs had effected their passage during the night under the command of Foujdar Khan, a capable and energetic native officer who acted as Edwardes' adjutant-general. A halt was ordered, and Percy and Peer Ibraheem tried to get the men into line and to remedy the tremendous confusion that prevailed, baggage animals, waggons, elephants, and guns being all mixed up in the column. There was the more occasion for haste, as the rising sun showed the enemy marching towards them. Their object had evidently been to take possession of the ferry and thus separate the two allied forces; but the night march of the Bhawulpoor men and the passage of the Pathans had forestalled them, and they at once took up their position on the salt hills of the village of Noonar and their guns in a few minutes opened.Two or three of the nawab's guns were with the greatest difficulty extricated from the confused mass and returned the fire of the enemy, and the Bhawulpoor men, uttering, as was their custom before fighting, the name of the rajah in a sonorous shout, rushed headlong without order or regularity against the enemy. In vain Percy and Peer Ibraheem and their own officers shouted to them to stand their ground. They went forward at a run until they were checked by volleys of musketry from the traitorous Sikh troops, while the guns swept them with grape. Though accustomed to irregular warfare, the nawab's troops were new to fighting disciplined soldiers, and, confounded at the storm of lead and shot to which they were exposed, they fell back in disorder.At this time Lieutenant Edwardes, who had crossed the river in a small boat, arrived upon the spot. He found the most utter confusion prevailing; the excitement had apparently dissipated the remains of sense in Futteh Muhommud's brain, and the old man was sitting under a tree counting his beads apathetically, while a group of officers were standing round vainly endeavouring to recall his shattered senses and to get him to issue orders. Lieutenant Edwardes at once took the command. He saw at once that after the severe check the Bhawulpoor men had received, and amid the confusion that prevailed, the battle was lost if the enemy at once advanced. Turning to Peer Ibraheem, who had just arrived, and the chief officers, he pointed out that the enemy had taken up a strong position and evidently expected to be attacked, and that therefore they had time to get the men in order and to retrieve the day.The guns of the nawab were old pieces of various sizes, quite unfit for service, and there was no hope of successfully contending against the far better guns and experienced artillerymen of the enemy. Nothing could therefore be done until General Cortlandt arrived with his artillery, which was a match for that of the Sikhs. He therefore ordered that the troops, after being got into order, should all lie down, and that the guns should keep up an incessant even if an ineffectual fire. Feeling confident now that they had a commander on whom they could rely, the officers hurried away to carry out their instructions, and similar orders were sent to the Pathans, who had with the greatest difficulty been restrained from following the example of the Bhawulpoor men and rushing against the enemy's position. A messenger was instantly sent off to Cortlandt, urging him to get his guns across the river with the greatest possible despatch and to bring them forward to the field of battle.Lieutenant Edwardes then rode along the line, and was loudly cheered both by the allies and his own men. The latter had stuck their standards upright in the turf and were lying down in a line behind them. When he had made an inspection of the line and seen that his orders had been carried out, Edwardes despatched another messenger to Cortlandt lest the first should have gone astray, telling him that he thought it possible to hold the position until three o'clock in the afternoon, but that if he did not arrive with the guns by that time the battle would be lost.It was now but eight o'clock in the morning, and for several hours this body of undisciplined troops would have to support in patience the fire of the enemy, a situation most trying even for the most disciplined soldiers. For six hours it continued without slackening. The enemy's guns were directed principally to the right, where the Bhawulpoor artillery continued to fire steadily, but sufficient shot fell among the Pathans to work them up into a state of desperation, so that numbers kept leaping to their feet and demanding to be led against the enemy instead of lying there to be killed without even firing a shot.At two o'clock Futteh Muhommud recovered his senses sufficiently to issue an order for his army to retire, and as it was supposed that the order was authorized by Edwardes it was obeyed, and without the latter being aware of what was taking place the Bhawulpoor force gradually fell back. From his position on the opposite hill Rung Ram, who was in command of the enemy, observed the movement and at once prepared to take advantage of it. He sent forward his cavalry to reconnoitre, and moved his infantry and artillery slowly down the hill. Hitherto ten camel guns that the Pathans had brought across the river with them had been silent, as the men were partly concealed in the jungle, and Lieutenant Edwardes was anxious to avoid betraying their position and drawing the fire of the enemy upon them by the use of these small pieces, which could do but little execution at that distance.It was now necessary to run the risk, and the camel guns opened upon the enemy's cavalry, who cantered back to their lines in disorder. Their guns, however, at once began to play, and their shot tore into the jungle, rendering it more difficult than ever for Lieutenant Edwardes to restrain the impetuosity of his men. The enemy's cavalry soon rallied and again advanced. As nothing had been heard of the guns, and the moment was most critical, Edwardes ordered Foujdar and all the chiefs and mounted officers to form into a compact body and charge the enemy's cavalry. Delighted at being at last employed on service however dangerous, the brave fellows mounted and with a shout charged down upon the enemy, and, in spite of their inferior numbers, drove them back in headlong flight upon their infantry. They rallied quickly, however, and the whole line again advanced."I can no longer delay," Lieutenant Edwardes said to Percy; "our only chance is in a general charge. If we remain here we must be beaten, whereas if we go at them and escape annihilation by the artillery and musketry as we advance it is just possible we may be successful."He rose from his seat under a tree to give the order, when a bugle sound was heard in the rear. As if by magic the sound of excited and angry talk along the Pathan line ceased, until a minute later the bugle-call was again heard.There was no mistaking it. Van Cortlandt's guns had passed the river and would soon be at hand, the long and terrible time of waiting was over, and at last the tables would be turned. Messengers were sent off to the guns to tell their commander how urgent was the need of their arrival, while officers were despatched all along the line of Pathans to bid the men stand up, and, when the word was given, to advance in good order and in regular line, company by company, against the enemy. With shouts of delight the Pathans sprang to their feet, standards were plucked up and waved enthusiastically in the air, and then the long line stood panting, eager as greyhounds in the slips, for the order to advance. Soon the rumble of guns was heard, and then amid wild cheers the six guns passed through a space opened for their passage, unlimbered, and opened fire upon the advancing enemy.The effect was instantaneous. The Sikhs, believing that the day was won, were advancing in good order through the intervening fields of sugar-cane, breast-high; but as the balls sung overhead they disappeared from sight, dropping among the canes as suddenly as if each had been mortally struck. They had believed that the only guns opposed to them, those on the right, had left the field, and at the discharge in regular order of guns of equal weight and calibre, the truth broke upon them that the force under the white officer who had so long withstood them had crossed the river and was ranged on the field before them. Not only had the guns arrived, but Van Cortlandt had managed to send two of his Mussulman infantry regiments with them, and these, breathless with the speed at which they had hurried after the guns, now came clattering up. They were ordered to lie down to the right and left of the guns, while the Pathans took post behind them.For a few minutes the guns of the contending forces discharged volleys of grape at each other, but Cortlandt's gunners were better trained and cooler. Two of the enemy's pieces were silenced and as the men serving the others were in confusion, Edwardes gave the word for the Mussulman regiments to charge. With a cheer the brave fellows dashed forward at full speed, but not so swiftly but that a little party of seven or eight of the Pathans' mounted officers dashed past them, and charging the guns captured two of them while the gunners were in the act of hastily withdrawing them before the approach of the charging infantry. The infantry captured the only other gun which awaited the assault. During the charge Cortlandt's guns poured grape into the canes where the enemy's infantry were lying. Hearing their own artillery retiring, the infantry abandoned their cover and retreated at full speed, rallying, however, at the point where their guns halted, when the artillery on both sides renewed their duel. The Pathans were now ordered to charge, and with a yell expressive of their delight at the prospect of avenging their losses during the long hours of the day, they rushed forward through the smoke.The enemy were unable to withstand the onset of the brave irregulars and the two newly arrived regiments, but hastily retired, falling more and more into confusion, and pressed in their retreat by the eager Pathans, while the nawab's troops, anxious to retrieve their first retreat, now hotly pressed on the enemy's left. Something like order was maintained by the Sikhs until they reached the crest of the hill on which they had been posted during the early hours of the day. Then they threw away their arms and fled in utter disorder towards Mooltan, pursued by the nawab's cavalry, and mowed down by the guns that opened upon them as soon as they could be got into position on the hill.Eight out of the ten guns that they had brought from Mooltan were captured by the victors. Some twelve hundred were slain, and great numbers of the fugitives at once made for their homes. Their Pathan cavalry had, for the most part, remained inactive during the day, and the heaviest loss fell upon the revolted Sikh regiments, the Goorkhas who had so basely deserted Agnew suffering very severely. The loss upon the part of the allies amounted to three hundred killed or wounded. The enemy's tents, ammunition, and stores at Noonar all fell into the hands of the victors.Percy had remained with Lieutenant Edwardes but a short time, having been despatched by him to aid Peer Ibraheem in keeping the Bhawulpoor men in their position. When the order had come for them to retreat he had made his way as rapidly as possible through the jungle to inform Edwardes of what had taken place, but arrived only in time to see the charge of the mounted officers."You must get them back into their places again, Groves. Here is an order to Peer Ibraheem;" and he scribbled a line on the page of a note-book and tore it out. "He is to bring them back into position again, and to disregard any orders that Futteh Muhommud may give."Percy hurried away again, and by his exertions and those of Peer Ibraheem the Bhawulpoor men were brought up in time to join in the final charge and pursuit of the enemy. He accompanied the native cavalry as they chased the fugitives across the country, and it was almost dark before he returned to the scene of battle. Edwardes shook him warmly by the hand as he dismounted."It has been a great day, Groves, but I would not go through those seven hours' waiting again for any money that could be offered me; it was an awful time.""It was, indeed," Percy agreed. "I thought at one time that it was all up with us.""So did I. It was well indeed that you were able to bring up the nawab's men in time. They were not wanted for the fighting, but if it had not been for their horse the rebels would have got away in some sort of order, and their leaders might have taken them in a body into Mooltan. As it is, I expect the great proportion of them will scatter to their homes. I have just sent off a messenger with my report of the engagement to the Resident. It will be a relief to him, for although he gave way at last to my entreaties, I know he thought I ought never to have crossed the Indus. Now, if they will but give us leave, I think that we can take Mooltan."A few days later Lieutenant Lake, who had been appointed political agent to the nawab, arrived at the camp, thereby relieving Edwardes of the anxiety caused by the inefficiency of Futteh Muhommud, as Lake's authority completely overrode that of the general. He was, too, an intimate friend of Edwardes, and being full of life and animation, he was a great addition to the pleasure of the little mess. Marching forward, they were joined by Sheikh Emamoodeen with the remains of his division. His Sikh troops had all deserted him, and he had with him but a few Mussulman infantry and a strong body of cavalry.On the 1st of July the force started for its last march towards Mooltan. They had received news that the Sikhgooroo—a man regarded with the greatest veneration—had, after consulting the stars, declared that day to be a most auspicious one, and that Moolraj had decided, therefore, upon again giving battle. He came out in great force, and took up his position at a bridge across a wide and deep canal. As this could not be forced without heavy loss, Edwardes moved along the west of the canal towards Mooltan.Moolraj followed on the other side of the canal, crossed by a bridge near Mooltan, and at one o'clock moved forward against Edwardes in order of battle. The Bhawulpoor men, commanded by Lieutenant Lake, were on the right; General Cortlandt's two regiments and ten guns were on the right centre; the Pathan levies were next to these, having on their left Sheikh Emamoodeen's troops. The battle began on the right, Lieutenant Lake seizing some mounds in front of him, and placing his guns there opened a heavy fire on the enemy's left. This was returned by the Sikh guns, and in a short time the battle became general along the whole line. The village of Suddoosam was in the centre of the enemy's position. His troops lay for the most part concealed in jungle, the guns occupying two or three small villages. The allies were superior in artillery, and the rebel guns were presently obliged to withdraw from their position.The order was then given for an advance, and the whole line pressed forward. Village after village was captured at the point of the bayonet, the Sikhs, inflamed with religious ardour, offering most determined resistance, favoured by the nature of the ground, which was largely covered with jungle and date groves and intersected by irrigation canals. There was, however, no check in the advance. A brilliant charge was made by one of Cortlandt's regiments led by Mr. Quin, a young man who had a few days before come up as clerk or writer to Lieutenant Edwardes. The guns were captured, the whole line then went forward with a rush, and the enemy broke and fled in complete disorder.The loss on the part of the allies in killed and wounded was under three hundred; that of the enemy was vastly greater, being the result to a large extent of the cowardice of Moolraj, who was the first to leave the field, and who, in order to check pursuit, planted guns at the bridge over the canal, with orders to allow no one to pass. The Sikh fugitives on their arrival were fired at by the artillery; the greater part of the crowd, pressed hard by their pursuers, forced a passage, but hundreds were drowned in trying to cross the canal. At the close of the day the allied force halted for the night within range of the guns of the fortress.Percy saw but little of the fight, as early in the advance he was struck by a matchlock ball while riding forward with the Pathan cavalry. He for a moment lost sensibility and fell. When he recovered himself his two followers were beside him."Where am I hit?" he asked."In the left shoulder, sahib; it is a bad wound, and will be troublesome, but thanks be to Allah, it might have been much worse. Now that you have recovered I will fetch up adhoolywith its bearers and carry you on after the others. The white sahibs will know best what should be done with your wound."A few minutes later Percy was placed in adhooly, and was borne in the rear of the advancing troops, and as soon as these halted for the night he was brought forward to the house which had been chosen by Edwardes as his head-quarters."Not badly hurt, I hope, Groves?" that officer said, running out from the house as soon as he heard that Percy was outside. "I have been wondering what has become of you, but had no idea you had been hit.""I do not think that it is serious," Percy said. "My left shoulder-bone is smashed, I think, by a ball, but my men were close behind me, and bandaged it up; then one of them fetched adhoolyfor me, and we have been following pretty close behind you all the afternoon.""Lake and I will bandage it up properly, and will soon have you comfortable. It is a nuisance that we haven't an English surgeon with us. These native doctors are quite useless. If it is nothing worse than a smashed shoulder I think we can manage well enough, and you may hope to be about again with your arm in a sling before long. The only thing we have to be afraid of in this hot place is fever. Still, I hope that we shall avoid that."During the weeks that followed Percy lay on acharpoy. The heat was terrible, although everything possible was done by puttingtattiesin front of all the windows and keeping them soaked with water; Bhop Lal and his comrade sat by turns night and day fanning him, while apunka, made of a door taken off its hinges, was kept constantly going overhead. He was not alone in his misfortunes, for Lieutenant Edwardes was lying, also wounded, in a bed in the same room. Two days after the battle he had, on the news that the enemy were again sallying out, hastily thrust his pistols into his belt, but being engaged in giving orders he paid little heed to what he was doing. The hammer of one of the pistols caught in his scarf, and without looking down he seized the barrel in his right hand to pull it down, when the pistol exploded. The ball went through the palm of his hand, shattering the bones and inflicting a wound that deprived him of the use of his right hand for life.Fortunately, twelve days later, an English surgeon arrived from Lahore, and at once afforded him some relief from the intense pain he was suffering from the unskilful treatment of a native surgeon. Percy, too, gained great benefit from the arrival of the doctor, and was in a few days able to be about with his arm strapped tightly to his side. Immediately after the battle of Suddoosam Edwardes had written off to Lahore begging that a few heavy guns might be sent to him, in order that he might undertake the siege of the place, which he, Lieutenant Lake, and General Cortlandt were convinced could be successfully carried out, Moolraj's garrison being greatly weakened by desertions after the two battles, and disheartened by the failure of thegooroo'sprophecies. The request had been refused by the governor-general and the commander-in-chief, whose opinion was that no operations should be undertaken by English troops until the hot season was over.He pointed out that Lieutenant Edwardes, who had now received the rank of brevet-major as a reward for his great services, had carried out all that he had proposed to do. The districts to the west and south of Mooltan had been wrested from Moolraj, and the collection of revenue was going on quietly and regularly. Moolraj was cooped up in Mooltan, and was practically powerless for mischief, therefore all that was necessary was that Edwardes should carry out the plan he himself had originally proposed, namely, to drive Moolraj into his fortress and blockade him there through the hot season.A few days later, however, Sir Frederick Currie, influenced by a letter Edwardes had sent him before the decision of the government had been arrived at, determined to take upon himself the responsibility of ordering General Whish, with two regiments of European and two of native infantry, three regiments of native cavalry, three companies of European and one of native artillery, and two troops of native horse-artillery to march from Lahore. They left on the 24th of July, were taken down by water to Bhawulpoor, and reached Mooltan on the 18th of August. The heavy guns, however, did not arrive until the 4th of September.In addition to the pain Edwardes had been suffering from his wounds he had been going through a period of great anxiety. The whole Sikh nation was in a ferment. The disasters that had befallen Moolraj had in no way checked their ardour. Chuttur Singh, the father of Sher Singh, was in open rebellion, and had, it was known, been urging his son in the name alike of patriotism, religion, and family honour to join in a great national effort to wipe out the defeats of the last campaign and to restore to the Punjaub its lost territory.So far Sher Singh had resisted these entreaties, and had given every evidence of his desire to remain faithful to the government of Lahore. But from the first he had been almost powerless in the hands of his troops. Numbers of them had deserted and made their way to Mooltan. Constant communications were kept up with the rebels, and it was certain that at the first opportunity that offered the whole force would go over in a body to Moolraj. While the battles of Koreyshee and Suddoosam were being fought, the divisions remained inactive at a little more than a day's march from Mooltan, and Moolraj showed, by sending out every available man to attack the force of Edwardes, that he had no fear whatever of hostility on the part of the Sikhs. When, therefore, a few days after Suddoosam, Sher Singh's army advanced and encamped within half a mile of the allies, a heavy burden was added to the various anxieties of the wounded English commander. Sher Singh himself visited him frequently, and was profuse in his declarations of loyalty, as were the two officers next in command, Uttur and Shumsher Singh; but while the former hoped that his troops would remain faithful, his two lieutenants were absolutely convinced that they would all go over to the enemy.Edwardes felt that should the understanding between the Sikhs and Moolraj be complete, and the former fall upon his flank while the whole Mooltan force attacked him in front, his position would be one of the greatest difficulty. It was a great relief to him when two or three more English officers came up, and he was at last certain that the orders he issued from his bed of sickness would be thoroughly carried out by them. It was a still heavier load off his mind when General Whish arrived with his force, and assumed the command of the siege operations.By this time he himself was able to get about, and Percy's wound was almost completely healed. On the 7th of September the plans for the siege were arranged at a council of the chief political and military officers. The trenches were opened, but at a much greater distance than usual, as the ground outside the walls was largely occupied with houses and gardens and cut up by small canals. This was all in the hands of the enemy, and it would be necessary to advance gradually step by step. On the 9th the fighting began, an attempt being made to carry some houses and ruins occupied by the rebels. The latter, however, defended themselves stoutly, and but little ground was gained.The Sikhs, who were skilled in defensive warfare, had thrown up numerous intrenchments and stockades in front of our lines, but on the 12th they were attacked and a large village was carried, but only after desperate fighting, some two hundred and fifty men being killed or wounded on the British side. A point was gained, however, close enough to the walls for the establishment of the battering guns, and a few days at most would have seen the British flag waving over the walls of Mooltan, when suddenly Sher Singh with his whole army went over to the enemy.This defection entirely changed the situation. The addition of the Sikh force of disciplined soldiers to the army of Moolraj raised it to a strength far exceeding that of the besiegers. Even without this addition it had only been by very hard fighting that the British had won their way forward. These difficulties had now been enormously increased. The communications might be threatened and cut off, and even the officers most sanguine of the success of the siege now felt that it was no longer feasible with so small a force.But their decision to abandon the siege was arrived at chiefly upon other grounds. Until now, although Moolraj had been joined by a great many Sikh deserters, the Sikh nation still stood irresolute, and it was hoped that the capture of Mooltan would have decided them to abstain from engaging in a contest which was nominally one between the maharajah and his advisers at Lahore, and Moolraj their rebellious servant. The defection of Sher Singh and the Lahore army, of which he was commander, changed the whole situation. It was certain now that the Sikhs would everywhere rise, and that the whole of the Punjaub would soon be in arms. The capture of Mooltan, therefore, became a matter of secondary importance, and it behoved General Whish to keep his force intact in view of the campaign that must ensue.Moreover, he could now no longer rely upon his communications being kept open or supplies forwarded, for the Sikh sirdars with their followers might throw themselves on his rear. Lahore itself might fall into the hands of the Sikhs, for since the despatch of General Whish's force to Mooltan it was very weakly garrisoned. It was, therefore, unanimously decided that for the present the siege must be raised, and the army, abandoning its new works, fell back a couple of miles and took up a strong defensive position, expecting to be attacked by the allied forces of Moolraj and Sher Singh.No such attack was, however, made. Sher Singh had up to the last moment so strongly opposed the wishes of his troops to go over, that when at last he gave way, Moolraj suspected the movement to be a snare and refused to open the gates of Mooltan to the Sikhs. His suspicions were heightened by a letter that Edwardes sent to Sher Singh by the hand of a messenger whose fidelity he strongly suspected. As he anticipated, the letter was carried to Moolraj, and was of a nature to increase very greatly his suspicions of the good faith of Sher Singh. The latter, however, at once issued proclamations, which were signed and sealed by himself, Moolraj, and the principal officers and sirdars, calling upon the whole Sikh nation to rise.Moolraj still declared that the only thing to satisfy his mind would be for Sher Singh to issue out and attack the British position. This he did, but as soon as the English artillery began to play upon him his troops retired hastily, their conduct increasing the suspicion felt by Moolraj of their intentions. The ill feeling between the allies increased until on the 9th of October Sher Singh marched away with his army to join the Sikh force already in arms, plundering and burning all the Mahomedan villages through which he passed.The news of his defection was followed immediately by the revolt of the Sikh troops at Bunnoo and other places, and in the course of two or three weeks the whole Sikh nation was under arms; and the work that had been done, and as was hoped completed, at Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon, had to be begun afresh.Percy Groves was not with the British force that fell back from its position four or five hundred yards from the walls of Mooltan. Three or four days before Sher Singh's defection Major Edwardes had said to him:"Mr. Groves, I think it would be best for you to take up your quarters with Sher Singh's force. His position is a difficult one; he is weak and vacillating, and it would be well that he should have someone by his side to whom he could appeal frequently; the presence too of a British officer would strengthen his authority with his troops. I have no doubt he is well disposed, but the influence brought to bear on him is tremendous. As a son it would be contrary to Sikh notions of honour to oppose his father, however much he might differ from him. Then there are the appeals to his patriotism and to his religion. He knows that the whole of his men are in favour of revolt, and there are but two or three of his officers who are not of the same way of thinking. I do not say that there is not some danger in your taking up your abode among them, for if he goes over he will go over suddenly; but, even if he does, I cannot think that he would suffer you to be injured. He is not a fanatic, and would see that did any harm come to you he would have no hope whatever of pardon. You will, of course, ride in here at once should you discover that there is any change in his attitude towards us."Percy accordingly moved across to Sher Singh's camp, a tent being erected there for him. He liked the rajah, of whom he had seen a good deal since his arrival, and, like Edwardes, was convinced that his assurances of loyalty were made in good faith, and believed he would be perfectly safe whatever might happen, and that he was sure to have warning of any change in Sher Singh's intentions.CHAPTER XVII.WITH SHER SINGH.Sher Singh had at once acceded to the proposal of Major Edwardes that Percy Groves should establish himself in his camp. "Let him come," he said; "he will see that all I say to you is true, and that I am a faithful servant of the maharajah. There is nothing I wish to hide from him or from you. I have sworn to you over and over again, that I am faithful; and did he live in my tent, he would see how true I am to my oath."The rajah, indeed, was sore that his fidelity should be suspected, and in his conversations with Percy, after the latter had established himself in a tent close to him, he frequently complained that after having so long withstood the entreaties of his father and the wishes of his troops, he should be suspected. Percy did his best to assure him that personally Major Edwardes had no doubt of his loyalty, and that he feared only that he might not be able to control the troops."But I have so far controlled them," Sher Singh said; "have I not brought them here instead of allowing them to march into Mooltan? Why, then, should I be doubted now? If I had wished to go, would it not have been better that I should have done so before these white troops arrived? You had hard work in beating Moolraj alone; if I had joined him before, Edwardes and the Bhawulpoor troops would have been destroyed.""Had you joined Moolraj, rajah, we should never have crossed the Indus, nor would the troops of the nawab have been here. Major Edwardes knows well that you have done your best, and believes that did your troops revolt you would ride into our camp. It is not your good-will that he doubts, but your power over your soldiers. We know that they are in hourly communication with the enemy, that they go freely in and out of the town, that messengers pass between them and their countrymen who have gone over; and it is easy to understand that, placed as we are here, and carrying on a siege with but scant forces for such an operation, he cannot but be most anxious regarding a force like yours lying so close to him. But he has still strong hopes that you will be able to keep them firm. Were it otherwise, he would not have sent me here. It is anxiety, and not suspicion, that causes him so earnestly to beg you to stand firm."Bhop Lal and Akram Chunder were both charged to learn as much as they could from the soldiers as to their intentions. Their reports were favourable to the rajah."The soldiers are all for Moolraj," Bhop Lal said. "They speak of the rajah by the nickname of 'the Mahomedan.' It is he alone who keeps them here, for though Uttur Singh and Shumsher both support him, they are almost alone among his officers. Sher Singh is a powerful rajah, and his family one of the first among the sirdars of the Punjaub. That is the reason why he has been able to keep them from going over, for they fear that if they did so in the face of his opposition, they would afterwards suffer at the hands of himself and his family, even if their cause were victorious. All seem agreed that there is no chance of the rajah's throwing in his lot with his father, and they curse him as one who is false to his family, his country, and his religion."It was then a complete surprise to Percy when, after retiring to bed on the night of the 13th of September, he was suddenly aroused by the entrance of a body of armed men into his tent. They belonged, as he saw at once, to the rajah's own bodyguard, and were commanded by one of his most trusted officers."No harm is intended," the latter said; "the rajah's orders are that you are to be honourably treated, but I must beg you to rise and dress at once, as we are going to move our camp."Seeing that resistance would be altogether useless, Percy at once rose. After putting on his clothes he saw that his arms had been taken possession of by the soldiers, and that he was in fact a prisoner. Without making a remark, he passed out of the tent, and saw his two men standing there with very crestfallen faces, holding his horse, and surrounded by a body of Sikhs. He mounted, and the Sikh cavalry at once closed in round them. The tents had been struck already, the baggage packed, and the troops formed up. Uttur and Shumsher Singh had, as he afterwards learned, done their utmost to carry off the men under their command to the British lines, but they had been surrounded by officers entreating, abusing, and threatening them and stirring up their soldiers till they were forced to abstain from opposing the popular demand.Uttur Singh had then mounted his horse, and with great difficulty made his way through the crowd, riding off to carry the intelligence to Major Edwardes, followed by two other officers. Shumsher Singh had been carried off as a prisoner, and was confined in his tent; but the next night he managed to crawl out under the bottom of the tent, and made his way in common clothes and bare-footed several miles to the British camp, killing on the road one of Sher Singh's vedettes, who tried to arrest him. Two, therefore, out of the three Sikh leaders justified Major Edwardes' belief in their fidelity.On arriving at the new place of encampment under the walls of the fort, Percy remained for an hour in the centre of his guard, and was then conducted to his tent, which had again been pitched. Half an hour later his two servants came in; both were deeply humiliated that they should have given their master no warning of what was coming, and poured out their apologies and expressions of regret."It is not your fault in any way," Percy said; "it was but yesterday afternoon that the rajah was even warmer than usual in his protestations of loyalty, and yet at that time he must have fully made up his mind as to his course. Had the troops known it yesterday you would certainly have noticed a difference in their bearing. He cannot have issued any orders until late in the evening, and you see he took measures for my protection by sending his own bodyguard to protect me; and has probably carried me off partly as a hostage and partly perhaps with the thought that I may be useful should circumstances make it necessary for him again to enter into negotiations with our people. How is it we have not entered the fort?""The Sikhs intended to go in, sahib, but Moolraj kept the gates closed, and sent orders that they were to encamp here under the guns of the fort. I suppose that he is afraid of treachery. The Sikhs are very angry.""I suppose they have taken your arms?" Percy said."Yes, sahib; we were sleeping at the door of your tent, they pounced upon us suddenly, twisting scarfs round our mouths to prevent our calling out. They carried us a short distance away, and then released us. They ordered us to saddle our horses and yours, and warned us that if we made the least outcry it would be the signal for your death as well as our own."In the morning Sher Singh came into the tent. "I am sorry that I have been compelled to make you prisoner, Sahib Groves, but I had no choice. Had I not done so, the stir among the troops would have awoke you, and you might have carried the news to your camp in time for horsemen and guns to interfere with our movements. I did it, too, as much for your protection as my own, for some of the troops might have rushed in and killed you had you not been in the hands of my own guard.""I thank you for that, rajah," Percy said quietly; "but my life is of little consequence in comparison to other matters. Until now it has only been a question of the overthrow of a dewan who refused to render obedience to his government, and whom you and your army were despatched to conquer. Instead of this, your army has gone over and joined his. You know, even better than I do, what that means: that all the Punjaub will be up, and that tens of thousands of lives will be lost. I can only hope that you, like myself, are here against your will.""No," the rajah said passionately. "I was faithful, and I was doubted. I withstood the entreaties of my father, the adjurations of the chief men of my religion, and the wishes of my army; but when I found that in spite of all this, I was suspected, it was useless for me to strive longer. I am no longer a general of the durbar of Lahore, but a Sikh prince.""I am truly sorry to hear it," Percy said gravely, "for your own sake, and for that of the Punjaub. There can be but one end to it. If, when the whole Khalsa army was intact, the Sikhs could not withstand the advance of a weak British force to Lahore, what chance have they against such an army as will be collected now? The last time England astonished the Sikhs by her clemency, and by taking so little when all was in her power. She thought that her strength and her clemency would alike have made such an impression that the Sikhs would henceforth be content and remain in peace. This time she will assuredly make no such mistake, and I consider that your highness' defection will lead to the destruction of the independence of the Punjaub.""That we shall see," the rajah said, "Last time but a small portion of our sirdars took up arms. You had but to fight against troops who had long lost their discipline; now you will have the whole of the Sikh nation against you.""Were the Sikh nation ten times as numerous as they are," Percy said quietly, "the end would be the same. However, as your highness has now taken your course, it is useless for me to endeavour to dissuade you. I have to thank you for having taken means to secure my safety, but I should have thanked you still more had you ordered your bodyguard to conduct me to our camp instead of bringing me here.""That I could not do," Sher Singh replied; "it would have caused my own men to suspect me; but, be assured that you be well and honourably treated. I told you I regarded you as a guest in my camp, and as a guest you will always be treated; save in the matter of your liberty, every wish you may express will be granted; and if at any time you have any complaint to make, send me a message and I will come and see you and set matters right."In the morning, when Sher Singh's men were about to march against the British camp, Bhop Lal said to Percy: "There will be no fighting, sahib. The Sikhs are very angry at the refusal of Moolraj to admit them into the town, and they say they have not revolted in order to fight for Moolraj, but for their country. They may advance, because the guns of Mooltan look down into their camp, and they dare not therefore refuse; but they will soon be back here again. They are eager to march away, and will do so ere long. Mooltan is nothing to them, and they know well enough that Moolraj is fighting for himself alone, and that were the British expelled, there would be another war to decide whether Moolraj or the Sikhs were to be masters of the Punjaub."Until the Sikhs marched away on the 9th of October Percy did not again see Sher Singh. The rajah, indeed, sent him a message that contained the most bitter complaints against Major Edwardes for having, by the letter that was intercepted, increased the doubts of Moolraj as to his loyalty. Percy replied that he, of course, knew nothing of the letter; but that a general like Sher Singh must know well that in war it was always a matter of policy on the part of a leader to cause disunion, if possible, between allies opposed to him, and that doubtless he himself would, under similar circumstances, have acted in precisely the same manner.There was no actual prohibition against Percy leaving his tent, but the officer in command of the guard, who kept a vigilant watch round it, strongly advised him not to do so."The rajah has given you into my charge," he said, "and holds me responsible for your safety. But how can I guarantee that, if you go about in the camp? I might surround you with a guard, and yet a musket or pistol ball fired by a fanatic might hit you. It is far better that you should remain in your tent, where you are out of sight of all, and out of their thoughts. If they once see you about, the fanatics might stir up the men to demand your life, and to insist that Sher Singh should give us some stronger proof of his hostility to the English, as Moolraj did when he permitted the murder of the two English officers; and although the rajah wishes you well, he may be unable to resist the demands of the troops, who are rather his masters than he theirs."Percy felt the justice of the argument, and remained quietly in his tent, where he learned from his two followers all that was passing, as these in their native costume were able to move about freely among the Sikhs, of whom indeed but few were aware that the servants of the British officer, who had been carried off with them, had also been taken. Both the men, being Mahomedans, burned with indignation at the atrocities committed by the Sikhs upon the Mussulman villages on the line of march, where they burned the houses, robbed the people, defiled the mosques, and murdered the priests."Is that the way to fight for the independence of their country, sahib? Are there not great numbers of Mahomedans in the Punjaub, and is it not enough to have to fight the English without making every Mahomedan hostile to them? It was not so before. Mahomedans and Sikhs were of one mind as to the independence of the Punjaub. Now the Mahomedans will be as one man in their hopes that the British will win. They know that under the British masters every man can worship in his own way without interference; and they must see now that if the Sikhs conquer, they will root out the Mahomedans from among them. Akram and I followed you, sahib, and stood the fire of the Sikh guns because our lord had bidden us guard you, but except for that our hearts were rather with the Sikhs than with your countrymen, for have we not taken Sikh pay and fought under Sikh standards? Henceforth it is different. The Sikhs have showed themselves our bitter enemies, and all our hopes must now be with the English.""You see no chance of my escape?""None at all at present; four guards watch day and night near your tent. We are forced to picket our horses in the lines of the Sikh troopers, and your horse is placed among those of the rajah, whence we have to fetch it every morning for the march. A party of sowars always ride with us to fetch it, and accompany us back. Of course we both have knives, which we have stolen at night from sleeping men; and we could get other arms, but we do not see that at present we could do anything with them.""No, there is no possibility of escaping in the daytime," Percy agreed. "The men who ride beside me always have chains between their horses' bits and mine, so there is no possibility of my making a sudden dash for it, as I otherwise would have done. If I once got beyond the range of their pistols I should have little fear of being overtaken, for there can be few horses in the camp that are a match for Sheik."Day after day passed; the officer in charge of Percy in no way relaxed his vigilance; the orders of Sher Singh being most emphatic as to the care to be exercised in guarding his prisoner. He learned from his followers the rumours current in the camp that the Sikh troops at Bunnoo and Rhotas had also mutinied, and were upon the point of effecting a junction with Sher Singh's force. They were considered the flower of the Sikh army, being composed entirely of old soldiers with trained cavalry and artillery. Sher Singh was marching to Lahore, and although the people there were for the time powerless in face of the force that had been hurried up to hold the city as soon as the defection of Sher Singh was known, they were reported as ready to rise at the first appearance of the army before their walls.Some of the Sikh cavalry had been pushed on ahead of the army, with orders to destroy the bridge of boats across the Ravee, a mile and a half from Lahore. They succeeded in burning some of the boats, but were then driven off by the 14th Light Dragoons under Colonel Havelock. So far no large force of the British had arrived. A brigade with one English regiment had been pushed forward, and one of cavalry had assembled at Ferozepore, and native reports stated that large reinforcements were going forward to General Whish and others advancing towards Ferozepore. Sher Singh's army moved but slowly, and it was still the opinion of many British officers that, although constrained to desert us at Mooltan, he would be glad to make his peace as soon as a strong British army approached him.At the end of the first week in November the first British division under General Thackwell crossed the Sutlej and advanced towards Lahore, and two days later the Commander-in-chief, with General Gilbert's division, followed it. The heavy guns had not yet come up, but were only a short distance behind, and the general was anxious to interpose his force between Lahore and the Sikh army, which might any day advance to its attack. He remained for two days at Lahore, Thackwell's division having already advanced."They will be here in two or three days, sahib," Akram Chunder said one morning to Percy. "We have a strong position here on the right bank of the Chenab, and how the English are going to cross I don't know; still they will do it somehow, that is quite certain. Now, sahib, is the time. You must look to yourself; so long as the Sikhs are confident of victory no doubt you will be as well treated as you are at present; but if they are defeated, as we very well know they will be, who could answer for your life? Sher Singh will have enough to do to look after his own safety, and even if the soldiers did not rush in and kill you, these men of your guard will not want to be encumbered with a prisoner, and they would know that, after a defeat, no one is likely to inquire much about you. So you must try to escape. The worst of it is, that with your friends so close, they will be more watchful than ever, for this is the time that you would be naturally trying to get away to join them. The officer looks so sharp after the guard, that I fear there is no chance of giving them liquor and making them drunk or of drugging them. They are forbidden even to speak to us as we go in and out. We are allowed to attend on you by the rajah's orders, but I have no doubt the officer is afraid we might try to bribe his men. Bhop Lal and I have talked it over in every way, but we can see no means of getting you out.""I can see no way myself, Akram; the sentries are very vigilant, they keep constantly on the move, and they challenge anyone who approaches within twenty yards. If they were to march during the night I would take my chance of slipping off my horse, for it is impossible, chained as it is to the others, to dash through with it. That is the only possibility of escape that I can see at present.""I can see no other, sahib, but unfortunately they never have marched at night; still they may do so, and the first time they do we might try it. The worst of it is, that we shall not be near you, sahib. You see, on the march we always have to keep with the cavalry, among whom our horses are picketed.""Well, at any rate, Akram, let it be a distinct understanding that if we are suddenly ordered to make a night-march, and I have no opportunity of speaking to you before we move, I mean to make my escape; and if by any possibility you can do the same you are to do so.""As we have told you often, sahib, there is no difficulty about us. They have got pretty well accustomed to us now, and believe that we are all in favour of their cause, though we remain with you, because, in the first place, we are attached to you, and in the second, because we have wives and families who are in the hands of your uncle the colonel, and we dare not therefore leave you. So they have come to believe that we have no wish to escape at all, and pay no attention to us on the line of march. Of course we ride at the rear of the regiment, and the last four men were always told off to ride behind us; but they have given that up long ago, and we could easily drop behind without being observed, on a night-march. The difficulty would be to find you after your escape.""That can't be helped, Akram. If I do escape, I will make my way back to the last place at which we halted; and if you get away, do the same. If we find each other there, all the better; if not, we must make our way separately as best we can to the British lines, wherever they may be. I will, if I can, come to the spot where this tent was pitched; we shall all know the position pretty well, and ought to be able to get somewhere near it, even on a dark night. Now, remember that these are final orders, if I have no opportunity to give you others. The first night there is a march—whether before a battle has been fought or afterwards—I shall try to escape. If I do not appear at our last halting-place during the night, you are to go straight on to our lines; and if I do not turn up there in the course of a couple of days, you will know that I have either failed to make my escape, or been killed in attempting it.""I understand, sahib; and you may be sure Bhop Lal and I will act according to your orders."Two days later there was a great hubbub heard in the camp Bhop Lal, looking out from the door of the tent, said:"The army has come, sahib. The Sikhs on the other bank are retiring."Percy went to the entrance of the tent, which faced the river, and stood there looking out. Numbers of horse and foot could be seen crossing. A cloud of dust rose a mile and a half away, while in camp there was the deep rumble of guns as these were brought up to the river to command the passage."They are cavalry, sahib," Bhop Lal said, as amid the cloud of dust there was a sparkle of steel, and a body of horse came clashing forward. Almost at the same instant the crack of guns was heard and shells burst over and among the Sikhs on the other side of the river, greatly hastening their movements. The bed of the river was of great width, but was now for the most part dry. On the other side the bank was high, and from its foot a very wide bed of sand extended to what, in the wet season, was a green island in the middle of the river. The stream itself ran on the Sikh side of the island.Before the British cavalry and guns came up the last of the Sikh force on the other side were well on their way across the river, but the guns were at once unlimbered and sent shot after shot into them, until they were almost across and out of range, for the width from bank to bank was nearly two miles.Not content with this, two British batteries moved down from the bank, and charged across the sand, from time to time firing at the Sikhs retreating across the ford; but when they came near the edge of the river the Sikh batteries on the high bank opened upon them."They will have to fall back," Percy said; "the guns here are much heavier than theirs, and they can never remain there in the open exposed to this fire."It was not long before the officers commanding the British batteries discovered this, and gave the order for the guns to limber up. Some confusion was visible among them. The horses were taken from two of the guns and attached to another."That gun has got into a quicksand or something of that sort," Percy said, "and they can't move it."The Sikhs were not long in seeing this. The fire of their guns was redoubled, and the infantry at once paused in their passage of the ford and returned in great numbers to the left bank and opened a heavy musketry fire."They will have to leave the guns behind them," Percy said, as the artillery mounted and rode off. The guns, indeed, dragged so heavily through the deep sand that a squadron of the 3d Light Dragoons galloped forward to cover their retreat. Dashing over the sand they swept round the island where some hundreds of the enemy were drawn up, cut their way through them, sabring numbers, and then, in spite of the fire of six guns on the opposite bank, cantered back again. They had only one man wounded and two horses killed. Other charges were made by the 3d Dragoons and 8th Light Cavalry, but the Sikhs took refuge in nullahs, and kept up such a galling musketry fire that the cavalry drew off. The Sikhs now exultantly advanced to the abandoned gun, and as from the river bed the British force could no longer be seen, numbers of them made their way across the sand, ascended the high bank, and opened fire at the troops halted within rifle-shot."They won't be there long," Percy said to his men. "You will see them coming back quicker than they went in a minute or two: look at that body of cavalry sweeping down upon them."The Sikhs, too, saw the danger, and came rushing in a confused mass down the bank. The cavalry, as he learned afterwards, consisted of the 14th Dragoons under Colonel Havelock, supported by the 5th Light Cavalry. The impetuosity of the gallant leader of the 14th carried him away, and followed by his men he dashed down the bank in pursuit, with the intention of driving the Sikhs back again over the river. But great numbers had now crossed the ford; some guns had been placed near the islands, and these and the batteries on the other bank opened a heavy fire upon the cavalry.Encouraged by the fire of their guns and by their numerical strength, the fugitives now made a stand. The horses of the dragoons were already blown, and with difficulty made their way through the deep sand; but Havelock charged into the middle of the enemy well in advance of his men, and disappeared from their sight. They tried to urge their horses after him, but could not break through the infantry, while the Sikh guns still continued their heavy fire. Colonel Cureton, who commanded the cavalry, rode forward to recall them from their dangerous position. He himself fell, shot through the heart. For a time the unequal contest was continued, many desperate single combats taking place between Englishman and Sikh; but at last the 14th were called off, having had upwards of fifty men killed and wounded."It seems to me," Percy said, as the last of the cavalry rode up the opposite bank, "that was a very foolish charge. Suppose they had driven the Sikhs across the river, they could not have stayed to guard the ford with all these guns playing upon them, and the Sikhs could have recrossed directly they had retired. It seems a pure waste of life."So thought many others. The charge was as rash and ill-considered as that of Balaclava. Colonel Havelock paid for his mistake by his life, just as did Nolan, who gave the order that led to the charge of the Light Cavalry at Balaclava.The Sikhs were in high spirits at the advantage they had gained, and complete confidence in themselves took the place of the doubt, that a good many of them had felt, of their power of resisting the British. This increased, as day after day passed, and no forward movement was made from the opposite bank. It could be seen, however, that the force there had been largely augmented, and that batteries were in course of erection at several points. The Sikh guns fired at times at the working parties, but the distance was too great for the fire to be effective. Bodies of Sikh cavalry crossed the river at other points, and often rode round the rear of the British lines, occasionally cutting off men who had straggled too far out of camp, and then riding off before the English cavalry could mount and pursue them. A few soldiers who were taken alive were carried to the camp, where they were well treated by Sher Singh, and were sent back to the British lines bearing a communication from the rajah expressive of a desire for peace.But the time had passed for negotiations. It was necessary for the peace of India that the Sikh strength should be broken once and for all, and the answer sent to the rajah was that the commander-in-chief could not treat with men in arms against him. A week passed after the cavalry fight, and then it became known in the Sikh camp that the heavy guns for which the British had been waiting had arrived."I do not see the use of those batteries they are erecting on the opposite bank," Akram Chunder remarked, as, standing at the door of the tent, they watched what was going on. The Sikhs too had been working hard; strong works had been erected commanding the ford, and a number of guns placed there in position."I do not see any good in it either, Akram; the guns are too far off to be of any use whatever in covering the advance of a column trying to cross. I do not think it is possible to ford the river in the face of such a fire as will be concentrated upon them if they attempt it.""Then what will they do, sahib?""I should say they would send a force either up or down the river to cross at some other point ten or twenty miles away. When they have got across they will either intrench themselves there and defend the ford until the whole army can cross, or they will march this way and attack the camp while the army opposite tries to cross the river.""There would be great risk in that, sahib, for the Sikhs could throw their whole force on those that have crossed and destroy it before they could get any aid from their friends on the other side.""Yes, it would be very dangerous, too dangerous to try, I should say, against another European force; but you see, Akram, we have been so accustomed to win battles in India that we feel quite confident of victory even when the odds are three or four to one against us."Early in the morning of the 1st of December Percy heard an unusual stir in the Sikh camp."What is the matter?" he asked the officer of the guard when the latter as usual came in for a talk with him."A peasant came across before daylight with the news that a large force of your people have marched somewhere down the river. We had thought that they might try to cross at the ford of Ghuree-kee Puttum, and were ready to receive them, but they have not gone there. It is supposed they have gone to Wuzeerabad.""How far is that away?""Twenty-four miles.""Have you any force there?""No, it is a very bad ford, and unless they get some boats they can hardly cross there; but we would not stop them if we could. How the British, who know so much of the art of war, can throw themselves like this into our hands is more than we can tell. We shall let them march up some miles, so that they can no longer retreat to the ford, then we shall fall upon them and exterminate them. We know their force, for the peasant, who was awakened by the noise made by the camp-followers and the growling of the camels and the rumbling of guns, crept up and counted them as they passed. There were five batteries, two of them native; five regiments of cavalry, four of them native; two white regiments of foot, and five regiments and a half of Sepoys. If you put them at five hundred men to each regiment, there are less than four thousand foot. What is that against the force we can bring against them? They will get to Wuzeerabad to-day, but it is a long march. The white troops will not be ready for much at the end of it, and few will get across to-night. It will be mid-day to-morrow before they are all over, even if they have boats, so that at most they will not arrive nearer than twelve miles by to-morrow night. The next day we shall finish with them."Percy thought it was as well to keep to himself his conviction that the Sikhs would not find it so easy a business as they anticipated; yet he saw that unless our main army moved across to the attack, and so occupied a large portion of the Sikh force, or else considerably reinforced that advancing up the river bank, the position of the latter was indeed a perilous one. But he still felt confident in their power to resist an attack made upon them."I should be glad," he said to his two followers, as he talked the matter over during the day, "if they would move this tent of ours somewhere farther back from the bank. That battery below us is sure to come in for its share of the fire from the guns on the other side, and any ball that goes too high is as likely as not to pass through this tent.""You may be sure that our guard won't wait here when that happens, sahib; they may leave the tent standing, but they will certainly march themselves and you off out of range."Late in the afternoon a heavy fire was opened by the batteries on the opposite bank, and as the shells exploded, some over the Sikh batteries, some farther back over the bank, a great hubbub arose. The artillerymen ran down to their guns and replied to the fire. Drums and bugles called the troops under arms, orders were shouted in all directions, and the noises of the horses and baggage animals added to the uproar. The guard at once ran up and surrounded the tent."Come out, sahib," the officer said, "we are going to pull it down at once.""All the better," Percy replied; "I have no desire to be shot by my friends."The tent was speedily lowered, and it and its contents carried by the men half a mile from the bank and there re-erected. All the other tents along the bank were similarly removed.As Percy had foreseen, the fire from the distant guns inflicted but little damage upon the Sikh batteries, so these, after replying for a short time, ceased to waste their ammunition, and the men retired behind the shelter of the bank, where they remained until the British fire ceased.Upon the following morning Percy learned from the officer of his guard that a Sikh horseman, who had been sent down the river, had reported that only a battery of artillery, two regiments of cavalry, and a brigade of infantry had crossed on the previous night, some wading the ford and others being brought over in boats, by which the guns had been conveyed across.At night he heard that it was two o'clock before all had crossed and the march began, and they would probably halt at Doorewal, which was twelve miles on the way, somewhere about nightfall. The Sikhs reported that the cavalry were scouting in their front and on their left flank, and that the troops were marching in several columns, so that they could at once open out into order of battle if attacked. The guards were in high spirits that night, and sat round a fire laughing and talking until morning. The vigilance of the sentries, however, was in no way relaxed, and the officer several times peeped into the tent to see that all was right.Before daybreak there was a hum of movement in the camp, and Percy knew that the Sikhs were mustering for the attack.
CHAPTER XVI.
SEVEN HOURS OF SUSPENSE.
Lieutenant Edwardes pressed forward with all speed, in hopes of effecting a junction with the Bhawulpoor force before the Mooltan army could fall upon them. Unfortunately the River Jelum intervened between the allies, and had the rebel army used expedition they could have annihilated the Bhawulpoor contingent before Edwardes joined them. The latter had already made every preparation for his advance, having sent on messengers ahead to collect boats at Koreyshee, with instructions that his ally should avoid battle if possible and retire before the enemy until joined by him.
On reaching the Jelum late in the evening he heard that the Mooltan force had just arrived at a point three miles from the camp of his ally, but had established themselves and evidently did not intend to attack until the next morning. "You had better start at once across the river, Groves, and see that the nawab's force is in a position to defend itself if the enemy attack before I can get across. Its commander is an old man, and, as I hear from our agent, Peer Ibraheem Khan, hopelessly muddle-headed and inefficient. You will find Ibraheem himself a thoroughly good and reliable officer, and he will aid you in every way. It is he who has got all these boats collected in readiness for us. Two or three of the nawab's regiments are commanded by Englishmen. If you find that the general will do nothing, I authorize you to take the command out of his hands, and to make the best dispositions you can under the advice of Ibraheem. The boats are coming up fast, and I shall begin to cross at daylight with the infantry to aid the Bhawulpoor men in keeping the enemy at bay until Cortlandt can get the guns across. Until we have them to help us we shall be at a terrible disadvantage, for the enemy have at least twelve pieces. Remember to-morrow is the 18th of June, the anniversary of Waterloo; it is a good omen for us."
As Percy was about to ride down to the river bank a boat came across, and he stood chatting with Lieutenant Edwardes until it arrived. It contained a messenger from Peer Ibraheem, saying that the force would march down to a point opposite the ferry during the night and so cover the crossing.
"Could you guide this officer," Lieutenant Edwardes said, "so that he can meet the army on the march?"
The messenger said that he could do so, and Percy with his two men and horses took his place in the boat. After two hours' ride from the other side of the river they met the head of the approaching column, and Percy, hearing that Peer Ibraheem was with the regiment that followed, waited till he came along and then handed him a pencil note that Edwardes had given him, repeating to Peer Ibraheem the instructions he had already given Percy.
"I am very glad that you have come, sahib," the officer said. "Futteh Muhommud pays no attention to what is going on, and is in fact no better than an idiot. I received authority from Edwardes sahib yesterday to supersede him if it were absolutely necessary, but it might possibly cause discontent among the troops, and it were better to leave him in nominal command."
The morning was breaking when they approached the river. When half a mile distant they met three thousand of the Pathans, who with fifty mounted chiefs had effected their passage during the night under the command of Foujdar Khan, a capable and energetic native officer who acted as Edwardes' adjutant-general. A halt was ordered, and Percy and Peer Ibraheem tried to get the men into line and to remedy the tremendous confusion that prevailed, baggage animals, waggons, elephants, and guns being all mixed up in the column. There was the more occasion for haste, as the rising sun showed the enemy marching towards them. Their object had evidently been to take possession of the ferry and thus separate the two allied forces; but the night march of the Bhawulpoor men and the passage of the Pathans had forestalled them, and they at once took up their position on the salt hills of the village of Noonar and their guns in a few minutes opened.
Two or three of the nawab's guns were with the greatest difficulty extricated from the confused mass and returned the fire of the enemy, and the Bhawulpoor men, uttering, as was their custom before fighting, the name of the rajah in a sonorous shout, rushed headlong without order or regularity against the enemy. In vain Percy and Peer Ibraheem and their own officers shouted to them to stand their ground. They went forward at a run until they were checked by volleys of musketry from the traitorous Sikh troops, while the guns swept them with grape. Though accustomed to irregular warfare, the nawab's troops were new to fighting disciplined soldiers, and, confounded at the storm of lead and shot to which they were exposed, they fell back in disorder.
At this time Lieutenant Edwardes, who had crossed the river in a small boat, arrived upon the spot. He found the most utter confusion prevailing; the excitement had apparently dissipated the remains of sense in Futteh Muhommud's brain, and the old man was sitting under a tree counting his beads apathetically, while a group of officers were standing round vainly endeavouring to recall his shattered senses and to get him to issue orders. Lieutenant Edwardes at once took the command. He saw at once that after the severe check the Bhawulpoor men had received, and amid the confusion that prevailed, the battle was lost if the enemy at once advanced. Turning to Peer Ibraheem, who had just arrived, and the chief officers, he pointed out that the enemy had taken up a strong position and evidently expected to be attacked, and that therefore they had time to get the men in order and to retrieve the day.
The guns of the nawab were old pieces of various sizes, quite unfit for service, and there was no hope of successfully contending against the far better guns and experienced artillerymen of the enemy. Nothing could therefore be done until General Cortlandt arrived with his artillery, which was a match for that of the Sikhs. He therefore ordered that the troops, after being got into order, should all lie down, and that the guns should keep up an incessant even if an ineffectual fire. Feeling confident now that they had a commander on whom they could rely, the officers hurried away to carry out their instructions, and similar orders were sent to the Pathans, who had with the greatest difficulty been restrained from following the example of the Bhawulpoor men and rushing against the enemy's position. A messenger was instantly sent off to Cortlandt, urging him to get his guns across the river with the greatest possible despatch and to bring them forward to the field of battle.
Lieutenant Edwardes then rode along the line, and was loudly cheered both by the allies and his own men. The latter had stuck their standards upright in the turf and were lying down in a line behind them. When he had made an inspection of the line and seen that his orders had been carried out, Edwardes despatched another messenger to Cortlandt lest the first should have gone astray, telling him that he thought it possible to hold the position until three o'clock in the afternoon, but that if he did not arrive with the guns by that time the battle would be lost.
It was now but eight o'clock in the morning, and for several hours this body of undisciplined troops would have to support in patience the fire of the enemy, a situation most trying even for the most disciplined soldiers. For six hours it continued without slackening. The enemy's guns were directed principally to the right, where the Bhawulpoor artillery continued to fire steadily, but sufficient shot fell among the Pathans to work them up into a state of desperation, so that numbers kept leaping to their feet and demanding to be led against the enemy instead of lying there to be killed without even firing a shot.
At two o'clock Futteh Muhommud recovered his senses sufficiently to issue an order for his army to retire, and as it was supposed that the order was authorized by Edwardes it was obeyed, and without the latter being aware of what was taking place the Bhawulpoor force gradually fell back. From his position on the opposite hill Rung Ram, who was in command of the enemy, observed the movement and at once prepared to take advantage of it. He sent forward his cavalry to reconnoitre, and moved his infantry and artillery slowly down the hill. Hitherto ten camel guns that the Pathans had brought across the river with them had been silent, as the men were partly concealed in the jungle, and Lieutenant Edwardes was anxious to avoid betraying their position and drawing the fire of the enemy upon them by the use of these small pieces, which could do but little execution at that distance.
It was now necessary to run the risk, and the camel guns opened upon the enemy's cavalry, who cantered back to their lines in disorder. Their guns, however, at once began to play, and their shot tore into the jungle, rendering it more difficult than ever for Lieutenant Edwardes to restrain the impetuosity of his men. The enemy's cavalry soon rallied and again advanced. As nothing had been heard of the guns, and the moment was most critical, Edwardes ordered Foujdar and all the chiefs and mounted officers to form into a compact body and charge the enemy's cavalry. Delighted at being at last employed on service however dangerous, the brave fellows mounted and with a shout charged down upon the enemy, and, in spite of their inferior numbers, drove them back in headlong flight upon their infantry. They rallied quickly, however, and the whole line again advanced.
"I can no longer delay," Lieutenant Edwardes said to Percy; "our only chance is in a general charge. If we remain here we must be beaten, whereas if we go at them and escape annihilation by the artillery and musketry as we advance it is just possible we may be successful."
He rose from his seat under a tree to give the order, when a bugle sound was heard in the rear. As if by magic the sound of excited and angry talk along the Pathan line ceased, until a minute later the bugle-call was again heard.
There was no mistaking it. Van Cortlandt's guns had passed the river and would soon be at hand, the long and terrible time of waiting was over, and at last the tables would be turned. Messengers were sent off to the guns to tell their commander how urgent was the need of their arrival, while officers were despatched all along the line of Pathans to bid the men stand up, and, when the word was given, to advance in good order and in regular line, company by company, against the enemy. With shouts of delight the Pathans sprang to their feet, standards were plucked up and waved enthusiastically in the air, and then the long line stood panting, eager as greyhounds in the slips, for the order to advance. Soon the rumble of guns was heard, and then amid wild cheers the six guns passed through a space opened for their passage, unlimbered, and opened fire upon the advancing enemy.
The effect was instantaneous. The Sikhs, believing that the day was won, were advancing in good order through the intervening fields of sugar-cane, breast-high; but as the balls sung overhead they disappeared from sight, dropping among the canes as suddenly as if each had been mortally struck. They had believed that the only guns opposed to them, those on the right, had left the field, and at the discharge in regular order of guns of equal weight and calibre, the truth broke upon them that the force under the white officer who had so long withstood them had crossed the river and was ranged on the field before them. Not only had the guns arrived, but Van Cortlandt had managed to send two of his Mussulman infantry regiments with them, and these, breathless with the speed at which they had hurried after the guns, now came clattering up. They were ordered to lie down to the right and left of the guns, while the Pathans took post behind them.
For a few minutes the guns of the contending forces discharged volleys of grape at each other, but Cortlandt's gunners were better trained and cooler. Two of the enemy's pieces were silenced and as the men serving the others were in confusion, Edwardes gave the word for the Mussulman regiments to charge. With a cheer the brave fellows dashed forward at full speed, but not so swiftly but that a little party of seven or eight of the Pathans' mounted officers dashed past them, and charging the guns captured two of them while the gunners were in the act of hastily withdrawing them before the approach of the charging infantry. The infantry captured the only other gun which awaited the assault. During the charge Cortlandt's guns poured grape into the canes where the enemy's infantry were lying. Hearing their own artillery retiring, the infantry abandoned their cover and retreated at full speed, rallying, however, at the point where their guns halted, when the artillery on both sides renewed their duel. The Pathans were now ordered to charge, and with a yell expressive of their delight at the prospect of avenging their losses during the long hours of the day, they rushed forward through the smoke.
The enemy were unable to withstand the onset of the brave irregulars and the two newly arrived regiments, but hastily retired, falling more and more into confusion, and pressed in their retreat by the eager Pathans, while the nawab's troops, anxious to retrieve their first retreat, now hotly pressed on the enemy's left. Something like order was maintained by the Sikhs until they reached the crest of the hill on which they had been posted during the early hours of the day. Then they threw away their arms and fled in utter disorder towards Mooltan, pursued by the nawab's cavalry, and mowed down by the guns that opened upon them as soon as they could be got into position on the hill.
Eight out of the ten guns that they had brought from Mooltan were captured by the victors. Some twelve hundred were slain, and great numbers of the fugitives at once made for their homes. Their Pathan cavalry had, for the most part, remained inactive during the day, and the heaviest loss fell upon the revolted Sikh regiments, the Goorkhas who had so basely deserted Agnew suffering very severely. The loss upon the part of the allies amounted to three hundred killed or wounded. The enemy's tents, ammunition, and stores at Noonar all fell into the hands of the victors.
Percy had remained with Lieutenant Edwardes but a short time, having been despatched by him to aid Peer Ibraheem in keeping the Bhawulpoor men in their position. When the order had come for them to retreat he had made his way as rapidly as possible through the jungle to inform Edwardes of what had taken place, but arrived only in time to see the charge of the mounted officers.
"You must get them back into their places again, Groves. Here is an order to Peer Ibraheem;" and he scribbled a line on the page of a note-book and tore it out. "He is to bring them back into position again, and to disregard any orders that Futteh Muhommud may give."
Percy hurried away again, and by his exertions and those of Peer Ibraheem the Bhawulpoor men were brought up in time to join in the final charge and pursuit of the enemy. He accompanied the native cavalry as they chased the fugitives across the country, and it was almost dark before he returned to the scene of battle. Edwardes shook him warmly by the hand as he dismounted.
"It has been a great day, Groves, but I would not go through those seven hours' waiting again for any money that could be offered me; it was an awful time."
"It was, indeed," Percy agreed. "I thought at one time that it was all up with us."
"So did I. It was well indeed that you were able to bring up the nawab's men in time. They were not wanted for the fighting, but if it had not been for their horse the rebels would have got away in some sort of order, and their leaders might have taken them in a body into Mooltan. As it is, I expect the great proportion of them will scatter to their homes. I have just sent off a messenger with my report of the engagement to the Resident. It will be a relief to him, for although he gave way at last to my entreaties, I know he thought I ought never to have crossed the Indus. Now, if they will but give us leave, I think that we can take Mooltan."
A few days later Lieutenant Lake, who had been appointed political agent to the nawab, arrived at the camp, thereby relieving Edwardes of the anxiety caused by the inefficiency of Futteh Muhommud, as Lake's authority completely overrode that of the general. He was, too, an intimate friend of Edwardes, and being full of life and animation, he was a great addition to the pleasure of the little mess. Marching forward, they were joined by Sheikh Emamoodeen with the remains of his division. His Sikh troops had all deserted him, and he had with him but a few Mussulman infantry and a strong body of cavalry.
On the 1st of July the force started for its last march towards Mooltan. They had received news that the Sikhgooroo—a man regarded with the greatest veneration—had, after consulting the stars, declared that day to be a most auspicious one, and that Moolraj had decided, therefore, upon again giving battle. He came out in great force, and took up his position at a bridge across a wide and deep canal. As this could not be forced without heavy loss, Edwardes moved along the west of the canal towards Mooltan.
Moolraj followed on the other side of the canal, crossed by a bridge near Mooltan, and at one o'clock moved forward against Edwardes in order of battle. The Bhawulpoor men, commanded by Lieutenant Lake, were on the right; General Cortlandt's two regiments and ten guns were on the right centre; the Pathan levies were next to these, having on their left Sheikh Emamoodeen's troops. The battle began on the right, Lieutenant Lake seizing some mounds in front of him, and placing his guns there opened a heavy fire on the enemy's left. This was returned by the Sikh guns, and in a short time the battle became general along the whole line. The village of Suddoosam was in the centre of the enemy's position. His troops lay for the most part concealed in jungle, the guns occupying two or three small villages. The allies were superior in artillery, and the rebel guns were presently obliged to withdraw from their position.
The order was then given for an advance, and the whole line pressed forward. Village after village was captured at the point of the bayonet, the Sikhs, inflamed with religious ardour, offering most determined resistance, favoured by the nature of the ground, which was largely covered with jungle and date groves and intersected by irrigation canals. There was, however, no check in the advance. A brilliant charge was made by one of Cortlandt's regiments led by Mr. Quin, a young man who had a few days before come up as clerk or writer to Lieutenant Edwardes. The guns were captured, the whole line then went forward with a rush, and the enemy broke and fled in complete disorder.
The loss on the part of the allies in killed and wounded was under three hundred; that of the enemy was vastly greater, being the result to a large extent of the cowardice of Moolraj, who was the first to leave the field, and who, in order to check pursuit, planted guns at the bridge over the canal, with orders to allow no one to pass. The Sikh fugitives on their arrival were fired at by the artillery; the greater part of the crowd, pressed hard by their pursuers, forced a passage, but hundreds were drowned in trying to cross the canal. At the close of the day the allied force halted for the night within range of the guns of the fortress.
Percy saw but little of the fight, as early in the advance he was struck by a matchlock ball while riding forward with the Pathan cavalry. He for a moment lost sensibility and fell. When he recovered himself his two followers were beside him.
"Where am I hit?" he asked.
"In the left shoulder, sahib; it is a bad wound, and will be troublesome, but thanks be to Allah, it might have been much worse. Now that you have recovered I will fetch up adhoolywith its bearers and carry you on after the others. The white sahibs will know best what should be done with your wound."
A few minutes later Percy was placed in adhooly, and was borne in the rear of the advancing troops, and as soon as these halted for the night he was brought forward to the house which had been chosen by Edwardes as his head-quarters.
"Not badly hurt, I hope, Groves?" that officer said, running out from the house as soon as he heard that Percy was outside. "I have been wondering what has become of you, but had no idea you had been hit."
"I do not think that it is serious," Percy said. "My left shoulder-bone is smashed, I think, by a ball, but my men were close behind me, and bandaged it up; then one of them fetched adhoolyfor me, and we have been following pretty close behind you all the afternoon."
"Lake and I will bandage it up properly, and will soon have you comfortable. It is a nuisance that we haven't an English surgeon with us. These native doctors are quite useless. If it is nothing worse than a smashed shoulder I think we can manage well enough, and you may hope to be about again with your arm in a sling before long. The only thing we have to be afraid of in this hot place is fever. Still, I hope that we shall avoid that."
During the weeks that followed Percy lay on acharpoy. The heat was terrible, although everything possible was done by puttingtattiesin front of all the windows and keeping them soaked with water; Bhop Lal and his comrade sat by turns night and day fanning him, while apunka, made of a door taken off its hinges, was kept constantly going overhead. He was not alone in his misfortunes, for Lieutenant Edwardes was lying, also wounded, in a bed in the same room. Two days after the battle he had, on the news that the enemy were again sallying out, hastily thrust his pistols into his belt, but being engaged in giving orders he paid little heed to what he was doing. The hammer of one of the pistols caught in his scarf, and without looking down he seized the barrel in his right hand to pull it down, when the pistol exploded. The ball went through the palm of his hand, shattering the bones and inflicting a wound that deprived him of the use of his right hand for life.
Fortunately, twelve days later, an English surgeon arrived from Lahore, and at once afforded him some relief from the intense pain he was suffering from the unskilful treatment of a native surgeon. Percy, too, gained great benefit from the arrival of the doctor, and was in a few days able to be about with his arm strapped tightly to his side. Immediately after the battle of Suddoosam Edwardes had written off to Lahore begging that a few heavy guns might be sent to him, in order that he might undertake the siege of the place, which he, Lieutenant Lake, and General Cortlandt were convinced could be successfully carried out, Moolraj's garrison being greatly weakened by desertions after the two battles, and disheartened by the failure of thegooroo'sprophecies. The request had been refused by the governor-general and the commander-in-chief, whose opinion was that no operations should be undertaken by English troops until the hot season was over.
He pointed out that Lieutenant Edwardes, who had now received the rank of brevet-major as a reward for his great services, had carried out all that he had proposed to do. The districts to the west and south of Mooltan had been wrested from Moolraj, and the collection of revenue was going on quietly and regularly. Moolraj was cooped up in Mooltan, and was practically powerless for mischief, therefore all that was necessary was that Edwardes should carry out the plan he himself had originally proposed, namely, to drive Moolraj into his fortress and blockade him there through the hot season.
A few days later, however, Sir Frederick Currie, influenced by a letter Edwardes had sent him before the decision of the government had been arrived at, determined to take upon himself the responsibility of ordering General Whish, with two regiments of European and two of native infantry, three regiments of native cavalry, three companies of European and one of native artillery, and two troops of native horse-artillery to march from Lahore. They left on the 24th of July, were taken down by water to Bhawulpoor, and reached Mooltan on the 18th of August. The heavy guns, however, did not arrive until the 4th of September.
In addition to the pain Edwardes had been suffering from his wounds he had been going through a period of great anxiety. The whole Sikh nation was in a ferment. The disasters that had befallen Moolraj had in no way checked their ardour. Chuttur Singh, the father of Sher Singh, was in open rebellion, and had, it was known, been urging his son in the name alike of patriotism, religion, and family honour to join in a great national effort to wipe out the defeats of the last campaign and to restore to the Punjaub its lost territory.
So far Sher Singh had resisted these entreaties, and had given every evidence of his desire to remain faithful to the government of Lahore. But from the first he had been almost powerless in the hands of his troops. Numbers of them had deserted and made their way to Mooltan. Constant communications were kept up with the rebels, and it was certain that at the first opportunity that offered the whole force would go over in a body to Moolraj. While the battles of Koreyshee and Suddoosam were being fought, the divisions remained inactive at a little more than a day's march from Mooltan, and Moolraj showed, by sending out every available man to attack the force of Edwardes, that he had no fear whatever of hostility on the part of the Sikhs. When, therefore, a few days after Suddoosam, Sher Singh's army advanced and encamped within half a mile of the allies, a heavy burden was added to the various anxieties of the wounded English commander. Sher Singh himself visited him frequently, and was profuse in his declarations of loyalty, as were the two officers next in command, Uttur and Shumsher Singh; but while the former hoped that his troops would remain faithful, his two lieutenants were absolutely convinced that they would all go over to the enemy.
Edwardes felt that should the understanding between the Sikhs and Moolraj be complete, and the former fall upon his flank while the whole Mooltan force attacked him in front, his position would be one of the greatest difficulty. It was a great relief to him when two or three more English officers came up, and he was at last certain that the orders he issued from his bed of sickness would be thoroughly carried out by them. It was a still heavier load off his mind when General Whish arrived with his force, and assumed the command of the siege operations.
By this time he himself was able to get about, and Percy's wound was almost completely healed. On the 7th of September the plans for the siege were arranged at a council of the chief political and military officers. The trenches were opened, but at a much greater distance than usual, as the ground outside the walls was largely occupied with houses and gardens and cut up by small canals. This was all in the hands of the enemy, and it would be necessary to advance gradually step by step. On the 9th the fighting began, an attempt being made to carry some houses and ruins occupied by the rebels. The latter, however, defended themselves stoutly, and but little ground was gained.
The Sikhs, who were skilled in defensive warfare, had thrown up numerous intrenchments and stockades in front of our lines, but on the 12th they were attacked and a large village was carried, but only after desperate fighting, some two hundred and fifty men being killed or wounded on the British side. A point was gained, however, close enough to the walls for the establishment of the battering guns, and a few days at most would have seen the British flag waving over the walls of Mooltan, when suddenly Sher Singh with his whole army went over to the enemy.
This defection entirely changed the situation. The addition of the Sikh force of disciplined soldiers to the army of Moolraj raised it to a strength far exceeding that of the besiegers. Even without this addition it had only been by very hard fighting that the British had won their way forward. These difficulties had now been enormously increased. The communications might be threatened and cut off, and even the officers most sanguine of the success of the siege now felt that it was no longer feasible with so small a force.
But their decision to abandon the siege was arrived at chiefly upon other grounds. Until now, although Moolraj had been joined by a great many Sikh deserters, the Sikh nation still stood irresolute, and it was hoped that the capture of Mooltan would have decided them to abstain from engaging in a contest which was nominally one between the maharajah and his advisers at Lahore, and Moolraj their rebellious servant. The defection of Sher Singh and the Lahore army, of which he was commander, changed the whole situation. It was certain now that the Sikhs would everywhere rise, and that the whole of the Punjaub would soon be in arms. The capture of Mooltan, therefore, became a matter of secondary importance, and it behoved General Whish to keep his force intact in view of the campaign that must ensue.
Moreover, he could now no longer rely upon his communications being kept open or supplies forwarded, for the Sikh sirdars with their followers might throw themselves on his rear. Lahore itself might fall into the hands of the Sikhs, for since the despatch of General Whish's force to Mooltan it was very weakly garrisoned. It was, therefore, unanimously decided that for the present the siege must be raised, and the army, abandoning its new works, fell back a couple of miles and took up a strong defensive position, expecting to be attacked by the allied forces of Moolraj and Sher Singh.
No such attack was, however, made. Sher Singh had up to the last moment so strongly opposed the wishes of his troops to go over, that when at last he gave way, Moolraj suspected the movement to be a snare and refused to open the gates of Mooltan to the Sikhs. His suspicions were heightened by a letter that Edwardes sent to Sher Singh by the hand of a messenger whose fidelity he strongly suspected. As he anticipated, the letter was carried to Moolraj, and was of a nature to increase very greatly his suspicions of the good faith of Sher Singh. The latter, however, at once issued proclamations, which were signed and sealed by himself, Moolraj, and the principal officers and sirdars, calling upon the whole Sikh nation to rise.
Moolraj still declared that the only thing to satisfy his mind would be for Sher Singh to issue out and attack the British position. This he did, but as soon as the English artillery began to play upon him his troops retired hastily, their conduct increasing the suspicion felt by Moolraj of their intentions. The ill feeling between the allies increased until on the 9th of October Sher Singh marched away with his army to join the Sikh force already in arms, plundering and burning all the Mahomedan villages through which he passed.
The news of his defection was followed immediately by the revolt of the Sikh troops at Bunnoo and other places, and in the course of two or three weeks the whole Sikh nation was under arms; and the work that had been done, and as was hoped completed, at Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon, had to be begun afresh.
Percy Groves was not with the British force that fell back from its position four or five hundred yards from the walls of Mooltan. Three or four days before Sher Singh's defection Major Edwardes had said to him:
"Mr. Groves, I think it would be best for you to take up your quarters with Sher Singh's force. His position is a difficult one; he is weak and vacillating, and it would be well that he should have someone by his side to whom he could appeal frequently; the presence too of a British officer would strengthen his authority with his troops. I have no doubt he is well disposed, but the influence brought to bear on him is tremendous. As a son it would be contrary to Sikh notions of honour to oppose his father, however much he might differ from him. Then there are the appeals to his patriotism and to his religion. He knows that the whole of his men are in favour of revolt, and there are but two or three of his officers who are not of the same way of thinking. I do not say that there is not some danger in your taking up your abode among them, for if he goes over he will go over suddenly; but, even if he does, I cannot think that he would suffer you to be injured. He is not a fanatic, and would see that did any harm come to you he would have no hope whatever of pardon. You will, of course, ride in here at once should you discover that there is any change in his attitude towards us."
Percy accordingly moved across to Sher Singh's camp, a tent being erected there for him. He liked the rajah, of whom he had seen a good deal since his arrival, and, like Edwardes, was convinced that his assurances of loyalty were made in good faith, and believed he would be perfectly safe whatever might happen, and that he was sure to have warning of any change in Sher Singh's intentions.
CHAPTER XVII.
WITH SHER SINGH.
Sher Singh had at once acceded to the proposal of Major Edwardes that Percy Groves should establish himself in his camp. "Let him come," he said; "he will see that all I say to you is true, and that I am a faithful servant of the maharajah. There is nothing I wish to hide from him or from you. I have sworn to you over and over again, that I am faithful; and did he live in my tent, he would see how true I am to my oath."
The rajah, indeed, was sore that his fidelity should be suspected, and in his conversations with Percy, after the latter had established himself in a tent close to him, he frequently complained that after having so long withstood the entreaties of his father and the wishes of his troops, he should be suspected. Percy did his best to assure him that personally Major Edwardes had no doubt of his loyalty, and that he feared only that he might not be able to control the troops.
"But I have so far controlled them," Sher Singh said; "have I not brought them here instead of allowing them to march into Mooltan? Why, then, should I be doubted now? If I had wished to go, would it not have been better that I should have done so before these white troops arrived? You had hard work in beating Moolraj alone; if I had joined him before, Edwardes and the Bhawulpoor troops would have been destroyed."
"Had you joined Moolraj, rajah, we should never have crossed the Indus, nor would the troops of the nawab have been here. Major Edwardes knows well that you have done your best, and believes that did your troops revolt you would ride into our camp. It is not your good-will that he doubts, but your power over your soldiers. We know that they are in hourly communication with the enemy, that they go freely in and out of the town, that messengers pass between them and their countrymen who have gone over; and it is easy to understand that, placed as we are here, and carrying on a siege with but scant forces for such an operation, he cannot but be most anxious regarding a force like yours lying so close to him. But he has still strong hopes that you will be able to keep them firm. Were it otherwise, he would not have sent me here. It is anxiety, and not suspicion, that causes him so earnestly to beg you to stand firm."
Bhop Lal and Akram Chunder were both charged to learn as much as they could from the soldiers as to their intentions. Their reports were favourable to the rajah.
"The soldiers are all for Moolraj," Bhop Lal said. "They speak of the rajah by the nickname of 'the Mahomedan.' It is he alone who keeps them here, for though Uttur Singh and Shumsher both support him, they are almost alone among his officers. Sher Singh is a powerful rajah, and his family one of the first among the sirdars of the Punjaub. That is the reason why he has been able to keep them from going over, for they fear that if they did so in the face of his opposition, they would afterwards suffer at the hands of himself and his family, even if their cause were victorious. All seem agreed that there is no chance of the rajah's throwing in his lot with his father, and they curse him as one who is false to his family, his country, and his religion."
It was then a complete surprise to Percy when, after retiring to bed on the night of the 13th of September, he was suddenly aroused by the entrance of a body of armed men into his tent. They belonged, as he saw at once, to the rajah's own bodyguard, and were commanded by one of his most trusted officers.
"No harm is intended," the latter said; "the rajah's orders are that you are to be honourably treated, but I must beg you to rise and dress at once, as we are going to move our camp."
Seeing that resistance would be altogether useless, Percy at once rose. After putting on his clothes he saw that his arms had been taken possession of by the soldiers, and that he was in fact a prisoner. Without making a remark, he passed out of the tent, and saw his two men standing there with very crestfallen faces, holding his horse, and surrounded by a body of Sikhs. He mounted, and the Sikh cavalry at once closed in round them. The tents had been struck already, the baggage packed, and the troops formed up. Uttur and Shumsher Singh had, as he afterwards learned, done their utmost to carry off the men under their command to the British lines, but they had been surrounded by officers entreating, abusing, and threatening them and stirring up their soldiers till they were forced to abstain from opposing the popular demand.
Uttur Singh had then mounted his horse, and with great difficulty made his way through the crowd, riding off to carry the intelligence to Major Edwardes, followed by two other officers. Shumsher Singh had been carried off as a prisoner, and was confined in his tent; but the next night he managed to crawl out under the bottom of the tent, and made his way in common clothes and bare-footed several miles to the British camp, killing on the road one of Sher Singh's vedettes, who tried to arrest him. Two, therefore, out of the three Sikh leaders justified Major Edwardes' belief in their fidelity.
On arriving at the new place of encampment under the walls of the fort, Percy remained for an hour in the centre of his guard, and was then conducted to his tent, which had again been pitched. Half an hour later his two servants came in; both were deeply humiliated that they should have given their master no warning of what was coming, and poured out their apologies and expressions of regret.
"It is not your fault in any way," Percy said; "it was but yesterday afternoon that the rajah was even warmer than usual in his protestations of loyalty, and yet at that time he must have fully made up his mind as to his course. Had the troops known it yesterday you would certainly have noticed a difference in their bearing. He cannot have issued any orders until late in the evening, and you see he took measures for my protection by sending his own bodyguard to protect me; and has probably carried me off partly as a hostage and partly perhaps with the thought that I may be useful should circumstances make it necessary for him again to enter into negotiations with our people. How is it we have not entered the fort?"
"The Sikhs intended to go in, sahib, but Moolraj kept the gates closed, and sent orders that they were to encamp here under the guns of the fort. I suppose that he is afraid of treachery. The Sikhs are very angry."
"I suppose they have taken your arms?" Percy said.
"Yes, sahib; we were sleeping at the door of your tent, they pounced upon us suddenly, twisting scarfs round our mouths to prevent our calling out. They carried us a short distance away, and then released us. They ordered us to saddle our horses and yours, and warned us that if we made the least outcry it would be the signal for your death as well as our own."
In the morning Sher Singh came into the tent. "I am sorry that I have been compelled to make you prisoner, Sahib Groves, but I had no choice. Had I not done so, the stir among the troops would have awoke you, and you might have carried the news to your camp in time for horsemen and guns to interfere with our movements. I did it, too, as much for your protection as my own, for some of the troops might have rushed in and killed you had you not been in the hands of my own guard."
"I thank you for that, rajah," Percy said quietly; "but my life is of little consequence in comparison to other matters. Until now it has only been a question of the overthrow of a dewan who refused to render obedience to his government, and whom you and your army were despatched to conquer. Instead of this, your army has gone over and joined his. You know, even better than I do, what that means: that all the Punjaub will be up, and that tens of thousands of lives will be lost. I can only hope that you, like myself, are here against your will."
"No," the rajah said passionately. "I was faithful, and I was doubted. I withstood the entreaties of my father, the adjurations of the chief men of my religion, and the wishes of my army; but when I found that in spite of all this, I was suspected, it was useless for me to strive longer. I am no longer a general of the durbar of Lahore, but a Sikh prince."
"I am truly sorry to hear it," Percy said gravely, "for your own sake, and for that of the Punjaub. There can be but one end to it. If, when the whole Khalsa army was intact, the Sikhs could not withstand the advance of a weak British force to Lahore, what chance have they against such an army as will be collected now? The last time England astonished the Sikhs by her clemency, and by taking so little when all was in her power. She thought that her strength and her clemency would alike have made such an impression that the Sikhs would henceforth be content and remain in peace. This time she will assuredly make no such mistake, and I consider that your highness' defection will lead to the destruction of the independence of the Punjaub."
"That we shall see," the rajah said, "Last time but a small portion of our sirdars took up arms. You had but to fight against troops who had long lost their discipline; now you will have the whole of the Sikh nation against you."
"Were the Sikh nation ten times as numerous as they are," Percy said quietly, "the end would be the same. However, as your highness has now taken your course, it is useless for me to endeavour to dissuade you. I have to thank you for having taken means to secure my safety, but I should have thanked you still more had you ordered your bodyguard to conduct me to our camp instead of bringing me here."
"That I could not do," Sher Singh replied; "it would have caused my own men to suspect me; but, be assured that you be well and honourably treated. I told you I regarded you as a guest in my camp, and as a guest you will always be treated; save in the matter of your liberty, every wish you may express will be granted; and if at any time you have any complaint to make, send me a message and I will come and see you and set matters right."
In the morning, when Sher Singh's men were about to march against the British camp, Bhop Lal said to Percy: "There will be no fighting, sahib. The Sikhs are very angry at the refusal of Moolraj to admit them into the town, and they say they have not revolted in order to fight for Moolraj, but for their country. They may advance, because the guns of Mooltan look down into their camp, and they dare not therefore refuse; but they will soon be back here again. They are eager to march away, and will do so ere long. Mooltan is nothing to them, and they know well enough that Moolraj is fighting for himself alone, and that were the British expelled, there would be another war to decide whether Moolraj or the Sikhs were to be masters of the Punjaub."
Until the Sikhs marched away on the 9th of October Percy did not again see Sher Singh. The rajah, indeed, sent him a message that contained the most bitter complaints against Major Edwardes for having, by the letter that was intercepted, increased the doubts of Moolraj as to his loyalty. Percy replied that he, of course, knew nothing of the letter; but that a general like Sher Singh must know well that in war it was always a matter of policy on the part of a leader to cause disunion, if possible, between allies opposed to him, and that doubtless he himself would, under similar circumstances, have acted in precisely the same manner.
There was no actual prohibition against Percy leaving his tent, but the officer in command of the guard, who kept a vigilant watch round it, strongly advised him not to do so.
"The rajah has given you into my charge," he said, "and holds me responsible for your safety. But how can I guarantee that, if you go about in the camp? I might surround you with a guard, and yet a musket or pistol ball fired by a fanatic might hit you. It is far better that you should remain in your tent, where you are out of sight of all, and out of their thoughts. If they once see you about, the fanatics might stir up the men to demand your life, and to insist that Sher Singh should give us some stronger proof of his hostility to the English, as Moolraj did when he permitted the murder of the two English officers; and although the rajah wishes you well, he may be unable to resist the demands of the troops, who are rather his masters than he theirs."
Percy felt the justice of the argument, and remained quietly in his tent, where he learned from his two followers all that was passing, as these in their native costume were able to move about freely among the Sikhs, of whom indeed but few were aware that the servants of the British officer, who had been carried off with them, had also been taken. Both the men, being Mahomedans, burned with indignation at the atrocities committed by the Sikhs upon the Mussulman villages on the line of march, where they burned the houses, robbed the people, defiled the mosques, and murdered the priests.
"Is that the way to fight for the independence of their country, sahib? Are there not great numbers of Mahomedans in the Punjaub, and is it not enough to have to fight the English without making every Mahomedan hostile to them? It was not so before. Mahomedans and Sikhs were of one mind as to the independence of the Punjaub. Now the Mahomedans will be as one man in their hopes that the British will win. They know that under the British masters every man can worship in his own way without interference; and they must see now that if the Sikhs conquer, they will root out the Mahomedans from among them. Akram and I followed you, sahib, and stood the fire of the Sikh guns because our lord had bidden us guard you, but except for that our hearts were rather with the Sikhs than with your countrymen, for have we not taken Sikh pay and fought under Sikh standards? Henceforth it is different. The Sikhs have showed themselves our bitter enemies, and all our hopes must now be with the English."
"You see no chance of my escape?"
"None at all at present; four guards watch day and night near your tent. We are forced to picket our horses in the lines of the Sikh troopers, and your horse is placed among those of the rajah, whence we have to fetch it every morning for the march. A party of sowars always ride with us to fetch it, and accompany us back. Of course we both have knives, which we have stolen at night from sleeping men; and we could get other arms, but we do not see that at present we could do anything with them."
"No, there is no possibility of escaping in the daytime," Percy agreed. "The men who ride beside me always have chains between their horses' bits and mine, so there is no possibility of my making a sudden dash for it, as I otherwise would have done. If I once got beyond the range of their pistols I should have little fear of being overtaken, for there can be few horses in the camp that are a match for Sheik."
Day after day passed; the officer in charge of Percy in no way relaxed his vigilance; the orders of Sher Singh being most emphatic as to the care to be exercised in guarding his prisoner. He learned from his followers the rumours current in the camp that the Sikh troops at Bunnoo and Rhotas had also mutinied, and were upon the point of effecting a junction with Sher Singh's force. They were considered the flower of the Sikh army, being composed entirely of old soldiers with trained cavalry and artillery. Sher Singh was marching to Lahore, and although the people there were for the time powerless in face of the force that had been hurried up to hold the city as soon as the defection of Sher Singh was known, they were reported as ready to rise at the first appearance of the army before their walls.
Some of the Sikh cavalry had been pushed on ahead of the army, with orders to destroy the bridge of boats across the Ravee, a mile and a half from Lahore. They succeeded in burning some of the boats, but were then driven off by the 14th Light Dragoons under Colonel Havelock. So far no large force of the British had arrived. A brigade with one English regiment had been pushed forward, and one of cavalry had assembled at Ferozepore, and native reports stated that large reinforcements were going forward to General Whish and others advancing towards Ferozepore. Sher Singh's army moved but slowly, and it was still the opinion of many British officers that, although constrained to desert us at Mooltan, he would be glad to make his peace as soon as a strong British army approached him.
At the end of the first week in November the first British division under General Thackwell crossed the Sutlej and advanced towards Lahore, and two days later the Commander-in-chief, with General Gilbert's division, followed it. The heavy guns had not yet come up, but were only a short distance behind, and the general was anxious to interpose his force between Lahore and the Sikh army, which might any day advance to its attack. He remained for two days at Lahore, Thackwell's division having already advanced.
"They will be here in two or three days, sahib," Akram Chunder said one morning to Percy. "We have a strong position here on the right bank of the Chenab, and how the English are going to cross I don't know; still they will do it somehow, that is quite certain. Now, sahib, is the time. You must look to yourself; so long as the Sikhs are confident of victory no doubt you will be as well treated as you are at present; but if they are defeated, as we very well know they will be, who could answer for your life? Sher Singh will have enough to do to look after his own safety, and even if the soldiers did not rush in and kill you, these men of your guard will not want to be encumbered with a prisoner, and they would know that, after a defeat, no one is likely to inquire much about you. So you must try to escape. The worst of it is, that with your friends so close, they will be more watchful than ever, for this is the time that you would be naturally trying to get away to join them. The officer looks so sharp after the guard, that I fear there is no chance of giving them liquor and making them drunk or of drugging them. They are forbidden even to speak to us as we go in and out. We are allowed to attend on you by the rajah's orders, but I have no doubt the officer is afraid we might try to bribe his men. Bhop Lal and I have talked it over in every way, but we can see no means of getting you out."
"I can see no way myself, Akram; the sentries are very vigilant, they keep constantly on the move, and they challenge anyone who approaches within twenty yards. If they were to march during the night I would take my chance of slipping off my horse, for it is impossible, chained as it is to the others, to dash through with it. That is the only possibility of escape that I can see at present."
"I can see no other, sahib, but unfortunately they never have marched at night; still they may do so, and the first time they do we might try it. The worst of it is, that we shall not be near you, sahib. You see, on the march we always have to keep with the cavalry, among whom our horses are picketed."
"Well, at any rate, Akram, let it be a distinct understanding that if we are suddenly ordered to make a night-march, and I have no opportunity of speaking to you before we move, I mean to make my escape; and if by any possibility you can do the same you are to do so."
"As we have told you often, sahib, there is no difficulty about us. They have got pretty well accustomed to us now, and believe that we are all in favour of their cause, though we remain with you, because, in the first place, we are attached to you, and in the second, because we have wives and families who are in the hands of your uncle the colonel, and we dare not therefore leave you. So they have come to believe that we have no wish to escape at all, and pay no attention to us on the line of march. Of course we ride at the rear of the regiment, and the last four men were always told off to ride behind us; but they have given that up long ago, and we could easily drop behind without being observed, on a night-march. The difficulty would be to find you after your escape."
"That can't be helped, Akram. If I do escape, I will make my way back to the last place at which we halted; and if you get away, do the same. If we find each other there, all the better; if not, we must make our way separately as best we can to the British lines, wherever they may be. I will, if I can, come to the spot where this tent was pitched; we shall all know the position pretty well, and ought to be able to get somewhere near it, even on a dark night. Now, remember that these are final orders, if I have no opportunity to give you others. The first night there is a march—whether before a battle has been fought or afterwards—I shall try to escape. If I do not appear at our last halting-place during the night, you are to go straight on to our lines; and if I do not turn up there in the course of a couple of days, you will know that I have either failed to make my escape, or been killed in attempting it."
"I understand, sahib; and you may be sure Bhop Lal and I will act according to your orders."
Two days later there was a great hubbub heard in the camp Bhop Lal, looking out from the door of the tent, said:
"The army has come, sahib. The Sikhs on the other bank are retiring."
Percy went to the entrance of the tent, which faced the river, and stood there looking out. Numbers of horse and foot could be seen crossing. A cloud of dust rose a mile and a half away, while in camp there was the deep rumble of guns as these were brought up to the river to command the passage.
"They are cavalry, sahib," Bhop Lal said, as amid the cloud of dust there was a sparkle of steel, and a body of horse came clashing forward. Almost at the same instant the crack of guns was heard and shells burst over and among the Sikhs on the other side of the river, greatly hastening their movements. The bed of the river was of great width, but was now for the most part dry. On the other side the bank was high, and from its foot a very wide bed of sand extended to what, in the wet season, was a green island in the middle of the river. The stream itself ran on the Sikh side of the island.
Before the British cavalry and guns came up the last of the Sikh force on the other side were well on their way across the river, but the guns were at once unlimbered and sent shot after shot into them, until they were almost across and out of range, for the width from bank to bank was nearly two miles.
Not content with this, two British batteries moved down from the bank, and charged across the sand, from time to time firing at the Sikhs retreating across the ford; but when they came near the edge of the river the Sikh batteries on the high bank opened upon them.
"They will have to fall back," Percy said; "the guns here are much heavier than theirs, and they can never remain there in the open exposed to this fire."
It was not long before the officers commanding the British batteries discovered this, and gave the order for the guns to limber up. Some confusion was visible among them. The horses were taken from two of the guns and attached to another.
"That gun has got into a quicksand or something of that sort," Percy said, "and they can't move it."
The Sikhs were not long in seeing this. The fire of their guns was redoubled, and the infantry at once paused in their passage of the ford and returned in great numbers to the left bank and opened a heavy musketry fire.
"They will have to leave the guns behind them," Percy said, as the artillery mounted and rode off. The guns, indeed, dragged so heavily through the deep sand that a squadron of the 3d Light Dragoons galloped forward to cover their retreat. Dashing over the sand they swept round the island where some hundreds of the enemy were drawn up, cut their way through them, sabring numbers, and then, in spite of the fire of six guns on the opposite bank, cantered back again. They had only one man wounded and two horses killed. Other charges were made by the 3d Dragoons and 8th Light Cavalry, but the Sikhs took refuge in nullahs, and kept up such a galling musketry fire that the cavalry drew off. The Sikhs now exultantly advanced to the abandoned gun, and as from the river bed the British force could no longer be seen, numbers of them made their way across the sand, ascended the high bank, and opened fire at the troops halted within rifle-shot.
"They won't be there long," Percy said to his men. "You will see them coming back quicker than they went in a minute or two: look at that body of cavalry sweeping down upon them."
The Sikhs, too, saw the danger, and came rushing in a confused mass down the bank. The cavalry, as he learned afterwards, consisted of the 14th Dragoons under Colonel Havelock, supported by the 5th Light Cavalry. The impetuosity of the gallant leader of the 14th carried him away, and followed by his men he dashed down the bank in pursuit, with the intention of driving the Sikhs back again over the river. But great numbers had now crossed the ford; some guns had been placed near the islands, and these and the batteries on the other bank opened a heavy fire upon the cavalry.
Encouraged by the fire of their guns and by their numerical strength, the fugitives now made a stand. The horses of the dragoons were already blown, and with difficulty made their way through the deep sand; but Havelock charged into the middle of the enemy well in advance of his men, and disappeared from their sight. They tried to urge their horses after him, but could not break through the infantry, while the Sikh guns still continued their heavy fire. Colonel Cureton, who commanded the cavalry, rode forward to recall them from their dangerous position. He himself fell, shot through the heart. For a time the unequal contest was continued, many desperate single combats taking place between Englishman and Sikh; but at last the 14th were called off, having had upwards of fifty men killed and wounded.
"It seems to me," Percy said, as the last of the cavalry rode up the opposite bank, "that was a very foolish charge. Suppose they had driven the Sikhs across the river, they could not have stayed to guard the ford with all these guns playing upon them, and the Sikhs could have recrossed directly they had retired. It seems a pure waste of life."
So thought many others. The charge was as rash and ill-considered as that of Balaclava. Colonel Havelock paid for his mistake by his life, just as did Nolan, who gave the order that led to the charge of the Light Cavalry at Balaclava.
The Sikhs were in high spirits at the advantage they had gained, and complete confidence in themselves took the place of the doubt, that a good many of them had felt, of their power of resisting the British. This increased, as day after day passed, and no forward movement was made from the opposite bank. It could be seen, however, that the force there had been largely augmented, and that batteries were in course of erection at several points. The Sikh guns fired at times at the working parties, but the distance was too great for the fire to be effective. Bodies of Sikh cavalry crossed the river at other points, and often rode round the rear of the British lines, occasionally cutting off men who had straggled too far out of camp, and then riding off before the English cavalry could mount and pursue them. A few soldiers who were taken alive were carried to the camp, where they were well treated by Sher Singh, and were sent back to the British lines bearing a communication from the rajah expressive of a desire for peace.
But the time had passed for negotiations. It was necessary for the peace of India that the Sikh strength should be broken once and for all, and the answer sent to the rajah was that the commander-in-chief could not treat with men in arms against him. A week passed after the cavalry fight, and then it became known in the Sikh camp that the heavy guns for which the British had been waiting had arrived.
"I do not see the use of those batteries they are erecting on the opposite bank," Akram Chunder remarked, as, standing at the door of the tent, they watched what was going on. The Sikhs too had been working hard; strong works had been erected commanding the ford, and a number of guns placed there in position.
"I do not see any good in it either, Akram; the guns are too far off to be of any use whatever in covering the advance of a column trying to cross. I do not think it is possible to ford the river in the face of such a fire as will be concentrated upon them if they attempt it."
"Then what will they do, sahib?"
"I should say they would send a force either up or down the river to cross at some other point ten or twenty miles away. When they have got across they will either intrench themselves there and defend the ford until the whole army can cross, or they will march this way and attack the camp while the army opposite tries to cross the river."
"There would be great risk in that, sahib, for the Sikhs could throw their whole force on those that have crossed and destroy it before they could get any aid from their friends on the other side."
"Yes, it would be very dangerous, too dangerous to try, I should say, against another European force; but you see, Akram, we have been so accustomed to win battles in India that we feel quite confident of victory even when the odds are three or four to one against us."
Early in the morning of the 1st of December Percy heard an unusual stir in the Sikh camp.
"What is the matter?" he asked the officer of the guard when the latter as usual came in for a talk with him.
"A peasant came across before daylight with the news that a large force of your people have marched somewhere down the river. We had thought that they might try to cross at the ford of Ghuree-kee Puttum, and were ready to receive them, but they have not gone there. It is supposed they have gone to Wuzeerabad."
"How far is that away?"
"Twenty-four miles."
"Have you any force there?"
"No, it is a very bad ford, and unless they get some boats they can hardly cross there; but we would not stop them if we could. How the British, who know so much of the art of war, can throw themselves like this into our hands is more than we can tell. We shall let them march up some miles, so that they can no longer retreat to the ford, then we shall fall upon them and exterminate them. We know their force, for the peasant, who was awakened by the noise made by the camp-followers and the growling of the camels and the rumbling of guns, crept up and counted them as they passed. There were five batteries, two of them native; five regiments of cavalry, four of them native; two white regiments of foot, and five regiments and a half of Sepoys. If you put them at five hundred men to each regiment, there are less than four thousand foot. What is that against the force we can bring against them? They will get to Wuzeerabad to-day, but it is a long march. The white troops will not be ready for much at the end of it, and few will get across to-night. It will be mid-day to-morrow before they are all over, even if they have boats, so that at most they will not arrive nearer than twelve miles by to-morrow night. The next day we shall finish with them."
Percy thought it was as well to keep to himself his conviction that the Sikhs would not find it so easy a business as they anticipated; yet he saw that unless our main army moved across to the attack, and so occupied a large portion of the Sikh force, or else considerably reinforced that advancing up the river bank, the position of the latter was indeed a perilous one. But he still felt confident in their power to resist an attack made upon them.
"I should be glad," he said to his two followers, as he talked the matter over during the day, "if they would move this tent of ours somewhere farther back from the bank. That battery below us is sure to come in for its share of the fire from the guns on the other side, and any ball that goes too high is as likely as not to pass through this tent."
"You may be sure that our guard won't wait here when that happens, sahib; they may leave the tent standing, but they will certainly march themselves and you off out of range."
Late in the afternoon a heavy fire was opened by the batteries on the opposite bank, and as the shells exploded, some over the Sikh batteries, some farther back over the bank, a great hubbub arose. The artillerymen ran down to their guns and replied to the fire. Drums and bugles called the troops under arms, orders were shouted in all directions, and the noises of the horses and baggage animals added to the uproar. The guard at once ran up and surrounded the tent.
"Come out, sahib," the officer said, "we are going to pull it down at once."
"All the better," Percy replied; "I have no desire to be shot by my friends."
The tent was speedily lowered, and it and its contents carried by the men half a mile from the bank and there re-erected. All the other tents along the bank were similarly removed.
As Percy had foreseen, the fire from the distant guns inflicted but little damage upon the Sikh batteries, so these, after replying for a short time, ceased to waste their ammunition, and the men retired behind the shelter of the bank, where they remained until the British fire ceased.
Upon the following morning Percy learned from the officer of his guard that a Sikh horseman, who had been sent down the river, had reported that only a battery of artillery, two regiments of cavalry, and a brigade of infantry had crossed on the previous night, some wading the ford and others being brought over in boats, by which the guns had been conveyed across.
At night he heard that it was two o'clock before all had crossed and the march began, and they would probably halt at Doorewal, which was twelve miles on the way, somewhere about nightfall. The Sikhs reported that the cavalry were scouting in their front and on their left flank, and that the troops were marching in several columns, so that they could at once open out into order of battle if attacked. The guards were in high spirits that night, and sat round a fire laughing and talking until morning. The vigilance of the sentries, however, was in no way relaxed, and the officer several times peeped into the tent to see that all was right.
Before daybreak there was a hum of movement in the camp, and Percy knew that the Sikhs were mustering for the attack.