"Gil the Gunner" (continued 5)

“Thank you,” I said quietly, for his words were comforting; and I knew that my trouble was imaginary.

“Hah, that’s better!” he cried. “Come, we must be getting near the town.”

We were passing through a wooded part of the country now, the road being cut in several places through patches of forest; and scouts and flankers were sent out to make sure against surprise, as we were getting so near the enemy’s lair.

Ten minutes later there was an alarm in front, shouts and the clashing of swords, and in a wonderfully short time a couple of guns were unlimbered and ready for action, while Haynes was sent forward to support our men as they were out of sight beyond the trees, and did not return.

But before Haynes had gone far, he met them coming back, to report that they had surprised a picket of half a dozen sowars who were watching our road.

“And you let them gallop off,” cried Brace, angrily, “to alarm their comrades?”

“No, sir,” said the corporal, who was at the head of the advance; “we went at ’em directly.”

“How many got back?”

“None on ’em, sir.”

“Anybody hurt?”

“No, sir. Scratch or two on the horses’ heads and necks; that’s all.”

The orders were given to limber up again, and we advanced once more, as soon as the farriers had roughly seen to the injuries the horses had received; and as we went on, I caught a glimpse or two of the white uniforms and puggrees of the sowars in amongst the trees to right and left, the broken-down twigs and herbage showing where the running fight had taken place.

Brace reined up by one of the dead men.

“Why, Gil,” he said, “this must be the same regiment as the one we met.”

I was thinking the same, and said so.

“The scoundrels! If we could only surprise them. We are so weak in numbers, I hardly dare leave my guns; otherwise, with a troop of our lads to act as cavalry, I could pretty well cut them up, and scatter the rest, so that they would not do much more mischief for months to come.”

“Hush!” I whispered, as I caught his arm. “What’s that?”

“The first gun bumping over bad ground and rattling.”

“No; it’s firing,” I whispered, though the sound must have been a mile away.

“Yes; you are right. What is going on now? some fresh outrage?”

Our pace was increased, and orders given to the advance-guard to increase their distance ahead.

The firing grew fiercer, and a halt was called, the guns took up position, and we waited full of anxiety for news from the scouts sent out.

We had not long to wait in our uncertainty, for one of our men galloped back with the information that the firing was on this side of the town, and, directly after, a second man dashed up with the news that a regiment of cavalry in white coats was in full retreat toward us.

“Then they are being driven out by the foot regiment, which must have returned. Stand fast, my lads, if they charge us; but I doubt whether they will come right up to the guns.”

A few exciting minutes passed, and then, as the running, trampling noise of a large body of horse came nearer, Brace rode from gun to gun, giving his order that no shot should be fired till he was certain these were not friends, and then the fire was to be concentrated on the advancing column.

The sun had gone down, and night was coming on fast, but as the head of the regiment came into sight, the firing having ceased beyond them, Brace’s glass satisfied him as to whom these were.

“The sowar regiment!” he cried. “Fire!”

One after the other rapidly the six guns thundered forth a terrible reception, just as, in fairly good order, the regiment in full retreat came on at a gallop, and in perfect ignorance of our proximity.

It was the work of a moment; I saw the white column galloping toward us looking dim and strange, like some strange body rushing along beneath a cloud of dust; then it was rent and torn and thrown into confusion, as round shot and canister hurtled through the rank; and at the sixth report the road was littered with struggling horses, and then the fields on either side dotted with galloping fugitives, and the sowar regiment that had been tearing across the road towards us was non-existent.

Six shots; no more. By the time another one had reloaded, there were only flying individuals to aim at as they galloped over the plain, and Brace looked in vain for a rallying point, and the gathering together of a troop at which a round shot could be aimed.

“Sauve qui peut!” cried Brace, as orders were given for a fresh advance. “We cannot pursue them. Now forward for the town.”

“Some one coming,” I said, as the galloping of a horse was heard.

“Their last man,” said Brace. “Open out, my lads, and capture him.”

The horseman came on at a swinging gallop, and made straight for us, checking his charger as he drew near, and we saw that the face of the rider was white.

“Where’s your officer?” he cried hoarsely, as he reined up, with his sword hanging by the knot from his wrist.

“Here,” replied Brace.

“Thank God!” cried the new-comer. “I’m Mason—Captain Mason, 04th Highlanders. You fired on those bloodthirsty scoundrels.”

“And scattered the regiment. I could do no more.”

“Ah, if you could have shot them to a man! We were called away to help at Miapore, where a sepoy regiment mutinied. It was a long march, and as soon as we had gone—the European officers of that cursed regiment answering for their men’s fidelity—they rose and murdered the poor fellows who trusted them, and then—”

He stopped there and groaned.

“My wife—her sister—two of my little children—the whole of the English residents, and— Oh, why don’t you pursue? Hah!”

“Take care!” I roared, as I snatched sword from sheath, pistol from holster, and fired, for, from out of the gathering darkness, a dozen of the sowars, men who had recovered their horses, or those of slain men, dashed down upon us like a whirlwind right for where Brace stood talking to the Highland officer.

As I fired into the thick of them, I saw one man throw up his sword, but I also saw a fierce-looking savage charge right at Brace, who was unprepared; the sowar’s sword was raised, and he made a tremendous cut at our captain, one which must have ended his career; but, quick with the quickness begotten by practice and peril, our new friend caught and raised the point of his sword; and in the act of delivering his cut, the man was literally transfixed. He fell back over the cantrel of his saddle, and as his horse dashed on, he was dragged out of the saddle by Captain Mason’s jerk to withdraw his sword.

I saw all this, and almost at the same moment was conscious of a crushing blow on the head, accompanied by a terrible shock, and then I was looking stupidly at the doctor, who was kneeling by me in the road.

“Here, what is it?” I cried angrily. “Who was it rode me down? Is my horse hurt?”

“Never mind your horse, Gil. Speak, lad. Doctor. His head?”

“Oh, his head’s right enough,” said the doctor, as I struggled into a sitting position, and felt very sick and giddy. “I say, Vincent, my lad, you will have to send the accoutrement-maker a testimonial. Here’s a tremendous dint in your helmet, but it has saved your life.”

“Then he isn’t killed, sir?” cried a familiar voice.

“No, my lad; only a bit stunned,” said the doctor.

“Hooray!” rose in a tremendous cheer, in which every man in the troop seemed to join.

“Nice to be a favourite,” I heard Haynes say.

“But, look here,” I cried in an irritated way, “I don’t quite understand it. My head’s all—I— Why, some one must have knocked me down. Did I pitch on to my helmet, then?”

“My dear boy, you were struck down by a sowar, and your helmet saved your life.”

“The savage brute!” I cried pettishly. “It couldn’t have been the one who rode at you, because— Yes, I remember. Then the man who rode at me got off free.”

“Humph!” ejaculated the doctor, turning round and looking off to our right.

I followed his eyes, and saw a white figure lying face downward among some green corn.

“Yes,” said the doctor, “that is he; and you may thank Haynes for saving your life.”

“Oh, nonsense!” cried my brother-officer hastily. “We can’t be talking about that sort of thing; it’s nonsense. I only did what any one else would have done. Steady there, my lads. Silence in the ranks.”

The word was given to advance directly after, and in a few minutes there was a burst of cheers from on in front, where a skirmishing party of Captain Mason’s regiment had come upon our advance-guard.

This was answered by our troop, and directly after the officers were eagerly talking together as we marched into the outskirts of the little town, and soon after were congratulating ourselves on the excellent quarters we had found, the foot regiment being most eager in showing us where we could obtain provisions, and the necessaries for a restful night.

About an hour after, when the sentinels and outposts had been visited, and the round made of the horses, I was one of a party in one of the ruined rooms of the residency, where the officers were debating what steps should be taken at daylight the next morning, and matters were still in doubt as to whether we should march east or west when a prisoner was brought in. This was a shivering non-combatant, who eagerly gave every information he knew about the movements of the rebels, and was able to inform us, by way of buying his own life, as he thought, that the sowars were going to join the rajah, Ny Deen, the next morning, when their arrangements were suddenly upset by the return of the foot regiment which, on finding out that it had been deluded, came back by a forced march, but too late to save those at the station.

“Then the relics of the regiment will still seek to join this revolted rajah,” said the colonel of the foot regiment. “But his power has been broken up,” said Brace. “We put him to flight.”

“They’ll try to join him, all the same,” cried the colonel.

“The only hope of these men,” he continued, “is in co-operation. Depend upon it, the scoundrels will move west, and I say we ought to follow. Our march must be on Badhpore, and from thence in the direction of Nussoor. What do you say?”

“I say,” cried Brace, “that we are weak without infantry, and you are feeble without guns. It is a question of expediency, sir, and our force may prove to be the nucleus of a little army strong enough to sweep the mutineers from the land.”

Chapter Twenty Five.

A thrill ran through me at the colonel’s mention of Nussoor, and I listened eagerly to Brace’s reply, for I had felt in a dread lest he should oppose the plan of marching on that city, though I was obliged to own that it was quite possible that my father’s regiment might have left there in these disturbed times, and of course he would have placed my mother and sister where they would be safe.

After a little discussion, it was decided that we should stay twenty-four hours where we were, to recruit the men and horses, for, though the men all declared their readiness to go on at once, the infantry had had a very severe forced march or two, and required rest.

It was a terrible experience—a walk or two I had about the town with Brace during that halt, one which was utilised for collecting an ample supply of provisions and recruiting followers for our little camp, and I remember asking Brace whether he thought it wise to trust the natives.

“Yes and no, Gil,” he said. “I am not blind; I can see that every one here in this place humbles himself to the dust before us as the conquerors, and is ready to obey our slightest command; but, if we met with a reverse, they would rise and trample on us to a man, and glory in murdering such a set of unclean, infidel dogs as we are. But it is a necessity, my lad. We want our lads to fight, and they must be always ready for action. We cannot have them exhausted in this terrible climate, carrying loads, cutting grass for the horses, foraging for the elephants, and cooking. We must have hewers of wood and drawers of water, my dear boy, and keep a strict watch over these modern children of Gibeon. We cannot trust them, but we must have their services.”

“Yes, I see,” I replied.

“And there is this advantage: we are journeying through a strange country, which they know. We must eat, so must they. We should not be able to forage; they are, and in finding food for themselves they are compelled to find it for us. No, we cannot trust them. Look here. For aught we know, the men who are bowing down before us, and calling us sahibs, had a hand in this.”

We had reached a large bungalow, which, we afterwards learned, had been the commissioner’s house, and as I went with my companion from room to room, which at one time must have been furnished in exquisite taste, there were traces of the wanton destruction of a savage mob. Furniture had been smashed, the floor was littered with the remains of mirrors and ornaments; curtains and carpets were torn to shreds, and everything that could be battered and destroyed was in pieces.

It was so in the next room, and we were about to pass on to others, with the picture rising to my mind of what this place must have been before the rising, when Brace suddenly stepped before me, swung me round hastily, and gave me a push.

“Here, let’s get out of the miserable place, Gil,” he said hastily.

“You were too late,” I said. “I saw it the same moment. It’s of no use; I may as well get accustomed to such things, even if I am a mere boy.”

For, in one corner of the once handsome room, there were spots and splashes on the white wall, and terrible stains on the floor. The plaster of the sides, too, was scarred and dotted with bullet holes, and we could grasp the terrible fact that some one, probably more than one, had made a desperate defence in that corner, for there was a sword, broken in two pieces, lying behind a shattered piano, in whose woodwork were dozens of cuts, such as might have been given by savage men trying to get at those behind who had made it their breastwork; and as I saw all this, I could not refrain from going close—Brace making no opposition now—to see other terrible traces of the desperate fight of which this place must have been the scene.

One of the first things I saw behind the broken piano was a white handkerchief, horribly stained. It had been apparently hastily folded into a bandage, and tied round some one’s head, the knots being still there, and the kerchief lying on the floor, forming a rough circle. Close by were pieces of a woman’s dress, one fragment being a sleeve, evidently torn off in a desperate struggle. But the most horrible traces were those which told in simple language the result of the desperate defence that must have taken place; for, at the far end of the piano, where it stood about three feet from the wall, there lay a double rifle, broken off at the stock, a bayonet snapped at the socket, and between them, marks which showed only too plainly that the defenders of that corner of the room had been dragged out by the feet, and out through a farther door.

“Come away, Gil,” said Brace, hoarsely; “it only makes me feel mad against these wretches; and at a time when, with the work I have in hand, I want to be calm and cool as a judge.”

At that moment there was a furious roar from somewhere at the back of the house, and Brace’s hand went to his sword on the instant, mine naturally following suit.

“Draw, lad!” he cried. “We had no business to come without an escort. Keep close to me.”

But a second burst of shouting reassured us. No one but Englishmen could raise an indignant cry such as we heard.

“What does it mean?” I said, as we hurried out through the door, out of which the poor creatures who had defended themselves had been dragged, and we came directly upon about a dozen of our men, with some of the foot regiment.

“This way, sir—this way!” cried one of the men, who was in a terrible state of excitement; and unable to grasp more than that the men had been foraging about, and had made some discovery, they hurried us on to what must have been a kind of summer-house in a pleasant garden with a goldfish tank, and various other proofs of the taste of the late occupants of the place.

In this tank were various objects, apparently thrown in by the fierce mob which had plundered the house; while, as we drew near, there was just before us a heap of furniture and household goods, which had been piled up in front of the summer-house entrance, and fired, evidently to blaze furiously for a time, and with the object of burning down the summer-house as well.

A number of the half-burnt and charred things had been dragged away by the soldiers so as to clear the doorway, prompted, no doubt, by curiosity to see what was in the place the mob had tried to burn down; and, as we neared the spot, and the men, who were half mad with excitement, made way for us to look in, I felt for the moment as if turned to stone, and then the tears started to my eyes, weak as it may sound to say so, and formed a veil which shut out the horrors of the scene before me.

Shall I describe it? Yes; from no morbid wish to dwell upon the frightful scenes which, alas! grew too common, but as some palliation of the acts of our men, against whom charges were plentiful about their want of mercy.

Twelve poor creatures lay there, but only two were men in the prime of life, and who, hacked almost to pieces, had died bravely in the defence of their wives, sisters, and the helpless children, who lay in a heap with them—nine white women and children; and, holding it tightly to her breast even in death, a black woman, the faithful ayah or nurse of the infant she held, in protecting and trying to save which she had died.

I will try to describe no more, save that the funeral pyre, which the murderers had raised to hide their crime, had not reached them, not a garment being singed.

The men stood back, panting as if after a hard run, watching us now, as if to see what effect it would have upon us, and the silence after their fierce oaths and shouting was terrible.

As we drew back, one of our corporals cried fiercely—

“We don’t want no more rest, sir. Take us on at once.”

“Oh,” shouted another, “how can we hold our hands after this, sir?”

“Ay,” cried an Irish gunner, who was one of the party, “we were ready to foight the mutineers as min again min; but it isn’t min, lads—it’s savage bastes. And, hurrah! boys, come and take a last look of the poor darlins, to harden your hearts!”

“Halt!” cried Brace, sternly. “Joliffe,—Brian, advance; draw! Stand sentry at this door. No one is to profane the resting-place of our dead. Go back, my lads; you want no such sight to nerve your arms for the work we have to do.”

The men uttered a low murmur of acquiescence, and, without orders, fell in and marched behind us to the spot we had made our head-quarters. Here there was a short consultation between the officers, and directly a party of men was marched out to the foot of a clump of trees, where one great shallow grave was dug, and an hour afterwards, every man under arms, and the infantry lining the road to keep back the crowd of natives gathered from all parts of the town, the remains of the unfortunate people were borne, reverently draped, on the guns and tumbrils of our troop, to the open grave, laid therein carefully, the colonel said a short prayer, a volley was fired, the last resting-place of the two civil officials and their families was filled in, and a cross carved upon the nearest tree.

Long before the little ceremony was over, I saw that the natives, of whom a great crowd had collected, were beginning to steal away, till scarcely a soul was left; but I thought very little of this, for supposing that their curiosity was satisfied, it did not appear strange to me that they should go back to their homes. Perhaps, I thought, they may think we shall take vengeance upon them.

But this fact suddenly took Brace’s attention, just as the final duties were being paid to the dead; and, turning sharply to the colonel of the foot regiment, he said sharply—

“The people are drawing off; there must be some reason.”

Hardly had he spoken, when a shot was fired at a distance, followed by another and another; and in an instant our men sprang to their places, while half a mile down the road we could see the infantry, which had lined the sides, running back as hard as they could, men from each flank joining them, and the road growing full of a retreating detachment, toward which a couple of officers ran, giving orders as they went, with the result that the men nearer to us fell in and took position, line behind line, across the road, while those retreating in the extreme distance suddenly halted in the same formation.

The next minute the cause was evident, for a strong body of mounted men dashed into sight far down the road, and tore along as if to ride over the little line of men, and then sweep the place.

But their shouting and yelling did not scare the men in the least. They stood firm, waiting in double line, till the sowars were close upon them, and then delivered a sharp volley, the front rank going down on one knee directly, with their bayonets sloping upward, while the rear rank formed a second bristling line of sharp points on a level with their shoulders.

We had a glimpse of this as the smoke rose, and, to use the familiar expression, my heart was in my mouth, as I strained my eyes to pierce the cloud, expecting to see the poor fellows who kept the road ridden over, and the sowars come tearing on to where the next line was now drawn up a hundred and fifty yards nearer.

But as the smoke lifted, to my great delight I saw the sowars all in confusion, and cantering away, while the little line of infantry was doubling back towards their supporting line, through which they passed, and formed up again nearer to us.

There was another yelling, and a fresh body of sowars came tearing down the road, but only to be sent to the rightabout in the same way, for the volley they received emptied several saddles, and they dared not face the double line of bayonets, but turned and cantered back.

Then the same evolution was gone through again by the line of foot, and this was repeated twice with the effect of drawing in the straggling force, till the foot regiment was condensed, and our position strengthened.

“I don’t think much of their charging,” I said to Brace. “Why, our men wouldn’t have turned back like that. We should have gone through them, guns and all.”

Brace smiled, as we stood close beside a couple of our pieces, all there was room for in that narrow road, waiting for an opportunity to bring them into action, which, so far, we had been unable to do for fear of injuring our own men. Two of our guns were planted further back, facing in the other direction, in case of an attack in our rear, while, right and left, the men of the foot regiment held the houses which lined the road.

For a few minutes after the repulse of the last charge by the sowars, the enemy made no sign, and a quick consultation was held between the colonel of the foot regiment and Brace, in which it was decided to advance at once further into the town to where we had made our head-quarters, and where our provisions and ammunition were stored, so as to occupy that much stronger position, in case the enemy was in force, as only a small guard had been left. For that was a good central position selected for its opportunities for defence, and an advance was made at once.

We only had about a quarter of a mile to go, and as the men sent in front were about half-way along the road toward where we should have to turn off at right angles, we suddenly became aware of the advance of a stronger body of cavalry, and this time the guns were brought into action, a couple of shots checking their advance, and giving us time to reach the open square, and the large buildings which we had occupied for quarters in conjunction with the foot regiment.

The men left as baggage-guard over the stores and elephants gave a loud cheer as we trotted into the square with the guns, the foot regiment following at the double, to occupy the roof and windows of the big buildings, while our guns were planted so as to command the approaches, outposts being placed all round.

We were none too soon, for hardly had the position been occupied, than from the outposts and from the top of the building we had reports of the enemy’s approach from the west, a second regiment of native cavalry being in advance, while a cloud of dust gradually resolved itself into quite a little army of native infantry, followed by a huge crowd of camp-followers with horses, donkeys, elephants, and camels.

The colonel was on the roof, making good use of his glass, and he shouted down to where Brace was standing with the two reserve guns—

“Lucky we got back,” he said. “Their fighting men must be about three or four thousand strong.”

In spite of their numbers, the inclination was to advance at once and attack them, before they had time to get in order or into a strong position, Brace being naturally strongly in favour of this course, his branch of the service being, of course, adapted for field duty; but the colonel of the foot regiment was more cautious. His men were, opposed to so great a force, strongest behind walls defending such a building as that they occupied, and Brace had to give way. And there we waited, while the mutineers marched into the place. From where I was stationed with two of the guns I had an uninterrupted view before me, for about half a mile, of the scouting parties, mounted and on foot, which came to spy out our position, some of them going so far as to begin firing, the balls stirring up the dust in front of us, and the practice getting warmer, till one of the balls struck and glanced off from the gun nearest to me, while the carriage was struck directly after, the sound being like a sharp rap.

But about half a dozen pretty good marksmen replied from our side, and the firing was soon silenced.

After this a knot of sowars rode down into sight from time to time, offering our men a tempting mark for a discharge of grape, but there was no firing, for such shots could do no good, and they were reserved for a time when they could have a demoralising and scattering effect upon some attacking party.

All at once, as I stood there, hot and weary in the scorching sun, I saw another party ride up reconnoitring, one evidently composed of the leaders of the little army that was now closing us in, for scouts had brought us word how the enemy had occupied positions all around.

They were evidently examining us carefully; and I could not help admiring the daring of the well-mounted, gaily-dressed men who had halted about a couple of hundred yards away, right in front of our guns, which, at a word, would have belched forth a shower of grape.

There was not much for them to see, only the gunners with their linstocks, and the heads of the support of infantry, sheltering for the most part in the houses on either side of the road, the limbers and horses of each gun, and those of the gunners being back in an opening a few yards away, and completely hidden from the party in front.

And as I watched them, I could not help thinking that a clever officer who was not sparing of his men, might easily take our guns, for if one party made a dash at them, and drew our fire, a reserve party might dash in, and sabre the gunners before they had time to reload.

Just then I was conscious of a curious movement among our men, eyes being turned to me appealingly, while every gunner was on the qui vive, and I could see that at a word the guns would be rapidly discharged.

But I had no orders to commence hostilities, unless an attack was made, and I stood as eager as the men, watching the scouting party, as there was a sudden movement among them. They opened out, and one whom I had not before seen rode through them quite to the front, and just then a voice behind me whispered—

“Look, Gil! Do you see?”

Yes, I had seen; and I had been so taken up by the sight that I had not heard Brace come up to the guns.

“I could fetch that dandy chap down, and a dozen more,” I heard a man whisper.

“Silence there,” said Brace, sternly. Then to me, “Why, Gil, I thought he must be miles and miles away from here.”

“Then it is Ny Deen,” I said excitedly. “I thought I must be wrong.”

“Yes, it is he,” replied Brace. “And I feel as if I ought to fire, and sweep the whole gang away; but it seems such a cowardly thing to do.”

The temptation to fire was removed directly after, for the party drew back and disappeared, while all was still in the blazing sunshine, saving a dull humming sound of many voices, telling that the little town was densely thronged by the new-comers. And once more Brace drew back as if to go, but stopped short, for the colonel and major of the foot regiment appeared, and Brace signed to me to come to his side.

“I think I should have given him the two charges,” the colonel was saying as I came up; and then, soon after, “Well, perhaps you are right.”

“I am sure I am,” Brace said eagerly. “If my men were a company or two of infantry like your own, I should say, by all means let us strengthen the residency, and after getting together all the provisions we could, stand fast till more help came; but with my guns and horses cooped up here in these streets, I am almost useless. We can fire a few times, and then, if the enemy makes a bold dash, there will be a short struggle, and they must capture the guns again. You see, my horses are in the way here, where there is no room to manoeuvre.”

“Yes; that is quite right. But we might get them in the compound, and turn your guns into pieces for our little fort.”

“Yes,” said Brace; “and how are you going to feed the poor beasts when you have them in the compound? There is no begging the question, sir; I can make my troop invaluable, and act as cavalry as well, out in the open; but here we cannot develop our strength.”

“He’s quite right,” said the major.

“Then what would you propose?” said the colonel.

“We have abundance of ammunition, and our waggons and elephants. Moving out as soon as it is dark.”

“They will not let us move; and it would be murderous for my poor lads to carry on a hand-to-hand fight in these narrow lanes.”

“More murderous to be shut up in that residency, to be attacked day after day by a force that will always be increasing, while we grow weaker.”

“Unless help comes.—But you would move out?”

“Yes.”

“And what then? Retreat and leave these scoundrels in possession?”

“No; they will think we are retreating, and follow us. We can keep on retiring till you have got into a good position, when I can literally mow them down from a distance.”

“Unless their cavalry take your guns.”

“I am not afraid of that, sir,” said Brace, with a laugh.

“And they will be six or seven to one,” said the colonel.

“The odds were greater at Plassy,” said Brace, quietly. “Depend upon it, if we get them out on fair ground—which we will—they will receive a tremendous check.”

“What do you say?” said the colonel, turning to his brother-officer, the major.

“I side with Captain Brace, decidedly. If we shut ourselves up, we are crippling a dashing troop of artillery; and, worse still, letting the scoundrels think they are our masters. That they must never think. No: retreat, but as a ruse. We are their masters still, and we will show them we are.”

“Yes,” said the colonel, firmly. “I shrink from it, as being a very grave responsibility, weak as we are; but I quite agree with you both. We shall be stronger in the field; and if we are not attacked before night, we will march out.”

“Why wait for the darkness, and the confusion it will cause?” said Brace. “I was of the opinion that we might retreat under cover of the darkness, but I think now it would be best to dash out and give battle at once.”

“Yes,” said the colonel, drily; “that’s easy enough for you and your troop. You can rattle out at full gallop; but we have got to march, and fight our way step by step.”

“Exactly. But I can take up a position at once and cover you; and I will.”

The colonel bowed and stood frowning and thoughtful for a few moments. Then I saw his face clear, and he held out his hand.

“It is good advice,” he said; “and I shall look for your co-operation to its fullest extent. Ah! what’s this?”

For at that moment a bugle rang out; and, as I turned, I saw a sowar officer advancing with a trumpeter, and one of his men beside him, bearing a white flag on his lance, while several followers rode behind.

Chapter Twenty Six.

Brace and the infantry officers passed between the guns, and took a few steps forward to meet the bearer of the flag of truce, who came forward alone and saluted them, but with a haughty, contemptuous look.

“Well, sir,” said the colonel, “have you a despatch or message?”

As the colonel spoke, I saw that a larger party of cavalry had collected behind the little group which accompanied the officer, and one of the infantry men at a window above my head whispered down to me that there were more behind.

This put me on the watch; and I spoke to my men not to make the slightest movement, but to be ready.

All this was almost momentary, and the next instant, as I kept a keen eye on the enemy, I was listening to the sowar officer speaking.

“His Highness the Maharajah Ny Deen, who has with him now an army, many as the sands of the holy river, surrounding you on all sides, bids you lay down your arms and surrender.”

“Yes; and what then?”

“His highness will treat you as prisoners, but kindly; and your lives will be spared. But you must lay down your arms at once, and march out.”

“For his bloodthirsty band of cut-throats to fall upon us, and treat us as they do all unarmed men.”

“His Highness the Maharajah gives you his word that your lives will be spared.”

“And if we refuse to surrender, what then?”

“Your bodies will be given to the crows and vultures,” said the officer. “For by sundown nothing of you will be left alive.”

“Look here, sir,” said the colonel; “have you ever read the Bible?”

“No; I read the Koran,” said the native officer, whose haughty, overbearing way seemed to be humbled before the stern Englishman who addressed him.

“Read in the Bible, too, and you will find there about how one Rabshakeh came summoning a people to surrender. He boasted, and so do you.”

“Do you surrender?” said the officer, with an attempt to resume his haughty tone of supremacy.

“No. Go and tell your mutinous master that we are ready to meet and punish him and his treacherous following of traitors, who are false to the queen they swore to serve. Tell him that if he will lay down his arms, and surrender to her Majesty’s and the great Company’s troops, he will have justice done, and to send no more messages here. They are insults to honourable gentlemen and their followers.”

“Then you refuse his highness’s mercy?” said the officer, haughtily.

“Back, sir, and deliver your message,” cried the colonel; “and tell his highness that if he dares to send any of his insolent mutinous scoundrels here again, I shall fire upon them. A flag of truce is not to protect traitors.”

The man scowled, and seemed to writhe at the contemptuous manner in which he had been treated. Then, in obedience to long habit, he saluted and rode back with his men.

“Yes, we must act at once,” said the colonel; “and take the initiative.”

“In, quick!” I shouted, as I caught sight of a movement in front; and so cleverly and quickly was the manoeuvre carried out, that as the three officers passed between the guns, a column of mounted men came tearing along the street.

But I was ready, and one gun thundered out its defiance, the shot sending the column into confusion; but they dashed on, and were within forty yards of us when the second gun bellowed with such dire effect that the foremost men turned and fled, throwing those who still advanced into confusion, and giving our men time to reload; while the infantry commenced firing from the windows on either side, and a company waiting a hundred yards away in reserve came up at the double, and, with fixed bayonets, took up their position, ready to protect the guns.

It was my first responsible piece of action, in charge of the guns alone, and as I saw the dire havoc my orders had caused, a curious sickening sensation attacked me, and for a few moments all seemed dim.

Just then our Irish gunner Brian exclaimed, forgetful of discipline in his excitement—

“Look at that now! Murther! what would my poor ould mother say, if she saw what I’ve done?”

He had fired the second gun, and he stood scratching his ear with a curiously perplexed look on his droll countenance. Then he brightened up, and shook his head at the poor wretches who were crawling from among the injured horses to get into shelter of the houses to right and left.

“Bedad!” he cried, fiercely, “I don’t moind a bit. Come on, and I’ll do it again. I’d forgotten about the summer-house and the fire.”

“’Tention!”

“Yis, sor. I beg pardon. It was me excitement.”

But the enemy did not come on again; the lesson had been too terrible, and we all stood there, hot with excitement and fretting against the inaction; while preparations were being rapidly made behind us for evacuating the residency, the infantry now manned the roof, keeping down observations by a shot or two now and then at any of the enemy who appeared at the windows of the houses near.

But I knew that before long they must know of our intention to retreat, and I stood there with my men on the strain, and watching the people who came to the help of the wounded and carried them away.

“Oh, murther!” muttered Brian, at last, as if his tongue would not rest without speaking; “if Oi were a fut-artilleryman, I should desart. I couldn’t stand much of this.”

“Will you be silent, sir!” I cried sternly.

“Sure, sor, it isn’t me; it’s me tongue, bad luck to it. But, beggin’ your hanner’s pardon, would ye order one of the naygers to bring round a dhrink o’ wather.”

I ordered a bucketful to be fetched, for we were all suffering from thirst and from the unnecessary heat produced by our clothes, which, like those provided for the British soldier, were utterly unsuited for our work, everything being sacrificed for show.

The men drank the cool water with avidity, Brian looking at me with twinkling eyes as he helped himself to a second pannikin.

“Talk about yer port wines and champagnes, sor,” he said; “there’s ownly two things fit to dhrink, and one’s whiskey, and the other’s wather.”

“Why, you said the other day there was nothing like tay,” cried one of the men.

“Sure an’ I did, for ould women,” retorted Brian; “but even they put a dhrop o’ whiskey in it sometimes.”

“Silence!” I cried, very much against my will; and the men were back in their places as stiff as if on parade, till I heard orders given. There was the clattering of hoofs; the horses came up, the guns were hooked on to the limbers, and the next minute we were mounted, leaving the company of foot holding the street.

I was not long kept in doubt as to the arrangements, for, as we were moved into the square, there was the rest of our troop with the four guns, and I saw that the ammunition and baggage-waggons, water-tubs, and provender, were, along with the elephants, ready to come out with the foot regiment, leaving us free to dash out and clear the way, acting as cavalry or artillery as the need arose.

When all was quite ready, it had been arranged that we should make for the open country down the street which Haynes had been holding, and where a company of foot were now stationed to replace the two guns.

As I glanced up at the residency, I could see that about half a dozen soldiers were still on the roof, otherwise the place was completely evacuated, and the men waiting eagerly for the advance.

Then I heard the final arrangements made with the colonel, who was to put his column in motion directly, and follow us with the elephants and waggons, it being left to Brace to occupy the best position he could.

At this time a shot or two from a distance was being aimed by the enemy’s matchlock men, at the sentries on the residency roof, but no harm was done, and, saving the dull distant hum of many people swarming in the town, all was so still that our evacuation of the place promised to be a very simple and easy affair.

And there we sat watching the various companies of the foot regiment ranged up; that occupying the street Haynes had held being the advance; that by us was the main body and baggage-guard; whilst the company who had been with us was to form the rear.

Then orders were given, and a message brought back that the road we were to take seemed clear; and we waited a few minutes more, while Brace sent out an advance-guard of three of our mounted men, to go on by the infantry picket straight for the plain.

These were anxious moments. There was a pause, and then we waited for the order to advance.

How vividly it all comes back; the dazzling sunshine flashing from arms and accoutrements; the stern, sun-browned, determined faces of the men; and, with their shadows looking dwarfed and strange, there were the three huge elephants nodding their heads and swinging them from side to side, as they writhed and curled their trunks, lifting first one foot and then the other, impatient to be on the move.

At last the word was given, and as the foot regiment stepped out toward the opening in the main street, along which we were to pass, our advance was on the way, in a quick walk, which, as we entered the street held by the foot company, which opened and stood back on either side to let us pass, became a trot with the horses’ hoofs clattering and the guns and limber wheels rattling loudly.

There was a disposition on the part of the men to give us a cheer as we passed, but a stern command stayed them; and on we went, feeling that we had, after all, an easy task to perform, for everything was so still.

I was with the two centre guns, and I glanced back to see that, as our last man passed, the company of foot marched after us. Then Brace gave a sharp order, the trumpet rang out, and we thundered on at a gallop, for he had seen the meaning of the silence; the enemy had either received a hint from one of the native followers, who must have deserted, or have divined our probable course of action, for suddenly men appeared on the tops of the houses on either side of the road, and began firing, while right in front a body of sepoys, followed by a squadron of horse, occupied the street from side turnings to block our way.

I expected to hear the halt called for the guns to be unlimbered, so as to clear the road before us, but Brace kept to the plans laid down for his guidance. Passing almost unscathed among the bullets which pattered around, we increased our pace, dashing straight at the natives in front with such a roar of horse hoof and wheel, accompanied by so fierce a cheer, that before we reached them the mutineers broke and fled into the shelter of the side streets, and we thundered by, our advance cutting up the stragglers who could not escape, and soon reaching the suburbs, and then the open plain. Here Brace halted upon a mound, from which there was a good view of the road by which we had come, while just behind was a dense tope or patch of forest that would give our infantry a tremendously strong position, and from which they were not easily to be dislodged by an enemy not provided with guns.

The fight had begun, for, as we unlimbered, we could see quite a mob of the enemy closing in from right and left to check the advance of the foot regiment, which they knew could only come on slowly, while probably they looked upon us as out of the engagement, having made good our retreat.

As we loaded, the steady rattle of musketry began to increase, telling us that our friends were having to fight their way, and ours was the task to help them, and to undeceive the enemy, whose ranks thickened, and about whom had hovered two large bodies of sowars, waiting their turn to attack as soon as the foot regiment began to file into the open.

“Now is our time,” said Brace, excitedly; and then, suddenly growing calm, “Don’t waste a shot, my lads. Good careful aim.”

There was a few moments’ pause while Brace examined the gathering groups with his glass, and gave us a few final instructions. Then the guns came into action with a steady, regular fire from right to left, shot following shot, so that at the second round the effect had been almost magical. One minute body after body of men were crowding up toward the road, the next they were scattering and seeking the shelter of the houses, while our attention was now directed toward the two columns of cavalry.

Meanwhile the rattle of the musketry came fiercer and louder, telling that our friends had not been checked, but were steadily advancing through a terrible fire; but I knew that the heavy boom of our guns must encourage them, and I looked on with a strange eagerness as my two guns were sponged and loaded, giving directions to the men for their next aims.

These were, as I have said, at the white squadron of native cavalry, the men whom our people had so carefully trained, with the result that their English officers were slain, and the native officers in command.

I could see for myself that there was very little of the guiding spirit of our generals at work, each commander of a regiment acting according to his own ideas, and I was thinking, young soldier as I was, that if I had had command, I should have sent forward one of the native regiments in skirmishing order to attack us while the two sowar regiments had been sent off right and left to try and cut us off, the result being, I thought, the almost certain routing and capture of our own troops.

But nothing of the kind was done; the officers in command of the cavalry sat watching the sepoy ranks being ploughed up by our grape and canister, till they scattered to shelter, and commenced a useless fire upon us, and then seemed utterly astounded as round shot after round shot plunged in among their squadrons, making terrible gaps, and throwing them into utter confusion.

But they closed up again as well as they could, and sat fast in spite of dozens of the men taking fright and galloping off with riderless horses over the plain; but half a dozen more shots scattered them again, and now for the first time the idea seemed to enter the brains of their leaders that they must act in concert, and after a trooper had dashed across the road from one side to the other, the new columns advanced, and we directed our fire right at the thick masses in which they were formed.

To my mind we had time for one shot, and then I expected the call to limber up and gallop off, but it did not come; and as we loaded again, then, with a roar like that of a tempest, the sowars came on till, as we fired again, we could see their gleaming eyes and the savage rage and hate in their countenances.

I knew that we should have no time to retreat after those six shots, and felt that in a few seconds I should be in the midst of a terrible mêlée.

But our men fired grape and canister now, and as gun after gun sent out its puff of smoke, a perfect tempest of bullets surged through the columns, while as I sat fast, panting and awaiting their charge, I found that Brace knew the enemy better than I, for as the shot tore among them they broke off to right and left, scattering as they went back toward the spots from which they had started on their desperate charge, leaving scores of their men about upon the plain.

“Risky,” said Brace to me, as the men ceased firing, and waited for fresh orders; “but I knew our lads would be steady, and that the scoundrels would never hold together after those last charges of grape.”

“And if they had kept together?”

“If,” he said, smiling. “Well, then they would have cut us all down with their tulwars; but they could not keep together—no sowars could bear such a tempest as that. Some of them were sure to turn tail, and then force of example upsets more, and the rest followed them in such a retreat as you see.”

“Look! they are gathering again on each side of the road. Round shot.”

Two guns dispersed them this time, for they were evidently preparing to revenge themselves upon our friends, who had by this time reached the outskirts of the place, as we could see by the dotted puffs of smoke rising whitely here and there among the houses.

Just then, though, we saw a fresh body of sepoys, many hundreds strong, debouching from a road some fifty yards from that by which we had issued from the place, evidently to intercept our friends. There was very little order among them in spite of their being, as their uniform showed, men of sepoy regiments, and their confusion was our opportunity.

There was a slight alteration of the guns, so that their fire might be concentrated; and just as they were tearing along, and we saw the skirmishers of our party issuing from among the houses, we opened a terrible fire of grape.

The effect was wonderful. At the first shot, the sepoys halted; at the second they wavered, and by the time the sixth had sent in its deadly storm, their survivors were in full flight, while, cheering loudly, our column marched out into sight, and now for the first time, and just as the waggons and elephants came full in view, we heard, instead of the rattle of scattered firing, the heavy roar of a volley in the rear.

Then the order was given to double, and the column came on with a couple of companies in the rear now in sight, taking it in turns to halt, kneel, and fire a volley before turning and doubling past their comrades waiting to hold the enemy in check and fire a volley in turn.

For the enemy were in force behind them, and came pouring out in pursuit till nearly a couple of thousand men must have rushed out of the wide road, and as they opened out to right and left, firing on the retreating regiment, the position of our friends was growing perilous in the extreme. Men were dropping fast, and it was evident that the two rear companies wanted support.

The support was coming, for our guns were run off to our right, took up fresh position where we could fire clear of our own men, and rapidly as they could be served, and the heated vents would permit, a terrific fire was brought to bear upon the sepoys, crushing them so effectually that ten minutes after, and only followed by a scattered fire, the infantry regiment reached the patch of wood, the elephants, ammunition-waggons, and native followers were placed in safety, and the colonel found time to canter up to Brace and warmly wring his hand.

“Splendid!” he cried. “We have lost wonderfully few.” Then aloud to our troop, “Thank you, my lads, thank you.”

“Oh, it’s all right, colonel dear,” I heard Brian say in a loud voice; “we shall be wanting ye to hilp us before long.”

Chapter Twenty Seven.

The colonel was delighted with the position, knowing that, if the ammunition held out, he could, with Brace’s help, make it a centre from which he could thrash twice as many of the enemy.

But it seemed to me, as I noted how many poor fellows were wounded, that we did not want any more fighting that day; and for a time it did not look as if we were to be troubled.

I was wrong, though, for in about half an hour the enemy’s leaders were showing front again, and it was evident that Ny Deen did not mean us to escape, for strong bodies of cavalry filed off to right and left, exactly as I had planned in my own mind, while his foot were mustered in great strength, their numbers being rapidly added to by men from out of the town. To add to the peril of our position, we made out a whole line coming along from the west which soon showed itself to be a fresh regiment of native cavalry coming to join Ny Deen’s standard and help drive the infidel out of the land.

In the consultation which took place, with the men all at ease, and bread and water being partaken of eagerly, the colonel said calmly—

“I’m not a bit alarmed for myself. My lads will fight to the last. We’ve plenty of ammunition, and I know we can make our square smaller and smaller, till they are sick of it, as they soon will be, for they cannot rush us. They will not face the bayonet. What about you? There’s my fear.”

“I’ll help you all I can,” said Brace, “and I don’t think you need fear for us. We can manoeuvre and keep them at a distance. We fight best at a pretty good range,” he said laughingly.

Our men had escaped without a scratch, so that our doctor was able to devote himself to the help of his brother in the profession at the temporary hospital made under a huge tree, well out of range of any firing that might arise. The foot regiment had suffered very heavily, for the fighting had been most severe through the narrow street, enemies springing up constantly in the most unexpected places; and, as I heard from the officers, to have halted for a minute to repel the attacks would have been fatal. In fact, from the time we left them, the poor fellows had literally to run the gauntlet of a fierce fire, and all confessed that it was wonderful that the casualties had been so few.

The moments of rest and refreshment now being enjoyed were most needful, and it was wonderful to see how restorative the simple draught of water and handful of bread seemed, the men brightening up and looking ready directly after.

Meanwhile scouts were sent out, and skirmishers took advantage of every depression to hold ready for the enemy’s advance, though, after a time, this looked doubtful, for, after drawing up his men, as if for an immediate attack, Ny Deen had halted and waited the advance of the fresh corps of cavalry to strengthen his hand in that direction.

It meant an addition of about three hundred men to his forces; but it gave us little cause for anxiety, the general opinion being that the sowars would not face us; the only cause for alarm being in the event of the foot giving way, when their pursuit might prove terrible.

While we waited, the ammunition-waggon was brought up, and our ammunition chests refilled, to make up for the vast waste, Brace taking care that an extra supply of grape and canister should be placed in the boxes, both on the gun-carriages and the limbers. The cartridge-boxes of the men in the foot regiment, too, had been repacked, and now, rested, refreshed, and ready for action, all waited for the attack which was still delayed.

We were drawn up at a little distance from the patch of trees, our troop having, of course, a perfectly free hand to advance, retire, or harass the enemy, as seemed best to our leader; and Brace sat watching anxiously the sowars lying between us and the town, while Haynes kept sweeping the plain on the other side of the tope for the enemy’s cavalry, but without avail, a patch or two of forest effectually screening their advance.

All at once the colonel cantered up to Brace.

“Do you see what they mean?” he cried, and, as Brace looked at him wonderingly, he continued, “There’s some one at the head of affairs there with his head screwed on the right way. He is waiting for night before attacking.”

“So as to make my guns of half the service,” said Brace, quickly.

“Exactly!”

They were both silent for a few moments, and sat gazing at the rajah’s forces.

“Then we must take the initiative,” said Brace, sharply.

“That is what I have come to say,” cried the colonel, quickly. “It seems,” he added in a lower tone, “daring, half mad; but we have right on our side, and the scoundrels, with all their hatred, fear us horribly. The odds are very great; but if we can scatter them, it will be a lesson that will bear fruit greater than we can imagine. It will teach them how terrible the wrath of England can be, and how hopeless their attempt is likely to prove, no matter how many men they bring into the field. You agree with me?”

“Thoroughly,” said Brace, “for my men are at their worst when placed in a fixed battery.”

“At once, then,” said the colonel.

“At once,” replied Brace, “before their cavalry come in sight. Don’t think me impertinent.”

“No; go on.”

“You will fight in square.”

“Trust me,” was the reply, with a nod and a smile, and the colonel cantered off to join his men, and beginning to manoeuvre them at once, after leaving a strong rear guard among the trees in case the sowars should make a sudden dash, for they had nothing to fear from the sepoys; any attempt on their part being for a long time to come impossible, for the colonel could fall back and protect his rear and baggage-guard long before the infantry could get near.

A low murmur of satisfaction ran through our little troop as orders were given which they knew meant immediate action. We went off at a trot, as if going right away, the object being to get upon the enemy’s flank, and long before they grasped our object we had changed to a gallop, wheeled round, the men sprang from horse and limber, and in less than a minute round shot were ploughing through their ranks, sending them into confusion, and doing a vast deal of mischief before they had changed their formation, and skirmishers were sent out in advance of a regiment, the firing growing after a while somewhat annoying, when quick almost as it can be described, we limbered up and went out of range, taking up a fresh position, from which fresh confusion was thrown into their ranks, the regiment sent out against us being left far on our left.

By this time our infantry friends were steadily marching in close formation as if to aid us in our attack, when our scouts came in at a gallop, and we saw the cause, one of the sowar regiments was coming down upon us over the plain, the other being in all probability advancing too, but hidden from us by the tope.

Will the colonel see them? I wondered as, at a word, the limbers were drawn round, and we changed front, slewing about the guns, and sending round shot at the sowars now approaching rapidly, while I wondered whether Brace would stand fast and brave them.

But there was in those exciting moments no time for thought. Shot after shot was sent at the advancing regulars, which began to leave horses and men struggling on the plain, while their formation was broken up. But onward they came now in what more resembled a drove than the line of a regiment, and into this the grape shot was poured with such terrible effect, that they broke, turned, and swept away, never coming within fifty yards of us.

Our men sent up a cheer, but we had to canter off, and take up a fresh position, for the sepoy skirmishers were close upon us, and shots began to whizz by our heads.

Hardly were our men mounted again, and we were moving off, before my heart leaped to my throat, for from the other side of the tope I saw the second sowar regiment dash into sight and race down to attack our foot regiment.

“Look, look!” cried Brace, excitedly; “they’ll be through them. What is he about?”

But almost as the words left his lips, the double line of infantry, advancing toward the rajah’s main force, folded back, as it were, upon itself, and by the time the horsemen were getting close, they were faced by a triple line of bayonets, and a sputtering line of fire curled out, emptying saddles and checking the advance, the sowars sweeping round and galloping away.

“I knew they would not face the bayonets,” cried Brace. “Gallop,” he shouted; and he led us toward a bit of an eminence, where he evidently meant to take up position, and rake the retreating enemy in their flight.

But they were not retreating. Quick in their action nearly as we were, they wheeled round, and instantly it was evident that their leader was about to try and capture the guns.

I saw it all at a glance, so did every man in the troop, as we galloped on toward the eminence which it would be impossible to reach before they were upon us, while it was equally impossible for us to halt, unlimber, and bring the guns into action. The infantry regiment was too far off to help us, and our only chance appeared to me to be to wheel off to the right, and race for our lives.

Brace rightly saw the position differently.

“Draw—swords!” he roared; then changing our form of advance by a rapid movement taken at the gallop, the trumpet rang out, and I felt for the moment as if I was at the head of the mutineers once more, when we recaptured the guns; then, with sword on guard, I was gazing full at the long line of sowars charging us as we tore on at a frantic gallop, the guns now in echelon, leaping and bounding over the ground, the men on the limbers, sword in hand, holding on with the other, and every driver of the three to each gun holding his sabre at the charge.

One moment it must have seemed to the leaders of the native regiment that they had an easy capture, their line overlapping ours by far on either wing; the next, that an English horse artillery troop is no plaything, for there was a tremendous collision, horses and men went down headlong, and our troop swept on, their echelon formation causing shock after shock, as the tremendous momentum of the six horses of each gun was too great to be withstood by the light-armed sowars, and the guns were saved.

I was conscious of a sharp volley, then of another and another, as we galloped on, the man beside me sinking lower and lower over his horse’s neck; then, in what was to me like a nightmare, I saw him drop headlong from his horse, and had a glimpse of his face as his helmet fell off.

Then, growing more and more composed, I wondered why the English regiment should be firing volleys at us, their friends; and all this time the blinding perspiration seemed to be pouring from my head, and I was not seeing clearly. Then, raising my empty right hand, I swept it across my eyes, and as I did so grasped the fact that my sword was hanging by its knot from my wrist, as I saw clearly for a moment that I was alone, and yet not alone, for fierce-looking men in their white garb were galloping by me.

Then I knew that in the dashing charge I had been separated from my troop; that I was bleeding horribly from a wound; and one thought came like lightning across my brain—no; two thoughts, and they were these.

“It is all over; but have I done my duty like a man?”

The next minute a sowar turned and made a cut at me; but his blow fell upon steel, which flashed. Something else glittered and flashed too, and a fierce voice roared an order in Hindustani as we tore on, with a nervous hand grasping my arm, just as it suddenly seemed to turn to night, and I knew no more.

Chapter Twenty Eight.

I felt that if whoever it was would only have left me alone, I would not have cared; but to be bothered like that, when I was so sleepy, and when I had been so hard at work all day, and done my rounds at night, was too bad.

Yes; I knew it was after sunrise, and that in an ordinary way I ought to have jumped up, but the sleepy, stupid feeling was too much for me, and I only lay there and grumbled.

“Don’t!” I remember crying, “you hurt me;” but whoever it was kept on all the same, doing something to my head, and then he began dragging my arm about, and then I went off fast asleep.

I remembered all that when I opened my eyes again. It was my first thought, and I lay wondering in a puzzled sort of way whether it was Haynes, for he was the only one likely to play any trick with me, and unlikely enough too. Brace was too stern, thoughtful, and serious, so I thought it could not have been he.

“Hullo!” I exclaimed. No: it could hardly be called an exclamation, for it was said in a very low tone of voice, as I stared about me, and grew confused. For I felt that I ought to be lying in one of the shattered rooms of the residency. No: we had left the residency, and I ought to be lying under a tree in the tope.

It was very puzzling, and I could not make it out at all. In fact, the more I tried, the more perplexing it grew, and while I was trying to get my head to think properly, everything grew dull and misty, and I went off to sleep once more.

But the next time I awoke and ran over my position, I found that I was able to think well, and I did, though the puzzle was great still, why it was that I was lying on cushions with handsome purdahs or curtains hung about the sides of what was evidently a tent, with handsome Indian carpets spread on the floor, and a punkah over my head, waving gently to and fro to cool the air.

As I was trying to pierce the cloud that closed me in, I at last got a gleam of light through it as if the cloud had opened a little, and I recollected distinctly standing by my two guns in the glaring hot street. Yes; I could recollect that clearly, but no more. Then came a period of confusion, but that passed off, and I remembered our trot and then gallop out of the town, down the long road, and out into the country-like plain, where we took up position, and brought the guns into action.

After a time I recalled the whole of the particulars of the engagement right on to our halt beside the tope, within whose shades the waggons, elephants, and wounded men were placed. And now a feeling of trouble and worry came over me, for I recollected that I had been so busy that I had not been to see Serjeant Craig.

It looked hard, for he had done so much for us, but I hoped that Brace had been to him, and that he would not think it unkind of me, knowing as he would that I had been heavily on duty. But, all the same, it was hard for the poor fellow lying wounded.

I paused there, and then repeated the words in a strange, puzzled way—“Poor fellow lying wounded—poor fellow lying wounded.”

And then, with the intention of sitting up, I moved my arm.

No; I only tried to move it, and felt a horrible twinge of pain. Then I tried to raise my head, but it felt like so much lead, and the effort made me feel sick.

But my mind was active now, and as I said in a whisper, “Why, I must be wounded,” the scene of our last gallop came back to my mind with vivid force, and I saw it all, and even, as it were, felt the sensation of the mad gallop, and the shock of our collision with the sowars, even to the curious sensation of galloping along with our men firing at us, and then awakening to the fact that I had fierce-looking troopers on either side, and then of one cutting at me, and another interposing to save my life.

Yes; I could recollect that clearly, and I recalled, too, the poor fellow falling headlong from his horse.

Was that I?

It seemed as if it must have been; but in a confused way I argued that, if it had, I could not have sat on horseback and seen him fall.

I was still puzzling about it with a feeling upon me that my brain would not work properly, when a purdah was thrust on one side, and a tall, grave, grey-bearded man in white and gold came slowly in. His voluminous turban was of white muslin, and his long snowy garment descended almost to his feet.

I felt, as he gravely fixed his eyes upon me, and advanced to where I lay, that this must be a kind of dream, and that possibly the sun had beat so hotly upon my helmet that it had had some effect upon my brain. Consequently, all I had to do was to be still, and then all would come clear.

But the dream became to me wonderfully real as the tall grave Mussulman went down on one knee and laid his hand upon my head, the touch feeling cool and pleasant, while, as he saw my eyes fixed upon his inquiringly, he said in very good English—

“The young sahib is better?”

“Better?” I replied in a curiously faint voice—“better? Have I been ill?”

“Don’t try to talk. Not ill, sahib—wounded.”

“Oh!” I ejaculated. “Then I was hurt in that charge. Where is Captain Brace?”

“Don’t talk; you are weak. Let me look at your wound.”

As he spoke he laid his hand upon my left arm, but changed his mind, and his hands were busy about my head, which I found now was confined by a bandage.

This being removed, he gave me a little pain by touching one spot just above my temple, which was extremely tender, and then, taking out a pair of scissors, he snipped away a little hair closely; after this he drew a piece of fine white cloth from his pocket, he poured some brown strongly scented fluid from a little flask to moisten it, and laid the little wet patch on my head, with the result that it tingled sharply.

“Hurt?” he said quietly.

“Yes; a little.”

“It will soon go off.”

As he spoke he very carefully bound the linen bandage he had removed back in its place.

“Is it a sword-cut?” I asked.

“No, sahib; a bullet struck your helmet, and made a bad place within. It is not very serious, and if you are quiet, it will soon be well.”

“But where is Dr Danby? Why does he not come?” I asked; then, in a startled way, “He is not killed?”

The grey-bearded old fellow merely shook his head and repeated his injunction that I should not talk, and now began examining my left arm, which was firmly bandaged, and began to pain me severely at his touch.

“Is that a bullet wound?” I said in a whisper, for I felt that I must resign myself to my position, and, after the first shock, I began to feel rather proud that I had been wounded, for I felt not the slightest inclination to stir.

“No,” he said, as he removed bandage after bandage, “a cut from a tulwar just below the shoulder. You will be brave, and bear what I do without being faint? Yes,” he added, with a grave smile, “you English sahibs are brave. Hurt?”

“Hurt? Yes,” I said, with a wince. “Is it a big cut?”

“Yes,” he said softly; “a big cut—a bad cut, but it is beautiful, and will soon grow up again.”

“Are you going to put any of that smarting stuff on?” I asked.

“Oh no. It wants nothing but to be left to grow well with bandages round it. These fresh bandages. Young healthy flesh soon heals.”

“Are you a surgeon?” I asked.

“Yes; and learned to be one in London,” he continued, with a smile. “But now you must be still and not talk.”

I was not sorry to be forbidden to speak, for it was an effort, and I lay watching him, feeling very sick and faint, while he dressed my wound; and then I felt nothing till I found myself staring at the grave face of the eastern surgeon, as he lightly passed a moistened finger beneath my nostrils, and then touched the neck of a bottle which he turned upside down, and proceeded to moisten my temples, while a peculiar cool pungent odour filled the tent.

“Better?” he said.

“Yes,” I said dreamily; and then as I realised what had passed—“Did I faint?”

He bowed gravely.

“It was natural, sahib. I hurt you very greatly; but the wound looks well. Ah, your colour is coming back to your lips.”

“Thank you,” I said feebly. “I am sorry I was so cowardly. Now ask Captain Brace to come.”

He shook his head.

“Well, then, Mr Haynes.”

He shook his head again.

“They are far away,” he said.

“Then what place is this? a hospital?”

He shook his head again.

“I am only the doctor,” he said, with a smile. “My duty is to dress your wounds, and it is done.”

“But tell me this—the fight yesterday?”

“I cannot,” he replied. “There was no fight yesterday.”

“Nonsense! There was; and I remember now coming off my horse. I thought it was some one else; but I recall it now.”

“The sahib talks too much,” said the grave, patient-looking doctor.

“I will hold my tongue directly,” I cried; “but tell me this—were you at the fight?”

“Oh no; I was far away, and the rajah summoned me here to attend on you.”

“Rajah? What rajah?”

“His highness, my master.”

“What!” I cried excitedly. “Then I am a prisoner?”

“Yes, sahib. You were cut down in the battle a week ago.”

A low expiration of the breath, which sounded like a sigh, was the only sound I uttered as I lay back, weak, faint, utterly astounded by the news. A prisoner—cut down a week ago. Then the troop; where was the troop? If I was made a prisoner, had the guns been taken?

A cold chill of despair ran through me as those crushing thoughts occurred, and in imagination I saw our men surrounded and slaughtered, perhaps mutilated, the guns taken, and the fight of that day a tremendous victory for the enemy.

But after a time a better way of thinking came over me when I was alone; for, after a grave smile, the doctor had bowed and left the tent.

It was a daring, desperate charge I felt, but the only thing Brace could do under the circumstances; and he must have cut his way through. He could not turn and retreat, for it would have looked like being afraid of the sowars; and surely, I thought, it was not in them to overcome our brave little troop even if they were ten times the number.

Then, as I lay there, confused and troubled, a fresh thought struck me—the firing? Yes, of course there was sharp firing; and I remembered now pretty clearly I was galloping away with troopers on each side. I must have been separated from my men in the desperate shock, and borne off by the foe as they retreated. Yes, of course, I thought, with growing excitement; they must have been retreating; and it was the colonel’s regiment that was firing upon us as we fled.

With these thoughts hope came back, and I could think no more, but dropped off into a deep sleep that was greatly like a swoon.

My next recollection is of lying in that heated tent, feverish and thirsty, and the tall, grey-bearded doctor coming in to busy himself about me, and at every touch of his hand seeming to give me ease.

Then I slept again, and slept—ah, how I must have slept, and dreamed of Brace being safe, and coming sooner or later to rescue me from that silent tent where I saw no one but the doctor and a couple of Hindu servants, who never answered any questions, only salaamed and left the tent if I spoke!

Neither could I get any information from the doctor. All I knew grew from my own calculations, and these taught me that I was the prisoner of some great chief who seemed to be reserving me to exchange for some other prisoner, perhaps to act as a hostage in case he should happen to be captured. I could come to no other conclusion; for so far the custom had been for the revolted people to murder and mutilate every one who fell into their hands.

I was lying there one afternoon, wondering where the tent could be, and why it was that everything was so silent about me. It was puzzling now that I was not quite so weak and feverish; for this could hardly be a camp in which I was a prisoner. If it had been, I should have heard the trampling of horses and the coming and going of armed men. Then I seldom heard voices, save those of the servants who came to attend upon me by the doctor’s orders. But I knew one thing—the tent in which I was sheltered had been pitched under a great tree; for at certain times, when the sun was low, I saw the shadows of leaves and boughs upon the canvas; and when the wind blew sometimes at night, I had heard the rushing sound through the branches.

Feeling a little better as I did that afternoon, I had quite made up my mind to attack the doctor when he came, as I knew he would later on, and try hard to get some particulars about where we were, and what had happened after the fight; for it seemed strange and I shrank at times from the thought that Brace and the colonel had not followed up their success. But had it been a success?

The question was terrible; for their long silence suggested that it might equally have been a failure; and this was the more likely from the odds they had to engage.

I lay there very patiently, for I was not in much pain now; but that afternoon the doctor did not come, and my patience was rapidly fading away; for it was growing late, and it appeared hard, now that I had come to such a determination, for my attendant to stay away. That he must come from a distance, I knew; and more than once I had detected little things which showed me that he had been attending wounded men—a fact which of course told me that there was trouble going on somewhere near at hand.

Perhaps there was trouble that day, I thought, and he was detained in consequence.

This thought made me listen intently for the sound of guns; but all was still, and my impatience began to get the mastery, and the feeling that I had taken up the wrong idea to make itself clear; for there could be no serious fighting such as would keep the doctor away, or else I must have heard the firing.

Still the doctor did not come, and in consequence I began to think that my wound was hot and fretful; and this brought up the fight on that eventful day about which I had lost count, save that it must be going on for three weeks since it occurred; and all that time I had been lying there, a miserable, wounded prisoner. So I was proceeding to silently bemoan my fate, when my common sense stepped in to point out that the enemy who had captured me evidently respected the British, and that no one could have been better treated than I.

But I wanted news. I was burning to hear what had taken place since I had been cut down; whether the fire of revolt had been checked, but was still holding its own, or spreading—and I knew nothing.

“But I will know,” I said, as my ear, grown quick by constant listening, detected distant sounds, followed by a hurried rustling, as of people leaving the adjoining tent.

“They heard the doctor coming,” I said to myself. “I’ll make him speak somehow; and, by the way, I’ve never asked him where they have put my uniform and sword.”

I strained my ears and listened, for the sound was drawing nearer, and a feeling of disappointment stole over me as I made out that it was the trampling of horses; and I had never heard that when the doctor came before. I had always believed that he came in a palanquin; while these certainly were horses’ feet—yes, and the jingling of accoutrements.

“Why, it must be our troop,” I thought, but crushed the delightful thought on the instant, for there was none of the peculiar rattle made by the guns and limbers. Could it be a body of sowars? If softly thoughts went back to the wild gallop I had had in their company, and one hand stole to my wounded arm, which was there as a reminder of what I might expect from them.

No wonder my heart beat fast as recollections of their merciless treatment of their officers came flooding my brain, and I felt that if they behaved like this to their officers, whom they had sworn to obey, there would be scant mercy for a prisoner.

The trampling and jingling came nearer, and there was the familiar snorting of horses, while I was now experienced enough to be able to say that there was a body of forty or fifty mounted men approaching nearer, nearer, till a loud order rang out, such as would be given by a native cavalry officer; a sudden halt; a fresh order, and then one for the men to dismount, and I was listening for the next ordering the men to draw swords, when I felt with beating heart that it need not come, for the men would be lancers. “I’ll try and meet it like a man,” I said to myself, “for father’s sake, and that of my mother and sister;” but I could not feel brave, and my eyes were fixed upon the purdah which screened the entrance to the tent, and, in spite of my weakness, I struggled up on one arm looking wildly round for a weapon that I could not have used.

Then there was a quick footstep. The doctor’s? No; that of an armed man. The purdah was swept aside, and a gorgeously dressed chief, robed in white muslin and shawls of the most delicate fabric, and richly ornamented with gold, strode into the tent. His white turban glittered with pearls and diamonds, while his breast and sword-belt and slings were also encrusted with the same rich gems, so that at every movement some cluster of precious stones scintillated in the subdued light.

Chapter Twenty Nine.

He crossed at once to my couch, and stood looking down at me, his handsome, thoughtful face, with its dark eyes, being wonderfully familiar, as he bent over me; and as he gazed, a smile crossed his lips, and there was a look of sympathy in his countenance which was unmistakable.

But there was no smile on mine, for as I met his eyes I saw in him, in spite of his gallant bearing and gorgeous dress, the bloodthirsty traitor and schemer who had risen against us and headed the mad savages who had cut down my brother-officers and friends. He was the man, too, who held me prisoner, and my resentment was growing when, in an indistinct dreamy way, the scene in the desperate charge came back, and those moments when, half-stunned by the bullet which had struck my helmet, and of which I was not conscious then, I had been galloping away surrounded by sowars, one of whom was about to cut me down, giving me a second blow sufficient to destroy the little life left in me. And I saw it clearly now; it was this man who bent over me—this chief, all gorgeous in gold and gems, whose arm had been stretched out to save me, and had undoubtedly brought me where I was, and had me carefully tended back to life.

And with these thoughts filling my mind, I lay looking up at him angry, and yet grateful, wondering, too, at the change from the slightly clothed syce whom I had so often seen ill-used by his master, Barton; and as he watched me, I shuddered slightly, for I seemed to know that he had taken deadly vengeance upon my brother-officer in return for months of harsh treatment, insult, and wrong.

We neither of us spoke, he evidently contenting himself with watching me, and enjoying the surprise I felt at recognising him as the disguised chief—the groom no longer, but as the powerful leader of a large native force; I, in my weak state, fascinated by his peculiar smiling eyes, that were one moment haughty and fierce and full of triumph, the next beaming with friendliness.

At last he bent down on one knee, and as he did so his magnificently jewelled tulwar fell forward naturally enough from the point of the scabbard touching the carpet right between us, and he started as if the sword between us had come as a strange portent to show that we were enemies, always to be kept apart by the deadly blade.

I saw that he changed colour and hesitated, influenced by his superstitious eastern nature and education; but the next moment he laughed contemptuously, and unbuckled his jewelled belt, and threw it and the sword two or three yards away, before going down on one knee by my pillow, laying his hand upon my head and gazing intently in my eyes.

“Hah!” he ejaculated, speaking for the first time, and in excellent English. “You are getting well fast now. You are weak, but you will live and soon be well. I thought once you would die. You know me?” he added, with a smile.

I spoke now for the first time, and my voice sounded feeble, I felt, compared to his.

“Yes, I know you again, Ny Deen.”

His eyes flashed, and his face lit up strangely as he exclaimed—

“Yes; Ny Deen, the syce, beaten, kicked, trampled upon; Ny Deen, the dog—the—”

He paused for a moment or two, and then with an emphasis that would have made the term of reproach sound absurd, but for the fierce revengeful look in his countenance, he added—

“Nigger!”

There was an intensity of scorn in his utterance of the word that was tragic; and as I lay back there on my cushion I read in it the fierce turning at last of the trampled worm—the worm as represented by the venomous serpent of the conquered land, and I knew from my own experience what endless cases there were of patient, humbled, and crushed-down men, no higher in position than slaves, ill-used, and treated with contempt by my insolent, overbearing countrymen of that self-assertive class who cannot hold power without turning it to abuse.

The silence in the tent as my captor knelt by me was intense, and I could hear his hard breathing, and see how he was striving to master the fierce emotion in his breast. His eyes were mostly fixed on me with a savage scowl, and for a moment or so I fancied that he must have saved my life so as to take it himself in some way which would add torture and throw dismay amongst the English ranks.

But I was ready to smile at my own vanity as I thought to myself of what a little consequence the life of a young artillery subaltern would be in the great revolt now in progress.

Then I felt a strong desire to speak, to make some great utterance such as would impress him and raise me in his estimation sufficiently to make him treat me with the respect due to an English officer; but no such utterance would come. I felt that I was only a poor, weak, wounded lad, lying there at the mercy of this fierce rajah, and when at last my lips parted, as if forced to say something in answer to his searching gaze, I writhed within myself and felt ashamed of the contemptible words. For his utterance of that term of contumely so liberally used toward one of a race of people who had been for countless generations great chiefs in their own land, and whose cities were centres of a civilisation, barbaric, perhaps, but whose products we were only too glad to welcome in England.

“Nigger” still seemed to ring in my ears, as I gazed still as if fascinated in the handsome pale-brown eastern face, and I said feebly, just about in the tone of voice in which some contemptible young found-out sneak of a schoolboy, who was trying to hide a fault with a miserable lie, might say, “Please, sir, it wasn’t me—”

“I never insulted you, or called you so.”

His face changed like magic, and he bent low over my pillow, as he cried excitedly, and with a passionate fervour in his voice, which almost startled me—

“Never! never, sahib.”

He paused, frowned, and then his face lit up again, and he uttered a merry laugh.

“You see,” he cried, “I am one of the conquered race. You have been our masters so long that it comes natural to say sahib. But that is at an end now; we are the masters, and the reign of the great Koompanni is at an end.”

A pang of misery ran through me at these words, which were uttered with so much conviction that I felt they must be true.