In Times of Peril
by
G. A. Henty
Part 2 out of 6
sentry. We can't silence him, because he is within sight of the sentry of
the quarter-guard."
Major Warrener aroused his sleeping companions, and in a few whispered
words told them what had happened. In silence they wrung Dick's hand, and
then taking off their boots, stole one by one out of the tent. As Ned
passed he exchanged a silent embrace with his father. The next time the
sentry in front was passing before the tent, a heavy stone, hurled by Ned,
crashed into a bush upon the other side of the road. The sentry halted
instantly, and, with gun advanced, listened, but he could hear nothing,
for his comrade was at that instant seized with a fit of coughing.
After standing in a listening attitude for three or four minutes the Sepoy
supposed that the noise must have been caused by some large bird suddenly
disturbed in the foliage.
"Did you hear anything?" he asked Ned, as their path crossed.
"Nothing," Ned answered, continuing his march.
For another quarter of an hour he passed backward and forward, his only
fear being that the sentry might take it into his head to open the tent
and look in to see if the prisoners were safe. In a quarter of an hour he
knew that the fugitives would have gained the trees, and would have time
to put on the Sepoy uniforms before he reached them; and also, by the aid
of a couple of large stones, have got rid of their handcuffs, lie might
therefore be off to join them.
Waiting till the sentry was at the other end of his beat, he slipped round
the tent, stripped off his cloak, lay down his musket and belt--for Dick
had arranged that they should carry off five muskets in their retreat--
threw off the Sepoy jacket, and in light running order, darted through the
tents. He calculated that he should have at least a couple of minutes
start before his absence was discovered, another minute or two before the
sentry was sufficiently sure of it to hail the quarter-guard and report
the circumstance. Then would follow the discovery of the escape of the
prisoners; but by that time he would be far out on the plain, and even if
seen, which was unlikely, he was confident that he could outrun any
native.
His anticipations turned out correct; he was already some distance off
when he heard the call of the sentry to the quarter-guard, followed almost
immediately by a still louder shout, that told that he had discovered the
flight of the prisoners; then came the sound of a musket shot, a drum beat
the alarm, and a babel of sounds rang on the still air. But by this time
Ned was halfway to the clump of trees, and three minutes later he was in
his father's arms. There was no time to talk then. Another coat was
hurried on to him, an ammunition belt and pouch thrown over his shoulder,
and Captain Manners carrying his musket until he should have quite
recovered breath, the five went off at a steady trot, which after a
quarter of an hour broke into a walk--for there was no fear of pursuit--in
the direction in which they knew Delhi to lie.
CHAPTER V.
BACK UNDER THE FLAG.
"How far is it to Delhi? We heard the guns there just now."
"Not thirty miles."
"Have you heard how things are going on there?" Dick asked.
"According to the Sepoy reports, fresh regiments are pouring in from all
quarters; and they boast that they are going to drive us out of the
country. Our troops are still at Meerut, and a force is gathering at
Umballah; but they are after all a mere handful."
"Do you think there is any chance of help coming to us?"
"None for the present. The Sepoys say that every station has gone down
except Agra, Allahabad, and Benares, and that these are soon to go too.
Cawnpore and Lucknow have risen."
"Are all the whites killed everywhere?"
"I am afraid they are all killed where there are no white troops; but
there, we must hope that they are making a stand. We shall be a long time
before we know anything. It is but a week yet since our station went;
seven days longer since Delhi rose."
"It seems ages ago," Ned said. "You don't mean to try and get to Meerut
to-night, I hope; we could walk as far if it were absolutely necessary,
but we have done a long day's walk already."
"No, no, Ned. I only want to get well away from our late camp. To-morrow
we will get near the river, hide all next day, and cross after nightfall.
There is a clump of trees; we will pass the night there; I think we are
safe enough now. The mutineers are too anxious to be at Delhi to spend
much time in looking for us. Now, first of all, let us get a fire."
"We have never had a fire at night," Dick said, "since we started; we have
been too much afraid of being seen."
"There is not much chance of its being observed in a wood; especially if
the bushes are thick. We are four miles at least from the camp, and we are
all wet through with dew. Now for sticks."
The whole party soon collected a pile of sticks; and the major was about
to scatter some powder among the dead leaves, when Ned said, "We have
matches, father."
"Oh, that's all right, Ned. There we are, fairly alight. Yes, we have
chosen the place well; there are bushes all around. Now," he said, when
the fire had burned up brightly, "let us hear the full story of what has
passed; you gave us a short account when we first got free. Now let us
hear all about it."
Ned and Dick told the story--sometimes one taking it up, sometimes the
other. There were many questions from their auditors, and expressions of
warm approval of their conduct; and Captain Dunlop threatened under his
breath that if he ever had a chance he would not leave one cake of mud
upon another in the village where Kate was wounded. He and Captain Manners
proposed that they should go back, and afford what protection they could
to the girls. But Major Warrener at once negatived this idea.
"If they could come straight back with us, I should say yes," he said,
"for with us five we might hope to get them through safely; but even that
would be very risky, for the larger the party is, the more easily it
attracts attention, and the whole country is alive with rebels marching to
Delhi. But as Rose cannot be fit to travel for weeks, we have no choice in
the matter. They must remain where they are, and we can only hope and pray
for their safety. Our duty lies clearly at Meerut, where every man who can
sight a rifle will be wanted most urgently. Now let us be off to sleep;
the fire has burned low, and in another hour or two it will be daybreak;
however, there will be no reveille, and we can sleep on with lighter
hearts than we have had for some time."
"What figures you are in those uniforms!" Dick said, laughing, next
morning; "you can scarcely move in them, and they won't meet by eight or
nine inches. It does not seem to me that they are any disguise at all. Any
one could see in a moment that they were not made for you."
"They are wretchedly uncomfortable, Dick." his father said; "and, as you
say, any one could see they were not made for us. But they are useful. As
we go along, any one who saw us at a distance would take us for a
straggling party of mutineers making our way to Delhi; while the bright
scarlet of our own uniform would have told its tale miles off."
"I shall be glad enough to get rid of mine, Dick; I feel as if I had got
into a boy's jacket by mistake. Jack Sepoy has no shoulders to speak of;
as far as height goes he is well enough; but thirty Sepoys on parade take
up no more room than twenty English. I had to take my jacket off last
night and lay it over my shoulders; I might as well have tried to go to
sleep in a vise. There! major; do you hear the music? These rascals are on
the march again."
The strains of music came very faintly to the ear, for the bivouac was
nearly a mile from the road.
"That is all right," the major said. "Now they have gone by, we can be
moving. We must give them an hour's start."
"Now, father, we have not heard your adventures yet; please tell us all
about them."
"Well, we have not had so much variety as you, but we have gone through a
good deal. You know we had talked over the best possible course to take in
case of an attack, come when it might. We had arranged what each should do
in case of a night attack, or of a rising upon parade; and we had even
considered the probability of being set upon when gathered in the
messroom. We had all agreed that if taken by surprise, resistance would
mean certain death; they would shoot us down through the doors and
windows, and we should be like rats in a cage. We agreed, therefore, that
in case of an attack, a simultaneous attempt to break out must be made,
and we had even settled upon the window by which we should go. The married
men were, of course, to make for their bungalows, except where, as in my
case, I had made other arrangements; and the rest to various bungalows
agreed upon, where traps were to be in readiness. Dunlop, Manners, and
myself had agreed to make for Dunlop's, as it was the nearest, and his
trap was to be ready that evening.
"There were not many who believed in a mutiny that night. The villains,
only in the morning, having sworn to be faithful, deceived most of us, for
it was very hard to believe they could be capable of such diabolical
treachery. Swords and pistols were, of course, taken off, but instead of
being left in the anteroom, were brought into the messroom. Some fellows
put theirs in a corner, others against the wall behind them. I was sitting
between Dunlop and Manners, and we were, as it happened, at the corner
nearest the window fixed upon for the bolt. Things went on all right till
dinner was over, There was an insolent look about some of the servants'
faces I did not like, but nothing to take hold of. I pointed it out to
Dunlop, and we agreed that the plan arranged was the best possible; and
that, as resistance would be of no use, if at each of the eight large
windows and the two doors a stream of musketry fire were being poured in,
we would make a rush straight for the window. Presently the colonel rose
and gave 'The Queen.' We all rose, and as if--as I have no doubt it was--
the toast was the signal, there was a sudden trampling in the veranda
outside, and at every window appeared a crowd of Sepoys, with their arms
in their hands. I shouted, 'To the window for your lives!' and without
stopping to get my sword, I dashed at the Sepoys who were there. Dunlop
and Manners were with me, and before the scoundrels had time to get their
guns to their shoulders, we were upon them. We are all big men; and our
weight and impetus, and the surprise, were too much for them; we burst
through them, standing as they did four or five deep, as if they had been
reeds. They gave a yell of rage and astonishment as they went down like
ninepins; but we scarcely saw it, for as we went through them the musketry
fire broke out round the messroom.
[Illustration: BEFORE THE SCOUNDRELS HAD TIME TO GET THEIR GUNS TO THEIR
SHOULDERS, WE WERE UPON THEM.]
"Whether any of the others tried to follow us, we don't know. I think most
of them forgot their arrangement, and rushed to their arms: certainly some
of them did so, for we heard the crack of revolvers between the rifle
shots. We made straight across the parade for Dunlop's bungalow, with
musket balls flying in all directions, as soon as the fellows we had gone
through recovered from their first astonishment; but they are not good
shots at the best, and a man running at his top speed is not an easy mark
by moonlight. We heard yells and musket shots all round, and knew that
while a part of the regiment was attacking us, parties were told off to
each bungalow. By the time we had got over the few hundred yards to
Dunlop's, the whistling of the bullets round us had pretty well ceased,
for the fellows had all emptied their muskets; besides, we were nearly out
of range. None of them were near us, for they had stopped in their run to
fire; they were too much interested in the massacre going on inside, and
we seemed pretty safe; when, just as I entered the gate of the compound, a
stray bullet hit me on the head, and down I went like a log.
"Happily, the syce had proved faithful; he had been with Dunlop ever since
he joined the regiment, and Dunlop once risked his life to save him from a
tiger. There was the syce with the trap. He had not dared bring it out
till the first shot was fired, lest his fellow-servants, who were all
traitors, should stop it; but the instant it began, he came round. They
ran the horse up to where I was lying, lifted me in, and jumped in, and
drove out of the gate as a score of fellows from the mess-house came
making toward the bungalow. We had fifty yards' start, but they fired away
at us, a ball passing through the syce's leg as he scrambled up behind.
The horse went along at a gallop; but we were not safe, for parties were
carrying on their hellish work in every bungalow, Dunlop and Manners were
maddened by the screams they heard; and if it had not been for having me
under their charge, and by the thoughts of the girls, I believe they would
have jumped out and died fighting. A few of the black devils, hearing
wheels, ran out and fired; but we kept on at a full gallop till we were
well out of the place. A mile further Dunlop found the horse begin to
slacken his speed, and to go very leisurely. He jumped out to see what was
the matter, and found, as he expected, that the horse had been hit. He had
one bullet in the neck, another in the side. It was evident that it could
not go much further. They lifted me out and carried me to a patch of
bushes thirty yards from the road. The syce was told to drive on quietly
till the horse dropped. Dunlop gave him money and told him to meet us at
Meerut."
"Why did you not keep him with you? he would have been very useful?" Dick
asked.
"You see I wanted to get the trap as far away as possible before the horse
fell," Captain Dunlop said. "We did not know how severely wounded the
major was; indeed, we both feared he was killed; but the mutineers, when
they found the dead horse in the morning, were certain to make a search in
its neighbourhood, and would have found your father had he been close by
laid up with a wound."
"Happily I now began to come to," the major went on, continuing his story.
"The ball was nearly spent, and had given me a nasty scalp wound, and had
stunned me, but I now began to come round. The instant I was able to
understand where I was or what had happened, Dunlop and Manners, who were
half-wild with excitement and grief, made me promise to lie quiet, while
they went back to see what had become of you all. Of course I consented.
They were away about three hours, for they had to make a circle of the
cantonments, as our bungalow was quite at the other end. They brought
cheering news. They had first been to the house, and found it utterly
destroyed as they expected. That told them nothing; for if you had been
killed, your bodies would probably have been burned with the house. Then
they went out to the tope of trees where it was agreed that you should, if
possible, first fly. Here they found a pocket-handkerchief of Rose's; and
going round to the other side, found by the marks upon the soil that four
of you had started together. With hearts immensely lightened by the
discovery that you had, at any rate, all escaped from the first massacre,
they hurried back to gladden me with the news. I was past understanding it
when they arrived, for the intense pain in my head and my terrible anxiety
about you had made me delirious. It would have been certain death to stay
so near the road, so they dipped their handkerchiefs in water, and tied
them round my head; and then supporting me, one on each side, they half-
dragged, half-carried, me to a deserted and half-ruinous cottage, about a
mile away.
"Next day I was still feverish, but fortunately no one came near us.
Dunlop and Manners went out at night, and got a few bananas. Next morning
our regiment marched away; and Dunlop then appealed to an old cottager for
shelter and food for us all. He at once promised to aid us, and I was
removed to his cottage, where everything in his power was done for me. I
was now convalescent, and a day later we were talking of making a move
forward. That night, however, the cottage was surrounded--whether the
peasant himself or some one else betrayed us, we shall never know--but the
men that we saw there belonged to a regiment of mutineers that had marched
in that afternoon from Dollah. We saw at once that resistance was useless,
and we were, moreover, without arms. Had we had them, I have no doubt we
should have fought and been killed. As it was, we were bound and marched
into the camp at Sandynugghur. It was resolved to take us in triumph into
Delhi; and we were marched along with the regiment till you saw us. We had
talked over every conceivable plan of escape, and had determined that we
would try to-night, which will be the last halt before they get to Delhi.
It is very unlikely that we should have succeeded, but it was better to be
shot down than to be taken to Delhi and given over to the mob to torture
before they killed us. I am convinced we had no chance of really getting
off, and that you have saved our lives, just as Dunlop and Manners saved
mine, at the risk of their own, on that first night of our flight. And now
let us be on the march."
They had not gone far before the three officers found that it was
impossible to walk in their Sepoy jackets. They accordingly took them off,
and slung them from their muskets. Ned and Dick were fairly fitted. They
halted for the night near the river, about ten miles above Delhi. In the
morning they were off early. By nine o'clock they stood on the bank of the
river, five miles higher up.
The river is wide, or rather the bed of the river is wide, half a mile at
least; this in the rainy season is full to the brim, but at other times
the stream is not more than half that width. After crossing the river they
would have fifteen miles still to traverse to arrive at Meerut; and it was
probable that the whole intervening country was in the hands of the
Sepoys.
"Had we not better keep this side of the river for a bit, father?" Ned
asked.
"No, my boy; we will cross here after dark, and make straight for Meerut.
If we can't find a boat, we will each cut a large bundle of rushes, to act
as a lifebuoy and carry your guns and ammunition, and so swim across after
it is dark."
"Well, major, as the sun is getting awfully hot, I vote we get into the
shade of those stunted trees, and have a nap till the afternoon. It won't
do to begin even to make the raft till the sun is down."
Captain Dunlop's proposition was carried into effect; but it is
questionable whether any of the party slept much, for they were excited by
the thought that in a few hours they would be with friends, once more
soldiers instead of fugitives, with power to fight in defense of their
sovereign's dominions, and of the helpless women and children exposed to
the fury of the atrocious mutineers. With these thoughts mingled the
anxiety which was wearing them all, although each refrained from talking
about it, as to the safety of the girls, whose lives wore dependent upon
the fidelity of a native and his servants.
Over and over again, since they met the boys, had they regretted that they
had not gone back to watch over them; but the fact that Rose might be
weeks before she was able to stand, and that, as their protector had said,
the presence of Europeans near them might be detected, and would be a
source of constant danger, convinced them that they had taken the proper
course. They knew, too, that in acting as they had done they were
performing their duty; and that at a moment when the fate of British India
trembled in the balance, the place of every soldier was by the side of the
British troops who still maintained the old flag flying in the face of
increasing numbers of the enemy. Still, although they knew that they were
doing their duty, and were, moreover, taking the wisest course, the
thoughts of the girls alone in the midst of danger, with one of them down
with fever, tried them terribly, and they longed with a fierce desire for
the excitement of work and of danger to keep them from thinking of it.
"Here, boys, is a ear of Indian corn apiece; eat that and then get to
work."
The frugal meal was soon over, and they then set to work, cutting down,
breaking off, and tearing up large reeds with which to make floats. The
boys had knives, but the others had been stripped of everything they had
at the time of their capture. In about an hour, however, five bundles were
made, each some six feet long and nearly three feet thick. The muskets and
ammunition pouches were fastened on these, and soon after it was quite
dark they entered the water.
"There are no crocodiles, I hope," Dick whispered to Ned.
"Nothing to fear in these large rivers; the chances of meeting one are
very small."
"All right," Dick said. "Of course we've got to risk it. But they're as
bad as sharks; and sharks, as the Yankee said, is pison. Well, here goes."
When the bundles were placed in the water they were lashed side by side
with long trailing creepers which grew abundantly among the rushes; and
they were thus secured from the risk of turning over from the weights on
the top. Upon the raft thus formed their clothes were placed, and then,
side by side, pushing it before them, the party shoved off from shore. In
twenty minutes they touched ground on the other side. They dressed,
examined their muskets to see if they were in good order, and then started
in the direction in which they knew Meerut to be. Several times they
paused and listened, for they could occasionally hear the noise of
galloping men, and it was evident that there were troops of some kind or
other moving about.
They walked for some hours until they thought that they could not be far
from their destination, and had begun to congratulate themselves upon
being near their friends, when the sound of a strong body of men was heard
sweeping along the level plain across which they were now passing.
"There is a small building ahead," the major said; "run for that; they are
coming across here."
They were seen, for a shout of "Who goes there?" in Hindostanee was heard.
"Give me your musket, Dick," Captain Dunlop exclaimed. For the lad, with
the weight of his musket and ammunition, could hardly keep up with the
others.
Just in time they reached the building in front of them, rushed in, and
closed the door as the cavalry swept up. It was a small temple; a building
of massive construction, with one little window about six inches square,
and on the same side a strong door.
"Pile everything against the door," the major cried. "Dunlop, fire at once
at them. Our only chance is to hold out with the hope that we may be
heard, and that some of our fellows may come to the rescue."
Captain Dunlop fired just as the troopers dashed up to the door.
"Now, Manners, steady, pick off your man," the major said, as, aided by
the boys, he jammed a beam of wood between the door and the wall, at such
an angle that, except by breaking it to pieces, the door could not be
forced.
"Now," he said, "it's my turn;" and he fired into the enraged enemy. "Now,
Ned, steady. Are you loaded again, Dunlop?"
"Yes, major; just ready."
"Dick, you follow; take good aim."
The cavalry answered their fire, every shot of which was taking effect, by
a confused discharge of their pistols at the door and window.
"Draw off!" their leader shouted; "rear-rank men hold the horses, front-
rank men dismount and break in the door."
The order was obeyed; and the troopers rushed forward on foot, and were
met by a steady fire, to which the straggling return of their pistols was
but an inefficient answer. Vainly the mutineers hacked at the door with
their sabers and struck it with their pommels.
"Throw yourselves against it, all at once," cried their leader; and a
dozen men sent themselves against the door; it creaked and strained, but
the beam kept it in its place.
"You keep up the fire through the window," said the major; "the boys and I
will fire through the door."
Yells and shrieks followed each shot through the door, and after three or
four minutes the troopers drew off.
"Any one hurt?" the major asked.
"I have got a bullet in my shoulder," said Captain Dunlop.
But that was the only reply. There was a shout outside, and Manners
exclaimed: "Confound the fellows, they have got a big log of wood that
will soon splinter the door."
"We must stop them as long as we can," said the major, as he fired among
the men who were advancing with the log.
Several Sepoys fell before they got up to the house, but they pressed on,
and, at the first blow given by the battering-ram driven by the men, the
door split from top to bottom.
"Fix bayonets," the major said. "Now, Manners, you and I will hold them
back. Not more than two can come at once, and their swords are of no use
against bayonets in a narrow space. Dunlop, will you stand in reserve? you
have still got your right hand; use your bayonet as a dagger if a rush
comes. Boys, you go on loading and firing; put in four balls each time. If
they get in, of course use your bayonets; there goes the door!"
A shout burst from the natives as the last portion of the door dropped
from its hinges, and the doorway was open. There was, however, no
inclination betrayed to make a rush.
"Forward! Death to the infidel dogs!" shouted their officer.
"Suppose you lead us," said one of the troopers; "the officers always show
the way."
"Come, then," cried an old officer, on whose breast hung several medals;
"follow me!"
Drawing his sword, he rushed forward, followed by twenty of his men. But
as he passed over the threshold he and the trooper next to him fell
beneath the bayonet thrusts of Major Warrener and his companion. The next
two, pushed forward by their comrades, shared the same fate; while, as
they fell, the muskets of Ned and Dick sent their contents into the mass.
The rest recoiled from the fatal doorway, while the defenders set up a
cheer of triumph. It was drowned in a crash of musketry, mingled with a
cry of surprise and despair from the natives, as a body of British
soldiers leaped from the wood, and followed their volley by an impetuous
charge. The cavalry on the plain turned and fled at a gallop; and in five
minutes, but for a few dark figures prostrate on the plain, not an enemy
was in sight.
"Well, gentlemen, you have made a stout defense," the officer in command
said, as he returned to the shrine, outside which the little party had
gathered. "It seems as if you could have done without my help. Who are
you, may I ask? And where have you sprung from?"
"Why, Sibbold, is it you? You haven't forgotten Warrener? And here are
Dunlop and Manners."
"Hurrah!" shouted the officer. "Thank God, old fellows, you are saved; we
fancied that you had all gone down. I am glad;" and he shook hands
enthusiastically with his friends; while two of the officers, coming up,
joined in the hearty greeting.
"Do those two men belong to your regiment?" Captain Sibbold asked. "If so,
they are wonders; for I don't know a case as yet where any of the men
proved true when the rest mutinied."
"They are my sons," Major Warrener answered.
"What?" exclaimed the other, laughing--believing that the major was
joking.
"It's a fact, as you will see when they have got rid of the stains on
their faces," he replied; while Captain Dunlop added, "and two as fine
young fellows as ever stepped. Do you know that we three were prisoners,
and that these lads rescued us from the middle of a pandy regiment. If
they hadn't we should have been dead men before now. And now have you got
anything to eat at Meerut, for we are famishing? In the next place, I have
got a bullet in my shoulder, and shall enjoy my food all the more after it
has been taken out. Our stories are long and will keep. How go things
here?"
"Not very brightly, Dunlop; however, that will keep, too; now let us be
off. Have we any casualties, sergeant?" he asked a non-commissioned
officer who came up for orders.
"None, sir."
"What is the enemy's loss?"
"There are fifteen which can be fairly counted to us, sir, and nineteen
here."
"That's a respectable total. Fall in, lads," he said to the men who had
gathered round, "and let us get back. You will be glad to hear that these
officers have escaped from the massacre at Sandynugghur."
There was a hearty cheer of satisfaction from the men, for Englishmen were
knit very closely together in those terrible days. Then, falling in, the
two companies of the Sixtieth Rifles marched back again to their
cantonments at Meerut.
CHAPTER VI.
A DASHING EXPEDITION.
On arriving at the cantonments, the party were soon surrounded by the
troops, who had been called under arms at the sound of distant firing, but
had been dismissed again on the arrival of a message to the effect that
the enemy had fled. The news had spread rapidly that some fugitives had
escaped from Sandynugghur, where it was supposed that the massacre had
been general; and officers pressed forward to shake their hands, and the
men uttered words of kindly congratulation and welcome. The greeting
swelled into a cheer as the detachment fell out, and, scattering among
their comrades, told of the desperate defense, and of the slaughter
inflicted upon the enemy by this handful of men. The fugitives were, of
course, taken first to the messroom, Captain Dunlop being, however,
carried off by the surgeon to his quarters, to have his wound examined and
attended to.
It seemed almost like a dream to the worn and weary party, as they sat
down again to a table laid with all the brightness and comfort of
civilization, and felt that they were indeed safe among friends. Many were
the questions asked them by officers who had friends and acquaintances
among the military and civilians at Sandynugghur; and the fugitives
learned that they were, so far as was known, the only survivors from the
massacre. The story of their escape, and the safety of the girls, was told
briefly, and listened to with eager interest; and very deep and hearty
were the congratulations which the boys received for their share in the
history. In return, Major Warrener learned what had taken place in the
last ten days.
The story was not reassuring; tidings of evil were coming from all parts.
As yet the number of stations where risings had taken place was
comparatively small; but the position was everywhere critical. In Agra,
Allahabad, and Benares, the attitude of the native troops and population
was more than doubtful. At Lucknow and Cawnpore every precaution was being
taken, but a rising was regarded as inevitable. In fact everywhere, save
in the Punjab, trouble had either come or was coming. General Anson was
collecting in all haste a force at Umballah, which was intended to advance
upon Delhi--where the ex-king had been proclaimed Emperor of India--but
his force would necessarily be an extremely small one; and no help could
possibly arrive up country for many weeks. There was therefore only the
Punjab to look to for aid. Happily, the troops of the Madras and Bombay
presidencies had so far remained faithful.
"I suppose you have a good many men from Delhi, civilians and military, as
well as from other places?"
"Oh, yes, we are crowded; every bungalow has been given up to the ladies,
and we all sleep under canvas."
"I intend to ask leave to get up a troop of volunteers," Major Warrener
said; "in the first place to go out and bring in my daughter and niece,
and afterward to do any scouting or other duty that may be required."
"There has already been a talk of forming the unattached officers and
civilians into a sort of irregular cavalry, so I should think that you
will get leave; but it will be a hazardous business to make your way
eighty miles through the country, especially as the mutineers are marching
in all directions toward Delhi."
The next morning Major Warrener obtained permission, without difficulty,
to carry out his scheme; and the news no sooner was known through the
cantonments that a body of irregular horse was to be formed for scouting
and general purposes, and that unattached officers might, until they
received further orders, join it, than the tent which had been assigned to
Major Warrener was besieged by men anxious to join a corps which seemed
likely to afford them a chance of striking an early blow at the mutineers.
Hitherto, the officers who had escaped from Delhi and other stations,
those who had come in from police duties in isolated districts, and
civilians, both merchants and government officials, had been fretting that
they could not be doing something to aid the great work of holding India,
and punishing those who had murdered their friends and relations. Major
Warrener's Light Horse, as it was to be called, afforded the opportunity
desired, and by the next morning eighty-five volunteers had enrolled
themselves. Some thirty-five of these were officers, the rest civilians.
Many of them had ridden in, others had driven, so that most of them were
already provided with horses. An appeal was made to the officers of the
Meerut garrison, and to the civilians resident there, to give up any
horses they might be able to spare for the public service, while others
were bought from friendly zemindars. In a week the troop were all mounted,
and during this time they had worked hard to acquire a sufficient amount
of cavalry drill to enable them to perform such simple evolutions as might
be necessary. Major Warrener divided the squadron into two troops, each
with a captain and subaltern; all these officers being cavalrymen, as were
the officers who did duty as sergeants. Thus Major Warrener had the
general command, each troop being maneuvered by its own officers. In the
ranks as simple privates were two majors and a dozen captains--among these
latter, Captain Manners. Captain Dunlop was for the present in the
surgeon's hands; but he was resolved that when the time came for a start
for the rescue of the girls he would take his place in the ranks. The boys
of course formed part of the troop. The uniform was simple, consisting
simply of a sort of Norfolk jacket made of karkee, a kind of coarse brown
holland of native make. Each man carried a revolver, and sword belt of
brown leather. Their headgear was a cap of any kind, wrapped round and
round with the thick folds of a brown puggaree. Beyond the Norfolk jacket
and puggaree there was no actual uniform. Most of the men had hunting
breeches, many had high boots, others had gaiters; but these were minor
points, as were the horses' equipments.
Nothing had been said as to the intended expedition to bring in the
fugitives, as native spies might have carried the news to the rebels, and
so caused a renewed search to be made for their hiding-place. There was,
therefore, a deep feeling of satisfaction, as well as of surprise, when,
on the tenth day after the formation of the corps, the men were told, on
being dismissed from morning parade, that the squadron would parade for
duty at evening gunfire; that each man was to be provided with a blanket
and a haversack, with cooked food sufficient for four days, and a bag with
twenty pounds of forage for his horse, each horse to be well fed before
coming on parade.
Had the route been free from enemies, the distance might have been done in
two long night marches; but it would be necessary to make a detour on
starting, so as to avoid striking the main road, as on the way out it was
all-important to avoid detection, as the enemy might muster in such
strength that their return would be difficult and dangerous in the
extreme. The girls once in their hands, the return journey would be easy,
as they could avoid any infantry, and had no fear of being able to cut
their way through any body of cavalry whom they might accidentally come
across, especially as they would have all the advantage of a surprise.
Half an hour after sunset the squadron rode out from the lines at Meerut,
amid a hearty cheer from the many troops at the station, who, hearing that
Warrener's Light Horse were off on an expedition against the mutineers,
had assembled to see the start. Major Warrener rode at the head of the
squadron, with Captain Kent, who commanded the first troop, by his side,
and behind them came two native guides well acquainted with the country.
These had been dressed in the uniform of a native cavalry regiment, in
order that if they passed any village and were challenged, they could ride
forward and represent the troop as a body of native cavalry sent out from
Delhi on a mission to a friendly rajah. The precaution was unnecessary.
During two long night marches, with occasional halts to rest the horses,
they rode without interruption. They passed through several villages; but
although the tramp of the horses and the rattle of sabers must have been
heard by the inhabitants, none stirred, for the mutineers took what they
wanted without paying, and were already behaving as masters of the
country; and even thus early the country people were beginning to doubt
whether the fall of the English Raj, and the substitution of the old
native rule, with its war, its bloodshed, and its exactions, was by any
means a benefit, so far as the tillers of the soil were concerned. Just
before morning, on the third day, the troop halted in a thick grove,
having watered their horses at a tank a half-hour before. They had ridden
some seventy miles, and were, they calculated, about fifteen miles from
the place where they had left the girls. It might have been possible to
push on at once, but the day was breaking, and it would have been
inexpedient to tire out the horses when they might want all their speed
and strength on the return journey. Very slowly passed the day. Most of
the men, after seeing to their horses and eating some food, threw
themselves down and slept soundly. But Major Warrener, his sons, and
Captains Dunlop and Manners were far too anxious to follow their example,
for some time. It was more than a fortnight since the boys had left the
ladies, and so many things, of which they hardly dare think, might have
happened since.
"Don't let us talk about it any more," Major Warrener said at last; "we
only add to each other's anxiety. Now, Dunlop, you must positively lie
down; you know Johnson said it was mad in you to get on horseback till
your bone had set firmly, and that it was ten to one in favor of
inflammation coming on again. You have much to go through yet."
[Illustration: AFTER FIVE MINUTES' RIDING, THEY DREW UP THEIR HORSES WITH
A CRY OF DISMAY.]
Gradually sleepiness overcame excitement, and with the exception of ten
men told off as sentries and to look after the horses, the whole party
slept quietly for some hours. It had been determined to start in time to
arrive at the farmhouse before it was dark, as the boys required daylight
to enable them to recognize the locality; besides which it was advisable
to get as far back upon the return journey as possible before daybreak.
The boys were now riding in front with their father.
"That is the wood," Ned said presently. "I know by those three palm trees
growing together in a clump, at a short distance in advance. I noticed
them particularly."
"Where is the house?" Major Warrener asked.
"We ought to see the house," Dick said, and he looked at his brother
apprehensively.
"Yes," Ned said; "we certainly ought to see it."
"You are sure you are not mistaken in the locality?" their father asked.
"Quite sure," the boys answered together; "but the house----"
"Let us gallop on," Major Warrener said, catching the fear which was
expressed in each of his sons' faces.
Five minutes' riding, and they drew up their horses with a cry of dismay.
A large patch of wood ashes marked the spot where the house had stood. No
words were needed; the truth was apparent; the fugitives had been
discovered, and the abode of their protectors destroyed. Their two friends
joined the little group, and the rest of the troop dismounted at a short
distance, respecting the deep pain which the discovery had caused to their
leader.
"What is to be done?" Major Warrener asked, breaking the deep silence.
For a moment no one answered; and then Dick said:
"Perhaps we may find some of the farmer's people in the hut where we
slept, and we may get news from them."
"A capital thought, Dick," said Major Warrener. "We must not give up hope;
there are no bodies lying about, so the farm people are probably alive. As
to the girls, if they are carried off we must rescue them. Where is the
hut?"
A few minutes' walking brought them to it. Even before they reached it it
was evident that it was inhabited, for two or three peons were squatted
near the door. These rose on seeing the group of Englishmen, but made no
attempt at flight. They entered the hut without ceremony, and Ned and Dick
hurried to the side of an old man lying on a heap of straw, while some
females standing near hastily veiled themselves at the entrance of the
strangers.
"Where are the girls? what has happened? are you hurt?" were the three
questions poured out rapidly by Ned, as the boy seized the old man's
hands.
"Is it you, sahibs? I am glad, indeed. I did not break my promise to come
and tell you; but as you see," and he pointed to the bandage which
enveloped his head, "I was wounded, and am still ill."
"But the girls?" asked Ned.
"They have been carried off by the troops of the Rajah of Nahdoor."
"How long since?"
"Thursday, sahib."
"How far off is Nahdoor?"
"Ten miles, sahib."
Major Warrener now took up the interrogation.
"How is the one who was ill?"
"She was better, and was getting stronger again when they carried her
off."
"Do you think they are still at Nahdoor? or that they have been sent into
Delhi?"
"They are still there," the Hindoo said. "I have sent a man each day to
watch, so that directly I got better I might be able to tell you the truth
of the matter. My servant has just returned; they had not left at three
o'clock, and they would be sure not to start after that hour. The rajah
will go with his troops in a few days to pay his respects to the emperor;
he will probably take the _mem_ sahibs with him."
"Thank God for that," Major Warrener said. "If they have not yet been
taken to that horrible den of murder we will save them. I am the father of
one, and the other is my niece," he said to the zemindar; "and I owe their
lives so far to you. The debt of gratitude I can never pay to you--or to
your wife and daughter," he added, turning to the women, who, their first
impulse of alarm over, had now, in the presence of friends, uncovered
their faces, for it is only the higher class of Hindoo women who closely
veil--"for your care in nursing my niece, and for giving them shelter,
when to do so was to risk your lives. This debt I can never pay; but the
losses you have sustained in the destruction of your house, and the loss
of animals, I can happily more than replace. And now tell me how it
happened."
"It was late in the afternoon," the Hindoo said, "when a body of horse
galloped across the field to my door. Their captain rode up to me. 'Are
there any Feringhees hid here, old man?' he asked. 'I have seen no man of
the white race since the troubles began,' I said; and you know I spoke not
falsely. 'I must search the house,' he said; 'there are a party of
fugitives hiding somewhere in this district, and the orders from Delhi are
strict that every Feringhee is to be hunted down and sent there.' 'You
will find no one here,' I said, 'but my women, one of whom is sick.' 'I
must see them,' he said; and he knocked loudly at the door of the women's
room, and ordered them to come out. My wife and daughter came to the door.
'Where is the one who is said to be sick?' he said; 'I must see her too.'
Then, seeing that he was determined to enter, the young _mem_ sahib came
to the door. The captain gave a shout of pleasure; calling in his men, he
entered the room, and, in spite of the entreaties of her sister, brought
the one who was sick out also. She was able to walk, but, as we had agreed
between us should be done if discovery was made, she pretended that she
was almost at the point of death. Some poles were got; a hammock was made;
and borne by four bearers, she was carried away, her sister being placed
on a horse closely guarded. As he turned to ride off the captain's eye
fell upon me. 'Ah! old traitor!' he said; 'I had forgotten you!' and he
drew a pistol and fired at me. I know no more; his men put fire to the
barn and granaries, and drove off our cattle and horses. When he had
ridden off my servants--who thought I was dead--by order of my sorrowing
wife carried me here. Happily, however, by the will of Brahma, the bullet,
instead of going through my skull, glanced off, and I was only stunned. I
had lost much blood, but I determined to set out as soon as I could walk
to bring you the news, and in the meantime have had a watch kept upon
Nahdoor."
Major Warrener and his sons thanked the old peasant and his family in the
warmest terms for what they had done, and the former pressed upon the
farmer a sum of money which would cover all the losses he had sustained.
"Your conduct," he said, "will be reported to the government, and you will
find when these troubles are over that England knows how to reward those
who proved faithful when so many were faithless. Now we will say adieu.
When the war is over the ladies you have so kindly treated will themselves
return to thank you."
In a few minutes the troop was in the saddle again, and directed its march
toward Nahdoor.
On the way Major Warrener questioned his guide as to the strength and
position of the fortress, which lay away from the main road, and had not
been visited by any of the troop--as the major had ascertained before
starting. The account was not reassuring. The guide reported that it stood
on a rock, which rose perpendicularly some eighty or a hundred feet from
the plain; the only access being by a zigzag road cut in the face of the
cliff, with a gateway defended by a gun, and loopholed walls at each turn,
and with a very strong wall all round the edge of the rock. The garrison,
they had learned from the persons at the farm, was some three hundred
strong, the ordinary number of retainers being at present increased by
many fighting men, who had within the last few days joined the rajah, on
hearing that he was going to march to Delhi to fight under the emperor
against the Feringhees.
The troop halted in a wood three miles from Nahdoor; as the guide said
that there was no place nearer where they could be concealed without a
certainty of discovery.
Before morning Major Warrener and his second in command put on native
clothes, which the former bad brought with him, in case it should be
necessary to open communication with the girls, and left the wood with one
of the native guides. The disguises were not meant to deceive close
investigation, and no attempt was made to change the color of the skin,
but they were sufficient to enable the wearers to pass without exciting
suspicion by any one who only saw them at a distance.
When morning broke they stood within half a mile of the fortress, which
answered exactly to the description they had received of it. Gradually--
keeping always at a distance, and availing themselves as far as possible
of cover--they made a circuit of the place, and then returned to the
troop, who were anxiously awaiting their report.
"It is a very hard nut to crack," Major Warrener said to his sons. "There
is no possibility of climbing the rock anywhere, or of attacking in any
way except by the regular ascent. There are eight gateways to be forced
before arriving at the main entrance through the walls. We should require
petards to blow in gates, and ought to have field guns to drive them out
of the gate-houses. I do not say it would be absolutely impossible,
because before now British troops have done what seemed impossible in
India; but the difficulties would be so enormous, the risk of failure so
great, and the loss certainly so crushing, that I should not be justified
in undertaking such a desperate adventure on my own responsibility, and
for my own private ends. We have no right, boys, to cause the loss of some
thirty or forty of these fine young fellows, even to rescue the girls. An
attack by surprise is the only possibility. At present we don't see the
way, but something may turn up to help us. Failing that, our only plan is
to wait till the rajah starts with his following and the girls for Delhi,
and then to attack them on their way. The drawback to this is that he may
not leave for days, and that at any moment we may be discovered. Besides,
there is the difficulty of feeding the horses and ourselves. Now, boys,
you know as much as I do. Think it over while I have a talk with Dunlop
and Manners."
"Manners is at the other end of the wood, father, half a mile away. We
found, after you had gone, that the main Delhi road ran through the
further skirts of the wood, so Manners suggested to Lieutenant Simmons
that he should go with ten men and hide there, so that they could see who
went along the road and perhaps intercept some messenger between Delhi and
Nahdoor."
"A capital idea," Major Warrener said.
Two hours later Captain Manners returned with his party, bringing in two
prisoners.
"Who have you there, Manners?" Major Warrener asked.
"Two of the rascally Third Cavalry, who mutinied at Meerut. This fellow,
as you see, is a native officer; there were two of them and two sowars,
but they showed fight when we surrounded them, and tried to ride through
us, so we had to shoot two of them. They are bearers of a letter from the
Delhi prince to the rajah. Here it is."
Major Warrener looked sternly at the prisoners, who were still wearing
their British uniform, and then ordered them to be taken away and hung at
once.
"What did you do with the others, Manners?"
"We hid their bodies under some bushes at a distance from the road."
"You must go back," the major said, "with another; take Larkin with you.
You must strip off the uniforms and bring them here."
Half an hour later Major Warrener summoned the captains of his two troops,
and took them into council.
"Nothing could be more fortunate than this capture," he said; "it seems to
clear the way for us altogether. What I propose to do is this: that two of
the best linguists of the troop, with the two native guides, should dress
in the uniforms of these scoundrels. They can then go boldly in with the
letter from the prince. They will of course be well received, and will
stay for the night. The two who go as officers will be entertained by the
rajah, and will learn the plan of the state apartments; the other two will
be made welcome by the retainers. When all is quiet at night they must
steal out and wait on the wall. That projecting watch-tower that overhangs
the cliff on the other side would be the best. We will be below. Then a
rope must be lowered. We have two long picketing ropes, either of which
would be long enough, but they would be too bulky to carry in without
suspicion. Our native guides, however, will soon tear up some cloth, and
twist a rope not much thicker than string, but strong enough to hold the
rope. Then the string can be twisted round the body without fear of
detection, and when the time comes lowered, with a stone at the end. We
shall be below with a strong rope ladder, made with the picket-ropes and
bamboo staves; and once fixed, we shall be up in no time. I leave it to
you to decide who are the best linguists. They must of course be asked if
they are willing to undertake it. I will speak to the guides. What do you
think of the general plan?"
"Excellent," the officers said. "It might be as well," one suggested,
"that each of the party should have a light rope wound round him, so that
if one, two, or even three could not slip away, the fourth could still
carry out the plan."
Some other details were arranged, and then the officers went to pick out
the two men who could best pass as natives. There was no difficulty upon
this score, for two of the troop, who had for years commanded large police
districts, spoke the language as perfectly as natives, and these, upon
being asked, readily accepted the duty. The work of making the rope
ladders, and the light ropes for hauling them up, was entered upon, and by
sunset all were ready for the expedition.
It was fortunate that they had no longer to stay in the wood, for during
the day five or six natives who came in to gather wood had to be seized
and bound, and it was certain that a search would be set on foot there
next morning. Fortunately a large field of Indian corn bordered one side
of the wood, and from this both man and horse had satisfied their hunger.
Every detail of the plan was carefully considered and discussed, so that
no mistake could occur; and each of the principal actors in the piece had
his part assigned to him. The two native guides, who had themselves served
as soldiers in native regiments, consented willingly to perform their
parts, and just at sunset the two officers and men rode off to Nahdoor,
bearing the letter from the prince of Delhi to the rajah.
There was high feasting in Nahdoor that night. The rajah had received with
all honor the officers from Delhi. The letter from the prince had promised
him a high command in the army which was to exterminate the last infidel
from the land. It had thanked him for the capture of the white women, and
had begged him to bring them on with him to Delhi, and to come at once
with his own force. From the officers the rajah had heard how the mutiny
was everywhere a success, and that at Lucknow and Cawnpore the troops
would rise in a day or two and massacre all the whites. The evening ended
early, for the officers from Delhi were fatigued with their long ride, and
being shown into a little square marble-lined room off the great hall
where they had supped, were soon apparently asleep on the cushions and
shawls spread for them. The rajah retired to his apartments, and his
officers to their quarters; and although for another hour talking and
laughing went on round the little fires in the courtyard, presently these
too were hushed, and a profound stillness fell upon Nahdoor. Then,
barefooted, the officers from Delhi stole out of their apartment and made
for the outer wall. As they had anticipated, they found no one about;
beyond a sentry at the lower gate there would be no watch kept, and they
reached the watch-tower on the wall without the slightest interruption.
Here two other figures had already arrived, and after throwing down some
small stones as a signal, which was answered by a faint whistle, the ropes
were lowered without delay. One of them was soon seized from below, and
the others being also found and fastened to the rope ladder, the weight of
which was considerable, those above began to draw up. Everything succeeded
admirably. One by one fifty men appeared at the top of the wall. Quietly
they made their way down to the courtyard, and broke up into parties,
taking their places at the entrance to the various buildings; then, all
further need for concealment being at an end, a bugle call sounded loud in
the air. It was answered by another down upon the plain near the gate. The
rajah himself was one of the first to rash out. He was seized and disarmed
before he was aware of what had happened.
"Tell your men to throw down their arms and surrender," Major Warrener
said to him, "or we will put you and every soul here to the sword. The
place is surrounded, and there is no escape. Do you not hear our bugles on
the plain?"
It needed not the rajah's order; the garrison, taken utterly by surprise,
and finding the castle captured by an enemy of unknown strength, threw
down their arms as they came out of their quarters. Orders were sent by
the rajah to the men at the various gates on the hill to come up and lay
down their arms, and the sentry at the lowest of all was to open it to the
troops there. A bugler and ten men were left below, and the rest joined
the party in the castle.
Long ere they had arrived, the joyful meeting of the captives and their
friends had taken place. Rose and Kate had awoke at the sound of the
bugle, but had heeded it little, believing that it was only a Sepoy call.
Even the stir and commotion outside had not disturbed them, and they had
lain quiet until they heard a loud knocking at the door of the women's
apartments, followed by screams from the women, and then--they could
scarcely believe their ears--their names shouted in Major Warrener's
voice. With a cry of delight both sprang up, and seizing shawls, rushed to
the door, and in another moment Kate was in the arms of her father.
"We are all here, dear," he said, after the first wild greeting--"the
boys, and Dunlop, and Manners. Hurry on your clothes, darlings; they are
longing to see you."
The garrison of the castle were all collected in one of the smaller
courts, where twenty troopers, revolver in hand, kept guard over them. The
whole of the arms found in the castle were broken to pieces and thrown
over the walls, and the cannon planted there were first spiked and then
pitched over. The guns on the gates were similarly rendered useless, and
the stores of gunpowder all wetted. The rajah and his two sons, boys of
six and eight, were then told to prepare to accompany the troops, and
warning was given that they would be shot in case an attack was made upon
the force as it returned to Meerut.
"Tell your followers this," Major Warrener said, "and order them to give
no alarm, or to spread the news; for if we are caught your life and that
of your sons will pay forfeit. As it is, you may hope for clemency. You
have as yet taken no part in the insurrection; and although there is no
doubt of your intention, your good conduct in the future may, perhaps,
wipe out the memory of your faults."
It needs not to say anything of the rapturous greeting of the girls and
their brothers and lovers, or the happy half-hour which was spent together
in the great hall while the preparations for the departure were being made
outside. Captain Kent saw to all that there was to be done, leaving the
major free to join the happy party within.
"Are you strong enough to ride, Rose?"
"Oh, I think so, uncle; I have been shamming ill, and they thought I could
not walk; but I am pretty strong, and if I can't ride by myself I must be
tied on to some one else."
"I dare say my horse will carry double," Captain Manners said, laughing.
"Have the women here been kind?" Major Warrener asked.
The girls shook their heads:
"Not very, papa; they have been talking of Delhi;" and Kate shuddered.
The major frowned; he could guess what they must have suffered. He went to
the door.
"Kent, order the women out of the _zenana_ into one of the other rooms.
Tell them that they will all be searched as they come out, and that if one
brings out an ornament or a jewel with her she will be put to death. Of
course you will not search them; but the threat will do. Let no insult be
offered them. Then let Rivers take four men, and go in, and take all the
loot you can find. The jewels we will divide among the men when at Meerut.
Tell off another party to loot the rest of the rooms, but only take what
is really valuable and portable. We cannot cumber ourselves with baggage.
It would serve the rajah right if I were to burn his castle down; he may
think himself lucky to get off with his life."
The girls pleaded for the women. "We bear them no ill-feeling," they said.
"They are very ignorant; they only acted as they were taught."
"Well, well," said the major, "we will take the jewels alone; they are a
fair loot."
Another hour and the troops were already well on their way on the Delhi
road. The good luck which had attended them so far followed them to the
end. Anxious to avoid an encounter with the enemy, they took an even more
circuitous route than that by which they had come, and on the fourth
afternoon after leaving rode into Meerut, where their arrival after the
long and successful expedition created quite an excitement. A comfortable
house was found for the girls, with some old friends of the major, who
resided permanently at Meerut; as for the major and his troops, they
prepared to accompany the column which was on the point of marching
against Delhi.
CHAPTER VII.
DELHI.
Never did a government or a people meet a terrible disaster with a more
undaunted front than that displayed by the government and British
population of India when the full extent of the peril caused by the rising
of the Sepoys was first clearly understood. By the rising of Delhi, and of
the whole country down to Allahabad, the northern part of India was
entirely cut off from Calcutta, and was left wholly to its own resources.
Any help that could be spared from the capital was needed for the menaced
garrisons of Allahabad, Benares, and Agra, while it was certain that the
important stations of Cawnpore and Lucknow, in the newly-annexed province
of Oude, would at best be scarcely able to defend themselves, and would in
all probability urgently require assistance. Thus the rebel city of Delhi,
the center and focus of the insurrection, was safe from any possibility of
a British advance from the south. Nor did it look as if the position of
the English was much better in the north. At Sealkote, Lahore, and many
other stations, the Sepoys mutinied, and the Sikh regiments were
disturbed, and semi-mutinous. It was at this all-important moment that the
fidelity of two or three of the great Sikh chieftains saved British India.
Foremost of them was the Rajah of Puttiala, who, when the whole Sikh
nation was wavering as to the course it should take, rode into the nearest
British station with only one retainer, and offered his whole force and
his whole treasury to the British government. A half-dozen other prominent
princes instantly followed the example; and from that moment Northern
India was not only safe, but was able to furnish troops for the siege of
Delhi. The Sikh regiments at once returned to their habitual state of
cheerful obedience, and served with unflinching loyalty and bravery
through the campaign.
Not a moment was lost, as it was all-important to make an appearance
before Delhi, and so, by striking at the heart of the insurrection, to
show the waverers all over India that we had no idea of giving up the
game. The main force was collected at Umballah, under General Anson.
Transport was hastily got together, and in the last week of May this force
moved forward, while a brigade from Meerut advanced to effect a junction
with it. With this latter force were Warrener's irregular horse, which had
returned only the evening before the advance from its successful
expedition to Nahdoor. On the 30th of May the Meerut force under
Brigadier-General Wilson came in contact with the enemy at Ghazee-ud-deen-
Nugghur, a village fifteen miles from Delhi, where there was a suspension
bridge across the Hindur. This fight, although unimportant in itself, is
memorable as being the first occasion upon which the mutineers and the
British troops met. Hitherto the Sepoys had had it entirely their own way.
Mutiny, havoc, murder, had gone on unchecked; but now the tide was to
turn, never to ebb again until the Sepoy mutiny was drowned in a sea of
blood. Upon this, their first meeting with the white troops, the Sepoys
were confident of success. They were greatly superior in force; they had
been carefully drilled in the English system; they were led by their
native regimental officers; and they had been for so many years pampered
and indulged by government, that they regarded themselves, as being, man
for man, fully equal to the British. Thus, then, they began to fight with
a confidence of victory which, however great their superiority in numbers,
was never again felt by the mutineers throughout the war. Upon many
subsequent occasions they fought with extreme bravery, but it was the
bravery of despair; whereas the British soldiers were animated with a
burning desire for vengeance, and an absolute confidence of victory. Thus
the fight at Ghazee-ud-deen-Nugghur is a memorable one in the annals of
British India.
The mutineers, seeing the smallness of the British force, at first
advanced to the attack; but they were met with such fury by four companies
of the Sixtieth Rifles, supported by eight guns of the artillery, by the
Carbineers and Warrener's Horse, that, astounded and dismayed, they broke
before the impetuous onslaught, abandoned their intrenchments, threw a way
their arms, and fled, leaving five guns in the hands of the victors, and
in many cases not stopping in their flight until they reached the gates of
Delhi. The next day considerable bodies of fresh troops came out to renew
the attack; but the reports of the fugitives of the day before, of the
fury and desperation with which the British troops were possessed, had
already effected such an impression that they did not venture upon close
fighting, but after engaging in an artillery duel at long distances, fell
back again to Delhi.
On the 7th of June the Meerut force joined that from Umballah, at Alipore,
a short march from Delhi; and the next morning the little army, now under
the command of Sir H. Barnard--for General Anson, overwhelmed by work and
responsibility, had died a few days before advanced upon the capital of
India, After four miles march they came at Badulee-Ka-Serai upon the
enemy's first line of defense, a strong intrenched position, held by three
thousand Sepoys with twelve guns. These pieces of artillery were much
heavier than the British field guns, and as they opened a heavy fire, they
inflicted considerable damage upon our advancing troops. The British,
however, were in no humor for distant fighting; they panted to get at the
murderers of women and children--these men who had shot down in cold blood
the officers, whose only fault had been their too great kindness to, and
confidence in them. Orders were given to the Seventy-fifth to advance at
once and take the position; and that regiment, giving a tremendous cheer,
rushed forward with such impetuosity through the heavy fire that, as at
Ghazee-ud-deen-Nugghur, the Sepoys were seized with a panic, and fled in
wild haste from their intrenchments, leaving their cannon behind them.
At the foot of the steep hill on which the signal tower stands, another
and stronger line of defense had been prepared; but the mutineers
stationed here were infected by the wild panic of the fugitives from the
first position, and so, deserting their position, joined in the flight
into the city.
The British troops had marched from their encampment at Alipore at one in
the morning, and by nine A.M. the last Sepoy disappeared within the walls
of the town, and the British flag flew out on the signal tower on the
Ridge, almost looking down upon the rebel city, and the troops took up
their quarters in the lines formerly occupied by the Thirty-eighth, Fifty-
fourth, and Seventy-fourth native regiments. As the English flag blew out
to the wind from the signal tower, a thrill of anxiety must have been felt
by every one in Delhi, from the emperor down to the lowest street ruffian.
So long as it waved there it was a proof that the British Raj was not yet
overthrown--that British supremacy, although sorely shaken, still asserted
itself--and that the day of reckoning and retribution would, slowly
perhaps, but none the less surely, come for the blood-stained city. Not
only in Delhi itself, but over the whole of India, the eyes of the
population were turned toward that British flag on the Ridge. Native and
British alike recognized the fact that English supremacy in India depended
upon its maintenance. That England would send out large reinforcements all
knew, but they also knew that many an anxious week must elapse before the
first soldier from England could arrive within striking distance. If the
native leaders at Delhi, with the enormously superior forces at their
command, could not drive off their besiegers and pluck down the flag from
the Ridge, the time must come when, with the arrival of the
reinforcements, the tide would begin to flow against them. So India
argued, and waited for the result. The Delhi leaders, as well as the
English, felt the importance of the issue, and the one never relaxed their
desperate efforts to drive back the besiegers--the other with astonishing
tenacity held on against all odds; while scores of native chiefs hesitated
on the verge, waiting, until they saw the end of the struggle at Delhi. It
was called the siege of Delhi, but it should rather have been called the
siege of the Ridge, for it was our force rather than that of the enemy
which was besieged. Never before in the history of the world did three
thousand men sit down before a great city inhabited by a quarter of a
million bitterly hostile inhabitants, and defended moreover by strong
walls, a very powerful artillery, and a well-drilled and disciplined
force, at first amounting to some ten thousand men, but swelled later on,
as the mutineers poured in from all quarters, to three times that force.
Never during the long months which the struggle lasted did we attempt to
do more than to hold our own. The city was open to the enemy at all sides,
save where we held our footing; large forces marched in and out of the
town; provisions and stores poured into it; and we can scarcely be said to
have fired a shot at it until our batteries opened to effect a breach a
few days before the final assault.
The troops with which Sir H. Barnard arrived before Delhi consisted of the
Seventy-fifth Regiment, six companies of the Sixtieth Rifles, the First
Bengal Fusiliers, six companies of the Second Fusiliers--both composed of
white troops--the Sirmoor battalion of Goorkhas, the Sixth Dragoon Guards
(the Carbineers), two squadrons of the Ninth Lancers, and a troop or two
of newly-raised irregular horse. The artillery consisted of some thirty
pieces, mostly light field-guns.
Upon the day following the occupation of the Ridge a welcome accession of
strength was received by the arrival of the Guides, a picked corps
consisting of three troops of cavalry and six companies of infantry. This
little force had marched five hundred and eighty miles in twenty-two days,
a rate of twenty-six miles a day, without a break--a feat probably
altogether without example, especially when it is considered that it took
place in India, and in the hottest time of the year.
The Ridge, which occupies so important a place in the history of the siege
of Delhi, is a sharp backed hill, some half a mile long, rising abruptly
from the plain. From the top a splendid view of Delhi, and of the country,
scattered with mosques and tombs--the remains of older Delhi--can be
obtained. The cantonments lay at the back of this hill, a few posts only,
such as Hindoo Rao's house, being held in advance. Until the work of
building batteries and regularly commencing the siege should begin, it
would have been useless putting the troops unnecessarily under the fire of
the heavy guns of the city bastions.
When the troops had fairly taken possession of the old native lines on the
8th of June many of them, as soon as dismissed from duty, made their way
up to the flagstaff tower, on the highest point of the Ridge, to look down
upon Delhi. Among those who did so were Major Warrener and his two sons.
Both uttered an exclamation of pleasure as the city came into view:
"What a superb city!"
Delhi is indeed a glorious city as viewed from the Ridge. It is surrounded
by a lofty crenelated wall, strengthened with detached martello towers,
and with eleven bastions, each mounting nine guns, the work of our own
engineers, but in admirable architectural keeping with the towers.
Conspicuous, on a high table rock rising almost perpendicularly in the
heart of the city, is the Jumma Musjid, the great mosque, a superb pile of
building, with its domes and minarets. To the left, as viewed from the
Ridge, is the great mass of the king's palace--a fortress in itself--with
its lofty walls and towers, and with its own mosques and minarets. These
rise thickly, too, in other parts, while near the palace the closely-
packed houses cease, and lofty trees rise alone there. The Ridge lies on
the north of the city, and opposite to it is the Cashmere gate, through
which our storming parties would rush later on; and away, a little to the
right, is the Lahore gate, through which the enemy's sorties were
principally made. On the left of the Ridge the ground is flat to the
river, which sweeps along by the wall of the town and palace. There are
two bridges across it, and over them the exulting mutineers were for weeks
to pass into the city--not altogether unpunished, for our guns carried
that far, and were sometimes able to inflict a heavy loss upon them as
they passed, with music playing and flags flying, into the town.
"A glorious city!" Ned Warrener said, as they looked down upon it. "What a
ridiculous handful of men we seem by the side of it! It is like Tom Thumb
sitting down to besiege the giant's castle. Why, we should be lost if we
got inside!"
"Yes, indeed, Ned," said his father; "there will be no possibility of our
storming that city until our numbers are greatly increased; for if we
scaled the walls by assault, which we could no doubt do, we should have to
fight our way through the narrow streets, with barriers and barricades
everywhere; and such a force as ours would simply melt away before the
fire from the housetops and windows. There is nothing so terrible as
street fighting; and drill and discipline are there of comparatively
little use. The enemy will naturally fight with the desperation of rats in
a hole: and it would be rash in the extreme for us to make the attempt
until we are sure of success. A disastrous repulse here would entail the
loss of all India. The news is worse and worse every day from all the
stations of the northwest; and as the mutineers are sure to make for
Delhi, the enemy will receive reinforcements vastly more rapidly than we
shall, and it will be all we shall be able to do to hold our own here. We
may be months before we take Delhi."
"I hope they won't keep us here all that time," Dick said, "for cavalry
can't do much in a siege; besides, the ground is all cut up into gardens
and inclosures, and we could not act, even if we had orders to do so."
"We may be very useful in going out to bring convoys in," Major Warrener
replied, "and to cut off convoys of the enemy, to scout generally, and to
bring in news; still, I agree with you, Dick, that I hope we may be sent
off for duty elsewhere. Hullo! what's that?"
As he spoke a sudden fire broke out from the walls and bastions; shot and
shell whizzed over their heads, many of them plunging down behind the
Ridge, among the troops who were engaged in getting up their tents; while
a crackling fire of musketry broke out in the gardens around Hindoo Rao's
house, our advanced post on the right front.
"A sortie!" exclaimed the major. "Come along, boys." And those who had
gathered around the flagstaff dashed down the hill to join their
respective corps. The Sixtieth Rifles, however, of whom two companies held
Hindoo Rao's, repulsed the sortie, and all calmed down again; but the
enemy's artillery continued to play, and it was evident that the foe had
it in his power to cause great annoyance to all our pickets on the Ridge.
Fortunately our position could only be assailed on one side. Our cavalry
patrolled the plain as far as the river, and our rear was covered by a
canal, possessing but few bridges, and those easily guarded. It was thus
from our right and right front alone that serious attacks could be looked
for.
The next afternoon a heavy firing broke out near Hindoo Rao's house, and
the troops got under arms. The enemy were evidently in force.
An aid-de-camp rode up:
"Major Warrener, you will move up your troop, and fall in with the Guide
cavalry."
At a trot Warrener's Horse moved off toward the right. The guns on the
walls were now all at work, and our artillery at Hindoo Rao's were
answering them, and the shots from a light battery placed by the flagstaff
went singing away toward the right.
Warrener's Horse were now at the station assigned to them. The musketry
fire in the gardens and broken ground near Hindoo Rao's was very heavy,
and a large body of the enemy's cavalry was seen extending into the plain,
with the intention of pushing forward on the right of the Ridge.
"You will charge the enemy at once," an aid-de-camp said; and with a cheer
the Guides and Warrener's Horse dashed forward.
It was the moment they had longed for; and the fury with which they
charged was too much for the enemy, who, although enormously superior in
numbers, halted before they reached them, and fled toward the city, with
the British mixed with them, in a confused mass of fighting, struggling
men. The pursuit lasted almost to the walls of the city. Then the guns on
the wall opened a heavy fire, and the cavalry fell back as the balls
plunged in among them.
There were but two or three hurt, but among them was Lieutenant Quentin
Battye, a most gallant young officer, a mere lad, but a general favorite
alike with other officers and the men. Struck by a round shot in the body,
his case was hopeless from the first; he kept up his spirits to the last,
and said with a smile to an old school-friend who came in to bid him
farewell:
"Well, old fellow, _Dulce et decorum est pro patriá mori_, and you see
it's my case."
Such was the spirit which animated every officer and man of the little
army before Delhi; and it is no wonder that, day after day, and week after
week, they were able to repulse the furious attacks of the ever-increasing
enemy.
On the 9th, 10th, and 11th fresh sorties were made. Before daybreak on the
13th a large force of the mutineers came out quietly, and worked their way
round to the left, and just as it began to be light, made a furious
assault on the company of the Seventy-fifth who were holding the flagstaff
battery. Warrener's Horse were encamped on the old parade-ground,
immediately behind and below the flagstaff, and the men leaped from their
beds on hearing this outburst of firing close to them.
There was a confused shouting, and then the major's voice was heard above
the din:
"Breeches and boots, revolvers and swords, nothing else. Quick, lads; fall
in on foot. We must save the battery at all hazards."
In a few seconds the men came rushing out, hastily buckling on their
belts, with their pouches of revolver ammunition, and fell into rank; and
in less than two minutes from the sound of the first shot the whole were
dashing up the steep ascent to the battery, where the tremendous musketry
fire told them how hardly the Seventy-fifth were pressed.
"Keep line, lads; steady!" shouted the major as they neared the crest.
"Now get ready for a charge; go right at them. Don't fire a shot till you
are within five paces, then give them three barrels of your revolvers;
then at them with the sword; and keep your other shots in case you are
pressed. Hurrah!"
With a thundering cheer the gallant little band fell on the mutineers,
many of whom had already made their way into the battery, where the
handful of white troops were defending themselves with desperation. Struck
with terror and surprise at this sudden attack, and by the shower of
pistol bullets which swept among them, the enemy wavered and broke at the
fierce onslaught, sword in hand, of these new foes; while the Seventy-
fifth, raising a shout of joy at the arrival of their friends, took the
offensive, swept before them the mutineers who had made their way into the
battery, and, joining the irregulars, drove the mutineers, astounded and
panic-stricken at the fierceness of the assault, pell-mell before them
down the hill.
The reinforcements had arrived but just in time, for Captain Knox, who
commanded at this post, and nearly half his force, had fallen before Major
Warrener's band had come up to their aid. The next day, and the next, and
the next, the sorties from the city were repeated, with ever-increasing
force and fury, each fresh body of mutineers who came into the city being
required to testify their loyalty to the emperor by heading the attack on
his foes. Desperately the little British force had to fight to maintain
their position, and their losses were so serious, the number of their
enemies so large, so rapidly increasing, that it was clear to all that the
most prodigious efforts would be necessary to enable them to hold on until
reinforcements arrived, and that all idea of an early capture of the city
must be abandoned.
Warrener's Horse, however, had no share in these struggles, for on the day
after the fight at the flagstaff a report spread among them that they were
again to start upon an expedition. A note had been brought in by a native
to the effect that several English ladies and gentlemen were prisoners at
the fortress of Bithri, in Oude, some hundred and fifty miles from Delhi.
The instructions given to Major Warrener were that he was to obtain their
release by fair means, if possible; if not, to carry the place and release
them, if it appeared practicable to do so with his small force; that he
was then to press on to Cawnpore. Communications had ceased with Sir H.
Wheeler, the officer in command there; but it was not known whether he was
actually besieged, or whether it was merely a severance of the telegraph
wire. If he could join Sir H. Wheeler he was to do so; if not, he was to
make his way on, to form part of the force which General Havelock was
collecting at Allahabad for an advance to Cawnpore and Lucknow. It would
be a long and perilous march, but the troops were admirably mounted; and
as they would have the choice of routes open to them, and would travel
fast, it was thought that they might hope to get through in safety, and
their aid would be valuable either to Sir H. Wheeler or to General
Havelock.
It was a lovely moonlight evening when they started. During their stay at
Delhi they had, profiting by their previous expedition, got rid of every
article of accouterment that could make a noise. Wooden scabbards had
taken the place of steel, and these were covered in flannel, to prevent
rattle should they strike against a stirrup. The water bottles were
similarly cased in flannel, and the rings and chains of the bits in
leather. Nothing, save the sound of the horses' hoofs, was to be heard as
they marched, and even these were muffled by the deep dust that lay on the
road. Each man, moreover, carried four leathern shoes for his horse, with
lacings for fastening them. Under the guidance of two natives, the troop
made their first six stages without the slightest adventure. The country
was flat, and the villages sparsely scattered. The barking of the dogs
brought a few villagers to their doors, but in those troubled times the
advantages of non-interference were obvious and the peasant population in
general asked nothing better than to be let alone.
The troop always marched by night, and rested by day at villages at a
short distance from the main road. Upon a long march like that before
them, it would have been impossible to maintain secrecy by resting in
woods. Food for men and horses was requisite, and this could only be
obtained in villages. So far no difficulty had been met with. The head men
of the villages willingly provided provender for the horses, while flour,
milk, eggs, and fowls were forthcoming in sufficient quantities for the
men, everything being strictly paid for.
The last night march was as successful as the preceding, and crossing the
river by a bridge at Banat, they halted some five miles from the fortified
house, or castle, which was the immediate object of their expedition. They
were now in Oude, and had, since crossing the river, avoided the villages
as much as possible, for in this province these are little fortresses.
Each is strongly walled and guarded, and petty wars and feuds are common
occurrences. The people are warlike, and used to arms, and without
artillery even a small village could not be carried without considerable
loss. The troops therefore had made circuits round the villages, and
bivouacked at the end of their march in a wood, having brought with them a
supply of food and grain from the village where they had halted on the
previous day. They had not slept many hours when one of the vedettes came
in to say that there was a sound of beating of drums in a large village
not far away, and that bodies of peasantry had arrived from other
villages, and that he believed an attack was about to take place.
Major Warrener at once took his measures for defense. The first troop were
to defend the front of their position with their carbines against an
attack. The second troop were to move round to the extreme end of the
tope, were to mount there, and when the enemy began to waver before the
musketry fire, were to sweep round and take them in flank. Major Warrener
himself took command of the dismounted troop, and posted the men along
behind a bank with a hedge, a short distance in front of the trees. Then,
each man knowing his place, they fell back out of the scorching sunshine
to the shade of the tree's, and waited. In half an hour a loud drumming
was heard, and a motley body, two or three thousand strong, of peasants in
a confused mass, with a tattered banner or two, made their appearance.
The "Avengers," as Warrener's Horse called themselves, took their places
behind the bank, and quietly awaited the attack. The enemy opened a heavy
fire, yet at a long distance. "Answer with a shot or two, occasionally,"
Major Warrener had ordered, "as they will then aim at the bank instead of
tiring into the wood. We don't want the horses hurt."
Slowly and steadily the rifled carbines spoke out in answer to the heavy
fire opened on the bank, and as almost every man of Warrener's Horse was a
sportsman and a good shot, very few shots were thrown away. The enemy beat
their drums more and more loudly, and shouted vociferously as they
advanced. When they were within three hundred yards Major Warrener gave
the word:
"Fire fast, but don't throw away a shot."
Astonished at the accuracy and deadliness of the fire which was poured
into them by their still invisible foe, the enemy wavered. Their leaders,
shouting loudly, and exposing themselves bravely in front, called them on,
as slowly, and with heavy loss, the main body arrived within a hundred
yards of the hedge. Those in front were, however, falling so fast that no
efforts of their leaders could get them to advance further, and already a
retrograde movement had begun, when there was a yell of fear, as the
mounted troop, hitherto unnoticed, charged furiously down upon their
flank.
"Empty your rifles, and then to horse," shouted Major Warrener; and the
men dashed back through the tope to the spot in the rear, where four of
their number were mounting guard over the horses.
In three minutes they were back again on the plain, but the fight was
over. The enemy in scattered bodies were in full flight, and the cavalry,
dashing through them, were cutting them down, or emptying their revolvers
among them.
"Make for the village," Major Warrener said. "Gallop!"
At full speed the troop dashed across the plain to the village, whose gate
they reached just as a large body of the fugitives were arriving. These
gave a yell as this fresh body of horsemen fell upon them; a few tried to
enter the gates of the village, but the main body scattered again in
flight. The cavalry dashed in through the gates, and sabered some men who
were trying to close them. A few shots were fired inside, but resistance
was soon over, and the male inhabitants who remained dropped over the wall
and sought refuge in flight. A bugle call now summoned the other troop
from pursuit, and the women and children being at once, without harm or
indignity, turned out of the village, the conquerors took possession.
"This will be our headquarters for a day or two," the major said, as the
troop gathered round him; "there is an abundance of food for horse and
man, and we could stand a siege if necessary."
Warrener's Horse was the happiest of military bodies. On duty the
discipline was severe, and obedience prompt and ready. Off duty, there
was, as among the members of a regimental mess, no longer any marked
distinction of rank; all were officers and gentlemen, good fellows and
good comrades. The best house in the village was set aside for Major
Warrener, and the rest of the squadron dispersed in the village,
quartering themselves in parties of threes and fours among the cleanest-
looking of the huts. Eight men were at once put on sentry on the walls,
two on each side. Their horses were first looked to, fed and watered, and
soon the village assumed as quiet an aspect as if the sounds of war had
never been heard in the land. At dark all was life and animation. A dozen
great fires blazed in the little square in the center of the village, and
here the men fried their chickens, or, scraping out a quantity of red-hot
embers, baked their chupatties, with much laughter and noise.
Then there was comparative quiet, the sentries on the walls were trebled,
and outposts placed at a couple of hundred yards beyond the gates. Men
lighted their pipes and chatted round the fires, while Major Warrener and
a dozen of the oldest and most experienced of his comrades sat together
and discussed the best course to be pursued.
CHAPTER VIII.
A DESPERATE DEFENSE.
"Well, major, what do you think of the situation?" one of the senior
captains asked, after the pipes had begun to draw.
"It looks rather bad, Crawshay. There's no disguising the fact. We shall
have the country up in force; they will swarm out like wasps from every
village, and by to-morrow night we shall have, at the very least, ten
thousand of them round us. Against a moderate force we could defend the
village; but it is a good-sized place, and we have only twenty-five men
for each wall, and a couple of hundred would be none too little."
"But surely, major, we might prevent their scaling the walls. It is not
likely that they would attack on all sides at once, and without artillery
they could do little."
"They will have artillery," said Captain Wilkins, an officer, who had
served for some time in Oude. "These talookdars have all got artillery.
They were ordered to give it up, and a good many old guns were sent in;
but there is not one of these fellows who cannot bring a battery at the
very least into the field. By to-morrow night, or at the latest next day,
we may have some thirty or forty pieces of artillery round this place."
"It will not do to be caught like rats in a trap here," Major Warrener
said. "For to-night it is a shelter, after that it would be a trap. But
about Bithri; I don't like to give up the idea of rescuing our country-
people there. Still, although the matter has been left to my discretion, I
cannot risk losing the whole squadron."
"What is the castle like, Warrener? have you heard?" Captain Crawshay
asked.
"A square building, with high walls, and a deep moat. Beyond the moat is
another wall with a strong outwork and gate. There are believed to be a
couple of guns on the outwork, and eight on the inner wall."
"Do you think they will attack us to-morrow, Wilkins? You know these Oude
fellows."
"They will muster strong, no doubt, and be prepared to attack us if we
sally out; but I should think if we remain quiet they would wait till next
day, so as to gather as many men and guns as possible."
"Then you think we ought to be out of this early?" Major Warrener asked.
"I don't say we ought to be, major; I only say we ought to be if we intend
to get off without having to fight our way through them. I suppose the
Bithri man is sure to come out to attack us?"
"Oh, no doubt," Major Warrener answered; "he has openly declared against
us."
"The thing would be to pop into his place, just as he is thinking of
popping in here," Captain Dunlop said, laughing.
"That's a good idea, Dunlop--a capital idea, if it could be carried out.
The question is, is it possible?"
Then gradually the plan was elaborated, until it finally was definitely
arranged as afterward carried into execution.
The night passed quietly, but fires could be seen blazing in many
directions over the plain, and occasionally a distant sound of drums, or a
wild shout, came faintly on the still air. Next morning Major Warrener
started early, with half a troop, to reconnoiter the country toward
Bithri. The party got to a spot within two miles of the castle, and had a
look at it and its surroundings, and were able to discern that a great
deal of bustle was going on around it, and that considerable numbers of
horse and footmen were gathered near the gate. Then they rode rapidly back
again, having to run the gantlet of several bodies of natives, who fired
at them. One party indeed had already placed themselves on the road, about
a mile from the village; but Captain Kent, seeing with his glass what was
going on, rode out with his troop to meet the little reconnoitering party,
and the enemy, fearing cavalry on the open, fell back after a scattering
fire, but not quickly enough to prevent the horse from cutting up their
rear somewhat severely.
At eight o'clock large bodies of men could, be seen approaching the
village. These, when they arrived within gunshot, discharged their long
matchlocks at the walls, with much shouting and gesticulation. Major
Warrener's order was that not a shot should be returned, as it was
advisable to keep them in ignorance as to the long range of the Enfield
carbine.
"Let all get their breakfasts," he said, "and let the horses be well
groomed and attended to; we shall want all their speed to-morrow."
At eleven some elephants, surrounded by a large body of horse, could be
seen across the plain.
"Here come some of the talookdars," Captain Wilkins said. "I suspect those
elephants are dragging guns behind them."
"Yes, the fun will soon begin now," Captain Dunlop answered. "Now, Dick,"
he went on to young Warrener, "you are going to see a little native
artillery practice. These fellows are not like the Delhi pandies, who are
artillerymen trained by ourselves; here you will see the real genuine
native product; and as the manufacture of shell is in its infancy, and as
the shot seldom fits the gun within half an inch, or even an inch, you
will see something erratic. They may knock holes in the wall, but it will
take them a long time to cut enough holes near each other to make a
breach. There, do you see? there are another lot of elephants and troops
coming from the left. We shall have the whole countryside here before
long. Ah! that's just as we expected; they are going to take up their
position on that rising ground, which you measured this morning, and found
to be just five hundred yards off. Our carbines make very decent practice
at that distance, and you will see we shall astonish them presently."
The two forces with elephants reached the rising ground at the same time,
and there was great waving of flags, letting off of muskets, and beating
of drums, while the multitude of footmen cheered and danced.
By this time the greater portion of the little garrison were gathered
behind the wall. This was some two feet thick, of rough sun-dried bricks
and mud. It was about fourteen feet high. Against it behind was thrown up
a bank of earth five feet high, and in the wall were loopholes, four feet
above the bank. At the corners of the walls, and at intervals along them,
were little towers, each capable of holding about four men, who could fire
over the top of the walls. In these towers, and at the loopholes, Major
Warrener placed twenty of his best shots. There was a great deal of moving
about on the rising ground; then the footmen cleared away in front, and
most of the elephants withdrew, and then were seen ten guns ranged side by
side. Close behind them were two elephants, with gaudy trappings, while
others, less brilliantly arrayed, stood further back.
Major Warrener was in one of the little towers, with his second in
command, and his two sons to act as his orderlies.
"Run, boys, and tell the men in the other towers to fire at the howdahs of
the chief elephants; let the rest of them fire at the artillery. Tell them
to take good aim, and fire a volley; I will give the word. Make haste, I
want first shot; that will hurry them, and they will fire wild."
The boys started at a run, one each way, and in a minute the instructions
were given. The major glanced down, saw that every carbine was leveled,
and gave the word:
"Fire!"
The sound of the volley was answered in a few seconds by a yell of dismay
from the enemy. One of the state elephants threw up its trunk, and started
at a wild gallop across the plain, and a man was seen to fall from the
howdah as it started. There was also confusion visible in the howdahs of
the other elephants. Several men dropped at the guns; some, surprised and
startled, fired wildly, most of the balls going high over the village;
while others, whose loading was not yet complete, ran back from the guns.
Only one ball hit the wall, and made a ragged hole of a foot in diameter.
"That's sickened them for the present," Captain Dunlop said, "I expect
they'll do nothing now till it gets a bit cooler, for even a nigger could
hardly stand this. Ah, we are going to give them another volley, this time
a stronger one."
Fifty carbines spoke out this time, and the wildest confusion was caused
among the elephants and footmen, who were now trying to drag the guns
back. Again, a third volley, and then the garrison were dismissed from
their posts, and told to lie down and keep cool till wanted again.
Half an hour later another large train of elephants, ten of them with
guns, came from the direction of Bithri, and proceeded to a tope at about
a mile from the village. There the elephants of the first comers had
gathered after the stampede, and presently a great tent was raised in
front of the tope.
"Bithri is going to do it in style," Dick laughed to his brother. "I
shouldn't mind some iced sherbet at present, if he has got any to spare."
"Look, Dick, there is a movement; they are getting the guns in position on
that knoll a little to the right, and a hundred yards or so in front of
their tent."
Dick took the field-glass which his brother handed him.
"Yes, we shall have a salute presently; but they won't breach the wall
this afternoon at that distance."
Twenty guns opened fire upon the village, and the shot flew overhead, or
buried themselves in the ground in front, or came with heavy thuds against
the wall, or, in some instances, crashed into the upper parts of the
houses. After an hour's firing it slackened a little, and finally died
out, for the heat was tremendous.
At three o'clock there was a move again; ten of the guns were brought
forward to a point about a thousand yards from the wall, while ten others
were taken round and placed on the road, at about the same distance, so as
to command the gate. Again the fire opened, and this time more
effectually. Again the men were called to the loopholes. The greater
portion of them were armed, not with the government carbines, but with
sporting rifles, shortened so as to be carried as carbines; and although
none of the weapons were sighted for more than six hundred yards, all with
sufficient elevation could send balls far beyond that distance. Ten of the
best-armed men were told off against each battery of artillery, and a
slow, steady fire was opened. It was effective, for, with the field-
glasses, men could be seen to fall frequently at the guns, and the fire
became more hurried, but much wilder and even less accurate, than it had
hitherto been. The rest of the men, with the exception of ten told off for
special duty, were dispersed round the walls, to check the advance of the
footmen, who crept daringly to within a short distance, and kept up a
rolling fire around the village.
At five o'clock half of the men were taken off the walls, and several were
set to build a wall four feet high, in a semicircle just inside the gate,
which had been struck by several shots, and showed signs of yielding. Two
or three of the nearest huts were demolished rapidly, there being plenty
of native tools in the village, and a rough wall was constructed of the
materials; a trench five feet deep and eight feet wide was simultaneously
dug across the entrance. At six o'clock, just as the wall was finished, an
unlucky shot struck one of the doorposts, and the gate fell, dragging the
other post with it. A distant yell of triumph came through the air.
The gates fell partly across the trench. "Now, lads, push them back a bit
if you can; if not, knock the part over the ditch to pieces; it's half-
smashed already."
It was easier to knock the gate, already splintered with shot, to pieces,
than to remove it.
"Now, Dunlop, fetch one of those powder-bags we brought for blowing up the
gates; put it in the trench, with a long train. You attend to the train,
and when I give the word, fire it. Bring up those two big pots of boiling
water to the gate-towers. Captain Kent, thirty men of your troop will hold
the other three walls; but if you hear my dog-whistle, every man is to
leave his post and come on here at a run. Thirty men more will man this
front wall and towers. They are to direct their fire to check the crowd
pushing forward behind those immediately assaulting. The remaining forty
will fire through the loopholes as long as possible, and will then form
round the breastwork and hold it to the last. One man in each gate-tower,
when the enemy reach the gate, will lay down his carbine, and attend to
the boiling water. Let them each have a small pot as a ladle. But let them
throw the water on those pressing toward the gate, not on those who have
reached it. Those are our affair."
In five minutes every man was at his post, and a sharp fire from the
seventy men along the front wall opened upon the masses of the enemy, who
came swarming toward the gate. The effect on the crowd, many thousand
strong, was very severe, for each shot told; but the Mussulmen of Oude are
courageous, and the rush toward the gate continued. Fast as those in front
fell, the gaps were imperceptible in the swarming crowd. Major Warreners
band of forty men were called away from the loopholes, and were drawn up
behind the ditch; and as the head of the assaulting crowd neared the gate
volley after volley rang out, and swept away the leaders, foremost among
whom were a number of Sepoys, who, when their regiments mutinied, had
returned to their homes, and now headed the peasantry in their attack upon
the British force. When the dense mass arrived within thirty yards of the
gate Major Warrener gave the word, and a retreat was made behind the
breastwork. On, with wild shouts, came the assailants; the first few saw
the trench, and leaped it; those who followed fell in, until the trench
was full; then the crowd swept in unchecked. The defenders had laid by
their carbines now, and had drawn their revolvers. They were divided into
two lines, who were alternately to take places in front and fire, while
those behind loaded their revolvers. The din, as the circle inclosed by
the low wall filled with the assailants, was prodigious; the sharp
incessant crack of the revolver; the roll of musketry from the walls; the
yells of the enemy; the shrieks, which occasionally rose outside the gate
as the men in the towers scattered the boiling water broadcast over them,
formed a chaos. With the fury and despair of cornered wild beasts, the
enemy fought, striving to get over the wall which so unexpectedly barred
their way; but their very numbers and the pressure from behind hampered
their efforts.
If a man in the front line of defenders had emptied his revolver before
the one behind him had reloaded, he held his place with the sword.
"The wall's giving from the pressure!" Dick exclaimed to his father; and
the latter put his whistle to his lips, and the sound rang out shrill and
high above the uproar.
A minute later the front of the wall tottered and fell. Then Major
Warrener held up his hand, and Captain Dunlop, who had stood all the time
quietly watching him, fired the train. A thundering explosion, a flight of
bodies and fragments of bodies through the air, a yell of terror from the
enemy, and then, as those already rushing triumphantly through the breach
stood paralyzed, the British fell upon them sword in hand; the men from
the other walls came rushing up, eager to take their part in the fray, and
the enemy inside the gate were either cut down or driven headlong through
it!
The crowd beyond, already shaken by the murderous fire that the party on
the walls kept up unceasingly upon them, while they stood unable to move
from the jam in front, had recoiled through their whole mass at the
explosion, and the sight of the handful of their comrades flying through
the gate completed the effect. With yells of rage and discomfiture, each
man turned and fled, while the defenders of the gateway passed out, and
joined their fire to that of their comrades above on the flying foe.
"Thank God, it is all over!" Major Warrener said; "but it has been hot
while it lasted. Have we had many casualties?"
The roll was soon called, and it was found that the besieged had escaped
marvelously. One young fellow, a civil servant, had been shot through the
head, by a stray ball entering the loophole through which he was firing.
Thirteen of the defenders of the gateway were wounded with pistol shots,
or with sword cuts; but none of the injuries were of a serious character.
It was now rapidly becoming dark, and Major Warrener mounted one of the
towers to have a last look.
The enemy had rallied at a distance from the walls, and two fresh bodies
of troops, with elephants, were to be seen approaching from the distance.
"That is all right," he said. "They will wait, and renew the attack to-
morrow."
An hour afterward it was night. The moon had not risen yet, and Major
Warrener had a huge bonfire lighted outside the gate, with posts and solid
beams from the fallen gates and from the houses.
"That will burn for hours," he said, "quite long enough for our purpose."
Lights could be seen scattered all over the side of the plain on which the
tents were erected, some of them coming up comparatively close to the
walls. On the road in front, but far enough to be well beyond the light of
the fire, voices could be heard, and occasionally a shout that they would
finish with the infidel dogs to-morrow rose on the air. Evidently by the
low buzz of talk there were a large number here, and probably the guns had
been brought closer, to check any attempt on the part of the little
garrison to dash through their enemies. The blazing fire, however,
throwing as it did a bright light upon the empty gateway through which
they must pass, showed that at present, at least, the besieged had no idea
of making their escape.
At nine o'clock the whole of the garrison stood to their horses. Not only
had their feet been muffled with the leather shoes, but cloths, of which
there were plenty in the village, had been wound round them, until their
footfalls would, even on the hardest road, have been noiseless. Then Major
Warrener led the way to the spot where ten men had been at work during the
afternoon.
At this point, which was on the side furthest from that upon which was the
main camp of the enemy, a clump of trees and bushes grew close to the wall
outside; behind them a hole in the wall, wide enough and high enough for a
horse to pass through easily, had been made, and the ditch behind had been
filled up with rubbish. There was no word spoken; every one had received
his orders, and knew what to do; and as silently as phantoms the troop
passed through, each man leading his horse. Once outside the bushes, they
formed fours and went forward, still leading their horses-as these were
less likely to snort with their masters at their heads.
Ten minutes' walking convinced them that they had little to fear, and that
no guards had been set on that side. It was regarded by the enemy as so
certain that the English would not abandon their horses and fly on foot,
only to be overtaken and destroyed the next day, that they had only
thought it necessary to watch the gateway through which, as they supposed,
the British must, if at all, escape on horseback.
The troop now mounted, and trotted quietly away, making a wide detour, and
then going straight toward Bithri. The moon had risen; and when, about a
mile and a half in front, they could see the castle, Major Warrener, who
with Captain Kent and the native guides was riding ahead, held up his
hand. The troop came to a halt.
"There are some bullock-carts just ahead. Take the mufflings off your
horse's feet and ride on by yourself," he said to one of the native
guides, "and see what is in the wagons, and where they are going."
The man did as ordered, but he needed no questions. The wagons were full
of wounded men going to Bithri. He passed on with a word of greeting,
turned his horse when he reached a wood a little in front, and allowed
them to pass, and then rode back to the troop.
"Four bullock-carts full of wounded, sahib."
"The very thing," Major Warrener exclaimed; "nothing could be more lucky."
Orders were passed down the line that they were to ride along until the
leaders were abreast of the first cart, then to halt and dismount
suddenly. The drivers were to be seized, gagged, and bound. The wounded
were not to be injured.
"These men are not mutinous Sepoys, with their hands red with the blood of
women," Major Warrener said; "they are peasants who have fought bravely
for their country, and have done their duty, according to their light."
CHAPTER IX.
SAVE BY A TIGER.
The drivers of the bullock-carts were startled at the noiseless appearance
by their side of a body of horsemen; still more startled, when suddenly
that phantom-like troop halted and dismounted. The rest was like a dream;
in an instant they were seized, bound, and gagged, and laid down in the
field at some distance from the road; one of them, however, being
ungagged, and asked a few questions before being finally left. The
wounded, all past offering the slightest resistance, were still more
Back to Full Books
|