Part 8

"No, the matter is of much longer standing. It began at one of the battles against the Afghans. The sirdars and their troops commanded by Ghoolab did very badly, and had it not been for the courage and obstinacy of my three regiments and those of Portalis we should have been defeated. Runjeet always managed to keep himself thoroughly well acquainted with what was going on, and Ghoolab was for a time in considerable disgrace, while very handsome presents were made to Portalis and myself, and three months' pay given to each of our officers and soldiers. I warned Portalis that Ghoolab would not forgive us, but he was a little headstrong and scoffed at the danger. Three months after, he fell by the knife of an assassin. He was a good comrade and friend of mine, and was indeed the only man among the European officers I really cared for, and I did not hesitate to denounce Ghoolab to Runjeet in open durbar as the author of his assassination. Of course I could not prove it, but the maharajah was certainly of my opinion, and Ghoolab was ordered to go and live on his estates, and was for some months in great disgrace.

"All my acquaintances warned me that I was throwing away my life by thus venturing to denounce one of the all-powerful trio of brothers. But, as you see, I have lived through it thus far. Still, it has only been by the most unceasing caution and wariness. I have had at least a dozen narrow escapes from assassination, and during the lifetime of Runjeet Singh the intrigues against me were incessant; but the Old Lion knew when he was well served, and stuck to me staunchly. He was, in the last year of his life, compelled by the pressure brought upon him to sign my dismissal, but he sent me a private note by the hands of a trusty messenger. It contained only a few words. '_I am obliged to yield, but there is no reason why you should do so. The sword should always protect the head._' I was aware of what was going on at court, and had already resolved to hold my governorship till the last. But I was very glad to get the old man's note; he had been a kind and good master to me, and I should not have liked to take action that might appear rebellion against him. What others said or thought I did not care. Now I had the Old Lion's approval, my conscience was perfectly easy.

"Ghoolab himself commanded the force that came to put his son in possession, and the fact that he had to retire after losing some hundreds of men, without accomplishing his object, did not, as you may suppose, in any way diminish his feeling of unfriendliness towards me. I get constant and accurate intelligence of what takes place at Jummoo, and I know that I am constantly in his thoughts, and that denunciations of me form one of his staple subjects of conversation among his intimates. I need hardly tell you how great is the terror among the inhabitants of my districts at the thoughts of falling into Ghoolab's hands. The cruelty which he displayed in his conquest of Cashmere was appalling, thousands of people being put to death by all forms of torture. The trade of this district would be destroyed, the merchants plundered, and under one excuse or other all private property would be confiscated by him. Therefore I am well served. The traders have naturally agents and correspondents all over the Punjaub, who inform them of every rumour current, and these accounts are promptly transmitted to me, so that I get the earliest possible intelligence of every movement or intrigue as soon as it is set on foot, and no body of men can be set in motion within a couple of hundred miles of this fortress without my receiving news of it in the course of a day or two."

A few days later the colonel said when they met at breakfast: "There is trouble coming, Percy. I have had a letter from my agents at Lahore, saying that several of the _punches_--as the leaders of the soldiers are called--have for the last day or two been loudly denouncing me, saying that it is a disgrace to the Sikh nation that an insolent foreigner should not only remain among them, but, in the teeth of his dismissal by the ruler of Lahore, maintain himself by force of arms as the governor of a district of the Punjaub. As the ranee has no vizier, and is entirely helpless in the hands of the soldiers, there can be no doubt that she will authorize an expedition against me, and will indeed be glad to agree to a project which will remove a number of her insolent soldiery from the city. The clamour for a war against the British grows daily in strength, and most of the leading Sirdars are in this matter in agreement with the troops, and the ranee cannot but think that it is very much better that they should occupy themselves in an expedition against a man in whom she has, of course, no interest, than embark in a great war which may end by costing her infant son his kingdom."

"What are you going to do, uncle?"

The colonel shrugged his shoulders. "Sharpen my sword, see that the guns are in good order, and overhaul our stock of ammunition. I feel quite convinced that we can repel all attacks by a mutinous horde like this, provided only that there is no treachery at work. That is our one weak point."

"You have never found out yet, uncle, who it was sent Ghoolab the news of my coming here?"

"No, I have no ground for suspicion against anyone. Nand Chund, and two or three of the officers of whose fidelity I feel absolutely sure, have been quietly trying to find out ever since you came here, but without success. Azim Bund, my steward, has also been trying in other quarters, but he too has altogether failed. Of course the traitor may be a member of my household and not one of my officers; in that case his treachery would be of little importance. Although by getting news of your coming he might have struck me a heavy blow, in other respects he can tell them nothing beyond the fact that I am alive and well, and very much on my guard. He may give them the number of cannons I have got, the amount of ammunition in stock, and the state of the food magazines, but the news can give them no satisfaction and can do me no harm.

"It is altogether different if it is an officer. In every considerable body of men there are a certain number who think they have a grievance of some kind; they have either been punished unjustly, or think they have been overlooked in promotion and that their services have not been sufficiently recognized. In some it is merely the desire for a change of any sort; and when the men know, as of course they do know, that the soldiers of the army are enriching themselves both at the expense of the government and of the population, they may feel dissatisfied with their dull life and regular pay here. At any rate there must be many who could be worked up by an astute rascal, and a gate thrown open, or a rope-ladder lowered over the wall, might lay the place at the mercy of our enemies. I have no fear whatever of this section being numerous enough to get up anything like a formidable mutiny, but a party of only twenty determined men might any night break their way in here and cut all our throats long before the troops could come to our assistance, might seize my wife's jewels and valuables, and make their escape by means of a rope-ladder over the wall. That, I think, is the most dangerous contingency. I always sleep with three brace of pistols within reach of my hand, and you know I have warned you to keep arms by your bedside; still, though we might sell our lives dearly, you may be sure that the attack would not be made except by a force sufficient for the purpose."

"Why don't you keep a strong guard in the house, uncle?"

"Because, my boy, I don't know who the traitors are. The officer in command might be the very man himself, and he might so contrive it that the guard was composed of men whom he had corrupted. Where should we be then?"

"But you might appoint Nand Chund to be always officer of the guard?"

"Constable of the palace--eh, Percy?"

"Well, you might call him what you like, uncle, but surely he would be able to pick out a dozen men of whose fidelity he was assured. The duty would not be severe, they would only have to furnish the two sentries at the door, instead of these being sent from one or other of the regiments."

"I will think of it, Percy. Just at present there is less ground for fear than usual, for if an expedition is on foot to attack us openly, such a plot as this would most certainly be delayed until there was a force outside where the conspirators could betake themselves after carrying their designs into execution. The fact that, even were they successful, they would certainly be pursued, and for the most part hunted down and slaughtered by the cavalry, has, no doubt, been one of the reasons why no such attempt as that we are talking of has been made long ago."

"Well, I do hope that when an army approaches you do what Percy suggests," Mahtab, who had been listening silently to the conversation, said to her husband. "You have escaped so many times, Roland, that you have come to think that no attempt against your life will ever succeed, and certainly it is likely that Ghoolab, while organizing an open assault upon you, will take measures to secure his aim being carried out in other ways if possible."

"Very well, wife; you may consider it settled that on the day when an attacking force crosses the boundary of the province, Nand Chund shall be installed as chief of a special bodyguard here."

*CHAPTER VI.*

*A SIEGE.*

Not a day passed now without messengers coming in with warnings of approaching danger, and one morning early the officer on guard reported that a large number of persons could be seen approaching by the road from the south.

"Do they look like troops?" the colonel asked.

"No, sahib; they are on horseback and on foot, and there are many carts among them."

"I have no doubt then, Kur Aloof, that they are merchants of the towns coming in here for refuge. The enemy cannot be far off, and they know how the soldiers would squeeze them if they had a chance."

"Will you let all those people in here, uncle? They will eat up our provisions and drink up our water."

"As I told you, Percy, we have sufficient of both for a number double that at present within the walls. Did four times the total now here arrive the supplies would still hold out six months, and two months is the utmost that the siege is likely to last. One need never be afraid of a long siege by men commanded by leaders having no authority over them. A powerful prince might send troops on a siege and order them to maintain it until they captured the place, even if it took them ten years to do so, but at present the Punjaub is without a master, and the troops have only been induced to come here by the prospect of plunder. But as soon as they find that they make but little impression upon us, and that the siege, with its labours, and hardships, and dangers, may continue for many months, they will soon get tired of it, and in the absence of a controlling power will march away.

"They have a good many deserters from our service among them, and little as they love Europeans they will utilize their services, and I anticipate that for a while at least it will be made very hot for us. There are a score of points on that hillside half a mile away where guns can be posted to play on us, while we could make but a feeble return, and there is nothing like a plunging fire kept up night and day to weaken the spirits and lower the confidence of a garrison. That will be the time when the traitors, if there are any, will be busy among the men, and it will need unceasing care and vigilance to prevent trouble."

In a short time the people seen in the valley below began to enter the fortress. They were, as the colonel had anticipated, merchants and other people having something to lose, from the various towns in the district. Most of them brought with them carts laden with their choicest merchandise, and all had their portable valuables and money with them. They reported that news had come in the evening before, that a very large force had arrived at a point within fifteen miles of the frontier of the province, and that the soldiers had been promised the sack of all the towns and villages as an inducement for them to undertake the siege of the fortress.

"But how am I to feed so many mouths?" the colonel asked one of the leading merchants, with a smile.

"We know that our lord has great stores laid up in his magazines," the merchant answered, "and we are, of course, ready to pay for all that he will let us have."

"I have no doubt that the magazines will hold out as long as it is necessary," the colonel replied, "and as I regard all who enter here as my guests, each man, woman, and child shall draw rations of what food we have as long as it lasts. It has been bought out of the revenues of the province, and as each of you contributed, so shall you now share. But you know you will fare worse if the place is taken and you are found here than you would have done had you remained quietly at home."

The merchant shook his head. "There could be no worse, sahib. The soldiers plunder, kill, burn, and destroy as they did in Cashmere; they can do no more if they find us here. But we are not afraid of their taking the fortress. It is strong, and everyone knows my lord's valour and experience. The army will never be able to win their way in here."

"I hope not, my friends; I will certainly do my best to prevent them from doing so. And now about yourselves. The stream of fugitives grows broader and thicker every hour, and if it goes on like this, by nightfall we shall have over five thousand persons here in addition to the strength of the garrison. Against that I say nothing, a thousand at least will be able-bodied men capable of bearing arms, and I shall expect each to do his best; but where am I to stow so great a number? The barracks are already full, and but few indeed will be able to find lodging in the houses of the traders. I have tents and straw for two thousand people, but how can they be pitched? The ground is solid rock. There is no way of driving tent-pegs, and I see not how they can be erected."

"We might spread them over the carts, and so obtain a protection from the night air and a shelter for the women and children, and they might even erect poles in the carts themselves and stay them by ropes to the sides."

"That is a very good idea, and I will order the officer in charge of the stores to issue a tent to each owner of a cart, the others must manage as best they can. I daresay five hundred can be stowed away in the lofts of the stables and in other places not in use, while some with poles leaned against a wall and canvas spread over them can make shelters good enough on a pinch. The oxen must be given over to one of my officers, who will see that they are fed from the granaries and will kill them for food."

The colonel had not over-estimated the number of those likely to arrive, and before nightfall over five thousand had entered the fortress. Stringent orders were laid down that none save the regular troops should be allowed to approach the walls, and each party as it arrived was conducted to the spot allotted to it. Every open space was covered with shelters of one kind or another, the larger constructed of tents, the smaller of shawls and blankets. The principal street was left clear of such erections in order to admit of a free passage for the troops, but it was ordered that all cooking operations should be performed there, as fires would be dangerous in the extreme among the crowded tents. When night came, strong guards were placed on the walls, especially on that facing the shoulder of the hill, upon which any open attack must fall. Percy's idea was carried out, and a body-guard composed of six men from each of the two infantry regiments, and an equal number from the cavalry, marched into the governor's house under the command of Nand Chund. Their instructions were that no one was to be allowed to enter the house, whatever he might allege to be the nature of his business, unless furnished with a written order to do so from the governor.

Percy had been busy all day seeing that the new-comers fell into their places, and in aiding them to shake down in some sort of comfort, and he was thoroughly tired out when he joined the colonel and his wife in their room that evening.

"Well, uncle, I am glad it is coming at last. It is much better to know the worst than to go on wondering when it was going to begin."

"I don't know, Percy. I have been in so many troubles and frays and battles since I came out here, that the thought that we might have to stand a siege was no very great trouble to me; besides, there was always the possibility that something might occur to postpone it altogether. The soldiers and most of the sirdars seem bent upon having a fight with the English, and I greatly hoped that it would begin before Ghoolab's intrigues against me had come to a head. However, now it has come we must make the best of it, and I have no great fear of the result. While you have been busy with these people this afternoon I have been superintending the mounting of two heavy howitzers as mortars, and if they erect batteries on the hill, as I expect they will, we will see if we cannot drop a few shell among them. Nothing unsteadies artillery-men more than finding that the earthworks in front of them do not as they expect protect them, and that by no ingenuity can they defend themselves from missiles that seem to drop down from the sky upon them."

"But how do you do that, uncle?"

"Simply by the amount of powder you put in. A mortar is always fixed at a certain angle, and of course you fix a howitzer the same way when you use it for that purpose. With a mortar the amount of powder of a given strength required to send a shell to a given distance is known to every artillery-man, but with a howitzer one must get it by experiment. You first put in the amount of powder you think sufficient. The ball is fired up into the air, and you watch where it drops. If it is short you add an ounce or two of powder, as the case may be. If it is too far you decrease the charge until you find that the shell drops just behind the enemy's earthworks among the artillerymen serving a gun. Having once got the exact charge of course you stick to it. This sort of thing annoys the Sikhs, who are not much accustomed to shell. A few of them were sent up to Lahore, and I managed to get hold of one and had several hundred cast here to fit those two howitzers, and had a large number of fuses made and stored away for future use. If they try to climb the rocks, a few shells rolled down from the walls are likely to be very effective."

"What are to be my duties principally, uncle?"

"Your chief duty will be to watch, Percy, especially at night. The officers will, of course, go their rounds frequently, but as there may be a traitor among them, I can place no absolute reliance on their vigilance. I shall myself be about as much as possible, but as I shall have to look after everything in the daytime I must take some rest at night; one cannot do two or three months without sleep. I shall release you from all duty during the day, although in case of a serious attack you will take your place on the wall; otherwise I wish you to sleep in the day and to keep a sharp look-out on everything at night, being constantly upon the walls seeing that the sentries are vigilant, and listening intently for anything that might indicate a movement from below. I shall tell off four of Nand Chund's party to accompany you, for if treachery is intended there would be no hesitation in planting a dagger in your heart and then getting rid of your body over the wall. You are nearly sixteen now, and strong and active, but on a dark night that would avail nothing against a lurking assassin."

"Shall I begin to-night, uncle?"

"There is no occasion for that. The enemy have not arrived yet, and indeed no one would dream of attempting to ascend the craig unaided. I fancy they will try an open assault to begin with. When they find that fails they may try surprise."

About midnight an officer reported that a dull confused sound could be heard down the valley. The colonel took a couple of signal rockets, with which one of the boxes brought by Percy from England was filled, and proceeded, accompanied by his nephew, Nand Chund, and four of his guard, to the wall at the lower end of the rock. Lanterns placed on the ground were burning here, and a party of artillery-men were standing by the four guns looking down the valley.

"How far do you think they are away?" the colonel asked the officer in command there.

"A party of them have just crossed the wooden bridge over the stream, sahib. I heard the trampling of their horses upon it distinctly."

"That is fourteen hundred and thirteen yards from the foot of the rock. Drive those wedges a little farther. That is right. I cut those nicks upon them the other day when we had got the exact depression required to lay the guns on the bridge. Now let us wait until another body of them are crossing."

Three or four minutes later the sound in the distance became suddenly louder.

"Now, Nand Chund, fire that rocket. I think you have got it about the right angle."

The rocket flew up in the air, and burst some distance away throwing out a dozen fire-balls. Their light enabled the governor to see right down the valley. Some slight alteration in the direction of the guns was made, and then one after another they were fired. Another rocket was now thrown up, and by its light the dark mass of men on or behind the bridge could be seen to be broken up and retreating. Almost at the same moment four guns were fired from an upper bastion.

"That is grape, Percy," the colonel said. The officer there was told to wait till the men could see a body of troops advancing up the valley. "Listen, there go the cavalry scampering back as hard as the horses can lay their feet to the ground. I doubt whether we shall hear anything more of them to-night."

"They could hardly hope to have passed without our noticing them. They must have been sure that we should have warning of their coming."

"No doubt, lad, but they may not have calculated on our opening fire upon them in the dark. They will not have reckoned upon the rockets, and hoped, I have no doubt, to push a part of their force past the place and up on to the brow before morning, for they would know well enough that they could not pass under the fire of our guns when the sun was once up."

"But how will they get there, uncle? now we have shown them that it is almost as dangerous by night as by day."

"Probably they will march round among the hills, and come down upon us. There will be no difficulty in infantry doing it, and they may manage to drag a few light guns with them, but they can't get anything like heavy artillery up there except by bringing them along below, and taking them up the regular road. That is the first of the difficulties they have to encounter, and as I have a large stock of blue lights I don't see how they are going to get up the hill, which is commanded by a dozen of our guns. They will be safe enough from our fire as they pass along under the craig, for there is not a gun that can be depressed sufficiently to bear upon them there, though we can annoy them by pitching shell and hand-grenades down upon them. Still, determined men might manage that, and might even make their way up the hill in face of our fire, but they could never drag heavy guns up a road which we can sweep with grape. So you see they have got a stiff problem to solve before they can get a battering-gun to play on our northern wall."