Part 9

For another hour they kept watch. There was still a confused sound from the lower end of the valley, but nothing to indicate any renewed advance. They therefore returned to the house.

Percy was aroused at daybreak, and at once made his way to the battery, where they had been the night before. The colonel and several of his officers were already there. The lower end of the valley was occupied by a great mass of men, horses, and waggons. Tents had been erected here and there, and the banners of their occupants were flying before them.

"How strong do you think they are, uncle?" Percy asked.

"It is difficult to say, mixed up as all arms are in such confusion just as they reached the ground last night, but we guess them at about fifteen thousand. They have four batteries of field guns. There they are away to the right. They evidently came up together, and have kept something like order. We can make out several heavy guns mixed up with the waggons, but whether there are ten or twenty of them I could give no opinion. Do you see that large tent with the red and white flag? Those are the colours of Ghoolab Singh, and the tent no doubt is occupied by his son, the gentleman who was named my successor a week after the death of the Old Lion. He has been waiting some time, and is likely to wait longer. He is no doubt the nominal leader of the expedition; but I believe that he has none of the talent of his father or uncles, and matters will be directed really by the chiefs of the army. I have no doubt a council has been going on all night as to what the next move shall be, and the decision they have probably arrived at is to wait until they can get a better idea of the fortress and its surroundings."

A considerable movement was now going on in the enemy's camp, and the wind bore the sound of trumpets to the fortress.

"They are trying to get into something like order," Nand Chund remarked. "The waggons are drawing out of the mass to take up their positions in the rear, and the assembly calls of the different regiments are sounding. Ah! there is a party going out to reconnoitre."

As he spoke a party of horsemen rode out to the left of the camp. Several bright banners streamed in the air, and an escort of some fifty cavalry followed them. They mounted the hill on the opposite side of the valley until they reached a spot two or three hundred feet higher than the summit of the fortress, and just opposite to it. As soon as their object had been made out the colonel had sent word to the gunners at the batteries along that face ordering them not to fire.

"I do not wish to make any more bitter enemies," he said to his officers in reply to their look of surprise when he issued the order. "At present they are only fighting against me as instruments of Ghoolab Singh, and except on the ground that I am a foreigner, the soldiers have no animosity against me. If we were now to kill two or three of their favourite leaders, and perhaps some of the sirdars who have been bribed into entering upon this business, it would create an active animosity against me. Of course, when fighting begins they must all take their chance, but I don't wish to slay anyone before a single shot has been fired on their side."

The group of officers, who were but half a mile away, remained for ten minutes closely examining the fortress. They then slowly returned to camp.

"Our guns would carry easily enough into the midst of the camp, sahib," one of the officers remarked.

"I know they would, but I won't begin, for the same reason that I would not fire at the group of officers. We will let them open the ball."

An hour later a body of men which they estimated at five thousand marched away with two of the batteries of field guns, and soon were lost to sight as they wound round the hills skirting the valley.

"We shall see them at daylight to-morrow established on the hillside above us," the colonel said. "I have thought several times of establishing a fort near the crest there; but I should not be able to give it much support by my guns, and its garrison would not make any prolonged resistance when they once found themselves cut off altogether from us. With troops one could rely upon thoroughly, such a fort would immensely hinder the operations, and indeed they could do nothing until it was captured.

"It is a standard rule with us out here, Percy," he said afterwards, "never to count upon the natives unless you are with them yourself. The Sikhs are brave, but they want good leaders, and are not to be relied upon unless under the eye of an officer they respect. They may hate us as Europeans, but in the wars of Runjeet Singh they fought like lions under our command. You will see that that will be their weak point if they come to blows with the British. They will fight, and fight pluckily, but without Europeans to lead them they will fall into disorder, and there will be no one to rally and control them, to take advantage of any temporary success, or to retrieve a temporary failure. They don't know it themselves, but they will speedily learn it. Given English officers, the natives of India fight as well as our own men. The Sepoy regiments in Clive's days, and ever since, have shown themselves worthy of fighting by the side of their white comrades; but they would be worth very little if deprived of their European officers. Another thing against them is the slowness with which they work their guns. A battery of British artillery would fire five shots while they fire one, and their infantry are proportionately slow in their movements. We have all tried, but tried in vain, to get them to work with smartness. It does not seem, however, to be in them."

That night a vigilant watch was kept along the northern wall, but nothing was heard; and it was not till an hour after sunrise that a column was seen coming along the side of the hill above them. The guns were all manned and ready for action, but the colonel delayed giving the order until the enemy reached a sort of terrace on the face of the hill half a mile away, and three hundred feet higher than the level of the fortress. "Now," he said, "we will give them a hint to come no further. We could not prevent their establishing themselves on that terrace, but they must learn that they can come no nearer. Two or three shots will be a sufficient hint."

The guns opened fire, and the enemy, who were just commencing a further descent, retired hastily, and a few minutes later their field guns opened fire. They were no match, however, for the much heavier pieces on the walls; and after half an hour's exchange of shots they drew back their guns, two of which had been dismounted by well-aimed shots from the wall. Some of the party established themselves well back on the terrace, where they were out of sight of the fortress, but the main body ascended the hill again and encamped on the crest. Occasionally a gun was run forward, discharged, and withdrawn; and to this fire the garrison made no reply, the guns being very badly aimed, some of the shot flying right over the fortress, while others struck the ground outside the wall.

"Now we shall have quiet for a time, sahib," Nand Chund said to Percy, who was standing next to him. "They have done so much, and will want to settle what the next movement is to be."

"I think it will be our turn to move next, Nand Chund," the colonel, who had overheard his remark, observed. "To-night when it gets dark we will sally out, and see if we cannot take those gentlemen with the guns by surprise."

"It may be, colonel, that they will expect a sally, and will move their whole force down again on to the terrace after nightfall."

"It all depends who their leader is. If he is an enterprising fellow, that is what he would do."

"Do you know, uncle, I have been thinking that their camp down in the valley is smaller to-day than it was yesterday."

"Do you think so, Percy? I will go to the battery at the other end and have a look at it. It is possible that they may have sent off another party to join those fellows up there. If they have done that, they intend to try the effect of a _coup de main_, and to attack us in earnest some time before morning."

After a close examination of the enemy's camp, the colonel and his officers were all of opinion that although it occupied as much space as before, there were fewer men moving about than upon the preceding day.

"You have sharp eyes, Percy, and it is well that you noticed it. Had you not done so we might have run our heads into a trap, and instead of surprising them been surprised ourselves, and that by greatly superior numbers. I shall abandon the idea now and prepare to resist a serious assault to-night, and we will have every man capable of bearing arms in readiness. We will keep only a few men on the walls, and let the rest lie down at once with orders that they are to sleep if they can, as there will be no sleep for them to-night. Nand Chund, do you post half a dozen of your men at different points on the walls; let them keep a vigilant watch down upon the town itself, and see that no flag or other signal is waved from a roof or window. It may well be that there has been some arrangement made with a traitor here to give notice by signal of any intended sortie on our part."

Following his uncle's advice, Percy lay down for some hours; but he could not sleep, being too excited at the thought of the conflict that would probably take place during the night. When he went in to dinner the colonel was absent, being engaged in mustering and assigning to their various posts the able-bodied men among the fugitives. These were posted round the circuit of the walls, which were all, with the exception of the northern face, entrusted to their charge.

"It is probable," he told them, "that the enemy will make a diversion on this side when they attack on the other. It will not, however, be serious, for they can do nothing unless with the assistance of friends on the wall."

Among the servants of the traders were a good many who had served in the army. These were stationed at the guns, and enjoined to open fire upon the enemy's camp if they brought the heavy artillery they had there into play. To each battery and section of the wall a number of blue lights and fire-balls were served out--one or more of the former was to be lighted every few minutes, and the fire-balls occasionally thrown into the valley, so that no considerable body of the enemy could escape observation. The traders were appointed as commanders at the various points. Of the garrison a thousand men were placed on the north wall; the rest were stationed close at hand in readiness to support them, or to move to any point threatened.

"Percy," the Ranee--as she was usually called in the fortress--said, as they sat waiting the colonel's return, "I want you to devote yourself to the protection of my husband to-night. I have no fear of the wall being carried by assault, it is too strong and will be too well defended for that, but I do fear for his life. That we have one or more traitors here we are sure, and an occasion like this with its confusion and excitement will afford them just the opportunity they desire. When all are engaged in repulsing the attack of an enemy it would be easy for an assassin to use knife or pistol without fear of the action being noticed, and the colonel will be thinking of nothing but directing his men and repulsing the attack. Therefore, I pray you station yourself near him. Leave the fighting to others, and keep your eye closely upon those about him, and your pistol in your hand in readiness for action."

"I will do so, aunt. If there is anyone here who wants to assassinate him, it is just the time he would choose for the attempt. I think it would be as well to ask Nand Chund to pick me out four of his best men, and to hand them over to my orders. However sharply I might look out in the darkness and confusion, someone might spring suddenly forward upon uncle from the side opposite that on which I was standing; but with five of us on the watch, we ought to be able to prevent anyone getting near him. I will tell no one the purpose for which I require the men, and will bid Nand Chund be equally silent. There is no saying who the traitor may be, perhaps someone we have never thought of suspecting; and if he knew we were on the watch he might drop it altogether. I only hope he will try it, it would be the best thing that could happen, as it would relieve us from the uncertainty we have been feeling. Nand Chund himself with the rest of his men will, I know, be on duty here; for I heard uncle give him his orders, which were that he was to suffer nothing, not even the entry of the enemy into the town, to induce him to leave the house, as traitors would be very likely to take advantage of the confusion to rush in and perhaps to kill you, and plunder and fire the place. There will be one advantage of my having these men with me. Uncle might send me round with a message to some other part of the wall, and I should be obliged for a time to be absent; but with them round him, I could leave him for a few minutes without fear."

"Do not do it if you can help it, Percy; the night will be dark, and if you keep well behind him he may not notice you, for he will have other things to think about. Should he send you on a message, take it yourself if it is of great importance; if not, send one of the men in your place. I rely upon you more than on anyone else. Ah, here is Roland at last."

By ten o'clock everyone was at his appointed post. The colonel took Percy with him on a circuit round the walls, where he exhorted everyone to be watchful and vigilant and to preserve absolute silence until they could hear the enemy in motion down the valley.

"I have no fear there whatever," he said, as he returned to the northern wall. "Even were there a score of men among our troops who have been bought over to play a treacherous part, they could do nothing where there are so many around them on the watch. Treachery strikes when least expected. It is powerless among a multitude, and all the traders and others from the towns know that their lives are at stake, and are just as well aware as I am that the place on that side is all but impregnable unless the assailants were aided from within. They can be trusted, therefore, to keep their eyes well open. I shall not assign you any special duty, Percy. I have told Ram Bund, your commander, that I shall keep you near myself, but there is no occasion for you to stay close to me. If you see any point specially threatened you can go there and encourage the men by your voice and presence, but I have no fear whatever that they will gain a footing on the wall.

"I shall take my post over the gateway, that is where I fancy the brunt of the attack will fall. They will either try to fill up the cut there with faggots or bundles of grass, or throw planks over and then blow in the gate. At least that is how we should act under the same circumstances, and as, if they make the attack, they must have some fellow of uncommon enterprise in command, it is likely he will proceed in the same course. As for the wall, it is fifty feet from the parapet to the bottom of the cut, and there are no native Indian troops who would try to scale such a wall on ladders in the face of a strong and determined garrison. Of course, if they could have brought their heavy guns up here, made a breach in the wall, and half filled up the cut with its ruins, it would have been a different affair altogether, though even then I feel sure that we could beat them off. As it is they can only reckon on finding us quite unprepared for an attack, and on carrying the place by a sudden rush. I believe myself that a quarter of an hour will see the end of it, and that as soon as they understand we are fully prepared they will give up the idea as hopeless. Now we have nothing to do but to wait. I expect the attack about an hour before daybreak, which is the hour at which they will think they are most likely to find the sentinels drowsy."

*CHAPTER VII.*

*STARTLING NEWS.*

The hours passed slowly as the garrison awaited the attack of the enemy. The men had been told that they could all lie down where they stood, leaving only the officers and sentries on watch; and the top of the wall and the yard behind were crowded with sleeping figures wrapt in their mantles. About two o'clock those on watch were sensible of a low confused sound in the air.

"They are moving," the colonel said to Percy, who was sitting on the parapet, against which he was leaning. "It is probable that they have been ordered to leave their shoes behind them; and in any case the walk of a Sikh in his soft leather shoes is almost noiseless, besides they are as yet a long distance away. They are coming down the hill," he continued a quarter of an hour later; "the noise is certainly more distinct. But I give them credit for the manner of their approach. We should scarce notice the noise if we were not prepared for it, and a drowsy sentry would take it for the wind rising among the hills. One can hardly imagine that ten thousand men are moving down towards us."

Two or three of the officers came up to report that they were sure the enemy were stirring, and the colonel ordered them to get all the men quietly under arms. Another half-hour passed.

"They are a long time in coming, uncle," Percy said in a low voice.

"They are; they might have been here long before this. If I did not want to give them a lesson I would send up a rocket in order to find out what they are doing. I believe they are only a short distance away now, but we will wait for them to begin."

In a short time they were convinced that the enemy were within a hundred yards at most from the wall. Quiet as their movements were, a low hum as of orders being given in suppressed tones could be heard. On the walls all were in readiness. At a distance of a few yards apart men stood with portfires in one hand and matches in the other, while between them lines of muskets rested on the parapet. Several times the watchers thought they could make out dim figures on the opposite side of the deep cut at the foot of the wall. Suddenly a bright light burst out exactly opposite the gate, and a moment later twenty guns opened, sending their balls crashing through the drawbridge and gate. At the same instant a rocket soared into the air from over the gateway, and a moment later a line of blue lights flashed out along the wall. A mass of men were rushing forward towards the gate, all carrying great bundles on their heads, while a tremendous yell burst from thousands of throats. It was answered by one of defiance from the wall.

The assailants paused for a moment in astonishment at the line of lights, and the proof that the garrison were prepared; but the pause was momentary, and they rushed forward again. The leaders were but a few yards from the edge of the cut when the colonel shouted "Fire!" A flash of flame ran along the wall, and twenty guns loaded to the muzzle with grape poured their contents among the enemy. Like a field of wheat levelled by the blast of a tornado the mob of men were swept to the earth, the few that remained erect throwing down their bundles and flying for their lives. Percy, mindful of his special work, had, the moment the light flashed out opposite the gate, summoned the four men, who were standing a short distance away, and stood on the watch near his uncle.

For a few minutes there was a duel between the guns of the fortress and the Sikh cannon, which had been drawn down by hand, the wheels thickly wrapped with cotton cloths to prevent the slightest sound being made. The infantry kept up a storm of fire, which was replied to by volleys of musketry from the defenders. The din was tremendous, and presently another body of men carrying long beams and planks again rushed forward. Many of them reached the edge of the moat and tried to push the poles across, but the destruction was so great from the musketry fire from the walls, and from six guns which had been kept in reserve loaded with grape, that the survivors again fell back followed by the exultant shouts of the garrison.

At the moment that they had advanced the two port-fires over the gate went out simultaneously, and before others could be lighted Percy saw a figure that had been crouching under the parapet a short distance off spring forward. The guard nearest to him also observed the movement, and threw himself in the man's way. A knife flashed in the air and he fell. His assailant then sprung towards the colonel, whose back was turned to him, when a ball from Percy's pistol struck him in the head and he fell dead in his tracks. The pistol-shot attracted no attention amid the roar of firearms, and Percy, without paying further attention to the fallen man, ordered the remaining three guards to redouble their vigilance.

"The scoundrel may not be alone," he said. "The attempt may be repeated."

With the retirement of the second body of men charged to bridge the fosse the enemy lost heart. It was evident even to the most determined that success was impossible, now that the garrison were prepared. The guns, too, suffered so terribly from the heavier metal of those on the wall, that half of them lay dismounted, and the gunners would no longer work the others in the face of the heavy fire that mowed them down. The yells subsided and the fire ceased, and as noiselessly as they had come the assailants glided away into the darkness, pursued, however, for some time by the bullets and shot of the defenders. Convinced that there was no fear of a repetition of the assault, the colonel ordered the greater part of the troops back to their quarters.

Now that the din near at hand had ceased, the rattle of musketry and the boom of guns could be heard from the other walls. The colonel hurried away to see what was going on there. He found that the moment the firing began on the north face of the fortress it broke out from the valleys on either side, where large numbers of men had stolen up in the darkness, while at the same time the heavy guns in the camp had also opened fire. The defenders had at once replied, and the fire had been continued on both sides, but it had begun to die away on the side of the assailants as soon as it ceased on the northern face. The colonel sent for a party of artillery-men to aid the men working the guns, and ordered a steady fire to be kept up on the camp, and then dismissed his allies to their tents and returned himself to his house, to which Percy had gone as soon as the fighting was over to tell his aunt that the attack had been repulsed and that all was well.

"Then my fears were groundless, Percy?"

"No, aunt, they were the means of saving my uncle's life," and he then related the attempt at assassination and its result.

"Heaven be praised!" she said, bursting into tears. "I had a presentiment of evil, as I have more than once had before when his life has been threatened. Thank God the danger has come and gone and that he is still unharmed. Did you know who the man was?"

"I did not notice, aunt, or think of looking at him after he had fallen. There was such a tremendous roar going on that I felt quite confused, and thought of nothing but that the attack might be repeated. I will go and see who it is as soon as it is light."

By this time some hot coffee had been prepared, and Percy had already partaken of it when the colonel returned. As he entered his wife threw herself into his arms.

"Thank God you have returned safe, Roland, and have once more escaped the dangers that threatened you."