A thrill ran through me at the colonel's mention of Nussoor, and I
listened eagerly to Brace's reply, for I had felt in a dread lest he
should oppose the plan of marching on that city, though I was obliged to
own that it was quite possible that my father's regiment might have left
there in these disturbed times, and of course he would have placed my
mother and sister where they would be safe.
After a little discussion, it was decided that we should stay
twenty-four hours where we were, to recruit the men and horses, for,
though the men all declared their readiness to go on at once, the
infantry had had a very severe forced march or two, and required rest.
It was a terrible experience--a walk or two I had about the town with
Brace during that halt, one which was utilised for collecting an ample
supply of provisions and recruiting followers for our little camp, and I
remember asking Brace whether he thought it wise to trust the natives.
"Yes and no, Gil," he said. "I am not blind; I can see that every one
here in this place humbles himself to the dust before us as the
conquerors, and is ready to obey our slightest command; but, if we met
with a reverse, they would rise and trample on us to a man, and glory in
murdering such a set of unclean, infidel dogs as we are. But it is a
necessity, my lad. We want our lads to fight, and they must be always
ready for action. We cannot have them exhausted in this terrible
climate, carrying loads, cutting grass for the horses, foraging for the
elephants, and cooking. We must have hewers of wood and drawers of
water, my dear boy, and keep a strict watch over these modern children
of Gibeon. We cannot trust them, but we must have their services."
"Yes, I see," I replied.
"And there is this advantage: we are journeying through a strange
country, which they know. We must eat, so must they. We should not be
able to forage; they are, and in finding food for themselves they are
compelled to find it for us. No, we cannot trust them. Look here. For
aught we know, the men who are bowing down before us, and calling us
sahibs, had a hand in this."
We had reached a large bungalow, which, we afterwards learned, had been
the commissioner's house, and as I went with my companion from room to
room, which at one time must have been furnished in exquisite taste,
there were traces of the wanton destruction of a savage mob. Furniture
had been smashed, the floor was littered with the remains of mirrors and
ornaments; curtains and carpets were torn to shreds, and everything that
could be battered and destroyed was in pieces.
It was so in the next room, and we were about to pass on to others, with
the picture rising to my mind of what this place must have been before
the rising, when Brace suddenly stepped before me, swung me round
hastily, and gave me a push.
"Here, let's get out of the miserable place, Gil," he said hastily.
"You were too late," I said. "I saw it the same moment. It's of no
use; I may as well get accustomed to such things, even if I am a mere
boy."
For, in one corner of the once handsome room, there were spots and
splashes on the white wall, and terrible stains on the floor. The
plaster of the sides, too, was scarred and dotted with bullet holes, and
we could grasp the terrible fact that some one, probably more than one,
had made a desperate defence in that corner, for there was a sword,
broken in two pieces, lying behind a shattered piano, in whose woodwork
were dozens of cuts, such as might have been given by savage men trying
to get at those behind who had made it their breastwork; and as I saw
all this, I could not refrain from going close--Brace making no
opposition now--to see other terrible traces of the desperate fight of
which this place must have been the scene.
One of the first things I saw behind the broken piano was a white
handkerchief, horribly stained. It had been apparently hastily folded
into a bandage, and tied round some one's head, the knots being still
there, and the kerchief lying on the floor, forming a rough circle.
Close by were pieces of a woman's dress, one fragment being a sleeve,
evidently torn off in a desperate struggle. But the most horrible
traces were those which told in simple language the result of the
desperate defence that must have taken place; for, at the far end of the
piano, where it stood about three feet from the wall, there lay a double
rifle, broken off at the stock, a bayonet snapped at the socket, and
between them, marks which showed only too plainly that the defenders of
that corner of the room had been dragged out by the feet, and out
through a farther door.
"Come away, Gil," said Brace, hoarsely; "it only makes me feel mad
against these wretches; and at a time when, with the work I have in
hand, I want to be calm and cool as a judge."
At that moment there was a furious roar from somewhere at the back of
the house, and Brace's hand went to his sword on the instant, mine
naturally following suit.
"Draw, lad!" he cried. "We had no business to come without an escort.
Keep close to me."
But a second burst of shouting reassured us. No one but Englishmen
could raise an indignant cry such as we heard.
"What does it mean?" I said, as we hurried out through the door, out of
which the poor creatures who had defended themselves had been dragged,
and we came directly upon about a dozen of our men, with some of the
foot regiment.
"This way, sir--this way!" cried one of the men, who was in a terrible
state of excitement; and unable to grasp more than that the men had been
foraging about, and had made some discovery, they hurried us on to what
must have been a kind of summer-house in a pleasant garden with a
goldfish tank, and various other proofs of the taste of the late
occupants of the place.
In this tank were various objects, apparently thrown in by the fierce
mob which had plundered the house; while, as we drew near, there was
just before us a heap of furniture and household goods, which had been
piled up in front of the summer-house entrance, and fired, evidently to
blaze furiously for a time, and with the object of burning down the
summer-house as well.
A number of the half-burnt and charred things had been dragged away by
the soldiers so as to clear the doorway, prompted, no doubt, by
curiosity to see what was in the place the mob had tried to burn down;
and, as we neared the spot, and the men, who were half mad with
excitement, made way for us to look in, I felt for the moment as if
turned to stone, and then the tears started to my eyes, weak as it may
sound to say so, and formed a veil which shut out the horrors of the
scene before me.
Shall I describe it? Yes; from no morbid wish to dwell upon the
frightful scenes which, alas! grew too common, but as some palliation of
the acts of our men, against whom charges were plentiful about their
want of mercy.
Twelve poor creatures lay there, but only two were men in the prime of
life, and who, hacked almost to pieces, had died bravely in the defence
of their wives, sisters, and the helpless children, who lay in a heap
with them--nine white women and children; and, holding it tightly to her
breast even in death, a black woman, the faithful ayah or nurse of the
infant she held, in protecting and trying to save which she had died.
I will try to describe no more, save that the funeral pyre, which the
murderers had raised to hide their crime, had not reached them, not a
garment being singed.
The men stood back, panting as if after a hard run, watching us now, as
if to see what effect it would have upon us, and the silence after their
fierce oaths and shouting was terrible.