"Suppose," I thought, "this place should catch, and I found myself
hemmed in!"
I looked down at the depth below, and my eyes once more sought the
hangings, as I recalled how I had thought of contriving a rope.
The fire was increasing fast, the dull glow becoming each minute more
vivid, till, when I reached out of the window, I could see orange-tinted
clouds rolling up from the direction of the volley firing, whilst the
shouting was certainly coming nearer.
I felt as if it was impossible to bear this confinement longer, and it
was only by forcing myself to dwell upon the varying fortunes of the
fight that I was able to contain myself. There, on the one hand, was
the attack upon the gate; there, on the other, the advance of the troops
through the town, to which they must have obtained entrance by a
surprise. And now I longed to be where I could see the varying fortunes
of the fight, which at times I thought must be going in another
direction.
That was only a passing thought, for all at once the firing of the
artillery ceased; so did that of the musketry opposed to it, and I
listened breathlessly, wondering what was the cause.
Had they failed to batter down the gate? and had they limbered up and
retired?
No; for, as the thought came, there was a sudden crash of musketry,
volley after volley, and the incessant scattered firing of the
defenders. Then, as I listened, a faint sound of cheering, increasing
in loudness, reached my ears, and directly after I felt certain that the
gate had been taken.
A minute later there was no doubt about it, for I could hear the
fighting right and left, and to my great joy, I knew that it must be
going against the rajah's men, who were retiring, and I soon found that
the palace was the place for which they were making.
First of all, there was a great deal of excitement in the court. Then a
sowar came riding in to give orders to the officer in command, and while
it was being executed, a gallantly-dressed chief dashed in, shouted some
fresh orders, and directly after, quite in confusion, a regiment of
sepoys doubled in through the gateway, and were then hurried in at an
open doorway, opposite to where I stood watching.
They had hardly disappeared before another regiment in better order
marched in; and they too passed in through the same door, my doubts as
to their object being soon at an end, for I heard them doubling along
the roof, evidently manning it as a rampart; while, from a glimpse I
caught through an open window, it was evident that the floor on a level
with mine was also occupied by troops who were stationed at windows
looking out upon the road.
Another regiment, and directly after quite a mob of armed men came
hurrying through the gateway to occupy every room and window looking
outwards, while a strong force partially filled the court, the numbers
being rapidly increased as the firing and cheering came nearer.
It was all plain enough now; the rajah's troops were being driven back,
and were ordered to make a stand here at the palace, which lent itself
well for the purpose, one side being protected by the river, while, as
far as I knew, the entrance was only through the gateway, which could
easily be blocked and held.
"Till Brace came with the guns," I thought.
I had wished to see something of the fight; now I regretted my desire,
for I foresaw that there was going to be a desperate struggle. The
light of the fire was rapidly increasing, and a very short time had
elapsed before there was a sudden rush, and a disorderly mob of fighting
men came tearing through the gateway, wild, excited, torn, and yelling
furiously.
Then, as another volley was fired, I knew that the rajah's men had been
driven in, for a tremendous fire was opened from the roof away to my
right, and I could see the smoke rising in a dense cloud.
As this firing was kept up, the court gradually grew more packed. I
could see mounted men come in, and before long I was able to make out
the rajah, as he seemed to be giving orders, which resulted in a body of
men rushing into the palace and returning bearing loads, which they
piled up within the gateway, forming a breastwork, from behind which the
men kept up a furious fire.
Outside, the replies had quite ceased, and I found what it meant; the
infantry were under cover, and the guns had been ordered up to batter in
the gateway, and send its defenders flying before a rush was made.
As I gazed down at the dense crowd of fighting men in the court, I
shuddered, for, driven to bay as the sepoys were, and with no means of
escape when the attack was made, the carnage would be frightful, and all
the worse from the fact that the men would rush in and occupy the
windows that looked upon the court from whence a sustained fire could be
kept up on our men, one which would be frightful.
All at once it struck me that perhaps now the doors of my apartments
would be unguarded, and I ran to look; but, on drawing aside the
hangings, there sat Salaman and four attendants, while behind them were
at least twenty well-armed men.
I went back, feeling that, whatever happened, these men would be
faithful to their duty, though how I was to have got out of the palace
and past the crowd of soldiers at every window and door, I had not
stopped to think.
I again returned to the window from which I had watched before, and
stood gazing out at the crowded court where the men had now been reduced
to something more like military order, and it was a wonderful sight to
see the swarthy faces with their gleaming eyes, and the flashing weapons
the men carried. The moon poured down its silver light to mingle
strangely with the glare of the torches many of the men bore; while away
to my right the burning houses sent a glow of orange so strong that the
broad end of the court opposite to me gleamed as if the fire was there
as well.
It was a terrible pause that, and I knew that before long the attack
would come, when the place would either be carried at once or its
defenders starved into submission; for, though there was water in
abundance, I did not believe there could be food to provide for a
garrison.
I was thinking all this when a voice behind me made me start, and face
round to the speaker.
"It is long hours since my lord has eaten," said Salaman. "Shall I
bring in some food?"
"Who can eat at a time like this?" I cried; and I signed to him to go,
turning back directly after, for I could hear a peculiar rattling sound
in the distance which I knew well enough.
It was what I had anticipated; they were bringing up the guns.
Almost at that moment the firing from the roof recommenced, and was
answered from different directions; but it ceased as quickly as it had
begun, for all at once there was the dull echoing thud of a six-pounder,
and a rush of men from the barricade in the gateway, through which a
round shot plunged, striking the edge of the stonework arch, sending
down a shower of fragments, in the midst of whose falling the shot
struck the wall of the palace on my left, shivering the stonework there.
No one attempted to man the barricades again, the task was too perilous,
for gun after gun sent its iron messenger ploughing through the archway.
As I stood there midway between the gateway and the wall on my left, at
right angles to my window, I did not stir, for I knew that though the
balls came by within ten feet from where I stood, none was likely to
injure me. There was a kind of fascination in listening to the heavy
report, and then instantly for the whistling of the ball as, after
demolishing a portion of the barricade, it struck the wall with a heavy
crash, and sent the splinters of stone flying.
Opposite to me were the soldiers, densely packed, forming one side of
the lane, down which the balls came plunging. Now and then one was
deflected by the part of the barricade it struck, and it flew higher
against the wall, or lower so as to touch the paving, and then ricochet;
but the work was being thoroughly well done; and as I saw the great gaps
made, and the clearance in the gateway, I knew the final attack must
come before long.
It was much sooner than I expected, for the firing from the roof
suddenly blazed out furiously, and it was as if shots were being poured
from every window, as a fierce roar literally followed the next shot--a
roar of men's voices, and beating feet, and my heart seemed for a moment
to stand still, but then began to bound as I leaned out to watch the
struggle, from which I could not have torn myself even to save my life.
I could see nothing outside, only hear the coming of men, whose cheering
was mingled with many a shriek and groan, as poor fellows dropped under
the terrible fire poured down upon them. Then I saw the men within the
court running round to defend the gateway; but ere they could fire a
shot, there was the flashing of steel, and a little ridge of bristling
bayonets appeared; their banners changed hands; the sepoys broke and
rushed for the doorway and windows of the inner court; and in a
wonderfully short time, so rapidly flowed in the stream of glittering
bayonets through the archway, the court was cleared, and the firing came
now, as I had expected, from the inner windows and the roof.
I heard the orders ring out. "No firing! In with you, lads; the
bayonet!" and with a rush, our men leaped in at the door, climbed in at
the windows, and as the stream still flowed in through the gateway, the
fighting was going on in room after room, and our foot regiment chased
the flying sepoys from floor to floor, to finish the deadly strife upon
the roof.
It was horrible, but through it all there would come the remembrance of
the horrors perpetrated by the savage mob and the brutal soldiery.
There was a wild fascination about it, too, and I could not turn away,
but stood with staring eyes and stunned ears, noting how the fire
rapidly ceased, and wild cheering rose as room and roof were cleared.
I was standing by the window full of exultation, triumphing in the
bravery and daring of the Englishmen, who must have been outnumbered by
six to one, when I heard shots close at hand, yells, shouts, and the
rush of feet; and the next minute my attendants and guards came backing
in, fighting desperately as much in my defence as for their own lives,
for they were driven from room to room by half a dozen men of the foot
regiment that had stormed the place, and then for the first time I
recalled that I was standing there in turbaned helmet and regular
Eastern uniform, girt with jewelled belts, and with a magnificent tulwar
at my side.
"They'll take me for a Hindu chief," I thought as, quick as lightning, I
snatched out the blade.