Half an hour later the attendant entered with two servants,
carrying a large tray with a variety of dishes. After they had
eaten the meal, Harry proposed that they should go up to the top of
one of the central towers of the palace, to obtain a general view
of the country.
"It would be better to do that than to venture down into the
courtyard, at present, Abdool. The sight of our uniforms might give
offence, as it would not be understood that we have the rajah's
permission to move about the palace. We must wait till the man
comes in with the tray. It is possible that he may understand
enough Mahratti to make out what we want, and will show us the way
up.
"It would never do for us to try to ascend alone. We might
accidentally open the door of the rajah's zenana, and then I doubt
if even his desire to hold me as a hostage would suffice to save
our lives."
The attendant understood enough of Mahratti to make out their
request, and offered at once to accompany them. They ascended
numerous staircases until, at last, they reached the flat roof of
the palace; above which rose three round towers, surmounted by
domes. The highest of these had a gallery running round it, a few
feet below the dome.
The attendant led the way to this and, on reaching the gallery,
they found that it commanded a very wide view over the flat
country. The town itself covered a considerable space, the walls
being eight miles in circumference. At the eastern end the fort, a
square and solid edifice, was built on ground somewhat higher than
the town. It had bastions and flanking towers and, as had been
learned from prisoners taken at Deeg, it had a moat much wider and
deeper than that which ran round the town walls. It was built
within these, one side of the square looking across the country,
while the other three were inside. Although the houses were for the
most part scattered, the town had a picturesque appearance, from
the number of trees growing within it.
Towards the northeast the fort of Deeg could be clearly seen and,
to the southwest, the mosques and fort of Agra were faintly visible
in the clear air. At a distance of a mile and a half from the city
was the British camp, with its white tents; and an irregular black
mass marked the low shelters of the camp followers and the enormous
concourse of draught animals.
It certainly seemed a hazardous enterprise for so small a number of
troops to attack such a large and populous town, strongly
fortified, and held by a brave people. Harry remarked on this to
Abdool, but the latter said, confidently:
"They cannot stand against the English, sahib. General Lake has
always been victorious."
"He has so, Abdool, and that is one of the reasons why I do not
feel so certain of his success as I did. He has never yet
undertaken a siege, and his impetuosity and confidence in his
troops may lead him to make an attack with insufficient numbers,
and before it is really practicable. I do not think that this town
is to be taken by storm, and I doubt whether Lord Lake will be
content to wait for regular siege operations, before he tries an
assault.
"Look over there, towards Agra. If I am not mistaken, there is a
large body of cavalry out there. They are certainly not our men,
they are too much mixed up for that. Possibly the rajah may have
obtained the aid of a band of Pindarees, or of some other irregular
troops; at any rate, it will give trouble to the convoy we left
yesterday."
He looked at the camp again.
"There is a stir in the valley, and it looks as if they had heard
of that force out there, and are about to start to attack it."
Three regiments of cavalry set out. As they were getting ready, two
horsemen could be seen to ride off, at a gallop, from a group of
trees half a mile from the camp. As soon as they approached the
mass of horsemen in the distance, they turned and rode off at full
speed.
"They have evidently no idea of fighting, today, whoever they are.
We may as well go down again, Abdool. This is a grand lookout; and
we shall, at any rate, get a general idea of the direction in which
the attack will be made."
Two days later they were able, from their lookout, to see that
bodies of men came and went between the camp and a group of trees,
halfway between it and the town.
"I expect that they are establishing a battery among those trees,"
Harry said, "and it will not be long before the affair begins."
The next morning, six eighteen-pounders opened fire from the wood
and, in the afternoon, another battery of eight mortars began
throwing shells into the town. The guns on the walls answered, and
a brisk fire was kept up, for the next ten days. During this time
several breaches had been effected in the wall, near the southeast
angle, but the defenders had fixed strong wooden stockades in the
debris every night, so that no attack could be made. In order to
prevent this being done with the last-made breach, it was
determined to assault at once.
The two prisoners had not had the lookout gallery to themselves.
Some of the rajah's officers were constantly there, and any
movement of troops was at once reported by them. The rajah himself
had, twice or thrice, come up for a short time to watch the
operations; and had, on each occasion, talked for some minutes with
Harry.
"Your people will be mad, if they try to attack us through that
small hole in the wall," he said, on the afternoon of the 14th.
"Were they to level a quarter of a mile of the wall, they might
have some chance, though I doubt whether they would ever get a
footing at the top; but with all my soldiers ready to defend that
small opening, and with thirty or forty guns to fire at your people
as they advance, it is as ridiculous as if ten men should attempt
to take this palace. What do you think?"
"I cannot say, Rajah. From here I am unable to see what is taking
place at the walls, nor how wide is the breach you speak of, nor
how deep the ditch beyond; therefore I can give no opinion."
"The English are brave fighters," the rajah said. "They have taken
places in a few hours that seemed impregnable, but they cannot
perform impossibilities. Our walls are defended by forty thousand
men and--although in the open field I do not say that you might not
defeat us, seeing how your troops are disciplined, while with us
each man fights for himself--when it is a question of holding a
wall or defending a breach, I can trust my soldiers. We are twice
as numerous. We have heavier guns, and more of them, than you have
and, as I told you, the English will never get into Bhurtpoor."
At seven o'clock in the evening, a deep and almost continuous roar
of guns broke out.
"The assault has begun!" Harry exclaimed. "We shall not see much,
but we may get some idea as to how things are going from the
lookout."
It was too dark for the movements of troops to be seen, but the
quick flashes of the guns on either side, and a play of flickering
fire along the top of the wall showed that the storming party was
approaching. The attack was made in three parties: one advanced
against a battery which the defenders had established outside the
walls, at a spot where its fire would take in flank any force
advancing against the point towards which the fire of the English
guns had been directed; another was to attempt a gateway near the
breach; while the central column, consisting of five hundred
Europeans and a battalion of Sepoys, was to attack the breach
itself.
For a time the roar of firing was incessant. The alarm had been
given as soon as the British columns advanced from the wood.
Notwithstanding this, the right column advanced straight against
the battery, captured it, and spiked the guns. The left column, as
it approached the gate, came upon a deep cut filled with water and,
having no means of crossing this, they moved to the support of the
force attacking the breach. This had been greatly delayed. The
ground to be crossed was swampy, with many pools and, in the
darkness, numbers lost their way, and the force arrived at the
point of attack in great confusion.
A small party of twenty-three men only--of the 22nd Regiment, under
Lieutenant Manser--who formed the forlorn hope, crossed the ditch,
breast high in water, and mounted the breach. In the confusion that
reigned among the troops, some of the officers had lost their way,
and there was no one to assume the command or to give orders; and
Lieutenant Manser, finding that he was unsupported, and could not
with a handful of men attempt to attack either of the bastions,
from which a terrible fire was being maintained, made the men sit
down and shelter themselves as well as they could, in the debris of
the breach; while he himself recrossed the ditch to summon up the
support. In this he failed. All order was lost, and the men who
formed the forlorn hope were at last called back, and the whole
force retired, suffering heavily from the terrible fire to which
they were exposed. Eighty-five were killed and three hundred and
seventy-one wounded.
A more deplorable and ill-managed assault was never made by British
troops. As Harry had thought possible, Lord Lake had treated the
capture of Bhurtpoor as if it had been but a little hill fort. He
had made no attempt to carry out regular siege operations but,
trusting to the valour of his troops, had sent them across a
considerable distance of plain swept by the enemy's fire, to
assault a breach defended by some of the bravest tribesmen of
India; and had not even issued commands which would have ensured
order and cohesion in the attack.
The lesson that had been taught was not sufficiently taken to
heart. Some more batteries were placed in position and, on the
16th, opened a heavy fire against the wall on the left of the
former breach, which had been repaired during the two nights
following its successful defence. So heavy was the fire from the
new batteries that another breach was made in the course of a few
hours. The Jats stockaded it during the night, but the timbers were
soon knocked to fragments and, for five days, a continuous
cannonade was maintained and a large breach formed.
It was necessary to find out how wide the ditch was, and three
native cavalry and three British troopers, all dressed as natives,
suddenly dashed out of the camp. At a short distance behind them a
number of Sepoys ran out, as if in pursuit, discharging their
muskets as they did so. Just as the six horsemen arrived at the
ditch, two of the troopers' chargers were made to fall. The native
havildar shouted to the soldiers on the wall to save them from the
accursed feringhees, and show them the nearest entrance to the
city. The soldiers pointed to a gate near the breach and, as soon
as the men had again mounted, the havildar rode with them along the
ditch, and made the necessary observations.
Then they put spurs to their horses, and rode off--the Jats, on
seeing that they had been deceived, opening upon them with
musketry. Their excitement and fury, however, disturbed their aim,
and the six horsemen rode into camp unhurt, and reported that the
ditch was not very wide, and that it did not seem to be very deep.
Portable bridges were at once constructed. These were to be carried
by picked men, who were instructed in the best method of pushing
them over the ditch. To prevent the recurrence of the confusion
that had been, before, caused by the assault in the dark, it was
determined that it should be made in daylight and, on the following
afternoon, the storming party moved forward. It consisted of four
hundred and twenty men from the European regiments, supported by
the rest of those troops, and three battalions of native infantry.
Colonel Macrae was in command. The whole of the batteries opened
fire, to cover the movement and keep down that of the besieged.
On arriving at the ditch, it was found that the portable bridges
could not be thrown across as, during the night, the garrison had
dammed up the moat below the breach and turned a quantity of water
into it, thus doubling both its width and depth. A few gallant
fellows jumped in, swam across, and climbed the breach; but there
were few capable of performing this feat, encumbered by their
muskets and ammunition; and Colonel Macrae, seeing the impossibility
of succeeding, called them back, and retired under a tremendous fire
from the bastions and walls.
This assault was even more disastrous than the last, for the loss
in killed and wounded amounted to nearly six hundred. Harry was
deeply disappointed at these reverses, which the rajah himself,
with great glee, reported to him with full details.
There had been other fighting: two British convoys on their way
from Agra had been attacked by the horsemen of Ameer Khan, Holkar,
and the rajah. The first might have been successful, for the twelve
hundred bullocks were escorted by only fourteen hundred men; and
these, although they might have defended themselves successfully,
were unable to keep the convoy together. The animals, excited by
the firing, were rushing off in all directions when, fortunately, a
body of our cavalry which had been sent out to meet the convoy
arrived, and drove off the enemy with a loss of six hundred men.
The next morning a general movement could be seen in the British
camp. The rajah, who was immediately informed of it, came up to the
lookout.
"The English general has given it up as hopeless," he said. "They
are about to march away."
"It looks like it, Rajah," Harry admitted, "but I should hardly
fancy that Lord Lake will take such a step. He has tried to take
the town by a sudden assault, and I think that he will not retreat
until he has attempted to do so by a regular siege operation."
An hour later the whole of the tents had been pulled down and,
presently, both the troops and the huge body of followers and
cattle were in motion.
"They are not going to Agra," the rajah said, after watching them
for some time; "they must be going to march to the north."
Two hours later, the great procession had arrived at the north of
the town. There they halted, and their long lines of tents began to
rise.
"They are going to try another point," the rajah exclaimed. "Truly
they are brave men, but they will be repulsed, as they were
before."
"I fancy they will begin in another way, Rajah, and will make
regular approaches, so that they will not have to pass across the
open ground swept by your guns."
This indeed turned out to be the case. The trenches were at once
opened and, ere long, two batteries were established at a distance
of four hundred yards from the wall. Two days later another, still
nearer, opened fire and, by the 20th of February, the trenches had
been pressed forward to the edge of the ditch; and a mine sunk,
with the intention of blowing up the counterscarp, and so partially
filling the ditch. The troops intended for the assault took their
places in the trenches at an early hour, so as to be ready to
attack as soon as the repairs made by the garrison in the breach
during the night could be destroyed by the batteries.
The Jats, however, had been rendered so confident by their previous
successes that, during the night, they made a sally, crept into the
advanced trench--from which the workmen had been withdrawn--and
started to demolish the mine and carry off the tools. As the
storming party moved down through the trenches the Jats--who had
made the first sally--joined by a considerable number from the
town, rushed forward and attacked them; and inflicted considerable
loss before they were repulsed. A portion of them, however, still
held the advanced trench; and when the 75th and 76th, who were at
the head of the column, were ordered to dislodge them, they
hesitated.
The repulse of the former attacks had had its effect, and the
troops, believing that the enemy would have filled the mine with
powder, and would explode it as they advanced, refused to move. The
remaining men of the flank companies of the 22nd stepped forward
but, as they were too few to attack so considerable a number of the
enemy, the 12th and 15th Sepoy Regiments were called to the front,
and these advanced gallantly.
The enemy were driven from the trench at the point of the bayonet.
The ditch, however, had again been flooded, and was found to be
impassable; but there was a bastion to the right that had been
damaged by the breaching guns, and the troops at once made for
this. A few men of the 12th managed to climb up, and planted the
flag of their regiment on it but, as only one could mount at a
time, and the Jats were swarming down upon them, they were
recalled; and the force again drew off, having lost, in killed and
wounded, nearly nine hundred men. Notwithstanding the terrible
losses that had been suffered, General Lake persevered in his
intention to carry the place at the point of the bayonet; and on
the following day the batteries opened their fire on the bastion
that had been nearly carried by the 12th Native Infantry.
The position had become serious. The cavalry had, a fortnight or
three weeks before, defeated those of the rajah and his allies with
heavy loss, and brought in a convoy; and Ameer Khan, who had only
joined the Rajah of Bhurtpoor in the hope of plunder, had deserted
his ally and ridden off, with his following and a large body of
Pindarees, with the intention of devastating and plundering the
district of Rohilcund. Three regiments of British cavalry, under
General Smith; and as many of native horse, with artillery,
followed on his track and, after a pursuit of three weeks, at last
came up with him, annihilated his infantry and captured his guns.
His cavalry, however, for the most part escaped, as the horses of
the pursuers were completely worn out.
They returned to the British camp, after more than a month's
absence, from a chase extending over seven hundred miles.
Their absence had greatly increased the difficulties in the British
camp. Without their protection, the danger to which convoys were
exposed was great. Provisions were running short in camp, the
ammunition was almost exhausted, and numbers of the guns were
rendered unserviceable. These circumstances afforded the only
excuse that can be made for a fresh attack upon Bhurtpoor.
It was even more disastrous than those which had preceded it. The
75th and 76th Regiments, deeply ashamed of their conduct on the
preceding occasion, volunteered to a man; and they, with the other
European regiments and five regiments of Sepoys, under the command
of Colonel Monson, moved out to the attack at three in the
afternoon. Nothing could exceed the courage which they displayed,
and their conduct rivalled that of the storming party at the siege
of Badajos; but they were fighting against impossibilities. The
bastion could not be climbed. Some of the soldiers drove their
bayonets into the wall, one above another, and attempted to climb
up by these steps; but were knocked down by logs of wood, large
shot, and other missiles. Others attempted to get in by the shot
holes that had been made, here and there; but as only one man could
enter at a time, they were killed before a footing could be
obtained. All this time a terrible fire was maintained by the enemy
against our men, showers of grape and musketry swept their lines,
pots filled with gunpowder and other combustibles exploded among
them, bales of cotton dipped in oil fell flaming in their midst.
For two hours the hopeless conflict was maintained. Then the order
was given to retire, and the men fell back; having lost, in killed
and wounded, nine hundred and eighty-seven of their comrades. Thus
the four assaults had cost the army three thousand two hundred and
three of its best soldiers. The force was still further weakened by
a large number of deaths from dysentery and fever, the result of
the miasma rising from the marshes.
The camp was now shifted to drier ground, to the northeast of the
town, the movement being harassed by the enemy's horse. The rajah,
who had been jubilant over his success, looked grave when the new
encampment was fixed.
"They have not done with me, yet," he said to Harry. "Why do they
not go, now they see that they cannot take the place?"
"Because were they to do so, Rajah, half India would be in arms
against them in a fortnight. Never before, since we set foot in
India, have such defeats been inflicted upon us; and Lord Lake
cannot march away and so own himself entirely beaten. Never before
has an English general out here so blundered.
"Still, although unable to take Bhurtpoor, General Lake knows well
enough that he can easily repulse all attacks on his camp. He
knows, too, that the greatest efforts will be made to send up
reinforcements. Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta will all send every
available man and, ere long, his losses will be much more than
counterbalanced by the forces that will join him. We have, during
our history, suffered several disasters; but never one that has not
been redeemed and revenged."
"Holkar was here, this morning," the rajah said, after a long
silence. "He came to congratulate me on our victory. After he had
done so, he asked that you and your troopers should be handed over
to him. I need scarcely say that I refused. You were captured by my
men and, though I am in alliance with Holkar, I do not owe him any
fealty. It is I who have aided him, while he has given but little
assistance to me; and would, I am sure, ride away and leave me to
my fate, if he knew where to go to. But his country, his capital,
and his forts are all in the hands of the English; and he stays
near here because it is, at present, the safest place for him."
On the 23rd of March, the British cavalry returned. For a month no
attempt had been made to renew the siege, but the camp still
remained as a threat against Bhurtpoor, and the time had not been
lost. Convoys, escorted by strong parties of infantry, had come out
from Agra. Supplies of all kinds, battering guns and ammunition,
arrived almost daily. The armourers worked at the old guns, and
made them again fit for service; and everything showed that, when
the attack was renewed, it would be much more formidable than
before.
The cavalry were given a few days' rest after their arrival but,
before daybreak on the 29th, they moved out in hopes of surprising
Holkar. He had, however, scouts well posted far out; and he
effected his retreat with the loss, only, of some of his baggage
animals. He retired some miles to the southwest, and again pitched
his camp.
On the 2nd of April the cavalry, with the horse artillery, again
moved out at midnight and, this time, came upon the enemy
undiscovered; and before they had time to mount their horses, the
cavalry charged them in front and on both flanks, while the
artillery swept the camp with grape. Great numbers were slain, both
in Holkar's camp and in the pursuit, which was continued for eight
miles. The whole of the camp equipage, the greater portion of the
guns, and the bazaars were captured and, during the next day or
two, large bodies of Holkar's troops, considering his case
hopeless, deserted him. When in his flight he crossed the Jumna, he
had but eight thousand horse, five thousand infantry, and thirty
guns; the remains of the great army with which he had crossed the
river, confident of victory, the year before.
On the following day Lord Lake, who had received considerable
reinforcements, again moved his camp to the southeast of the city,
and prepared to resume active operations against it. The rajah had,
for some time, been in a despondent state and, the next morning, he
came alone to Harry's room.
"I want to have a talk with you," he said; and Abdool, seeing that
the conversation was to be a private one, at once left the room.
"My friend," he said, "I have, for some time, felt that my cause
was becoming hopeless. I have never supposed that, after failing
four times, and each with heavy loss, your people would continue
the siege. But I see now that I was wrong. We might repulse another
attack, and another; but of what use would it be? Your people would
only become stronger, after each defeat.
"I see now that I have acted as one bereft of sense. I had no
quarrel with the Company. They added to my territory, they had
promised to defend me against all attacks but, when I heard that
Holkar was approaching with so vast an army, I thought that surely
he would recapture Delhi, and drive you out of Agra, and perhaps
down to Calcutta; or that, after taking Agra, he would turn against
me. And so, foolish man that I was, I joined him.
"And now I would fain make peace, and I pray you to go to your
general, and ask what terms he will grant. They may be hard, but I
am in no position to stand out. Ameer Khan has been chased and
routed, Holkar is little better than a fugitive, and owns only his
horse and saddle. There is no one to whom I can look for aid. I put
myself in the English general's hands."
"I will willingly go, Rajah. No doubt it has been supposed, for
weeks, that I and my escort have perished. And when the general
hears of the kind treatment that we have received--a treatment so
different from that we should have met with, had we fallen into the
hands of Holkar--it will, I feel certain, have an effect on the
terms that he will lay down."
Harry had, each day, paid a visit to the troopers, who were
confined in a large airy room opening into the courtyard. They had
been well fed, and had been permitted to go out into the open air,
for several hours a day, and to mingle freely with the Jat
soldiers. Half an hour after his interview with the rajah Harry
went down there. To his surprise, he found Abdool and the troopers
all mounted, as well as a party of the rajah's own guard.
Before leaving, the rajah had returned his sword to him. As he rode
through the streets, followed by his own troopers and with the
rajah's guard riding ahead, the people looked on with curiosity,
but evinced no animosity against him. Successful as had been the
defence, the fact that the British had received great convoys and
reinforcements had caused a feeling of apprehension as to the final
result. Food, too, was becoming very scarce for, although small
quantities were brought in by the side opposite to that occupied by
the camp, this was altogether insufficient for the needs of a large
population, swollen by the fighting men of the whole country.
Even these supplies had ceased, since the return of the British
cavalry and the rout of Holkar, and the fighting men were losing
heart. Their losses had been small, in comparison with those of the
besiegers; but the defeat of Holkar impressed all with the fear
that the British must, in the end, triumph. They had already done
more than any who had tried to stem the tide of the British power.
They had repulsed them four times, and their defence would be the
subject of admiration for all the native peoples of India.
Therefore, when it was known that the captured English officer was
leaving the town, with his troopers, the idea that the end was near
caused general satisfaction.
Harry left the town by the gate nearest to the British encampment.
The rajah's guard still accompanied him, but halted halfway between
the walls and the camp; and there dismounted, the officer in
command telling Harry that his orders were to wait until his
return. Numbers of the soldiers had gathered at the edge of the
camp, on seeing the party riding towards it; and when the guard
fell back, and Harry with his troop approached, and it was seen
that it was a British officer with an escort of native cavalry, a
loud cheer broke out.
Most of the soldiers knew Harry by sight, and all had heard of his
being missing with his escort and, as the time had passed without
any news of him arriving, it was supposed that all had been killed
by the horsemen of Ameer Khan or Holkar. Many of the men of the 5th
Native Cavalry were in the crowd, and these shouted welcomes to
their comrades; while several English officers ran up and shook
Harry by the hand.
"I have been a prisoner in Bhurtpoor," he said, in answer to the
questions. "I have been extremely well treated, but I cannot tell
you more now. I am here on a mission to the general."
Curious to ascertain the cause of the cheering, General Lake
appeared at the entrance of his tent, just as Harry rode up.
"Why, Major Lindsay," he exclaimed, "where did you spring from? We
had all given you up as dead, long ago!"
"I have been in Bhurtpoor, sir, and am now here in the character of
the rajah's ambassador."
"That is good news. But come in and tell me, first, about
yourself."
Harry briefly related how they had lost their way in a morass, and
had been attacked in the morning; and that, finding it impossible
to make a way out, he had surrendered. He spoke in the warmest
terms of the rajah's treatment of him and his followers.
"We were treated as guests, rather than prisoners, sir; and lived
in a handsome room, got excellent food, and had the run of the
palace. Scarce a day passed on which I did not have a talk with the
rajah, himself."
"It is an exceptional case, indeed," the general said. "Had you
fallen into Holkar's hands, or into those of Ameer Khan, very
different treatment would have awaited you. And now, what has the
rajah to say for himself?"
"His plea is, sir, that he believed Holkar's army would assuredly
sweep us away; and that, in that case, he would have been attacked
by him for having formed an alliance with us."
"His position was certainly an awkward one," the general said. "And
now, what does he propose?"
"He does not propose anything, sir. He places himself in your
hands. He admits his faults; and is, as he may well be, heartily
sorry for them. He believes that he might still defend his town for
some time but, his allies having been thrashed, he sees that, in
the end, he must be overpowered. He asks that you will formulate
your demands."
"Your news is very welcome, Major Lindsay; for indeed, I am as
anxious to be off as the rajah can be to see me go. Scindia is
giving trouble again, and has written a letter couched in such
arrogant terms that it is virtually a declaration of war. I could
not leave here until the town was captured; for it would have
seemed to all India that we had been defeated, and would have been
a terrible blow to our prestige. Therefore, at all costs, I must
have taken the place. It will, however, be another fortnight before
we shall be ready to recommence the siege.
"I do not wish to be hard on the rajah, and I know that the
authorities at Calcutta view the case in the light that he has put
it, and are willing to believe that his turning against us was not
an act of deliberate treachery, but a fear of Holkar.
"His treatment of you and your escort is, in itself, much in his
favour. Of course in this, as in similar cases, we could deprive
him of his dominions, and send him a prisoner to a fortress; but
the Governor General is most anxious that this business should be
concluded. It has already cost us more men than we lost in the
overthrow of Tippoo's power. He has given me authority to negotiate
a peace, if the rajah offers to surrender. He has named the terms,
approximately; and the rajah's treatment of you will certainly
induce me to minimize the demands, as far as possible, especially
as it is most important that the force shall be available
elsewhere.
"Of course, the grant of territory made to him will be rescinded.
In the second place, we must, until all the terms of the treaty are
fulfilled, retain the fortress of Deeg, which we shall garrison
strongly. The rajah must pay twenty lakhs of rupees towards our
expenses. We shall not demand this at once, but three lakhs must
immediately be paid. One of his sons must be given up to us, as a
hostage for the fulfilment of the treaty. The rajah must also bind
himself not to enter into any communication with any princes, or
chiefs, at war with us.
"I think that you will allow that those are not hard conditions."
"Certainly not, sir; and I have no doubt that the rajah will agree
to them, without hesitation."
"I will have a draft of the treaty drawn up, in half an hour,"
General Lake said. "Of course, you will carry it back to the
rajah?"
"Certainly, sir. Fifty men of his bodyguard are waiting for me,
halfway between the camp and the town."
Harry left the tent, and found the officers of the staff and many
others waiting to welcome him back.
"They will all want to hear what you have to tell, Major," the head
of the staff said. "You had best go into the mess tent, and hold a
durbar."
The tent was soon filled with the officers, with the exception of
the chief of the staff, who had been sent for by the general.
"In the first place, Lindsay," one of the officers said, "we take
it that you have come on a mission from the rajah. Does he mean to
surrender?"
"He is willing to surrender, if the terms are not too onerous."
The announcement was received with a loud cheer. There was not one
present but believed that the next assault would be successful, but
the cost of the previous attacks had been so great that it was
believed the city would not be taken, unless with great slaughter.
The unhealthiness of the country had told upon their spirits, even
more than the repulses; and the news that they would soon be able
to march away created the deepest satisfaction.
"And now, for your own adventures, Lindsay."
"My adventures began and ended in a swamp. It was four o'clock
before the convoy left Agra, and I then rode on fast till it was
night, when I was still five or six miles from the camp. It was
pitch dark, and we lost our way and, presently, found ourselves in
a deep swamp, and could discover no way of getting out of it."
Then he told them of the attack; how they had been obliged to
surrender and had been guided out of the morass.
"When we reached the rajah's palace, all our troubles were ended. A
handsome chamber was placed at my disposal, and the havildar of my
escort was allowed to be with me. I was treated rather as an
honoured guest than as a prisoner. I lived on the fat of the land,
and was permitted to wander about the palace, and spent most of my
time in the gallery round the highest tower, where I could see all
that was going on. The rajah himself was most kind to me, and
enquired daily if my wants were supplied to my satisfaction. He
would often come up to the gallery and chat with me, sometimes for
an hour. The troopers, also, were all well treated."
"You have received a great deal of misplaced commiseration," one of
the officers said. "We have all thought of you as having been
tortured to death, either by Holkar or Ameer Khan; and now we find
you have been better housed and better fed than we have.
"And you are going back again, I suppose, with the chief's answer?"
"Yes; I must not tell you the conditions, but I think I can say it
is certain that the rajah will not hesitate a moment in accepting
them."
"Well, he deserves to be let off leniently, if only for his
treatment of you and your men. It is a contrast, indeed, to what
has generally happened to officers who have fallen into the hands
of any of these native princes."
There was a general talk until an aide-de-camp came in, and asked
Harry to accompany him to the general's tent.
"There is the draft of the treaty," the latter said. "I hope that
there will be no delay in returning a prompt answer. I want either
yes or no. These Indian princes are adepts in the art of prolonging
a negotiation. If you see that he has any disposition to do so, say
at once that I have told you that the terms I offer are final, and
must be accepted or rejected."
"Very well, sir. I hope to return with the answer tomorrow, early."
And, followed by his escort, Harry rode for the city. The rajah's
guard mounted, as soon as they saw him coming, and escorted him to
the palace. The street leading to it was now thronged with people,
and it was evident to Harry that, among the great majority, there
was a feeling of hope that he was the bearer of acceptable terms;
for among the poorer class the pressure of want was already severe.