THE CAMPAIGN OF VENGEANCE.
"To Lieutenant Henry Gerrard, wherever he may be.
"DEAR HAL,--For Heaven's sake bring up your guns by five o'clock
to-morrow afternoon. I have nothing but zumboorucks,[1] and Chund Sing
with all the Augpoor artillery is in front of me. I will maintain my
position at all costs till five, but if you have not come up then I
must retreat across the river--and my Grunthees will stay on this side
of it.--Yours,
R. CHARTERIS."
Charteris wrote the message in Greek characters, forming the letters
stiffly with unaccustomed fingers, and pausing now and then for
recollection. Gerrard would be able to read it, but no native in India
could do so. He made three copies, and despatched them by separate
messengers along different routes--by the river-bank, to the south and
to the south-east respectively--in the hope that one of them would
succeed in reaching his friend.
Charteris looked older and thinner than when he had parted from Gerrard
a fortnight before, and his face was tanned to a more pronounced red
than ever. Many hours of gloom had been encountered in the fulfilment
of the task willed in that hour of insight. Unforeseen difficulties of
various kinds had hindered him, and it was also quite certain that he
had underestimated the time necessary for Gerrard's arrival from
Habshiabad with the reinforcements. On returning to his camp that
first evening, he had mounted a fresh horse, and ridden on at once
towards his headquarters at Dera Galib Khan, whither his messengers had
preceded him, warning the Granthi troops there to be ready to take the
field at once. Fast though he travelled, however, reaching Dera Galib
in two nights of hard riding, he had been outstripped. Emissaries from
Sher Singh had already been at work among the Granthis, calling upon
them to join their brethren who had betrayed Nisbet and Cowper, and
fight the English for the sake of God and the Guru. Valuable gifts,
and the promise of doubled pay and unlimited loot, strengthened the
effect of the appeal, and the men were seething with disaffection when
Charteris came to them. They had not quite arrived at the point of
murdering him and his lieutenants and marching to join Sher Singh, but
the thing was openly discussed, and very little was needed to
precipitate matters. In face of this heavy blow, Charteris acted with
his customary despatch. The disaffected infantry he took with him,
deciding that under his own eye they would be as safe on active service
as anywhere, but the artillery he left with a heavy heart at Dera
Galib. He had counted much on their services, but he durst not take
the gunners where a bribe or two would double Sher Singh's present
strength, and there was no time to extemporise artillerists from among
the Darwanis. These wild men rushed to his standard joyfully as soon
as they heard he needed recruits, and the robbers whom he had fined and
whose forts he had destroyed forsook the pursuits of peace and declared
themselves ready to follow him to the gates of hell if necessary. Of
them he chose out those who already had relatives or fellow-clansmen in
his irregular corps to accompany him at once, leaving the rest under
the command of his subordinate Carpenter at Dera Galib, nominally for
drill, but also to serve as a check upon the disaffected artillery.
With his untrustworthy Granthis and his half-trained auxiliaries he
crossed the Tindar at Kardi, as he had intended, and employed the
former, to their intense disgust, in throwing up rough entrenchments
round the camp. The Darwanis he sent out in raiding-parties (this
operation appeared under the more decorous name of "making
reconnaissances" in his reports to Ranjitgarh), with orders not to
penetrate more than a certain distance into the country, but to do as
much damage as possible, and bring back supplies for the force. These
tactics had the result he anticipated. Sher Singh's army, which was
organising itself, with much squabbling and mutual recrimination, for a
dash across the frontier, found its rear threatened, and perceived that
unless the capital was to be left open to attack, these impudent
intruders must be driven back to their own side of the river. The
matter was complicated by the speedy appearance of the Habshiabad
troops in the south of the state, where Gerrard seized one of the
riverside towns, and held it by means of Rukn-ud-din's men and the most
serviceable of the Nawab's batteries of artillery, while he laboured
day and night, with Sadiq Ali, almost beside himself with joy,
hindering as much as helping him, to get the army into the field.
Happily the problem was not so complicated as it would have been in the
case of European troops, and the Nawab and his soldiers alike would
have scouted the idea of obtaining supplies otherwise than from the
country traversed, but weapons for the men and transport for the guns,
and ammunition for both, were necessaries difficult to improvise on the
spur of the moment. The Habshiabadis took the field at last, in a
state that would have made a European commander tear his hair, and
Gerrard hustled them on, blooding them by a smart little engagement
with a force sent by Sher Singh's nearest governor to dispute their
passage. The Rani joined them with every man she could bring as soon
as they were ready to cross the Ghara, but left the command of her
contingent to Rukn-ud-din, maintaining rigid seclusion on her elephant
with one or two faithful attendants.
Thus far, then, Charteris's bold scheme was justified. Sher Singh's
power for mischief beyond his own borders was largely neutralised for
the present, and for so long as an active enemy remained in arms upon
his soil. But the march from the Habshiabad frontier to Kardi was a
matter of seven days in favourable circumstances, and this was the hot
weather, and the partially trained troops disgraced their leader by
straggling, making unauthorised expeditions for the sake of plunder,
demanding longer halts and more frequent opportunities of meeting the
foe, and all manner of other military crimes. The high officers who
accompanied them on gorgeous elephants, with long trains of attendants
and baggage-animals, were quite useless as an aid to discipline, and
Gerrard fell into the habit of issuing his orders first, and then
sending a special copy to be handed round among them. It was not at
all the fulfilment of the ideal he had set before himself, the
reformation of the army through and with the help of its leaders, but
time was pressing, and far ahead, at Kardi, Bob Charteris was looking
out for him and wondering why he did not come.
The elements seemed to combine with troublesome humanity against
Charteris at this moment. A sudden rise of the river, a week before
the usual date, flooded him out of his entrenchments and obliged him to
take up a less satisfactory position. Moreover, at the same time,
Chand Singh, the Agpur general, after some painful vacillation as to
whether he should annihilate the western or the southern intruder
first, made up his mind suddenly, and marched with quite unexpected
speed upon Kardi, driving in the Darwani raiding-parties before him.
One fortunate result of his haste was that his guns were left behind,
and he was obliged to wait for them, but his army held the whole range
of ground in front of Charteris. Charteris had requisitioned every
boat that could be found on the Darwan side, and kept them safely
guarded, but it would be quite easy to obtain others if Chand Singh
cared to try a naval action. This he would probably combine with a
frontal attack all along the line as soon as his artillery arrived,
with the result that Charteris's force must choose between destruction
and being driven into the river, unless they retreated in time. But
everything forbade this last course. It would leave Gerrard's force
exposed to the full onslaught of the Agpur army, and even if they
succeeded in escaping across the river, would set Sher Singh free to
pursue his larger designs, which would probably begin with an invasion
of Darwan, and a joyful reception from the unsettled Granthi artillery
at Dera Galib. Moreover, Charteris had a shrewd idea that somewhere on
that other bank would be lying in wait for him that despatch from
Ranjitgarh, the receipt of which he had hitherto successfully evaded,
but which was practically certain to contain a sharp order to return at
once into his own province. Every possible consideration, therefore,
urged him to hold out at Kardi at all costs, but when on this
particular evening he wrote his notes to Gerrard, of whose whereabouts
and approach he had for several days received only vague rumours, he
was face to face with the necessity of retiring unless relieved.
This necessity was not to be made public, either to the unsatisfactory
Granthis or to the dispirited Darwanis, who were perpetually entreating
to be let loose against Chand Singh's array, which they were quite
certain they could drive away, if not destroy. Charteris said nothing
of it, even to his sole European companion, whom Carpenter had
unselfishly sent to his assistance with a small reinforcement. But in
view of the morrow even his iron nerve gave way, and he found himself
noting narrowly the colloguing of the Granthis round their camp-fires,
and their sudden silence when he approached, and wondering whether a
murderous attack in the night would be the end of it after all. He
pulled himself together quickly. He had done the best he could, what
he thought was right, and it had at any rate delayed Sher Singh long
enough to prevent his taking the British in Granthistan by surprise,
and when he did it he had known that he staked his life on the result.
To-morrow was bound to be a hard day, whatever happened, and he would
want every ounce of force that he possessed. What folly to be sitting
up listening for murderers! He added hastily the concluding words to
the report so scrupulously sent off day by day to James Antony, bade
Vixen keep guard, and lay down and slept. Gerrard would not have been
able to sleep in these circumstances, and Charteris's lieutenant was
equally destitute of the capacity for repose. He roused his chief
quite unnecessarily early in the morning, his flushed face and haggard
eyes telling of vain attempts at slumber, though he merely guessed at
what Charteris knew.
"Chand Singh's guns are beginning to come into camp," he announced
dramatically.
"Oh, all right. Bound to come some time," was the sleepy response.
But Warner was not to be put off.
"The Granthis are all standing to arms already, and Bishen Ram is
sporting a pair of gold bracelets."
"Ah!" said Charteris sharply. This was news indeed, for it was a gift
of gold bracelets to their commandant that had heralded the defection
of Nisbet and Cowper's escort to Sher Singh. "Keep an eye on them from
the door here while I dress, Warner. I have the _zamburaks_ trained on
them, so they can't take us by surprise."
Having succeeded in producing an impression, Warner was emboldened to
go further. Nothing but making Charteris as nervous as himself would
have satisfied him, and yet it was not fear, but overwork and want of
sleep, that combined with anxiety to keep him tramping restlessly
about. "I suppose you have full confidence in Gerrard?" he hazarded.
"Full confidence?" Charteris's voice, inside the tent, evidently issued
from the folds of a towel. "Why, of course. Every confidence that a
man could have in another."
"There was a story that you and he had quarrelled----"
"Well?" the word snapped out.
"Er--about some girl, I believe. But quarrelled, anyhow. You don't
think he would take this opportunity----?"
"To pay me out? I would as soon believe that you had been bribed by
Chand Singh to try and discourage me."
"Well, that's pretty strong, I must say." Warner's tone was injured.
"It is; and if you want it stronger, I'll say that I would sooner
believe it." Charteris emerged from the tent as he spoke and looked
keenly at his subordinate. "My dear fellow, your nerves are all to
pieces. Steady, steady! This is going to be one of the worst days you
ever had, and I mean you to come out of it with credit. Take a couple
of orderlies to keep guard, and go down and get a good swim. If you
feel inclined for a snooze afterwards, take an hour or two with my
blessing. I will be responsible for this mighty array meanwhile. No,
I really mean it. Be off with you!"
Slightly ashamed, Warner obeyed, and Charteris rode through the Darwani
bivouac, and backed up the _zamburaks_ with a line of musketmen.
Passing on to where the Granthis had slept, he found them, as Warner
had said, standing to their arms, but there was evident to his eye a
certain amount of hesitation, as though his most recent precaution was
not entirely to their liking. Without betraying any suspicion, he rode
straight up to Bishen Ram, the Sirdar, and complimented him upon the
alertness of his men.
"My Darwanis I must rouse, keen fighters though they are," he said,
"but I find my Granthis in arms before the order is even issued. Well
for the commander who has such men under him! And why are we so brave
to-day, Sirdar-ji?"
He indicated the bracelets upon the sinewy arms, and was aware of a
savage grin, instantly repressed, upon the faces of the men nearest at
hand. Bishen Ram replied without the slightest embarrassment. "It
appears to your honour's servants that to-day there will be a fight to
the death, and it is the custom of my unworthy house to meet death clad
as beseems a gentleman."
"A good custom indeed! and no ornament could better become a loyal
soldier," said Charteris, with just sufficient meaning in his voice to
leave the traitors uncertain whether he had penetrated their designs or
not. He took advantage of their uncertainty to ride back in safety,
knowing that he was in most danger when he had his back to them, and
reached his tent unharmed, but persuaded of the critical nature of the
situation. The treachery of the Granthis, whether actual or only
potential, practically neutralised the powers of the rest of his force.
If he ordered them to advance, they would promptly fraternise with the
foe, if he kept them in reserve, they would fall upon his rear, and if
he led the whole line into battle, they would turn their arms against
their comrades. A day of inglorious waiting, with one half of his
force--for the better training of the Granthis compensated for the
smallness of their numbers--in arms against the other half, until
either Chand Singh came on in overwhelming strength or Gerrard
appeared, seemed to lie before him.
And so it turned out. Throughout the sultry hours he held his
position, not daring to move his men save to drive back tentative
advances on the part of the enemy, which he knew were designed to cover
the movements of their artillery. He could not press his attack home,
far less penetrate to the guns, and the range of his musketry would of
course be hopelessly inadequate when Chand Singh chose to begin to
pound him from a distance. He did choose at last, about half-way
through the day, and to the tortures of inaction were added the lively
reproaches of the force. Lying down to be a target for artillery fire
was not an exercise that commended itself to the native mind, and
Charteris became the unwilling centre of a group of protesting Granthis
and Darwanis, who had each of them his special plan for making the day
more interesting, and plucked at the European's sleeve when they were
tired of shrieking into his ears. It was with a certain grim pleasure
that he received the remonstrances of the Granthis, whose plans must
all have been disarranged by his unexpected immobility. Chand Singh's
cannon-balls fell as impartially among them as among their fellows,
perhaps as a gentle hint that if they were going to change sides they
might as well do it at once, but the distance that separated the armies
was sufficient to account for a good many of them if they were exposed
to Charteris's fire. Yes, the Granthis deserved all they got, but his
heart bled for his Darwanis. Less fitted, both by nature and training,
for passive endurance, they could not understand his inertness.
"Sahib, can you expect us to endure this?" they cried reproachfully, as
the round-shot crashed among them. "We are here to die, but let us die
fighting, not crouching on the ground!"
Not until four o'clock was he able to seem to listen to their appeals,
and this was only because Chand Singh, apparently emboldened by the
passivity of his foe, deliberately advanced four guns to a spot little
beyond the reach of their musketry, and began to try the range.
Charteris detected at once the bait which was to draw him from his
position and give the Granthis their long-sought opportunity, and set
his teeth hard. The line should not advance. Turning his back on
Bishen Ram, whose protests were very nearly becoming threats, he called
up the heads of two Darwani clans, of late the fiercest and most
troublesome of his robber-vassals.
"You are willing to ride to death, brothers?"
A great shout answered him. "Into hell itself, sahib!"
"I knew it. But are you willing to turn back half-way, and return?"
"Never, sahib; never!"
"Then you are not the men for me." He turned away with ostentatious
disappointment, only to feel his sleeves gripped on either side by
eager hands.
"We will do it, sahib, though it be more bitter than death."
"I thought I could count on you. Listen then, brothers. I want those
four guns dismounted, and rolled into the marsh near at hand. We will
cover your charge by advancing within musket-shot of the guns, but
further we cannot go. Can I trust you to return when your work is
done, without attempting to ride further?"
"Highness, you can."
"It is well. The one who returns first, bringing his men with him,
shall receive my revolving pistol; to the other I will give my watch."
"The gifts of the Sahib are great as his fame," said the two Darwanis
together, as they raced off to their followers. Charteris made his
dispositions hurriedly. Twenty men, his best shots, were sent out
under Warner to wriggle through the long grass to within range of the
guns, and pick off the gunners when they attempted to fire. The rest
of the Darwanis--such as possessed fire-arms, at least--were ordered to
load, but remain where they were, and the Granthis to fall back a
hundred yards. The eyes of all were fixed upon the favoured few, who,
with upraised hands, were repeating the _Kalima_[2] before they set
forth upon their perilous ride, but Charteris managed to convey a brief
warning to the Darwani chiefs and officers near him. The forlorn hope
burst forth from the low jungle that had served as cover all
day--starting on the left of the advanced party, so as not to mask its
fire, and as their progress was marked with shouts by their fellows,
his ear caught the sound he had expected, the ring of ramrods behind
him on the right. The Granthis were loading without orders.
"To the right, turn. Ready. Present." His voice rang out, and the
Darwanis nearest him looked to see if he had gone mad, that he should
bid them turn away from watching their champions' ride. But as his
whistle reinforced the order, the chiefs whose minds he had prepared
rushed among their followers, and by voice and blows forced them to
obey. The sight of the Granthis at work with their ramrods betrayed
the truth at once, and the wild men took a step forward with a howl,
and would have precipitated themselves upon their hereditary foes if
Charteris had not stopped them. The Granthis, deprived of the
advantage they had anticipated, of pouring in a volley from behind on
their unsuspecting allies, looked foolish, and Charteris rode forward
and rated Bishen Ram, and bade him order his men to withdraw their
charges. For a moment they hesitated whether to direct their fire on
him--the forlorn hope was happily out of range of their present
position--but the habit of discipline combined with the knowledge that
the Darwanis were thirsting to fire to induce them to obey. The mask
was worn very thin now, however, and Charteris hardly dared turn his
eyes from them even to receive his returning heroes, who had duly
dashed at the guns, dismounted them and tumbled them into the swamp,
and ridden back--all that were left of them--under a heavy fire from
the concealed matchlockmen on the other side. The promised rewards
were duly bestowed on two gory figures, and Charteris returned to the
bush which had afforded him partial shelter at intervals during the
day, and wondered how long the Granthis would maintain even the
pretence of obedience if Gerrard did not come.
As the thought passed through his mind, it seemed to him that a deeper
and more distant boom mingled with the sound of Chand Singh's cannon,
and the nearer popping of his musketry, and when he listened he heard
it again. The two signal shots! Yes, Gerrard was coming, was
evidently attacking the enemy's left, where their main camp was
situated. At first there was no cessation either in the cannonade
poured into Charteris's force or in the musketry-fire, but gradually
both slackened. Evidently Chand Singh was withdrawing his forces from
this front, but whether it was to employ them against Gerrard or to
make good his retreat there was no means of knowing. The trying thing
was that even now Charteris could not venture to loose his Darwanis on
the foe, for the accession of the Granthis to Chand Singh's ranks might
turn the tide in the enemy's favour, and he was not sanguine enough to
hope that they would consent to remain neutral. He could only trust
that the Habshiabadis were in a better condition to pursue--but when he
and Gerrard met he learned that it was not so. On receiving
Charteris's message, Gerrard had come on with his artillery and an
escort, leaving the rest of his force to hold a detachment sent against
him by Chand Singh.
"Talk about the rules of military science, indeed! Think of your
trailing cow-guns unsupported through a hostile country!" cried
Charteris. "But it was a regular case of night or Blücher, old boy,
and I knew what a brick you were."
"A brick! I feel like one," laughed Gerrard. He and Charteris looked
at one another and laughed again. They had both discarded their tunics
in favour of what they called blouses, loose holland garments like long
Norfolk jackets, and Gerrard had exchanged his cap for a hat of white
feathers lined with green, the precursor of the sun-helmet.
"Good job we ain't in Khemistan. Old Harry Lennox would have
court-martialled us like winkin'," said Charteris. "He wouldn't even
consider it an extenuating circumstance that we've won."
"Not very much of a win, since we can't follow it up."
"Well, I don't know. Another fight like this will bring us in sight of
Agpur."
[1] Guns mounted on the backs of camels.
[2] The Mohammedan creed.