RUN TO EARTH.
On the evening of the day when the bodies of the two murdered
Englishmen had been laid in the grave with all imaginable honour, four
figures crept stealthily through the shadows at the base of the
ramparts of the palace. After the funeral, in the course of a stroll
round the walls, Gerrard and Charteris had refreshed their memory of
the various localities. Long ago they had satisfied themselves as to
the identity of the tree which masked the exit of the secret passage,
and on looking from the parapet they discovered that it had survived
the siege uninjured. But the hole it concealed was by no means easy to
reach, since it was about half-way up the great face of wall, which was
much higher on the outside than the inside. True, the stones on the
surface were rough-hewn and much weathered, and vegetation of all sorts
had struck its roots between them during the recent rains, but they
were not too firmly fixed in their places, as a gap here and there
showed. The adventurers agreed that it would be impossible to make
their attempt from the inside of the fortress, owing to the strict
watch maintained there, and since this decision implied a climb up the
sheer crumbling wall-face from below, the help of a rope was very
necessary. Since to lower one from above would have attracted
attention, it was clear that it must in some way be raised from below,
and the two friends had set their wits to work, with the result that
when they paused--to all appearance quite casually--on the parapet and
looked over at the tree, each of them drew furtively from his pocket a
ball of twine. Charteris laughed.
"At any rate I'm glad you haven't beat me, Hal. I could think of
nothing better than unwinding the string and dropping one end on each
side of the tree, in the hope that it might remain untouched till
to-night. No, by Jove! I have thought of a better way. Give us your
ball."
He knotted the two ends of twine, and dropped the balls dexterously one
on either side of the tree, the string thus remaining steadied against
possible winds by the weight at the bottom. Then, talking carelessly,
he led his friend on, both hoping that no acquisitive small boy might
chance to poke about along the base of the wall during the afternoon.
Rukn-ud-din and Amrodh Chand had already been informed that their
services were desired that night, and at the appointed time they
slipped away from their quarters into the darkness and joined the two
Englishmen. Caution was necessary in passing through the narrow lanes
of the city, not only lest implacable partisans of Sher Singh should
seize the opportunity of avenging their master's fall, but lest a
British patrol should be encountered. Charteris and Gerrard knew the
password, but the composition of their party was certain to rouse
curiosity, and lead to the suspicion that something strange was on
foot. By dint of effacing themselves deftly round corners, and hiding
in doorways, they managed to avoid notice, and reached the appointed
spot at the desired time, when the moon, rising behind the palace
itself, threw this portion of the wall, and the ground at its foot,
into the deepest shadow. Sentries were posted both within and without
the walls, and it was necessary to wait until the one on this beat had
turned his back, and then run singly from one patch of shade to
another. All once safely assembled at the foot of the wall, Charteris
produced a dark lantern, and while the rest stood so as to shield him
from observation, hunted for the two little balls of twine. They had
fallen not far from one another, and by pulling at the strings it
became evident that they were still knotted over the projecting
tree-trunk. To one of them the end of a stout rope was attached, and
then the other was pulled, so that the rope might be, as the twine now
was, passed over the tree. When the two ends of the rope hung level,
forming as it were a double handrail, Charteris seized them, and began
to climb, supporting himself by the ropes at each step as he felt for a
higher rest for his foot. The slight sound he made, gradually growing
more distant, was the only guide those below had as to his position,
but at last there came a tug upon each rope, which was to be the sign
that he had reached the tree and found the entrance of the passage
practicable. Before following him, Gerrard turned to the two natives.
"Brothers, you know that we hope to seize this night him who has been
guilty of so many crimes, that he may be brought to a fair trial. You
know also that a vow of secrecy forbids us to share our knowledge of
this place with you. Swear to me, then, that after to-night it shall
be to you as though it did not exist, whatever may happen to us."
"We swear it, sahib," said both men, but Rukn-ud-din added, "Provided
that if your honour should call to us for help, we are at liberty to
follow you."
"In that case you may certainly come up," said Gerrard gravely, and he
followed Charteris up the wall. Amrodh Chand's eyes sought
Rukn-ud-din's in the darkness.
"His vow is safe, brother; but what of our vow of vengeance?"
"Aye; we know what is meant by these trials. Antni Sahib loves Sher
Singh and will not have him slain, and the judges will know it. They
will appoint a pleader to gain him his life by false words."
"And we, brother--we who have sworn to wash out the stain from the
severed cloth in the blood of the brother-slayer? We shall be baulked,
and the women will laugh at us in the streets."
"Aye; men will mock at our beards," said Rukn-ud-din bitterly. "Has
Jirad Sahib forgotten all that has passed?"
Amrodh Chand's head approached his comrade's closely. "I think Jirad
Sahib has remembered our vow. Did he not make us swear that _after
this night_ the place should be to us as though it was not? What,
then, of to-night?"
Rukn-ud-din pondered sagely this most undeserved aspersion on Gerrard's
sincerity. "It is well thought of," he said. "Moreover, it seemed to
me but now that I heard a cry or gasp. What if it were Jirad Sahib's
voice calling to us, and we have failed him?"
"We will succour him at once," said Amrodh Chand. "See, brother, I
will knot the ends of the rope under this projecting stone, and follow
thee up."
All unconscious of the insubordinate reasoning of his followers,
Gerrard had made his way up the wall, and reaching the tree, peered
into the blackness in search of Charteris. There was no sign of the
lantern, but not far off he could hear curious muffled sounds, as
though a struggle was taking place in resolute silence. Feeling along
the tree-trunk with his hands, he discovered the opening in the wall,
and squeezed himself past the roots into it--rather nervous work in
pitch darkness and with the rope left behind. He found himself in a
narrow passage, the roof and sides of which he could easily touch, and
close in front of him was going on the struggle he had heard. Two or
more men must be rolling over one another on the floor, wrestling
desperately, but in silence. Gerrard durst not interfere, lest he
should seize the wrong man, and he ventured only to say, "Here, Bob!"
in a low voice during a pause in the fighting, for fear of betraying
their presence to others. Suddenly a horrible thud, followed by a
gasping "Ah-h-h!" from Charteris, proclaimed that the contest was over,
and Gerrard was nearly knocked down by some one who cannoned into him
backwards. A hand was on his throat in a moment, but when the fingers
came in contact with his collar they released their grip, and Charteris
whispered with a hoarse laugh--
"Why, Hal, I nearly strangled you. Thought you were a comrade of the
fellow here. Step over him and shield the light. We must make sure."
Gerrard obeyed--not without an uneasy feeling of exposing himself to
unseen foes--and jumped violently when his foot came in contact with
some portion of the body of Charteris's late foe. But no attempt was
made to seize him, and he stood upright, filling the passage as far as
possible, while Charteris opened the lantern the merest slit, and
turned it on the man's face.
"He's safe. I thought that knock I gave him on the floor must have
damaged him considerably. It was him or me. He sprang at me as soon
as I got inside, and if I hadn't got my hand over his mouth he would
have given the alarm. That handicapped me, too--having to hold him, I
mean--and he wriggled like an eel. Well, come on. Now look here, Hal;
you ain't going to walk behind me down this passage with your sword
drawn. You'd have me spitted like a lark if we were attacked either in
front or behind. I'll go first with my sword, you'll come after with
the lantern--shut, if you please. If I want light, I'll tell you fast
enough. Got your Colt ready--not out?"
Gerrard's revolver was ready to his hand, but he realised that it was
out of the question to hold it as he felt his way in the dark, and
after making sure that his sword was loose in its sheath, he followed
Charteris, carrying only the lantern. When they had explored the
passage before, with plenty of light, it had seemed to them that the
walls and floor were astonishingly smooth, but now, feeling and groping
their way along in pitch darkness, the number of obstacles over which
they stumbled, and projections with which they came into violent
contact, was extraordinary. The air of the place was close, too, and
between their exertions and their anxiety, they were soon dripping with
perspiration. Charteris called a halt at last.
"By Jove, it's just struck me what a do it would be if they had laid a
trap for us!" he muttered. "Quite a shallow hole would bring us down
on top of on another, and we should be at their mercy."
"Oh, go on, and don't _buck_!" said Gerrard irritably.
"Why, your voice is shaking, Hal! 'Pon my word, if I didn't know you,
I should think----" He stopped abruptly, for Gerrard had gripped his
shoulder.
"Bob, did you hear something?"
"Not I. You heard your heart beating, perhaps."
"Oh, drop it! It sounded like the ring of metal on stone--as if a
sword had knocked against the wall."
"Kuku-ud-din or Amrodh Chand may have followed us."
"They swore they wouldn't. Besides, Bob, it was quite near at hand,
and they could not have caught us up in the dark. There was no sign of
them at the entrance."
"Quite so. Well, shall we wait and trip him up?"
"No, he will hear--guess we are there. We can't stay all night looking
for him in the dark." Gerrard spoke roughly, fighting down the horror
of such a watch as he suggested, and Charteris yielded, recognising
that his friend's nerves were dangerously strained.
"I should have preferred to make our rear safe, but he will hardly
venture to attack us single-handed. Give me the lantern, old boy, and
you lead for a bit."
Shamefacedly Gerrard obeyed, realising that the dread of a stealthy
step behind had not for Charteris the paralyzing terror it had for him,
and they groped their way on, trying to assure one another that the
sounds which reached them when they paused were merely the echoes of
their own movements. At length a very faint glimmer became visible far
in front, and they crept towards it. It seemed to come from a doorway
on the left-hand side of the passage, and co-ordinating their former
knowledge of the place with the distance they had now come, they saw
that it must proceed from the open door of the secret treasury.
Creeping up to this with the utmost precaution, they paused for a
moment in the shadow to reconnoitre. The light came from a dim lamp in
the middle of the room, round which they could discern the sleeping
forms of several men--five or six, perhaps, but their mufflings made it
difficult to distinguish them clearly. One rather removed from the
rest, and lying on a charpoy instead of the floor, was evidently Sher
Singh himself. Charteris put the lantern deliberately into his pocket,
and drawing swords and revolvers, he and Gerrard stepped into the
doorway.
"Your Highness is tracked! Surrender!" were the words that pealed into
the room and roused the sleepers.
"Maharaj, fear not! There are but two Feringhees here!" cried another
voice from behind, and instantly the man nearest to the lamp threw a
quilt over it. There was a clash of arms as the men roused from sleep
seized the weapons they had laid beside them, but through it Gerrard's
ear detected another sound, a grinding noise on the floor, coming from
behind. He recognised it at once; it was the grating of the
turning-stone as it closed. The man who had tracked them and given the
alarm was cutting off their retreat. Gerrard turned mechanically, and
putting out his hand, felt the stone beginning to fill the doorway
behind him. Stooping, he groped for the stone doorpost, and snatching
off his cap, thrust it across the corner where the outer edge of the
doorpost met the floor. The cap was iron-framed, and padded to turn a
sword-cut, and he heard the stone grate more harshly, then stick, so
that at least he and Charteris were not imprisoned without hope of
release. As he rose, he was aware of a muttered exclamation of disgust
from the other side of the door, and guessed that the man who had set
the stone turning had found that it would not shut.
"Shoulder to shoulder, Hal!" said Charteris sharply. The moment so
full of thought and action for Gerrard had for him been filled only
with intensest listening for every movement of the enemies in front,
and he had no idea of the foe behind. Something struck the edge of the
doorpost as it passed through the slit left open, and Gerrard fired at
the sound. Charteris jumped forward a little as the point of a long
dagger grazed his shoulder, and the noise of the shot was followed by a
choking cry in the passage.
"Thanks, old boy. Ready, watch!" Charteris took the lantern from his
pocket, and flashed it slowly round. Gerrard had a momentary
impression of shining weapons and gleaming eyeballs, all apparently
petrified into immobility by the sudden illumination. Before the enemy
could take advantage of the light to spring, he had snatched the
lantern from Charteris's hand, and set it on a little stone bracket,
evidently left for some such purpose, above the doorway, so that the
two Englishmen were in shadow, while their opponents were clearly
visible.
"Now, Bob, back to back!" he cried.
Three of the armed men in front made at them at once, while Sher Singh
and the others conferred in the background. Neither Gerrard nor
Charteris had time to do more than notice this ominous confabulation,
for their adversaries gave them plenty of work. They were as agile as
cats, and the chance was small indeed of getting in a telling blow.
One man went down with a bullet from Gerrard's revolver in his brain,
but his place was instantly taken by one of those at the back, and the
next few minutes saw several shots wasted. Suddenly another sound than
the clash of arms struck on Gerrard's ear--the grinding noise made by
the turning-stone. He had barely time to shout a warning to Charteris
before a shot, sounding like the report of a cannon in the confined
space, smashed and extinguished the lantern, and at the same moment two
hands grasped his ankles and threw him into the middle of the floor,
with Charteris--as he guessed by the clatter of a revolver on the
ground--upon him.
"Sahib, it is I--Rukn-ud-din," yelled a lamentable voice from the door.
"Speak, that I may know where you are."
Gerrard had just breath enough left to shout "Here!" and sufficient
presence of mind to wriggle as far as he could when he had done it.
The instant swish of a sword, delivered with such good will that it
smashed on the stone floor where he had lain but a moment before,
showed his wisdom, and he tried to roll out of the fray, but Charteris,
who must have struck his head in falling, lay a dead weight across his
legs. While he tried first to lift his friend, and then to drag
himself from under him, a fierce battle was raging above and across
their prostrate forms, and feet, bare or booted, trod upon or tripped
over them. At length Charteris stirred and groaned, and Gerrard shook
him desperately.
"Bob, get up! Get off me, anyhow!"
A hand seized his shoulder as he shouted, and he imagined a sword
descending on his head, and thought his last hour had come. But the
hand came down to meet his, and a voice cried, "Well done, sahib. Up!"
and helped by Rukn-ud-din, he was on his feet again, and set with his
back to the wall. Stooping, he found Charteris struggling into a
sitting position, and dragged him back also, then realised that the
fight had suddenly slackened, and that the sound of panting breaths had
replaced the clash of swords. Before he could ask himself what this
meant, Rukn-ud-din's voice broke the stillness.
"Brother, is it done?"
"It is done, brother," replied the voice of Amrodh Chand from the other
side of the place. "Partab Singh Rajah and his son and the mother of
his son are avenged."
A wild howl rent the air, as the servants of Sher Singh flung
themselves furiously in the direction of the voice, but the Rajput had
slipped round close to the wall, and Gerrard found him at his side,
half-delirious with joy.
"Slay! slay! slay!" he chanted. "Wipe out the whole brood from the
earth. Let all those who served the brother-slayer bear him company in
death."
"Stay! Let them surrender if they will," cried Gerrard. "Let the
servants of Sher Singh lay down their arms, and taste the mercy of the
Government."
"That for the mercy of the Sarkar!" was the answer, as a vicious cut
was made in Gerrard's direction from the floor, but Rukn-ud-din warded
it off, and seizing the tulwar as it fell from the severed hand of the
man who had wielded it, gave it to his commander. Then, advancing in
line across the room, they drove the surviving servants of Sher Singh
before them until, brought up by the opposite wall, they threw down
their arms and cried for quarter. Then Rukn-ud-din went back along the
passage for the piece of burning match in a metal holder by means of
which he and Amrodh Chandh had made their way to the fight, the sounds
of which had stirred their blood, and the extinguished lamp was found
and relighted. Sher Singh's body was crouched on the charpoy, in a
listening attitude, the matchlock with which he had shot at the lantern
slipping from his hands. Four of his men were killed outright, besides
the one outside who had tried to close the door, and whom Gerrard had
shot through the opening, and the other two were badly wounded, while
the victors bore abundant traces of the struggle. But there was no
time for binding up their hurts just yet, for hurried footsteps and
excited voices could be heard faintly overhead, though no words were
distinguishable.
"The sentries are disturbed in their minds, and have turned out the
guard," said Charteris. "And no wonder; that shot of Sher Singh's must
have sounded uncommonly like a distant mine exploding. Well, we had
better appear amongst them by way of the lions' cage and explain
matters, I suppose. What d'ye think of taking the prisoners with us,
and leaving everything else as it is, Hal?"
"I don't see that it matters. Wouldn't it be better to make them carry
out Sher Singh's body?" said Gerrard.
"My dear fellow, it does matter, very much. I should say leave things
exactly as they are. Otherwise we may get into trouble. Don't touch
the Rajah, Rukn-ud-din!" he cried sharply. "Oh, I see; it's a case of
'Is not the gown washed white?'"
The two natives had unwound the discoloured fragments of the Rani's
cloth which they wore wrapped round their waists, and were dipping them
in Sher Singh's blood.
"Our vow, sahib!" said Amrodh Chand proudly. "Now our faces are white
once more, for all has fallen out as it was spoken, and the innocent
blood is avenged."
"All very well, but our faces are likely to be particularly black,"
muttered Charteris morosely. "Take the prisoners on. Look here, Hal,"
as they obeyed; "don't you perceive that we may find ourselves in a
very nasty fix? If we had been able to produce Sher Singh alive to
stand his trial, nothing would have been too good for us, but as it is,
we have deprived the ruling powers of the opportunity for a tremendous
object-lesson in justice and clemency. Our only chance is to make it
perfectly clear what a fight we have had. They may say we ought to
have taken a larger force, but they can't very well blame us for acting
in self-defence. And if the bodies have obviously not been touched----"
"You mean that otherwise Speathley is quite capable of accusing us of
looting? Bob, if he attempts anything of the kind, I have done with
the Company for good and all. I have had about enough. I daresay the
old Habshi will take me into his service."
"Vice General Desdichado dead of drink? I think I see you playing the
part, old boy. No, stick to your colour--and your colours. We two are
in the same box, and whatever happens we'll keep together. I was
merely recommending caution. But here we are at the massy portal.
What'll you take that the lions were killed for food in the siege? No,
there they are. Sold again!"
Pride forbade Rukn-ud-din and Amrodh Chand to testify any alarm at the
place where they found themselves, but they hustled their willing
captives to the front of the cage with great celerity, hastened by the
growls which proclaimed that the lions had been awakened by the light.
The beasts seemed sluggish and disinclined to move, and Gerrard called
Charteris back with the lamp, that he might see better to perform the
complicated movements which closed the door. Almost as he did so, he
felt himself seized and flung violently sideways, Charteris following
and almost falling against him, while a heavy body descended violently
upon the very spot where they had been standing.
"What's up?" demanded Gerrard, between surprise and indignation.
"Oh, only the lion. Clear out of this, or we shall have the lioness on
us next. You don't seem to twig, my boy. Sher Singh has had the
chains lengthened!"