BACK UNDER THE FLAG.
"How far is it to Delhi? We heard the guns there just now."
"Not thirty miles."
"Have you heard how things are going on there?" Dick asked.
"According to the Sepoy reports, fresh regiments are pouring in from
all quarters; and they boast that they are going to drive us out of the
country. Our troops are still at Meerut, and a force is gathering at
Umballah; but they are after all a mere handful."
"Do you think there is any chance of help coming to us?"
"None for the present. The Sepoys say that every station has gone down
except Agra, Allahabad, and Benares, and that these are soon to go too.
Cawnpore and Lucknow have risen."
"Are all the whites killed everywhere?"
"I am afraid they are all killed where there are no white troops; but
there, we must hope that they are making a stand. We shall be a long
time before we know anything. It is but a week yet since our station
went; seven days longer since Delhi rose."
"It seems ages ago," Ned said. "You don't mean to try and get to Meerut
to-night, I hope; we could walk as far if it were absolutely necessary,
but we have done a long day's walk already."
"No, no, Ned. I only want to get well away from our late camp.
To-morrow we will get near the river, hide all next day, and cross
after nightfall. There is a clump of trees; we will pass the night
there; I think we are safe enough now. The mutineers are too anxious to
be at Delhi to spend much time in looking for us. Now, first of all,
let us get a fire."
"We have never had a fire at night," Dick said, "since we started; we
have been too much afraid of being seen."
"There is not much chance of its being observed in a wood; especially
if the bushes are thick. We are four miles at least from the camp, and
we are all wet through with dew. Now for sticks."
The whole party soon collected a pile of sticks; and the major was
about to scatter some powder among the dead leaves, when Ned said, "We
have matches, father."
"Oh, that's all right, Ned. There we are, fairly alight. Yes, we have
chosen the place well; there are bushes all around. Now," he said, when
the fire had burned up brightly, "let us hear the full story of what
has passed; you gave us a short account when we first got free. Now let
us hear all about it."
Ned and Dick told the story--sometimes one taking it up, sometimes the
other. There were many questions from their auditors, and expressions
of warm approval of their conduct; and Captain Dunlop threatened under
his breath that if he ever had a chance he would not leave one cake of
mud upon another in the village where Kate was wounded. He and Captain
Manners proposed that they should go back, and afford what protection
they could to the girls. But Major Warrener at once negatived this idea.
"If they could come straight back with us, I should say yes," he said,
"for with us five we might hope to get them through safely; but even
that would be very risky, for the larger the party is, the more easily
it attracts attention, and the whole country is alive with rebels
marching to Delhi. But as Rose cannot be fit to travel for weeks, we
have no choice in the matter. They must remain where they are, and we
can only hope and pray for their safety. Our duty lies clearly at
Meerut, where every man who can sight a rifle will be wanted most
urgently. Now let us be off to sleep; the fire has burned low, and in
another hour or two it will be daybreak; however, there will be no
reveille, and we can sleep on with lighter hearts than we have had for
some time."
"What figures you are in those uniforms!" Dick said, laughing, next
morning; "you can scarcely move in them, and they won't meet by eight
or nine inches. It does not seem to me that they are any disguise at
all. Any one could see in a moment that they were not made for you."
"They are wretchedly uncomfortable, Dick." his father said; "and, as
you say, any one could see they were not made for us. But they are
useful. As we go along, any one who saw us at a distance would take us
for a straggling party of mutineers making our way to Delhi; while the
bright scarlet of our own uniform would have told its tale miles off."
"I shall be glad enough to get rid of mine, Dick; I feel as if I had
got into a boy's jacket by mistake. Jack Sepoy has no shoulders to
speak of; as far as height goes he is well enough; but thirty Sepoys on
parade take up no more room than twenty English. I had to take my
jacket off last night and lay it over my shoulders; I might as well
have tried to go to sleep in a vise. There! major; do you hear the
music? These rascals are on the march again."
The strains of music came very faintly to the ear, for the bivouac was
nearly a mile from the road.
"That is all right," the major said. "Now they have gone by, we can be
moving. We must give them an hour's start."
"Now, father, we have not heard your adventures yet; please tell us all
about them."
"Well, we have not had so much variety as you, but we have gone through
a good deal. You know we had talked over the best possible course to
take in case of an attack, come when it might. We had arranged what
each should do in case of a night attack, or of a rising upon parade;
and we had even considered the probability of being set upon when
gathered in the messroom. We had all agreed that if taken by surprise,
resistance would mean certain death; they would shoot us down through
the doors and windows, and we should be like rats in a cage. We agreed,
therefore, that in case of an attack, a simultaneous attempt to break
out must be made, and we had even settled upon the window by which we
should go. The married men were, of course, to make for their
bungalows, except where, as in my case, I had made other arrangements;
and the rest to various bungalows agreed upon, where traps were to be
in readiness. Dunlop, Manners, and myself had agreed to make for
Dunlop's, as it was the nearest, and his trap was to be ready that
evening.
"There were not many who believed in a mutiny that night. The villains,
only in the morning, having sworn to be faithful, deceived most of us,
for it was very hard to believe they could be capable of such
diabolical treachery. Swords and pistols were, of course, taken off,
but instead of being left in the anteroom, were brought into the
messroom. Some fellows put theirs in a corner, others against the wall
behind them. I was sitting between Dunlop and Manners, and we were, as
it happened, at the corner nearest the window fixed upon for the bolt.
Things went on all right till dinner was over, There was an insolent
look about some of the servants' faces I did not like, but nothing to
take hold of. I pointed it out to Dunlop, and we agreed that the plan
arranged was the best possible; and that, as resistance would be of no
use, if at each of the eight large windows and the two doors a stream
of musketry fire were being poured in, we would make a rush straight
for the window. Presently the colonel rose and gave 'The Queen.' We all
rose, and as if--as I have no doubt it was--the toast was the signal,
there was a sudden trampling in the veranda outside, and at every
window appeared a crowd of Sepoys, with their arms in their hands. I
shouted, 'To the window for your lives!' and without stopping to get my
sword, I dashed at the Sepoys who were there. Dunlop and Manners were
with me, and before the scoundrels had time to get their guns to their
shoulders, we were upon them. We are all big men; and our weight and
impetus, and the surprise, were too much for them; we burst through
them, standing as they did four or five deep, as if they had been
reeds. They gave a yell of rage and astonishment as they went down like
ninepins; but we scarcely saw it, for as we went through them the
musketry fire broke out round the messroom.
[Illustration: BEFORE THE SCOUNDRELS HAD TIME TO GET THEIR GUNS TO
THEIR SHOULDERS, WE WERE UPON THEM.]
"Whether any of the others tried to follow us, we don't know. I think
most of them forgot their arrangement, and rushed to their arms:
certainly some of them did so, for we heard the crack of revolvers
between the rifle shots. We made straight across the parade for
Dunlop's bungalow, with musket balls flying in all directions, as soon
as the fellows we had gone through recovered from their first
astonishment; but they are not good shots at the best, and a man
running at his top speed is not an easy mark by moonlight. We heard
yells and musket shots all round, and knew that while a part of the
regiment was attacking us, parties were told off to each bungalow. By
the time we had got over the few hundred yards to Dunlop's, the
whistling of the bullets round us had pretty well ceased, for the
fellows had all emptied their muskets; besides, we were nearly out of
range. None of them were near us, for they had stopped in their run to
fire; they were too much interested in the massacre going on inside,
and we seemed pretty safe; when, just as I entered the gate of the
compound, a stray bullet hit me on the head, and down I went like a log.
"Happily, the syce had proved faithful; he had been with Dunlop ever
since he joined the regiment, and Dunlop once risked his life to save
him from a tiger. There was the syce with the trap. He had not dared
bring it out till the first shot was fired, lest his fellow-servants,
who were all traitors, should stop it; but the instant it began, he
came round. They ran the horse up to where I was lying, lifted me in,
and jumped in, and drove out of the gate as a score of fellows from the
mess-house came making toward the bungalow. We had fifty yards' start,
but they fired away at us, a ball passing through the syce's leg as he
scrambled up behind. The horse went along at a gallop; but we were not
safe, for parties were carrying on their hellish work in every
bungalow, Dunlop and Manners were maddened by the screams they heard;
and if it had not been for having me under their charge, and by the
thoughts of the girls, I believe they would have jumped out and died
fighting. A few of the black devils, hearing wheels, ran out and fired;
but we kept on at a full gallop till we were well out of the place. A
mile further Dunlop found the horse begin to slacken his speed, and to
go very leisurely. He jumped out to see what was the matter, and found,
as he expected, that the horse had been hit. He had one bullet in the
neck, another in the side. It was evident that it could not go much
further. They lifted me out and carried me to a patch of bushes thirty
yards from the road. The syce was told to drive on quietly till the
horse dropped. Dunlop gave him money and told him to meet us at Meerut."
"Why did you not keep him with you? he would have been very useful?"
Dick asked.
"You see I wanted to get the trap as far away as possible before the
horse fell," Captain Dunlop said. "We did not know how severely wounded
the major was; indeed, we both feared he was killed; but the mutineers,
when they found the dead horse in the morning, were certain to make a
search in its neighbourhood, and would have found your father had he
been close by laid up with a wound."
"Happily I now began to come to," the major went on, continuing his
story. "The ball was nearly spent, and had given me a nasty scalp
wound, and had stunned me, but I now began to come round. The instant I
was able to understand where I was or what had happened, Dunlop and
Manners, who were half-wild with excitement and grief, made me promise
to lie quiet, while they went back to see what had become of you all.
Of course I consented. They were away about three hours, for they had
to make a circle of the cantonments, as our bungalow was quite at the
other end. They brought cheering news. They had first been to the
house, and found it utterly destroyed as they expected. That told them
nothing; for if you had been killed, your bodies would probably have
been burned with the house. Then they went out to the tope of trees
where it was agreed that you should, if possible, first fly. Here they
found a pocket-handkerchief of Rose's; and going round to the other
side, found by the marks upon the soil that four of you had started
together. With hearts immensely lightened by the discovery that you
had, at any rate, all escaped from the first massacre, they hurried
back to gladden me with the news. I was past understanding it when they
arrived, for the intense pain in my head and my terrible anxiety about
you had made me delirious. It would have been certain death to stay so
near the road, so they dipped their handkerchiefs in water, and tied
them round my head; and then supporting me, one on each side, they
half-dragged, half-carried, me to a deserted and half-ruinous cottage,
about a mile away.
"Next day I was still feverish, but fortunately no one came near us.
Dunlop and Manners went out at night, and got a few bananas. Next
morning our regiment marched away; and Dunlop then appealed to an old
cottager for shelter and food for us all. He at once promised to aid
us, and I was removed to his cottage, where everything in his power was
done for me. I was now convalescent, and a day later we were talking of
making a move forward. That night, however, the cottage was
surrounded--whether the peasant himself or some one else betrayed us,
we shall never know--but the men that we saw there belonged to a
regiment of mutineers that had marched in that afternoon from Dollah.
We saw at once that resistance was useless, and we were, moreover,
without arms. Had we had them, I have no doubt we should have fought
and been killed. As it was, we were bound and marched into the camp at
Sandynugghur. It was resolved to take us in triumph into Delhi; and we
were marched along with the regiment till you saw us. We had talked
over every conceivable plan of escape, and had determined that we would
try to-night, which will be the last halt before they get to Delhi. It
is very unlikely that we should have succeeded, but it was better to be
shot down than to be taken to Delhi and given over to the mob to
torture before they killed us. I am convinced we had no chance of
really getting off, and that you have saved our lives, just as Dunlop
and Manners saved mine, at the risk of their own, on that first night
of our flight. And now let us be on the march."
They had not gone far before the three officers found that it was
impossible to walk in their Sepoy jackets. They accordingly took them
off, and slung them from their muskets. Ned and Dick were fairly
fitted. They halted for the night near the river, about ten miles above
Delhi. In the morning they were off early. By nine o'clock they stood
on the bank of the river, five miles higher up.
The river is wide, or rather the bed of the river is wide, half a mile
at least; this in the rainy season is full to the brim, but at other
times the stream is not more than half that width. After crossing the
river they would have fifteen miles still to traverse to arrive at
Meerut; and it was probable that the whole intervening country was in
the hands of the Sepoys.
"Had we not better keep this side of the river for a bit, father?" Ned
asked.
"No, my boy; we will cross here after dark, and make straight for
Meerut. If we can't find a boat, we will each cut a large bundle of
rushes, to act as a lifebuoy and carry your guns and ammunition, and so
swim across after it is dark."
"Well, major, as the sun is getting awfully hot, I vote we get into the
shade of those stunted trees, and have a nap till the afternoon. It
won't do to begin even to make the raft till the sun is down."
Captain Dunlop's proposition was carried into effect; but it is
questionable whether any of the party slept much, for they were excited
by the thought that in a few hours they would be with friends, once
more soldiers instead of fugitives, with power to fight in defense of
their sovereign's dominions, and of the helpless women and children
exposed to the fury of the atrocious mutineers. With these thoughts
mingled the anxiety which was wearing them all, although each refrained
from talking about it, as to the safety of the girls, whose lives wore
dependent upon the fidelity of a native and his servants.
Over and over again, since they met the boys, had they regretted that
they had not gone back to watch over them; but the fact that Rose might
be weeks before she was able to stand, and that, as their protector had
said, the presence of Europeans near them might be detected, and would
be a source of constant danger, convinced them that they had taken the
proper course. They knew, too, that in acting as they had done they
were performing their duty; and that at a moment when the fate of
British India trembled in the balance, the place of every soldier was
by the side of the British troops who still maintained the old flag
flying in the face of increasing numbers of the enemy. Still, although
they knew that they were doing their duty, and were, moreover, taking
the wisest course, the thoughts of the girls alone in the midst of
danger, with one of them down with fever, tried them terribly, and they
longed with a fierce desire for the excitement of work and of danger to
keep them from thinking of it.
"Here, boys, is a ear of Indian corn apiece; eat that and then get to
work."
The frugal meal was soon over, and they then set to work, cutting down,
breaking off, and tearing up large reeds with which to make floats. The
boys had knives, but the others had been stripped of everything they
had at the time of their capture. In about an hour, however, five
bundles were made, each some six feet long and nearly three feet thick.
The muskets and ammunition pouches were fastened on these, and soon
after it was quite dark they entered the water.
"There are no crocodiles, I hope," Dick whispered to Ned.
"Nothing to fear in these large rivers; the chances of meeting one are
very small."
"All right," Dick said. "Of course we've got to risk it. But they're as
bad as sharks; and sharks, as the Yankee said, is pison. Well, here
goes."
When the bundles were placed in the water they were lashed side by side
with long trailing creepers which grew abundantly among the rushes; and
they were thus secured from the risk of turning over from the weights
on the top. Upon the raft thus formed their clothes were placed, and
then, side by side, pushing it before them, the party shoved off from
shore. In twenty minutes they touched ground on the other side. They
dressed, examined their muskets to see if they were in good order, and
then started in the direction in which they knew Meerut to be. Several
times they paused and listened, for they could occasionally hear the
noise of galloping men, and it was evident that there were troops of
some kind or other moving about.
They walked for some hours until they thought that they could not be
far from their destination, and had begun to congratulate themselves
upon being near their friends, when the sound of a strong body of men
was heard sweeping along the level plain across which they were now
passing.
"There is a small building ahead," the major said; "run for that; they
are coming across here."
They were seen, for a shout of "Who goes there?" in Hindostanee was
heard.
"Give me your musket, Dick," Captain Dunlop exclaimed. For the lad,
with the weight of his musket and ammunition, could hardly keep up with
the others.
Just in time they reached the building in front of them, rushed in, and
closed the door as the cavalry swept up. It was a small temple; a
building of massive construction, with one little window about six
inches square, and on the same side a strong door.
"Pile everything against the door," the major cried. "Dunlop, fire at
once at them. Our only chance is to hold out with the hope that we may
be heard, and that some of our fellows may come to the rescue."
Captain Dunlop fired just as the troopers dashed up to the door.
"Now, Manners, steady, pick off your man," the major said, as, aided by
the boys, he jammed a beam of wood between the door and the wall, at
such an angle that, except by breaking it to pieces, the door could not
be forced.
"Now," he said, "it's my turn;" and he fired into the enraged enemy.
"Now, Ned, steady. Are you loaded again, Dunlop?"
"Yes, major; just ready."
"Dick, you follow; take good aim."
The cavalry answered their fire, every shot of which was taking effect,
by a confused discharge of their pistols at the door and window.
"Draw off!" their leader shouted; "rear-rank men hold the horses,
front-rank men dismount and break in the door."
The order was obeyed; and the troopers rushed forward on foot, and were
met by a steady fire, to which the straggling return of their pistols
was but an inefficient answer. Vainly the mutineers hacked at the door
with their sabers and struck it with their pommels.
"Throw yourselves against it, all at once," cried their leader; and a
dozen men sent themselves against the door; it creaked and strained,
but the beam kept it in its place.
"You keep up the fire through the window," said the major; "the boys
and I will fire through the door."
Yells and shrieks followed each shot through the door, and after three
or four minutes the troopers drew off.
"Any one hurt?" the major asked.
"I have got a bullet in my shoulder," said Captain Dunlop.
But that was the only reply. There was a shout outside, and Manners
exclaimed: "Confound the fellows, they have got a big log of wood that
will soon splinter the door."
"We must stop them as long as we can," said the major, as he fired
among the men who were advancing with the log.
Several Sepoys fell before they got up to the house, but they pressed
on, and, at the first blow given by the battering-ram driven by the
men, the door split from top to bottom.
"Fix bayonets," the major said. "Now, Manners, you and I will hold them
back. Not more than two can come at once, and their swords are of no
use against bayonets in a narrow space. Dunlop, will you stand in
reserve? you have still got your right hand; use your bayonet as a
dagger if a rush comes. Boys, you go on loading and firing; put in four
balls each time. If they get in, of course use your bayonets; there
goes the door!"
A shout burst from the natives as the last portion of the door dropped
from its hinges, and the doorway was open. There was, however, no
inclination betrayed to make a rush.
"Forward! Death to the infidel dogs!" shouted their officer.
"Suppose you lead us," said one of the troopers; "the officers always
show the way."
"Come, then," cried an old officer, on whose breast hung several
medals; "follow me!"
Drawing his sword, he rushed forward, followed by twenty of his men.
But as he passed over the threshold he and the trooper next to him fell
beneath the bayonet thrusts of Major Warrener and his companion. The
next two, pushed forward by their comrades, shared the same fate;
while, as they fell, the muskets of Ned and Dick sent their contents
into the mass. The rest recoiled from the fatal doorway, while the
defenders set up a cheer of triumph. It was drowned in a crash of
musketry, mingled with a cry of surprise and despair from the natives,
as a body of British soldiers leaped from the wood, and followed their
volley by an impetuous charge. The cavalry on the plain turned and fled
at a gallop; and in five minutes, but for a few dark figures prostrate
on the plain, not an enemy was in sight.
"Well, gentlemen, you have made a stout defense," the officer in
command said, as he returned to the shrine, outside which the little
party had gathered. "It seems as if you could have done without my
help. Who are you, may I ask? And where have you sprung from?"
"Why, Sibbold, is it you? You haven't forgotten Warrener? And here are
Dunlop and Manners."
"Hurrah!" shouted the officer. "Thank God, old fellows, you are saved;
we fancied that you had all gone down. I am glad;" and he shook hands
enthusiastically with his friends; while two of the officers, coming
up, joined in the hearty greeting.
"Do those two men belong to your regiment?" Captain Sibbold asked. "If
so, they are wonders; for I don't know a case as yet where any of the
men proved true when the rest mutinied."
"They are my sons," Major Warrener answered.
"What?" exclaimed the other, laughing--believing that the major was
joking.
"It's a fact, as you will see when they have got rid of the stains on
their faces," he replied; while Captain Dunlop added, "and two as fine
young fellows as ever stepped. Do you know that we three were
prisoners, and that these lads rescued us from the middle of a pandy
regiment. If they hadn't we should have been dead men before now. And
now have you got anything to eat at Meerut, for we are famishing? In
the next place, I have got a bullet in my shoulder, and shall enjoy my
food all the more after it has been taken out. Our stories are long and
will keep. How go things here?"
"Not very brightly, Dunlop; however, that will keep, too; now let us be
off. Have we any casualties, sergeant?" he asked a non-commissioned
officer who came up for orders.
"None, sir."
"What is the enemy's loss?"
"There are fifteen which can be fairly counted to us, sir, and nineteen
here."
"That's a respectable total. Fall in, lads," he said to the men who had
gathered round, "and let us get back. You will be glad to hear that
these officers have escaped from the massacre at Sandynugghur."
There was a hearty cheer of satisfaction from the men, for Englishmen
were knit very closely together in those terrible days. Then, falling
in, the two companies of the Sixtieth Rifles marched back again to
their cantonments at Meerut.