"HOT BOILED BEANS."
It was about half-an-hour later that, after a refreshing wash, the two
officers sat together, partly dressed, talking in the room where the
tulwar still hung, and with the pleasant knowledge that if, after all, a
smouldering cartridge-cover had been accidentally taken into the fresh
magazine, they might at any moment be blown up piecemeal.
"Yes, it is a nice idea," said Wyatt in reply to a remark made by Dick.
"It has stopped me, too, from having a `hubble-bubble' to smoke. But
never mind; we must chance it for one night."
"Or morning," said Dick.
"Eh? Yes, it must be getting late, and I want a sleep for an hour or
two, even if it is with a bag of powder for a pillow. So now to
business. You have some idea of how the attacks are made?"
"I have thought of one," replied Dick, "but it sounds so silly and
romantic that I don't like to tell you."
"Your commanding officer orders you to speak, sir. 'Tention! Now, Mr
Darrell, what are your ideas?"
Dirk coughed to get rid of a little nervous huskiness and then he said:
"This is a very old building,"--and then stopped.
"Thank you, Mr Darrell, it is," said Wyatt sarcastically; "and it is
very strong."
"Thank you Mr Wyatt," said Dick, smiling, "but I have something else to
say."
"Then say it, old lad, for I'm in a fever of expectation and nervous
irritation. Hang it all! I never felt so disagreeable in my life."
"It was the old Rajah's palace."
"Yes, of course," cried Wyatt.
"And, foolishly or not, I have been thinking it possible that there may
be a secret passage somewhere which leads to the outside."
"Known only to one of the old king's followers?" cried Wyatt excitedly.
"Yes."
"And making our place only a trap in which we may be caught at any
moment."
Dick nodded, and Wyatt seized and wrung his hand.
"My dear old boy," he cried, "you'll be a general long before I get to
be colonel."
"Nonsense!"
"'Tisn't. That's it, my dear boy. It's the right nail, and you've hit
it bang on the head. Thank ye. Now I can go and sleep till
breakfast-time with a feeling of delicious serenity, knowing that we
have got hold of the end of the clue."
"Not yet," said Dick. "Where is it?"
"Somewhere in the old building. It's going to be the old nursery game
of `hot boiled beans and very good butter,' and I believe we're burning
now."
"Almost," said Dick; "and we dare not open a window."
"No, we must have no more of that, old fellow. And, I say, I'm very
glad you were as great an offender as I was over that business. But,
look here, if we find to-morrow morning that it is as you say--"
"And find the place," put in Dick.
"Of course--and find the place--I'm going to hoist that gentleman with
his own petard."
"How?"
"Don't quite know yet, but something in this style: I shall lay a trap
in such a way in the passage, or whatever it is, so that he'll step on a
small bag of powder and fire it off. He won't come again. Now,
good-night."
"Good-night," said Dick. "But, I say, don't reckon too much upon my
idea."
"I shall!" said Wyatt. "Once more, good-night; for, whatever time it
is, it does not look like day."
"Good-night," said Dick; and ten minutes after, utterly worn out by
their exertions, they were both of them fast asleep.
Stringent orders were given as soon as Wyatt woke that the last night's
trouble should not be named outside; but the order was issued in vain.
The noise and excitement had been heard and seen, and the native
servants were questioned, with the result that by degrees the news,
greatly exaggerated, reached the Rajah's ears, after it had passed
through those of his people to the Ranee, who told him herself.
Both Wyatt and Dick were later than they had intended to be, and after a
short morning parade they visited the wounded, found the men in a
serious condition, but with the doctor hopeful, and then went and had a
long consultation with Hulton.
"Go and search, by all means," he said, "but I would do it so as not to
excite attention. It is hardly likely, to my mind. But be careful; we
do not know who are friends and who are foes."
"If I had full command in the city," growled Wyatt, "I'd soon find out.
But look here, we are going to have a good hunt round. Will you come?
Strong enough?"
"Yes, I think so," replied Hulton; "and I'll try."
The trio quietly ascended to the roof, which was without guards in the
daytime; and as if for Hulton's benefit, his companions in turn giving
him an arm, the whole range of battlemented terrace was traversed again
and again, till, in a hopeless way, the little party descended without a
word.
"Doesn't look very cheerful, Dick," said Wyatt, "does it?"
"No," said Dick firmly; "it was all imagination."
He had hardly spoken when there was a challenge at the gate, the guard
was called out, and the corporal on duty sent up word that the Rajah had
arrived.
"Look here," said Dick eagerly, "he has heard of the upset last night.
Let's ask him."
"Very well," said Hulton. "He is, of course, our friend, and he ought
to know."
Wyatt and Dick went down to meet their visitor as he descended from his
elephant; and he returned with them to their room, ready to express his
great concern about the attack, and assuring them that if he could only
find out who originated the affair, that man should die.
"Thank you, sir," said Wyatt quietly; "and he deserves to. But we don't
know who it was, nor how he got in.--Now, Darrell, speak out and tell
his highness your ideas."
These were given clearly enough, the Rajah hearing them to the end, but
shaking his head.
"I never heard of anything of the kind," he said at last, "and I don't
think any such passage exists. There would be no harm, though, in
searching again; and I will place a guard round the place every night."
"No, sir; please don't," said Wyatt bluntly. "Don't be offended at what
I say, but I don't feel that we should be so safe here with your guards
about us as we should be trusting to our own men."
The Rajah frowned angrily, but his brow cleared a few minutes later.
"You are right," he said. "I cannot trust my own guards. I only hope
for better things."
"Would it not be better to begin quite afresh, sir?" said Hulton. "A
bold stroke would relieve you of many doubtful friends, and we would
support you to the death if trouble arose."
"I thank you, Mr Hulton," said the Rajah sadly, "and I feel that you
are right, but I cannot take such a step as you propose. It would mean
death and destruction, and fighting against one whom I feel bound to
look up to with respect. No; this is a revolution that must come
slowly. I can only fight to the death against Rajah Singh. I must
fight against my mother and her friends by word of mouth. I must leave
you now. All this troubles me, but I will be firm as far as I can;" and
he bowed and moved towards the door.
"I wish Rajah Singh would attack again, and make short work of some of
the Rajah's internal enemies," said Wyatt after the visitor had gone.
"He is an open enemy, and we know what to do."
"Yes," said Hulton; "and we are surrounded by secret, ones, and do not
know what to do."
"Not yet," said Wyatt, "but we mean to do one thing--eh, Darrell!"
"What?" said Dick, looking at the speaker inquiringly.
"Win," said Wyatt shortly. "But come up again with me, Dick. I want to
see if I can find that secret way."
The search proved to be in vain, and the occupants of the old palace, as
they talked the matter over, felt more and more the awkwardness of their
position, troubled, as they were, constantly by the knowledge that the
place they had looked upon as a stronghold was weak to a degree in its
most vital part, since their enemies could evidently elude their
watchfulness and strike at them whenever they pleased.
"I don't know what's to be done," said Dick. "I felt sure that I had
hit upon the way in which it was all managed."
"So you have," said Wyatt; "only you have not got quite enough. But
there, I'll tell you what to do."
"What?" cried Dick eagerly.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Yes. I'm pretty good over my work as an officer, Dick, old fellow, but
I'm only a big, stupid boy in other things."
"You! What nonsense!"
"It's a fact, Dicky, and I know it and have come to be a bit of a
philosopher."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Dick.
"Then I'll tell you, old fellow. When I find a thing's too big for me
to think out I let it go, and I find it often comes afterwards. We
can't tackle this, so let's leave it and do the best we can. By-and-by
perhaps we shall find it out. Drop it now."
So it was dropped, and the days wore on without any more alarms. The
two injured men improved fast, and Hulton seemed stronger, but quite
unfit still for duty.
"Never mind," he said, with a smile full of resignation; "it doesn't
matter. The troop couldn't be better managed, and I shall get well
sooner up here in the hills than I should down in the plains."
One thing troubled the party in the old palace, though, and that was the
apparent change on the part of the Rajah, who kept quite aloof from them
now; while the people, after a period of comparative friendliness, began
to grow aggressive.
"Seems to me," said Wyatt, "that we might as well be back at
cantonments. The Rajah cuts us; nobody wants us here; there's no
fighting to do, unless we set to and drive the fighting part of the
population out and take possession of Soojeepur in the name of the
Company. I want exercise, and I should just like that job. We could do
it, too, with a bit of scheming. What do you say to a try, Dick, and
being made Rajah _pro tem_?"
"Nothing," said Dick.
The very next day a larger present than usual of the produce of the
country was brought for the use of the troop by the Rajah's orders, but
there was no friendly advance.
"Doesn't seem as if he was tired of us yet," said Wyatt, "Look here; we
shall have to send out a party to meet our reinforcements with the
ammunition, for I don't like their not coming. It looks as if they had
had a check somewhere."
"Do you think the Rajah of Singh could have sent a force round and
captured them?"
"No, I don't," replied Wyatt. "If he had been on the move, our chief
here must have heard of it. Perhaps it's all right, though, and they'll
be here soon."
He was right, for the next morning a couple of horse artillery-men rode
up to the gate, causing intense excitement among the Rajah's troops,
who, as Dick found out later, had seemed disposed to refuse them
entrance; but the news was brought in by one of the native servants, and
Dick had orders to turn out with twenty men to meet the party.
In accordance, then, with his orders, he rode down to the gate, met the
advance-guard, and rode off with them back along the road to bring in
the little party with their heavy, slow train of ammunition-wagons and
stores.
Stubbs was with the young leader, and as they were escorting the party
back in a way which accounted for the length of time they had been on
the road, an unpleasant thought occurred to Dick.
It was so troublous that he could not keep it to himself, and he rode up
alongside of Stubbs.
"I've been thinking," he said, "that we should be awkwardly placed if
the Rajah's enemies took advantage of our being outside to refuse us
entrance."
"That's rum, sir," said Stubbs.
"Rum? I don't see the droll side of it, Stubbs, because it would mean
taking advantage of the troop being weakened to attack them."
"I meant it was rum that you should think just the same as I did. It
has been bothering me ever since I found that they stopped our two men
at the gate."
"I'm afraid I ought to have halted and sent word back to Captain Wyatt."
"Would have been better, sir; but it's too late now. We must get in
somehow. Bounce may do it."
"Yes; we must make a dash in if they seem to be turning queer."
"Can't turn much queerer than they have lately, sir. I've been
expecting a fresh attempt to blow us up every night; and you see if they
don't begin again, now that they find we have got in our fresh
ammunition. There'll be no peace in Soojeepur till some there have had
their bodies shortened."
"Think not?"
"That's what I think, sir. It's that party of priests at the big temple
and the queen's people. They hate us, and the Rajah don't like to go
against them because of his mother. But I suppose if we live long
enough we shall see."
Mountains seemed to rise in front of Richard Darrell as he rode on, but
they grew smaller when he confronted the difficulties. The
heavily-laden wagons were slowly brought up to the bridge, and by that
time Dick had come to the conclusion that his course would be to ride
straight in, no matter what opposition was offered, and, if the gates
were closed against them, to try the effect of a bag of powder, whose
explosion would drive in the gates and bring Wyatt to their help, for he
felt that there must be no hesitation. Such a party as his, encumbered
with a wagon-train, would be almost helpless outside if attacked.
He rode at the head of his detachment with his lips tightened and
fingers itching to draw his sword, seeing that the fortifications over
and about the sides of the gateway were crowded with the Rajah's men;
but the advance-guard passed in unchallenged, and a few minutes later he
drew a deep breath, for the train passed in, and all rode through the
crowd-lined streets, and in and out till the gate of the old palace was
reached and the task was successfully accomplished.