as the party rode through the street the people looked up in surprise at the young european riding by the side of the governor. it was evident that though the secret of his coming had reached the ear of an enemy, it had been well preserved in the town.
on his alighting at the entrance to the governor's house the colonel said, "now i will introduce you to my wife. she is most anxious to see you, and is quite delighted at the thought of your coming."
passing through the great hall, where the colonel received visitors, listened to complaints, and administered justice, they passed through a richly-carved doorway into an inner room. here was a table and writing-desk, with a large english arm-chair.
"i never could fall into the eastern custom of sitting tailor-ways and writing on a pad on my knees, but have kept, as you see, to a table and comfortable chair. this we may call my private business sanctum."
drawing aside a heavy curtain in one corner of the room he entered an ante-chamber, whose walls were covered with elaborate carvings. a cushioned divan ran round it, and there was a thick carpet over the greater part of the marble floor. another curtain was drawn aside, and they then entered the principal room of the zenana. a lady some forty years old was seated on a divan, and rose at once as they came in.
"welcome back, my lord," she said to the colonel. "i knew that with the force you took with you there was no reason for anxiety, but in spite of that i was anxious. i always am when you go beyond the walls. one can never say what will happen."
"you are a great deal more nervous for me than you are for yourself," the colonel said. "this is my nephew, who has come so many thousand miles to be with us. you can speak to him in your own tongue, for i find, to my astonishment, that he has studied it on board ship during the voyage to such good purpose that he can get along very fairly."
"i am glad of that," she said, holding her hand out to percy. "i have been wondering how i should talk with you when my lord is not here to interpret, and how i should be able to manage things when you understood nothing that was said. i am very glad you have come. i have no children, and hitherto my lord has not cared to follow our custom and to adopt one. not that i have been lonely for eight years, for since the death of runjeet singh my lord has always dwelt with me, and i have never been alone, except when he made short tours through his district. now you will be as a son; and even when he is away i shall feel that there is someone whom i can trust entirely to look after the defence of the fortress during his absence."
"i am sure there are numbers of my officers whom you can trust entirely, mahtab."
"there are many whom we think we can trust, roland; but who can say with certainty? have we not seen at lahore how one after another proved faithless to their benefactors? who can say of another man that he cannot be bought? percy is young yet—he is but fifteen, you tell me—but in another three years he will be grown up, and will become your right hand, providing he is not tired of our life here."
"oh, there is no fear of that!" percy broke in. "there will be heaps for me to do. in the first place, i have to learn to speak the language perfectly, then i have to acquire the manners and customs of the people and how to drill troops. i hope, uncle, you will begin soon to teach me to ride as well as the sikhs do."
"that part is not difficult, percy. the sikhs may be called a nation of horsemen, but it would be more true to say that they are a nation of men who ride horses. i admit that they have firm seats, and can sit their horses up and down hill in the roughest country, but as for taking a leap either wide or high they would not be in it with english cavalry-men. what with their peaked-up saddles and their short stirrups and sharp bits they check a horse's speed and spoil his temper, while they themselves have no freedom of action, and could no more stand up in their saddles to deliver a downright blow than they could fly. i had a fair seat on horseback when a boy, and used to ride to hounds, and during the short time i was in the army rode more than one steeplechase, but i was certainly nothing particular as a horseman. here i am considered extraordinary. i hope in a short time to make you as good a rider as i am. nor will you be long in learning your drill, for that is simple enough, being little more than forming from column into line and from line into column.
"a regiment that can do that is considered as fairly competent. i have got my men to charge in fair order, instead of each man going off at a bat as fast as his horse can lay foot to the ground, and with that i am satisfied. it is useless to teach them skirmishing and outpost work, for these seem to come naturally to them. therefore all the drill that there is to be learnt may be acquired by a sharp fellow in the course of a week. indeed, recruits generally take their places in the ranks at once, and soon get hustled into knowing what they have got to do.
"as to the language, i grant that it will take some hard work before you learn to speak like a native, still as you will hear no other tongue you will pick it up naturally and without much regular work except to acquire the niceties of the language. nand chund speaks it very correctly, and i will give you into his special charge, and if you talk to him and he corrects you for a couple of hours a day it will be quite enough in the way of work. you may also, if you like, go on with your hindustani. i have a factotum, a sort of secretary and steward rolled into one, who speaks it fluently; and it would be as well that you should understand it, for although it would be no use to you here, it may be valuable if in the future your lot is cast in other parts of india. you will every day do a little sword exercise. nand chund is a good swordsman. when you have learnt all he can teach you i will put you on with some others so that you may learn a trick from one and a trick from another. your pistol shooting you will of course keep up."
"and when you have nothing better to do," mahtab said, "i shall always be glad to have you here. two or three of my maids are wonderful story-tellers, and know among them, i think, all the stories of the history of the punjaub. i don't say that these are all strictly true, but certainly they are all founded on fact, and as they are all about war, and love, and stratagems, and wonderful exploits, imprisonments, and escapes, they will amuse you, and at the same time be good practice."
"i shall like that very much, aunt. do you speak any english yourself?"
"a little," mahtab said. "i can hardly talk it at all, but my lord taught me so that if he wished to write to me, or i to him, we could send letters to each other, and should these fall into others' hands they would not be understood."
"we have found it useful several times," the colonel said. "she has sent me warnings that have enabled me to avoid falling into traps; and once, that was before i was governor here, i was able, when engaged on an expedition three hundred miles away, to warn her of a plot to seize her in her house. the messenger i sent was captured, but as there was nothing upon him save a scrap of paper with a few words they did not understand, they tossed it with contempt on the ground. my man was a sharp fellow, and happened to be bare-footed, and presently he managed to shift his position so as to stand on the piece of paper and grasp it with his toes. he was led off a prisoner, but made his escape in the night and brought my chit to my wife, who, being warned, assembled some friends of mine, and when the fellows came to carry out their design beat them off handsomely."
"i can see that it must be very useful in that way, uncle, and that it would be just the same as a secret code. does aunt remain shut up here, or does she go about as ladies do in england?"
"not quite so freely as that, percy, but she certainly does not remain shut up. the sikh women have much more liberty than those in other parts of india, and naturally i have persuaded her to adopt our customs in that respect to a considerable extent. it is true that when she goes out she is always veiled; but that is a concession to the general feeling. in fact her veil is no thicker than that worn by english ladies, certainly no thicker than a widow's, and even that she throws aside when travelling with me outside a town."
"i am at home in this district," the lady said. "my father was a rajah, and was lord of this territory until runjeet singh's troops overcame him. he was killed in the defence of his fortress; not this, but another thirty miles away. your uncle was in command of one of the regiments, and my mother and i were sent to lahore under his escort. he saw and took a fancy to me. he was so kind and considerate on the journey, that in spite of his being an enemy i fell in love with him. when we arrived in lahore runjeet singh asked him what present he should make him for his good services, and when he said he should choose my hand, runjeet gave it willingly, and with it a jaghir—that is," she added, seeing that percy looked puzzled, "a grant of land—of a considerable portion of my father's territory. it was partly on that account that some years afterwards he was chosen as governor of the district, and i doubt whether, valiant as he is, he would ever have taken this fortress, had it not been that two of my father's old retainers, who had lived here for many years, acted as guides, and showed him a way up the rock they had been in the habit of using as boys."
"and now, wife," the colonel broke in, "we are both of us forgetting that the boy has had nothing to eat this morning, and i only swallowed a mouthful before starting."
"it is all ready, roland, though i had forgotten all about it."
she clapped her hands, and on an attendant entering gave orders that a meal should be served. four young women brought in a table, which they placed before her divan. two english chairs were set beside it, and in a minute or two a variety of dishes were placed on the table.
"i suppose you would rather have a cut off a joint, percy, than all these messes," the colonel said as they did justice to the meal.
"i don't know, uncle. they are very nice, but i don't think there is so much flavour in the meat as there is in an english joint."
"certainly there is not, as a rule, in india; but i think that our sheep, which pasture right up among the hills, make as good mutton as we have at home. still i don't pretend to be a judge; i own that i have quite forgotten the flavour of english meat."
the next six months' life at the fortress was, with one exception, uneventful. percy worked steadily at punjaubi, and had come to speak so well that he could pass as a native in an ordinary conversation. he had learnt his drill, and now took his place regularly in the ranks of the cavalry regiment as an under officer. an hour a day was devoted to sword exercise and pistol shooting, and for an hour he worked at hindustani. the hot hours of the day were generally spent in mahtab's company, talking to her, or listening to the long stories of her attendants. when it became cool he mounted his horse and rode down to the plain with his uncle. an escort always accompanied them to prevent a surprise. there he went through a course of horsemanship, his uncle teaching him to leap over substitutes for hurdles, or across a wide trench dug out for the purpose. after he had taken these obstacles a few times one of the best sikh horsemen would take him in hand, and he learnt to perform the feats of leaning over and picking up a handkerchief or a javelin from the ground, carrying off a ring hanging from a string, or lifting a tentpeg from the ground at the point of his spear.
one day a mounted man rode in at full speed. he dismounted at the door of the colonel's residence, and the servant took in word that he had brought news of importance and begged to be allowed to see him at once. the man was covered with dust, and had a bandage stained with blood round his head. he made his salaam and then stood waiting to be questioned.
"where do you come from?" the colonel asked.
"from the village of jaegwar, your excellency."
"what has happened there?"
"last night, sahib, the turgars from the hills came down upon us. they burnt the village and killed many. they have carried off the cattle and the women. three of the villages have been destroyed. we did our best, but we were taken by surprise, and but few of us escaped. i myself got a deep graze with a bullet as i rode off. i have come to pray for your lordship's protection, and that it will please you to punish these robbers and to recover the women and stolen property."
"i will do what i can," the colonel said quietly, "and can promise you that i will teach these mountain robbers a lesson. whether i can recover what they have carried off is another matter." he struck the bell and a servant entered.
"let this man's horse be put in the stable and well fed. see that he himself has food, and tell the hakim to see to his wound. send an orderly to nand chund, sohan verdi, and lal boghra, and beg them to come here immediately."
"who are these turgars, uncle?"
"they are a tribe of hill robbers on the other side of the river. the country nominally belongs to cashmere, but the government at sirinagur has no more authority over these hill tribes than it has over the highlanders of scotland. jaegwar lies forty miles to the north, and it will be a troublesome business to punish these beggars, who differ in no respect from the pathan hill tribes along the whole range of mountains on the northern side of the indus. it is some years since i had trouble with any of them, for on the last occasion i punished them so heavily they have been quiet ever since. no doubt some reports have reached them of the state of confusion in the punjaub, and they think to take advantage of it. however, they will find out their mistake. i am just as much bound to protect my district as if i were still a dutiful servant of lahore; as indeed i am, save in the matter of resigning my governorship, for only ten days since i sent off the annual amount at which the district was taxed when i took charge of it.
"the sum is not a large one; for at that time it was, i should say, the poorest district in the punjaub, though now, thanks to the fact that life and property are both secure here, the population has increased fourfold, and the revenue tenfold. still i have no doubt the amount i send is very useful at lahore, where the treasury is said to be empty; and it enables my agent there to urge that i am faithful to the government, though i refuse to resign my post, where i was placed by runjeet singh, or to hand over the people he intrusted to my care to men who seek only to extort their last penny from them and to grind them into the dust."
the servant now announced that the three officers were in attendance. they were at once shown in, and the colonel informed them of the news he had received. "these robbers must be punished, and punished heavily," he went on, "for if they were permitted to plunder my people without retaliation we should have half a dozen of these hill clans following their example. the question is, what force can we send without unduly weakening the garrison here? cavalry would be of little use, but i will take fifty troopers. we may find level bits of country where they can be made useful. of course i will take the four mountain guns and the ten camel guns, and the 1st company of artillery, to whom they belong. but our chief dependence must be on infantry. i should say we could spare four hundred very well; that will leave an ample force against any sudden attack on the place; as to a serious expedition, i should certainly have warning from lahore in time to return before it could arrive here. i shall myself accompany the expedition, and, sohan verdi, you will take the command of the fort in my absence. i know that i need not tell you to be vigilant. nand chund will go with me in command of the troop of cavalry, and you, lal boghra, of the infantry. take no. 1 and 2 companies of each of the regiments. as rundoop koor commands the camel battery, he will of course be in charge of the guns. let the troops cook a meal at once and parade in an hour."
the officers saluted, and were about to retire when he added, "we will take no tents with us, or baggage of any kind, but i will see that there is an ample supply of grain and flour. anything else that we may require we must take from the enemy."
"you will let me go with you, i hope, uncle?" percy exclaimed as soon as the officers had left the room.
"certainly, percy, it will be a good introduction for you to mountain warfare."
"thank you, uncle; it will be a splendid change, and i shall enjoy it immensely. can these turgar fellows fight?"
"they can fight in their way well enough, but they are no good against disciplined troops."
"what is their way, uncle?"
"their villages are all fortified, for when they are not engaged in plundering the villages of the plains they are constantly having petty wars with each other. otherwise their only idea of fighting is to make sudden rushes down upon a column or a convoy struggling along some defile or up some breakneck path. these rushes are formidable enough against unsteady troops, but disciplined men who keep their heads and show a bold front can beat them off again easily enough. i need not say that one has to be careful on these expeditions, for a man who straggled away from the main body, under the belief that there was no enemy near, would be cut off to a certainty; so you will be pleased to remember that whatever happens you are to keep near me. now i will go and give orders about the bullock carts and the provisions; there is no time to be lost. you had better go in and see mahtab, and tell her what has happened. ask her to get us something to eat before we start, and to see that provisions for our private consumption are put into the carts."
percy was rather nervous at the mission, as he was afraid that his aunt would be alarmed at the thought of the colonel going into danger. she, however, took the news very coolly.
"we had many such expeditions when we first came here," she said. "of course there is danger, but it is very slight; and the colonel has so often been in great danger and has come out unharmed, that i have ceased to worry about small things. the cannon generally do the work, and the tribesmen run before the infantry can attack them. the real danger is from surprises, and your uncle has had far too much experience to be caught unawares. but you must be careful, percy, not to wander away, or to get excited and dash on ahead; you must keep near to him."
"so he has ordered me, aunt, and i shall be very careful."
"i hope you will," she said seriously. "there is no glory to be gained in these hill fights, but foolhardiness may very well cost anyone his life. these tribesmen have plenty of courage, and are quite reckless of their lives if they can but cut down an enemy; they are as patient and watchful as wild beasts in pursuit of prey."
the preparations were soon made; the troops who were to take part in the expedition fell in at the appointed time, and the colonel, after making a careful inspection of them, placed himself at their head and led the way through the gate. percy rode beside him, and immediately behind came the troop of cavalry; the artillery followed. the little guns were carried on the backs of the camels, the four mountain guns each drawn by as many animals. the infantry followed the battery, twelve bullock carts bringing up the rear.
"i am going to send the horse straight on, percy. it is pretty certain the hillmen will have recrossed the river and be up in their villages before this; their tactics are always to strike a blow, collect their plunder, and be off again to the hills long before a force can be collected to oppose them. still the cavalry will give the peasants confidence, and they will return to their homes when they hear that a force, however small, has arrived for their protection. they will be there by midnight, and will be able to gather news from the peasantry as to the villages these robbers came from, and inquire about roads and guides, so that when we get there to-morrow night no time need be lost about those matters. it is an important thing with these hill tribesmen to strike back as quickly as possible. i found when i first came here that nothing impressed them so much as the promptitude with which they were chased and punished. it was so different to the dawdling way in which native operations are conducted, that it took them completely by surprise. you know the old saying—he who gives quickly gives twice, and it is just as true of a blow as it is of money."
half the journey was accomplished that day. the night was cold enough to render blazing fires most enjoyable, and percy when he lay down felt the comfort of the long sikh coat made of sheep-skin with the wool inside, and the outside decorated with patterns worked in coloured threads. the following evening they reached jaegwar, and the colonel took up his quarters in the principal house in the village, to which some of the inhabitants were now returning. nand chund made his report as they were eating their supper.
"there were about five hundred of them came down, colonel, in seven different parties. as far as i can make out about three hundred of them were turgars, and the others were nagas and kotahs. they killed about eighty men and carried off seventy or eighty women, and four or five hundred head of cattle. they burned four villages, and set on fire two or three houses here. fortunately there was no wind, and the flames did not spread."
"now as to the road, nand chund."
"the track, for they say it is nothing more up to the turgar villages, crosses the river about two miles north of this place. there are five villages, all lying within a circle of about three miles. the nearest of them is six miles beyond the river. the fighting force is put as from twelve to fifteen hundred, but of course if the two other tribes aid them it would more than double that. there are some steep places on the road, and one very deep and narrow valley, quite a ravine i should say, to be passed through. if they get to know of our coming that is no doubt the place where they will fight. if we get through there before they can gather to oppose us they will, of course, make their stand at their villages, which are all high up on the hills."
"the men have made two marches of twenty miles each," the colonel said; "it would be as well that they should have a day's rest before we advance, for it will be a heavy day's work. besides, i would rather that the turgars should hold the ravine or any other strong points they may have. were we to march through these before they were ready to oppose us, they would say afterwards that we could never have got through had they known we were coming, but if we show them that they can no longer rely upon being able to arrest the advance of a column, it may be a long time before they venture upon another raid like this. however strong the place is, you may be sure we shall be able to turn them out of it. that rocket tube will astonish them. besides, however strong the valley is we ought to be able to outflank it. another advantage of a fight there is, that if we turn them out with a good deal of loss we shall carry the villages more easily, for it will shake their courage if they find they are unable to hold the place they had relied on as the main defence of their villages."
accordingly the force rested the next day, and on the morning following started before it was light, and reached the ford across the river just as day was breaking.
"i have no doubt they are prepared for us," the colonel said, as he watched the troops and guns making their passage. "they would hardly have expected that a force would make its appearance here so soon, but they are sure to have placed scouts on the hills to give them warning."
"it is a wild-looking country," percy said, as the increasing light enabled them to see hill rising behind hill.
"yes. a battery or two of horse artillery, knowing the country well and taking post on the hills, would make it very hot for us. fortunately there is no fear of anything of that sort. the wall pieces are all they have, besides muskets and matchlocks. the road seems to go straight up the hill and over the crest," he went on, after examining the ground with his field-glasses.
"ah! i can make out a group of three or four men, just to the left of that bush there. do you see the smoke?—they have just lighted a fire. that is a signal, i have no doubt; as you see, the smoke is getting thicker and thicker."
three or four minutes later two other columns of smoke were seen rising, one two or three miles to the right, the other as much to the left.
"take a dozen of your troopers, nand chund, and skirmish up the hill; a company of infantry shall follow you. if you find only a handful of men there, drive them off; if they are in force, get near enough to draw their fire and find out their strength, and then fall back again upon the supporting company. we shall not be far behind. but it is hardly likely that you will be pressed, they will not be able to gather to offer any serious opposition until we get some miles further."
the little party of cavalry rode on, a company of infantry following close behind them. colonel groves waited until he saw the rest of the force cross the ford, and then set forward again. he had handed his glasses to percy, who sat watching the advanced party as it ascended the hill. the horsemen had scattered along the hillside, and were several hundred yards ahead of the infantry.
"they are firing, uncle," he exclaimed presently. "i don't see the smoke, but i heard the sound of shots. there! i saw a puff of smoke just now."
"how many guns did you hear, percy?"
"five or six; i should say that is about all there are. i saw three standing up, and there may have been two or three more engaged in making the fire."
"it is hardly likely that they would have more than five or six men on watch. even if they knew yesterday that we had come to the village, they would hardly keep more than a lookout here."
this was evidently the case, as the horsemen were seen to pass over the crest, and one of them soon reappeared and galloped down the hill.
"nand chund reports, colonel," he said when he arrived at the head of the column, "there were but four men, they fired a few shots at us. when we reached the top of the hill they were half-way down the other side. there is a good deal of bush and some wood down there. nand chund says that he will not advance further till the company in support joins him, as there might be a force hidden there."
"quite right. tell him that at any rate he is not to mount the next hill until we come up."
when the force arrived at the crest they saw nand chund and the footmen drawn up beyond the bush in the hollow.
"it is a good deal steeper beyond, uncle."
"yes, a great deal steeper. there will be some little difficulty in getting our guns up; and if i mistake not, there is a body of men on the opposite crest."
a trooper was sent on to nand chund telling him to advance no farther until the whole force came up. when the force was united the colonel said: "this hill is too steep for you to act with effect, nand chund. ride along the valley with the troop for a mile or so, climb the hillside, and then come back along the crest till within a quarter of a mile of them, and as soon as you see them begin to fall back before our advance, charge and take them in flank if they are not too strong, and chase them down the other side, but do not pursue too far."
the cavalry at once rode off. two companies of infantry were then thrown forward in skirmishing order, the rest of the force followed two or three hundred yards behind them. when the skirmishers were half-way up the hill the enemy opened fire. orders had been given to them to pay no attention to this, but to keep their muskets slung behind them, and to press forward. when they arrived within a hundred yards of the enemy they were to lie down and return their fire until the column came up. the order was carried out; but just as the colonel reached their line he saw nand chund's horsemen coming along the top at full speed. "forward, men, at the double!" he shouted; and the troops, leaping to their feet, climbed rapidly up the hill. but it was over before they reached the top. the hillmen had not awaited the arrival of the cavalry, but had fled down the hill behind, the sowars pursuing them and cutting down several before they reached some very broken ground at its foot; from this they opened a sharp fire, and the cavalry at once retired up the hill again. the track now, instead of ascending the next rise, followed the valley down.
"you see," the colonel said when he reached the crest, "the valley makes a sharp bend half a mile down. no doubt that defile lies up there. you can see that the next hill is very much more lofty and rugged-looking. well, nand chund, what force was there?"
"somewhere about a hundred, colonel. i should not have charged them, but i saw they were beginning to make off."
"they are gathering like a snowball," the colonel remarked. "i expect that when we reach the defile we shall find their whole force there."
for another two miles they followed the valley, which grew narrower as they advanced, the sides being more and more precipitous. parties of men had been seen moving about higher up, and presently a scattering fire was opened. the colonel ordered two parties, each a hundred strong, to make their way up the hill on either side and then to advance along it, keeping abreast of the column.
"if the opposition is serious," he said, "i will aid you with the guns."
in a short time the hillsides were dotted with puffs of smoke. little could be seen of the enemy, who lay behind rocks, occasionally running back and then dropping again behind fresh shelter as the troops advanced. the fire on both sides momentarily became hotter. the four mountain guns now opened fire, throwing shell high up on the hillside. the natives could be seen bolting from their shelters, and the two flanking companies, which had been almost brought to a standstill, resumed their advance.
the valley narrowed more and more until it was but some ten or twelve yards wide at the bottom. the sides were covered with great boulders and jagged rocks, with bush growing up between them; from these a fierce fire was opened. the four mountain guns had been left behind at the spot where they could still assist the flanking companies; but the camel guns, guarded by the cavalry, advanced along the bottom, keeping up a rapid fire against the invisible foe. the infantry were directed to clear the rocks on either side. the fire was very brisk, and the reports being echoed and re-echoed from the hills, the sound seemed continuous.
it was evident that the enemy were far superior in number, and progress was very slow until the two flanking companies appeared high up on the hills, and advancing along them opened fire on the enemy below, who, although hidden from those in front of them, could be seen from above. the effect was immediate. the fire slackened, and the force pushed forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground would permit, and in a quarter of an hour issued out at the other end of the ravine. numbers of men could be seen ascending a hill in front of them, and on this, as the colonel had learnt before starting, the first of their villages was situated. there was a halt until the troops were again assembled and the mountain guns came up. the advance was then renewed.
