Gil the Gunner Part 82

"My lord, no. The man was seized, and in the fight he fell, and we thought him dead, for he was bleeding. Then we held the English lord here, and when we went to pick up the man, he was gone."

"Then he has escaped?"

The man remained silent, and Ny Deen turned to me with his eyes full of mockery and a strange light, as they flashed in the glare of the torches.

"Well," he said, "are you satisfied?"

"Yes," I replied, "if it is true."

"It is true enough," he said carelessly. "Come."

He signed to me to approach his side, and to my surprise, instead of my being led off as a prisoner, the rajah laid his hand upon my shoulder, and walked by me as if nothing had happened, right back to my room, when he threw himself upon the cus.h.i.+ons and laughed.

"You foolish boy!" he said good-humouredly; "how could you be so weak as to commit such a folly. I am angry with you, not for offending me, for I suppose it was natural, but for lowering yourself so before my people, forcing me to have you--the man I meant to be my chief officer--hunted like an escaping prisoner. You might have been killed in your mad climbing, or by my people by accident in a struggle. That man came and tempted you to go?"

"I wanted no tempting," I replied.

"It is a pity," he said, after a moment's pause. "You degraded yourself, and you lowered me before my people."

"I want my liberty," I cried angrily.

"Well, boy, I offer you liberty," he said quietly; "liberty and honour.

I only stand in your way when I see that, in a blind madness, you are going to rush headlong to destruction. You do not know; I do."

I was silent.

"Where would you have gone to-night," he said, "supposing that you had not fallen and killed yourself, or been cut down by my guards?"

"To my friends."

"You have no friends," he said sternly. "You would have escaped, perhaps, to the wild country or the forest to starve, or to be killed by the wild beasts. No one would give you food, and you would scarcely have found one who would not have sought to slay you as an enemy. You say you would, have fled to your friends. Where are they?"

"You should know best," I said sullenly. "You have been fighting with them."

"Yes," he cried, with his eyes flas.h.i.+ng. "I have been fighting with enemies of my country. I have nothing to hide from you. I will tell you all, so that you may know, and see how mad it is for you to fight against the decrees of fate. Yes, I fought with those you call your friends to-day, and drove them before me till after sundown. My men are following them now to complete the pursuit, scattering them like dead leaves before the blast which heralds the monsoon. You heard the firing?"

"Yes," I said sadly.

"And know that it grew more distant as they were beaten off, till they turned and fled. I came back then. I cannot fight with flying foes.

It was a mad attempt, a last desperate struggle, just a little flas.h.i.+ng up of an expiring fire. By now it is dead, and you will hear of them no more."

We both sprang to our feet, for, as he spoke, there was a cras.h.i.+ng volley not far away--a volley such as would be fired only by well-drilled troops--and directly after there was another, followed by a scattered firing, and shouts rising up to a perfect roar.

Ny Deen, who looked astounded, made for the door, and in my excitement I followed him; but he thrust me back, and turned to the guard standing beyond the hangings.

"Your lives for his!" he thundered to them. "He does not leave this place."

The curtain was thrown between us, and I ran to the open window, to find the court full of troops hurrying here and there, while lights were flas.h.i.+ng, and in the midst of the excitement the rattle of distant musketry was on the increase.

"Crushed--scattered--where are my friends?" I said aloud. "Why, they are here. It is an attack upon the town!"

I felt a little doubt as soon as I had uttered these words; but the longer I listened the more convinced I felt that this must be a surprise, and by degrees matters took their shape in my mind, thus accounting for the apparent ease with which the rajah had scattered his enemies.

"It has all been a ruse--a piece of strategy," I thought. "They have retreated, and drawn Ny Deen's men right away, so as to weaken him, and now they have got back first, or this is another force."

As I stood at that window, I, for the moment, thought of throwing myself down, but the attempt would have been madness, for the moon was now up nearly full, and helping the torches to flood the place with light which flashed from the tank, and made the fountain resemble molten silver.

I gave up the thought at once, for I could see a strong guard were watching my windows, and that I was carefully observed as I sat down and listened to the increasing roar away to my right, where the shouting, cheering, and yelling were mingled strangely with the bursts of firing which grew nearer.

I seemed to see the fight going on, and grew more excited moment by moment, as I knew by the sounds exactly how matters progressed. For, as I judged, a body of infantry was fighting its way along a street, and every now and then a sharp volley was heard, followed by a tremendous cheer, which suggested to me that the men fired, and then made a rush forward, driving their enemies back; and then after a short s.p.a.ce another volley was fired, followed by a fresh rush, and so on, the fusillade sounding each time nearer.

"They are carrying everything before them," I thought; for though there was plenty of firing in return, it was scattered and desultory, and, even if I could see nothing, I was perfectly sure that the defenders of the town were giving way, though perhaps only to make a more desperate stand as they were driven together.

Then all at once my heart leaped, for there was the sound of a gun to my left, in the direction where I believed the great gate stood through which we had entered the town that night.

Then another heavy thud came, and another as the guns were brought into action, and their point must be, I felt sure, to batter down the gate, to admit a fresh attacking force, whose duty would be to take the defenders in the rear.

The effect on the guards in the court was startling. Several ran to the gateway to question the sentry there eagerly, and then return to their companions.

Then came the rattle of musketry from the left, evidently in answer to the firing of the heavy guns which were battering the gates; but it had no effect, for the pieces were being served with the greatest regularity, and I listened eagerly, wondering whether it could be Brace's troop, and how soon they would open a way for the infantry which I felt sure would be in support.

At last I went away from the window, and began to walk excitedly about the room, but only to rush back again, as I heard a fresh volley of musketry in the distance, and on looking out saw a dull glow out over the walls of the palace, a light which grew brighter, and, as it increased, I knew that attackers or defenders had fired some house, the beginning of a work whose end it was impossible to foretell.

I shuddered slightly, for I was a prisoner.

"Suppose," I thought, "this place should catch, and I found myself hemmed in!"

I looked down at the depth below, and my eyes once more sought the hangings, as I recalled how I had thought of contriving a rope.

The fire was increasing fast, the dull glow becoming each minute more vivid, till, when I reached out of the window, I could see orange-tinted clouds rolling up from the direction of the volley firing, whilst the shouting was certainly coming nearer.

I felt as if it was impossible to bear this confinement longer, and it was only by forcing myself to dwell upon the varying fortunes of the fight that I was able to contain myself. There, on the one hand, was the attack upon the gate; there, on the other, the advance of the troops through the town, to which they must have obtained entrance by a surprise. And now I longed to be where I could see the varying fortunes of the fight, which at times I thought must be going in another direction.

That was only a pa.s.sing thought, for all at once the firing of the artillery ceased; so did that of the musketry opposed to it, and I listened breathlessly, wondering what was the cause.

Had they failed to batter down the gate? and had they limbered up and retired?

No; for, as the thought came, there was a sudden crash of musketry, volley after volley, and the incessant scattered firing of the defenders. Then, as I listened, a faint sound of cheering, increasing in loudness, reached my ears, and directly after I felt certain that the gate had been taken.

A minute later there was no doubt about it, for I could hear the fighting right and left, and to my great joy, I knew that it must be going against the rajah's men, who were retiring, and I soon found that the palace was the place for which they were making.

First of all, there was a great deal of excitement in the court. Then a sowar came riding in to give orders to the officer in command, and while it was being executed, a gallantly-dressed chief dashed in, shouted some fresh orders, and directly after, quite in confusion, a regiment of sepoys doubled in through the gateway, and were then hurried in at an open doorway, opposite to where I stood watching.

They had hardly disappeared before another regiment in better order marched in; and they too pa.s.sed in through the same door, my doubts as to their object being soon at an end, for I heard them doubling along the roof, evidently manning it as a rampart; while, from a glimpse I caught through an open window, it was evident that the floor on a level with mine was also occupied by troops who were stationed at windows looking out upon the road.

Another regiment, and directly after quite a mob of armed men came hurrying through the gateway to occupy every room and window looking outwards, while a strong force partially filled the court, the numbers being rapidly increased as the firing and cheering came nearer.

It was all plain enough now; the rajah's troops were being driven back, and were ordered to make a stand here at the palace, which lent itself well for the purpose, one side being protected by the river, while, as far as I knew, the entrance was only through the gateway, which could easily be blocked and held.