Told in the East | Page 8

seen them run before a howling mob, and I have seen certain of them shot by their own husbands!"
"Quietly!" ordered Brown. "Don't let the men hear!"
"One of them I slew myself, because her husband, who was wounded, sent me to her and bade me kill her. She died bravely. And certain others I have hidden where the mutineers are not likely to discover them at present. I ride now for succor--or, I rode, rather, until your expert marksman interfered with me! I now need another horse."
"You mean that the native troops have mutinied?" "I mean rather more than that, sahib. Mohammedans and Hindus are as one, and the crowd is with them. This is probably the end of the powder-train, for, from what I heard shouted by the mutineers, almost the whole of India is in revolt already!"
"Why?"
"God knows, sahib! The reason given is that the cartridges supplied are greased with the blended fat of pigs and cows, thus defiling both Hindu and Mohammedan alike. But, if you ask me, the cause lies deeper. In the meantime, the rebels have looted Jailpore and burned their barracks, and within an hour or two they will start along this road for Bholat, which they have a mind to loot likewise. My advice to you is retire at once. Get me another horse from somewhere, that I may carry warning. Then follow me as fast as you and your men can move."
"Bah!" said Brown. "They'll find General Baines to deal with them at Bholat."
"Who knows yet how many in Bholat have not risen? Are you positive that the garrison there has not already been surrounded by rebels? I am not! I would not be at all surprised to learn that General Baines is so busy defending himself that he can not move in any direction. And--does your honor mean to hold this guardroom here against five thousand?"
"I mean to obey my orders!" answered Brown.
"And your orders are?"
"My orders!"
"Would they preclude the provision of another horse for me?"
"There's a village about a mile away, down over yonder, where I think you'll find a decent horse--along that road there."
"And your honor's orders would possibly permit a certain payment for the horse?"
"Positively not!" said Brown.
"Then--'
"To seize a horse, for military use, under the spur of necessity, and after giving a receipt for it, would be in order."
"So I am to spend the night wandering around the countryside, in a vain endeavor to--"
But Brown was doing mathematics in his head. Two men to guard prisoners, two on guard at the crossroads, two at the guardroom door--six from twelve left six, and six were not enough to rape a countryside.
"Guard!" he ordered. "Release that prisoner. Now, you Stanley, let this be a lesson to you, and remember that I only set you free because I'd have been short-handed otherwise. Number One! Stand guard between the clink and the guardroom door. Keep an eye on both. The remainder--form two-deep. Right turn! By the left, quick-march! Left wheel!..... Now," he said, turning to Juggut Khan, "if you'll come along I'll soon get a horse for you!"
The Rajput strode along beside him, and gave him some additional information as they went, Brown taking very good care all the time to keep out of earshot of the men and to speak to Juggut Khan in low tones. He learned, among other things, that Juggut Khan had lost every anna that he owned, and had only escaped with his life by dint of luck and swordship and most terrific riding.
"Are all of you Rajputs loyal?" asked Brown.
"I know not. I know that I myself shall stay loyal until the end!"
"Well--the end is not in doubt. There can only be one end!" commented Brown.
"Of a truth, sahib, I believe that you are right. There can only be one end. This night is not more black, this horizon is no shorter, than the outlook!"
"Then, you mean--"
"I mean, sahib, that this uprising is more serious than you--or any other Englishman--is likely to believe. I believe that the side I fight for will be the losing side."
"And yet, you stay loyal?"
"Why not?"
"All the same, Juggut Khan--I'm not emotional, or a man of many words. I don't trust Indians as a rule! I--but--here--will you shake hands?"
"Certainly, sahib!" said the Rajput. "We be two men, you and I! Why should the one be loyal and the other not?"
"When this is over," said Brown, "if it ends the way we want, and we're both alive, I'd like to call myself your friend!"
"I have always been your friend, sahib, and you mine, since the day when you bandaged up a boy and gave him your own drinking-water and carried him in to Bholat on your shoulder, twenty miles or more."
"Oh, as for that--any other man would have done the same thing.