The Path to Honour

by Sydney C. Grier

  CHAPTER XX.

  A DAY OF VICTORY.

  Sitting in Charteris's tent, in their shirt-sleeves, the twoinconvenient young men whose inconsiderate action was casting BritishIndia into turmoil talked over their prospects. The remainder of theHabshiabad force had beaten off the detachment opposed to it, andrejoined Gerrard and the guns, and Chand Singh and the Agpur army hadcontinued their precipitate flight. On the evening of the battle, thelong-delayed despatches from Ranjitgarh caught up Charteris at last,ordering him to retire forthwith into Darwan, since it would beimpossible during the hot weather to move reinforcements sufficient toensure the capture of Agpur. Before they slept that night, he andGerrard had deliberately made up their minds to put the telescope tothe blind eye. Retreat now would mean not only perfect liberty forSher Singh to move in any direction he chose, but also that thatdirection would inevitably be Darwan, where the disaffected artilleryand Bishen Ram's Granthis would joyfully flock to his standard. Allthe work done in pacifying the country would then be wasted, and whatwas worse, Sher Singh would be provided with a second base ofoperations against Ranjitgarh, and a means of communication with hisdesired ally, Abd-ur-Rashid Khan of Ethiopia. Since to retire would beto incur fresh danger, as well as to sacrifice the advantages alreadywon, they determined to advance, and boldly, though with all possiblerespect, notified their decision to James Antony. His reception of thenews astonished them, for their cool estimate of the chances againstthem, and readiness to take the risk, seemed to have touched asympathetic chord in his iron nature. In the letter which lay now onthe camp-table between them, the acting-Resident generously associatedhimself with their resolution, approved of the measures by which theyhad forced his hand, and promised to use his influence in trying toinduce the military authorities to send the desired reinforcements.

  "Old boy," said Charteris with emphasis, after reading the letter oncemore, "we are made men."

  "If we succeed," Gerrard reminded him. "If not, we drag down JamesAntony as well as ourselves."

  "The Colonel won't be in a forgiving mood," agreed Charteris. "Strikesme, Hal, that but for this latest illness of his we should findourselves in the wrong box even now."

  "If he will only let us catch Sher Singh, he can try him as much as helikes when we've got him," said Gerrard. "We give no guarantees, butwe take him alive if we can. That ought to meet Sir Edmund's wishes."

  "Talking of taking Sher Singh alive is just a little bit like sellingthe bear's skin before you've killed him, ain't it? Any one viewingour present situation impartially would say we were more likely to betaken alive ourselves--and in that case I fear we shouldn't long remainso."

  "We can't very well stay as we are," said Gerrard drily.

  "True, O most sapient Hal, and we can hardly expect Chand Singh toattack us unprovoked. He knows too well that his game is to stay quietin the plain there and wait for us to come down, like Colonel Carter's'possum. Therefore we must make the plain uncomfortable--not too hotto hold him, for that we can't do, but simply rather warm. I suggestthat you take two of your guns to-night round by that nullah on theleft, and tickle him up a bit in the morning. It won't be aparticularly quiet corner for you, but you can post two other guns insupport, and we'll back you up. If Chand Singh retreats again we'llfollow him, if he attacks we've got him."

  "Quite so. If he don't see how ill-mannered it is to block the road inthis way to two gentlemen in a hurry, he must be politely removed. Butlisten, Bob! It sounds almost as if---- And yet they can't possiblybe attacking."

  "Charteris, do you know that Chand Singh is advancing?" cried Warner,coming in hastily.

  "Advancing? He must be mad."

  "Advancing in line, with flags and music. They say Sher Singh is theretoo, on an elephant."

  "Then he is delivered into our hands," said Charteris, and Gerrard andhe hurried out of the tent and looked over the plain, where the distantdust-cloud, through the rifts in which came glimpses of colour andflashing steel, and bursts of barbaric music, showed the approach ofthe Agpuri host. Rukn-ud-din came towards them as they gazed.

  "Her Highness sends her salaams, sahib, and she will lead her troopsto-day."

  "Ah, this is the day of vengeance, then?"

  "So it would appear, sahib, since the brother-slayer yonder hasconsulted a famous soothsayer of the unbelievers, who declares thatthis day his arms shall be invincible."

  "So that's why they are coming on!" said Charteris. "Who's this?" Thenewcomer was a Habshiabadi in gorgeous raiment, who announced toGerrard that his Excellency Dilir Jang Bahadar sent his salaams, andwith Jirad Sahib's permission, would lead his master's forces intobattle.

  "With all my heart," said Gerrard, and as the man moved off he observedto Charteris, "This will leave me free to fight the guns for you, Bob,if you wish it. Funny to think of that old sinner Desdichado as firedwith martial ardour, ain't it? Suppose he thinks it looks as if itought to be a soft job, but I only hope he'll be as good as his word,for I hear that in the last fight before I joined you, when I came onwith the guns and left him in command, he spent the time under a treewith a case-bottle of arrack, and the troops looked after themselves."

  "You must supersede him promptly if he shows any signs of hanging backto-day. But I'm uncommon glad to have the guns in your hands, old boy,even if it's only at the outset. Hal, if we break up Sher Singh's armyto-day, they must send us our siege artillery and let us finish thisjob--they must."

  "I only wish they had sent it already--or even given the order. Thenews of that would have been enough. Do you like the look of yourGranthis, Bob?"

  "About as little as you do. One could wish that our Mr James had shownhis affection in any other way than by sending us another Granthiregiment, but it was impossible to refuse it. It's one comfort thatwith your fellows we are more than a match for them now if they turnrusty, and by posting them on the right we can get them in flank withour whole line. You think we can't do better with the guns than keepthem where they are until we advance? All right, then. Warner willlead the Darwanis, and the doctor will gallop for us."

  The surgeon, who had been sent on by James Antony with thereinforcements, was young and active, and having at present nopatients, since the native troops scouted him in favour of their ownhakims, was ready to take any part in the fighting, from heading acavalry charge to bringing up ammunition, but found himself relegatedto the post of galloper. He took up his position behind Charteris inthe centre, Warner and General Desdichado commanding the nearer troopson either hand, while Gerrard with the guns, and Bishen Ram with thetwo Granthi regiments, occupied the extreme left and rightrespectively, the whole position being roughly crescent-shaped.Nothing but utter madness, it seemed, could lead an army into thehollow it commanded, and Charteris sent out scouts to see whether SherSingh's advance was not a blind, intended to mask a flank attack. Butthe scouts returned periodically to say that there was no sign of anyother movement than the one in front, and as the enemy came closer, itwas clear that their whole force was in the field. Gerrard allowedthem to approach until they were well within the horns of the crescent,then, when with a final crash of music they quickened their step tocharge up the low hill in the centre, his guns opened with tremendouseffect. But even the cannonade seemed to produce little diminution inSher Singh's crowded ranks, and they rolled on up the hill as thoughthey would overwhelm the defenders by sheer weight of numbers.Gerrard, rushing from gun to gun to point each in turn, lest thegunners in their excitement should fire upon Charteris's position,urged his men on to load and fire with something like desperation. Theenemy were not suffering as they should, beneath the fire of his gunson the one hand and the musketry of the two Granthi regiments on theother. A sudden suspicion seized him, and he looked across through thesmoke at the opposite horn of the crescent. But no; it was dotted withwhite puffs. Bishen Ram's men were firing with admirable precision andcoolness, but somehow their shots did not seem to take effect. Thereason occurred to Gerrard s
uddenly; they were firing with powder only.Dearly would he have liked to plant a shell or two among thetreacherous scoundrels, but just now he could not spare the time. Heredoubled his efforts, and at last his half-incredulous eyes discernedbetween the smoke-clouds that the tide was rolling back from thecentre. Charteris was visible for a moment, standing in his stirrupsand waving his cap vigorously, and Gerrard fired once or twice into thesullenly retreating Agpuris, to dissuade them gently from rallying andfacing the hill again. But presently the doctor arrived in hot haste,with orders to him to hold his fire for the present, since Charterismeant to assail the enemy with successive charges of cavalry. Almostbefore the smoke had cleared away there was the rush of a torrent ofmen and horses down the hill, and the confused mob of Agpuris wascloven as though by a wedge. The point of the wedge was a slenderfigure on a black horse, an oddly shaped cloth, half brown and halfwhite, streaming behind it like a veil. The Rani was heading theavengers of her son.

  There was no time to watch the prowess of the Rajputs and Rukn-ud-din'sMoslems, for Warner came galloping up.

  "I am to fight your guns, Gerrard; you are wanted to lead theHabshiabadis. Their precious general took care to bring something withhim to keep his courage up, and when we nearly lost the hill just now,I suppose he took too much of it. At any rate, he's quite incapable,and his men are demanding to go on alone."

  Gerrard mounted his horse and galloped back to where Charteris, swordin hand, was riding slowly up and down in front of the ranks of theeager Habshiabadis, pressing back with the flat any man who pushedforward. He turned sharply to Gerrard.

  "Look here, Hal; the Rani is going for vengeance, not victory--thinkingof nothing but cutting through to Sher Singh's elephant. Her men willbe swallowed up, unless you can make a diversion. Break the enemy up abit, and I'll bring the Darwanis down and finish 'em."

  "Better ride round the hill and come at them from a differentdirection," suggested Gerrard.

  "All right. I'll support you," and as Gerrard led the disgusted andprotesting Habshiabad cavalry away from the fight, Charteris sent offthe doctor to Bishen Ram, whose soldiers had remained inactive sincethey had been ordered to cease firing for fear of hitting the Rani'shorsemen. Now they were to advance and attack the portion of SherSingh's troops immediately below them, thus creating a diversion anddistracting attention from the direction in which Gerrard would makehis charge. Charteris was watching the melee in the plain rather thanthe doctor's progress, but presently an exclamation from his Darwanismade him look round. The Granthis had risen to their feet, and beforethe doctor could give his message, saluted him with a volley. Heturned his horse and rode back, pursued by a dropping fire, some of thebullets falling among the Darwanis, to their intense excitement.

  "They fired at me!" he gasped indignantly. "A bullet went through myhat, and another grazed my leg. My horse is hit, too."

  "Well, don't be so precious injured about it," said Charteris. "Mostmen would think they were uncommon lucky to escape from the fire of tworegiments with nothing worse. When you have finished counting yourbruises, just ride to Warner, and tell him to lay every gun he has deadon the Granthis. If they attempt to fire or to move down towards SherSingh, he is to fire upon them. If they persist, let him mow them downwithout mercy--plug into them with grape and canister and everythinghe's got."

  The doctor rode away, and Charteris turned his attention again to thefield, where the Rani, supported by a lessening phalanx of her men, wassteadily cutting her way towards Sher Singh. Watching through hisglass, the Englishman saw a movement in the gilded howdah of theRajah's elephant, saw that a man in gleaming crimson and a goldenturban was taking careful aim with a long matchlock. Charteris hadbarely time to remember the tale of Sher Singh's skill in shootingwhich he had heard at Adamkot before the Rani flung up her arms andfell from her horse into the turmoil seething round her. The man inthe howdah received a second gun from an attendant, and turned inanother direction, that in which Gerrard was just appearing at the headof the Habshiabadis. Charteris shouted a useless warning, realising asthe words left his lips that his voice could never carry across the dinof battle, but even while he shouted, Gerrard's sword flew from hishand and he pitched forward on his horse's neck. More Charteris couldnot see, for the Granthis under Bishen Ram uttered a yell of triumphand sprang forward to hurl themselves into the strife, but Warner wasready for them, and a shell bursting in front of their line gave thempause. Another advance, another shell, and then a shower of grape,adroitly directed at a stream of men trying to edge their way down intothe plain by a side-path, and after a half-hearted volley directed atthe guns over the heads of the fighters below, the Granthis gave uptheir attempt to move. It was now or never, for the Habshiabadis werewavering, evidently uncertain whether to stay and succour Gerrard or tocontinue their charge. Charteris saw that if success was to beattained he must risk every man he had, and pausing only to send thedoctor to tell Warner again to keep the Granthis back at all costs, hehurled himself and his eager Darwanis into the fray. The unsupportedguns and the disaffected regiments on the hill were the only portionsof his force left outside the _melee_. Before this desperate expedientSher Singh's spirit quailed. He left his elephant, and mounting ahorse, spurred out of the battle towards Agpur. Disgusted by hisdisappearance, his men held out for a while, but Charteris and his wildhorsemen were riding them down on one side, and the ralliedHabshiabadis on the other, and they were without a leader. They brokeat last, and made for Agpur in headlong flight, pursued so closely bythe Darwanis that Warner durst not fire upon them. Charteris waschasing his own men now, turning them back with praise and promises,threats and curses, seizing one man by the arm and another by thebridle, in deadly fear that they would carry the pursuit too far, andbe caught when Sher Singh's men turned at bay. With the assistance oftheir own chiefs, he succeeded at last in shepherding back all but afew who had gone too far to be reached, and was met as he returned by adeputation of Granthis, very stiff and austere in wounded dignity,demanding why they had not been allowed to take part in the fight, andwhy Warner Sahib had turned his guns on them.

  Never was there so innocent and so deeply injured a body of men. Askedwhy they had fired at the doctor, they replied promptly that theythought he was ordering them to retire from the position they held,when they were anxious only to throw themselves upon Sher Singh's flankand cut off his retreat, as the advance prevented by Warner couldwitness. Charteris declined to take their grievances too seriously.Their behaviour had been most suspicious, and he was fairly certainthat if Sher Singh had shown signs of winning they would have joinedhim at once, but it was possible that Gerrard held a different opinion,and he wished to consult him before taking any definite step.Promising to consider their protest and give them an answer on themorrow, he rode on to look for his friend, but before he could reachthe spot where he had fallen, he was stopped by a little procession ofsorely wounded Rajputs, carrying on a litter of crossed spears a bodycovered with a cloak. Rukn-ud-din and several of his men, not oneunwounded, followed, and Charteris saluted as he met them.

  "You carry her Highness's body to the burning?" he asked.

  "Aye, sahib," answered the leader of the Rajputs, the Rani's cousin."Daughter and wife and mother of kings, she has died as a king shoulddie, and the burning of a king shall be made for her. But I beseechyour honour to be witness to a certain thing." He unwrapped from hisarm the discoloured cloth, dipped in her son's blood, which the Ranihad worn when she left Agpur to demand vengeance, and divided itlengthwise with his sword. "Half of this I will take, and the othershall be borne by Komadan Rukn-ud-din, who has been faithful to hislord and his lord's mother, and to the salt he has eaten. As the deadbore it, so will we bear it, until the blood of Kharrak Singh can beblotted out in the blood of him who slew him."

  Rukn-ud-din limped forward and received the ghastly trophy, andCharteris saluted again and passed on. The fight had raged hotly whereGerrard had fallen, and it was some time before
they found him. Thedoctor did what he could for him on the spot, and then advised hisbeing taken at once to the camp, where Sher Singh's bullet might beextracted, and his other injuries properly treated. His friend'sinsensibility alarmed Charteris almost more than the actual wounds, andhe gave his horse to the groom, and walked beside the bearers, tryingto induce them to keep step, and not jar the patient unnecessarily. Itwas therefore an unfortunate moment for a large and frowsy--he wouldalmost have said snuffy--figure to lurch forward and clasp him in anexpansive embrace.

  "Eh, man, that was a gran' fight, yon!" it hiccoughed, then relapsedinto dignity and Hindustani. "What a battle we have had, sahib! Whata victory we have won!"

  "We, indeed!" said Charteris, releasing himself with strong disgust."General Desdichado, I suppose?"

  But the General, apparently unconscious of his momentary lapse ofmemory, was not responsive to English. "The Sahib was pleased tosay----?" he inquired politely.

  "I say this, you old villain, that you nearly lost us the battle, andif Lieutenant Gerrard should die, I give you my word I'll have you shotfor neglect of duty in the face of the enemy!" cried Charterisfuriously.

  "The Sahib is pleased to forget that I am accountable only to my ownmaster," said the General, and retired in good order, though with asmuch haste as was compatible with a very unsteady walk.

  The unpleasant business of extracting the bullet brought Gerrard to hissenses, and Charteris found his hand wrung almost to numbness as heknelt by his side. Those were the days before anaesthetics, and abullet in the shoulder required a good deal of torture before it couldbe got rid of.

  "I thought it was all up with me, Bob," whispered Gerrard when theoperation was over.

  "Not just yet, old boy. If it had been an inch or two more to oneside, now----"

  "When I went down among the horses' feet, I meant. It was you got meout, old fellow, I know."

  "Had to do a good many things first, I'm afraid, and it wasn't veryeasy to find you. Case of 'None could see Valerius, And none wistwhere he lay.' By the bye, Hal, should you say that those_dangawalas_[1] of Granthis were playing fair to-day, or not? Did theyfire as Sher Singh advanced?"

  "Oh yes, they fired," said Gerrard dreamily.

  "You don't mean that they fired at us?"

  "No, they fired--all right--but----" his voice became weaker, and heseemed satisfied not to finish. The doctor made Charteris a sign notto disturb him further, and he was obliged to give the Granthis thebenefit of the doubt.

  * * * * * *

  An attack of fever, complicated by his wounds, kept Gerrard from allrational conversation for some time, but when he recovered his senses,he thought that it was still the night of the battle. On the roof ofthe tent brooded the gigantic shadow of Charteris in his shirt-sleeves,writing busily by the usual light of a candle-end stuck into the neckof a bottle.

  "Bob!" said Gerrard weakly. Charteris was at his side in a moment.

  "Want anything, old boy? By Jove, I'm uncommon glad to hear your voiceagain--talking sensibly, that is.

  "But it's only a few hours since you brought me in here."

  "A few fiddlesticks! My dear fellow, it's three weeks."

  "Bob, have they sent us the siege artillery?"

  "No, and they won't. Guns are too precious to move without escort, andBritish troops are too expensive to cart about in the rains. So herewe are, twiddling our thumbs till better times come."

  "But what about the country--and Sher Singh?"

  "Sher Singh is safe in Agpur. We've got him shut up there, at anyrate. But Granthistan is in a blaze, Hal. The Commander-in-Chief ison his way up-country. It's another Granthi War--thanks to theirdelay."

  "And our Granthis?"

  "Oh, they marched off bag and baggage to join Sher Singh the othernight, when the news came that we were not to be reinforced till thecold weather. I didn't hear of their going till they had nearlyreached Agpur, and I wasn't particularly anxious to stop them when Idid."

  "Better rid of them. You know they fired blank all day--the day of thebattle, I mean?"

  "That was the trick, was it? I couldn't get it out of you. Not thatit would have made much difference if I had known, I suppose. I tellyou, Hal, there was a moment when, if only the heavy artillery had comeup, we held Sher Singh in the hollow of our hands. He was in such apanic when he got back to Agpur that he actually fired on his owntroops when they crowded across the bridge after him. They would havehanded him over to us like lambs if we could have threatened the citythen. But it's no use crying over spilt milk. I'm going to make useof this interval in hostilities to send you to Ranjitgarh for a bit,old boy. If they won't use the river to send us our big guns, we mayuse it to recruit our invalids a bit. It can't be as hot at Ranjitgarhas it is here. But I put you on your honour to come back. No one mustlead the Habshiabadis into Agpur but you. You will find me relegatedto my original obscurity by that time, with a duly appointedBrigadier--a _nya jawan_[2]--riding roughshod over my tenderestfeelings, but you can still swagger as the officer accompanying theforces of a friendly state."

  Gerrard had not been listening. "Bob," he whispered, "I--I can't go toRanjitgarh."

  "Why not, old boy'?"

  "She may be there. They will have fetched the ladies down from thehills if there is trouble."

  "I think not. Old Cinnamond has taken the field, but there are plentyof troops in Ranjitgarh. But if she is there, Hal?"

  "I might speak--I ain't master of myself, Bob."

  "Well, my dear fellow, and why not? Have you forgot what I said--thatyou were to have the next turn? Speak, by all means, and take her withmy blessing, if she'll take you."

  "Bob, I won't have it. I have been making a fool of myself when Ididn't know what I was saying, and you are behaving like a brickbecause you are sorry for me."

  "Ton my word, it's nothing of the sort. I can say now what I wouldn'tsay once, that I had rather see her happy with you than unhappy withme. I'm not going to let you outdo me there, you see, though I may bea little bit late."

  "Good old Bob!" said Gerrard weakly.

  "Not a bit of it. Ain't we chums, old boy? Now remember, _pop_ goesthe weasel!"

  [1] Mutineers.

  [2] New hand.