by G. A. Henty
Chapter 13: An Attempt At Murder.
The house, of which the bedroom occupied by Charlie formed part, waselsewhere two stories higher; this room jutting out, alone, into theangle of the wall. The rest of the suite of rooms were in the houseitself, but access could be obtained to this room through the window,which looked on to the terrace of the wall. Charlie's lieutenantsalways took pains to place men upon whom they could thoroughly rely assentries, on this terrace.
One night, a fortnight after the events which have been described,Charlie was asleep on his bed, on the flats above his room. On oneside the house rose straight beside it. On two others was the fall tothe valley, on the fourth side was the wall, along which two sentrieswere pacing to and fro. From time to time, from a door some distancealong the side of the house, opening on to the wall, a white figurecame out, stretched himself as if unable to sleep, looked for a whileover the parapet down into the valley, appeared to listen intently,and then sauntered into the house again.
It was the cook, Hossein. It was his custom. Successive sentries had,for many nights past, seen him do the same; but in a country where thenights are hot, a sleepless servant attracts but little attention.Upon the occasion of one of these visits to the parapet, he stood inan attitude of deep attention, longer than usual. Then he carelesslysauntered back. It was but a moment later that his face appeared atthe window next to that of Charlie's bedroom. He stretched his headout, and again listened intently. Then he went to Tim, who wassleeping heavily on a couch placed there, and touched him. He put hishand on his lips, as Tim sprang up.
"Take arm," he said, in Hindostanee. "Bad man coming."
Tim understood the words and, seizing a sword and pistol which layclose to the bedside, followed Hossein, who had glided up the stairs,with a drawn tulwar in his hand. At the moment he did so, there was anoise of heavy bodies dropping, followed by a sudden shout fromCharlie. There was a sound of clashing of arms, and the report of apistol.
As Tim's eyes came on a level with the terrace, he saw Hossein boundwith uplifted blade into the midst of a group of men in the corner.Three times the blade rose and fell, and each time a loud shriekfollowed. Then he disappeared in the midst.
Tim was but a few seconds behind him. Discharging his pistol into thebody of one of the men, and running his sword into another, he, too,stood by the side of his master. Charlie, streaming with blood, washalf sitting, half lying in the angle of the parapet. Hossein, histurban off, his long hair streaming down his back, was standing overhim, fighting furiously against some ten men, who still pressedforward, while several others lay upon the ground.
In spite of the arrival of Charlie's two allies, they still pressedforward, but the shots of the pistols had been echoed by the musketsof the sentries. Loud shouts were heard, showing that the alarm wassounding through the palace.
One more desperate effort the assailants made, to beat the two men whoopposed them over the parapet, but Hossein and the Irishman stoodfirm. The weight and numbers of their opponents, however, told uponthem; when the first of the sentries appeared upon the platform,followed closely by his comrade; and both, with levelled bayonets,charged into the fray.
The assailants now thought only of escape, but their position was adesperate one. Some rushed to the end of the terrace, and tried toclimb the ropes by which they had slid down from the upper roof of thehouse. Others endeavoured to rush down the staircase; but Tim, withone of the sentries, guarded this point, until a rush of feet belowtold that the guard were coming to their assistance.
It was well that help was at hand, for the conspirators, desperate atfinding themselves in a trap, gathering themselves together, rushedwith the fury of wild beasts upon Tim and the sentry. One was impaledupon a bayonet, another cut down by Tim, and then, borne back by theweight of their opponents, they were hurled backwards down the stairs.As the assailants followed them with a rush, the guard sprang throughthe open window, from the terrace below, into the room.
There was a short and desperate conflict. Then two of the conspiratorsbounded up the staircase on to the roof, ran to the parapet and leapedover into the valley, two hundred feet below. They were the last ofthe eighteen men who had lowered themselves, from the roof above, toattack Charlie.
As soon as Tim picked himself up, he hastened to ascend the stairsagain, and to run to the side of his master. Charlie was insensible.Leaning against the parapet, too weak to stand, but still holding hissword, and ready to throw himself once more before him, stood Hossein;who now, seeing Tim approach, and that all danger was over, droppedhis sword and sank upon the ground.
A minute or two later the rajah himself, sword in hand, hurried up. Hewas greatly concerned, and excited, at the sight which met his eyes.Charlie was at once lifted, and carried down to one of the rajah's ownrooms, where he was instantly attended to.
A hasty examination showed that only two of the attacking party stillbreathed. None of those who had fallen above survived, so fiercely anddeadly had been the blows struck by Hossein and Tim. Charlie himselfhad cut down one and shot another, before he fell, slashed in manyplaces, just as Hossein bounded through his assailants.
The bodies of the dead were, by the rajah's orders, laid together foridentification in the morning. The two who still lived were carried tothe guardroom, and their wounds dressed, in order that the names oftheir employers might be obtained from them.
In the meantime, Charlie's lieutenants had hastily formed a body oftheir soldiers together, and these at once fell upon a number of menwho were crowding up the steps to the palace, with shouts of "Death tothe Englishman." A few volleys poured among these effectuallyscattered them, and they broke and hurried down the steep road,through the gates to the town, the sentries on the way offering noopposition, but many falling under the fire from the parapet of thefort.
In ten minutes, all was over. The gates were again closed, and astrong guard placed over them, and the attempted insurrection was atan end.
The native surgeon, who attended Charlie, pronounced that none of thefive wounds he had received, although for the most part severe, werenecessarily fatal; and that there was every chance of his recovery.Hossein's wounds, three in number, were pronounced to be moredangerous, one being a deep stab in the body, given by a man who hadrushed at him, as he was guarding the blow of another. Tim's woundswere comparatively slight, and he suffered more from the bruises hehad received, when hurled backwards down the stone staircase. However,with one arm in a sling, and his head bandaged, he was able to takehis place by his master's bedside.
Having heard, from him, that it was entirely due to Hossein thatCharlie's life had been saved, the rajah directed that every attentionshould be paid to him; and several times, during the night, Tim stoleaway to his bedside to press his hand, and call down blessings uponhim.
The stanching of his wounds, and the application of strongrestoratives, presently caused Charlie to open his eyes.
"The Lord be praised, Mr. Charles," Tim said, "that you're coming toyourself again. Don't you trouble, sir. We've done for the murdheringrascals; and, plase God, you'll soon be about again. Jist drink thisdraught, yer honor, and go off to sleep, if you can. In the morningI'll tell you all about it.
"You're in the rajah's own room," he continued, seeing Charlie's eyeswander wonderingly around him, "and all you've got to do is just tolie still, and get well as soon as you can."
It was a fortnight before Charlie, still very weak and feeble, wasable to totter from his room to that in which Hossein was lying. Hehimself knew nothing of what had passed after he fell. The conflicthad, to him, been little more than a dream. Awakened from sleep by thesound of his assailants, as they dropped from the ropes, he had leapedup as a rush of figures came towards him, catching up his sword andpistol as he did so. He had shot the first, and cut down the next whorushed at him, but at the same moment he had felt a sharp pain, andremembered no more.
Tim heard from Hossein, when the latter, two days after the fight, wasable to speak, that he had s
uspected that some renewed attempt mightbe made upon his master's life; and that for many nights he had notslept, contenting himself with such repose as he could snatch in thedaytime, between the intervals of preparing meals. A few minutesbefore the attack, he fancied he heard a movement on the roof of thehouse; and running to Charlie's room he had, from the window, seensome dark figures sliding down the wall. Then he roused Tim, andrushed up to the rescue.
Tim eloquently described to his master the manner in which Hosseinsprung upon his foes, and cut his way through, in time to drive backthose who were hacking at him as he lay prostrate; and how he foundhim standing over him, keeping at bay the whole of his assailants.
Charlie, with difficulty, made his way to the bedside of the braveMohammedan. The latter, however, did not know him. He was in thedelirium of fever. He was talking rapidly to himself.
"He trusted me," he said. "He gave me my life. Should I not give minefor him? Anyone else would have had me hung as a dog. I will watch. Iwill watch. He shall see that Hossein is not ungrateful."
Charlie's eyes filled with tears, as he looked at the wasted form ofhis follower.
"Is there any hope for him?" he asked the doctor.
"It is possible, just possible that he may live," the latter said."Allah only knows."
"Do all you can to save him," Charlie said. "I shall be ever gratefulto you, if you do."
Tim, now that his master could dispense with his services, transferredhis attentions to the bedside of Hossein, and was unremitting in thecare and attention with which he kept the bandages on his head coolwith fresh water, and wetted his hot lips with refreshing drinks. Itwas another week before his illness took a turn. Then the fever lefthim, and he lay weak and helpless as an infant. Strong soups now tookthe place of the cooling drinks, and in a few days the native doctorwas able to say, confidently, that the danger was passed, and thatHossein would recover.
In the meantime, the investigations of the rajah had brought to lightthe details of the conspiracy. The wounded men had confessed that theywere employed by three of the principal persons at the rajah's court,one of them being the rajah's brother. The information, however, wasscarcely needed; as it was found, in the morning, that theirapartments were empty; they having fled with the men who had attackedthe gates of the palace. These consisted partly of soldiers whom theyhad bribed, and of desperadoes from the town, who had singly enteredthe fort during the day, and had been concealed in the apartments ofthe conspirators, until the signal for attack was given.
The intention of the conspirators was not only to kill the Englishman,but to dethrone the rajah, and install his brother in his place. Theattack had commenced with the attempt upon Charlie's life, because itwas believed that his death would paralyse the troops who werefaithful to the rajah.
At the end of six weeks, Charlie was able to resume his duties, andhis appearance at the parade ground was hailed with enthusiasticshouts by the soldiers. The rajah was more attached to him than ever,and had again made him large presents, in token of the regret he feltat the sufferings he had endured in his cause.
Drilling was now carried on with redoubled energy, and large numbersof new levies had been summoned to the standard. A storm was gatheringover Ambur. The rajah's brother was raising a force to attack him, andhad, by means of large promises in case of success, persuaded MurariReo to take up his cause; and he had, it was said, also sent messagesto the nizam, pointing out that, in case of war with the English, theRajah of Ambur would be a thorn in his side. He told of the numbers oftroops who had been drilled, and how formidable such a force would be,if opposed to him at a critical moment; while if he, the claimant,gained power, the army of Ambur would be at the disposal of the nizam.
The rajah, on his side, had also sent messengers to Hyderabad, withassurances to the nizam of his fidelity and friendship. He urged thatthe preparations he had made were intended solely for the defence ofhis state, against marauding bands of Mahrattas, and especiallyagainst those of Murari Reo, who was a scourge to all his neighbours.
In the meantime, every effort was made to strengthen the defences ofAmbur. The walls surrounding the town were repaired, and althoughthese, in themselves, could have offered but a slight defence to adetermined assault, the approaches to the town were all covered by theguns of the fort above.
The weak point of the defence was the hill behind the town. Thissloped up, gradually, to a point higher than the level of theprojecting rock upon which the castle stood. It then rose, in ruggedcliffs, some two hundred feet higher; and then fell away again,steeply, to its summit. This was too far back for the fire of gunsplaced upon it to injure the castle or town. Guns placed, however, atthe foot of the rocky wall, would dominate the castle and render it,at last, untenable.
Charlie had often looked, with an anxious eye, at this point; and onemorning, accompanied by the rajah, he rode up to examine the position.The highest point of the slope, at the foot of the crag, was nearlyopposite the castle; and it was here that an active enemy, making hisway along the slope, would place his guns. Here, Charlie determined toestablish a battery.
News had arrived that the rajah's brother had raised a force of threethousand men; and that, with seven thousand Mahrattas, he was about tomarch. This force, Charlie felt certain that he could meet and defeat,in the open. But more disquieting news was that Bussy, hearing thatthe rajah's troops had been trained by an Englishman, had advised thenizam to declare for his rival, and to send a considerable force tohis assistance, if necessary. Fresh messengers were sent off, with newassurances of the rajah's loyalty to the nizam.
"It may not do much good," Charlie said, "but if we can induce him toremain quiet, until we have defeated Murari Reo, it will be so muchgained."
Charlie himself despatched a messenger to Mr. Saunders, begging thatassistance might be sent to the rajah.
Having decided upon the position for a battery, energetic steps weretaken to form it. A space large enough for the construction of thebattery, and for the tents and stores of the artillerymen and twohundred infantry, was marked out; and the rajah ordered the wholepopulation of Ambur, men, women, and children, to assist at the work.The troops, too, were all employed; and under Charlie'ssuperintendence, a wondrous change was soon effected. The spot chosenwas levelled, a strong earthwork was erected round it, and then thesurrounding ground was removed. This was a work of immense labour, theground consisting first of a layer of soil, then of debris which hadfallen from the face of the rock above, stones and boulders, to thedepth of some fifteen feet, under which was the solid earth.
The slope resembled an anthill. The soldiers and able-bodied men brokeup the boulders and rock with sledgehammers; or, when necessary, withpowder, and blasted the rock, when needed. The women and childrencarried away the fragments in baskets. The work lasted for afortnight, at the end of which a position of an almost impregnablenature was formed. At the foot of the earthworks protecting the guns,both at the face and sides, the ground, composed of great boulders andstones, sloped steeply out, forming a bank fifteen feet deep. At itsfoot, again, the solid rock was blasted away, so as to form a deepchasm, thirty feet wide and ten feet high, round the foot of the fort.For a hundred yards on each side, the earth and stones had beenentirely removed down to the solid rock.
Ten guns were placed in the battery, and the fire of these swept theslopes behind the town and castle, rendering it impossible, until thefort was carried, for an enemy to attack the town on that side; or tooperate, in any way, against the only point at which an attack couldbe made upon the castle.
The rajah was delighted at this most formidable accession to thedefensive power of his fortress, which was now in a position to defyany attack which could be made against it. A store of provisions andammunition was collected there, and the command given to one ofCharlie's Sepoy lieutenants, with a hundred trained artillerymen, andtwo hundred infantry. Numbers of cattle had been driven into the townand castle, and stores of provisions collected.
It was but two days af
ter the battery was complete that the newsarrived that the rajah's brother, with Murari Reo, had entered therajah's dominions, and was marching up the valley to the assault. Therajah had, in the first place, wished to defend a strong gorge throughwhich the enemy would have to pass; this having hitherto beenconsidered the defensible point of his capital, against an invasion.Charlie pointed out, however, that although no doubt a successfuldefence might be made here, it would only be a repulse, which wouldleave the enemy but little weakened for further operations. He arguedthat it was better to allow them to advance to the point where thevalley opened out into a plain, some two miles wide. He had no doubtwhatever that the rajah's troops would be able to inflict a crushingdefeat upon the invaders, who would be so disheartened, thereby, thatthey would be little likely to renew the attack.
Two bodies of troops, each three hundred strong, were sent down to thegorge, with orders to remain in hiding among the heights, to allow theinvading army to pass unmolested, and then to inflict the greatestpossible loss upon them, as they returned. These were under thecommand of another of Charlie's lieutenants, who received orders fromhim to erect breastworks of rock on the slopes above the entrance tothe gorge, after the enemy had passed on; and to line these with aportion of his men, who should pour a heavy fire into the enemy asthey came down the valley; while the rest were to line the heightsabove the gorge, and to roll down rocks upon those who passed throughthe fire of their comrades.
The uniforms were served out to the soldiers, and Charlie surveyed,with pride, the five battalions of trained troops which, with twelveguns, marched down into the valley and took up their post beyond it,at a point which he had carefully chosen, where the guns of the castlewould be able to play upon an advancing body of troops. A body oftrained artillerymen were told off for this service, and thelast-raised levies were posted in the castle and on the walls of thetown.
The position was so chosen that the flanks of the line rested on theslopes on either side. These were broken by inclosures and gardens;into which, on either side, half a battalion was thrown forward, so asto deliver a flanking fire upon an enemy advancing against the centre.Across the valley, two hundred yards in front of the position, thestream which watered it made a sharp turn, running for some distancedirectly across it, and several small canals for the irrigation of thefields rendered the ground wet and swampy. Across the line occupied byhis troops, a breastwork had been thrown up, and in front of this rowsof sharp-pointed stakes had been stuck in the ground. Altogether, theposition was a formidable one.
An hour or two after the position so carefully prepared had been takenup, large bodies of Mahratta horse were seen dashing up the valley,and smoke rising from several points showed that they had begun theirusual work, of plundering and destroying the villages on their way. Afew discharges from the field pieces--those in the castle had beenordered to be silent until the raising of a white flag gave them thesignal to open fire--checked the advance of the horsemen, and thesewaited until their infantry should arrive.
The force of Murari Reo was, at that time, the most formidable of anypurely native army of Southern India. Recruited from desperadoes fromall the Mahratta tribes, well disciplined by its leader, it had morethan once fought, without defeat, against bodies of Europeans; whileit had, in all cases, obtained easy victories over other nativearmies.
Presently the horsemen opened, and a compact body of three thousandMahratta infantry, accompanied by an equal number of the irregulars ofthe rajah's brother, advanced to the attack; while the cavalry attheir sides swept down upon the flanks of the rajah's position, andthirty pieces of artillery opened fire.
Not a shot was fired in return, Charlie ordering his men to lie downbehind the breastworks, until they received the word of command toshow themselves. The Mahratta horsemen, compelled by the bends of thestream to keep near the foot of the slopes, came forward in gallantstyle; until suddenly, from every wall and every clump of bushes onthe slopes above them, a tremendous fire of musketry broke out, whilethe twelve field guns, six of which were posted on either side ofCharlie's centre, poured a destructive fire into them. So deadly wasthe rain of iron and lead that the Mahratta horsemen instantly drewbridle and, leaving the ground strewn with their dead, galloped back.
By this time the infantry, covered by the fire of their artillery, hadreached the stream. This was waist deep, and the banks were some twofeet above its level. As they scrambled up after crossing it, from theline of embankment in front of them a tremendous fire was opened.Although mowed down in scores, the seasoned warriors of the Mahrattachief, cheered on by his voice as, recklessly exposing himself, herode among them, pressed forward. Ever increasing numbers gained afooting across the stream, those in front keeping up a heavy fire atthe breastwork, whose face was ploughed by their cannon shot.
As they advanced the guns of the castle opened fire, not upon those infront, for these were too near the line of entrenchment, but upon thestruggling mass still crossing the stream, into which a ceaseless fireof musketry was poured from the slopes on their flanks. Still theMahratta infantry struggled bravely on, until within a few yards ofthe entrenchments. Then, suddenly, with a mighty shout, the rajah'stroops leaped to their feet, poured a volley from the crest of thebreastwork into the enemy; and then, with fixed bayonets, flungthemselves upon them.
The effect was decisive. The Mahrattas had, at the commencement of thefight, scarcely outnumbered the troops of the rajah in front of them,and had derived but little assistance from the levies of their ally;who, indeed, had contented themselves with keeping up a fire upon thedefenders of the slopes. They had already suffered very severely, andthe charge made upon them, along the whole line, was irresistible.
Before the bayonets crossed they broke and fled, hotly pursued by thetroops of the rajah. These, in accordance with Charlie's orders, didnot scatter, but kept in a close line, four deep, which advanced,pouring tremendous volleys into their foe.
In vain did Murari Reo endeavour to rally his men. His infantry, allorder lost, fled at the top of their speed, their flight covered bytheir cavalry, who sacrificed themselves in two or three brilliantcharges, right up to the line of pursuers, although suffering terriblyfrom the withering volleys poured into their ranks.
The troops were now formed into heavy columns, and these rapidlymarched down the valley, after their flying enemy. An hour later, thesound of heavy firing was heard in front, and at redoubled speed thetroops pressed onward. When they arrived, however, at the gorge, theyfound that the last of the fugitives had passed through. The ground infront was strewn with dead and dying, for as the mass of fugitives hadarrived at the gorge, the infantry from above had opened fire uponthem. Several times the frightened throng had recoiled, but at last,impelled by the greater fear of their pursuers behind, they had dashedforward through the fire, only to fall in hundreds in the gorge,crushed beneath the rain of rocks showered down upon them from above.