The Dilemma/Chapter XXVI
CHAPTER XXVI.
The hope imparted to the garrison by the stillness of the night and early dawn, that their enemies might have abandoned the blockade, was dissipated with the return of daylight. The sepoy encampment was still standing pitched among the trees behind the court-house; large bodies of men were drawn up near that building, detachments from which could be seen from the look-out place on the roof to march down with a semblance of discipline to relieve the advanced pickets which lined the park walls; and about sunrise a lively fire began again, especially from the east wall and Sparrow's house, the roof of which was now discerned to be protected by a parapet of sandbags piled up during the night, in imitation of the defenders' method, while the doorways and veranda facing the park had been blocked in the same way; sandbag loopholes had also been made at various points along the top of the adjacent wall, so that the assailants were now on an equality as regards cover, and having apparently unlimited ammunition, they fired briskly, although with more care than on the previous day, evidently aiming at the loopholes of the garrison. The covered way to the bath-house was now completely commanded from the roof of Sparrow's house; and as Falkland passed along it to visit the guard there, attended by Yorke and the jemadar, the party had to run the gauntlet of a sharp fire.
"It's precious lucky, sir, there were no rifle companies among our three gallant regiments," said M'Intyre to the colonel, as a bullet, coming through a loophole from which he had just withdrawn, whizzed through the bath-house, and lodged in the wall on the other side, "or we should have a few more of these gentry."
"You're an awful dab at field-engineering and that sort of thing, Arty, I know," said Spragge, who had just entered the smaller building, bringing a bag of flour for the day's rations to his friend; "but you haven't made allowance for a fellow of my inches. Just look at this," he continued, holding up his pith helmet, in the top of which were a couple of round holes; "precious lucky my poor old nut was a little lower down, wasn't it? I don't want to give Johnny Raugh a step just yet."
"Pandy is quick to take a hint," said Falkland to his aide, "and we could not prevent their making sandbags, as long as there is any cloth left in the country. But we must try if we can't manage to control their spirits a bit." And returning to the main building, he collected about a dozen of the best shots on the east side, with orders to select each a loophole in Sparrow's house, and to aim carefully as soon as it should be occupied, and then sent Yorke to creep along the covered way, on his knees, holding up his hat on a stick just above cover. The ruse succeeded perfectly. In a few seconds the hat was observed; muskets protruded from every loophole on the other side, and a sharp fire was opened on the moving object. The riflemen fired in return, and as the fire of the enemy was immediately checked, some execution might be inferred; after this manœuvre the enemy became more cautious. Towards noon the dropping fire which followed this affair slackened, and was followed by a time of perfect quiet, as on the previous day.
The second day of the siege; and it seemed as if they had been shut up for a month. To the first excitement there now succeeded the monotonous discharge of the prescribed routine. The great event was to be off duty at meal-time, so as to be able to meet the delegates from other pickets, and compare notes. The ladies had now taken on themselves the office of bringing their meals to those on duty; and Yorke and the others in the west veranda had the happiness of receiving their plates of curry and damper from Olivia's hands, which the young man would fain have kissed with gratitude as he relieved them of their burden. Seen under the aspect of this crisis, she no longer seemed to be a wife. This must be a dream, thought the young man; she is more like an angel than a being of this world; no harm can come near her; and he felt quite happy at his post.
Most of the officers bathed in the bath, two at a time, and with orders not to splash or make a noise. The billiard-table also was frequented; and some cards had been hunted up, and a party sat down to whist. But the cards curled up with the heat, and got dirty and dusty, and the game soon dropped. Moreover, Olivia, remembering that her father had left some cheroots behind him — Falkland did not smoke — had unpacked and made over the precious windfall to Buxey, who had taken charge of the commissariat; and Buxey served out two cheroots a day to each person — a No. 2 after dinner, and a No. 1 in the evening. They were very good: and never were cigars more appreciated, or smoked more completely to the end.
By tacit, consent the question was avoided, how long the blockade would last, or what would be the end of it; but Buxey said there was a capital stock of provisions. No one, however, but Falkland knew what was the state of the ammunition. This was stored in an underground chamber, constructed by the architect of the residency as a retreat for the hot season, according to a mode of building not unfrequent in the early days of Anglo-Indians, but which had never been used for that purpose.
One thing especially which imparted spirit and confidence to the garrison was the bearing of the native portion of it. Falkland's determination to trust these men had been viewed by several with alarm in the beginning, lest the defence should be undermined by sudden treachery within. Captain Sparrow had been very free in his criticism to all who would listen to him on the foolhardy rashness of his chief; and Mrs. Polwheedle had tried in vain to persuade the brigadier to insist on the sepoys being kept together in the portico outside the building, instead of being distributed about it, and had spent a good deal of her time at first in watching their deportment. If a sepoy looked grave, he was meditating desertion; if he laughed — and most of them seemed now in capital spirits — he was chuckling over some plot in contemplation; a respectful bearing was set down to cringing, the crouching of the tiger before its spring; and if any one seemed more free in manner than usual, the villain was chuckling in his insolence over the prospect of having the sahibs in his power. But the most timid or suspicious could no longer withhold their confidence, on seeing how heartily their dark-coloured allies had thrown themselves into the spirit of the defence. Had the enemy been their bitterest natural foe instead of the comrades of a lifetime, they could not have shown a greater alacrity in the play of sharpshooting; the difficulty was to make them husband their ammunition. Two of the sepoys who proved to be good shots had been supplied with rifles, and Falkland's jemadar had come to be regarded as next to M'Intyre the marksman of the garrison. The six servants, too, did their duty with perfect sang froid; and the ayah was ready at all times to brush any lady's hair, as well as that of her mistress.
"Pandy seems to have had enough of it for the present," observed Braddon between the puffs of his cigar to the little party assembled that evening in the portico, which post he commanded; and as he spoke the silence was unbroken by any firing; nor, looking through the loopholes, was there an enemy to be seen in any direction.
"I calculate we have accounted for at least thirty of them," remarked Mr. Hodder, the missionary, who wore a black alpaca coat and trousers, as the symbol of his calling, but had been doing active duty as a sharpshooter, and now sat on a cot, smoking, with a repeating rifle on his knees; "say thirty, besides speculating on the parties who have not been marked down; at least as many more, I'll bet. The remainder perhaps have taken the hint and gone to their own place too."
"That still leaves two thousand nine hundred and seventy pandies unaccounted for," said Sparrow, who from the first had maintained a consistently doleful appearance, "besides all the blackguards in the city, whom the commissioner so wisely provided with arms two days ago. They won't be so easily choked off, take my word for it. This silence means some new mischief, you may depend."
"Well, sir," replied Hodder, a little sallow man with a clear eye, and a face smooth save for a small light beard, "and if they do try any of their tricks, the sooner they do it the better; I guess we are ready for them; we know a thing or two; and we shall give them a warm welcome, I expect." And Mr. Hodder tapped his repeater cheerfully, and indeed his remarks only reflected the spirits of the garrison. The ease with which the enemy had been kept at bay, and their own immunity from any loss so far, had given general confidence. Relief must come soon, and it would be easy to hold out for a long time in such a fortress as this, and against assailants so unenterprising.
As soon as it was dark the ladies again ascended to the roof, and the night passed away in perfect quiet, save that about one o'clock, as Falkland, who had got some sleep during the day, and spent the night on the alert, was going the round of the sentries, the officer who was posted in the covered way — a sentry had been stationed there each night, and the post was a favourite one, the open air being much cooler than the inside of the buildings — reported that he heard an unusual noise in the direction of the entrance-gate.
Falkland stopped to listen. There was certainly a sound as of the movement of men. He went to fetch Yorke and the jemadar, who were asleep in the west veranda, and they came back with him to the trench.
Putting their ears to the ground, they could distinctly hear the sound.
"They are doing something to the barricade," said the jemadar to his master in an undertone, in Hindustani; "shall I go and see what it is?"
For a moment Falkland hesitated. Could the man be intending treachery?
Yorke seemed to divine the colonel's thoughts, for he whispered, "May I go with him, sir?"
But Falkland at once cast the unworthy suspicion from him. And after all, if any native wanted to desert, nothing was easier at any time of the night. The man being told he might go, jumped over the low parapet, and disappeared in the darkness. In about five minutes he returned. He had been down nearly to the gateway. The barricade which closed the entrance there had been made of some carts and carriages, including Falkland's own barouche, taken off their axles and fastened together. Ameer Khan could not tell for certain what the enemy were about, but they appeared to be employed in removing it.
Then Yorke obtained leave to go down and reconnoitre. The enemy had no sentries, and were so busily engaged on their work that he got within a few yards of them without being perceived. There was no moon, but the night was not dark, and lying down he watched their proceedings for some minutes. He could just make out some figures at work, and could hear the grinding noise of something being dragged along the gravel. They were evidently removing the different obstacles which composed the barricade.
Looking round to his right the outline of Sparrow's house stood out against the sky. From where he lay it was almost in his rear; he had been so intent on watching the barricade during his advance that he had not thought about the house and its occupants, and he shuddered for the moment to think how easily he might have been seen by them, and his retreat cut off. To be killed in open fight was a fate he was ready enough to meet; but to be murdered out there, without help, and without being able to sell his life, and no one knowing what had become of him, — what a horrid fate that would be! But the place seemed perfectly quiet, and dismissing his nervous fears, the young man walked stealthily towards the building. No one was stirring, and he advanced as far as the wall of sandbags which the enemy had built up along the front of the house. This he found to be about ten feet distant from the edge of the veranda, and standing by the end of this rampart so that his body would not be distinguishable from it, he took a leisurely view of the place. The veranda seemed to be full of men, all fast asleep; others lay on the gravel path between it and the rampart, one of them, with a calico wrapper over his head and shoulders, so close that Yorke could have kicked him with his foot. After watching the scene for a few seconds, till even in the darkness the whole grew clear, he stole back to the covered way to tell Falkland, anxiously awaiting his return, what he had seen.
This removal of the barrier looked like mischief, and before the short June night had given way to the early dawn, the garrison was got under arms, and the captains of posts warned to be on the alert, while Falkland ascended with Yorke to the roof to reconnoitre. Mounting the staircase, they advanced to the edge of the eastern parapet. The stars were now disappearing, and the line of park wall could just be distinguished here and there in the gaps between the trees, as well as the roof of Sparrow's house.
"Everything quiet," observed Yorke in a whisper; "Pandy is not awake yet, any more than our own poor ladies," glancing as he spoke backwards at the recumbent figures behind them, with rugs and shawls thrown over their dresses, most of them still asleep, while one or two, awakened by the footsteps, were sitting up leaning on their elbows, among these latter one whom his quick eye made out to be Olivia, and who, disengaging herself from the shawl thrown over her dress, was rising and coming towards them.
"See, what is that?" whispered Falkland, pointing across the park, "are not these men? Yes, I can make them out distinctly now; the ground behind the wall swarms with them. They mean mischief evidently; "and as he spoke, a number of figures in white could be seen in the twilight clambering over the wall and forming up on the inside.
Falkland rushed down the stairs with Yorke at his heels, but just as he reached the bottom, he turned to the latter, and pointing upwards said, "Just run back and tell them all to lie down and keep under shelter till this business is over."
Yorke ran up again to the roof. The top of the staircase was near the edge, and coming out of it his attention was irresistibly caught by the sight which presented itself below. On all sides a swarm of sepoys, rushing out from cover, had surrounded the building, and halting at about fifty paces opened fire upon it. They were dressed in white, with small skull-caps and bare legs. Some lay down as if skirmishing on parade, others stood boldly up on the lawn, reloading, or taking aim. The flashes of fire, bright in the grey twilight, seemed almost to encircle the building. And coming up the main road from the entrance-gate was a strong column with their arms at the shoulder, led by a native officer waving his sword.
Yorke stood spell-bound for a moment watching the scene, till, becoming sensible that some one was standing close behind him, he turned round. It was Olivia. A light scarf round her shoulders concealed the crumpled dress, but her long tresses had escaped from their bands and hung loosely over her shoulder.
"Is this to be the end?" she said, hardly looking at him, but gazing with dilated eye, in which, however, there was no sign of fear, at the spectacle below. "What can we women do to help?"
"Nothing," he returned, "except to keep out of fire. You really must," he continued, in a pleading voice, for they had been observed on the roof, and the bullets began to whizz past them; and then seeing that she stood as if spell-bound, he suddenly seized her hands in his, and pressing her palms back on the wrists forced her to the ground. This was done in an instant. "I am only obeying orders," he said smiling, as he rose up and let go her hands; "keep like this, quite flat, and you will be safe." Then turning to the others, who were now, some sitting, some standing, bewildered, he cried, "Down, all of you, flat on your backs!" and then rushed down the stairs.
Hurried though he was, the young man could not help being struck by the contrast between the scene within and that which he had just seen without; the crowd of sepoys pressing round the building, and the blaze of fire as seen in the cool morning air, the dark barricaded portico below, with the handful of grimy-looking defenders in the sweltering heat, some firing through the loopholes, the rest standing in reserve on the steps, ready for what might happen. But there was not much time for deliberation. The attacking column, some hundreds in number, was already upon them, spreading round the portico; and the foremost, seizing the protruding muskets with their hands turned the aim away, and, pressed on by those behind, pushed against the frail wall which blocked up the two carriage-entrances and the spaces between the pillars, and tried to turn it over, pulling down the sandbags at the top at the same time and throwing them inwards, the dust from which, as they fell to the ground, mingled with the smoke to obscure the scene. There was no firing just at this moment. The defenders of the portico, having already discharged their muskets, had not time to load. The sepoys in the rear could not fire in that direction for their comrades in front. For a few seconds, although the fusilade was kept up all round, the only sounds immediately about the portico were the shouts and oaths of the rebel party, freely given back by the sepoys within, their scuffling as they pressed against the rampart, and the stamping of the frightened horses trying to preak loose from their tethers. Nothing could be seen by either side of the other; the sandbag rampart protected the assailants as well as the defenders.
Presently a hand protruded over the wall, clutching it by the top as if some one were going to spring over. A sword gleamed in the air, and came down swiftly on the exposed wrist, and the armless hand dropped lightly down inside the wall. It was Ameer Khan who had struck the blow, springing forward from the side of his master on the steps.
Just then a piece of the upper part of the wall came down, a portion three feet in width, at the east side of the portico. Behind it stood one of the seventeen faithful sepoys, a stalwart young fellow, who brandished his musket by the barrel, ready to strike the first man who should enter through the gap. There was irresolution among the assailants closest to him, but a man from behind called out to them to step aside, and firing his musket the sepoy fell. The next moment the rebel leader jumped through the gap, making a furious cut at Braddon, who stood nearest. But the latter parried, and instantly running him through the body, the tall fellow threw up his arms, and Braddon with difficulty extricated his sword as the man fell face foremost on the body of the prostrate sepoy.
"Hand me a musket, quick!" cried Braddon, stepping into the gap. "And me!" cried Yorke, taking his place beside him. There was just room for the two where the rampart had given way, leaving them exposed down to their knees. On the other side was a crowd of the enemy, almost close enough to touch, but too crowded to fire or fight. Behind Braddon and Yorke were now some half-dozen men whom Falkland, surveying the situation from the steps, had sent forward on the spur of the moment to load and pass their muskets. The rest of the defenders of the portico were distributed around the wall, some therefore having their backs to the critical point; while the remainder of the reserve, standing on the steps by Falkland's side, were firing over the heads of the defenders into the crowd beyond as fast as they could load.
A rush, and surely the frail defence must have given way; but the crowd without swayed to and fro irresolute, while the two officers, levelling the muskets handed to them, shot the two men nearest, who fell dead under the wall. There was a short pause, and they fired again, and again two men fell. Still the crowd held on, pressing, struggling, and the men behind shouting orders to each other and to those in front, which no one obeyed. Again there was a pause in the duel, while Yorke, facing the enemy, waited for another musket, and he felt for the moment as if any one of them might seize him by the collar and drag him out, and one fellow, imitating his tactics, raised a loaded piece and levelled it in his face. He can't miss me at that distance, thought the young man; and a grim sense of the absurdity of the situation came over him, as he stood waiting to receive the shot, and the flash of fire seemed almost to scorch his face; but the bullet whizzed past harmlessly: and the next moment Yorke, feeling a musket put into his hand, returned the fire with better effect, and his opponent fell at his feet.
All this takes longer to tell than it did to happen. Three times the two officers fired, and six bodies lay before them just outside the gap; others fell from the shots of the defenders on the steps. A backward movement took place among the crowd; some began to move towards the rear, the men in rear of the column began to stream off in increasing numbers, and soon the whole column was running down the road in flight for shelter, an example followed at once by the skirmishers round the building. A few men still showed front, here and there, remaining as solitary units where just before the ground had been crowded with white figures, retiring slowly and facing about to deliver their fire. But they gradually disappeared, and in a few minutes the park was again deserted, save by the bodies of the slain which lay strewn about the ground. Then the victors in the portico raised a shout of triumph, echoed from other parts of the buildings; and then, panting for breath, looked at each other in silence, feeling for the moment all the exhaustion which follows great vital efforts.
Falkland, assured that the attack would not be immediately renewed, sent Ameer Khan to the roof to fetch the ladies down, and hastened with Yorke round the building to see how the rest of the garrison had fared. The attack had been simultaneous on all sides; but the assailants, for the most part, had done no more than advance out of cover to within a few yards of the building, and open fire against the loopholes, exposing themselves freely without doing any damage in return. A rush had, however, been made at the trench leading to the bath-house, and a bold attempt made to enter both buildings from it. The south door leading from the billiard-room had fortunately been fastened, and a dead sepoy lay in the south veranda, shot while trying to force it open, and Falkland had to step over the bodies of three more lying in the trench. The bath-house presented a solid wall, loopholed, to the enemy, against which no impression could be made; but the arch leading from the trench, which formed the entrance to the building, had not been filled up, but was guarded by a sandbag traverse about two feet in rear of the opening. Here some of the bolder assailants had tried to force their way, and the leader had been shot on the steps after cutting down young Raugh, who stood defending the entrance. The south archway was also an open one, and here a simicircular parapet had been constructed to enclose the well; and in guarding a loophole at this point, M'Intyre had been hit while in the act of firing himself, by a bullet which shattered his left arm above and below the elbow.
"Poor little Johnny," said Spragge, who was supporting him, and trying to stanch the blood which streamed down from the sabre-cut in his shoulder, "they might have hit one of their own size. But, by Jove, sir!" he continued, addressing Falkland, who had stopped at sight of the wounded lad, "it was Johnny who saved us. There was such a row by the well, we were all looking that way; and if he had not kept the doorway for a bit, they would have taken us in rear, I do believe; but I don't think there is much harm done — is there, Johnny, my man?" Nor did the wound appear so bad as that of M'Intyre, who, however, stood coolly, without wincing, while some of the party were making a sling out of a towel to support the shattered arm.
Maxwell was summoned to the scene, and recommended that the wounded officers should be brought over to the main building at once. Thither M'Intyre walked without assistance, and Raugh, who felt faint, supported by Yorke; but the rebels had so far recovered themselves as to open fire sharply from Sparrow's house as the party passed along the trench, with no further effect, however, than to send a bullet through the top of Yorke's helmet. It had been arranged beforehand between Maxwell and Falkland that the south-east room should be used, if necessary, for a hospital; and the two wounded officers were at once put to bed there, and their wounds dressed by the surgeons. M'Intyre's injuries were very severe, although Maxwell hoped to save the arm; Raugh's wound was a clean though deep sabre-cut, which Maxwell pronounced would soon heal up.