WITH SCINDIA TO DELHI
More than a hundred years ago, in a great battle fought near Delhi, an Indian Prince rode fifty miles after the day was lost with a beggar-girl, who had loved him and followed him in all his camps, on his saddle-bow. He lost the girl when almost within sight of safety. A Maratta trooper tells the story:—
The wreath of banquet overnight lay withered on the neck,
Our hands and scarves were saffron-dyed for signal of despair,
When we went forth to Paniput to battle with the Mlech,—
Ere we came back from Paniput and left a kingdom there.
Our hands and scarves were saffron-dyed for signal of despair,
When we went forth to Paniput to battle with the Mlech,—
Ere we came back from Paniput and left a kingdom there.
Thrice thirty-thousand men were we to force the Jumna fords—
The hawk-winged horse of Damajee, mailed squadrons of the Bhao,
The hawk-winged horse of Damajee, mailed squadrons of the Bhao,
