CHAPTER XIII.
The Doctor had just sat down to dinner when Bathurst came in. The twosubalterns were dining with him.
"That's good, Bathurst," the Doctor said, as he entered. "Boy, put achair for Mr. Bathurst. I had begun to think that you had deserted me aswell as everybody else."
"I was not thinking of dining," Bathurst said, as he sat down, "but Iwill do so with pleasure, though I told my man I should be back in halfan hour;" and as the servant left the room he added, "I have much tosay, Doctor; get through dinner as quickly as you can, and get theservants out of the tent."
The conversation was at once turned by the Doctor upon shooting andhunting, and no allusion was made to passing events until coffee was puton the table and the servant retired. The talk, which had been livelyduring dinner, then ceased.
"Well, Bathurst," the Doctor asked, "I suppose you have somethingserious to tell me?"
"Very serious, Doctor;" and he repeated the news he had given the Major.
"It could not be worse, Bathurst," the Doctor said quietly, after thefirst shock of the news had passed. "You know I never had any faith inthe Sepoys since I saw how this madness was spreading from stationto station. This sort of thing is contagious. It becomes a sort ofepidemic, and in spite of the assurances of the men I felt sure theywould go. But this scoundrel of Bithoor turning against us is more thanI bargained for. There is no disguising the fact that it means a generalrising through Oude, and in that case God help the women and children.As for us, it all comes in the line of business. What does the Majorsay?"
"The only question that seemed to him to be open was whether the womenand children could be got away."
"But there does not seem any possible place for them to go to. One ortwo might travel down the country in disguise, but that is out of thequestion for a large party. There is no refuge nearer than Allahabad.With every man's hand against them, I see not the slightest chance of aparty making their way down."
"You or I might do it easily enough, Doctor, but for women it seems tome out of the question; still, that is a matter for each married man todecide for himself. The prospect is dark enough anyway, but, as before,it seems to me that everything really depends upon the Zemindars. If wehold the courthouse it is possible the Sepoys may be beaten off in theirfirst attack, and in their impatience to join the mutineers, who areall apparently marching for Delhi, they may go off without throwing awaytheir lives by attacking us, for they must see they will not be ableto take the place without cannon. But if the Zemindars join them withcannon, we may defend ourselves till the last, but there can be but oneend to it."
The Doctor nodded. "That is the situation exactly, Bathurst."
"I am glad we know the danger, and shall be able to face it openly,"Wilson said. "For the last month Richards and I have been keeping watchalternately, and it has been beastly funky work sitting with one'spistols on the table before one, listening, and knowing any moment theremight be a yell, and these brown devils come pouring in. Now, at least,we are likely to have a fight for it, and to know that some of them willgo down before we do."
Richards cordially agreed with his companion.
"Well, now, what are the orders, Bathurst?" said the Doctor.
"There are no orders as yet, Doctor. The Major says you will go roundto the others, Doolan, Rintoul, and Forster, and tell them. I am to goround to Hunter and the other civilians. Then, this evening we are tomeet at nine o'clock, as usual, at the Major's. If the others decidethat the only plan is for all to stop here and fight it out, there willbe no occasion for anything like a council; it will only have to bearranged at what time we all move into the fort, and the best means forkeeping the news from spreading to the Sepoys. Not that it will makemuch difference after they have once fairly turned in. If there is onething a Hindoo hates more than another, it is getting from under hisblankets when he has once got himself warm at night. Even if they heardat one or two o'clock in the morning that we were moving into the fort Idon't think they would turn out till morning."
"No, I am sure they would not," the Doctor agreed.
"If there were a few more of us," Richards said, "I should vote for ourbeginning it. If we were to fall suddenly upon them we might kill a lotand scare the rest off."
"We are too few for that," the Doctor said. "Besides, although Bathurstanswers for the good faith of the sender of the warning, there has asyet been no act of mutiny that would justify our taking such a step asthat. It would come to the same thing. We might kill a good many, but inthe long run three hundred men would be more than a match for a dozen,and then the women would be at their mercy. Well, we had better bemoving, or we shall not have time to go round to the bungalows beforethe people set out for the Major's."
It was a painful mission that Bathurst had to perform, for he had totell those he called upon that almost certain death was at hand, butthe news was everywhere received calmly. The strain had of late been sogreat, that the news that the crisis was at hand was almost welcome. Hedid not stay long anywhere, but, after setting the alternative beforethem, left husband and wife to discuss whether to try to make down toAllahabad or to take refuge in the fort.
Soon after nine o'clock all were at Major Hannay's. There were palefaces among them, but no stranger would have supposed that the wholeparty had just received news which was virtually a death warrant. Theladies talked together as usual, while the men moved in and out of theroom, sometimes talking with the Major, sometimes sitting down for a fewminutes in the veranda outside, or talking there in low tones together.
The Major moved about among them, and soon learned that all hadresolved to stay and meet together whatever came, preferring that to thehardships and unknown dangers of flight.
"I am glad you have all decided so," he said quietly. "In the state thecountry is, the chances of getting to Allahabad are next to nothing.Here we may hold out till Lawrence restores order at Lucknow, and thenhe may be able to send a party to bring us in. Or the mutineers may drawoff and march to Delhi. I certainly think the chances are best here;besides, every rifle we have is of importance, and though if any ofyou had made up your minds to try and escape I should have made noobjection, I am glad that we shall all stand together here."
The arrangements were then briefly made for the removal to thecourthouse. All were to go back and apparently to retire to bed asusual. At twelve o'clock the men, armed, were to call up their servants,load them up with such things as were most required, and proceed withthem, the women, and children, at once to the courthouse. Half the menwere to remain there on guard, while the others would continue withthe servants to make journeys backwards and forwards to the bungalows,bringing in as much as could be carried, the guard to be changed everyhour. In the morning the servants were all to have the choice given themof remaining with their masters or leaving.
Captain Forster was the only dissentient. He was in favor of the wholeparty mounting, placing the women and children in carriages, and makingoff in a body, fighting their way if necessary down to Allahabad. Headmitted that, in addition to the hundred troopers of his own squadron,they might be cut off by the mutinous cavalry from Cawnpore, fall inwith bodies of rebels or be attacked by villagers, but he maintainedthat there was at least some chance of cutting their way through, while,once shut up in the courthouse, escape would be well nigh impossible.
"But you all along agreed to our holding the courthouse, Forster," theMajor said.
"Yes; but then I reckoned upon Cawnpore holding out with the assistanceof Nana Sahib, and upon the country remaining quiet. Now the whole thingis changed. I am quite ready to fight in the open, and to take my chanceof being killed there, but I protest against being shut up like a rat ina hole."
To the rest, however, the proposal appeared desperate. There would be nowithstanding a single charge of the well trained troopers, especially asit would be necessary to guard the vehicles. Had it not been for that,the small body of men might possibly have cut their way through thecavalry; but even then they wo
uld be so hotly pursued that the most ofthem would assuredly be hunted down. But encumbered by the women suchan enterprise seemed utterly hopeless, and the whole of the others wereunanimously against it.
The party broke up very early. The strain of maintaining their ordinarydemeanor was too great to be long endured, and the ladies with childrenwere anxious to return as soon as possible to them, lest at the lastmoment the Sepoys should have made some change in their arrangements. Byten o'clock the whole party had left.
The two subalterns had no preparations to make; they had already sentmost of their things into the hospital; and, lighting their pipes, theysat down and talked quietly till midnight; then, placing their pistolsin their belts and wrapping themselves in their cloaks, they went intothe Doctor's tent, which was next to theirs.
The Doctor at once roused his servant, who was sleeping in a sheltertent pitched by the side of his. The man came in looking surprised atbeing called. "Roshun," the Doctor said, "you have been with me tenyears, and I believe you to be faithful."
"I would lay down my life for the sahib," the man said quietly.
"You have heard nothing of any trouble with the Sepoys?"
"No, sahib; they know that Roshun is faithful to his master."
"We have news that they are going to rise in the morning and kill allEuropeans, so we are going to move at once into the hospital."
"Good, sahib; what will you take with you?"
"My books and papers have all gone in," the Doctor said; "thatportmanteau may as well go. I will carry these two rifles myself; theammunition is all there except that bag in the corner, which I willsling round my shoulder."
"What are in those two cases, Doctor?" Wilson asked.
"Brandy, lad."
"We may as well each carry one of those, Doctor, if your boy takes theportmanteau. It would be a pity to leave good liquor to be wasted bythose brutes."
"I agree with you, Wilson; besides, the less liquor they get hold ofthe better for us. Now, if you are all ready, we will start; but we mustmove quietly, or the sentry at the quarter guard may hear us."
Ten minutes later they reached the hospital, being the last of the partyto arrive there.
"Now, Major," the Doctor said cheerily, as soon as he entered, "as thisplace is supposed to be under my special charge I will take command forthe present. Wilson and Richards will act as my lieutenants. We havenothing to do outside, and can devote ourselves to getting things alittle straight here. The first thing to do is to light lamps in all thelower rooms; then we can see what we are doing, and the ladies will beable to give us their help, while the men go out with the servants tobring things in; and remember the first thing to do is to bring in thehorses. They may be useful to us. There is a good store of forage piledin the corner of the yard, but the syces had best bring in as muchmore as they can carry. Now, ladies, if you will all bring your bundlesinside the house we will set about arranging things, and at any rate getthe children into bed as quickly as possible."
As it had been already settled as to the rooms to be occupied, theladies and their ayahs set to work at once, glad to have something toemploy them. One of the rooms which had been fitted up with beds hadbeen devoted to the purposes of a nursery, and the children, most ofwhom were still asleep, were soon settled there. Two other rooms hadbeen fitted up for the use of the ladies, while the men were occupyingtwo others, the courtroom being turned into a general meeting and diningroom.
At first there was not much to do; but as the servants, closely watchedby their masters, went backwards and forwards bringing in goods of allkinds, there was plenty of employment in carrying them down to a largeunderground room, where they were left to be sorted later on.
The Doctor had appointed Isobel Hannay and the two Miss Hunters to thework of lighting a fire and getting boiling water ready, and a plentifulsupply of coffee was presently made, Wilson and Richards drawing thewater, carrying the heavier loads downstairs, and making themselvesgenerally useful.
Captain Forster had not come in. He had undertaken to remain in his tentin the lines, where he had quietly saddled and unpicketed his horse,tying it up to the tent ropes so that he could mount in an instant. Hestill believed that his own men would stand firm, and declared he wouldat their head charge the mutinous infantry, while if they joined themutineers he would ride into the fort. It was also arranged that heshould bring in word should the Sepoys obtain news of what was going onand rise before morning.
All felt better and more cheerful after having taken some coffee.
"It is difficult to believe, Miss Hannay," Richards said, "that thisis all real, and not a sort of picnic, or an early start on a huntingexpedition."
"It is indeed, Mr. Richards. I can hardly believe even now that it isall true, and have pinched myself two or three times to make sure that Iam awake."
"If the villains venture to attack us," Wilson said, "I feel sure weshall beat them off handsomely."
"I have no doubt we shall, Mr. Wilson, especially as it will be indaylight. You know you and Mr. Richards are not famous for nightshooting."
The young men both laughed.
"We shall never hear the last of that tiger story, Miss Hannay. I cantell you it is no joke shooting when you have been sitting cramped upon a tree for about six hours. We are really both pretty good shots.Of course, I don't mean like the Doctor; but we always make good scoreswith the targets. Come, Richards, here is another lot of things; if theygo on at this rate the Sepoys won't find much to loot in the bungalowstomorrow."
Just as daylight was breaking the servants were all called together, andgiven the choice of staying or leaving. Only some eight or ten, all ofwhom belonged to the neighborhood, chose to go off to their villages.The rest declared they would stay with their masters.
Two of the party by turns had been on watch all night on the terraceto listen for any sound of tumult in the lines, but all had gone onquietly. Bathurst had been working with the others all night, andafter seeing that all his papers were carried to the courthouse, hehad troubled but little about his own belongings, but had assisted theothers in bringing in their goods.
At daylight the Major and his officers mounted and rode quietly downtowards the parade ground. Bathurst and Mr. Hunter, with several of theservants, took their places at the gates, in readiness to open and closethem quickly, while the Doctor and the other Europeans went up to theroof, where they placed in readiness six muskets for each man, from thestore in the courthouse. Isobel Hannay and the wives of the two Captainswere too anxious to remain below, and went up to the roof also. TheDoctor took his place by them, examining the lines with a field glass.
The officers halted when they reached the parade ground, and sat ontheir horses in a group, waiting for the men to turn out as usual.
"There goes the assembly," the Doctor said, as the notes of the buglecame to their ears. "The men are turning out of their tents. There, Ican make out Forster; he has just mounted; a plucky fellow that."
Instead of straggling out onto the parade ground as usual, the Sepoysseemed to hang about their tents. The cavalry mounted and formed up intheir lines. Suddenly a gun was fired, and as if at the signal the wholeof the infantry rushed forward towards the officers, yelling andfiring, and the latter at once turned their horses and rode towards thecourthouse.
"Don't be alarmed, my dear," the Doctor said to Isobel; "I don't supposeanyone is hit. The Sepoys are not good shots at the best of times, andfiring running they would not be able to hit a haystack at a hundredyards. The cavalry stand firm, you see," he said, turning his glass inthat direction. "Forster is haranguing them. There, three of the nativeofficers are riding up to him. Ah! one has fired at him! Missed! Ah!that is a better shot," as the man fell from his horse, from a shot fromhis Captain's pistol.
The other two rushed at him. One he cut down, and the other shot. Thenhe could be seen again, shouting and waving his sword to the men, buttheir yells could be heard as they rode forward at him.
"Ride, man, ride!" the
Doctor shouted, although his voice could not havebeen heard at a quarter of the distance.
But instead of turning Forster rode right at them. There was a confusedmelee for a moment, and then his figure appeared beyond the line,through which he had broken. With yells of fury the troopers reined intheir horses and tried to turn them, but before they could do so theofficer was upon them again. His revolver cracked in his left hand, andhis sword flashed in his right. Two or three horses and men were seen toroll over, and in a moment he was through them again and riding at fullspeed for the courthouse, under a scattered fire from the infantry,while the horsemen, now in a confused mass, galloped behind him.
"Now then," the Doctor shouted, picking up his rifle; "let them knowwe are within range, but mind you don't hit Forster. Fire two or threeshots, and then run down to the gate. He is well mounted, and has a goodfifty yards' start of them."
Then taking deliberate aim he fired. The others followed his example.Three of the troopers dropped from their horses. Four times those on theterrace fired, and then ran down, each, at the Doctor's order, takingtwo guns with him. One of these was placed in the hands of each of theofficers who had just ridden in, and they then gathered round the gate.In two minutes Forster rode in at full speed, then fifteen musketsflashed out, and several of the pursuers fell from their horses. Aminute later the gate was closed and barred, and the men all ran up tothe roof, from which three muskets were fired simultaneously.
"Well done!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That is a good beginning."
A minute later a brisk fire was opened from the terrace upon thecavalry, who at once turned and rode rapidly back to their lines.
Captain Forster had not come scathless through the fray; his cheek hadbeen laid open by a sabre cut, and a musket ball had gone through thefleshy part of his arm as he rode back.
"This comes of fighting when there is no occasion," the Doctor growled,when he dressed his wounds. "Here you are charging a host like a paladinof old, forgetful that we want every man who can lift an arm in defenseof this place."
"I think, Doctor, there is someone else wants your services more than Ido."
"Yes; is anyone else hit?"
"No, I don't know that anyone else is hit, Doctor; but as I turned tocome into the house after the gates were shut, there was that fellowBathurst leaning against the wall as white as a sheet, and shaking allover like a leaf. I should say a strong dose of Dutch courage would bethe best medicine there."
"You do not do justice to Bathurst, Captain Forster," the Doctor saidgravely. "He is a man I esteem most highly. In some respects he is thebravest man I know, but he is constitutionally unable to standnoise, and the sound of a gun is torture to him. It is an unfortunateidiosyncrasy for which he is in no way accountable."
"Exceedingly unfortunate, I should say," Forster said, with a drylaugh; "especially at times like this. It is rather unlucky for himthat fighting is generally accompanied by noise. If I had such anidiosyncrasy, as you call it, I would blow out my brains."
"Perhaps Bathurst would do so, too, Captain Forster, if he had not morebrains to blow out than some people have."
"That is sharp, Doctor," Forster laughed good temperedly. "I don't minda fair hit."
"Well, I must go," the Doctor said, somewhat mollified; "there is plentyto do, and I expect, after these fellows have held a council of war,they will be trying an attack."
When the Doctor went out he found the whole of the garrison busy. TheMajor had placed four men on the roof, and had ordered everyone else tofill the bags that had been prepared for the purpose with earth fromthe garden. It was only an order to the men and male servants, butthe ladies had all gone out to render their assistance. As fast as thenatives filled the bags with earth the ladies sewed up the mouths of thebags, and the men carried them away and piled them against the gate.
The garrison consisted of the six military officers, the Doctor, sevencivilians, ten ladies, eight children, thirty-eight male servants, andsix females. The work, therefore, went on rapidly, and in the courseof two hours so large a pile of bags was built up against the gate thatthere was no probability whatever of its being forced.
"Now," the Major said, "we want four dozen bags at least for theparapet of the terrace. We need not raise it all, but we must build up abreastwork two bags high at each of the angles."
There was only just time to accomplish this when one of the watch on theroof reported that the Sepoys were firing the bungalows. As soon asthey saw that the Europeans had gained the shelter of the courthouse theSepoys, with yells of triumph, had made for the houses of the Europeans,and their disappointment at finding that not only had all the whitestaken refuge in the courthouse, but that they had removed most oftheir property, vented itself in setting fire to the buildings, afterstripping them of everything, and then amused themselves by keeping up astraggling fire against the courthouse.
As soon as the bags were taken onto the roof, the defenders, keeping asmuch as possible under the shelter of the parapet, carried them tothe corners of the terrace and piled them two deep, thus forming abreastwork four feet high. Eight of the best shots were then chosen, andtwo of them took post at each corner.
"Now," the Doctor said cheerfully, as he sat behind a small loopholethat had been left between the bags, "it is our turn, and I don't fancywe shall waste as much lead as they have been doing."
The fire from the defenders was slow, but it was deadly, and in a veryshort time the Sepoys no longer dared to show themselves in the open,but took refuge behind trees, whence they endeavored to reply to thefire on the roof; but even this proved so dangerous that it was not longbefore the fire ceased altogether, and they drew off under cover of thesmoke from the burning bungalows.
Isobel Hannay had met Bathurst as he was carrying a sack of earth to theroof.
"I have been wanting to speak to you, Mr. Bathurst, ever since yesterdayevening, but you have never given me an opportunity. Will you step intothe storeroom for a few minutes as you come down?"
As he came down he went to the door of the room in which Isobel wasstanding awaiting him.
"I am not coming in, Miss Hannay; I believe I know what you are goingto say. I saw it in your face last night when I had to tell that tigerstory. You want to say that you are sorry you said that you despisedcowards. Do not say it; you were perfectly right; you cannot despiseme one tenth as much as I despise myself. While you were looking at themutineers from the roof I was leaning against the wall below well nighfainting. What do you think my feelings must be that here, where everyman is brave, where there are women and children to be defended, I alonecannot bear my part. Look at my face; I know there is not a vestige ofcolor in it. Look at my hands; they are not steady yet. It is uselessfor you to speak; you may pity me, but you cannot but despise me.Believe me, that death when it comes will be to me a happy releaseindeed from the shame and misery I feel."
Then, turning, he left the girl without another word, and went abouthis work. The Doctor had, just before going up to take his place on theroof, come across him.
"Come in here, my dear Bathurst," he said, seizing his arm and dragginghim into the room which had been given up to him for his drugs andsurgical appliances.
"Let me give you a strong dose of ammonia and ginger; you want a pickupI can see by your face."
"I want it, Doctor, but I will not take it," Bathurst said. "That isone thing I have made up my mind to. I will take no spirits to create acourage that I do not possess."
"It is not courage; it has nothing to do with courage," the Doctor saidangrily. "It is a simple question of nerves, as I have told you over andover again."
"Call it what you like, Doctor, the result is precisely the same. I donot mind taking a strong dose of quinine if you will give it me, for Ifeel as weak as a child, but no spirits."
With an impatient shrug of the shoulders the Doctor mixed a strong doseof quinine and gave it to him.
An hour later a sudden outburst of musketry took place. Not a nativeshowed himself
on the side of the house facing the maidan, but from thegardens on the other three sides a heavy fire was opened.
"Every man to the roof," the Major said; "four men to each of the rearcorners, three to the others. Do you think you are fit to fire, Forster?Had you not better keep quiet for today; you will have opportunitiesenough."
"I am all right, Major," he said carelessly. "I can put my rifle througha loophole and fire, though I have one arm in a sling. By Jove!" hebroke off suddenly; "look at that fellow Bathurst--he looks like aghost."
The roll of musketry was unabated, and the defenders were alreadybeginning to answer it; the bullets sung thickly overhead, and above thedin could be heard the shouts of the natives. Bathurst's face was rigidand ghastly pale. The Major hurried to him.
"My dear Bathurst," he said, "I think you had better go below. You willfind plenty of work to do there."
"My work is here," Bathurst said, as if speaking to himself: "it must bedone."
The Major could not at the moment pay further attention to him, for aroar of fire broke out round the inclosure, as from the ruined bungalowsand from every bush the Sepoys, who had crept up, now commenced theattack in earnest, while the defenders lying behind their parapetreplied slowly and steadily, aiming at the puffs of smoke as they dartedout. His attention was suddenly called by a shout from the Doctor.
"Are you mad, Bathurst? Lie down, man; you a throwing away your life."
Turning round, the Major saw Bathurst standing up--right by the parapet,facing the point where the enemy fire was hottest. He held a rifle inhis hand but did not attempt to fire; his figure swayed slightly to andfro.
"Lie down," the Major shouted, "lie down, sir;" and then as Bathurststill stood unmoved he was about to run forward, when the Doctor fromone side and Captain Forster from the other rushed towards him through astorm of bullets, seized him in their arms, and dragged him back to thecenter of the terrace.
"Nobly done, gentlemen," the Major said, as they laid Bathurst down; "itwas almost miraculous your not being hit."
Bathurst had struggled fiercely for a moment, and then his resistancehad suddenly ceased, and he had been dragged back like a wooden figure.His eyes were closed now.
"Has he been hit, Doctor?" the Major asked. "It seems impossible hecan have escaped. What madness possessed him to put himself there as atarget?"
"No, I don't think he is hit," the Doctor said, as he examined him. "Ithink he has fainted. We had better carry him down to my room. Shakehands, Forster; I know you and Bathurst were not good friends, and yourisked your life to save him."
"I did not think who it was," Forster said, with a careless laugh. "Isaw a man behaving like a madman, and naturally went to pull him down.However, I shall think better of him in future, though I doubt whetherhe was in his right senses."
"He wanted to be killed," the Doctor said quietly; "and the effort thathe made to place himself in the way of death must have been greater thaneither you or I can well understand, Forster. I know the circumstancesof the case. Morally I believe there is no braver man living than he is;physically he has the constitution of a timid woman; it is mind againstbody."
"The distinction is too fine for me, Doctor," Forster said, as heturned to go off to his post by the parapet. "I understand pluck and Iunderstand cowardice, but this mysterious mixture you speak of is beyondme altogether."
The Major and Dr. Wade lifted Bathurst and carried him below. Mrs.Hunter, who had been appointed chief nurse, met them.
"Is he badly wounded, Doctor?"
"No; he is not wounded at all, Mrs. Hunter. He stood up at the edge ofthe parapet and exposed himself so rashly to the Sepoys' fire thatwe had to drag him away, and then the reaction, acting on a nervoustemperament, was too much for him, and he fainted. We shall soon bringhim round. You can come in with me, but keep the others away."
The Major at once returned to the terrace.
In spite of the restoratives the Doctor poured through his lips, andcold water dashed in his face, Bathurst was some time before he openedhis eyes. Seeing Mrs. Hunter and the Doctor beside him, he made aneffort to rise.
"You must lie still, Bathurst," the Doctor said, pressing his hand onhis shoulder. "You have done a very foolish thing, a very wrong thing.You have tried to throw away your life."
"No, I did not. I had no thought of throwing away my life," Bathurstsaid, after a pause. "I was trying to make myself stand fire. I didnot think whether I should be hit or not. I am not afraid of bullets,Doctor; it's the horrible, fiendish noise that I cannot stand."
"I know, my boy," the Doctor said kindly; "but it comes to the samething. You did put yourself in the way of bullets when your doing so wasof no possible advantage, and it is almost a miracle that you escapedunhurt. You must remain here quiet for the present. II shall leave youin charge of Mrs. Hunter. There is nothing for you to do on the roofat present. This attack is a mere outbreak of rage on the part of theSepoys that we have all escaped them. They know well enough they can'ttake this house by merely firing away at the roof. When they attack inearnest it will be quite time for you to take part in the affair again.Now, Mrs. Hunter, my orders are absolute that he is not to be allowed toget up."
On the Doctor leaving the room he found several of the ladies outside;the news that Mr. Bathurst had been carried down had spread among them.
"Is he badly hurt, Doctor?"
"No, ladies. Mr. Bathurst is, unfortunately for himself, an extremelynervous man, and the noise of firearms has an effect upon him that hecannot by any effort of his own overcome. In order, as he says, to tryand accustom himself to it, he went and stood at the edge of the parapetin full sight of the Sepoys, and let them blaze away at him. He musthave been killed if Forster and I had not dragged him away by mainforce. Then came the natural reaction, and he fainted. That is all thereis about it. Poor fellow, he is extremely sensitive on the ground ofpersonal courage. In other respects I have known him do things requiringan amount of pluck that not one man in a hundred possesses, and I wishyou all to remember that his nervousness at the effect of the noise offirearms is a purely constitutional weakness, for which he is in no wayto be blamed. He has just risked his life in the most reckless manner inorder to overcome what he considers, and what he knows that some personsconsider, is cowardice, and it would be as cruel, and I may say ascontemptible, to despise him for a constitutional failing as it would beto despise a person for being born a humpback or a cripple. But I cannotstand talking any longer. I shall be of more use on the roof than I amhere."
Isobel Hannay was not among those who had gathered near the door of theroom in which Bathurst was lying, but the Doctor had raised his voice,and she heard what he said, and bent over her work of sewing strips oflinen together for bandages with a paler face than had been caused bythe outbreak of musketry. Gradually the firing ceased. The Sepoys hadsuffered heavily from the steady fire of the invisible defenders andgradually drew off, and in an hour from the commencement of the attackall was silent round the building.
"So far so good, ladies," the Major said cheerily, as the garrison,leaving one man on watch, descended from the roof. "We have had nocasualties, and I think we must have inflicted a good many, and themutineers are not likely to try that game on again, for they must seethat they are wasting ammunition, and are doing us no harm. Now I hopethe servants have got tiffin ready for us, for I am sure we have allexcellent appetites."
"Tiffin is quite ready, Major," Mrs. Doolan, who had been appointedchief of the commissariat department, said cheerfully. "The servantswere a little disorganized when the firing began, but they soon becameaccustomed to it, and I think you will find everything in order in thehall."
The meal was really a cheerful one. The fact that the first attack hadpassed over without anyone being hit raised the spirits of the women,and all were disposed to look at matters in a cheerful light. The twoyoung subalterns were in high spirits, and the party were more livelythan they had been since the first outbreak of the mutiny. All had feltseverely th
e strain of waiting, and the reality of danger was a positiverelief after the continuous suspense. It was much to them to know thatthe crisis had come at last, that they were still all together and thefoe were without.
"It is difficult to believe," Mrs. Doolan said, "that it was onlyyesterday evening we were all gathered at the Major's. It seems an agesince then."
"Yes, indeed," Mrs. Rintoul agreed; "the night seemed endless. The worsttime was the waiting till we were to begin to move over. After that Idid not so much mind, though it seemed more like a week than a nightwhile the things were being brought in here."
"I think the worse time was while we were waiting watching from the roofto see whether the troops would come out on parade as usual," Isobelsaid. "When my uncle and the others were all in, and Captain Forster,and the gates were shut, it seemed that our anxieties were over."
"That was a mad charge of yours, Forster," the Major said. "It was likethe Balaclava business--magnificent; but it wasn't war."
"I did not think of it one way or the other," Captain Forster laughed."I was so furious at the insolence off those dogs attacking me, thatI thought of nothing else, and just went at them; but of course it wasfoolish."
"It did good," the Doctor said. "It showed the Sepoys how little wethought of them, and how a single white officer was ready to matchhimself against a squadron. It will render them a good deal more carefulin their attack than they otherwise would have been. It brought themunder our fire, too, and they suffered pretty heavily; and I am sure theinfantry must have lost a good many men from our fire just now. I hopethey will come to the conclusion that the wisest thing they can do isto march away to Delhi and leave us severely alone. Now what are yourorders, Major, for after breakfast?"
"I think the best thing is for everyone to lie down for a few hours,"the Major said. "No one had a wink of sleep last night, and most of ushave not slept much for some nights past. We must always keep two men onthe roof, to be relieved every two hours. I will draw up a regular rotafor duty; but except those two, the rest had better take a good sleep.We may be all called upon to be under arms at night."
"I will go on the first relief, Major," the Doctor said. "I feelparticularly wide awake. It is nothing new to me to be up all night. PutBathurst down with me," he said, in a low tone, as the Major rose fromthe table. "He knows that I understand him, and it will be less painfulfor him to be with me than with anyone else. I will go up at once, andsend young Harper down to his breakfast. There will be no occasion tohave Bathurst up this time. The Sepoys are not likely to be trying anypranks at present. No doubt they have gone back to their lines to get ameal."
The Doctor had not been long at his post when Isobel Hannay came uponto the terrace. They had seen each other alone comparatively little oflate, as the Doctor had given up his habit of dropping in for a chat inthe morning since their conversation about Bathurst.
"Well, my dear, what is it?" he asked. "This is no place for you, forthere are a few fellows still lurking among the trees, and they send ashot over the house occasionally."
"I came up to say that I am sorry, Doctor."
"That is right, Isobel. Always say you are sorry when you are so,although in nine cases out of ten, and this is one of them, the sayingso is too late to do much good."
"I think you are rather hard upon me, Doctor. I know you were speakingat me today when you were talking to the others, especially in what yousaid at the end."
"Perhaps I was; but I think you quite deserved it."
"Yes, I know I did; but it was hard to tell me it was as contemptible todespise a man for a physical weakness he could not help, as to despiseone for being born humpbacked or a cripple, when you know that mybrother was so."
"I wanted you to feel that your conduct had been contemptible, Isobel,and I put it in the way that was most likely to come home to you. I havebeen disappointed in you. I thought you were more sensible than the runof young women, and I found out that you were not. I thought you hadsome confidence in my judgment, but it turned out that you had not.If Bathurst had been killed when he was standing up, a target for theSepoys, I should have held you morally responsible for his death."
"You would have shared the responsibility, anyhow, Doctor, for it wasyou who repeated my words to him."
"We will not go over that ground again," said the Doctor quietly. "Igave you my reasons for doing so, and those reasons are to my mindconvincing. Now I will tell you how this constitutional nervousness onhis part arose. He told me the story; but as at that time there hadbeen no occasion for him to show whether he was brave or otherwise, Iconsidered my lips sealed. Now that his weakness has been exhibited, Iconsider myself more than justified in explaining its origin."
And he then repeated the story Bathurst had told him.
"You see," he said, when he had finished, "it is a constitutional matterbeyond his control; it is a sort of antipathy. I have known a case of awoman courageous in all other respects, who, at the sight of even adead cockroach, would faint away. I have seen one of the most gallantofficers of my acquaintance turn pale at the sight of a spider.Certainly no one would think of calling either one or the other coward;and assuredly such a name should not be applied to a man who would facea tiger armed only with a whip in defense of a native woman, because hisnerves go all to pieces at the sound of firearms."
"If you had told me all this before I should never have spoken as Idid," Isobel pleaded.
"I did not go into the full details, but I told you that he was notresponsible for his want of firmness under fire, and that I knew himin other respects to be a brave man," the Doctor said uncompromisingly."Since then you have by your manner driven him away from you. You haveflirted--well, you may not call it flirting," he broke off in answerto a gesture of denial, "but it was the same thing--with a man who isundoubtedly a gallant soldier--a very paladin, if you like--but who,in spite of his handsome face and pleasant manner, is no more to becompared with Bathurst in point of moral qualities or mental abilitythan light to dark, and this after I had like an old fool gone out of myway to warn you. You have disappointed me altogether, Isobel Hannay."
Isobel stood motionless before him, with downcast eyes.
"Well, there, my dear," the Doctor went on hurriedly, as he saw a tearglisten in her eyelashes; "don't let us say anything more about it. Inthe first place, it is no affair of mine; and in the second place, yourpoint of view was that most women would take at a time like this; only,you know, I expected you would not have done just as other women would.We cannot afford to quarrel now, for there is no doubt that, although wemay put a good face on the matter, our position is one of grave peril,and it is of no use troubling over trifles. Now run away, and get a fewhours' sleep if you can. You will want all your strength before we arethrough with this business."
While the Doctor had been talking to Isobel, the men had gathered belowin a sort of informal council, the subject being Bathurst's conduct onthe roof.
"I would not have believed it if I had not seen it," Captain Rintoulsaid. "The man was absolutely helpless with fright; I never saw such anexhibition; and then his fainting afterwards and having to be carriedaway was disgusting; in fact, it is worse than that."
There was a general murmur of assent.
"It is disgraceful," one of the civilians said; "I am ashamed that theman should belong to our service; the idea of a fellow being helpless byfright when there are women and children to be defended--it is downrightrevolting."
"Well, he did go and stick himself up in front," Wilson said; "youshould remember that. He may have been in a blue funk, I don't say hewasn't; still, you know, he didn't go away and try to hide himself, buthe stuck himself up in front for them to fire at. I think we ought totake that into consideration."
"Dr. Wade says Bathurst put himself there to try and accustom himself tofire," Captain Forster said. "Mind, I don't pretend to like the man. Wewere at school together, and he was a coward then and a sneak, but forall that one should look at it fairly. The Doctor asserts
that Bathurstis morally brave, but that somehow or other his nerves are too muchfor him. I don't pretend to understand it myself, but there is nodoubt about the Doctor's pluck, and I don't think he would stand upfor Bathurst as he does unless he really thought he was not altogetheraccountable for showing the white feather. I think, too, from what helet drop, that the Major is to some extent of the same opinion. What doyou think, Doolan?"
"I like Bathurst," Captain Doolan said; "I have always thought him afirst rate fellow; but one can't stick up, you know, for a fellow whocan't behave as a gentleman ought to, especially when there are womenand children in danger."
"It. is quite impossible that we should associate with him," CaptainRintoul said. "I don't propose that we should tell him what we think ofhim, but I think we ought to leave him severely alone."
"I should say that he ought to be sent to Coventry," Richards said.
"I should not put it in that way," Mr. Hunter said gravely. "I havealways esteemed Bathurst. I look upon it as a terribly sad case; butI agree with Captain Rintoul that, in the position in which we are nowplaced, a man who proves himself to be a coward must be made to feelthat he stands apart from us. I should not call it sending him toCoventry, or anything of that sort, but I do think that we shouldexpress by our manner that we don't wish to have any communication withhim."
There was a general expression of assent to this opinion, Wilson aloneprotesting against it.
"You can do as you like," he said; "but certainly I shall speak toBathurst, and I am sure the Doctor and Major Hannay will do so. I don'twant to stand up for a coward, but I believe what the Doctor says. Ihave seen a good deal of Bathurst, and I like him; besides, haven't youheard the story the Doctor has been telling about his attacking a tigerwith a whip to save a native woman? I don't care what anyone says, afellow who is a downright coward couldn't do a thing like that."
"Who told the Doctor about it?" Farquharson asked. "If he got it fromBathurst, I don't think it goes for much after what we have seen."
Wilson would have replied angrily, but Captain Doolan put his hand onhis shoulder.
"Shut up, Wilson," he said; "this is no time for disputes; we are all inone boat here, and must row together like brothers. You go your ownway about Bathurst, I don't blame you for it; he is a man everyone hasliked, a first rate official, and a good fellow all round, except he isnot one of the sociable kind. At any other time one would not think somuch of this, but at present for a man to lack courage is for him tolack everything. I hope he will come better out of it than it looks atpresent. He will have plenty of chances here, and no one will be moreglad than I shall to see him pull himself together."
The Doctor, however, would have quarreled with everyone all round whenhe heard what had been decided upon, had not Major Hannay taken himaside and talked to him strongly.
"It will never do, Doctor, to have quarrels here, and as commandant Imust beg of you not to make this a personal matter. I am very sorry forthis poor fellow; I accept entirely your view of the matter; but atthe same time I really can't blame the others for looking at it from amatter of fact point of view. Want of courage is at all times regardedby men as the most unpardonable of failings, and at a time like thepresent this feeling is naturally far stronger even than usual. I hopewith you that Bathurst will retrieve himself yet, but we shall certainlydo him no good by trying to fight his battle until he does. You andI, thinking as we do, will of course make no alteration in our mannertowards him. I am glad to hear that young Wilson also stands as hisfriend. Let matters go on quietly. I believe they will come right in theend."
The Doctor was obliged to acknowledge that the Major's counsel was wise,and to refrain from either argument or sarcasm; but the effort requiredto check his natural tendency to wordy conflict was almost too great forhim, and when not engaged in his own special duties he spent hours inone of the angles of the terrace keenly watching every tree and bushwithin range, and firing vengefully whenever he caught sight of alurking native. So accurate was his aim that the Sepoys soon learnedto know and dread the crack of his rifle; and whenever it spoke out theground within its range was speedily clear of foes.
The matter, however, caused a deep if temporary estrangement betweenWilson and Richards. Although constantly chaffing each other, andengaged in verbal strife, they had hitherto been firm friends. Theirrivalry in the matter of horseflesh had not aroused angry feelings, eventheir mutual adoration of Isobel Hannay had not affected a breach intheir friendship; but upon the subject of sending Bathurst toCoventry they quarreled so hotly, that for a time they broke off allcommunication with each other, and both in their hearts regretted thattheir schoolboy days had passed, and that they could not settle thematter in good schoolboy fashion.