Chapter 7: Besieged.
Dick hastily clambered up the wall, ran to the gate, blew the tinder,and then applied it to the slow match. A moment later, this began tofizz.
"Round the corner of the wall, Surajah!" he exclaimed, running backhimself.
A few anxious seconds passed, then came a sharp explosion. In aninstant they ran up. The gate stood two or three inches open. Ityielded to a push, and they ran out.
Loud shouts were heard from the men above, and a hubbub of cries fromthe guard house.
"Run, Surajah! We must risk it. Keep on the edge of the road, anddodge as you go. The chances are they will run down below, to see whathas happened."
At the top of their speed, they dashed down the road. No shot wasfired from the wall, Dick's conjecture that the first impulse of thesentries would be to run down below having been justified. They were acouple of hundred yards away, before two shots were fired from thegate. The bullets whistled by harmlessly.
"We are all right now," Dick cried. "They can scarcely see us, and weshall soon be out of sight altogether."
Five or six more shots were fired a few seconds later, as the men fromthe guard house reached the gate. On looking back, when they had goneanother hundred yards, they saw a number of figures on the road.
"Not quite so fast, Surajah," Dick said. "It is going to be a longchase, now. We have got three hundred yards start, and they won't beable to load again, running at full speed."
For a time, their pursuers gained somewhat upon them; then, gradually,they began to straggle, as the effect of the speed at which they wererunning told upon them. When they reached the ruined village, therewere four men running together, some three hundred yards behind. Therest were a considerable distance in the rear.
"Another mile or two, and they will all give up the chase except thesefour, Surajah, and if they turn out better runners than we do, we canmake a stand. There are some more huts another two miles farther, andwe will fight them there."
They were going slower now, for although the downward course of theroad helped them a good deal, the run was telling on them. Not a wordwas spoken, until they reached the second village. When they came tothe first house, they stopped simultaneously, and looked round. Theirpursuers were not more than two hundred yards behind them.
"In here, Surajah," Dick said, as he ran into the ruined hut.
Its roof was gone, its door hung loose on its hinges. It had but onewindow, a small one, looking up the valley. Dick laid his gun on thesill, which was nearly level with his shoulder.
"I must wait until they get pretty close," he said, "for I am pantingso that I can't keep the barrel steady, even with this rest."
"I will kneel down outside," Surajah said.
"Mind, I will fire first, Surajah. Don't you fire until they arewithin twenty yards of you. By that time I shall have loaded again."
Dick had more time than he had expected, for as soon as their pursuerssaw them enter the hut, they slackened their pace considerably. Theywere within about eighty yards, when Dick held his breath andstanding, for a moment, immovable, took a steady aim and fired.
One of the men stumbled in his run, took a step or two forward, andthen fell on his face. The others paused for a moment, and then, witha fierce yell, ran forward.
The moment he had fired, Dick dropped the stock of his gun on to theground, snatched a cartridge from the bandolier, bit off the end, andemptied the powder into the barrel, gave the gun a shake, so as to besure that it ran into the touch hole, and then rammed down the bullet.As he was in the act of doing so, Surajah fired, and a loud yell toldthat his shot had been successful.
Dick sprang to the door as Surajah entered. Two shots at the sameinstant rang out; but, at even so short a distance, the bullets wentwide. Dick stepped out, and in turn fired. One of the two men fell;the other threw down his musket, and fled up the road.
"Thank goodness that is over," Dick exclaimed. "I thought they had nochance with us, here. Now the first thing is to get our wind again."
They stood for two or three minutes, breathing heavily; then, as theirbreath came again, they prepared to move, when Dick exclaimedsuddenly, "What is that noise?"
There was a dull, confused sound in the air, and then Surajah,pointing up the road, exclaimed, "Cavalry!"
Far away on the white road, a dark mass could be seen. At first, Dickinstinctively turned to resume their flight, but then he said:
"It is of no use, Surajah. The sides of the valley are too steep toclimb, and they will be up in five or six minutes. We must fight itout here. Run out to that man I shot, and bring in his gun, bandolier,pistols if he has any, and sword. I will take them from these two. Itwill make all the difference, having spare weapons."
Surajah, without a word, hurried up the road, while Dick ran over tothe house opposite, which seemed to be larger than the one they hadfirst entered. He looked round. It contained only one room, but thiswas twenty feet square. There were three small windows, one lookinginto the street, one looking up the valley, and one behind. The floorwas littered with the beams of the roof. The door was still in itsplace. Having ascertained this, he ran back to the bodies of the twomen, picked up the three guns, took off their bandoliers, and removedthe pistols from their sashes; and with these, and one of theirswords, returned to the house, just as Surajah came back.
"This is the best house to defend, Surajah. There are some beams withwhich we can block up the door."
Laying down the arms inside, they set to work with the beams, andbarricaded the door so firmly that, short of its being splintered topieces, no entry could be effected. This done, they re-charged the sixguns, examined the pistols, and finding that they were loaded, placedthree of them in each of their sashes, and hung the swords by theirsides. Then they went to the window looking up the valley. Thehorsemen, some twenty in number, were but a short quarter of a mileaway, and were coming along at a gallop.
"Don't fire, Surajah," Dick said. "They will have heard, from the manwho has got away, that we are in the house opposite, and if they don'tfind us there, they will think that we have gone on, and will ridedown the valley till they are sure they must be ahead of us. Then theywill search the ground carefully, as they come back, and altogether wemay gain an hour; and every moment is of use. It must be two o'clocknow, and our troop generally gets here soon after seven."
As he spoke, the horsemen drew up in front of the opposite hut. Therewas a momentary pause, and then a voice said:
"It is empty."
Then followed the command:
"Ride on, men. They can't have got very far. We shall overtake them inten minutes."
As soon as they started, Dick said:
"Take a ramrod, Surajah, and make some holes through the walls, tofire through. If we were to show ourselves at the windows, we mightget shot."
The walls were built of mud and clay, and with the iron ramrods theyhad no difficulty in making four holes, an inch wide and two incheshigh, on each side of the house.
"Now we are ready for them," Dick said, when they had finished. "Theyhave been gone half an hour, and it won't be long before they areback."
In a few minutes, they heard the clatter of horses' hoofs. It ceasedsome forty or fifty yards away, and by the sound of voices and orders,it was evident that the other houses were being searched. Voices werealso heard at the back of the house, and they guessed that the groundwas being closely examined, up to the foot of the rock walls whichenclosed the valley.
"Now, Surajah, you can take a shot from the window of that side. Theothers will be here in a minute, and it is just as well to let themknow where we are, before they get close up to our door."
Surajah went to the window at the back. Four horsemen were makingtheir way, at a walk, along the level ground between the rocks and thehuts. The nearest was but some forty yards away. Surajah fired, andthe man at once fell from his horse. The others instantly galloped onat full speed up the valley, and from the window at the end, Surajahsaw them gather on t
he road three or four hundred yards away; andthen, after a short consultation, cross to the other side of thevalley, with the intention, he had no doubt, of rejoining theircomrades.
The sound of the gun had been followed by shouts and exclamations fromthe party in the village. Dick could hear a conference in low tones;then all was silent. He went to the loophole at the corner, laid hisrifle in it, and waited, looking along the barrel. Two or threeminutes later the hole was darkened, and he fired at once. There was asound of a heavy fall, followed by cries of rage, and a moment laterthere was a rush of men against the door.
Surajah ran across. Two spare guns were pushed through the loopholes,one on each side of it. These had not been bored straight through thewall, but at angles that would enable them to fire at anyone attackingit. Looking along the barrels, each could see one of the group infront, and fired at the same moment. With a yell of rage and surprise,the assailants of the door sprang back and ran down the street.
"There are four less, anyhow," Dick said, as he and Surajah reloadedthe empty guns. "Those loopholes will puzzle them, and I don't thinkthey will care to come on again, for a bit."
There was a pause for some minutes, and then, from the huts opposite,and from various points higher up the valley and behind, a droppingfire was opened.
"Keep out of the line of the windows, whatever you do, Surajah; and itwill be just as well to lie down for a bit, until we see whether anyof their shots come through the wall. I think we are quite safe fromthe distant fire, but from the house opposite it is possible they maypenetrate it. Anyhow, don't stand in the line of a loophole. A strayball might find its way in."
For a few minutes, the enemy fired away unanswered, and then Dick, whohad been seated on the ground with his back against the end wall, gotup and went along that facing the street, carefully examining it.
"I don't think any of their balls have come through, Surajah. I shouldbe able to see out into the moonlight, if they had done so. Now it istime for us to be doing something. I expect they are getting a littlebolder, and will perhaps give us a chance.
"You take this loophole. It is exactly in a line with the oppositehut, and the fellows in there must come to their door to fire. I willtake this slanting hole by the doorpost. I can see one of the windowsof the next hut to that we were in. I have no doubt that they arefiring from there also. Don't wait for them to shoot, but firedirectly a figure shows itself."
In a very short time Surajah fired. Dick heard the clatter of a gun,as it fell to the ground.
"You have hit him, Surajah."
"Yes, but only wounded him. I think I hit him on the shoulder. He lethis gun drop, and ran into the house."
"Take a spare gun at once. If there are others there, they will thinkthat you are loading, and may show themselves again."
A moment later, Dick saw a gun thrust out through the window he waswatching. Then the head and shoulders of a man appeared behind it. Hefired, and the figure disappeared. Almost at the same instant, Surajahfired again.
"I had one that time, Sahib!"
It was now quiet for some little time. Then a horseman dashed suddenlypast, and galloped up the valley at full speed.
"The end window, Surajah! Bring him down, if you can."
Surajah ran there and fired.
"I have missed him!" he said, in a tone of deep disappointment.
"It does not make much difference. If you had hit him, they could havesent another off close to the opposite side of the valley. There is nodoubt as to what he has gone for. You see, they have lost six killedand one wounded, and they must know that they have not the slightestchance of taking this hut. I have no doubt that he has ridden back tobring down the infantry from the fort. From the number of huts roundthe gate, and the sound of talking, I should think there were fifty orsixty at least--perhaps a hundred.
"If they send down fifty, we shall have sharp work. Our difficultywill be to prevent them from making a rush at all the windowstogether. If they were to get there, they could riddle us with balls."
"Could we block them up, Sahib?"
"That is just what I was thinking," Dick replied. "We might try,anyhow. It will be an hour and a half before they are down here. Itmust be past four now, and in another hour daylight will begin tobreak.
"There is any amount of the old thatch down on the floor. The best waywould be to fill up the window holes with it first, then to put two orthree bits of wood across, and a strong piece down behind it, and tokeep that in its place by wedging one of the long beams against it. Ifthey came up and tried to pull the thatch out, we could fire throughit with our pistols; and we will make a loophole below each when wehave got the work done."
It was not so difficult a business as they thought it would be. Thewindows were little more than a foot across and two feet high. It wasbut the work of a few minutes to fill these up with the masses ofthatch. When this was done, they picked out thick pieces of wood forcrossbars. Then they took a beam, eight feet long, made a hole withtheir tulwars in the clay floor close to the wall, put one end of thebeam into it, and reared it upright against the window. Dick held itin its place, while Surajah hacked a deep notch in it--a by no meansdifficult matter, for it was half rotten with exposure.
The notch was cut just opposite the middle of the window. The threecrosspieces were then put into their place, and the upright pressedfirmly against them. One end of a long beam was placed in the notch,the other in a slight hole made in the ground, thus forming a strut,which held the rest firmly in their positions.
"That is a good job done," Dick said, "but a very hot one. Now,Surajah, sharpen three or four pieces of wood, and drive them downinto the ground at the foot of that strut; then it will be as firm asa rock."
They then proceeded, in the same way, with the other two windows.
"It is getting light fast," Dick said, as he wiped the perspirationfrom his face. "Take a look out up the valley. They ought to be comingby this time."
Surajah applied his eye to one of the loopholes.
"I can see them," he said. "They are half a mile away. There are twomounted men. I expect one is their officer, and the other the man whorode back to fetch them."
"Let us set to work at the loopholes under the windows, Surajah. It ismost important to get them done. You make the one at the end, I willdo that one looking into the street. Put it as close to the beam asyou can."
They worked hard, and it was not long before the walls were pierced.
"Now, Surajah, you do the one at the back. The fellows will soon bewithin range, and I will give them a lesson to be careful. They willnaturally break up, and go round behind the houses opposite, as theycan find shelter nowhere else; and, for a bit at any rate, we shallget them all on one side of us, which is what we want."
Dick carried the six guns to the end of the hut, and then applied hiseye to the loophole there. The enemy were coming along at a run, in aconfused mass.
"I can't very well miss them," he muttered to himself, as he thrusthis gun through a loophole, and fired. Without waiting to see theresult, he thrust another gun out, aimed, and fired.
"Never mind the hole, Surajah," he said. "Come here and reload."
The four other shots were discharged in rapid succession. TheMysoreans at first opened an irregular fire on the hut. When the sixthshot was fired, they left the road in a body, and ran across thevalley, leaving four of their number on the ground behind them.
As soon as the guns were reloaded, Surajah returned to his work. Itwas now broad daylight, and the sun was shining upon the hilltops. Aquarter of an hour passed, without a movement from the enemy. Dick andhis companion occupied the time in further strengthening the door withcrossbeams, kept in their place by struts.
"If they break it to splinters," Dick said, when they had finished,"they will hardly be able to force their way in, for if they were totry to crawl in between those crossbeams, they would be completely atour mercy.
"Now, we must get ready for a rush. I expect they will come a
lltogether. There are the six guns, and three pistols each. Keep one ofthe latter in reserve. We ought not to waste a shot; and if they loseten men, I should think they will give up the attack on the door.
"Stand clear of it, Surajah. They will probably fire into it beforethey charge--keep down below the level of the loopholes."
Presently a volley of musketry was fired, and the door was riddled bybullets. Then a number of figures sprang from between the two oppositehouses, and rushed at the door. Two of them carried a long, heavybeam.
Two shots flashed out in return, from the hut. One of the men carryingthe beam fell, as did an officer who was leading them; but instantlyanother caught up the end of the timber, and in a moment a crowd wereclustered round the door. Several caught hold of the beam, and swungit as though they meant to use it as a battering ram.
Two more puffs of smoke spurted out from the loopholes, and again twoof the men fell. The others, however, swung it forward with a crashagainst the door. The end of the beam went right through the rottenwoodwork. Dick and Surajah fired their last musket shots with asdeadly effect as before. The next blow dashed the door from itshinges, and, split and shattered by the former shocks, it fell forwardinto the road, while a yell of triumph broke from the Mysoreans.
This died away, however, when they saw the three crossbars blockingtheir entrance. Again two pistol shots carried death among them.
"Load your guns, Surajah."
But before Surajah had time to do so, the Mysoreans made a rush at thedoor. The defenders stepped forward and fired between the crossbars,and then, drawing their tulwars, ran the two men in front through thebody. As they dropped, those behind them drew back.
"The last pistols!" Dick shouted, and they fired two shots into thecrowd.
This completed the consternation of the enemy. It seemed to them thatthe defenders possessed an unlimited supply of firearms. Alreadytwelve shots had been fired, and not one had failed to take effect.With a cry of consternation they fled down the street, leaving theground in front of the fatal door strewn with bodies.
The defenders instantly set about the work of recharging theirfirearms. They were not interrupted, but presently an irregular fireopened upon them, from the jungle that had taken the place of thegarden between the opposite houses.
"We may as well lie down at full length," Dick said, setting theexample. "There is no use in running risks. You keep that side, andlisten attentively. It is likely enough that they will work roundbehind, next time, and try the windows. By the way they are firing, Ifancy there are not more than five or six of them opposite."
Another half hour passed. Then Surajah exclaimed, "I can hear them onthis side."
Dick got up, and crossed at once.
"I will take the loophole under this window. You go to the one at theend. I expect they will try both windows at once."
Dick placed the muzzle of his gun in the loophole, and, glancingalong, saw that something dark barred his view. He fired at once.There was a loud cry and a fall, then a rush to the window, and amoment later a hole appeared in the thatch. Dick discharged twopistols through it, and as he did so Surajah fired.
The thatch was speedily pulled down, as the enemy had learned to avoidthe loopholes. A yell of rage rose, as the fallen thatch showed themthat the window was defended with crossbars, in the same way as thedoor. Immediately afterwards, Dick had a narrow escape from a shotfired through a loophole close to him.
"Stoop down," he cried, and, crouching below the level of theloopholes, made his way to the end of the hut. "Recharge the gunsfirst, Surajah. They may fire away through the loopholes as long asthey like. It is lucky we made them so high, except the three underthe windows. We must be careful in keeping out of the line of those.
"You sit down where you can command the end window, and the onebehind--I will watch the front window and door. A bold fellow mightput his musket through, and pick one of us off, and that is what wehave to prevent. So keep your gun in readiness, and if you see a headappear, don't miss it."
The enemy now kept up a constant fire through the loopholes at the endand back of the house; but as these were shoulder high, and there wasno altering the elevation of the guns, the shots flew harmlessly overthe heads of the defenders. Several times, Dick went to one or otherof the loopholes, pistol in hand, and, standing close beside it,waited until a shot was fired; and then, thrusting the barrel into theloophole, fired before another gun could be inserted, the dischargebeing generally followed by a sharp cry of pain.
After this had gone on for nearly an hour, the assailants evidentlybecame discouraged. The shots came from the loopholes less frequently,and presently ceased altogether.
"I would give a good deal to know what they are up to," Dick said,after a long pause.
"Shall I look through the loophole?" Surajah asked.
"Certainly not. There will be a man standing at each of them, waitingin expectation of our taking a look out."
"But there are none in front," Surajah said.
"That is more than we can say. They have not been firing on that side,but they may have men there now. No, we will leave well alone,Surajah. The longer they delay, the better for us.
"Keep your eye on the top of the wall, as well as on the window. Theymay have made some ladders by this time, and may intend to try ashot."
"Perhaps they are gone?" Surajah suggested.
"It is quite possible. They must know that our troop comes up hereearly, and as they have four miles to walk back to the fort, andseveral wounded to carry with them, they certainly won't stay muchlonger--if, as you say, they have not gone already."
It was indeed well that Surajah had not attempted to look out at oneof the loopholes; for, at the time he asked the question, a darkfigure was standing at each, looking along the barrel of his gun, inreadiness to fire the moment the light was obscured.
A few minutes later Dick exclaimed:
"How stupid! We can easily test whether there is any one there,Surajah;" and, taking up a piece of thatch he pushed it suddenlyacross one of the loopholes.
No shot followed the action, and he went round the hut, and repeatedthe experiment at each of them.
"They have all gone," he said confidently. "Had they been outside,they would certainly have fired directly the light was obscured."
Standing a short distance back from the end window, he looked outbetween the crossbeams.
"Hurrah!" he shouted. "There they go up the road. They are a quarterof a mile away. They are not more than half as strong as they werewhen they came down. They are carrying eight or ten figures on theirshoulders, on litters, or doors."
"I don't see the cavalry," Surajah said, as he joined him.
"No. It is likely enough that they may be in hiding among the hutsopposite, and are waiting, in hopes that we may be foolish enough totake it for granted that they are all gone, and pull down the bars ofthe door. I expect they will stay until they see our troop coming upthe valley."
They continued to look out from the window, from which they had nowremoved the bars. Half an hour later, Dick exclaimed:
"There they go, up that side of the valley. I have no doubt they seeour troop, and that in a few minutes we shall hear them coming."
It was not long before they heard a trampling of horses, and a momentlater the Rajah's voice exclaimed:
"Why, what is this? Here are a dozen dead bodies. They are Mysoreans,by their dress."
"All right, Uncle," Dick shouted, "we will be out as soon as we getthese bars down. We have been standing a siege."
It did not take long to remove the bars. The Rajah and his men haddismounted, as soon as some of the latter had gone round the hut, andhad brought back the report that there were five more dead on thatside. As Dick and his companion stepped out, the Rajah exclaimed:
"What, are you alone?"
"Yes; there is no one with us, Uncle."
"Do you mean to say that you two have defended this place alone, andkilled sixteen of the enemy, besides some
I see lying farther up theroad?"
"Yes, Uncle. You see, it was a pretty strong position, and we had timeto block up the doors and windows, and to make loopholes to firethrough."
"What think you of that, Anwar?" the Rajah exclaimed to the captain ofthe troop. "My nephew and Rajbullub's son have shown themselves bravefighters, have they not?"
"It is wonderful," the captain said; and exclamations of admirationbroke from the men standing round.
"Tell us all about it, Dick," the Rajah went on.
"It is a long story, Uncle; but the real news is that Tippoo, with hisarmy, has left the head of the western passes, and has gone toSeringapatam. He is going to march down one of the passes, this side,at once. Provisions have been collected for his army to consume on themarch. No one knows yet which pass he will come down by; but it willnot be far from here, for they are buying up cattle in the villages atthe top of the ghauts."
"That is important, indeed, Dick, and we must ride off without delay;but first, I must have a look at this fortress of yours."
He entered the hut, the soldiers crowding in after him, and examinedthe defences at the windows, and the loopholes; while Dick explainedhow the bars had been arranged to defend the door.
"We began on the other side, Uncle. We had a fight with four men whocame up with us there. Only one of them got away--and he left his gunbehind. It was lucky, for their guns and pistols were of immense useto us. We could not have held out with only our own weapons.
"About twenty of their cavalry came up a few minutes afterwards. Webeat them off, and then they sent up to the fort for infantry, andabout fifty men came down and attacked us, just at sunrise. They keptit up to within half an hour ago. Then the infantry marched back,knowing, of course, that your troop generally got here about seven.
"The horsemen stayed here till within a few minutes of your arrival.No doubt they thought that we should suppose they had all gone, andmight venture out, and let them get a shot at us."
"Why, it must have been a veritable battle, Dick."
"There was a good deal of noise, Uncle, though not much danger. Solong as we kept below the level of the loopholes and windows, and outof the line of the door, there was no chance of our being hit."
"They must have made a strong attack on the door," the Rajah said. "Isee that the two lying next to it were both killed by sword thrusts."
"Yes, that was the most critical moment, Uncle. We had emptied nearlyall our barrels, and if they could have broken down the bars, which Ihave no doubt they could have done, if they had stuck to it, theywould have made very short work of us."
"Now let us be going," the Rajah said. "You can tell me the wholestory, as we go along."
Two of the sowars were ordered to give up their horses to Dick andSurajah, and to mount behind comrades. Then they started down thevalley, Dick riding between his uncle and the captain, while Surajahtook his place with the two other officers of the troop. They rode sorapidly that Dick's story was scarcely concluded by the time theyreached the village where the troops were quartered.
"Well, you have done marvelously well, Dick," his uncle said. "Surajahdeserves the highest praise, too. Now I will write a note to theBritish officer with the Nabob, giving the news of Tippoo's movements,and will send it off by two of the troopers, at once. Where ColonelMaxwell's force is, I have no idea. It marched to join GeneralMeadows, on the day we came up here.
"In the meantime you can have a wash, while breakfast is being cooked.I have no doubt that you are ready for it."
"I am indeed, Uncle. We had nothing, yesterday, but a few cakes madeof flour and water; and have had nothing at all, since."
"All right, lad. I will be ready almost as soon as breakfast is."
After the meal was over, the Rajah lit his hookah, and said:
"You must go through the story again, this evening, Dick. You cutshort some of the details, as you told it to me on the road, and Iwant to understand it all thoroughly. You had better turn in now for along sleep. You must want it badly enough, lad, after the work of thetwo last nights."
Dick slept until his uncle roused him, at six o'clock.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. It is just as well that youshould get up, for two or three hours. After that, you will be goodfor another sleep till morning. We shall have to look out sharp now,and keep a couple of vedettes always at that village; as, for all weknow, this may be the pass by which Tippoo is coming down."
Dick got up rather reluctantly, but he was not long in shaking off hisdrowsiness, and after dinner was able to go through the story again,with full details of his adventures.
"I don't know what I should have done without Surajah, Uncle. He is acapital fellow, and if ever I go up by myself, into Mysore, to lookfor my father, I hope that you will let me take him."
"That I will certainly do, Dick. Ever since I first heard of yourplans, I have quite decided that you ought not to go alone. I daresayI should have chosen an older man to accompany you, but after what youand the lad have done together, I don't think you could do better thantake him. Of course, such an affair would demand infinitely greatercaution and care, though not greater courage, than you had occasion touse on this excursion. It is one thing to enter a village, to ask afew questions, make a purchase or two, and be off again; but it is avery different thing to be among people for weeks, or perhaps months,and to live as one of themselves. However, we may hope that this warwill end in our army marching to Seringapatam, when we shall recovermany of the prisoners in Tippoo's hands.
"I do not say all. We know how many hundreds remained in his powerlast time, in spite of his promise to deliver them all up; and maybesomething of the same sort will occur next time. Numbers may be sentaway, by him, to the hill fortresses dotted all over the country; andwe should never be able to obtain news of them. However, we must hopefor the best."
The next morning, the troopers arrived with a letter from the Englishresident at Arcot. The Rajah glanced through it, and handed it toDick, with the remark:
"You will not get the honour you deserve, Dick."
The letter ran:
"Dear Rajah:
"Your news would be extremely valuable, were it correct; butunfortunately it is not so, and doubtless the reports brought down byyour nephew were spread by Tippoo, for the purpose of deceiving us.Or, possibly, he may have intended to have come that way, butafterwards changed his mind. We have news that, just after ColonelMaxwell effected his junction with General Meadows, near Caveripatam,and was about to ascend the ghauts by the Tapour pass, Tippoo camedown by that very route, slipped past them, and is marching on toTrichinopoly. That being the case, I see no further utility in yourremaining with your troop in the passes, but think it were best thatyou should re-assemble them at once, and march here. There is nochance of Tippoo capturing Trichinopoly before Meadows, who isfollowing him, can come up and force on a battle; so it is likely thatthe Mysore army may continue their march in this direction, in whichcase every fighting man will be of use, to defend this place until itis relieved by the general."
Dick uttered an exclamation of disgust, as he laid the letter down.
"It does not matter about my news turning out wrong," he said, "but itis very bad that General Meadows should have allowed Tippoo to passhim, as he may do frightful damage to the country, before he can beovertaken."
"He never can be overtaken, as long as he chooses to keep ahead. He ishampered with no baggage train. He lives on the plunder of the countryhe passes through; and the British army, with all its baggage andprovision train, has no more chance of overtaking him than it has offlying."
Messengers were at once sent off, to call in the scattered portions ofthe troop. These were assembled in twenty-four hours, and at oncestarted for Arcot, where they arrived after a two days' march. Theythere learned that Tippoo had appeared before Trichinopoly, and afterpillaging and laying waste the sacred island of Seringham, had marchednorth.
Day after day, news arrived of the devastation he was c
ommitting onhis march. At Thiagur, however, he met with a serious repulse. Greatnumbers of the inhabitants from the surrounding country had crowdedinto the town with their valuables, and Tippoo, expecting a richbooty, attacked the town; but although its fortifications wereinsignificant, the little garrison was commanded by Captain Flint, theofficer who had so bravely defended Wandiwash in the previous war, andtwo assaults were repulsed with serious loss.
At Trinalee, thirty-five miles farther north, he was more successful,capturing the town, and putting the inhabitants to the sword. HereTippoo changed his course, and marched for Pondicherry, capturingPermacoil by the way.
The news that Tippoo had changed his course, to the southeast, wasreceived with great joy at Arcot. Although confident that this capitalwould be able to resist any sudden attack, the belief had been generalthat the whole territory would be laid waste, as it had been by Hyder;and hopes were now entertained that the British army would arrive intime to bar Tippoo's further progress.