In Times of Peril: A Tale of India

by G. A. Henty

  Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team.

  IN TIMES OF PERIL

  A TALE OF INDIA.

  BY G. A. HENTY

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I.

  Life in Cantonments

  CHAPTER II.

  The Outbreak

  CHAPTER III.

  The Flight

  CHAPTER IV.

  Broken Down

  CHAPTER V.

  Back Under the Flag

  CHAPTER VI.

  A Dashing Expedition

  CHAPTER VII.

  Delhi

  CHAPTER VIII.

  A Desperate Defense

  CHAPTER IX.

  Saved by a Tiger

  CHAPTER X.

  Treachery

  CHAPTER XI.

  Retribution Begins

  CHAPTER XII.

  Dangerous Service

  CHAPTER XIII

  Lucknow

  CHAPTER XIV.

  The Besieged Residency

  CHAPTER XV.

  Spiking the Guns

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A Sortie and its Consequences

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Out of Lucknow

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  The Storming of Delhi

  CHAPTER XIX.

  A Riot at Cawnpore

  CHAPTER XX.

  The Relief of Lucknow

  CHAPTER XXI.

  A Sad Parting

  CHAPTER XXII.

  The Last Capture of Lucknow

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  A Desperate Defense

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  Rest after Labor

  CHAPTER I.

  LIFE IN CANTONMENTS.

  Very bright and pretty, in the early springtime of the year 1857, werethe British cantonments of Sandynugghur. As in all other Britishgarrisons in India, they stood quite apart from the town, forming asuburb of their own. They consisted of the barracks, and of a maidan,or, as in England it would be called, "a common," on which the troopsdrilled and exercised, and round which stood the bungalows of themilitary and civil officers of the station, of the chaplain, and of theone or two merchants who completed the white population of the place.

  Very pretty were these bungalows, built entirely upon the ground floor,in rustic fashion, wood entering largely into their composition. Somewere thatched; others covered with slabs of wood or stone. All had wideverandas running around them, with tatties, or blinds, made of reeds orstrips of wood, to let down, and give shade and coolness to the roomstherein. In some of them the visitor walked from the compound, orgarden, directly into the dining-room; large, airy, with neithercurtains, nor carpeting, nor matting, but with polished boards asflooring. The furniture here was generally plain and almost scanty,for, except at meal-times, the rooms were but little used.

  Outside, in the veranda, is the real sitting-room of the bungalow. Hereare placed a number of easy-chairs of all shapes, constructed of caneor bamboo--light, cool, and comfortable; these are moved, as the sunadvances, to the shady side of the veranda, and in them the ladies readand work, the gentlemen smoke. In all bungalows built for the use ofEnglish families, there is, as was the case at Sandynugghur, adrawing-room as well as a dining-room, and this, being the ladies'especial domain, is generally furnished in European style, with apiano, light chintz chair-covers, and muslin curtains.

  The bedroom opens out of the sitting-room; and almost every bedroom hasits bathroom--that all-important adjunct in the East--attached to it.The windows all open down to the ground, and the servants generallycome in and out through the veranda. Each window has its Venetianblind, which answers all purposes of a door, and yet permits the air topass freely.

  The veranda, in addition to serving as the general sitting-room to thefamily, acts as a servants' hall. Here at the side not used by theemployers, the servants, when not otherwise engaged, sit on their mats,mend their clothes, talk and sleep; and it is wonderful how much sleepa Hindoo can get through in the twenty-four hours. The veranda is hisbedroom as well as sitting-room; here, spreading a mat upon the ground,and rolling themselves up in a thin rug or blanket from the very top oftheir head to their feet, the servants sleep, looking like a number ofmummies ranged against the wall. Out by the stables they have theirquarters, where they cook and eat, and could, if they chose, sleep; butthey prefer the coolness and freshness of the veranda, where, too, theyare ready at hand whenever called. The gardens were all pretty, andwell kept, with broad, shady trees, and great shrubs covered by brightmasses of flower; for Sandynugghur had been a station for many years,and with plenty of water and a hot sun, vegetation is very rapid.

  In two of the large reclining chairs two lads, of fifteen and sixteenrespectively, were lolling idly; they had been reading, for books layopen in their laps, and they were now engaged in eating bananas, and intalking to two young ladies, some three years their senior, who weresitting working beside them.

  "You boys will really make yourselves ill if you eat so many bananas."

  "It is not that I care for them," said the eldest lad; "they aretasteless things, and a good apple is worth a hundred of them; but onemust do something, and I am too lazy to go on with this Hindoo grammar;besides, a fellow can't work when you girls come out here and talk tohim."

  "That's very good, Ned; it is you that do all the talking; besides, youknow that you ought to shut yourselves up in the study, and not sithere where you are sure to be interrupted."

  "I have done three hours' steady work this morning with that wretchedMoonshi, Kate; and three hours in this climate is as much as my brainwill stand."

  Kate Warrener and her brothers, Ned and Dick, were the children of themajor of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Bengal Native Infantry, theregiment stationed at Sandynugghur. Rose Hertford, the other younglady, was their cousin. The three former were born in India, but hadeach gone to England at the age of nine for their education, and tosave them from the effects of the climate which English children areseldom able to endure after that age. Their mother had sailed forEngland with Dick, the youngest, but had died soon after she reachedhome. Dick had a passion for the sea, and his father's relations havinggood interest, had obtained for him a berth as a midshipman in theroyal navy, in which rank he had been serving for upward of a year. Hisship being now in Indian waters, a month's leave had been granted himthat he might go up the country to see his father. The other lad hadarrived from England three months before, with his sister and cousin.Major Warrener had sent for his daughter, whose education was finished,to take the head of his house, and, as a companion, had invited RoseHertford, who was the orphan child of his sister, to accompany her.Ned, who had been at Westminster till he left England, was intended forthe Indian army. His father thought that it would be well for him tocome out to India with his sister, as he himself would work with him,and complete his education, to enable him to pass the necessaryexamination--then not a very severe one--while he could be at the sametime learning the native languages, which would be of immense benefitto him after he had entered the army. Coming out as they had done inthe cold season, none of the four exhibited any of that pallor andlassitude which, at any rate during the summer heats, are the rulethroughout the Anglo-Indian community.

  As Ned finished his sentence the sound of the tread of two horses washeard along the road.

  "Captains Dunlop and Manners," Dick exclaimed; "a shilling to a penny!Will either of you bet, girls?"

  Neither his sister nor cousin replied to this offer; and the boys gavea sly nod of intelligence to each other, as two horsemen rode up to theveranda and dismounted; throwing their reins to the _syces_, who,whatever the pace at which their masters
ride, run just behind, inreadiness to take the horses, should they dismount.

  "Good-morning, Miss Warrener; good-morning, Miss Hertford: we havebrought you some interesting news."

  "Indeed!" said the girls, as they shook hands with the newcomers, whowere two as good specimens of tall, well-made, sunburnt Anglo-Saxons asone would wish to see. "What is it?"

  "We have just got the news that a family of wild boars have come down,and are doing a lot of damage near Meanwerrie, four miles off. Isuppose they have been disturbed somewhere further away, as we have notheard of any pig here for months; so to-morrow morning there is goingto be grand pig-sticking; of course you will come out and see the fun?"

  "We shall be delighted," said Kate; but Rose put in: "Yes; but oh! howunfortunate! it's Mrs. Briarley's garden party."

  "That has been put off till next day. It is not often we get a chanceat pig, and we have always got gardens. The two need not haveinterfered with each other, as we shall start at daylight forMeanwerrie; but we may be out some hours, and so it was thought betterto put off the party to a day when there will be nothing else to do."

  "Hurrah!" shouted Dick; "I am in luck! I wanted, above all things, tosee a wild boar hunt; do you think my father will let me have a spear?"

  "Hardly, Dick, considering that last time you went out you tumbled offthree times at some jumps two feet wide, and that, were you to fall infront of a pig, he would rip you up before you had time to think aboutit; besides which, you would almost certainly stick somebody with yourspear."

  Dick laughed.

  "That was the first time I had ever been on a horse," he said; "willyou ride, Ned?"

  "No," said Ned; "I can ride fairly enough along a straight road, but itwants a first-rate rider to go across country at a gallop, looking atthe boar instead of where you are going, and carrying a spear in onehand."

  "Do you think papa will ride?" Kate asked.

  "I don't know, Miss Warrener; the major is a famous spear; but here heis to speak for himself."

  Major Warrener was in uniform, having just come up from theorderly-room. He was a tall, soldierly figure, inclining to stoutness.His general expression was that of cheeriness and good temper; but hewas looking, as he drove up, grave and serious. His brow cleared,however, as his eye fell upon the group in the veranda.

  "Ah! Dunlop, brought the news about the boar, eh?"

  "You will take us with you?" the girls asked in a breath.

  "Oh, yes, you shall go; I will drive you myself. I am getting too heavyfor pig-sticking, especially with such responsibilities as you about.There, I will get out of this uniform; it's hot for the time of year.What are you drinking? nothing? Boy, bring some soda and brandy!"

  Then, producing his cigar-case, he took a cheroot.

  "Ag-low!" he shouted, and a native servant ran up with a piece ofred-hot charcoal held in a little pair of tongs.

  "There, sit down and make yourselves comfortable till I come back."

  The lads, finding that their society was not particularly required,strolled off to the stables, where Ned entered into a conversation withthe _syces_ as to the distance to Meanwerrie and the direction in whichthat village lay. Like all Anglo-Indian children brought up in India,the boys had, when they left India, spoken the language fluently. Theyhad almost entirely forgotten it during their stay in England, but itspeedily came back again, and Ned, at the end of three months' work,found that he could get on very fairly. Dick had lost it altogether.

  When they went back to the veranda they found that the girls had goneindoors, and that their father was sitting and smoking with his brotherofficers. When the lads came up the conversation ceased, and then themajor said:

  "It is as well the boys should know what is going on."

  "What is it, father?" Ned asked, struck with the grave tone in whichthe major spoke, and at the serious expression in all their faces.

  "Well, boys, for some months past there have been all sorts of curiousrumors running through the country. Chupatties have been sent round,and that is always considered to portend something serious."

  "Do you mean the chupatties we eat--flat cakes, father?"

  "Yes, Ned. Nobody knows who sends them round, or the exact meaning ofthe signal, but it seems to be an equivalent for to 'prepare,' 'makeready.' Chupatties are quickly prepared; they are the bread eaten on ajourney, and hence probably their signification. At any rate, thesethings have been circulated among the native troops all over thecountry. Strangers are known to have come and gone, and there is ageneral uneasy and unsettled feeling prevalent among the troops. Aridiculous rumor has circulated among them that the new cartridges havebeen greased with pig's fat, in order that the caste of all who put itto their lips might be destroyed. To-day I have received news fromCalcutta that the Nineteenth native regiment at Berhampore has behavedin a grossly mutinous manner, and that it is feared the regiments atBarrackpore and Dumdum will follow their example. The affair has beensuppressed, but there is an uneasy feeling abroad, and all the troopsin Bengal proper appear tainted with paltry disaffection. We have noreason for believing that the spirit has spread to the northwest, andare convinced that as far as our own regiment is concerned they can berelied on; but the affair, taken in connection with the previousrumors, is very strange, and I fear that there are lots of troubleahead. I wish now that I had not had the girls out for another year;but I could not foresee this, and, indeed, until this morning, althoughthere has been a good deal of talk, we all hoped it would have passedoff without anything coming of it. One hopes still that it will spreadno further; but should it do so, it is impossible to say what mayhappen. All we have to do is to be watchful, and to avoid with careanything that can offend the men's prejudices. We must explain to thenative officers the folly of the greased cartridge story, and tell themto reassure the men. You don't see anything else to do, Dunlop?"

  "No, major; I trust that the regiment is to be depended upon; it hasalways been well treated and the men have seemed attached to us all. Wewill do our best to reassure them; but if there is any insubordination,I hope that the colonel will give the men a lesson which will put anend to the nonsense in the bud."

  "Of course you will stay to tiffin?" the major said, as the _kitmagar_,or head servant, announced that tiffin was ready.

  "Many thanks, major, but we promised to tiff with Bullen, and he wouldbe mad if we did not turn up. How are you thinking of going to-morrow?I intend to drive over, and send my horse on; so I can give one of yourboys a lift in my buggy."

  "Thank you," the major said, "that would suit us exactly. I shall drivein my dog-cart, which will carry four of us; and if you will take Dick,that will make it all right."

  "What time do we start?"

  "We are to be there by seven; we set it so late to give the ladies timeto breakfast comfortably before starting. I will call here at half-pastsix for Dick; it will be all in my way. Good-morning."

  Two minutes later the girls, Ned, and Dick came into the dining-room,and the party sat down to luncheon--a meal always called tiffin inIndia. It is a great mistake to suppose that people in India cannot eatbecause of the heat; in the extreme heat of summer their appetites do,no doubt, fall off; but at other times, they not only eat, but eat morelargely than is good for them; and a good deal of the liver complaintwhich is the pest of India is in no small degree due to the fact that,the appetite being unnaturally stimulated by hot and piquant food,people eat more than in such a climate as this can be properlydigested. The meal consisted of curries, with which were handed roundchutney and Bombay ducks--a little fish about the size of a smelt, cutopen, dried, and smoked with assafoetida, giving it an intolerablynasty taste to strangers, but one which Anglo-Indians become accustomedto and like--no one knows why they are called Bombay ducks--cutlets,plantains sliced and fried, pomegranates, and watermelons. They werewaited upon by two servants, both dressed entirely in white, butwearing red turbans, very broad and shallow. These turbans denoted theparticular tribe and sect to which their wearers belong
ed. The castesin India are almost innumerable, and each has a turban of a peculiarcolor or shape, and by these they can be at once distinguished by aresident. On their foreheads were lines and spots of a yellowish whitepaint, indicating also their caste, and the peculiar divinity to whoseworship they were specially devoted. On their feet they wore slippers,and were as noiseless as cats in all their movements. There are nobetter or more pleasant waiters in the world than the natives ofHindostan.

  Early as the hour named for the start would appear in England, it wasby no means early for India, where every one is up and about soon afterdaylight--the morning hours up to eight o'clock being the most pleasantof the whole day.

  Kate and Rose were up, and all had had "_chota hazaree_" (littlebreakfast) by half-past six, and were ready when Captain Dunlop drew upin his buggy--a conveyance which will only hold two. The dog-cart wasalready at the door, and the whole party were soon in motion. On theroad they passed several of their friends, for every one was going outto the hunt, and merry greetings were exchanged.

  The scenery round Sandynugghur resembles that which is common to allthe great plains of India watered by the Ganges and Jumna. The countryis for the most part perfectly flat, and cut up into little fields,divided by shallow ditches. Here and there nullahs, or deepwatercourses, with tortuous channels and perpendicular sides, windthrough the fields to the nearest stream. These nullahs constitute thegreat danger of hunting in the country. In the fields men may benoticed, in the scantiest of attire, working with hoes among theirspringing crops; women, wrapped up in the dark blue calico cloth whichforms their ordinary costume, are working as hard as the men. Villagesare scattered about, generally close to groves of trees. The huts arebuilt of mud; most of them are flat-topped, but some are thatched withrushes. Rising above the villages is the mosque, where the populationare Mohammedan, built of mud like the houses, but whitewashed andbright. The Hindoo villages generally, but not always, have theirtemples. The vegetation of the great plains of India is not tropical,according to the ideas of tropical vegetation gathered from Britishhothouses. There are a few palms and many bananas with their wideleaves, but the groves are composed of sturdy trees, whose appearanceat a distance differs in no way from that of ordinary English foresttrees. Viewed closer, the banian with its many stems is indeed avegetable wonder; but, were it not for the villages and natives, atraveler might journey for very many miles across the plains of Indiawithout seeing anything which would specially remind him that he wasout of England.

  There were a considerable number of traps assembled when Major Warrenerdrew up, and some eight or ten gentlemen on horseback, each carrying aboar-spear--a weapon not unlike the lance of an English cavalryman, butshorter in the handle. The riders were mostly dressed in coats of theNorfolk jacket type, and knee-breeches with thick gaiters. The materialof their clothes was a coarse but very strong cloth of native make,gray or brown in color. Some wore round hats and forage caps withpuggarees twisted round them.

  A chorus of greeting saluted the party as they drove up.

  "Well, young ladies," the colonel said, "so you have come out to seethe death of the boar,

  "'The boar, the boar, the mighty boar,'

  as the song says? So you are not going to take a spear to-day, major?Think it's time to leave it to the youngsters, eh?"

  "Where are the wild boars, Mrs. Renwick?" Kate asked of the colonel'swife.

  "Pig, my dear; we always call them pig when we speak of them together,though we talk of the father of the family as the boar. Do you see thatclump of long grass and jungle right across the plain? That's wherethey are. They have been watched all night. They went out to feedbefore daybreak and have just gone back again. Do you think we are inthe best place for seeing the sport, Major Warrener?"

  "I think, Mrs. Renwick, that if you leave your trap and go up to thetop of that knoll, two hundred yards to the right, you will get areally good view of the plain."

  Mrs. Renwick alighted from the dog-cart in which the colonel had drivenher, and the whole party, following her example, walked in a laughinggroup to the spot which Major Warrener had indicated, and which waspronounced as just the place. The _syces_ stood at the heads of thehorses, and those who were going to take part in the sport cantered offtoward the spot where the pigs were lurking, making, however, a wide_detour_ so as to approach it from the other side, as it was desired todrive them across the plain. At some distance behind the clump werestationed a number of natives, with a variety of mongrel village curs.When they saw the horsemen approach they came up and prepared to enterthe jungle to drive out the pigs.

  The horsemen took up their position on either side of the patch inreadiness to start as soon as the animals were fairly off. A number ofvillagers, in whose fields of young rice the family had done muchdamage during the few days that they had taken up their abode in theirpresent quarters, were assembled on such little rises of ground as werelikely to give a good view of the proceedings. There were about a dozenhorsemen with spears; of these, three or four were novices, and theseintended to try their skill for the first time upon the "squeakers," asthe young pigs are called, while the others prepared for a race afterthe old ones.

  Great nerve, considerable skill, and first-rate horsemanship arerequired for the sport of pigsticking. The horse, too, must be fast,steady, well-trained and quick, for without all these advantages thesport is a dangerous one. The wild boar is, at the start, as fast as ahorse. He is very quick at turning, and when pressed always attacks hispursuers, and as he rushes past will lay open the leg or flank of ahorse with a sweeping cut with his sharp tusk. If he can knock a horsedown the position of his rider would be serious indeed, were not helpto arrive in time to draw off the attention of the enraged animal fromhis foe. Heavy falls, too, take place over watercourses and nullahs,and in some parts of India the difficulties are greatly increased bybowlders of all kinds being scattered over the ground, and by thefrequent occurrence of bushes and shrubs armed with most formidablespines and thorns. Conspicuous among these is the bush known as the"wait-a-bit thorn," which is furnished with two kinds of thorn--the onelong, stiff, and penetrating, the other short and curved, with a forkedpoint almost like a fishhook. When this once takes hold it is almostnecessary to cut the cloth to obtain a release.

  Scarcely had the beaters, with much shouting and clamor, entered thepatch of bush in which the pigs were lying, than the porcine family,consisting of a splendid boar and sow, and eight nearly full-grownsqueakers, darted out on the open, and in a moment the horsemen wereoff in pursuit. The ground was deep and heavy, and the pigs at thefirst burst gained fast upon their pursuers. There was no attempt onthe part of the pigs to keep together, and directly after starting theybegan to diverge. The old boar and sow both kept across the plain--onebearing toward the left, the other to the right. The squeakers ran inall directions--some at right angles to the line that the old ones weretaking. The object of one and all was to gain cover of some kind.

  With their hats pressed well down upon their heads, and their spearsadvanced with the head some two or three feet from the ground, thehunters started after them--some making after the boar, some after thesow, according to the position which they occupied at the commencementof the chase, while some of the young hands dashed off in pursuit ofthe squeakers.

  There were five, however, after the boar; Captain Dunlop, a youngensign named Skinner, the Scotch doctor of the regiment, and twocivilians. For a short time they kept together, and then Captain Dunlopand Skinner began to draw ahead of the others.

  The boar was a stanch one, and a mile had been passed before his speedbegan sensibly to diminish. The young ensign, who was mounted on a veryfast Arab, began to draw up to him three or four lengths ahead ofCaptain Dunlop, bearing his horse so as to get upon the left side ofthe boar, in order to permit him to use his spear to advantage.

  He was nearly up to him when Captain Dunlop, who saw the boar glancingback savagely, cried:

  "Look out, Skinner! he will be round in a moment; keep
your horse wellin hand!"

  A moment later the boar was round. The horse, young and unbroken at thework, started violently, swerved, and, before his rider could get himround, the boar was upon him. In an instant the horse was upon theground, with a long gash upon his flank, and Skinner, flying throughthe air, fell almost directly in the boar's way.

  Fortunately for the young ensign, Captain Dunlop, as he shouted hiswarning, had turned his horse to the left, so as to cut off the boarwhen he turned, and he was now so close that the boar, in passing, hadonly time to give a vicious blow at the fallen man, which laid his armopen from his shoulder to his elbow.

  At that instant Captain Dunlop arrived, and his spear pierced theanimal's flank. His aim was, however, disconcerted by his horse, at themoment he struck, leaping over the fallen ensign; the wound, therefore,was but a glancing one, and in a moment the boar was round upon his newassailant. Fortunately the horse was a well-trained one, and needed notthe sharp touch of his master's rein to wheel sharp round on his hindlegs, and dart off at full speed. The boar swerved off again, andcontinued his original line of flight, his object being to gain a thickpatch of jungle, now little over a quarter of a mile distant; thedetention, however, was fatal to him, for the doctor, who was close onCaptain Dunlop's heels, now brought up his horse with a rush and, witha well-aimed thrust, ran the animal through, completely pinning him tothe earth. The honor of his death was therefore divided between thedoctor and Captain Dunlop, for the latter had drawn first blood, or, asit is termed, had taken first spear, while the former had scored thekill.

  The sow had been more fortunate than her lord. She had taken a lineacross a part of the plain which was intersected by several nullahs.She, too, had been wounded, but one of the nullahs had thrown outseveral of her pursuers: one rider had been sent over his horse's headand stunned; and the sow, turning sharp down a deep and precipitousgully, had made her escape. Three of the squeakers fell to the spearsof the Griffs--young hands--and the rest had escaped. The boar had beenkilled only a short distance from the rise upon which the spectatorsfrom Sandynugghur were assembled, and the beaters soon tied its fourlegs together, and, putting a pole through them, six of them carriedthe beast up to the colonel's wife for inspection.

  "What a savage-looking brute it is!" said Kate; "not a bit like a pig,with all those long bristles, and that sharp high back, and thosetremendous tusks."

  "Will you accept the skin, Miss Warrener?" Captain Dunlop said to herafterward; "I have arranged with the doctor. He is to have the hams,and I am to have the hide. If you will, I will have it dressed andmounted."

  "Thank you, Captain Dunlop, I should like it very much;" but, as itturned out, Kate Warrener never got the skin.

  The boar killed, the doctor's first care was to attend to the wounded,and Skinner's arm was soon bound up, and he was sent home in a buggy;the man who was stunned came to in a short time. The unsuccessful oneswere much laughed at by the colonel and major, for allowing half thegame started to get away.

  "You ought not to grumble, colonel," Captain Manners said. "If we hadkilled them all, we might not have had another run for months; as itis, we will have some more sport next week."

  There was some consultation as to the chance of getting the sow evennow, but it was generally agreed that she would follow the nullah down,cross the stream, and get into a large canebrake beyond, from which itwould take hours to dislodge her; so a general move was made to thecarriages, and in a short time the whole party were on their way backto Sandynugghur.