The Path to Honour

by Sydney C. Grier

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  THE CAMPAIGN OF VENGEANCE.

  "To Lieutenant Henry Gerrard, wherever he may be.

  "DEAR HAL,--For Heaven's sake bring up your guns by five o'clockto-morrow afternoon. I have nothing but zumboorucks,[1] and Chund Singwith all the Augpoor artillery is in front of me. I will maintain myposition at all costs till five, but if you have not come up then Imust retreat across the river--and my Grunthees will stay on this sideof it.--Yours,

  R. CHARTERIS."

  Charteris wrote the message in Greek characters, forming the lettersstiffly with unaccustomed fingers, and pausing now and then forrecollection. Gerrard would be able to read it, but no native in Indiacould do so. He made three copies, and despatched them by separatemessengers along different routes--by the river-bank, to the south andto the south-east respectively--in the hope that one of them wouldsucceed in reaching his friend.

  Charteris looked older and thinner than when he had parted from Gerrarda fortnight before, and his face was tanned to a more pronounced redthan ever. Many hours of gloom had been encountered in the fulfilmentof the task willed in that hour of insight. Unforeseen difficulties ofvarious kinds had hindered him, and it was also quite certain that hehad underestimated the time necessary for Gerrard's arrival fromHabshiabad with the reinforcements. On returning to his camp thatfirst evening, he had mounted a fresh horse, and ridden on at oncetowards his headquarters at Dera Galib Khan, whither his messengers hadpreceded him, warning the Granthi troops there to be ready to take thefield at once. Fast though he travelled, however, reaching Dera Galibin two nights of hard riding, he had been outstripped. Emissaries fromSher Singh had already been at work among the Granthis, calling uponthem to join their brethren who had betrayed Nisbet and Cowper, andfight the English for the sake of God and the Guru. Valuable gifts,and the promise of doubled pay and unlimited loot, strengthened theeffect of the appeal, and the men were seething with disaffection whenCharteris came to them. They had not quite arrived at the point ofmurdering him and his lieutenants and marching to join Sher Singh, butthe thing was openly discussed, and very little was needed toprecipitate matters. In face of this heavy blow, Charteris acted withhis customary despatch. The disaffected infantry he took with him,deciding that under his own eye they would be as safe on active serviceas anywhere, but the artillery he left with a heavy heart at DeraGalib. He had counted much on their services, but he durst not takethe gunners where a bribe or two would double Sher Singh's presentstrength, and there was no time to extemporise artillerists from amongthe Darwanis. These wild men rushed to his standard joyfully as soonas they heard he needed recruits, and the robbers whom he had fined andwhose forts he had destroyed forsook the pursuits of peace and declaredthemselves ready to follow him to the gates of hell if necessary. Ofthem he chose out those who already had relatives or fellow-clansmen inhis irregular corps to accompany him at once, leaving the rest underthe command of his subordinate Carpenter at Dera Galib, nominally fordrill, but also to serve as a check upon the disaffected artillery.

  With his untrustworthy Granthis and his half-trained auxiliaries hecrossed the Tindar at Kardi, as he had intended, and employed theformer, to their intense disgust, in throwing up rough entrenchmentsround the camp. The Darwanis he sent out in raiding-parties (thisoperation appeared under the more decorous name of "makingreconnaissances" in his reports to Ranjitgarh), with orders not topenetrate more than a certain distance into the country, but to do asmuch damage as possible, and bring back supplies for the force. Thesetactics had the result he anticipated. Sher Singh's army, which wasorganising itself, with much squabbling and mutual recrimination, for adash across the frontier, found its rear threatened, and perceived thatunless the capital was to be left open to attack, these impudentintruders must be driven back to their own side of the river. Thematter was complicated by the speedy appearance of the Habshiabadtroops in the south of the state, where Gerrard seized one of theriverside towns, and held it by means of Rukn-ud-din's men and the mostserviceable of the Nawab's batteries of artillery, while he labouredday and night, with Sadiq Ali, almost beside himself with joy,hindering as much as helping him, to get the army into the field.Happily the problem was not so complicated as it would have been in thecase of European troops, and the Nawab and his soldiers alike wouldhave scouted the idea of obtaining supplies otherwise than from thecountry traversed, but weapons for the men and transport for the guns,and ammunition for both, were necessaries difficult to improvise on thespur of the moment. The Habshiabadis took the field at last, in astate that would have made a European commander tear his hair, andGerrard hustled them on, blooding them by a smart little engagementwith a force sent by Sher Singh's nearest governor to dispute theirpassage. The Rani joined them with every man she could bring as soonas they were ready to cross the Ghara, but left the command of hercontingent to Rukn-ud-din, maintaining rigid seclusion on her elephantwith one or two faithful attendants.

  Thus far, then, Charteris's bold scheme was justified. Sher Singh'spower for mischief beyond his own borders was largely neutralised forthe present, and for so long as an active enemy remained in arms uponhis soil. But the march from the Habshiabad frontier to Kardi was amatter of seven days in favourable circumstances, and this was the hotweather, and the partially trained troops disgraced their leader bystraggling, making unauthorised expeditions for the sake of plunder,demanding longer halts and more frequent opportunities of meeting thefoe, and all manner of other military crimes. The high officers whoaccompanied them on gorgeous elephants, with long trains of attendantsand baggage-animals, were quite useless as an aid to discipline, andGerrard fell into the habit of issuing his orders first, and thensending a special copy to be handed round among them. It was not atall the fulfilment of the ideal he had set before himself, thereformation of the army through and with the help of its leaders, buttime was pressing, and far ahead, at Kardi, Bob Charteris was lookingout for him and wondering why he did not come.

  The elements seemed to combine with troublesome humanity againstCharteris at this moment. A sudden rise of the river, a week beforethe usual date, flooded him out of his entrenchments and obliged him totake up a less satisfactory position. Moreover, at the same time,Chand Singh, the Agpur general, after some painful vacillation as towhether he should annihilate the western or the southern intruderfirst, made up his mind suddenly, and marched with quite unexpectedspeed upon Kardi, driving in the Darwani raiding-parties before him.One fortunate result of his haste was that his guns were left behind,and he was obliged to wait for them, but his army held the whole rangeof ground in front of Charteris. Charteris had requisitioned everyboat that could be found on the Darwan side, and kept them safelyguarded, but it would be quite easy to obtain others if Chand Singhcared to try a naval action. This he would probably combine with afrontal attack all along the line as soon as his artillery arrived,with the result that Charteris's force must choose between destructionand being driven into the river, unless they retreated in time. Buteverything forbade this last course. It would leave Gerrard's forceexposed to the full onslaught of the Agpur army, and even if theysucceeded in escaping across the river, would set Sher Singh free topursue his larger designs, which would probably begin with an invasionof Darwan, and a joyful reception from the unsettled Granthi artilleryat Dera Galib. Moreover, Charteris had a shrewd idea that somewhere onthat other bank would be lying in wait for him that despatch fromRanjitgarh, the receipt of which he had hitherto successfully evaded,but which was practically certain to contain a sharp order to return atonce into his own province. Every possible consideration, therefore,urged him to hold out at Kardi at all costs, but when on thisparticular evening he wrote his notes to Gerrard, of whose whereaboutsand approach he had for several days received only vague rumours, hewas face to face with the necessity of retiring unless relieved.

  This necessity was not to be made public, either to the unsatisfactoryGranthis or to the dispirited Darwanis, who were perpetually entreatingt
o be let loose against Chand Singh's array, which they were quitecertain they could drive away, if not destroy. Charteris said nothingof it, even to his sole European companion, whom Carpenter hadunselfishly sent to his assistance with a small reinforcement. But inview of the morrow even his iron nerve gave way, and he found himselfnoting narrowly the colloguing of the Granthis round their camp-fires,and their sudden silence when he approached, and wondering whether amurderous attack in the night would be the end of it after all. Hepulled himself together quickly. He had done the best he could, whathe thought was right, and it had at any rate delayed Sher Singh longenough to prevent his taking the British in Granthistan by surprise,and when he did it he had known that he staked his life on the result.To-morrow was bound to be a hard day, whatever happened, and he wouldwant every ounce of force that he possessed. What folly to be sittingup listening for murderers! He added hastily the concluding words tothe report so scrupulously sent off day by day to James Antony, badeVixen keep guard, and lay down and slept. Gerrard would not have beenable to sleep in these circumstances, and Charteris's lieutenant wasequally destitute of the capacity for repose. He roused his chiefquite unnecessarily early in the morning, his flushed face and haggardeyes telling of vain attempts at slumber, though he merely guessed atwhat Charteris knew.

  "Chand Singh's guns are beginning to come into camp," he announceddramatically.

  "Oh, all right. Bound to come some time," was the sleepy response.But Warner was not to be put off.

  "The Granthis are all standing to arms already, and Bishen Ram issporting a pair of gold bracelets."

  "Ah!" said Charteris sharply. This was news indeed, for it was a giftof gold bracelets to their commandant that had heralded the defectionof Nisbet and Cowper's escort to Sher Singh. "Keep an eye on them fromthe door here while I dress, Warner. I have the _zamburaks_ trained onthem, so they can't take us by surprise."

  Having succeeded in producing an impression, Warner was emboldened togo further. Nothing but making Charteris as nervous as himself wouldhave satisfied him, and yet it was not fear, but overwork and want ofsleep, that combined with anxiety to keep him tramping restlesslyabout. "I suppose you have full confidence in Gerrard?" he hazarded.

  "Full confidence?" Charteris's voice, inside the tent, evidently issuedfrom the folds of a towel. "Why, of course. Every confidence that aman could have in another."

  "There was a story that you and he had quarrelled----"

  "Well?" the word snapped out.

  "Er--about some girl, I believe. But quarrelled, anyhow. You don'tthink he would take this opportunity----?"

  "To pay me out? I would as soon believe that you had been bribed byChand Singh to try and discourage me."

  "Well, that's pretty strong, I must say." Warner's tone was injured.

  "It is; and if you want it stronger, I'll say that I would soonerbelieve it." Charteris emerged from the tent as he spoke and lookedkeenly at his subordinate. "My dear fellow, your nerves are all topieces. Steady, steady! This is going to be one of the worst days youever had, and I mean you to come out of it with credit. Take a coupleof orderlies to keep guard, and go down and get a good swim. If youfeel inclined for a snooze afterwards, take an hour or two with myblessing. I will be responsible for this mighty array meanwhile. No,I really mean it. Be off with you!"

  Slightly ashamed, Warner obeyed, and Charteris rode through the Darwanibivouac, and backed up the _zamburaks_ with a line of musketmen.Passing on to where the Granthis had slept, he found them, as Warnerhad said, standing to their arms, but there was evident to his eye acertain amount of hesitation, as though his most recent precaution wasnot entirely to their liking. Without betraying any suspicion, he rodestraight up to Bishen Ram, the Sirdar, and complimented him upon thealertness of his men.

  "My Darwanis I must rouse, keen fighters though they are," he said,"but I find my Granthis in arms before the order is even issued. Wellfor the commander who has such men under him! And why are we so braveto-day, Sirdar-ji?"

  He indicated the bracelets upon the sinewy arms, and was aware of asavage grin, instantly repressed, upon the faces of the men nearest athand. Bishen Ram replied without the slightest embarrassment. "Itappears to your honour's servants that to-day there will be a fight tothe death, and it is the custom of my unworthy house to meet death cladas beseems a gentleman."

  "A good custom indeed! and no ornament could better become a loyalsoldier," said Charteris, with just sufficient meaning in his voice toleave the traitors uncertain whether he had penetrated their designs ornot. He took advantage of their uncertainty to ride back in safety,knowing that he was in most danger when he had his back to them, andreached his tent unharmed, but persuaded of the critical nature of thesituation. The treachery of the Granthis, whether actual or onlypotential, practically neutralised the powers of the rest of his force.If he ordered them to advance, they would promptly fraternise with thefoe, if he kept them in reserve, they would fall upon his rear, and ifhe led the whole line into battle, they would turn their arms againsttheir comrades. A day of inglorious waiting, with one half of hisforce--for the better training of the Granthis compensated for thesmallness of their numbers--in arms against the other half, untileither Chand Singh came on in overwhelming strength or Gerrardappeared, seemed to lie before him.

  And so it turned out. Throughout the sultry hours he held hisposition, not daring to move his men save to drive back tentativeadvances on the part of the enemy, which he knew were designed to coverthe movements of their artillery. He could not press his attack home,far less penetrate to the guns, and the range of his musketry would ofcourse be hopelessly inadequate when Chand Singh chose to begin topound him from a distance. He did choose at last, about half-waythrough the day, and to the tortures of inaction were added the livelyreproaches of the force. Lying down to be a target for artillery firewas not an exercise that commended itself to the native mind, andCharteris became the unwilling centre of a group of protesting Granthisand Darwanis, who had each of them his special plan for making the daymore interesting, and plucked at the European's sleeve when they weretired of shrieking into his ears. It was with a certain grim pleasurethat he received the remonstrances of the Granthis, whose plans mustall have been disarranged by his unexpected immobility. Chand Singh'scannon-balls fell as impartially among them as among their fellows,perhaps as a gentle hint that if they were going to change sides theymight as well do it at once, but the distance that separated the armieswas sufficient to account for a good many of them if they were exposedto Charteris's fire. Yes, the Granthis deserved all they got, but hisheart bled for his Darwanis. Less fitted, both by nature and training,for passive endurance, they could not understand his inertness."Sahib, can you expect us to endure this?" they cried reproachfully, asthe round-shot crashed among them. "We are here to die, but let us diefighting, not crouching on the ground!"

  Not until four o'clock was he able to seem to listen to their appeals,and this was only because Chand Singh, apparently emboldened by thepassivity of his foe, deliberately advanced four guns to a spot littlebeyond the reach of their musketry, and began to try the range.Charteris detected at once the bait which was to draw him from hisposition and give the Granthis their long-sought opportunity, and sethis teeth hard. The line should not advance. Turning his back onBishen Ram, whose protests were very nearly becoming threats, he calledup the heads of two Darwani clans, of late the fiercest and mosttroublesome of his robber-vassals.

  "You are willing to ride to death, brothers?"

  A great shout answered him. "Into hell itself, sahib!"

  "I knew it. But are you willing to turn back half-way, and return?"

  "Never, sahib; never!"

  "Then you are not the men for me." He turned away with ostentatiousdisappointment, only to feel his sleeves gripped on either side byeager hands.

  "We will do it, sahib, though it be more bitter than death."

  "I thought I could count on you. Listen then, br
others. I want thosefour guns dismounted, and rolled into the marsh near at hand. We willcover your charge by advancing within musket-shot of the guns, butfurther we cannot go. Can I trust you to return when your work isdone, without attempting to ride further?"

  "Highness, you can."

  "It is well. The one who returns first, bringing his men with him,shall receive my revolving pistol; to the other I will give my watch."

  "The gifts of the Sahib are great as his fame," said the two Darwanistogether, as they raced off to their followers. Charteris made hisdispositions hurriedly. Twenty men, his best shots, were sent outunder Warner to wriggle through the long grass to within range of theguns, and pick off the gunners when they attempted to fire. The restof the Darwanis--such as possessed fire-arms, at least--were ordered toload, but remain where they were, and the Granthis to fall back ahundred yards. The eyes of all were fixed upon the favoured few, who,with upraised hands, were repeating the _Kalima_[2] before they setforth upon their perilous ride, but Charteris managed to convey a briefwarning to the Darwani chiefs and officers near him. The forlorn hopeburst forth from the low jungle that had served as cover allday--starting on the left of the advanced party, so as not to mask itsfire, and as their progress was marked with shouts by their fellows,his ear caught the sound he had expected, the ring of ramrods behindhim on the right. The Granthis were loading without orders.

  "To the right, turn. Ready. Present." His voice rang out, and theDarwanis nearest him looked to see if he had gone mad, that he shouldbid them turn away from watching their champions' ride. But as hiswhistle reinforced the order, the chiefs whose minds he had preparedrushed among their followers, and by voice and blows forced them toobey. The sight of the Granthis at work with their ramrods betrayedthe truth at once, and the wild men took a step forward with a howl,and would have precipitated themselves upon their hereditary foes ifCharteris had not stopped them. The Granthis, deprived of theadvantage they had anticipated, of pouring in a volley from behind ontheir unsuspecting allies, looked foolish, and Charteris rode forwardand rated Bishen Ram, and bade him order his men to withdraw theircharges. For a moment they hesitated whether to direct their fire onhim--the forlorn hope was happily out of range of their presentposition--but the habit of discipline combined with the knowledge thatthe Darwanis were thirsting to fire to induce them to obey. The maskwas worn very thin now, however, and Charteris hardly dared turn hiseyes from them even to receive his returning heroes, who had dulydashed at the guns, dismounted them and tumbled them into the swamp,and ridden back--all that were left of them--under a heavy fire fromthe concealed matchlockmen on the other side. The promised rewardswere duly bestowed on two gory figures, and Charteris returned to thebush which had afforded him partial shelter at intervals during theday, and wondered how long the Granthis would maintain even thepretence of obedience if Gerrard did not come.

  As the thought passed through his mind, it seemed to him that a deeperand more distant boom mingled with the sound of Chand Singh's cannon,and the nearer popping of his musketry, and when he listened he heardit again. The two signal shots! Yes, Gerrard was coming, wasevidently attacking the enemy's left, where their main camp wassituated. At first there was no cessation either in the cannonadepoured into Charteris's force or in the musketry-fire, but graduallyboth slackened. Evidently Chand Singh was withdrawing his forces fromthis front, but whether it was to employ them against Gerrard or tomake good his retreat there was no means of knowing. The trying thingwas that even now Charteris could not venture to loose his Darwanis onthe foe, for the accession of the Granthis to Chand Singh's ranks mightturn the tide in the enemy's favour, and he was not sanguine enough tohope that they would consent to remain neutral. He could only trustthat the Habshiabadis were in a better condition to pursue--but when heand Gerrard met he learned that it was not so. On receivingCharteris's message, Gerrard had come on with his artillery and anescort, leaving the rest of his force to hold a detachment sent againsthim by Chand Singh.

  "Talk about the rules of military science, indeed! Think of yourtrailing cow-guns unsupported through a hostile country!" criedCharteris. "But it was a regular case of night or Bluecher, old boy,and I knew what a brick you were."

  "A brick! I feel like one," laughed Gerrard. He and Charteris lookedat one another and laughed again. They had both discarded their tunicsin favour of what they called blouses, loose holland garments like longNorfolk jackets, and Gerrard had exchanged his cap for a hat of whitefeathers lined with green, the precursor of the sun-helmet.

  "Good job we ain't in Khemistan. Old Harry Lennox would havecourt-martialled us like winkin'," said Charteris. "He wouldn't evenconsider it an extenuating circumstance that we've won."

  "Not very much of a win, since we can't follow it up."

  "Well, I don't know. Another fight like this will bring us in sight ofAgpur."

  [1] Guns mounted on the backs of camels.

  [2] The Mohammedan creed.