human
Bob! he exclaimed, in utter surprise, as Charteris slipped from his exhausted horse.
gpt
What is it?
human
Bad news. No use going on.
gpt
What! They are not dead?
human
Murdered--both of 'em. Tomb was shelled, but they held out. Then Sher Singh sent messengers to the escort--promised 'em double pay to join him--pair of gold bracelets to Nihal Singh. They accepted and went over--left Nisbet and Cowper all alone, except for a few faithful servants. Cowper was too badly wounded to get up, he was lying on his cot, and Nisbet sat beside him holding his hand. There was no hope of further resistance, and they told the servants to escape if they could. One of 'em hid, and brought the news to me just now. Sher Singh's men burst in, with old Sarfaraz Khan at their head, shouting all the wickedness he could lay his filthy old tongue to. Nisbet told him he might kill them, as they were only two to thousands, but that he might be sure thousands of English would come and destroy Sher Singh and his city.
gpt
And they killed them?
human
Hacked 'em to pieces, and took their heads to Sher Singh.
gpt
There's no possibility that the servant's tale is false, I suppose?
human
I wish to Heaven there were. But why should Sher Singh make things out worse when they were bad enough already? Besides, I questioned the fellow pretty sharply, and he was not to be shaken. So I started at once to catch you up.
gpt
Thanks, said Gerrard absently.
human
That poor little woman, Bob! How will she ever stand it?
gpt
Doesn't bear thinking of, said Charteris brusquely.
human
Question is, what are we going to do?
gpt
Why, what can we do? Rescue their bodies, do you mean?
human
Not a bit of it. Look here, Hal; I've been thinking it out as I came along. Sher Singh has drawn the sword and thrown away the scabbard now--burnt his boats, in fact. He can't stop where he is and take his punishment quietly; he must call upon the Granthis generally to back him up. Remember, they wouldn't rise against us in cold blood, but now that he has plucked up courage to give them a lead they'll go. The servant tells me that they called upon the escort to join them in the name of God and the Guru, and the murderers were calling out _Wa Guru!_ and _Guru-ji ki Fatih!_ as they rushed in. They'll make a religious business of it, and every Granthi in Granthistan will join Sher Singh unless he is nipped in the bud.
gpt
Well, but he is nearer Granthistan than we are. Who is going to nip him in the bud?
human
You and I, if you are game.
gpt
Oh, I'm game to do anything that's feasible.
human
Are you game to take a big risk? If Sher Singh is to be kept from overrunning Granthistan, he must be stopped at once. I believe that you and I can do it.
gpt
But how? with merely the Habshiabadis and your troops?
human
Precisely. If we march on Agpur, they daren't leave the city undefended with us in their rear. They have no military genius to see that the only chance lies in snapping us up before we can unite, and straining every nerve to do it, and we can get together a large enough force to give a very good account of anything less than the whole Agpur army. If we find ourselves faced with that, and luck's against us, we shall probably go down, but we shall have done it more damage than Sher Singh can repair before he finds a British force in his country.
gpt
Honestly, Bob, I don't know what to say. Your plan sounds reasonable enough, but you must see that it's subversive of every rule of military science.
human
Hang military science! If we can confine Sher Singh within the bounds of his own state, prevent him from throwing down the gauntlet to British power by invading Granthistan, and make him so anxious about the safety of Agpur that we keep him there until we can get a siege train from Farishtabad to batter the walls about his ears, ain't it worth it?
gpt
I believe you, my boy! but can we do it? If we try and fail, it means ruin, utter and complete, for both of us.
human
And if we try and succeed, it will save England and India a second Granthi War.
gpt
Right, Bob; I'll do it. Give us your fist, old boy.
human
I don't mind telling you that if you wouldn't come in, I had made up my mind to try it by myself, he said.
gpt
And then, Hal, you might well have talked about ruin utter and complete. But as it is, why, I am proud to serve under you, old boy, and if my Darwanis don't give a good account of themselves under your command, you may call me a Dutchman.
human
Under my command? Nonsense, Bob! I am going to serve under you, of course. Why, you are the man on the spot, holding a commission from the Granthi Durbar, and obviously the proper person to punish its rebellious vassal. I am merely accompanying the troops of a friendly state as a matter of curiosity.
gpt
My dear Hal, it's no end good of you, but I am perfectly content. You have always been top-sawyer, you know.
human
And a precious mess I should have made of things more than once, if you had not been at hand. Why, Bob, I couldn't conscientiously take command in an affair like this. It's your idea; I should not have thought of it, and it isn't likely I should carry it out properly. You see your point and go straight at it through thick and thin, while I plot out a plan for getting there on the lines of the best commanders, with proper care for communications and supplies. But if you will give your orders, I'll carry them out or burst. If I don't agree with 'em, I promise you you shall hear about it.
gpt
No doubt whatever about that. Well, Hal, so be it. Even if you don't agree, you'll obey orders, I know. Just a minute or two to worry out our immediate moves, then back I go. Got a light? Take a squint at this map of mine. I propose to cross the Tindar about Kardi, so as to threaten Agpur from the south-west, throw up such entrenchments as time allows, and wait there for you. You will cross the Ghara wherever you find most convenient--the Habshi with his local knowledge will advise you best there--remembering that if you can get far enough to the east to give the impression of threatening the city from another side, so much the better, but remembering also that unless you come up quickly, I may have the whole Agpur army launched against me.
human
My dear Bob, you forget the distance I shall have to march. You will be annihilated before I can reach you.
gpt
Not if I know you, or myself and my Darwanis. If I can hold the Agpuris in front, while you come up and deliver a flank attack, I will, but that circumstances must decide. We will keep open communications by means of _kasids_ if we can, but it is quite possible we may have to act independently. At any rate, I will not leave Kardi alive without letting you know, and you won't let anything short of a signed message from me persuade you that I have abandoned it?
human
Trust me. But I wish we could both have made forced marches and met at a point on the Ranjitgarh side of Agpur.
gpt
So do I. But if wishes were horses----! The meanest intelligence, even Sher Singh's, couldn't miss the propriety of attacking us in detail if we trailed our toy armies separately past him with the force we possess. Don't think I labour under any delusion as to our powers. We can't push Sher Singh back; we can only hold him back by fear for the city. We can't hope to conquer him, but we may make it impossible for him to move until a British brigade with battering guns arrives to eat him up.
human
I see. Less glorious, but possibly quite as useful.
gpt
Just so. And there's a private and personal advantage for us in being on this side of the city rather than the other. Our Mr James will readily acknowledge that while there was a chance of rescuing our poor fellows we were bound to cross into Agpur. But when he hears they are dead, I have a foreboding--I feel it in my bones--that he will instantly order us back. Of course I shall send him all particulars--my reasons for invading the country, our force, our anticipations of success, the exact reinforcement we need to finish the job in style, and you will do the same before leaving Habshiabad. But it is a good long way for the messengers to go, both in your case and mine, and it is also a good long way back, and the same address may not always find us. Therefore I trust that when we get our orders for retreat, we shall be so far into Agpur that it is impossible to obey. Even James Antony would allow a man a little discretion when to go forward is safety, and to go back would mean destruction.
human
You old fox! cried Gerrard.
gpt
I'll back you up, don't be afraid. We'll put the telescope to the blind eye, and our careers may go hang!
human
That's the style. We shall have you a swaggering dare-devil yet, old boy. And now it's boot and saddle again. Good-bye, and come up in time.
gpt
Good-bye. Take care of yourself, Bob.