The Path to Honour Part 25

"Good-bye. Take care of yourself, Bob."

Charteris laughed as he swung himself into the saddle. He and his orderly clattered off into the night, and the campaign of vengeance had begun.

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'clock to-morrow afternoon. I have nothing but zumboorucks,[1] and Chund Sing with all the Augpoor artillery is in front of me. I will maintain my position at all costs till five, but if you have not come up then I must retreat across the river--and my Grunthees will stay on this side of it.--Yours,

R. CHARTERIS."

Charteris wrote the message in Greek characters, forming the letters stiffly with unaccustomed fingers, and pausing now and then for recollection. Gerrard would be able to read it, but no native in India could do so. He made three copies, and despatched them by separate messengers along different routes--by the river-bank, to the south and to the south-east respectively--in the hope that one of them would succeed in reaching his friend.

Charteris looked older and thinner than when he had parted from Gerrard a fortnight before, and his face was tanned to a more p.r.o.nounced red than ever. Many hours of gloom had been encountered in the fulfilment of the task willed in that hour of insight. Unforeseen difficulties of various kinds had hindered him, and it was also quite certain that he had underestimated the time necessary for Gerrard's arrival from Habshiabad with the reinforcements. On returning to his camp that first evening, he had mounted a fresh horse, and ridden on at once towards his headquarters at Dera Galib Khan, whither his messengers had preceded him, warning the Granthi troops there to be ready to take the field at once. Fast though he travelled, however, reaching Dera Galib in two nights of hard riding, he had been outstripped. Emissaries from Sher Singh had already been at work among the Granthis, calling upon them to join their brethren who had betrayed Nisbet and Cowper, and fight the English for the sake of G.o.d and the Guru. Valuable gifts, and the promise of doubled pay and unlimited loot, strengthened the effect of the appeal, and the men were seething with disaffection when Charteris came to them. They had not quite arrived at the point of murdering him and his lieutenants and marching to join Sher Singh, but the thing was openly discussed, and very little was needed to precipitate matters. In face of this heavy blow, Charteris acted with his customary despatch. The disaffected infantry he took with him, deciding that under his own eye they would be as safe on active service as anywhere, but the artillery he left with a heavy heart at Dera Galib. He had counted much on their services, but he durst not take the gunners where a bribe or two would double Sher Singh's present strength, and there was no time to extemporise artillerists from among the Darwanis. These wild men rushed to his standard joyfully as soon as they heard he needed recruits, and the robbers whom he had fined and whose forts he had destroyed forsook the pursuits of peace and declared themselves ready to follow him to the gates of h.e.l.l if necessary. Of them he chose out those who already had relatives or fellow-clansmen in his irregular corps to accompany him at once, leaving the rest under the command of his subordinate Carpenter at Dera Galib, nominally for drill, but also to serve as a check upon the disaffected artillery.

With his untrustworthy Granthis and his half-trained auxiliaries he crossed the Tindar at Kardi, as he had intended, and employed the former, to their intense disgust, in throwing up rough entrenchments round the camp. The Darwanis he sent out in raiding-parties (this operation appeared under the more decorous name of "making reconnaissances" in his reports to Ranjitgarh), with orders not to penetrate more than a certain distance into the country, but to do as much damage as possible, and bring back supplies for the force. These tactics had the result he antic.i.p.ated. Sher Singh's army, which was organising itself, with much squabbling and mutual recrimination, for a dash across the frontier, found its rear threatened, and perceived that unless the capital was to be left open to attack, these impudent intruders must be driven back to their own side of the river. The matter was complicated by the speedy appearance of the Habshiabad troops in the south of the state, where Gerrard seized one of the riverside towns, and held it by means of Rukn-ud-din's men and the most serviceable of the Nawab's batteries of artillery, while he laboured day 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 the case of European troops, and the Nawab and his soldiers alike would have scouted the idea of obtaining supplies otherwise than from the country traversed, but weapons for the men and transport for the guns, and ammunition for both, were necessaries difficult to improvise on the spur of the moment. The Habshiabadis took the field at last, in a state that would have made a European commander tear his hair, and Gerrard hustled them on, blooding them by a smart little engagement with a force sent by Sher Singh's nearest governor to dispute their pa.s.sage. The Rani joined them with every man she could bring as soon as they were ready to cross the Ghara, but left the command of her contingent to Rukn-ud-din, maintaining rigid seclusion on her elephant with one or two faithful attendants.

Thus far, then, Charteris's bold scheme was justified. Sher Singh's power for mischief beyond his own borders was largely neutralised for the present, and for so long as an active enemy remained in arms upon his soil. But the march from the Habshiabad frontier to Kardi was a matter of seven days in favourable circ.u.mstances, and this was the hot weather, and the partially trained troops disgraced their leader by straggling, making unauthorised expeditions for the sake of plunder, demanding longer halts and more frequent opportunities of meeting the foe, and all manner of other military crimes. The high officers who accompanied them on gorgeous elephants, with long trains of attendants and baggage-animals, were quite useless as an aid to discipline, and Gerrard fell into the habit of issuing his orders first, and then sending a special copy to be handed round among them. It was not at all the fulfilment of the ideal he had set before himself, the reformation of the army through and with the help of its leaders, but time was pressing, and far ahead, at Kardi, Bob Charteris was looking out for him and wondering why he did not come.

The elements seemed to combine with troublesome humanity against Charteris at this moment. A sudden rise of the river, a week before the usual date, flooded him out of his entrenchments and obliged him to take up a less satisfactory position. Moreover, at the same time, Chand Singh, the Agpur general, after some painful vacillation as to whether he should annihilate the western or the southern intruder first, made up his mind suddenly, and marched with quite unexpected speed 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 range of ground in front of Charteris. Charteris had requisitioned every boat that could be found on the Darwan side, and kept them safely guarded, but it would be quite easy to obtain others if Chand Singh cared to try a naval action. This he would probably combine with a frontal attack all along the line as soon as his artillery arrived, with the result that Charteris's force must choose between destruction and being driven into the river, unless they retreated in time. But everything forbade this last course. It would leave Gerrard's force exposed to the full onslaught of the Agpur army, and even if they succeeded in escaping across the river, would set Sher Singh free to pursue his larger designs, which would probably begin with an invasion of Darwan, and a joyful reception from the unsettled Granthi artillery at Dera Galib. Moreover, Charteris had a shrewd idea that somewhere on that other bank would be lying in wait for him that despatch from Ranjitgarh, the receipt of which he had hitherto successfully evaded, but which was practically certain to contain a sharp order to return at once into his own province. Every possible consideration, therefore, urged him to hold out at Kardi at all costs, but when on this particular evening he wrote his notes to Gerrard, of whose whereabouts and approach he had for several days received only vague rumours, he was face to face with the necessity of retiring unless relieved.

This necessity was not to be made public, either to the unsatisfactory Granthis or to the dispirited Darwanis, who were perpetually entreating to be let loose against Chand Singh's array, which they were quite certain they could drive away, if not destroy. Charteris said nothing of it, even to his sole European companion, whom Carpenter had unselfishly sent to his a.s.sistance with a small reinforcement. But in view of the morrow even his iron nerve gave way, and he found himself noting narrowly the colloguing of the Granthis round their camp-fires, and their sudden silence when he approached, and wondering whether a murderous attack in the night would be the end of it after all. He pulled himself together quickly. He had done the best he could, what he thought was right, and it had at any rate delayed Sher Singh long enough 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 would want every ounce of force that he possessed. What folly to be sitting up listening for murderers! He added hastily the concluding words to the report so scrupulously sent off day by day to James Antony, bade Vixen keep guard, and lay down and slept. Gerrard would not have been able to sleep in these circ.u.mstances, and Charteris's lieutenant was equally dest.i.tute of the capacity for repose. He roused his chief quite unnecessarily early in the morning, his flushed face and haggard eyes telling of vain attempts at slumber, though he merely guessed at what Charteris knew.

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

"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 is sporting a pair of gold bracelets."

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

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

"Full confidence?" Charteris's voice, inside the tent, evidently issued from the folds of a towel. "Why, of course. Every confidence that a man 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't think he would take this opportunity----?"

"To pay me out? I would as soon believe that you had been bribed by Chand 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 sooner believe it." Charteris emerged from the tent as he spoke and looked keenly at his subordinate. "My dear fellow, your nerves are all to pieces. Steady, steady! This is going to be one of the worst days you ever had, and I mean you to come out of it with credit. Take a couple of orderlies to keep guard, and go down and get a good swim. If you feel inclined for a snooze afterwards, take an hour or two with my blessing. 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 Darwani bivouac, and backed up the _zamburaks_ with a line of musketmen.

Pa.s.sing on to where the Granthis had slept, he found them, as Warner had said, standing to their arms, but there was evident to his eye a certain amount of hesitation, as though his most recent precaution was not entirely to their liking. Without betraying any suspicion, he rode straight up to Bishen Ram, the Sirdar, and complimented him upon the alertness 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. Well for the commander who has such men under him! And why are we so brave to-day, Sirdar-ji?"

He indicated the bracelets upon the sinewy arms, and was aware of a savage grin, instantly repressed, upon the faces of the men nearest at hand. Bishen Ram replied without the slightest embarra.s.sment. "It appears to your honour's servants that to-day there will be a fight to the death, and it is the custom of my unworthy house to meet death clad as beseems a gentleman."

"A good custom indeed! and no ornament could better become a loyal soldier," said Charteris, with just sufficient meaning in his voice to leave the traitors uncertain whether he had penetrated their designs or not. 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, and reached his tent unharmed, but persuaded of the critical nature of the situation. The treachery of the Granthis, whether actual or only potential, practically neutralised the powers of the rest of his force.

If he ordered them to advance, they would promptly fraternise with the foe, if he kept them in reserve, they would fall upon his rear, and if he led the whole line into battle, they would turn their arms against their comrades. A day of inglorious waiting, with one half of his force--for the better training of the Granthis compensated for the smallness of their numbers--in arms against the other half, until either Chand Singh came on in overwhelming strength or Gerrard appeared, seemed to lie before him.

And so it turned out. Throughout the sultry hours he held his position, not daring to move his men save to drive back tentative advances on the part of the enemy, which he knew were designed to cover the movements of their artillery. He could not press his attack home, far less penetrate to the guns, and the range of his musketry would of course be hopelessly inadequate when Chand Singh chose to begin to pound him from a distance. He did choose at last, about half-way through the day, and to the tortures of inaction were added the lively reproaches of the force. Lying down to be a target for artillery fire was not an exercise that commended itself to the native mind, and Charteris became the unwilling centre of a group of protesting Granthis and Darwanis, who had each of them his special plan for making the day more interesting, and plucked at the European's sleeve when they were tired of shrieking into his ears. It was with a certain grim pleasure that he received the remonstrances of the Granthis, whose plans must all have been disarranged by his unexpected immobility. Chand Singh's cannon-b.a.l.l.s fell as impartially among them as among their fellows, perhaps as a gentle hint that if they were going to change sides they might as well do it at once, but the distance that separated the armies was sufficient to account for a good many of them if they were exposed to Charteris's fire. Yes, the Granthis deserved all they got, but his heart bled for his Darwanis. Less fitted, both by nature and training, for pa.s.sive endurance, they could not understand his inertness.

"Sahib, can you expect us to endure this?" they cried reproachfully, as the round-shot crashed among them. "We are here to die, but let us die fighting, 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 the pa.s.sivity of his foe, deliberately advanced four guns to a spot little beyond the reach of their musketry, and began to try the range.

Charteris detected at once the bait which was to draw him from his position and give the Granthis their long-sought opportunity, and set his teeth hard. The line should not advance. Turning his back on Bishen Ram, whose protests were very nearly becoming threats, he called up the heads of two Darwani clans, of late the fiercest and most troublesome of his robber-va.s.sals.

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

A great shout answered him. "Into h.e.l.l 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 ostentatious disappointment, only to feel his sleeves gripped on either side by eager hands.

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

"I thought I could count on you. Listen then, brothers. I want those four guns dismounted, and rolled into the marsh near at hand. We will cover your charge by advancing within musket-shot of the guns, but further we cannot go. Can I trust you to return when your work is done, 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 Darwanis together, as they raced off to their followers. Charteris made his dispositions hurriedly. Twenty men, his best shots, were sent out under Warner to wriggle through the long gra.s.s to within range of the guns, and pick off the gunners when they attempted to fire. The rest of the Darwanis--such as possessed fire-arms, at least--were ordered to load, but remain where they were, and the Granthis to fall back a hundred yards. The eyes of all were fixed upon the favoured few, who, with upraised hands, were repeating the _Kalima_[2] before they set forth upon their perilous ride, but Charteris managed to convey a brief warning to the Darwani chiefs and officers near him. The forlorn hope burst forth from the low jungle that had served as cover all day--starting on the left of the advanced party, so as not to mask its fire, and as their progress was marked with shouts by their fellows, his ear caught the sound he had expected, the ring of ramrods behind him on the right. The Granthis were loading without orders.

"To the right, turn. Ready. Present." His voice rang out, and the Darwanis nearest him looked to see if he had gone mad, that he should bid them turn away from watching their champions' ride. But as his whistle reinforced the order, the chiefs whose minds he had prepared rushed among their followers, and by voice and blows forced them to obey. The sight of the Granthis at work with their ramrods betrayed the truth at once, and the wild men took a step forward with a howl, and would have precipitated themselves upon their hereditary foes if Charteris had not stopped them. The Granthis, deprived of the advantage they had antic.i.p.ated, of pouring in a volley from behind on their unsuspecting allies, looked foolish, and Charteris rode forward and rated Bishen Ram, and bade him order his men to withdraw their charges. For a moment they hesitated whether to direct their fire on him--the forlorn hope was happily out of range of their present position--but the habit of discipline combined with the knowledge that the Darwanis were thirsting to fire to induce them to obey. The mask was worn very thin now, however, and Charteris hardly dared turn his eyes from them even to receive his returning heroes, who had duly dashed at the guns, dismounted them and tumbled them into the swamp, and ridden back--all that were left of them--under a heavy fire from the concealed matchlockmen on the other side. The promised rewards were duly bestowed on two gory figures, and Charteris returned to the bush which had afforded him partial shelter at intervals during the day, and wondered how long the Granthis would maintain even the pretence of obedience if Gerrard did not come.

As the thought pa.s.sed through his mind, it seemed to him that a deeper and more distant boom mingled with the sound of Chand Singh's cannon, and the nearer popping of his musketry, and when he listened he heard it again. The two signal shots! Yes, Gerrard was coming, was evidently attacking the enemy's left, where their main camp was situated. At first there was no cessation either in the cannonade poured into Charteris's force or in the musketry-fire, but gradually both slackened. Evidently Chand Singh was withdrawing his forces from this front, but whether it was to employ them against Gerrard or to make good his retreat there was no means of knowing. The trying thing was that even now Charteris could not venture to loose his Darwanis on the foe, for the accession of the Granthis to Chand Singh's ranks might turn the tide in the enemy's favour, and he was not sanguine enough to hope that they would consent to remain neutral. He could only trust that the Habshiabadis were in a better condition to pursue--but when he and Gerrard met he learned that it was not so. On receiving Charteris's message, Gerrard had come on with his artillery and an escort, leaving the rest of his force to hold a detachment sent against him by Chand Singh.

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