"What an uncommon romantic fellow you are!" said Rawson good-humouredly. "This was my chief reason for choosing the spot.

Look here!"

He took Gerrard by the elbow and turned him round. From where they stood they looked straight through the breach made by the guns, and along the rough track formed by levelling the houses from the chasm in the outer to that in the inner wall.

"See that? Almost a straight line, ain't it? Well, if we bring 'em in through the double breach, along that road, and bury them here in the heart of the palace, will it, or will it not, produce a fine moral effect?"

"Magnificent!" murmured Gerrard, the dramatic force of the idea gripping him. "Regular time's revenge."

Two or three days later time's revenge was completed. The bodies of Nisbet and Cowper, removed reverently from their desecrated grave and wrapped in the costliest Kashmir shawls to be discovered among Sher Singh's treasures, were borne through the breach in the city wall, attended by representatives of every unit of the besieging force, across the devastated town and through the ruined defences of the palace, to be laid to rest in the secluded garden with every possible military honour. As the last echoes of the firing over the grave died away, Gerrard turned to Charteris with quickened breath.

"Bob," he murmured, "they have made a way for a corpse through the great wall of Agpur."

[1] In modern parlance, "gas."

CHAPTER XXIII.

RUN TO EARTH.

On the evening of the day when the bodies of the two murdered Englishmen had been laid in the grave with all imaginable honour, four figures crept stealthily through the shadows at the base of the ramparts of the palace. After the funeral, in the course of a stroll round the walls, Gerrard and Charteris had refreshed their memory of the various localities. Long ago they had satisfied themselves as to the ident.i.ty of the tree which masked the exit of the secret pa.s.sage, and on looking from the parapet they discovered that it had survived the siege uninjured. But the hole it concealed was by no means easy to reach, since it was about half-way up the great face of wall, which was much higher on the outside than the inside. True, the stones on the surface were rough-hewn and much weathered, and vegetation of all sorts had struck its roots between them during the recent rains, but they were not too firmly fixed in their places, as a gap here and there showed. The adventurers agreed that it would be impossible to make their attempt from the inside of the fortress, owing to the strict watch maintained there, and since this decision implied a climb up the sheer crumbling wall-face from below, the help of a rope was very necessary. Since to lower one from above would have attracted attention, it was clear that it must in some way be raised from below, and the two friends had set their wits to work, with the result that when they paused--to all appearance quite casually--on the parapet and looked over at the tree, each of them drew furtively from his pocket a ball of twine. Charteris laughed.

"At any rate I'm glad you haven't beat me, Hal. I could think of nothing better than unwinding the string and dropping one end on each side of the tree, in the hope that it might remain untouched till to-night. No, by Jove! I have thought of a better way. Give us your ball."

He knotted the two ends of twine, and dropped the b.a.l.l.s dexterously one on either side of the tree, the string thus remaining steadied against possible winds by the weight at the bottom. Then, talking carelessly, he led his friend on, both hoping that no acquisitive small boy might chance to poke about along the base of the wall during the afternoon.

Rukn-ud-din and Amrodh Chand had already been informed that their services were desired that night, and at the appointed time they slipped away from their quarters into the darkness and joined the two Englishmen. Caution was necessary in pa.s.sing through the narrow lanes of the city, not only lest implacable partisans of Sher Singh should seize the opportunity of avenging their master's fall, but lest a British patrol should be encountered. Charteris and Gerrard knew the pa.s.sword, but the composition of their party was certain to rouse curiosity, and lead to the suspicion that something strange was on foot. By dint of effacing themselves deftly round corners, and hiding in doorways, they managed to avoid notice, and reached the appointed spot at the desired time, when the moon, rising behind the palace itself, threw this portion of the wall, and the ground at its foot, into the deepest shadow. Sentries were posted both within and without the walls, and it was necessary to wait until the one on this beat had turned his back, and then run singly from one patch of shade to another. All once safely a.s.sembled at the foot of the wall, Charteris produced a dark lantern, and while the rest stood so as to shield him from observation, hunted for the two little b.a.l.l.s of twine. They had fallen not far from one another, and by pulling at the strings it became evident that they were still knotted over the projecting tree-trunk. To one of them the end of a stout rope was attached, and then the other was pulled, so that the rope might be, as the twine now was, pa.s.sed over the tree. When the two ends of the rope hung level, forming as it were a double handrail, Charteris seized them, and began to climb, supporting himself by the ropes at each step as he felt for a higher rest for his foot. The slight sound he made, gradually growing more distant, was the only guide those below had as to his position, but at last there came a tug upon each rope, which was to be the sign that he had reached the tree and found the entrance of the pa.s.sage practicable. Before following him, Gerrard turned to the two natives.

"Brothers, you know that we hope to seize this night him who has been guilty of so many crimes, that he may be brought to a fair trial. You know also that a vow of secrecy forbids us to share our knowledge of this place with you. Swear to me, then, that after to-night it shall be to you as though it did not exist, whatever may happen to us."

"We swear it, sahib," said both men, but Rukn-ud-din added, "Provided that if your honour should call to us for help, we are at liberty to follow you."

"In that case you may certainly come up," said Gerrard gravely, and he followed Charteris up the wall. Amrodh Chand's eyes sought Rukn-ud-din's in the darkness.

"His vow is safe, brother; but what of our vow of vengeance?"

"Aye; we know what is meant by these trials. Antni Sahib loves Sher Singh and will not have him slain, and the judges will know it. They will appoint a pleader to gain him his life by false words."

"And we, brother--we who have sworn to wash out the stain from the severed cloth in the blood of the brother-slayer? We shall be baulked, and the women will laugh at us in the streets."

"Aye; men will mock at our beards," said Rukn-ud-din bitterly. "Has Jirad Sahib forgotten all that has pa.s.sed?"

Amrodh Chand's head approached his comrade's closely. "I think Jirad Sahib has remembered our vow. Did he not make us swear that _after this night_ the place should be to us as though it was not? What, then, of to-night?"

Rukn-ud-din pondered sagely this most undeserved aspersion on Gerrard's sincerity. "It is well thought of," he said. "Moreover, it seemed to me but now that I heard a cry or gasp. What if it were Jirad Sahib's voice calling to us, and we have failed him?"

"We will succour him at once," said Amrodh Chand. "See, brother, I will knot the ends of the rope under this projecting stone, and follow thee up."

All unconscious of the insubordinate reasoning of his followers, Gerrard had made his way up the wall, and reaching the tree, peered into the blackness in search of Charteris. There was no sign of the lantern, but not far off he could hear curious m.u.f.fled sounds, as though a struggle was taking place in resolute silence. Feeling along the tree-trunk with his hands, he discovered the opening in the wall, and squeezed himself past the roots into it--rather nervous work in pitch darkness and with the rope left behind. He found himself in a narrow pa.s.sage, the roof and sides of which he could easily touch, and close in front of him was going on the struggle he had heard. Two or more men must be rolling over one another on the floor, wrestling desperately, but in silence. Gerrard durst not interfere, lest he should seize the wrong man, and he ventured only to say, "Here, Bob!"

in a low voice during a pause in the fighting, for fear of betraying their presence to others. Suddenly a horrible thud, followed by a gasping "Ah-h-h!" from Charteris, proclaimed that the contest was over, and Gerrard was nearly knocked down by some one who cannoned into him backwards. A hand was on his throat in a moment, but when the fingers came in contact with his collar they released their grip, and Charteris whispered with a hoa.r.s.e laugh--

"Why, Hal, I nearly strangled you. Thought you were a comrade of the fellow here. Step over him and shield the light. We must make sure."

Gerrard obeyed--not without an uneasy feeling of exposing himself to unseen foes--and jumped violently when his foot came in contact with some portion of the body of Charteris's late foe. But no attempt was made to seize him, and he stood upright, filling the pa.s.sage as far as possible, while Charteris opened the lantern the merest slit, and turned it on the man's face.

"He's safe. I thought that knock I gave him on the floor must have damaged him considerably. It was him or me. He sprang at me as soon as I got inside, and if I hadn't got my hand over his mouth he would have given the alarm. That handicapped me, too--having to hold him, I mean--and he wriggled like an eel. Well, come on. Now look here, Hal; you ain't going to walk behind me down this pa.s.sage with your sword drawn. You'd have me spitted like a lark if we were attacked either in front or behind. I'll go first with my sword, you'll come after with the lantern--shut, if you please. If I want light, I'll tell you fast enough. Got your Colt ready--not out?"

Gerrard's revolver was ready to his hand, but he realised that it was out of the question to hold it as he felt his way in the dark, and after making sure that his sword was loose in its sheath, he followed Charteris, carrying only the lantern. When they had explored the pa.s.sage before, with plenty of light, it had seemed to them that the walls and floor were astonishingly smooth, but now, feeling and groping their way along in pitch darkness, the number of obstacles over which they stumbled, and projections with which they came into violent contact, was extraordinary. The air of the place was close, too, and between their exertions and their anxiety, they were soon dripping with perspiration. Charteris called a halt at last.

"By Jove, it's just struck me what a do it would be if they had laid a trap for us!" he muttered. "Quite a shallow hole would bring us down on top of on another, and we should be at their mercy."

"Oh, go on, and don't _buck_!" said Gerrard irritably.

"Why, your voice is shaking, Hal! 'Pon my word, if I didn't know you, I should think----" He stopped abruptly, for Gerrard had gripped his shoulder.

"Bob, did you hear something?"

"Not I. You heard your heart beating, perhaps."

"Oh, drop it! It sounded like the ring of metal on stone--as if a sword had knocked against the wall."

"Kuku-ud-din or Amrodh Chand may have followed us."

"They swore they wouldn't. Besides, Bob, it was quite near at hand, and they could not have caught us up in the dark. There was no sign of them at the entrance."

"Quite so. Well, shall we wait and trip him up?"

"No, he will hear--guess we are there. We can't stay all night looking for him in the dark." Gerrard spoke roughly, fighting down the horror of such a watch as he suggested, and Charteris yielded, recognising that his friend's nerves were dangerously strained.

"I should have preferred to make our rear safe, but he will hardly venture to attack us single-handed. Give me the lantern, old boy, and you lead for a bit."

Shamefacedly Gerrard obeyed, realising that the dread of a stealthy step behind had not for Charteris the paralyzing terror it had for him, and they groped their way on, trying to a.s.sure one another that the sounds which reached them when they paused were merely the echoes of their own movements. At length a very faint glimmer became visible far in front, and they crept towards it. It seemed to come from a doorway on the left-hand side of the pa.s.sage, and co-ordinating their former knowledge of the place with the distance they had now come, they saw that it must proceed from the open door of the secret treasury.

Creeping up to this with the utmost precaution, they paused for a moment in the shadow to reconnoitre. The light came from a dim lamp in the middle of the room, round which they could discern the sleeping forms of several men--five or six, perhaps, but their m.u.f.flings made it difficult to distinguish them clearly. One rather removed from the rest, and lying on a charpoy instead of the floor, was evidently Sher Singh himself. Charteris put the lantern deliberately into his pocket, and drawing swords and revolvers, he and Gerrard stepped into the doorway.

"Your Highness is tracked! Surrender!" were the words that pealed into the room and roused the sleepers.

"Maharaj, fear not! There are but two Feringhees here!" cried another voice from behind, and instantly the man nearest to the lamp threw a quilt over it. There was a clash of arms as the men roused from sleep seized the weapons they had laid beside them, but through it Gerrard's ear detected another sound, a grinding noise on the floor, coming from behind. He recognised it at once; it was the grating of the turning-stone as it closed. The man who had tracked them and given the alarm was cutting off their retreat. Gerrard turned mechanically, and putting out his hand, felt the stone beginning to fill the doorway behind him. Stooping, he groped for the stone doorpost, and s.n.a.t.c.hing off his cap, thrust it across the corner where the outer edge of the doorpost met the floor. The cap was iron-framed, and padded to turn a sword-cut, and he heard the stone grate more harshly, then stick, so that at least he and Charteris were not imprisoned without hope of release. As he rose, he was aware of a muttered exclamation of disgust from the other side of the door, and guessed that the man who had set the stone turning had found that it would not shut.

"Shoulder to shoulder, Hal!" said Charteris sharply. The moment so full of thought and action for Gerrard had for him been filled only with intensest listening for every movement of the enemies in front, and he had no idea of the foe behind. Something struck the edge of the doorpost as it pa.s.sed through the slit left open, and Gerrard fired at the sound. Charteris jumped forward a little as the point of a long dagger grazed his shoulder, and the noise of the shot was followed by a choking cry in the pa.s.sage.

"Thanks, old boy. Ready, watch!" Charteris took the lantern from his pocket, and flashed it slowly round. Gerrard had a momentary impression of shining weapons and gleaming eyeb.a.l.l.s, all apparently petrified into immobility by the sudden illumination. Before the enemy could take advantage of the light to spring, he had s.n.a.t.c.hed the lantern from Charteris's hand, and set it on a little stone bracket, evidently left for some such purpose, above the doorway, so that the two Englishmen were in shadow, while their opponents were clearly visible.

"Now, Bob, back to back!" he cried.

Three of the armed men in front made at them at once, while Sher Singh and the others conferred in the background. Neither Gerrard nor Charteris had time to do more than notice this ominous confabulation, for their adversaries gave them plenty of work. They were as agile as cats, and the chance was small indeed of getting in a telling blow.

One man went down with a bullet from Gerrard's revolver in his brain, but his place was instantly taken by one of those at the back, and the next few minutes saw several shots wasted. Suddenly another sound than the clash of arms struck on Gerrard's ear--the grinding noise made by the turning-stone. He had barely time to shout a warning to Charteris before a shot, sounding like the report of a cannon in the confined s.p.a.ce, smashed and extinguished the lantern, and at the same moment two hands grasped his ankles and threw him into the middle of the floor, with Charteris--as he guessed by the clatter of a revolver on the ground--upon him.