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Gil the Gunner; or, The Youngest Officer in the East, a novel by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 20 |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY. That day passed slowly away, with the heat increasing till the afternoon, and then slowly declining again towards evening. The greatest care was taken of the sepoy prisoners, and the men had the most stringent orders not to go anywhere near the edge of the wood, lest they should be seen by any of the natives at the rajah's camp, and nothing could have been better than their conduct--all, to a man, busying themselves in polishing up their accoutrements and waiting patiently until their services were wanted, for the discipline of our troop was perfection. Quite early in the day I went to Sergeant Craig, but the doctor was by him. "A little irritable this morning," said the latter. "Wounds going on all right; but they pain him, and I've given him something to make him sleep. Don't disturb him, poor fellow." "Is he worse?" I whispered. "Worse? No; better. I'm making a splendid job of him. He'll be about again before long." I had to come away disappointed, but I soon had something else to take up my attention; for, as I was wondering what sort of a plan Craig's would be for seizing the guns, Dost came up to me. "Going to the captain, sahib," he said. "He will give me rupees, and I can go, and buy food." "But you'll be careful not to betray our hiding-place, Dost." "The sahib may trust me," he said, proudly. "They will only think me one who buys to sell again." I walked with him to where Brace was standing, watching the changing guard over our prisoners, and he turned to us sharply. "Ready to start, Dost?" "Yes, sahib," replied the man, holding out his hand for the rupees. "I will try all I can to get plenty, but it will be poor food for the sahib." "Never mind. Now, be careful." "Yes, sahib," said Dost, taking the rupees given to him, hiding them in a fold of his turban, and then salaaming and going off amongst the trees, while after satisfying himself about the safety of his prisoners, Brace laid his hand upon my shoulder, and led me toward the edge of the deep forest, which we approached carefully, going down on our hands and knees before peering out, and seeing a long line of men, with their laden donkeys, each bearing a heavy yellowish-green pile. "The grass-cutters," I whispered, as the men led their animals up toward the little flat, which looked bright and cheerful in the morning sunshine. "I'm glad to see that, Gil, my lad," said the captain. "It shows that they are taking good care of the poor horses." As we watched, the line of grass-cutters disappeared in a hollow, and we could then see the sentries, with their drawn swords, slowly marching up and down, while a couple more at a distance gave a hint of the care Ny Deen was taking to guard against surprise. As we had half expected, quite early in the morning the troop rode slowly out, the men in white, looking fairly soldierly, and the horses, as far as we could judge at that distance, in excellent condition, and carefully groomed. "Gil," said Brace, suddenly, "go back and send three men with the horses a good half-mile further into the forest. Let them stay there till I send for them back. If they are within hearing here, one of them is sure to hear the jingle of the accoutrements, and neigh out a challenge." "Of course; it would be ruinous," I said, "unless we use it as a lure to bring them near to us, and then made a sudden dash." "It would not bring them near, Gil," said Brace, smiling, "but send them farther away. Ny Deen did not plot and plan and suffer, as he has suffered, to get those guns, and make himself master of a dashing troop of horse artillery, to run any risk of losing it again." "No," I said, thoughtfully; and I hurried away, feeling how right he was. The task did not take me many minutes; I only stopped to see three men leading off our three beautiful chargers, and gratified myself with a few pats on their glossy necks, before hurrying back and creeping down by Brace's side, where I watched with him the drilling and training of the native gunners, who, under the orders of Ny Deen, whose clothes glittered in the sun, went slowly and fairly through the gun-drill, making believe to carry cartridges to the gun muzzle, ram them home, fire, and then sponge out the bores, and all in a way which went to prove that, after a few months, they would be clever enough gunners to do a great deal of mischief to a foe. The proceedings were very similar to those we had seen on the previous day, only that the troop marched by us much more closely, and I had a better view of Ny Deen, unmistakably our syce at the barracks, but now transformed into a gorgeously dressed, princely looking chief, mounted on his graceful-looking Arab, whose hoofs hardly seemed to touch the ground, so beautifully elastic was every bound as it cantered by. I was admiring the group before me, and had turned to whisper something to Brace, but I saw such a fixed look of misery and despair in his face that I was silent, and felt for him, knowing, too, that I ought to have been as much hurt at the loss of our horses and guns as he. We crouched there, watching and listening to the dull trample of the horses over the plain, the jingle of the swords, and the peculiar unmistakable rattle of gun-carriage and limber. Now they halted, and pretended to fire; now they limbered up, and advanced and retreated, and finally, in capital order, marched down to their quarters, the guns being parked, as before; and not till then did Brace give any sign of his presence by giving vent to a low, deep sigh. "If I could only think of some scheme!" I kept on saying to myself, as I walked back with him to our little camp; but the more I tried to invent some plan, the more hopeless it all seemed. The only idea I had was to gather our men together in two bodies, to be hidden among the trees, half on one side of the plain, half on the other, and one of those parties to attack and try to surprise the troop when they came near, when, if they took alarm and galloped off to the other side, they would be running into the arms of another little ambuscade, whom we could go over to help. I had just got to this point, when Brace turned to me sharply. "You have just thought out some plan," he said. "What is it?" I told him, and he listened patiently to the end. "What do you think of it now?" he said, gravely. "I think it's as bad and stupid as ever it can be," I cried, pettishly. "You are right, Gil," he said; "it is. Absolutely hopeless, my dear boy. No; men on foot cannot catch Arab horses. They would be off at a very different pace to that we have seen, directly we showed ourselves. It would not do, Gil--it would not do." I sighed now, partly from vexation, and we joined our companions in the miserable meal, of which we were badly in want. Then the horses were fetched back, and we anxiously awaited the return of Dost, who joined us just at dusk, driving two donkeys before him, so laden with provisions that our prospects looked ten times as hopeful. "Why, Dost, man," said Brace, smiling at him, "I was thinking ten minutes ago that it would be impossible for us to hold this position for want of food. You have given us two or three days more. Quick! let's give the poor lads a good supper, Gil; they want it badly." That night, just at watch-setting, I went again to see Craig, but with no great hope of his having any plan worth listening to, for the whole business seemed to be impossible. There is only one way, I said to myself: a dash at them by night, sword in hand. But when I reached the place where the poor fellow lay, he was sleeping easily, and it was quite out of the question to waken a wounded man. All was quiet in the camp at last, and, fortunately for us, the weather lovely. We had our quiet talk after watch-setting, and it fell to my lot that night to have to make the rounds, so that I had plenty of time for thought, as I leaned against a tree, and tried once more to make some plan, but tried in vain. Then I listened to faint distant sounds in the rajah's village, and to the howling of the jackals, with the croakings, whisperings, and mutterings which came out of the black forest, all sounding so weird and strange that I was glad to keep going from post to post, to chat in a whisper with the men, and make sure that no attempt at evasion was being made by our prisoners, who all appeared to be asleep. And so my part of the uneasy night watch passed away, and I was relieved by Brace. "Thought out anything?" I said. "No," he replied. "Have you?" I shook my head, and went and lay down to drop asleep on the instant, and wake up at daybreak according to my custom. I had hardly risen when the doctor came to me. "Vincent, my lad," he said, "I don't think Craig is any worse, but he is uneasy. He has got something on his mind, and wants to speak to you." "To me?" I said eagerly. "I'll go." I hurried to where the poor fellow lay, and he signed to me to kneel down by him. "Why, Craig, man," I said, "what is it?" "What is it?" he said angrily. "That doctor has been giving me stuff to keep me asleep just at a time when I could help you all so." "Help us? How? With that plan of yours for getting the guns and horses back?" "Yes," he whispered eagerly. "I wouldn't say a word to any one else as I spoke to you first." I looked at him curiously. "Oh no," he said, as he interpreted my look. "I'm not feverish or delirious. Quite calm and cool, sir. Listen!" I bent down, and he began talking in a low whisper, full of earnestness, as he unrolled his plan, and as he went on my heart began to beat, and my cheeks to flush. "That makes your eyes sparkle, sir, doesn't it?" he said. "That will do, won't it?" "Do, Craig!" I whispered. "It's glorious. If it succeeds, they ought to give you a commission." "Think so?" he said. "Ah, well, perhaps I shan't live to want it. But what are you going to do?" "Go and tell the captain, of course," I cried. "That's right; go and tell him, sir," whispered the wounded man; "and good luck to you. Oh, if I could only have been in the game!" "I wish from my heart you could have been, Craig," I said, pressing his hand. "And you won't leave me behind, sir, to the crows?" "If you are left behind, Craig, I shall be left behind too," I said. "But left! Why, you'll be riding on a limber or in the waggon, man. There, I must go and tell him. Hurrah! Oh, Craig, if I had only been born with a brain like yours!" "Perhaps you would have only wasted your life, sir, as I did. But go along and tell him, and God bless your efforts, for it may mean saving thousands of innocent lives, and preventing the pandies from running riot over the country, and marking their track in blood." The next minute I was seeking Brace, feeling that I had the guns under my hands; and so occupied that I did not notice a peculiar fact. Our prisoners were not in their customary places, though the sentries were on guard! _ |
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