THE BLUE DRAGOONS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 746, 17 February 1915, Page 6

THE BLUE DRAGOONS.

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AN INDIAN SOLDIER STORY. BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. PART 8. Nevertheless, the position, was on( of extreme danger. The slightesi show of courage on the partf 6f the mutineers must have resulted in th< extermination of the handful of men If but one sowar had boldly dashed at. them, his example would have told 1 , and the brave" fellows would have been hacked to pieces in a few minutes. But no ; the old feeling ol reverence for the "lords of the earth " was too strong, and no one dared to make the first attack. " Hadn't we better leave him, 01 else carry him on with us to the magazine, sir ?" asked the sergeant, quietly, as his captain knelt by the prostrate Hindoo. " Jones, we must not go back without those two ladies," said Melton, quietly ; " and this poor fellow can tell us what we wish to learn." " All right, sir," answered the isergeant, grimly. " What would England say of the men who left them to such a fate without an effort to save them ?" "I said all right, sir," said the sergeant ; " and I was only thinking how many of those black scoundrels we could polish off before they were too much for us —for we shall never cut our way through," he muttered. At this moment the Hindoo bearer began to revive, and the dragoon gave him another draught from the canteen. '•' Can you show us where the ladies were carried off, my man?" said Melton, quietly.

" Yes, sahib," said the man, mat ing an effort, and rising, when Melton and the dragoon both mounted their horses, the Hindoo twisted his hand in the mane of the captain's charger, and pointing forward, the little detachment was put in motion straight back for the magazine. A yell now arose, and three 01 four shots were fired ,-j tut on the sergeant and the men spurring forward in skirmishing order, the crowd melted before them—the other ten following, with the crowd behind closing in once more, the look of hungry wolves in their eyes. Half the distance back to the magazine was soon passed ; and the street being now , straight right up to the gates', the '•way was commanded by the gun, ,wh)ose charge of grape woulcT have hurtled through the seething crowd. "There, sahib, there !" exclaimed the man ; " that's where I lay till 3 saw you come by just now, and ther I struggled after you. . A party o! the enemy was crowded in that narrow place, and as the slaves ol your highness came up, with the mem sahibs in the palkee, they surrounded us, and made us carry it into this place. They eut at us with theii tulwars, and pricked us with theii knives to make ub go faster, and when I stumbled and fell they cut a 1 me again. I saw another beam cut down, my lord, and I know nc more." " Creep into one of the houses and lie down," said Melton, in'a husky voice, and the poor fellow loosed his hold of the horse's mane and glided through an open doorway.! -.., "Now, my lads, forward!" said Melton, quickly. " Jones, bring ut. the rear." .

Then taking the lead, Melton dashed along the tortuous way indicated by the Hindoo, his men following in single file, while the wolfish sepoys followed—the sowars preferring nol to urge their horses along the narnow, roughly-paved court. At the end. of a couple of hjundred yards, Melton reined up ;• for there, in the opening, lay an overturned palkee, its sides bearing' the marks of sword cuts, while beneath and around it lay the bodies of four Hindoos who had evidently been the bearers. For a few,minutes-Melton hesitated to open the curtains of the litter —as he almost expected to see some horrible sight, knowing how ready the mutineers were to be guilty of an 3 atrocity. But • at last he summoned up courage enough to look in, and a feeling of thankfulness came ovei him on finding the palkee empty. There was a veil there, though, and a knot of ribbqn, with a comb ir which were two or three threads ol long brown hair and these taugh.l him he was on the right track sc far. But where next ? It was evident that the ladies had been forced to leave the litter for some reason or othter, and the question was, which road had been taken? There were two before him —£ broadish street and a continuatior of the tortuous footway, with its houses nearly meeting on either side. Not a soul was there to ask, for th< houses were apparently deserted. Bui the sepoys were crowding still in th< rear, and it was time to act. So, coming to the conclusion thai those who had' borne off Sir Gra ; ham's daughters would, choose the narrow way, as being the least likely to be followed by any one in pursuit, Captain Melton led on on« more, and at the end of ten minutes had the satisfaction of feeling thai he was right in bis choice, for i lady's handkerchief was seen lying where it had evidently been dropped and upon examining it, plainly wen the letters " B.L."—Ella Leslie. " Forward, my men !" exclaimed Melton ; and the horses' hoofs clat tered again over the uneven way at they pressed on. There was other work in store foi the dragoons than that they were ii search of,i for before they,had riddei far. in pursuit of their apparently

hopeless quest, ttaej began to hear a scattered fire above the clattering oi the horses' hoofs. Then came a rattling volley of . so unmistakable a character that Melton knew instantly that it must have been the platoon firing of a body of infantry, and it told him as plainly as if, he had been present, that the infantry was engaged with the enemy. There was another and another' volley and then began the regular scattering fire of the men replying to "an attach. ' ' \

Melton pushe.d his men forward, .and to his surprise found that the tortuous lane led into the same square that we have before noticed, and here it was directly evident to him that the 9th Foot, en their way to the magazine, were held in check by the mutineers. His course was marked out plainly enough. There were the im a utry men being harassed by an enormously preponderating force ; so, forming his little half-troop into line as they debouched from the .mouth of the narrow alley, he placed himself af; their head,'and was about, to charge when something caught his eye that made him change his direction- just as he had got his men well under way.

There at one end of the square, previously concealed from hini by the crowd pf natives and a projecting building, was a small body of mounted men, glittering with steel and gold, surrounding a couple of elephants. An Indian, who by his dress seemed to be a chief, was directing their movements ; and from a glance he had obtained of the howdah of one of the "elephants he knew that it contained those for whom he was in search. Even had he been in doubt, that doubt would have been removed the next moment; for occupants of the howdah evidently recognised the British, uniform, and were making waving handkerchiefs as if asking for aid. "Forward, my men !" cried Melton. " Charge !" and away raced the dragoons across the sqtiare. Two or three hundred sepoys, who ' were between them and the elephants, broke and scattered in all directions —but not in time, for full twenty of them 'were ridden down, or fell to the strokes of the thin-edged sabres. The race 'was not long, for on seeing the coming attack about thirty horsemen rode out to meet them, shouting anil waving their tulwars and' spears, evidently with the idea of intimidating the dragoons and making them draw rein.

The mutineers and native chieftains got .to kinow the mettle of the British cavalry better before the revolt was crushed out. They had been in the habit of- looking on them as feeble, enervated creatures, too idle to do more than mount the horses that had been groomed for them, after donning' the burnished trappings that native servants had cleaned.. They learned now'that a hostile demonstration in front of a body of British horse when charging only adds to their ardour ;' for the officers' difficulty with their men is not to get them to leap at theii enemies throats but to keep them well in hand, and prevent them from going too far. It was so here, for as the horsemen- rode out, gay with trappings and shawls, the dragoons gave'a tremendous " Hooray "; every man sat down in his saddle, gripped his horse more tightly with his knees, brought his sword to the attack, and singling out his enemy, rode straight at him. The shock was tremendous, most of the Indians being taken on the flank just as they were wheeling to turn and flee. ' There movement was too late, for the next instant horses and men were rolling on the ground, ridden over, cut down, and scattered like so much dust by the dragoons, who did not draw rein till they had surrounded the two elephants, whose mahouts they compelled, by pointed swords to take the direction of the magazine. At the same moment, almost, there was a tremendous volley from the infantry, . now drawn up in line, and directly after the 9th Foot began to move forward, shoulder to shoulder with their bayonets at the charge sweeping all before them as tbej spread from side to side of th€ square. The mutineers broke and led, a large portion of them coming towards the elephants ; but as they caught sight of the dragoons forming for another charge, they broke off to the left, and a minute lr.*i Captain Melton was whispering reassuring words to the sisters as he rode beside their elephant, the othei being 'heavily laden with ammunition. The colonel of the Foot rode up directly after to shake hands, and on learning who had been rescued by Captain Melton he formed up a sturdy guard of his men to assist the cavalry escort in protecting so precious a" "burden as the Governor's daughters. It seemed that the foot regimenl had been attacked and the time of starting, and this had retarded them— fortunately, as it happened ; for the handful of dragoons would never have been able to master the large body of men that would have been at hand had not their at tention been taken up by the infan try. The order to " March " was giver at once, for, in spite of the demonstrations of the cavalry, the enemj kept crowding back into the square and it soon became that the 3 were determined to prevent the priz< from being carried off ; and, to rnak< matters worse, the mahouts no\ made a daring, effort to escape witl their ponderous beasts. But a pis tsl-shot whistling by the ear of on( from the pistol of Captain Meltoi brought both.- to their senses, an< they quietly drove the elephants 01 in the midst of the line. A. haml-to-hanfl street fight wa

mminent, the mutineers clustering thickly in the way, so that from ;ime to time Melton was compelled, mwillingly enough, to resign the lalies to the charge of the young in'sntry captain, and head his men. in lash after dash, to clear the way, svhile the infantry dealt with them in ;urn with their bayonets. They had about half a mile to go to the' magazine gates, and Melton irdently longed tor that distance to je passed, especially as the fire was low growing particularly warm, and ;he ladies on the elephant were in a ;erribly exposed position. It was plain enough, too, now, :hat matters were assuming a serious aspect at the magazine, for the ninepounder suddenly began firing at regular, steady, short intervals ; and laintlj' ' heard came the sharp, short volleys of muskets and carbines. " Push on, my lads," said the in'antry colonel. Let's get within the walls ; and then, all joined together, we shall be able to read these felows a lesson that they will never •orget. Captain Melton," he said, pointing with his sword to the wiler street where the natives were evidently making a stronger stand, "we will give them as heavy a volley as we can, and if you will follow it up yith a good charge, my lads shall deal with the windows, and roofs, and give the scoundrels that flock Diit, a prick or two with the cold steel." Melton bowed, and then, 'giving one fiance at the howdah in which Laura Graham sat clasping her sister's land, sat ready, \ v The infantry were to the front, and 'orming in three lines across the street as the matchlock balls began to fly sent such a tremendous volley :nto the enemy as made them stagger. Then before the smoke had cleared away the infantry allowed the dragoons to pass through and go down the street at a rattling pace, sweeping all before them, while thte infantry followed and fired a t the enemy who clustered on the roofs, only to fly, tumbling one over the other in their efforts to escape. This bold- succession of manoeuvres gave the retreating English so great a space of grojund that a few minutes' after found them close to the straight street leading to the magazine gates. A discharge of grape cleared this for the time, _ and with bayonets bristling the infantry held it and its outlets till their baggage and impedimenta were safely filing in >at the gates—Captain Melton proudly riding in beside the first elephant, with his men as escort now to his fair charge amidst the cheers of their own regiment, dismounted now and acting as infantry at the wall inside. Still showing a "bristling line of bayonets, from beneath which poured a- hail of bullets on the mutineers, who pressed them as they retreated slowly behind their steel fence extending across the street, the infantry retired within the gates, which they then banged-to and secured, when, with a howl of rage as the last man disappeared, the mutineers once more filled the long street.

There was a severe lesson, in store for them, for the infantry sergeant was ready with his men at their well-served 'gun at its embrasure, and juet as the street was thickest with its howling, bloodthirsty mob the word "Fire !". was given, the lanyard pulled, the percussion tube flashed, and the nine-pounder belched forth its contents, tearing a lane through the enemy, who once more fled, leaving the street strewn with the woun;ded, the dying, and the dead. There were hearty congratulations between the two colonels as soon as the gates were closed, and they met face to face ; but there was no time to . be lost, and, after a few words they immediately set out on a tour of inspection of the place, giving orders as they did so, and leaving their various officers to see them fulfilled. For the first thing to be done was to put the magazine in as good a state of defence as possible • and here within the feeble mud wall the advantages of discipline and a governing will began to show themselves. Before" many minutes had elapsed, parties of men were having spades and picks served out to them, with which they were throwing up earth. works to strengthen their position. The walls were banked up, loopholes were cut for musketry, and as fast as they were ready other officers planted their men there, waiting to show their skill as marksmen. Then under the guidance of Colonel Bruce, the magazine stores were opened ; arms of a serviceable nature, with ammunition were served out to the civilians of the party, and several nine-pounders were brought out and planted at different points where it was possible, from the situation of the streets, they might be attached. Strong earthworks were thrown up in. front of these guns, and protection was afforded to the artillerymen by the means of planking and the efforts of a carpenter. Meantime other parties had not been idle. It had fallen to the lot of Captain Melton—who had been warmly thanked by the colonel for his brave and successful attemptto see to the preparation of the magazine for the accomodation of the ladies and children, while other portions were given up to the men off duty. The great difficulty was to deal with a large body of horses, but a series of worksheds and stores were quickly turned into very respectable stables, were the patient beasts were soon calmly munching their corn, quite indifferent to the sounds of war without, and presenting themselves as enviable objects to the trembling women and children who were huddled in the long rooms. (To be Continued.)