CHAPTER IX.

DEFENCE OF THE CITY.

I HAD informed the Seths' manager that I intended this morning to visit the station. As soon as we were dressed we descended to the street, where we found a carriage awaiting us, and accompanied by a party of horsemen we drove off towards the office. On reaching the entrance to the grounds we perceived that the avenue was thickly littered with fragments of paper, a sight which prepared us for the scene we beheld on arriving at the building. Nothing was left but the bare walls, and these were black with smoke, and scored with the marks of pickaxes and crowbars. The roof had fallen in, and brought with it portions of the summits of the walls. The floor was

covered with the débris. We clambered inside over the heaps of fallen masonry, and satisfied ourselves that no portion of the building had escaped, and then we proceeded to search for the body of Mr. Burlton. I had learnt from the manager the previous evening that Mr. Burlton had been shot, and that his corpse was still lying unburied.

After a long search we found the body lying in a dry ditch at the end of the grounds. There was little left of it but the skeleton, and this a dog was gnawing. We flung clods of earth and he slunk unwillingly away, snarling and showing his teeth as he retreated. The body was

lying on its back with the arms upraised, the hands were untouched; surmounting the fleshless arms they had the appearance of gloves, and gave to the skeleton an air of ghastly masquerade.

I had seen Mr. Burlton but once in life; it was while he was a guest in my house. I had driven into the station and found him seated at breakfast. As I had

then seen him so I now recalled his figure and features, but beneath them there appeared the skull and bones lying before me. The picture was very horrible, but I could not dispel it-for some days it continued to haunt

me.

There was no time to prepare a coffin, so I sent for some labourers and had a grave dug. The remains were wrapped in a sheet and laid within it. As the earth was thrown over them we stood by with uncovered heads, our silent prayers the only service.

These last sad offices over we re-entered the carriage, and drove round the station. It was one scene of desolation and wanton destruction. Nothing was left of the houses but the blackened walls and the charred fragments of wood and thatch. Round each house was strewed a chaos of broken furniture, scraps of clothing, pieces of glass and china. The gardens were untouched, and their bright flowers and rich foliage made only more melancholy the ruins they surrounded.

The church had not been burnt, but its escape was due simply to the inability of the mob to reach the roof, which was the only combustible portion. They had inflicted all the injury they were able. The windows were smashed, the door frames wrenched out; of the pulpit, pews, and altar only broken fragments remained. In many places the pavement had been dug up.

It was late before we got back to the Seths' house.

Our hosts had in the meanwhile been busy arranging for our comfort. We found a large room prepared and a table ready spread for our breakfast. They had procured table cloths, china, knives and forks, from some shop in the city. The drive had made us hungry; we enjoyed the breakfast our servants had prepared. We had fish and rice and eggs; there was no bread, but thin cakes of unleaven flour were no bad substitute.

When the table was cleared I sat down to write; my companions, having nothing to do, disposed themselves for a siesta. Our room was long and narrow, the windows on one side opened on to a terrace overhanging the river, those on the other side looked into a courtyard. I was absorbed in my writing, the others had fallen asleep, when I was aroused by the sound of a great commotion; men were hurrying to and fro, there were shouts and cries, and from over the river came the report of matchlocks. I started up, my companions awoke; we seized our guns and ran out on the terrace.

The terrace was already filled with the Seths' servants, the flat roofs of the neighbouring houses were also crowded with men. They were all looking towards the river. On the further side were several villagers, shouting and throwing their arms aloft as if imploring assistance. As soon as I could procure silence, we made out that they lived in a village behind a grove of trees near the bank, and that it was being attacked by the inhabitants of a larger village a little further off. They were begging me for aid to repel the attack; I had none to give. I could merely promise that when order was restored their assailants should be punished. The promise did not seem to give them much satisfaction. They remained for some time on the bank, continuing their cries for assistance. As night came on a pyramid

of flame shot up from beyond the river; the attacking party having plundered the village had now set it on fire.

This incident made me aware, and not very agreeably so, of my position. Outside the city I had no authority, and I soon also learnt that I had not very much within it.

In the course of the next day the Seths came to see me; their visit was partly complimentary, partly to dissuade me from leaving the house, at all events for the present. They feared that if I appeared in the streets I should very likely be murdered. Other visitors called to give me the same advice, which I had already received from my own people. I resolved not to attend to it. If we stayed in now we should have to stay in for good, and it was better to meet the danger than to live in constant apprehension of it. So at sunset we drove out as usual, we kept our guns in our hands and at full cock, and the carriage was well surrounded by our guards and horsemen. The streets were densely crowded, and the crowds were very disrespectful. They were nearly all armed, and I noticed, with some uneasiness, that many carried matchlocks. No attempt, however, was made to attack us.

Matters continued in this state for three or four days -each day the demeanour of the populace was more defiant. On the fourth day an incident occurred that brought things to a crisis. On hearing that I was returning from Agra, the villagers had been seized with a panic, for they thought I was bringing with me troops and cannon. When the news reached them they were busy plundering the station; they fled precipitately every man to his home. Finding in a day or two that I had brought back only Mr. Joyce, they recovered their confidence, and sent a message to the Seths to turn me

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out of the city. No attention being paid to the message they despatched a letter, warning the Seths that if I remained in their house they would come and burn it. This letter alarmed the Seths; they brought it to me. I thought it a piece of bombast, and told them not to mind it. They, however, regarded the threat as serious, and the event proved that they were right.

A night or two after a fireball was thrown into a courtyard of the house, where a large quantity of straw and timber was stored. Fortunately, it missed these, and lighted on a stone terrace, where it burnt itself out, doing no more harm than nearly frightening to death some servants who were there sleeping. This incident showed that the villagers had either friends in the city, or the means of entering it themselves. I felt that if I was to continue in my present position I must take measures to protect the city from outside attacks, and also to make my authority respected within it.

It would be tedious to describe the measures I adopted; at this distance of time they would possess little interest. To assist me in carrying them out I summoned a meeting of the principal inhabitants. They were to assemble at night on the Seths' great terrace. Muttra was a large city; many persons had flocked into it from the outside. Just then it must have contained more than eighty thousand inhabitants. I had summoned to the meeting every person at all wealthy or of any position. All who were summoned came, and yet, to my surprise, the assembly did not consist of much more than fifty persons.

A white cloth was spread on the terrace, and at one end a canopy erected; under it were placed chairs for me, Mr. Joyce, and the Seths. About nine o'clock the company began to arrive; each as he entered made his salaam, and seated himself cross-legged on the floor. To