William Gordon Stables

“ It is not everyone who can say as Havelock said when dying in a dhooly under the shadow of the palms at Dakoosha Fort, "I have for forty years so ruled my life that when death came I might face it without fear." ”

“ And strange birds often emit more terrible ear-splitting sounds by night in jungle or forest than all the wild beasts that dwell therein.
The sudden, uncanny yell, for instance, close in the bush beside you, is not the war-whoop of painted savages, but the voice of a bird. So too is that wild, unearthly laugh that ever and anon rises swelling on the night air. The silence of a few minutes may be suddenly broken by screams and shrieks from some dark thicket, as of a poor mortal in pain or agony shrieks loud, prolonged, and dying away in mournful cadence. ”

“ But it is a tale that all British boys and girls should be told at least once during their lives, if only to prove to them how brave our British men and women can be; nay, but I will go further and say that in some places, such as Lucknow and Cawnpore, there was almost a holiness in their heroism and in their unselfish display of courage and endurance, which, if one attempts to portray, he finds the language at his command is far too feeble and inadequate even to trace. ”

“ No need, however, to be alarmed. The ragged and wretched-looking figure that came wearily towards them was far too weak to hurt anyone, even had he been a foe. But he was only a fugitive, an Englishman of the name of Frank Wood.
" Thank God," he said as he extended his thin yellow hand to greet Jack, " you are a countryman and a friend. My sister may live. Oh," he added, and the tears born of debility and suffering ran down his cheeks, " how brave poor Lily has been ! "
" But where is your sister ?" cried Jack. ”

“ When the Brigadier had reached the cantonments with these the Sepoys of the 74th deserted, after gruffly warning the British to fly if they valued their lives.
They were advised to fly. Fly they must, for already they could see the sparks and flames leaping up in clouds of smoke from their burning bungalows, the homes in which but a day before they had been so happy, and hear the howling of the savages who, thirsting for Christian blood, had already taken up the pursuit. ”

“ The pathway is broad, but brown not green, as our woodland walks at home are wont to be. Perhaps we stop soon to wonder what lies yonder right in our path. It is as large and round as a small footstool, dark and glistening in the moon's rays. We have room to avoid it, and we do so, wisely, for its bite is deadly. It is the black snake, or water-snake, coiled up and asleep. By-and-by he will measure all his length on the ground, creep off to find a frog or lizard, and then back to his evil cave in some dark and damp recess. ”

“ Sometimes you are winding along on a steep mountain side, with, far beneath you, the precipice that bounds a deep defile through which perhaps there goes meandering and winding along a silvery thread of a river with green banks at each side, but so far beneath you that meadows or gardens look no larger than tablecloths, and human dwellings like tiny dolls'-houses so high indeed may the brae below you be that tall trees point up to you ; you would have to fall a long way before you even touched their tops, and birds that you know to be eagles or vultures seem no larger than flies. ”

“ And these servants were on horseback. I wish I had time to describe fully, to linger over as it were, that delightful palkee journey to Muttra and far beyond in the direction of Delhi. Jack travelled only in the early morning and in the evening, indulging in a siesta during the very hottest part of the day. It must not be imagined however that he permitted himself to be carried all the way. He was too young and strong for that. He felt life in every limb, sturdiness and strength ”

“ The Sepoys are the native-trained soldiers. It was these who mutinied, about one hundred thousand of them, and these were joined of course by riff-raff of every description, from towns and villages and country hamlets, among whom were the fiendish prisoners let loose from the gaol, all burning for revenge and loot and murder grim.
Of the Bengal Native Infantry seventy regiments in all forty-five mutinied, twenty were disarmed, three were disbanded, and only six remained true to their salt. ”

“ Next moment the whole city is shaken to its very foundations by the roar and thunder of that terrible explosion, and amidst dust and dbris t and masses of timber and masonry, over a thousand mutineers are hurled high in the air arms, legs, and heads drop here and there a few moments afterwards in the most distant streets and bazaars, and scores are killed outside by the bursting of shells. ”

“ Backwards now rush these Sepoys.
The carnage, the murder, the fiendish cruelty and fire, have commenced in earnest.
Brave Captain Douglas, who was in charge of the palace guards, has been trying to urge these men to remain faithful and true; but his appeal, and that of Fraser the Commissioner, are alike in vain.
While the terrible work is going on, and tragedies are being enacted at every European house or bungalow, Douglas, fearfully wounded by leaping into the moat, is borne by natives into the palace and into his apart- ments. But Fraser still attempts to harangue the mob in a courtyard. ”

“ At the same time his Sepoys were peremptorily ordered to give up their prisoner.
" But prisoner he is not," was the bold reply ; and from that moment Jack was confident his fellows would be true to him.
The attacking party, or rather their sergeant, now called on Jack to surrender.
"I am the bearer of a message to Delhi, and I am going on there," was Jack's reply. "If you or your men dare to stop me you will rue it."
"Delhi is no longer the residence of the vile dogs of British. They are all slain, they and their pigs of women and children. Surrender!" ”

“ At times you are passing over wide and arid wastes, and anon through jungles so dense and dark you cannot but believe wild beasts and horrid snakes abound, but even these are beautified here and there with a wealth of trailing and climbing flowers that dazzles the eye, and seems to steep the senses in a languorous pleasure that is born of their bright colouring, their strange and wondrous shapes, and the perfume from them that fills the air around. ”

“ Contrast it, if you will, with that which the fugitives had to lead in their headlong flight from the same city.
Well, one is a picture of peace, the other of war, in its most awful form.
But clouds soon began to rise on Jack's horizon. One day while halting for refreshments in a small mud village, situated amidst the most charming scenery, he noticed a half-naked budmash creep out of his hovel and address Jack's servants, all of whom, with the exception of the Lascars, had been Sepoys, and had served in the regular army. ”

“ May my office be one of peace," he said. " Peaceful I wish it to begin, peaceful to end. And yet I cannot conceal from myself the seeming truth that in the sky of India, blue, calm, and serene though it now appears, a tiny cloudlet may arise no larger at first than a man's hand, but which growing larger and larger may threaten at last to burst in fearful storm and overwhelm us with
I wish my young readers now to take with me a glance at India as it then was, before the outbreak of the terrible
MAP OF INDIA.
A Cloud no Bigger than a Hand. ”

“ It was the intention to kill your men, but it was villagers and savages who destroyed your women and children. Nana Sahib, though always a worthless fellow, could never have ordered the murder of women and children. Had they no mothers or sisters ? Had they no heart for them ? I heard of what happened with sorrow. We object to your raj (rule) . It is true that under it all men have peace and freedom, such freedom as we never enjoyed before, but we sorrow for our caste. ”

“ The bulk of the vast population of India may be conveniently divided into Hindoos and Muhammadans, inasmuch as these two classes inhabit in greater or less numbers every one of its provinces, and figure almost exclusively in the events of the Mutiny. The typical Hindoo is quiet, industrious, and tolerant in religious matters unless provoked to excitement. As a soldier he is obedient and patient, although warped by
Rulers of India, the Clarendon Press. ”

“ Tis a homeward bound steamer, perhaps a little world in itself, afloat on the deep filled with its own fears, cheered with its own hopes. Care and sorrow, joy and gladness, all are there a little city on the sea. ”

“ But here at Delhi matters seem to us to have been infinitely worse, because the defence- less whites were our own dear people, bearing our names and having all the customs and traditions, the language, the love, and the religion of our own dear native land, and because the tragedy enacted was on a far, far larger scale. ”

“ But though the night was now bright and clear, with moon as well as stars shining above, Wilson neglected to follow them up, and thus left Delhi to their mercy.
That was a fearful night in Meerut.
Says Holmes: "The baffled Europeans encamped on their own parade-ground, but did nothing to assist the suffering people for whose protection they had been retained, though the sullen roar of a thousand fires might have warned them to be up and doing." ”

“ All who had little or nothing to lose joined their ranks, all that dangerous class of religious fanatics and devotees who abound in India, all the political intriguers who in peaceful times can do no mischief, swelled the number of the enemy, and gave spirit and direction to their measures.
"Besides, India is full of races of men who from time immemorial have lived by service or by plunder, and who are ready to join in any disturbance which may promise employment or loot. ”

“ Do not smile, reader, please ; I can assure you that while an ordinarily healthy European or Britisher may become inured to the heat of the weather, and to the climate generally, in about six weeks, it takes one a year or more to get used to the creepie-creepies, be they deadly or simply annoying. The heat of the summer combined with the attacks of insects, costs us many a British life in India, for it is the insects, be they mosquitoes or bugs, that keep one awake at night, and
The Story of the Greased Cartridges. ”

“ But meanwhile both towards Cawnpore and Lucknow and Delhi relief armies were marching. Havelock was on the way. Indeed, as we shall presently see, this brave and excellent general was but one day distant when the last sad scene of the Cawnpore tragedy was being enacted.
After the massacre at the boats Nana Sahib returned to his estates and palace at Bithoor, and immediately caused himself to be proclaimed Peishwa. He looked upon himself indeed as a mighty conqueror, and upon the murder of the garrison as a great victory and a triumph for his arms. ”

“ I can tell you the why, reader. Up in yonder tree hides many a hawk and bird of prey, so the little birds must sing their love songs so low that only the birds they are addressed to can hear them even the snakes and reptiles that lurk beneath the fairest flowers would find them out if they did not woo in silence. ”

“ Waves " is just the word, for every branchlet, every twig, every stem and flower, ofttimes clad in more than rainbow brightness of colour and sparkling with light, seems instinct with half-animal power of life and motion, and even in weather so calm that there is not so much as a ripple upon the ocean's breast, we may see them gently moving to and fro. ”

“ But it seemed as if such a task was even too sickening for Sepoys to commit; most of whom we are told fired at the ceilings, so the dreadful work proceeded far too slowly to please the Nana.
He was angry and worried that morning at the news he had heard, and would not feel happy till his prisoners were all dead. Besides there were the fearful cries proceeding from the Beebeeghur Bungalow, the shrieking of the infants, the prayers, the entreaties, and pleadings for mercy of the ladies, and all these annoyed his
So horrible! ”

“ Here most of the officers of that distinguished army corps had received their first real military education their initiation in the mysteries of the art of war. But finally the artillery were removed high up the country to Meerut, and Dum- Dum garrison became a manufactory and store-house, or series of store-houses, for small arms ; and as, some time before the mutiny, the Enfield rifle was beginning to supersede the old Brown Bess, so famous in the history of this country, Dum-Dum became also a school of musketry to instruct soldiers and their officers in the use of the new weapon. ”

“ But the old Belleisle was very glad indeed to meet the Mauritius, as she brought the last letters and the last news from home.
It was now the 12th of August, 1857, and sad indeed was the news that had awaited the Belleisle, and was now communicated to the Mauritius.
The terrible Indian Mutiny had broken out, the Sepoys had revolted, had murdered their officers and every European (so said report) they could lay hands upon men, women, and helpless children. ”

“ But listen. While the magistrates or judges are busy trying cases, and trying to understand the bearing of speeches thereon made by many a gesticulating and excited witness, suddenly messengers arrive to report that a cloud of dust is visible on the high road from Meerut, and that armed men on horseback are sweeping onwards to the city.
Before word could be sent to the cantonments, where Graves was General, and to the magazine to warn Willoughby, the Lieutenant in charge, the Meerut mutineers had already succeeded in entering Delhi. ”

“ But a bluer, brighter sky gleams over us ; above us burns a fiercer sun, the groves of orange and citron and plantain look foreign though beautiful to the eye; the forest trees themselves are strange ; strange forms of insect life fill the air with musical hum, and brilliantly-plumaged birds flit from bough to bough. ”