CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.Before the Storm[1]
II.The Hour at Hand[18]
III.By the Voice of the People[23]
IV.A Star in the Ascendent[36]
V.Ahmad Returns to Court[48]
VI.The Oath[61]
VII.How Ahmad Kept His Oath[72]
VIII.The Darbar[85]
IX.At the House of Ahmad Khan[101]
X.The White Turret[107]
XI.A Shrewd Diagnosis[117]
XII.Ahmad again Nonplussed[126]
XIII.What Bipin Overheard[139]
XIV.At the Tomb of Firoz Khan[155]
XV.In the Course of Events[172]
XVI.Jhansi Besieged[184]
XVII.With Sword and Torch[193]
XVIII.A Prince in Scarlet[207]
XIX.A Call to the Heart[218]
XX.Bipin Takes a Prisoner[229]
XXI.The Great Coup de Main[237]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"Lachmi Bai—Lachmi Bai—Rani of Jhansi"! they cried (page [31])[Frontispiece]
PAGE
"Then will I set forth to bring this dog of a Maharaja to his senses"? [57]
"Didst thou mark that languorous glance she cast on thee"?[105]
With the exception of a white turban, she was attired in a
blood-red uniform from head to foot[213]
Her horse leaped forward straight for Sindhia's guns[255]
"Never have I hungered for aught else but thee, fair Rani"[267]