“As a combatant, yes! There were other reasons which led me to the battlefield.”
“You only went as a spectator? Didn’t it occur to you that, under the circumstances, this might be very dangerous for you?”
“I have personal relations with several gentlemen in the English army, and these relations made it necessary for me to visit them during the battle.”
The Colonel turned to a young officer standing a little distance away—
“Lieutenant Osarov, is it true that you recognised in this man, when he was brought in here last night, a person whom you saw in an English square during the progress of the battle?”
“Yes, Colonel, I did!” was the decided reply. “I recognise him now quite clearly. He was riding a black horse, and dashed off when we broke into the square.”
Heideck perceived that it would be useless to deny the fact, in the face of this direct evidence, and his military honour would, in any case, not have permitted him to do so.
“What the lieutenant has said is quite correct,” he answered, anticipating the Colonel’s question; “but I did not take part in the fighting. As a friend of Colonel Baird, who was killed, I kept as long as possible close to him, so as to be able to bring his relations, who were left behind in Lahore, tidings of his fate and of the issue of the battle.”
“You, a foreigner, were armed in the English square. Since you confess this much, we need not trouble ourselves with further proceedings. You, gentlemen, will all agree that we should treat him, according to martial law, as a traitor?”
The last words were addressed to the other judges, and, with a silent bow, they declared their assent.