'But I was not there, Hoosanee.'
'Let us give thanks to the Supreme Spirit!' said the Indian, bowing low.
Grace gazed at him, speechless with wonder.
'The fort has gone,' he went on solemnly. 'Like a wild beast in its lair Dost Ali Khan was destroyed. The day after Missy Sahib was put out the English came up, and they made a mine secretly and the fort was blown to pieces.'
'With everyone within,' said Grace, whose eyes were distended with horror.
'My master and my master's servants escaped. Some few of the defenders may have left by the secret passage. All the others perished.'
'There was an English woman there,' said Grace.
'The woman who called herself the White Ranee, and to whom Dost Ali Khan the pretended ruler of the country did homage, was within the fort. She was slain,' said Hoosanee quietly.
'Slain!' echoed Grace.
'It is true, Missy Sahib. The rajah himself brought her dead out of the ruins. I saw her in his arms. He made a fire in the room where they had imprisoned him, and her body was consumed. Then he and I went out to meet the English.'