“Poor beggar! Well, you must stop with us until I can hand you and the prisoner to Colonel Bratherton at Jehanabad. These papers should certainly save him from death, and I should say that he deserves a reward.”
Tynan looked utterly miserable, and there is no reason to doubt that he was. How he wished he had never signed that fatal paper! How he wished he had had the pluck to tell the whole story to Hornby last night, admitting that he was half-mad with pain and fear when he signed the statement! But no; he had lied to Hornby then, and had backed up the lie in the morning through cowardice, and the wretched boy now resolved that the easier course would be to stick to the lie. No one could contradict him now, except the subadar. As the thought occurred to him that Pir Baksh knew the truth, and that unless he, Tynan, was prepared to state on oath at the trial that was bound to take place, that the subadar had saved his life and attempted to save them all—unless he did that, the prisoner could and would ruin him, he groaned to himself and kicked viciously at the nearest object. One lie had led to another and yet another, and he had made a net for himself, from whose entanglement he saw no way of escape.
Yet, bad as the prospect seemed to him, he little guessed the real state of affairs.
And Pir Baksh understood as well as he. As this hopeful gentleman had been led back to the guard-tent he had winked slyly at the ensign, clearly intimating that they would stand or fall together. It was a sickening thought. Having had time to think it over, Tynan felt sure that Pir Baksh had meant to murder him, and he bitterly regretted having moved a finger to save him from the Gurkhas. He had not even the consolation of thinking that he had shown mercy to an enemy, for he had only saved him then in order to have him hanged.
Ten minutes later camp was struck, and they moved off towards Jehanabad.
CHAPTER XIV
The March of the Guide Corps
Four days after Jim and Ted Russell and Alec Paterson had set out from Aurungpore with the detachment of the Guides, they overtook the head-quarters of their regiment. The rapid rate of marching, the excitement of recent events, and the prospect of taking part in the assault on the capital of Hindustan and in the crushing of the mutiny, had proved sufficiently exhilarating to keep up the spirits and health of the boys in spite of the great heat.
Both Ted and Alec had been provided with horses before leaving Aurungpore, “Tommy Dodd” having been stolen by some budmashes; and they found the march enjoyable at times, especially in the cool of the morning before the sun had mounted high, and on moonlight evenings. Of course their detachment was lightly equipped, and had little impedimenta to carry, whereas the rest of the corps had to drag along and guard their tents, commissariat, baggage, and ammunition, otherwise they would never have been overtaken.