Following his gaze, Ted saw that the Rajputs had brought their commandant in. He knelt down by the side of his friend and found Tynan’s surmise only too true, for Lieutenant Lowthian had already breathed his last.
“Shot just as we reached the doorway,” Tynan explained; “and half a dozen men killed or badly wounded. What must we do, Russell? They can’t get in except through that door, can they?”
“It won’t take long to batter the door down if they shape,” Ted replied. “Luckily we’ve heaps of ammunition here, and any number of muskets. Look, this room off the passage commands the door, so set two or three men to bring up firearms and we’ll load a few dozen.”
Before Ted had finished speaking, the spirited Rajputs were emptying their muskets through the narrow slits that loop-holed the thick walls, and the rebels who had been clustering round the door, vainly attempting to batter it down, left the spot in a hurry—at least all did who were able. Ted then posted a couple of men to watch the north-western face of the building and give the alarm if necessary. Blood had been flowing freely down the ensign’s face, and he now found time to staunch it. He was not sure when he had received the wound, but at some time or other during the struggle in the passage a bayonet-point had torn the skin from mouth to ear.
The lull in the storm lasted for nearly an hour. Many of the pandies contemptuously flouted the commands of their officers, and, giving up the attack on the fort, began to seek fresh plunder in the town, or joined in the half-hearted attempts to render the English house untenable. The remainder of the force, gathered together by Pir Baksh, kept up a long-range fire through the loopholes, in the hope that some bullets might find their billets.
“Why don’t Munro come to the rescue?” Harry Tynan bitterly demanded. “With eighty men he could break through this gang of cowards, if only he had the pluck to try.”
“He can’t,” Ted retorted; “they’re penned in there like sheep. And how could he break through with nearly a dozen women and kids to protect? Would you have him leave them to their fate?”
“Half his men could do it.”
“Not they—nor twice his whole force. It’s a soldier’s risk that we bargained for when we took our commissions. We may win through yet; and if not, we must just stick to it as long as we can. Well, what’s the matter now, havildar?”
Ambar Singh had left his post.