“Ye cannot hope to hold out much longer, so let there be no further bloodshed. Surrender the fort and we will spare your lives.”
“What do you think, Russell?” Tynan hurriedly whispered. “Do you believe they mean it?”
“Not they!” was Ted’s scornful reply.
“Perhaps they do, though. I’ll ask him what they intend to do with us.”
“Why, you can’t mean to give up the magazine under any conditions?” our astonished ensign demanded, his eyes contracting as he stared at his senior officer.
“They’ll have it all the same if they kill us, though,” Tynan muttered, lowering his eyes, unable to meet his comrade’s gaze. “So what’s the odds. May as well save our lives while there’s a chance.”
He thereupon made answer to the jemadar.
“If we surrender, what will you do with us?”
“We will keep you captive, but promise you your lives,” came the prompt reply.
“Will you allow us to join our friends over yonder? If not, we shall still fight, and we are not so helpless as you think.” Tynan was not quite a coward, and he used the threat with some show of spirit.