Through the Sikh War: A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjaub

by G. A. Henty

Sher Singh had at once acceded to the proposal of Major Edwardes that Percy Groves should establish himself in his camp. "Let him come," he said; "he will see that all I say to you is true, and that I am a faithful servant of the maharajah. There is nothing I wish to hide from him or from you. I have sworn to you over and over again, that I am faithful; and did he live in my tent, he would see how true I am to my oath."

The rajah, indeed, was sore that his fidelity should be suspected, and in his conversations with Percy, after the latter had established himself in a tent close to him, he frequently complained that after having so long withstood the entreaties of his father and the wishes of his troops, he should be suspected. Percy did his best to assure him that personally Major Edwardes had no doubt of his loyalty, and that he feared only that he might not be able to control the troops.

"But I have so far controlled them," Sher Singh said; "have I not brought them here instead of allowing them to march into Mooltan? Why, then, should I be doubted now? If I had wished to go, would it not have been better that I should have done so before these white troops arrived? You had hard work in beating Moolraj alone; if I had joined him before, Edwardes and the Bhawulpoor troops would have been destroyed."

"Had you joined Moolraj, rajah, we should never have crossed the Indus, nor would the troops of the nawab have been here. Major Edwardes knows well that you have done your best, and believes that did your troops revolt you would ride into our camp. It is not your good-will that he doubts, but your power over your soldiers. We know that they are in hourly communication with the enemy, that they go freely in and out of the town, that messengers pass between them and their countrymen who have gone over; and it is easy to understand that, placed as we are here, and carrying on a siege with but scant forces for such an operation, he cannot but be most anxious regarding a force like yours lying so close to him. But he has still strong hopes that you will be able to keep them firm. Were it otherwise, he would not have sent me here. It is anxiety, and not suspicion, that causes him so earnestly to beg you to stand firm."

Bhop Lal and Akram Chunder were both charged to learn as much as they could from the soldiers as to their intentions. Their reports were favourable to the rajah.

"The soldiers are all for Moolraj," Bhop Lal said. "They speak of the rajah by the nickname of 'the Mahomedan.' It is he alone who keeps them here, for though Uttur Singh and Shumsher both support him, they are almost alone among his officers. Sher Singh is a powerful rajah, and his family one of the first among the sirdars of the Punjaub. That is the reason why he has been able to keep them from going over, for they fear that if they did so in the face of his opposition, they would afterwards suffer at the hands of himself and his family, even if their cause were victorious. All seem agreed that there is no chance of the rajah's throwing in his lot with his father, and they curse him as one who is false to his family, his country, and his religion."

It was then a complete surprise to Percy when, after retiring to bed on the night of the 13th of September, he was suddenly aroused by the entrance of a body of armed men into his tent. They belonged, as he saw at once, to the rajah's own bodyguard, and were commanded by one of his most trusted officers.

"No harm is intended," the latter said; "the rajah's orders are that you are to be honourably treated, but I must beg you to rise and dress at once, as we are going to move our camp."

Seeing that resistance would be altogether useless, Percy at once rose. After putting on his clothes he saw that his arms had been taken possession of by the soldiers, and that he was in fact a prisoner. Without making a remark, he passed out of the tent, and saw his two men standing there with very crestfallen faces, holding his horse, and surrounded by a body of Sikhs. He mounted, and the Sikh cavalry at once closed in round them. The tents had been struck already, the baggage packed, and the troops formed up. Uttur and Shumsher Singh had, as he afterwards learned, done their utmost to carry off the men under their command to the British lines, but they had been surrounded by officers entreating, abusing, and threatening them and stirring up their soldiers till they were forced to abstain from opposing the popular demand.

Uttur Singh had then mounted his horse, and with great difficulty made his way through the crowd, riding off to carry the intelligence to Major Edwardes, followed by two other officers. Shumsher Singh had been carried off as a prisoner, and was confined in his tent; but the next night he managed to crawl out under the bottom of the tent, and made his way in common clothes and bare-footed several miles to the British camp, killing on the road one of Sher Singh's vedettes, who tried to arrest him. Two, therefore, out of the three Sikh leaders justified Major Edwardes' belief in their fidelity.