"But didn't they stop you?"
"No, Sahib; I was not an Englishman, and I played with them."
"Played with them?"
"Yes, Sahib; I held my arm, and I walked lame, and they said to themselves, 'Here is a brave man who has been wounded,' and they let me go. I knew that the Sahib wanted the powder to go off at a time like that, and I crept to the places where the wires were hidden among the stones. I pulled first one and then the other. It was very horrible, Sahibs, but they were enemies seeking to kill the King and his friends, so it was right that I should fire the mines."
CHAPTER XXXIII
WHAT FOLLOWED
Sree's daring act with the mines, and the coming of the sailors who had burned the enemy's fleet of warboats, combined to completely dishearten the rebels, who fled, to a man; and the next day the people were poling back their houseboats to their old places about the banks of the river, trade was going on, and scores of the King's servants and retainers came flocking in, many of whom had no doubt taken part in the attack upon the palace, but the majority had fled through fear.
The wounded were for the most part helped and fetched away, saving the bad cases, which were attended by Dr. Cameron and the surgeon from the ship; and excepting that strong guards were stationed at the levelled gates and the broken wall there was no sign of the effects of the siege twenty-four hours after the enemy had taken flight.
The presence of the British war-ship in the river, with her guns and the naval detachment, helped to awe the people; but with the flight of the second king and his party the rebellion died, the hatred of the English colony was forgotten, and Harry felt half angry, half amused, to see the competition which ensued in the course of a few hours among the work-people of the city, who nearly fought for the right to rebuild the bungalows which had been destroyed.
To be brief, in a few days the King was more firmly seated upon the throne than ever, for the inimical party had been swept away, and his people vied among themselves to prove who were the most devoted servants he possessed.