“Have we not encountered both before now?”
“Yes; but the latter has its degrees, and the interval between great and little is extreme.”
“Then you despair of driving these Moslems from before our walls.”
“You know that a Rajpoot never despairs. Nevertheless, of this I am certain, that nothing but a desperate resistance and an extensive destruction of the enemy will cause him to relinquish his present purpose.”
“Jugmul, he knows not that there are women within this fortress who fear not to encounter his men in a struggle of death. Let him beware how he provokes such a collision.”
“You miscalculate the energies of the wives and daughters of Chittore, if you measure them by your own.”
“Should the extremity arrive, it will be seen whether I have misjudged my countrywomen. Meanwhile, Jugmul, I claim to be a partner in your toils, and to share the glory as well as the labour of your resistance to this Moslem sovereign. It is but just that the wife should partake of her husband’s honours, of which I trust you are about to reap a full harvest.”
At this time, Chittore was invested by an army of thirty thousand men, commanded by Akbar in person, acknowledged the greatest leader of his age; yet this did not dispirit the governor’s wife, who was evidently more sanguine than her husband in the valour and resources of the garrison. Her eldest daughter, a lovely girl of sixteen, was engaged to a young Rajpoot chief, who when the siege commenced had thrown himself into Chittore with a few resolute followers.
Peirup Singh had not only the qualities of daring valour and indomitable resolution in common with his race, but was moreover young, handsome, and intelligent. He was ardently attached to the beautiful Kherla Nuny, though she had not yet experienced the glow of fervent affection. The young Rajpoot had been the choice of her parents, not of herself; her feelings, therefore, towards him, when brought to a sum, would have formed a total amounting to little more than indifference. She felt no objection to the choice of her parents, for she had no reason on the score of his general qualities; but she did not love him.
Peirup Singh was anxious that their nuptials should immediately take place, notwithstanding the siege, which had already been going on several weeks; and from the strength of the garrison, and the resolution of the foe, there was every reason to apprehend that it would not be terminated for some months to come. He therefore sought the Rajpootni to propose an immediate fulfilment of his wishes.