LACHMI BAI

Within no peerless Taj Mahal her body lies,
No gilded dome, nor fairy minarets against the azure skies,
Proclaim the place, where she, called by her foes, the "bravest and the best,"
Was laid by reverential hands to her victorious rest:
But in the eternal sanctuary of her race,
The holy river, holy Mother Ganges, that coveted embrace,
Doth hold her ashes, and for a monument to her name,
Sufficeth it, that in the people's hearts, her fame,
Doth shine immortal. For she was deeply loved, this Queen,
The beauteous, valiant Rani, India's great heroine.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.Before the Storm[1]
II.The Hour at Hand[18]
III.By the Voice of the People[23]
IV.A Star in the Ascendent[36]
V.Ahmad Returns to Court[48]
VI.The Oath[61]
VII.How Ahmad Kept His Oath[72]
VIII.The Darbar[85]
IX.At the House of Ahmad Khan[101]
X.The White Turret[107]
XI.A Shrewd Diagnosis[117]
XII.Ahmad again Nonplussed[126]
XIII.What Bipin Overheard[139]
XIV.At the Tomb of Firoz Khan[155]
XV.In the Course of Events[172]
XVI.Jhansi Besieged[184]
XVII.With Sword and Torch[193]
XVIII.A Prince in Scarlet[207]
XIX.A Call to the Heart[218]
XX.Bipin Takes a Prisoner[229]
XXI.The Great Coup de Main[237]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"Lachmi Bai—Lachmi Bai—Rani of Jhansi"! they cried (page [31])[Frontispiece]
PAGE
"Then will I set forth to bring this dog of a Maharaja to his senses"? [57]
"Didst thou mark that languorous glance she cast on thee"?[105]
With the exception of a white turban, she was attired in a
blood-red uniform from head to foot[213]
Her horse leaped forward straight for Sindhia's guns[255]
"Never have I hungered for aught else but thee, fair Rani"[267]