"Why, what can we do? Rescue their bodies, do you mean?"
"Not a bit of it. Look here, Hal; I've been thinking it out as I came along. Sher Singh has drawn the sword and thrown away the scabbard now—burnt his boats, in fact. He can't stop where he is and take his punishment quietly; he must call upon the Granthis generally to back him up. Remember, they wouldn't rise against us in cold blood, but now that he has plucked up courage to give them a lead they'll go. The servant tells me that they called upon the escort to join them in the name of God and the Guru, and the murderers were calling out Wa Guru! and Guru-ji ki Fatih! as they rushed in. They'll make a religious business of it, and every Granthi in Granthistan will join Sher Singh unless he is nipped in the bud."
"Well, but he is nearer Granthistan than we are. Who is going to nip him in the bud?"
"You and I, if you are game."
"Oh, I'm game to do anything that's feasible."
"Are you game to take a big risk? If Sher Singh is to be kept from overrunning Granthistan, he must be stopped at once. I believe that you and I can do it."
"But how? with merely the Habshiabadis and your troops?"
"Precisely. If we march on Agpur, they daren't leave the city undefended with us in their rear. They have no military genius to see that the only chance lies in snapping us up before we can unite, and straining every nerve to do it, and we can get together a large enough force to give a very good account of anything less than the whole Agpur army. If we find ourselves faced with that, and luck's against us, we shall probably go down, but we shall have done it more damage than Sher Singh can repair before he finds a British force in his country."
"Honestly, Bob, I don't know what to say. Your plan sounds reasonable enough, but you must see that it's subversive of every rule of military science."
"Hang military science! If we can confine Sher Singh within the bounds of his own state, prevent him from throwing down the gauntlet to British power by invading Granthistan, and make him so anxious about the safety of Agpur that we keep him there until we can get a siege train from Farishtabad to batter the walls about his ears, ain't it worth it?"