“Would you mind coming up to the north-western tower, sir?” asked the adjutant, when he had closed the door. “The enemy seem to be doing something in that direction which I can’t quite make out.”
“What sort of thing?” asked Colonel Graham, rising.
“I would rather not give an opinion until you have seen what there is to see, sir,” was the reply, so unwontedly cautious that the Colonel prepared for a heavy blow. Woodworth followed him up the narrow winding stairs in silence, and pointed to the stretch of desert on the northern side of the town, across which two long strings of men and animals were slowly passing in a westerly direction. The Colonel started, examined the moving objects through his field-glass, and called to his orderly—
“Ask Beltring Sahib to come here at once.”
Almost before Beltring, breathless, had mounted the staircase, he was greeted by a question. “Beltring, are there any guns at Nalapur?”
“No, sir. At least, there are two old field-pieces in front of the palace, but that’s all.”
“Are they in working order?”
“They use them for firing salutes, sir, not for anything else, I believe.”
“Still, that shows they are safe to work, and here they are. Where will they mount them, should you say, Woodworth?”
“On the hill, sir. The slope on the far side is comparatively easy for getting them up.”