"He concealed himself and men in some old buildings close by the gateway of the Tomb, and sent in his two emissaries to Zeenat Mahal with the ultimatum,—the King's life and that of her son and father (the latter has since died). After two hours passed by Captain Hodson in most trying suspense, such as (he says) he never spent before, while waiting the decision, his emissaries (one an old favorite of poor Sir Henry Lawrence,) came out with the last offer—that the King would deliver himself up to Captain Hodson only, and on condition that he repeated with his own lips the promise of the Government for his safety.
"Captain Hodson then went out into the middle of the road in front of the gateway, and said that he was ready to receive his captives and renew the promise.
"You may picture to yourself the scene before that magnificent gateway, with the milk-white domes of the Tomb towering up from within, one white man among a host of natives, yet determined to secure his prisoner or perish in the attempt.
"Soon a procession began to come slowly out, first Zeenat Mahal, in one of the close native conveyances used for women. Her name was announced as she passed by the Moulvie. Then came the King in a palkee, on which Captain Hodson rode forward and demanded his arms. Before giving them up, the King asked whether he was 'Hodson Bahadoor,' and if he would repeat the promise made by the herald? Captain Hodson answered that he would, and repeated that the Government had been graciously pleased to promise him his life, and that of Zeenat Mahal's son, on condition of his yielding himself prisoner quietly, adding very emphatically, that if any attempt was made at a rescue he would shoot the King down on the spot like a dog. The old man then gave up his arms, which Captain Hodson handed to his orderly, still keeping his own sword drawn in his hand. The same ceremony was then gone through with the boy (Jumma Bukh); and the march towards the city began, the longest five miles, as Captain Hodson said, that he ever rode, for of course the palkees only went at a foot pace, with his handful of men around them, followed by thousands, any one of whom could have shot him down in a moment. His orderly told me that it was wonderful to see the influence which his calm and undaunted look had on the crowd. They seemed perfectly paralyzed at the fact of one white man (for they thought nothing of his fifty black sowars) carrying off their King alone. Gradually as they approached the city the crowd slunk away, and very few followed up to the Lahore gate. Then Captain Hodson rode on a few paces and ordered the gate to be opened. The officer on duty asked simply as he passed what he had got in his palkees. 'Only the King of Delhi,' was the answer, on which the officer's enthusiastic exclamation was more emphatic than becomes ears polite. The guard were for turning out to greet him with a cheer, and could only be repressed, on being told that the King would take the honor to himself. They passed up that magnificent deserted street to the palace gate, where Capt. Hodson met the civil officer (Mr. Saunders), and formally delivered over his Royal prisoners to him. His remark was amusing, 'By Jove! Hodson, they ought to make you Commander-in-Chief for this.'
"On proceeding to the General's quarters to report his successful return, and hand over the Royal arms, he was received with the characteristic speech, 'Well, I'm glad you have got him, but I never expected to see either him or you again!' while the other officers in the room were loud in their congratulations and applause. He was requested to select for himself from the Royal arms what he chose, and has therefore two magnificent swords, one with the name of 'Nadir Shah,' and the other the seal of Jehan Gire engraved upon it, which he intends to present to the Queen.
"On the following day, as you already know, he captured three of the Princes; but of this more hereafter. I am anxious now that you should fully understand that your brother was bound by orders from the General to spare the King's life, much against his own will; that the capture alone was on his own risk and responsibility, and not the pledge."[55]
I am allowed to insert here a most graphic letter, written by Lieut. Macdowell, 2d in command of Hodson's Horse:—
"On the morning of the 19th we formed up and saw the townspeople coming in thousands out of the Delhi gate (still in the enemy's possession), and passing through their camp, taking the high road to the Kootub. Too far off to do any damage, we waited (the ground a mass of hard rocks, impracticable for cavalry) till 9 a. m., and then retired. Hodson, my commanding officer, then went to the General, and at ten I received a note from him, 'Gallop down with fifty men and meet me at the Cashmere gate as sharp as possible.' Down I went, and he told me he had volunteered to ride through the enemy's camp and reconnoitre; that no one knew if they were there in force or not, and he asked me if I would accompany him. Of course I was only too glad, and off we went. They fired at us as we approached, from gardens and places all round, but I imagine they thought more men were coming, and bolted, we (only fifty of us) cutting up all their stragglers to the tune of some fifty or sixty. As we came back we intercepted a whole lot of townspeople escaping. Well, I must not linger on this. Having done our work (and it wasn't a bad thing to do, to gallop through their camp with fifty men, not knowing whether they were there or not), we cautiously approached the Delhi gate. It was open, but all was silent. Our troops had not as yet ventured so far. Afar off we heard the firing in the city in other quarters; leaving our men outside, with four Sowars behind us with cocked carabines, we rode in, holding our revolvers ready for a row. Not a soul was there; all still as death. I looked round, and close to where I was sitting were two bottles of beer amidst a heap of plate, silver, clothes, &c. Perhaps I didn't jump off sharp! It was all right; real beer! madam; we uncorked, and drank the Queen's health at once. After a little time, as the firing approached, and we found all was right, we rode away, and reported what we had done. The General was very pleased.
"And now for my great adventure. On the 20th the King gave himself up, and was lodged securely in Delhi under a guard. On this day all had evacuated the place, of which we were complete masters. On the 21st a note from Hodson, 'Come sharp, bring one hundred men.' Off I went, time 6 o'clock a. m. To explain why he wrote to me, I must tell you that although he commanded the regiment, he was also the head of the Intelligence Department, and lived in the General's quarters, while I lived with the regiment, commanding it in his absence, as being second in command. Well, down I went. He told me he had heard that the three Princes[56] (the heads of the rebellion and sons of the King) were in a tomb six miles off, and he intended going to bring them, and offered me the chance of accompanying him. Wasn't it handsome on his part! Of course I went; we started at about eight o'clock, and proceeded slowly towards the tomb. It is called Humayoon's Tomb, and is an immense building. In it were the princes and about 3,000 Mussulman followers. In the suburb close by about 3,000 more, all armed, so it was rather a ticklish bit of work. We halted half a mile from the place, and sent in to say the princes must give themselves up unconditionally, or take the consequences. A long half hour elapsed, when a messenger came out to say the princes wished to know if their lives would be promised them, if they came out. 'Unconditional surrender,' was the answer. Again we waited. It was a most anxious time. We dared not take them by force, or all would have been lost, and we doubted their coming. We heard the shouts of the fanatics (as we found out afterwards) begging the princes to lead them on against us. And we had only one hundred men, and were six miles from Delhi. At length, I suppose, imagining that sooner or later they must be taken, they resolved to give themselves up unconditionally, fancying, I suppose, as we had spared the King, we would spare them. So the messenger was sent to say they were coming. We sent ten men to meet them, and by Hodson's order I drew the troop up across the road, ready to receive them, and shoot them at once if there was any attempt at a rescue. Soon they appeared in a small 'Ruth' or Hindostanee cart drawn by bullocks, five troopers on each side. Behind them thronged about 2,000 or 3,000 (I am not exaggerating) Mussulmans. We met them, and at once Hodson and I rode up, leaving the men a little in the rear. They bowed as we came up, and Hodson, bowing, ordered the driver to move on. This was the minute. The crowd behind made a movement. Hodson waved them back; I beckoned to the troop, which came up, and in an instant formed them up between the crowd and the cart. By Hodson's order I advanced at a walk on the people, who fell back sullenly and slowly at our approach. It was touch and go. Meanwhile Hodson galloped back, and told the sowars (10) to hurry the princes on along the road, while we showed a front and kept back the mob. They retired on Humayoon's Tomb, and step by step we followed them. Inside they went up the steps, and formed up in the immense garden inside. The entrance to this was through an arch, up steps. Leaving the men outside, Hodson and myself (I stuck to him throughout), with four men, rode up the steps into the arch,[57] when he called out to them to lay down their arms. There was a murmur. He reiterated the command, and (God knows why, I never can understand it) they commenced doing so. Now you see we didn't want their arms, and under ordinary circumstances would not have risked our lives in so rash a way, but what we wanted was to gain time to get the princes away, for we could have done nothing, had they attacked us, but cut our way back, and very little chance of doing even this successfully. Well, there we stayed for two hours, collecting their arms, and I assure you I thought every moment they would rush upon us. I said nothing, but smoked all the time, to show I was unconcerned; but at last, when it was all done, and all the arms collected, put in a cart, and started, Hodson turned to me and said, 'We'll go, now.' Very slowly we mounted, formed up the troop, and cautiously departed, followed by the crowd. We rode along quietly. You will say, why did we not charge them? I merely say, we were one hundred men, and they were fully 6,000. I am not exaggerating; the official reports will show you it is all true. As we got about a mile off, Hodson turned to me and said, 'Well, Mac, we've got them at last;' and we both gave a sigh of relief. Never in my life, under the heaviest fire, have I been in such imminent danger. Everybody says it is the most dashing and daring thing that has been done for years (not on my part, for I merely obeyed orders, but on Hodson's, who planned and carried it out). Well, I must finish my story. We came up to the princes, now about five miles from where we had taken them, and close to Delhi. The increasing crowd pressed close on the horses of the sowars, and assumed every moment a more hostile appearance. 'What shall we do with them?' said Hodson to me. 'I think we had better shoot them here; we shall never get them in.'
"We had identified them by means of a nephew of the King's whom we had with us, and who turned King's evidence. Besides, they acknowledged themselves to be the men. Their names were Mirza Mogul, the King's nephew and head of the whole business; Mirza Kishere Sultamet, who was also one of the principal rebels, and had made himself notorious by murdering women and children; and Abu Bukt, the commander-in-chief nominally, and heir-apparent to the throne. This was the young fiend who had stripped our women in the open street, and cutting off little children's arms and legs, poured the blood into their mothers' mouths; this is literally the case. There was no time to be lost; we halted the troop, put five troopers across the road behind and in front. Hodson ordered the Princes to strip and get again into the cart; he then shot them with his own hand. So ended the career of the chiefs of the revolt, and of the greatest villains that ever shamed humanity. Before they were shot, Hodson addressed our men, explaining who they were, and why they were to suffer death; the effect was marvellous, the Mussulmans seemed struck with a wholesome idea of retribution, and the Sikhs shouted with delight, while the mass moved off slowly and silently. One of the sowars pointed out to me a man running rapidly across a piece of cultivated ground, with arms gleaming in the sunlight. I and the sowar rode after him, when I discovered it was the King's favorite eunuch, of whose atrocities we had heard so much. The sowar cut him down instantly, and we returned, well satisfied that we had rid the world of such a monster. It was now four o'clock; Hodson rode into the city with the cart containing the bodies, and had them placed in the most public street, where all might see them. Side by side they lay where, four months before, on the same spot, they had outraged and murdered our women. I went quietly home with the troop, nearly dead, having had nothing (except water) since six o'clock the previous night. I have not time to write you of my subsequent adventures, but will next mail. We have gained a great deal of κῦδος for this business, and I hear are to be rewarded in some way or other."