The Coming Conquest of England

A >> August Niemann >> The Coming Conquest of England


"You have great presence of mind! But where did you get this fine suit
of clothes?"

"I ran back to the hotel--through the back door, where the smoke was
not so stifling--because I thought that sahib would perhaps have taken
refuge there. I did not find sahib, but I found these clothes, and
thought it better to put them on than to leave them to burn."

"Quite right, my brave fellow! you will hardly be brought up for this
little theft."

"I looked for sahib everywhere, where English prisoners are; and when
I came to Anar Kali just at the moment that Mrs. Irwin was being driven
away in a carriage, I knew that I was at length on the track of my
master."

Heideck violently clutched his arm.

"You saw it? and you know, too, who it was that took her away?"

"Yes, sir, it was Siwalik, the Master of the Horse to Prince Tasatat;
and the lady is now with him on the road to Simla."

"Simla! How do you know that?"

"I was near enough to hear every word that the Indians spoke, and they
said that they were going to Simla."

"And Mrs. Irwin? She didn't resist? She didn't cry for help? She allowed
herself to be carried off quietly?"

"The lady was very proud. She did not say a word."

An orderly officer stepped into the tent and brought the Prince an order
to appear at once before the Commander-in-Chief.

"Do you know what about?" asked the Colonel.

"As far as I know, it concerns a report of Captain Obrutschev, who
commanded the file of men told off for the execution. He reported that
the Colonel had carried away a spy who was to be shot by order of the
court-martial."

Heideck was in consternation.

"Your act of grace is, after all, likely to land you in serious
difficulties," he said. "But, as I need now no longer conceal my quality
as German officer, I can, in case the field telegraph is working, be
able to establish my identity by inquiry at the General Staff of the
German Army."

"Certainly! and I entreat you not to be uneasy on my account; I shall
soon justify the action I have taken."

He disappeared in company of the orderly officer; and Heideck the
while plied the brave Morar Gopal afresh with questions as to the
circumstances connected with Edith's kidnapping.

But the Hindu could not tell him anything more, as he had not dared
approach Edith. He was only concerned with the endeavour to find his
master. He had learnt that Heideck had been carried off by Cossacks and
indefatigably pursued his investigations until at last, with the inborn
acumen peculiar to his race, he had found out everything. That he, from
this time forth, would share the lot of his adored sahib appeared to him
a matter of course. And Heideck had not the heart, in this hour of their
meeting again, to destroy his illusion.

After the lapse of half an hour Prince Tchajawadse returned. His joyous
countenance showed that he was the bearer of good news.

"All is settled. My word was bond enough for the General, and he
considered an inquiry in Berlin quite superfluous."

"In truth, you Russians do everything on a grand scale," exclaimed
Heideck. "A great Empire, a great army, a wide, far-seeing policy, and a
great comprehension for all things."

"I also talked to the General touching my suggestion to include you in
the ranks of our army, and he is completely of one mind with me in the
matter. He also considers the difficulties of a journey to Germany under
the present conditions to be almost unsurmountable. He makes you the
offer to enter his staff with the rank of captain. Under the most
favourable conditions you would only be able to reach Berlin after the
war is over."

"I do not believe that this war will be so soon at an end. Only reflect,
half the globe is in flames."

"All the same, you ought not to reject his offer. We could, to ease your
mind, make inquiries on your behalf in Berlin. The field telegraph
is open as far as Peshawar, and there is consequently connexion with
Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Berlin."

"I accept without further consideration. I should be happy, if
permission were granted, to fight in your ranks."

"There is no doubt of that whatever. I will at once procure you our
white summer uniform and that of a captain of dragoons; and this sword,
comrade, I hope you will accept from me as a small gift of friendship."

"I thank you from my heart, Colonel."

"I salute you as one of ours. I might even be in a position to give you
at once an order to carry out."

"But not without permission from Berlin, Prince?"

"Well, then, we will wait for it; but it would be a great pity if,
contrary to our expectation, it were to be delayed. The commission that
I was on the point of procuring for you would certainly have greatly
interested you."

"And may I ask--"

"The General has the intention to send a detachment to Simla."

"To Simla, the summer residence of the Viceroy?"

"Yes."

"But this mountain town is at the present moment not within the sphere
of hostilities; the Viceroy remains in Calcutta."

"Quite right; but that does not preclude the news of the occupation
of Simla having a great effect on the world at large. Moreover, in
the Government offices there there might possibly be found interesting
documents which it would be worth while to intercept."

"And you consider it possible that His Excellency would despatch me
thither?"

"As the detachment to which my dragoons, as well as some infantry and
two machine guns, would belong is under my command, I have begged the
General to attach you to the expedition."

Heideck understood the high-minded intentions of the Prince, and shook
his hands almost impetuously.

"Heaven grant that permission from Berlin comes in time! I desire
nothing in the world so earnestly as to accompany you to Simla."




XIX

ON THE ROAD TO SIMLA


Almost quicker than could have been expected, considering the heavy work
imposed upon the telegraph wires, the communication arrived from Berlin
that Captain Heideck should, for the time being, do duty in the Russian
army, and that it should be left to his judgment to take the first
favourable opportunity to return to Germany.

He forthwith waited upon the commanding general, was initiated into his
new role formally and by handshake, and was in all due form attached as
captain to the detachment that was commanded to proceed to Simla.

The next morning the cavalcade set out under the command of Prince
Tchajawadse.

Their route led across a part of the battlefield lying east of Lahore,
where the battle between the sepoys and the pursuing Russian cavalry had
principally taken place.

The sight of this trampled, bloodstained plain was shockingly sad.
Although numerous Indian and Russian soldiers under the military police
were engaged in picking up the corpses, there still lay everywhere
around the horribly mutilated bodies of the fallen in the postures in
which they had been overtaken by a more or less painful death. An almost
intolerable odour of putrefaction filled the air, and mingled with the
biting, stifling smoke of the funeral pyres upon which the corpses were
being burnt.

The greater part of the Russian army was in the camp and in the city.
Only the advance guard, which had returned from the pursuit of the
fleeing English, had taken up a position to the south of the city. The
reinforcements which had been despatched from Peshawar, and which had
been impatiently expected, had not yet arrived.

Heideck heard that about 4,000 English soldiers and more than 1,000
officers were dead and wounded, while 3,000 men and 85 officers were
prisoners in the hands of the Russians. The losses of the sepoy regiment
could not at present be approximately determined, as the battle had
extended over too wide an area.

Prince Tchajawadse, although showing the same friendly feeling towards
Heideck, now adopted more the attitude of his military superior. He
narrated during the journey that the Russian army was taking the road
through the west provinces, and would leave the valley of the Indus, and
the country immediately bordering it, unmolested.

"We shall march to Delhi," he said, "and then probably advance upon
Cawnpore and Lucknow."

The detachment was unable to make use of the railway which goes via
Amritsar and Ambala to Simla, because it had been to a great extent
destroyed by the English. But the rapidity of the march naturally
depended upon the marching capabilities of the infantry. And although
Heideck could not fail to admire the freshness and endurance of these
hardened soldiers, they yet advanced far too slowly for his wishes.

How happy he would have been if, with his squadron, he had been able
to make a forced march upon the road which the unhappy Edith must have
taken!

On the second day after their start, the blue and violet peaks of the
mountains were silhouetted in the distance. It was the mountainous
country lying beneath the Himalayas, whose low summer temperature
induces the Viceroy and the high officials of the Indian Government
every year to take refuge from the intolerably hot and sultry Calcutta
in the cool and healthy Simla. Moreover, the families of the rich
English merchants and officials living in the Punjab and the west
provinces are accustomed to take up their quarters there during the hot
season.

The vegetation as they advanced became ever richer and more luxuriant.
Their way led through splendid jungles, which in places gave the
impression of artificially made parks. Hosts of monkeys sprang about
among the palms, and took daring leaps from one branch to the other. The
approach of the soldiers did not appear to cause these lively creatures
any appreciable fear, for they often remained seated directly over
their heads and regarded the unaccustomed military display with as
much inquisitiveness as they evidently did with delight. Parrots in gay
plumage filled the air with shrill cries, while here and there herds
of antelopes were visible, who, however, always dashed away in rapid
flight, in which their strange manner of springing from all fours in the
air afforded a most strange and delightful spectacle.

On the third day a gay-coloured cavalcade crossed the path of the
detachment. They were evidently aristocratic Indians, who in the
half-native, half-English dress were seated upon excellent horses,
a cross-breed between the Arabian and Gujarat. At their head rode a
splendidly dressed, dark-bearded man upon a white horse of special
beauty.

He halted to exchange a few words of civil salutation with the Russian
colonel. When he had again set himself in motion with his lancers, soon
to be lost to view in the thick jungle, the Prince motioned Heideck to
his side.

"I have news for you, comrade! The aristocratic Indian with whom I just
spoke was the Maharajah of Sabathu who is on the look-out for his guest
and friend, the Maharajah of Chanidigot, who is engaged on a hunting
expedition."

"The Maharajah of Chanidigot?" Heideck exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
"The rogue is then really in our immediate neighbourhood?"

"The hunting-camp that the two Princes have formed lies directly in our
line of march, and the Maharajah has invited me to camp this night there
with my men. I have really more than half a mind to accept his kind
invitation."

"And did you not inquire about Mrs. Irwin, Prince?"

The Colonel's face assumed at Heideck's question a strangely serious,
almost repellent expression.

"No."

"But it is more than probable that she is in his camp."

"Possibly, although up to now every proof of that is wanting."

"But you will institute inquiries for her, will you not? You will compel
the Maharajah to give us news of her whereabouts?"

"I can, at most, politely ask him for information. But I cannot promise
you even that with certainty."

Heideck was extremely surprised. He could not explain in any way the
change in the Prince's demeanour. And he would have been inclined
to take his strange answers for a not too delicate jest, had not
the frigid, impenetrable expression of his face at once excluded any
suggestion of the sort.

"But I don't understand, Prince," he said, surprised. "It was only a few
days ago that you were kind enough to promise me your active support in
this matter."

"I am to my regret compelled to cancel that promise; for I have received
strict instructions from His Excellency to avoid everything that can
lead to friction with the native Princes, and that my superiors laid
great stress upon a good understanding with the Maharajah of Chanidigot
was not known to me at the time of our conversation. He was the first
who openly declared for Russia and whose troops have come over to our
side. The happy issue of the Battle of Lahore is perhaps in no small
degree due to him. You understand, Captain, that it would make the worst
possible impression were we to come into conflict with a man so needful
to us for such a trifling cause."

"Trifling cause?" Heideck asked earnestly, his eyes sparkling with
excitement.

"Well, yes, what appears to you of such great importance is, when
regarded from a high political point of view, very trifling and
insignificant. You cannot possibly expect that the political interests
of a world empire should be sacrificed for the interests of a single
lady, who, moreover, by nationality belongs to our enemies."

"Shall she then be handed over helpless to the bestiality of this
dissolute scoundrel?"

Prince Tchajawadse shrugged his shoulders, while at the same time he
cast a strange side-glance at Heideck, who was riding beside him, which
seemed to say--

"How dense you are, my dear fellow! And how slow of understanding!"

But the other did not understand this dumb play of the eyes; and, after
a short pause, he could not refrain from saying in a tone of painful
reproach--

"Why, my Prince, did you so generously procure for me permission to take
part in this expedition if I was at once to be doomed to inaction in
a matter, which, as you know, is at present nearer my heart than aught
else!"

"I do not remember, Captain, to have imposed any such restraint upon
you. It was purely my own attitude as regards this matter which I wished
to make clear to you. And I hope that you have completely understood me.
I will not, and dare not, have anything officially to do with the affair
of Mrs. Irwin, and I should like to hear nothing about it. That I, on
the other hand, do not interfere with your private concerns, and
would not trouble about them, is quite a matter of course. It entirely
suffices for me, if you do not bring me into any embarrassment and
impossible situation."

That was, at all events, much less than Heideck had expected after the
zealous promises of his friend. But after quiet reflection he came to
the conclusion that the Prince could, as a matter of fact, scarcely act
otherwise, and that he went to the utmost limits of the possible, if he
did not absolutely forbid him to undertake anything for the advantage of
the unhappy Edith. Heideck's decision to leave not a stone unturned to
liberate the woman he loved was not thereby shaken for a moment, but he
knew now that he would have to proceed with the greatest circumspection,
and that he could not reckon upon anyone's assistance--an admission
which was not exactly calculated to fill him with joyous hope.

After a short march the detachment reached the spot lying immediately
at the foot of the first hill, a wide space shaded by mighty trees, upon
which the Maharajah had erected his improvised hunting-camp. A great
number of tents had been pitched under the trees. A gay-coloured throng
of men surged amongst them.

It was perfectly clear to Heideck that he could not himself search the
camp for Edith Irwin without exciting the attention of the Indians,
thereby at once compromising the success of his venture. And he had no
one to whom he could entrust the important task, except the faithful
Morar Gopal, who, in spite of all the terrors of war, had also followed
him on this march to Simla, although Heideck had offered him his
discharge, together with the payment of his wages for several months
more.

Accordingly, after the signal had been given to halt and dismount, he
took him aside and communicated to him his instructions, at the same
time handing him a handful of rupees to enable him to give the necessary
bribes.

The Hindu listened with keen attention, and the play of his dark, clever
face showed what a lively personal interest he took in this affair
nearest his master's heart.

"Everything shall be done according to your wishes, sahib," he said, and
soon afterwards was lost to view among the innumerable crowd of the two
Indian Princes' servants and followers.




XX

A FRIEND IN NEED


Whilst the Russians were digging their cooking trenches somewhat
aside from the main camp, and making all necessary arrangements for
bivouacking, Heideck had an opportunity of admiring the magnificence
with which these Indian Princes organised their hunting excursions.

The tents of the two Maharajahs were almost the size of a one-floor
bungalow, and on peering through the open entrance of one of them into
the interior, Heideck saw that it was lavishly hung with red, blue, and
yellow silk, and furnished with most costly carpets.

About half a hundred smaller tents were destined to receive the
retinue and servants. Behind them again was a whole herd of camels and
elephants, which had carried the baggage and material for the tents. The
bleating of countless sheep mingled with the hundred-voiced din of the
Indians as they busily ran hither and thither, and Heideck computed the
number of buffaloes and tethered horses which grazed round the camp at
more than three hundred.

The Maharajah of Sabathu regarded the Russians, who had here made
halt at his invitation, as his guests, and he discharged the duty of
hospitality with genuine Indian lavishness. He had so many sheep and
other provisions placed at the disposal of the soldiers that they could
now amply compensate themselves for many a day's privation in the past.
But the officers were solemnly bidden to the banquet that was to take
place in the Maharajah's tent.

Heideck's hope of meeting on this occasion the Maharajah of Chanidigot
once more, and of perhaps finding an opportunity of conversation with
him, was disappointed.

On returning from a walk through the camp, in which he did not discover
anywhere a trace of Edith, back to the Russian bivouac, Heideck learnt
from the mouth of Prince Tchajawadse that the Maharajah of Chanidigot
had met with a slight accident in the hunting excursion that day, and
was under surgical treatment in his tent, whither he had been brought.

It was said that the tusks of a wild boar, which had run between his
horse's legs, had inflicted a severe wound on the foot, and it was in
any case certain that he would not be visible that day.

On this occasion Heideck also learnt the circumstances to which the
meeting with the two Indian Princes was due.

The Maharajah of Chanidigot, who knew full well that the English had
sentenced him to death for high treason, had fled from his capital. With
a hundred horse and many camels, carrying the most precious part of
his movable treasures, he had advanced northwards out of the sphere of
British territory into the rear of the Russian advancing army. He
had visited his friend, the Maharajah of Sabathu, who was likewise a
Mohammedan, and both Princes had for their greater safety proceeded
hither to the foot of the mountain chain, where, for the present,
despite the exciting times, they could pursue the pleasures of sport
with all the nonchalance of real gentlemen at large.

The treacherous despot of Chanidigot would probably have preferred to
have gone direct to Simla, and it was only the intelligence that had
reached the Russians, that English troops were still in Ambala, that
probably caused him to stop half-way.

Prince Tchajawadse was also induced by this intelligence to abandon his
intended route via Ambala, and to proceed in a direct line through the
jungle. In this way he could confidently hope to reach Simla without a
battle, and, moreover, should it turn out that the garrison of Ambala
was not over strong, he might deliver a surprise attack upon the
English from the north. In time of peace Ambala was one of the larger
encampments, but now it was to be expected that the main body of the
troops stationed there had been ordered to Lahore.

The whole opulence of an Indian Court was unfolded at the Maharajah's
banquet. At the table covered with red velvet and luxuriously laid with
gold and silver plate, the Russian officers sat in gay-coloured ranks
with the chiefs of the Prince's retinue. The viands were excellent, and
champagne flowed in inexhaustible streams. The Russians required but
few invitations to drink, but the Mohammedan Indians were not in
this respect far behind them. It is true that the drinking of wine is
forbidden by the tenets of their religion; but in respect of champagne,
they understand how to evade this commandment by christening it by the
harmless name of "sparkling lemonade," a circumlocution which of course
did not in the slightest counteract its exhilarating effects. The
Indians who were less proof against the effects of alcohol were much
more quickly intoxicated than their new European friends; and under
the influence of the potent liquor universal fraternisation inevitably
resulted.

The Maharajah himself delivered a suggestive speech in praise of the
Russian victors who had at last come as the long-desired saviours of the
country from the British yoke. Of course he had to employ the accursed
English language, it being the only one that he understood besides his
own mother tongue; and Prince Tchajawadse had to translate his words
into Russian in order that they should be intelligible to all the
Russian heroes.

In spite of this somewhat troublesome procedure, however, his words
roused intense enthusiasm, and embracings and brotherly kisses were soon
the order of the day.

When the universal jollity had reached its height, two Bayaderes,
who belonged to the suite of the Maharajah of Sabathu, made their
appearance, Indian beauties, whose voluptuous feminine charms were
calculated to make the blood even of the spoilt European run warm.
Dressed in gold-glittering petticoats and jackets, which left a hand's
breadth of light brown skin visible round the waist, with gold coins
upon the blue-black hair, they executed their dances to the monotonous
tone of weird musical instruments upon a carpet spread in the middle of
the tent. The bare arms, the bones and toes of their little feet were
adorned with gold bracelets set with pearls and rings bedizened with
jewels. Though their motions had nothing in common with the bacchanalian
abandon of other national dances, yet the graceful play of their supple,
lithe limbs was seductive enough to enchant the spectators. The Indians
threw silver coins to the dancers, but the Russians, according to their
native custom, clapped applause and never tired of demanding amid shouts
of delight a repetition of the dance.

Amid the general wantonness there was only one who remained morose and
anxious, and this was Heideck, the newly-made captain in the Russian
army.

He knew that it would be easy for Morar Gopal's shrewdness to find him
in case he had something to report. And that the Hindu did not make his
appearance was for him a disheartening proof that his servant had not
hitherto succeeded in discovering Edith's whereabouts or in obtaining
any certain news of her fate.

What did it avail him, that after much thought he had already evolved a
plan for her liberation, if there was no possibility of putting himself
in communication with her!

Believing her to be kept prisoner in a harem tent, his idea was to send
Morar Gopal with a letter to her, fully convinced that the wily Indian
would succeed by stratagem and bribery in reaching her. Before the
banquet he had negotiated with one of the Indian rajahs for the purchase
of an ox-waggon, and if Edith could by his letter be prevailed upon to
make an attempt at flight, it would not in his view be very difficult
to bring her under Morar Gopal's protection to Ambala, where she would
again find herself among her English countrymen.

But this plan was unrealisable so long as he did not even know
where Edith was. Incapable of bearing any longer this condition of
uncertainty, he was just on the point of leaving the tent in order, at
all risks, to hunt for the beloved lady, when a Russian dragoon stepped
behind his chair and informed him with a military salute that a lady
outside the tent wished to speak to the Captain.

Full of blissful hope that it was Edith he jumped up and hurried out.
But his longing eyes sought in vain for Captain Irwin's widow. Instead
of her whom he sought he perceived a tall female form in the short
jacket and short-cut coloured dress which he had seen on his journeys
among the inhabitants of the Georgian mountains. The hair and the face
of the girl were almost entirely hidden by a scarf wound round the head.
Only when, at his approach, she pushed it back somewhat he perceived who
stood before him.