his admiration so won upon
the heart of Jane, that in the fulness thereof she served out biscuits and
a little tinned butter all round, while Freddy cheerfully spattered food
and water upon all indiscriminately.

About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here, in
the stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a
desperate deed.

The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and
retake Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any of
those whose fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden.
The Chondawats and the Saktawats both claimed the right of forming the
vanguard, and the Rana, unable to pronounce in favour of either, subtly
decided that the van should be given to the clan which should first enter
Ontala.

The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the
fortress, and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place, but
the walls were quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment, the
leader of the Saktawats threw himself from his elephant, and, placing
himself before the great spikes with which the gate was protected against
the assault of the beast, ordered the mahout to charge; and so a crushed
and mangled corpse was forced into the city on the brow of the living
battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants rushed to battle.

Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in Ontala.
First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by the
defenders ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell back
among his dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling the body
in his scarf, tied it upon his back, fought his way to the crest of the
battlements, and hurled the gory body of his chieftain into the city,
shouting, "The vanguard to the Chondawat!"

It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note
were engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of the
defence, they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle. Suddenly
the foe broke in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for leave to
finish their interesting match. The request was granted by the courtly
Rajputs, but upon its termination they were both put to death.

Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid hills.
After skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we bustled
through a tunnel and drew up at a