ow lucky art thou, O darwan, to be doorkeeper to the
exalted one! By what great merits didst thou arrive at so high a
station?"

The darwan's vanity was flattered. He bridled.

"Wah! It is as thou sayest, banijara. And 'tis more merit than luck, be
sure. I have served the great man but two days, and live in the sunlight
of his good favour. I have served other great men in my time. Even but
now I came from the Maulavi Ahmed Ullah himself. Being ignorant, thou
mayst not know that the Maulavi and my present master are as brothers,
and two days ago I came from the Maulavi with news of the great doings
at Cawnpore. And being the first--for those twenty sowars who brought
the news were laggards compared with me--and sent by the Maulavi to
Minghal Khan, the great man was able to acquaint the king before the
sowars came, and for that he received a present of royal sweetmeats, and
made me his darwan."

"Truly it was great merit. And that matter of the doings at Cawnpore--I
have heard some whispers of it, but not as thou couldst tell it. I pray
thee, darwan, say on."

"It was a glorious matter. The Feringhis were shut up there, and Dhundu
Pant, whom men commonly call Nana Sahib, took a full revenge for his
grievances. Thou must know he was adopted son of that Baji Rao whom the
accursed Feringhis put down from being peshwa, and tried to soothe with
a pension of eight lakhs of rupees. And when he died, they would not pay
the pension to his son, though Baji Rao left a host of dependants for
Nana Sahib to support. And when Nana made complaint of this injustice to
the Kumpani, they gave him a rough answer: what did it matter to the
Kumpani if Baji Rao's people starved? And when the rising came, the men
of those parts made Nana Sahib their leader, and he caused entrenchments
to be thrown up before Cawnpore, and mounted great guns to destroy the
Feringhis. They had done well to yield, but they are even as pigs, and
endured great tribulations from shot and shell and the want of food, and
Nana Sahib was wroth, because the men clamoured to be led to Delhi. Nana
Sahib is a very great man. He sent a letter to the Feringhis, in which
he promised, if they would lay down their arms, to let them go safely to
Allahabad. Wah! They are stupid as camels. They sent men to meet
Azimullah, Nana Sahib's munshi, and he promised to have forty boats
stored with food ready for them at the Satia Chama ghat, and it was
written down, and when one of the Fe