y Rujub talked of
various matters, of the reports of the force that was gathering at
Allahabad, and the madness of the British in supposing that two or three
thousand men could withstand the forces of the Nana.

"They would be eaten up," he said; "the troops will go out to meet them;
they will never arrive within sight of Cawnpore."

As Bathurst saw that he was talking for the boy to hear, rather than to
himself, he agreed loudly with all that he said, and boasted that even
without the Nana's troops and the Sepoys, the people of Cawnpore could
cut the English dogs to pieces.

The drive was not a long one, and the road was full of parties going
to or returning from Bithoor--groups of Sepoy officers, parties of
budmashes from Cawnpore, mounted messengers, landowners with their
retainers, and others. Arriving within a quarter of a mile of the
palace, Rujub ordered the boy to draw aside.

"Take the horse down that road," he said, "and wait there until we
return. We may be some time. If we are not back by the time the sun
sets, you will return home."

As they approached the palace Bathurst scanned every window, as if he
hoped to see Isobel's face at one of them. Entering the garden, they
avoided the terrace in front of the house, and sauntering through the
groups of people who had gathered discussing the latest news, they took
their seat in a secluded corner.

Bathurst thought of the last time he had been there, when there had been
a fete given by the Rajah to the residents of Cawnpore, and contrasted
the present with the past. Then the gardens were lighted up, and a crowd
of officers and civilians with ladies in white dresses had strolled
along the terrace to the sound of gay music, while their host moved
about among them, courteous, pleasant, and smiling. Now the greater
portion of the men were dead, the women were prisoners in the hands of
the native who had professed such friendship for them.

"Tell me, Rujub," he said presently, "more about this force at
Allahabad. What is its strength likely to be?"

"They say there is one British regiment of the line, one of the plumed
regiments with bare legs, and one of the white Madras regiments; they
have a few guns, a very few horsemen; that is all, while there are
twenty thousand troops here. How can they hope to win?"

"You will see they will win," Bathurst said sternly. "They have often
fought well, but they will fight now as they never fought before; every
man will