at too much, and it needs
long fasting and mortification to fit a man to become a mystic; the
spirit gains power as the body weakens. The Feringhees can make arms
that shoot long distances, and carriages that travel faster than the
fastest horse, and great ships and machines. They can do many great and
useful things, but they cannot do the things that have been done for
thousands of years in the East. They are tied too fast to the earth
to have aught to do with the spirits that dwell in the air. A learned
Brahmin, who had studied your holy books, told me that your Great
Teacher said that if you had faith you could move mountains. We could
well nigh do that if it were of use to mankind; but were we to do so
merely to show our power, we should be struck dead. It is wrong even to
tell you these things; I must say no more."

Four days passed. Rujub went every day for some hours to Bithoor, and
told Bathurst that he heard that the British force, of about fourteen
hundred whites and five hundred Sikhs, was pushing forward rapidly,
making double marches each day.

"The first fight will be near Futtehpore," he said; "there are fifteen
hundred Sepoys, as many Oude tribesmen, and five hundred cavalry with
twelve guns, and they are in a very strong position, which the British
can only reach by passing along the road through a swamp. It is a
position that the officers say a thousand men could hold against ten
thousand."

"You will see that it will not delay our troops an hour," Bathurst said.
"Do they imagine they are going to beat us, when the numbers are but
two to one in their favor? If so, they will soon learn that they are
mistaken."

The next afternoon, when Rujub returned, he said, "You were right,
sahib; your people took Futtehpore after only half an hour's fighting.
The accounts say that the Feringhees came on like demons, and that they
did not seem to mind our firing in the slightest. The Nana is furious,
but they still feel confident that they will succeed in stopping the
Feringhees at Dong. They lost their twelve guns at Futtehpore, but they
have two heavy ones at the Pandoo Bridge, which sweep the straight road
leading to it for a mile; and the bridge has been mined, and will be
blown up if the Feringhees reach it. But, nevertheless, the Nana swears
that he will be revenged on the captives. If you are to rescue the lady
it must be done tonight, for tomorrow it may be too late."

"You surely do not think he will g