from him two crores of rupees which he had
made from the public money; the pundit implored mercy, and said the
7th Mujsur (20th) was also a good day; the military were still
angry, and the poor pundit left amidst their menaces.

"They proposed that the Ranee and her son should march, and
intimated that till they made an example of some chief no march
would take place.

"The Ranee complained that whilst the troops were urging the march,
they were still going home to their villages as fast as they got
their pay; and Sirdar Sham Singh Attareewallah declared his belief,
that unless something was done to stop this, he would find himself
on his way to Ferozepore with empty tents. The bait of money to be
paid, and to accompany them, was also offered, and at length the
Durbar broke up at 2 P.M. Great consultations took place in the
afternoon, but I know only one result, that the Ranee had to give
to her lover his formal dismissal, and that he (Rajah Lal Singh)
actually went into the camp of the Sawars he is to command, and
pitched his tent.

"What the Ranee says is quite true of the sepoys dispersing to
their houses; the whole affair has so suddenly reached its present
height, that many of the men themselves think it will come to
nothing, and still more who had taken their departure do not
believe it serious enough to go back. On the day after this scene
took place, _i. e._, the 19th, the usual stream of sepoys, natives
of the protected states, who had got their pay, poured across the
Sutlej, at Hurreekee, on their way to their homes. Every
preparation, however, for war is making with probably more energy
than if it had been a long-planned scheme; for every person of
whatever party must show his sincerity by activity and virulent
professions of hatred to the English."

It is proper to add, that Major Broadfoot also announces, that when the
Sikh intrigues and commotions assumed a serious form, he had addressed
an official letter of remonstrance through the proper channel to Lahore.
Five days after these letters were written, on the 26th of November, the
Commander-in-Chief and Major Broadfoot joined, at Kurnaul, the
Governor-General, who shall be the exponent of his own impressions,
intentions, and plans:--

"I had the satisfaction of concurring in all the orders which his