The charitable said that
Gerrard was vilely selfish in trying to secure all the honour and glory
for himself alone, the malicious that even if there was no question of
loot--which was hardly to be imagined--it was pretty clear that he had
been on the look-out to avenge the slights put upon him by Sher Singh
when he was acting-Resident at Agpur, and that he had achieved his
object by murdering the unfortunate Rajah in a hole. It was in vain
that Charteris pointed out to every one he could induce to listen to
him that the idea of surprising the Rajah in his concealment had been
his originally, and that he had taken a prominent part in the affair;
the comment, as soon as his back was turned, was that the two natives
concerned in it both belonged to Gerrard's force, which looked bad, and
that the friendship which linked Charteris himself with Gerrard was of
a character to rise superior to mere accuracy. This uncharitable view
of the exploit penetrated to Ranjitgarh, and drew from Sir Edmund
Antony a grieved and reproachful letter such as even Gerrard's
veneration for his chief could not brook with meekness. He replied
with so warm a remonstrance as made Charteris shrug his shoulders in
despair, though he acknowledged, on the receipt of a hearty and ample
apology, that his friend knew Sir Edmund better than he did.

Since Sher Singh was dead, and not to be restored to life, the
Government was in reality freed from a very serious embarrassment. One
of his numerous youthful sons was chosen as the representative of the
family, but not seated on the _gaddi_, since all Granthi institutions
were in a state of flux for the present, and it was highly probable
that the titular Rajah of Agpur would in future lead a secluded and
uneventful existence as a pensioner on the Company's bounty. The new
bearer of the title, with Sher Singh's wives and remaining children,
was removed a safe distance into British territory, and the work of
pacifying the state, by hunting down the remains of the insurgent army
and of the revolted Granthi regiments, proceeded apace. In fact, it
was so quickly done that new force was given to a body of opinion that
was gradually gathering strength. Now that the Agpur campaign could be
viewed as a successful whole, men began to contrast it with that other
warfare which was engaging the energies of the Commander-in-Chief and
the entire Bengal Army. Sher Singh's revolt had really been nipped in
the bud, sinc