"It has all been hatching for a long time, sahib," Dost said to me; "and the men have been waiting for an excuse. You English officers and gentlemen have known nothing; but the sepoys and sowars have been prepared." "And you knew this?" I said sternly. "I? No, sahib; not till after the men broke out. The soldiers had their message sent round to be prepared to rise, and slay every white man, woman, and child, to destroy all Nazarenes, and restore the great king again at Delhi." "At Delhi?" I said. "Then there are troubles there too?" "There are troubles all through the country by now, sahib. Of course they did not trust us, who were our lord's servants, and not fighting men. They said to themselves, these men have blood now like water; they live amongst the white people, and have defiled themselves by eating their food and drinking out of their vessels--they will go and betray us to their lords. We know nothing, sahib; but they, the men of the native regiments, had the lotus flower sent round to them." "The lotus flower?" I said, wonderingly. "Yes, sahib. It was a secret way of communication. A man came to a regiment bearing a lotus flower, and this was passed on from man to man right through the regiment, till the last had the blossom, and he had to take it to the next regiment." "But what did it mean?" I asked. "I can tell you no more, sahib. It was their secret sign. And then, after a time, the chupatties were sent round to the villages." "Chupatties? The little cakes?" "Yes, sahib, and that was a sign. A messenger went to the head man of a village, and gave him six little cakes of Indian corn. `These are for you,' he said. `You will make six more, and send them on to the next village.' This the head man did, and the cakes passed on from village to village, as a sign that the rising was to take place, and all were to be ready when the time came." "But it seems so stupid," I said. "Why not have sent a messenger?" "The cause was too great to risk anything. It was more mysterious to send like that. They knew what it meant; but if the collector or the police heard, and said, `What is this?--ye are plotting against your lords;' they could reply, `No, it is nothing; the head man of the next village has only sent me a few chupatties.' Who else would think it was a secret sign?" I knew comparatively little about the people then, and the question seemed to me unanswerable. I rode on, depressed and thoughtful, for a terrible idea had taken root in my breast. These people of Arbagh had been surprised, and, saving a few who had escaped, murdered without mercy, and with horrible indignities. Suppose there had been such a sudden rising at Nussoor, where my father's regiment was stationed, what of my mother and my sister Grace?