Happily there were other cool heads besides the Governor-General's. On May 11 information of the outbreak at Meerut was telegraphed from Calcutta to Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. The Governor, Sir John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence was absent at Rawul Pindee, having left full power in the hands of the Judicial Commissioner, Mr. Robert Montgomery. Four thousand Sepoy troops lay at Meean Meer, five or six miles from Lahore, and Mr. Montgomery had to decide on the instant whether these should be assumed to be contemplating mutiny. He came to a speedy decision. They must not be allowed the chance. There was a great ball in Lahore that night; among the guests were the civil and military chiefs of the district. Mr. Montgomery consulted with them and it was resolved to disarm the native troops. A parade was ordered for daybreak at Meean Meer: twelve guns loaded with grape were placed along one side of the parade ground. The troops were formed up in line of contiguous columns facing the guns and ordered to pile arms. They obeyed, for to hesitate was death. The rifles were carried off in carts, and the station was left in possession of 1,300 European troops. This was perhaps the most critical moment of the Mutiny. Nothing short of Mr. Montgomery's firmness, supported by the military commanders, could have ensured the safety of the Punjab. [Illustration: _From a Photograph by F. Frith & Co._} GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CALCUTTA. The official residence of the Viceroy of India. Built in 1799-1804 by Lord Wellesley at a cost of about £150,000. Calcutta is the seat of Government of the Empire of India; population (1891), 862,000. The total population of India in 1891 was 287,000,000, of whom only 238,500 habitually spoke English, and of these less than half were British born.] [Sidenote: The Rising at Cawnpore.]