The men who paddled the _mashaks_ were stimulated to unwonted exertion by the promise of large rewards, and the party, swimming their horses by the bridles, crossed in less time than Gerrard had dared to hope. A brief halt to arrange loads, inspect girths and snatch a mouthful of food, and Gerrard and his men were in the saddle, and riding steadily into the gathering darkness. The men would have ridden at top speed in their eagerness to carry the news and hasten the vengeance, but Gerrard held them back. They had a long way to go, and hard work to do, and the life of every horse, as well as of every trained man, might be of inestimable value in the days to come. When they had ridden for nearly three hours, he called another halt, that the horses might be rubbed down and have their mouths washed out with water, and the troopers refresh themselves hastily with fragments of _chapati_. The men were mounted again, and he was about to give the order to march, when a distant sound became audible--the sound of horses' hoofs in the direction from which they had come. "One man--or at most two. Surely it is a messenger, sahib," said the Granthi in command of the escort. "We will wait to hear what news he brings. It may be that the Rajah has submitted already," said Gerrard, and was answered by a groan of dismay from his men. "Let two shots be fired at intervals," he went on, "that the messenger may know where to find us." The well-known border signal proved effectual, and the horsemen--it was now clear that there were two of them--approached rapidly. Gerrard uttered an exclamation of astonishment as he saw by the moonlight that one of them was a European, and rode back to meet him. "Bob!" he exclaimed, in utter surprise, as Charteris slipped from his exhausted horse. "What is it?" "Bad news. No use going on." "What! They are not dead?" "Murdered--both of 'em. Tomb was shelled, but they held out. Then Sher Singh sent messengers to the escort--promised 'em double pay to join him--pair of gold bracelets to Nihal Singh. They accepted and went over--left Nisbet and Cowper all alone, except for a few faithful servants. Cowper was too badly wounded to get up, he was lying on his cot, and Nisbet sat beside him holding his hand. There was no hope of further resistance, and they told the servants to escape if they could. One of 'em hid, and brought the news to me just now. Sher Singh's men burst in, with old Sarfaraz Khan at their head, shouting all the wickedness he could lay his filthy old tongue to. Nisbet told him he might kill them, as they were only two to thousands, but that he might be sure thousands of English would come and destroy Sher Singh and his city." "And they killed them?" "Hacked 'em to pieces, and took their heads to Sher Singh." Charteris's face twitched, and he turned away angrily. "There's no possibility that the servant's tale is false, I suppose?"