In the next instant a native officer, of a lower grade than Sufder Jung, but as well known to the General, appeared, and saluted. 'What is the meaning of this jack-in-the-box business?' said the General, frowning. 'We are in hiding from our mutinous brethren,' said Sufder Jung abjectly. 'Then there are only a few of you?' 'Nay, your Excellency, there are a hundred good men under this wood, all waiting for a word of encouragement from their General.' 'They would have understood their duty better if they had remained in their lines till they were ordered out on duty,' said the General. 'Where is your captain?' 'Alas! your Excellency, our captain Sahib is dead. He was one of the first to be struck down.' 'By his own men?' 'By his own men, Excellency.' In the meantime the men were coming up one by one from the cave where they had hidden themselves. They were the veterans of the regiment, and the General knew them all; as in the dim light of the wood they fell into their ranks, he called one and another by their names. 'I did not think to see _you_ hiding in caves and holes of the earth, my ancients,' he said. And a voice from the ranks muttered, 'The General Sahib will see stranger things than these.' 'Who spoke?' said the old soldier, his hand closing on his revolver. 'Silence!' thundered Sufder Jung; then to the General with the deepest humility, 'Forgive them, Excellency; they have been waiting, in hunger and darkness for your Presence, and some of them are impatient.' 'But what are they doing now? Do you see, Sufder Jung, the line is wavering. By heaven they want to surround us! Back, you hounds, back!' shouted the General. 'Is discipline at an end, or have you forgotten to stand at attention? Halt, I say, this instant, and ground your muskets, or by the beard of your Prophet, the life of some of you will be short!' As he spoke, his revolver was raised and pointed at the men, and they, being awed by his presence and manner, and none of them wishing probably to be the first to bite the dust, obeyed him sullenly. Scarcely had they done so before the General's horse, which was an old campaigner, and accustomed to stand like a rock, gave a sudden plunge. With the shock the revolver went off, lodging its contents in a tree. Then Sufder Jung seized the rein of the horse, which was snorting with pain and fear, and immediately the silence that had followed the General's stern command was exchanged for the fiercest excitement. Uttering yells of hatred and defiance, the men in the ranks swung round, closing in as they moved, so as to make a circle about the two men and the horse. In a moment the General saw what they were about, saw that he was alone in the midst of enemies, but he lost neither his spirit nor his presence of mind. Quick as thought, he faced round to where the line was weakest, encountering, as he did so, the ashen countenance of Sufder Jung. 'If you are not the son of a traitor,' he roared, 'open a way for me!'