"This is no time to create mischief and disunion," he went on loudly. "Help is coming from all quarters. Gwalior, Jhansi, Neemuch and Lucknow are sending troops to aid us. In three or four days, if Allah be willing, the Ridge will be taken, and every one of the base unbelievers humbled and ruined and sent to the fifth circle of hell." The man had the actor's trick of making his points. Waiting until an exultant roar of applause had died away, he delivered his most effective hit. "At the very time you dared to burst in on the Emperor's privacy he was arranging a loan with certain local bankers that will enable all arrears of pay to be made up. To-day there will be a free issue of cattle, grain and rice. Go, then! Tell these things to all men, and trust to the King of Kings and his faithful advisers, of whom I am at once the nearest and the most obedient, to lead you to victory against the Nazarenes." For the hour these brave words sufficed. The sepoys trooped out and Malcolm went with them. A backward glance revealed the princess and her brother engaged in a conversation with Bahadur Shah and a courtier or two. Their gestures and manner of argument did not bear out the joyful tidings brought to the conclave by the Shahzada. Indeed, Frank guessed that they were soundly rating the miserable monarch for having allowed himself to speak so plainly to his beloved subjects. Malcolm knew there was not a word of truth in Mirza Moghul's brief speech. The Gwalior contingent had gone to Cawnpore. All the men Bareilly had to send had already arrived with Bakht Khan, the "havildar of artillery," who was now the King's right hand man. Jhansi, Neemuch and Lucknow had enough troubles of their own without helping Delhi, and, as for the bankers' aid, it was easy to guess the nature of the "loan" that the Emperor hoped to extract from them. Indeed, while Malcolm and Chumru and their new associates were wandering through the streets and making the circuit of the western wall, there was another incipient riot in the fort. Delay in issuing the promised rations enraged the hungry troops. A number hurried again to the Diwan-i-Am, clamored for the king's presence, and told him roundly that he ought to imprison his sons, who, they said, had stolen their pay. "If the Treasury does not find the money," was the threat, "we will kill you and all your family, for we are masters." This later incident came to Malcolm's ears while Chumru was persuading a grain-dealer to admit that he had some corn hidden away. The sight of money unlocked the man's lips. "Would there were more like you in the King's service," he whined. "I have not taken a rupee in the way of trade since the huzoors were driven forth." It was easy enough to interpret the unhappy tradesman's real wishes. He was pining for the restoration of the British Raj. Every man in Delhi, who had anything to lose, mourned the day that saw the downfall of the Sirkar.[22] [Footnote 22: The Government.]