The Red Year: A Story of the Indian MutinyTracy, Louis
History
The Red Year: A Story of the Indian Mutiny
Tracy, Louis
India -- History -- Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-1858 -- Fiction
Malcolm saw with a feeling of unutterable loathing that the mutineers
had converted St. James's Church into a stable. Not so had the founder,
Colonel James Skinner, treated the religions of the people among whom he
lived. The legend goes that the gallant soldier, a veteran of the
Mahratta wars, had married three wives, an Englishwoman, a Mohammedan,
and a Hindu. His own religious views were of the nebulous order, but, so
says the story, being hard pressed once in a fight, he vowed to build a
church to his wife's memory if he escaped. His assailants were driven
off and the vow remained. When he came to give effect to it he was
puzzled to know which wife he should honor, so he built a church, a
mosque and a temple, each at a corner of the triangular space just
within the Cashmere Gate.
Whether the origin of the structures is correctly stated or not, they
stand to this day where Skinner's workmen placed them, and it was a
dastardly act on the part of men who worshiped in mosque and temple to
profane the hallowed shrine of another and far superior faith.
Malcolm was sitting motionless on Nejdi, looking at a squad of rebels
erecting fascines in front of a new battery on the river side of the
gate, when Chumru, whose twisted vision seemed to command all points of
the compass, saw that the commander of a cavalry guard stationed there
was regarding them curiously.
"Turn to the right, huzoor," he muttered.
Malcolm obeyed instantly. The warning note in Chumru's voice was not to
be denied. It would be folly to wait and question him.
"Now let us canter," said the other, as soon as the horses were fairly
in the main road.
"You did well, sahib, to move quickly. There was one in the guard yonder
whose eyes grew bigger each second that he looked at you."
They heard some shouting at the gate. A bend in the road near the ruined
offices of the _Delhi Gazette_ gave them a chance of increasing the pace
to a gallop. There was a long, straight stretch in front, leading past
the Telegraph Office, the dismantled magazine, and a small cemetery.
Then the road turned again, and by a sharp rise gained the elevated
plateau on which stood the fort.
Glancing over his shoulder at this point, Malcolm caught sight of a
dozen sowars riding furiously after them. To dissipate any hope that
they might not be in pursuit, he saw the leader point in his direction
and seemingly urge on his comrades. It was impossible to know for
certain what had roused this nest of hornets, though the presence of a
man of the 3d Cavalry in the palace that morning was a sinister fact
that led to only one conclusion. No matter what the motive, he felt that
Chumru and he were trapped. There was no avenue of escape. Whether they
went ahead or made a dash for the city, their pursuers could keep them
well in sight, as their tired horses were incapable of a sustained
effort at top speed after having been on the move nearly twenty hours.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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