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C H A P T E R 6
LIGHT AND TELESCOPES
GUIDEPOST
In previous chapters of this book, you viewed the sky the way the first astronomers did, with the unaided
eye. Then, in Chapter 4 , you got a glimpse through Galileo’s small telescope that revealed amazing things
about the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus. Now you can consider the telescopes, instruments, and techniques of
modern astronomers.
Telescopes gather and focus light, so you need to study what light is, and how it behaves, on your
way to understanding how telescopes work. You will learn about telescopes that capture invisible types of
light such as radio waves and X-rays. These enable astronomers to reach a more complete understanding of
the Universe. This chapter will help you answer these five important questions:
► What is light?
► How do telescopes work?
► What are the powers and limitations of telescopes?
► What kind of instruments do astronomers use to record and analyze light gathered by telescopes?
► Why are some telescopes located in space?
6-1 RADIATION: INFORMATION FROM SPACE
What is light?
Visual light is the visible form of electromagnetic radiation , which is an electric and magnetic
disturbance that transports energy at the speed of light c . The wavelength (λ) of light, or the
distance between the peaks of a wave, is usually measured in nanometers (nm) (10 × 9 m) or
angstroms (Å) (10 × 10 m) . The wavelength band of visual light is from 400 nm to 700 nm (4000
to 7000 Å).
Frequency (v) is the number of waves that pass a stationary point in 1 second. The frequency of an
electromagnetic wave equals the speed of light c divided by the wave’s wavelength λ.
A photon is a packet of light waves that can act as a particle or as a wave. The energy carried by a
photon is proportional to its frequency and inversely proportional to its wavelength.
A spectrum is a display of light that is viewed or recorded after being sorted in order of
wavelength or frequency. The complete electromagnetic spectrum includes gamma-rays , X-rays ,
ultraviolet (UV) radiation, visible light, infrared (IR) radiation, microwaves , and radio waves .
Gamma-rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet radiation have shorter wavelengths and higher frequencies
and carry more energy per photon than visible light. Infrared, microwave, and radio waves have
longer wavelengths and lower frequencies and carry less energy per photon than visible light.
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
Earth’s atmosphere is transparent in some atmospheric windows : visible light, shorter-wavelength
infrared, and short-wavelength radio.
6-2 TELESCOPES
How do telescopes work?
Refracting telescopes use a primary lens to bend and focus the light into an image. Reflecting
telescopes use a primary mirror to focus the light. The image produced by the telescope’s primary
lens or mirror can be magnified by an eyepiece . Lenses and mirrors with short focal lengths must
be strongly curved and are more expensive to grind to an accurate shape.
Because of chromatic aberration , refracting telescopes cannot bring all colors to the same focus,
resulting in color fringes around the images. An achromatic lens partially corrects for this, but
such lenses are expensive and cannot be made much larger than about 1 m (40 in.) in diameter.
Reflecting telescopes are easier to build and less expensive than refracting telescopes of the same
diameter. Also, reflecting telescopes do not suffer from chromatic aberration. Most large optical
telescopes and all radio telescopes are reflecting telescopes.
What are the powers and limitations of telescopes?
Light-gathering power refers to the ability of a telescope to collect light. Resolving power refers to
the ability of a telescope to reveal fine detail. Diffraction fringes in an image, caused by the
interaction of light waves with the telescope’s apertures, limit the amount of detail that can be
seen. Magnifying power is the ability of a telescope to make an object look bigger. This power is
less important because it is not a property of the telescope itself; this power can be altered simply
by changing the eyepiece.
6-3 OBSERVATORIES ON EARTH: OPTICAL AND RADIO
Astronomers build optical observatories on remote, high mountains for two reasons:
(1) Turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere blurs the image of an astronomical object, a phenomenon
that astronomers refer to as seeing . The air on top of a mountain is relatively steady, and the
seeing is better.
(2) Observatories are located far from cities to avoid light pollution . Astronomers also build radio
telescopes remotely but more for the reason of avoiding interference from human- produced radio
noise.
In a reflecting telescope, light first comes to a focus at the prime focus , but a secondary mirror
can direct light to other locations such as the Cassegrain focus . The Newtonian focus and
Schmidt-Cassegrain focus are other focus locations used in some smaller telescopes.
Because Earth rotates, telescopes must have a sidereal drive to remain pointed at celestial objects.
An equatorial mount with a polar axis is the simplest way to accomplish this. An alt-azimuth
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
mount can support a more massive telescope but requires computer control to compensate for
Earth’s rotation.
Very large telescopes can be built with active optics to control the mirror’s optical shape. These
telescopes usually have either one large, thin, flexible mirror or a mirror broken into many small
segments. Advantages include mirrors that weigh less, are easier to support, and cool faster at
nightfall. A major disadvantage is that the optical shape needs to be adjusted gradually and
continuously to maintain a good focus.
6-4 AIRBORNE AND SPACE OBSERVATORIES
Why must some telescopes be located in space?
The turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere distorts and blurs images. Telescopes in orbit are above this
seeing distortion and are limited only by diffraction in their optics. Earth’s atmosphere absorbs
gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, far-infrared, and microwave light. To observe at these wavelengths,
telescopes must be located at high altitudes or in space.
6-5 ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES
What kind of instruments do astronomers use to record and analyze light gathered by
telescopes?
Astronomers in the past used photographic plates to record images at the telescope and
photometers to precisely measure the brightness of celestial objects. Modern electronic systems
such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and other types of array detectors have replaced both
photographic plates and photometers in most applications.
Electronic detectors have the advantage that data from them are automatically digitized in
numerical format and can be easily recorded and manipulated. Astronomical images in digital
form can be computer-enhanced to produce representational-color images , sometimes called
false-color images , which bring out subtle details.
Spectrographs using prisms or a grating spread light out according to wavelength to form a
spectrum, revealing hundreds of spectral lines produced by atoms and molecules in the object
being studied. A comparison spectrum that contains lines of known wavelengths allows
astronomers to measure the precise wavelengths of individual spectral lines produced by an
astronomical object.
Adaptive optics techniques involve measuring seeing distortions caused by turbulence in Earth’s
atmosphere, then partially canceling out those distortions by rapidly altering some of the
telescope’s optical components. In some facilities a powerful laser beam is used to produce an
artificial laser guide star high in Earth’s atmosphere that can be monitored by an adaptive optics
system.
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
Interferometry refers to the technique of connecting two or more separate telescopes to act as a
single large telescope that has a resolution equivalent to that of a single telescope with a diameter
that is as large as the separation between the individual telescopes. The first working
interferometers were composed of multiple radio telescopes.
6-6 NON-ELECTROMAGNETIC ASTRONOMY
Cosmic rays are not electromagnetic radiation; they are subatomic particles such as electrons and
protons traveling at nearly the speed of light, arriving from mostly unknown cosmic sources.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
6-1 Radiation: Information from Space
Light as Waves and Particles
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Doing Science: What would you see if your eyes were sensitive only to radio wavelengths?
6-2 Telescopes
Two Ways to Do It: Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes
The Powers and Limitations of Telescopes
How Do We Know? 6-1: Resolution and Precision
6-3 Observatories on Earth: Optical and Radio
Modern Optical Telescopes
Concept Page: Modern Optical Telescopes
Modern Radio Telescopes
Doing Science: Why do astronomers build optical observatories at the tops of mountains?
6-4 Airborne and Space Observatories
Airborne Telescopes
Space Telescopes
High-Energy Astronomy
6-5 Astronomical Instruments and Techniques
Cameras and Photometers
Spectrographs
Adaptive Optics
Interferometry
6-6 Non-Electromagnetic Astronomy
Particle Astronomy
Gravity Wave Astronomy
What Are We? Curious
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
KEY TERMS
achromatic lenses
active optics
adaptive optics
alt-azimuth mount
angstroms (Å)
array detectors
atmospheric windows
Cassegrain focus
charge-coupled devices (CCDs)
chromatic aberration
comparison spectrum
cosmic rays
diffraction fringes
digitized
electromagnetic radiation
equatorial mount
eyepiece
false-color images
focal length
frequency (ν)
gamma-rays
grating
infrared (IR)
interferometry
laser guide star
light pollution
light-gathering power
magnifying power
microwaves
nanometers (nm)
Newtonian focus
optical telescopes
photographic plate
photometers
photon
polar axis
primary lens
primary mirror
prime focus
radio telescopes
radio waves
reflecting telescopes
refracting telescopes
representational-color images
resolving power
Schmidt-Cassegrain focus
secondary mirror
seeing
sidereal drive
spectral lines
spectrograph
spectrum
ultraviolet (UV)
wavelength (λ)
X-rays
RESOURCES AND TIPS
Here we give the most useful interactive figures from the publisher of our text on chapter topics.
Refractors and Reflectors
http://www.cengage.com/physics/book_content/143905035X_Seeds/active_figures/13/index.html
Resolution and Telescopes
http://www.cengage.com/physics/book_content/143905035X_Seeds/active_figures/14/index.html
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
Videos
Excellent video of a talk (What's the next window into our universe?) given by astronomer Andrew
Connolly detailing the large amounts of data being collected about our universe, recording the
constant changes over time.
http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_connolly_what_s_the_next_window_into_our_universe
Many observatories have home pages and a little web searching will find many of them. The links provided
below are representative of home pages of observatories. Most of these contain pictures that can be
downloaded for classroom use.
Hubble Space Telescope: http://www.stsci.edu/
National Optical Astronomy Observatory: http://www.noao.edu/
National Radio Astronomy Observatory: http://www.nrao.edu/
Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/homepage/
Anglo-Australian Observatory: http://www.aao.gov.au/
Arecibo Observatory: http://www.naic.edu/index_scientific.php
Spectroscopy page with links to other topics:
http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/Spectra/spec.html
Related smart phone apps (free):
HubbleSite (iPhone) – Hubble images, facts, and scientific discoveries
Hubble Space Telescope (Android) - Photos, videos, and information about the Universe
Refractor Telescope - Updates, news, information, videos, photos, events and deals.
Telescope Flashlight - Red astronomy flashlight for the amateur astronomer and telescope user
ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Yes, light includes radio waves because they are made of varying electric and magnetic fields and
travel at the speed of light.
2. One would not plot sound waves because they are not electromagnetic waves, i.e., sound waves are not
made of varying electric and magnetic fields. Instead, sound waves are variations in air pressure.
Similarly, a wave on the surface of a pond would not be plotted either.
3. If the frequency increases, the number of waves passing by you increases and the wavelength
decreases. If the wavelength decreases, then the energy of the photon increases.
4. UV has shorter wavelengths and higher energy than IR waves.
5. Red light has lower energy, lower frequency, and longer wavelengths than blue light.
6. One would choose a reflector or mirror telescope because the refractor (lens) telescope:
a. would require large objective lenses, which are very expensive to build
b. is more difficult to build than a large mirror
c. objective lens would be difficult to support, i.e., only around its edges, not the entire back like
a telescope mirror
d. objective lens would not hold its shape well because it would be supported only around its
perimeter
e. objective lens cannot be completely corrected for chromatic aberration.
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
7. Nocturnal animals usually have large pupils which let more light into their eyes. The larger the pupil
(entrance aperture) the greater the amount of light that reaches the retina (detector), and the easier it is
to detect the object. Telescopes with large objectives (entrance apertures) gather more light and will,
therefore, increase the amount of light that reaches the detector.
8. No, I could not see.
9. The atmosphere doesn't affect radio signals from celestial sources; therefore, it isn't necessary to get
above the atmosphere. Secondly, radio telescopes are affected by radio noise from various human-
made sources. The best way to avoid this noise is to hide the telescopes in isolated valleys. On the
other hand, visible light is affected by the atmosphere, resulting in blurring and absorption. Thus, for
visible light a mountain top is better in order to see through a smaller thickness of the atmosphere.
10. There would not be any real advantage to building radio telescopes on the tops of mountains and, in
fact, they would be less shielded from radio noise from various human-made sources.
11. A thin mirror will weigh less and require a less sturdy or expensive mount. The thin mirror may,
however, bend as the telescope points in different directions. However, telescope mirrors made of very
thin glass can have their shape controlled by computer-controlled actuators supporting the back of the
mirror. In fact, adaptive optics uses computers to control the shape of a mirror so that distortions in the
image of an object caused by Earth's atmosphere can be corrected before the light reaches the detector.
12. One should state the diameter of the primary lens/mirror and the optical quality and give a few
examples of what this means for that telescope.
13. For the same size dish and mirror, a radio telescope has worse resolving power than an optical
telescope. This occurs because diffraction is worse for longer wavelength radio waves than for the
shorter wavelength optical light.
14. The moon’s lack of atmosphere means that no radiation would be absorbed or scattered by it.
Therefore all wavelengths of light could be observed with lunar-based telescopes (gamma ray through
radio). Without atmospheric turbulence, there would be no image blur due to seeing. Further, we
wouldn’t have to worry about how the changes in the atmosphere affect data. We could observe
continually because there would never be any clouds. We could even observe during the day. Without
an atmosphere, sunlight isn’t scattered around, and the sky is dark, even if the sun is above the horizon.
We also wouldn’t have to worry about light pollution because there would be few lights on the moon,
and there is no atmosphere to scatter the small amount of artificial light that might be used.
15. Telescopes observing in the infrared must be cooled because at ordinary temperatures the mirror and
detector parts of the telescope emit significant thermal radiation at the very wavelengths at which one
wishes to observe. Cooling reduces this emission. To understand this imaging, imagine observing at
visual wavelengths with a mirror telescope that glows!
16. The false colors are usually used to represent variations in intensity. This technique allows us to
visualize the structure of fainter details.
17. An example would be the hot, thin gas in clusters of galaxies.
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
18. Exploding stars make mostly gamma-rays and X-rays, so I would observe these wavelengths.
19. A glass prism actually separates light into its different wavelengths or colors via the same process that
happens to create chromatic aberration in a glass lens. In the first case it is desirable, in the second it is
not.
20. A spectrograph is an instrument that uses prisms or gratings to spread out light according to
wavelength to form a spectrum.
21. Active optics are computer-driven thrusters that control the shape of a very thin or segmented mirror to
account for changes in shape as the mirror sags under its own weight. Adaptive optics uses high-speed
computers to monitor atmospheric distortion of an image produced by turbulence in Earth’s
atmosphere and rapidly alter the optical components to correct the telescope image and remove the
distortion.
22. The long wavelength of radio waves makes diffraction, and therefore the resolving power, much worse
than for a visual light telescope. The solution to this problem is a larger dish, which gives better
resolving power. A more modern solution consists of many dishes hooked together to simulate a dish
the same size as the separation of the dishes.
23. No, cosmic rays are subatomic particles traveling near the speed of light.
24. An electron or photon.
25. How Do We Know? – The resolution of an astronomical telescope is a measure of the ability of the
telescope to see fine detail. The ability to see fine detail can allow astronomers to distinguish objects
and see structure on very small scales. Thus when measuring distance and lengths this can greatly
improve the precision of those measurements.
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. It is likely that humans have evolved so that their eyes respond best to the wavelengths of light that can
penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere.
2. Astronomers don’t care for brightly glowing clouds, bright moonlit nights, and twinkling stars because
those conditions are not suitable for observing the night sky. Bright clouds and a full moon create what
astronomers call a bright (or noisy) background which makes stars or other dark objects in the night
sky appear fainter and thus harder to observe. Twinkling stars indicate a turbulent atmosphere which
degrades the “seeing” and reduces the resolution of observations as well as making objects fainter.
3. I would apply to use an optical telescope with a CCD camera attached to produce digitized images of
the lunar disk. I would be observing the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because the
Moon is a relatively bright object in the night sky, so I could use a relatively small diameter telescope
to achieve sufficient light gathering power. To resolve a feature on the Moon that is ~1/1000 of the
Moon’s angular diameter, I would need a resolving power of ~1.9 arc seconds, which requires a
telescope with a primary diameter of at least 2.5 in (6.4 cm). I would use a reflecting telescope to avoid
the chromatic aberration issues associated with a refractive telescope. A ground-based on a mountain
or airborne telescope would be sufficient for collecting the images, but a space-based telescope might
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
be unable to collect an image of the entire lunar disk simultaneously. Active optics on such a small
telescope would probably not be necessary, but adaptive optics (to help deal with atmospheric
turbulence) might be useful for a ground-based telescope. A laser guide star, a spectrograph, or an
interferometer would be unnecessary for collecting lunar images in the visible wavelengths. I would
not be concerned about cosmic rays because they should be filtered out by the Earth’s atmosphere or
simply pass through the instrument.
4. No, it is not good seeing as the celestial objects (stars) are blurry. If the telescope was equipped with
adaptive optics, I would turn that system on and continue observing. However, if adaptive optics were
not available, I might consider postponing the start of my observing campaign to later in the night
(when atmospheric turbulence might die down) or to a later date because the viewing is poor enough
that I may not be able to resolve the celestial objects of interest.
ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS
1. About 1.4
2. 3 m
3. The frequency of the FM radio station is ν=102.2 megahertz (or 102.2 million waves per second) with
a wavelength of ~3 m.
4. The 700-nm wavelength photon has less energy than the 400-nm wavelength photon. These
wavelengths are associated with red (700 nm) and violet (400 nm) ends of the visible spectrum. Violet
is associated with higher energy and has ~2 times as much energy as red.
5. The 10-m telescope has a light gathering power that is 278 times greater than that of the 0.6-m
telescope.
6. The 10-m Keck telescope has a light gathering power that is 1.6 million times greater than the human
eye.
7. Telescope A (152 cm) gathers ~1452 times more light than telescope B (4 cm).
8. The resolving power of Telescope A is ~0.07 arc seconds, while the resolving power of Telescope B is
~3 arc seconds. This means that Telescope A can resolve two points that are 0.07 arc seconds apart,
which is better resolving power than Telescope B that can only resolve two points that are 3 arc
seconds apart.
9. The 60-in (152 cm) telescope can resolve blue light better than red light. I know this because resolving
power is proportional to the wavelength, so shorter wavelengths (i.e., blue at ~475 nm) can resolve
smaller angular diameters than longer wavelengths (i.e., red at 700 nm).
10. 0.43 arc seconds; two points of light well separated from each other
11. No, his resolving power should have been about 5.65 arc seconds at best.
12. The 5-m telescope has a resolving power of 0.0226 arc seconds, and the Hubble Space Telescope has a
resolving power of 0.05 arc seconds. However, Earth's atmosphere affects the seeing for the 5-meter
telescope and limits the resolving power to about 0.5 arc seconds. The HST is not affected by seeing
distortion due to the atmosphere.
Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e
13. 0.013 m (1.3 cm or about 0.5 in.)
14. Diameter = 1.16 m, the focal length of the eyepiece must be 1/250th the focal length of the telescope.
You couldn't test the telescope by observing stars from Earth because of “seeing” effects of Earth’s
atmosphere which would blur the image too much.
15. About 50 cm (From 400 km above, a human is about 0.25 seconds of arc from shoulder to shoulder.)
ANSWERS TO LEARNING TO LOOK
1. The wavelength is ~6 mm.
2. There are two windows located in the visible and radio wave bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
3. It is a reflecting telescope because it contains three mirrors.
4. The resolving power increased in the right image of Figure 6-25a because smaller celestial objects can
be seen in the right image.
5. Figure 6-23b shows intensity of radio radiation at just one wavelength, which indicates the strength of
the radio waves as viewed from Earth. I would have selected this false-color pattern as it is
conventional to use reds to indicate “highs” and blues to indicate “lows” and so this depiction is easy
to interpret.
6. Motions in the Earth’s atmosphere cause the blurring or bad seeing. Adaptive optics changes the mirror
shape or optical path to compensate for the blurring.
7. The angular sizes of the stars in the photo are much smaller than the resolving power of the telescope.
Consequently, the size of the star’s image in the photo is simply related to its relative brightness, with
the brightest stars having the largest diameters.
8. Images from radio telescopes and from x-ray, infrared, or ultraviolet space telescopes are at
wavelengths not visible to the human eye, and are therefore displayed in false color. False color images
can also be used for visible wavelengths, since they use different colors to represent different levels of
intensity, which can help to bring out otherwise invisible details.
ANSWERS TO DOING SCIENCE
1. Would you be in the dark if your eyes were sensitive only to X-ray wavelengths? You would be in the
dark and unable to see anything because there are almost no X-rays at Earth’s surface. And because the
Earth’s atmosphere blocks X-rays, even when you looked up at the sky, you would not see anything.
2. Freedom from radio interference is important, for example in a shielded valley or sparsely populated
region like the New Mexico desert for the VLA. If the telescope is an array of dishes, a flat plain like
the VLA location is good. A dry location enables observation at wavelengths absorbed by water vapor.
Arecibo actually uses the shape of a valley to help support a large dish.
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ground, where they might rest, when Rungya bethought him of the
clearing into which they turned. A holy man, a Brahmin, who had
passed through his life's different stages, and who was preparing
himself in solitude and meditation for his eternal rest, lived there
once. Rungya had visited him when his own life was lusty within
him, and had kissed his feet reverently as a spiritual teacher. It could
not be that the holy man was alive still; but his hut, which even the
savage tribes of the jungle would respect, might be standing, and it,
for a few days, would afford them shelter. Before they reached it Kit
began to mend; but Rungya was stricken down. For two days Grace
tended him as if she had been his daughter. On the third day he
died; and then began that awful struggle between the heroic girl and
the wild things of the wilderness, which had nearly reached its limit
when Bâl Narîn found her. How long it lasted she could not tell—
neither could Kit. When it began they had water and rice, and
faggots for firing; when it ended their little stock was exhausted. She
dared not leave the hut so much as to cut a stick of wood or fill her
brass lota with water at the pool. It was like a horrible siege. The
wild things without; she and her dead and dying within.
Slowly and painfully her mind travelled on. She remembered the
determined attitude of the three great birds, and her own wild
tempest of passion. She remembered vividly the ping of the shikari's
bullet, and the fall of her enemies, and his friendly address. After
that came a terror which she only dimly recalled, and which was
followed by a blank—a peaceful falling away into forgetfulness.
That she had been taken from her dangerous position, and that she
had heard Kit laughing and talking beside her was all she knew for
certain.
The effort of thinking was great, and she fell into another brief
sleep. When she awoke the day had begun to decline, and the camp
was astir. Grace was stronger. Her mind worked fitfully. She was like
one who is in search of something, and who has a clue which makes
him believe that he will not be long in ignorance.
Suddenly, like a flash of light in midwinter darkness, there rose
before her a scene out of the past—a little room, with bare mud
walls and costly furniture: in its midst an Englishwoman, dressed in
Oriental robes, and lovely as a vision, with soft eyes and dimpled
cheeks, and a little voice like rippling waves on a pebbly shore. She
—Grace—is standing before her. Her hands are bound; her face is
stained; her garments are dirty and ragged. How vividly she feels
the contrast between them! The lady in Oriental robes feels it too.
She laughs—not brutally, as one who exults over a fallen enemy; but
with gushing gladness like a child. 'Dearest Grace!' she says, 'this is
shocking! What has come to you; and where, in the name of
Heaven, is your rajah?' There is no answer. Grace cannot speak. The
little rippling voice goes on: 'I think he is here, dear; but we cannot
let him see you. You are so beautiful. You would turn his brain.'
Silence again, and then: 'Won't you speak to me, you serious young
person? Am I too frivolous for your taste? Well! but never mind. I
mean to give you your liberty, now at once! Such fun! While Tom is
in the fort expecting to see you! A friend of your father's, one of his
favourite Soubahdars, will take care of you, and no doubt you will
reach the English lines in safety'—and then there rises before her
suddenly the wicked face with its sinister smile——
In a moment—in less than a moment—it sprang before her. She had
no force to go further. There was something to be remembered still;
something horrible; something that she would have to think out and
tell before she had peace. But this for the moment was enough. It
was the cry of her heart, the strong rapture of conviction, which,
through all the shame and agony of those awful moments, had been
present with her, that she remembered now.
'Tom is looking for us! Tom will find us!'
Tom, then, had traced them into the jungle. Tom had sent the
shikari to slay the birds. Tom had taken them into his keeping and
was transporting them to a place of safety. There had been war
between him and the White Ranee and he had conquered.
Weary and spent with this strange flight of memory, she sank back
and closed her eyes. But she could not rest any longer. An impulse,
dead for all these terrible days, but so much a part of herself that
even now she could not imagine how it had ever slept, was rising up
within her.
Once more she opened her eyes, and this time they fell on a mirror
which an officious servant had placed near her. She propped it up in
front of her, and gazed at herself, and a blush of maidenly shame
tinged her pale face. Was she Grace—Grace who had been so proud
and dainty? Ah! but she had forgotten Grace. Grace must have lived
long ago in some other world. Grace was a memory—a dream—it
was this haggard woman, with the ragged robe and tangled hair,
who was the reality. But could not Grace come back again?
With a swelling heart she looked round her. Some one had thought
of this too. Everything she could want, clear water and English soap,
and fresh and lovely garments were in the tent. If only she had the
strength, she could, in a few minutes, make herself fit to be seen.
Slowly and painfully she rose from her couch. How weak she was!
Could it be she, her very self, who only yesterday had withstood the
wild beasts and birds of the jungle? When she was on her feet she
staggered and nearly fell; but she would not give up till she had
washed the stains of travel away and put on the robe of pale blue
and snowy white, which was lying ready for her. Then, once more,
she looked into the mirror. Very white and haggard was the face that
gazed upon her, and the eyes—oh! what was it? What was it? She
dared not look into them. There was some awful tale; some picture
of horror that would not fade, behind their half-dropped lids;
something that was not Grace—that never would be. And yet she
was happier, more tranquil, than she had been. The fresh water and
the fair garments had helped her to dream that she was herself once
more. She was ready to meet her deliverer.
CHAPTER XLII
'DOES PEACE RETURN?'
She saw Kit's face first. He had been sleeping too—close to Bâl
Narîn, whose large, kind presence had, from the first, inspired him
with confidence, and now he had awoke, and his new friend, who
was one of the most versatile of men, being as well able to nurse a
child as to snare an elephant or to kill a tiger, had taken pleasure in
washing from his face and hands the stains of travel, and combing
out his long golden curls, and dressing him in smart new garments.
So when Kit stole in softly to see if his dearest Grace was awake, he
almost startled her by his beauty. It was the little fine gentleman of
Nowgong, before the revolt, the adored of English burra sahib-log
and native servants—who had come back. Kit was surprised too. He
stopped short just inside the tent and broke into a little laugh. 'Who
made you so pretty, dearest Grace?' he said. 'Was it Tom? Billy
dressed me.'
'And who is Billy?' asked Grace.
'Oh! don't you know Billy. He's the shikari that killed the birds. He's
told me all about it, and how he found us. But I must go and find
Tom.'
'No, no—come here first!' said Grace softly. 'Is it quite—quite—true,
Kit? Isn't it a dream?'
'You can pinch me if you like,' said the little fellow. 'I don't mind. Do
you think I look nice?'
'You look lovely, darling. I never saw anything so strange. Somebody
we know has thought of everything, Kit. To think that we should find
new dresses in the jungle!'
'It's Tom, I know,' said Kit with conviction. 'He's a big man here, like
Dost Ali Khan, only bigger. The fellows call him the rajah. But, I say,
you mustn't keep me, dearest Grace. I promised to let him know the
very minute you were awake. I looked in twice and you were asleep.'
He gave her a hug, and ran out; but looked back to say, with a little
nod, 'They're getting dinner ready, such a jolly one! Can't you smell
the cooking? Tom knows how to do it, I can tell you.'
Yes: Tom certainly knew how to do it; this Grace said to herself with
a smile. But there was a tremor at her heart all the same. What was
she to say to him? How could she make him understand her
passionate gratitude? While she was thinking he stood at the door,
for Kit had found him close by. 'May I come in?' he said, raising the
chick.
'Oh yes—yes; come in,' said Grace, half rising from her couch. 'I
wanted to see you; I wanted to thank you.'
'And that is just what I can't let you do,' said Tom, as quietly as he
could for the furious beating of his heart. 'Are you comfortable?' he
went on, looking round. 'Have my people done all they can for you?
If you will deign to come with me to Gumilcund, we can do much
better; but here——'
'Oh,' cried Grace, with a little agitated laugh; 'but it is just this that is
the wonder. It is like a miracle. How did you—how could you have
done it?'
'It is my best—I think it is my best,' stammered Tom. 'I wish I could
have brought some one who knew you better—your mother, or one
of your sisters; but the way was so rough. I was afraid of their
breaking down. Is there anything else? Am I tiring you? Had you
rather not see me until you are stronger? I would—would die to give
you comfort or relief.'
'I know you would,' said Grace simply.
'Oh! thank you,' said the poor fellow in a broken voice. 'It is infinitely
good of you to say so; and indeed—indeed it is the simple truth.
But'—trying to smile—'dying isn't of much use, is it? If you had died,
you couldn't have saved Kit, and, if I had died, I should never have
found you. You are sure you have everything you want?' he added,
looking round with a sort of piteousness in his face. 'I know very
little, you know, about what ladies want; but if there is anything—
these Indians are wonderful people——'
'No, no; there is nothing,' said Grace. 'Wonderful! They are
marvellous; they can almost create. I shall never forget what
Hoosanee was to us—' she was speaking rapidly and in little broken
sentences—she wanted to put him at his ease; but she felt so
strange herself. 'Where is he?' she went on. 'In Gumilcund, I
suppose?'
'Ah! poor Hoosanee!' said Tom, smiling freely now. 'He wouldn't be
left, Grace. He fell in love with you, like everyone else; wanted to
start off at once and find you alone; but of course, I couldn't allow
that, so he came with me. I owe it to his love and devotion that I
am here now.'
'Then he is in the camp. Poor brave Hoosanee! I should like to see
him.'
'But I am sorry to say he is not in the camp. I sent him off to the
mountains three days ago, to search for you there. I hope he will
join us presently.'
'And have you been looking for me ever since I was taken away?'
said Grace.
'I should have looked for you till my hair was grey and my limbs
were withered, Grace. I have found you much sooner than I
thought.'
'It may not be so long as I think,' she murmured. 'To-day it seems to
me that ages—eternities—have gone over my head since the night I
was carried away. This morning I was trying to think back and—I
could not—'
There came a pitiful agonised consciousness into her face that
frightened Tom. 'Don't,' he said beseechingly. 'There is no need. Put
all those dreadful memories away! Let us go back, both of us, to the
dear old days. Do you remember, Grace, our gardens that nearly
touched, and the little wicket-gate, and the river? What a plague I
must have been to you sometimes!'
'I think you were pretty tiresome,' said Grace, smiling.
'Ah! but the girls were tiresome too. Trixy and Maud—how they used
to tease me! And the General was just as bad. I can feel the grip of
his hand on my shoulder now—that night he found me, what he
would have called philandering in his compound.'
'Father was very downright,' said Grace. 'But he liked you, Tom. I
don't think there was anyone he liked better. Dearest father! I am
afraid he must have been dreadfully miserable about me. Ah! how
often—how often—I have wished for him—his stern look and his
strong voice—I believe he could have frightened away any number
of them.'
'He fought fifty—single handed,' said Tom. 'Bertie Liston came to
Gumilcund and told me about it. They had laid an ambush for him—
his own regiment—they nearly had him; but his audacity and
resource carried the day. Some came over to his side——
'He came out of it safely?' cried Grace.
'With only a slight wound, and he is better. When Bertie came to me
he was nearly well. I sent word that I hoped to find you. They are all
safe at Meerut. Our little Trixy is quite a heroine, at least Bertie
thinks so. She got hold of a revolver and fired at one of the wretches
who were trying to get in——'
'And mother?' broke in Grace. 'Is she well? Ah! what would I not give
just to see her for a moment! Mother's dear, kind face! It is the
sweetest face in all the world.' She broke down and covered her face
with her hands, and tears, that seemed to heal her pain, came
stealing down her pale cheeks.
Then Tom stole away, for he felt that she would prefer to be alone.
In a few moments he sent in Kit and Bâl Narîn. Billy was radiant in
fresh white linen, and Kit had so happy a face that Grace could not
help smiling at him.
'Billy won't let anyone wait upon you but himself, dearest Grace,' he
said, 'and Tom says dinner is ready, and the sun's gone down, and
it's very nice by the camp fire. Will you come out, or shall they bring
yours here?'
'I will come out, Kit,' said Grace.
And then came the joyful buzz of the camp, and the glowing evening
light on the jungle, and the spread table, to which the rajah led her,
his servants and camp followers bending down humbly, with their
faces to the ground, and again she felt as if she were moving in a
dream. Though she was only able to take a very little of what had
been provided for her, Grace felt stronger when she had eaten.
Leaning on Tom's arm, and with Kit clinging to her hand, she was
able to move about the camp. She made the acquaintance of Purtab,
who had slain the serpent, and, using Bâl Narîn as an interpreter, he
and Abiman congratulated her upon her escape, and expressed their
conviction that she was favoured of the gods. So long as she was
talking and moving she was at peace. But when she was alone the
horror came again. They were not to start until moon-rise. Tom left
her in her tent to rest. Kit went to sleep on a cushion by her side.
Silence fell upon the camp, and in the darkness and solitude her
nameless dread took form. There she lay, with hands cramped
together and staring eyeballs, while vision after vision, full of horror,
swept by. Was it she, her very self—this Grace who was not of heroic
mould, to whom all these things had happened? Was she dreaming
hideously, or were they true? Oh! God, were they true? She had
suffered, but it was not that alone. She had heard what curdled her
blood in her veins, and made her feel that the gentle, innocent
gaiety of the past was a sin. Women and little children tortured to
death, men blown away from guns, inhuman crimes, inhuman
vengeance, hell gaping its mouth to devour, and heaven, the dear
heaven, of which, in the days of her childhood, she had dreamed,
passing away as visions pass in the lurid light of a world in flames.
She shuddered as she lay. This was terrible. She ought to be so
thankful. Ah! and she was thankful; but it was to man, not God.
Once she opened her lips, and the cry, old as humanity, the 'Our
Father,' that will instinctively break from the heart of Earth's children
when they realise their weakness and the strength of the forces set
in array against them, rose on a wave of anguish from her soul. But
in the next instant the cry was withdrawn. Father! There was no
Father, only a blind power that hurled the world-atoms, which for
once in the measureless ages have shaped themselves into sentient
lives, from steep to steep of a dead eternity. Awful, unutterable,
sorrow piercing her heart, like barbed arrows, each of which leaves
its sting in the wound, looking out pitifully from a myriad of eyes,
making life impossible and death the only refuge to be hoped for!
In the darkness Kit awoke and heard her laboured breathing. He
groped for her hand, and, finding it cold, was frightened and stole
out to awake Tom.
He came in, lighted the lamps, and knelt down beside her. 'You are
with friends,' he whispered, when he had made her drink a few
drops of Bâl Narîn's cordial. 'You must have courage for a little
while.'
'I will try,' she said plaintively. 'I should like to see them once more.'
'You will see them once more, and many times. When all this tangle
is over, we must go back to England.'
'England!' murmured Grace. 'Ah! they are good there. One can
believe, but,' shuddering, 'one cannot forget. I suppose we have to
go out of life for that.'
'Grace, if you love us, if you love them, do not, for heaven's sake,
speak so!'
She raised her heavy eyes and looked at him.
'Poor boy!' she said softly. 'I am troubling him. And when he has
done so much for me—all that way through the thicket! But the
others, ah! Tom, the others!—there was no God to save them.'
'My dearest, in heaven's name, I beseech you, put these thoughts
away! There was a God. There is a God. Death opens the way into
His kingdom.'
'I used to think so,' said Grace dreamily. 'That was long ago, before I
knew, when I thought the world was good.'
'And so it is, Grace; so it is! Give yourself time, dearest, and you will
come back to the old thoughts. You will know that the horror which
it has pleased God to let you look upon is the exception, not the
rule. It is like the tempest which comes and goes, and does its awful
work. Peace returns afterwards.'
'Does peace return?' cried the girl, fixing her agonised eyes upon her
companion's face; 'and if it does, is it a true peace? This is no dead
storm, like a storm of winds and waves. It is a storm of human
souls. The passion, the cruelty, the restlessness, the awful, awful,
unquenchable thirst, are alive. Oh! I have seen them again and
again. It is like the look in the eyes of the wild creatures, misery and
pain—misery and pain.' Her voice dropped. Into her face came a
look of horror as if some vision long driven back were forcing itself
upon her. 'How did it come?' she whispered. 'Where does it go? It
must be somewhere, even when there is peace. Is it below us,
ready, like the wild beasts, to spring at our throats, or does it go
away? When we open our eyes there, shall we see it, misery and
pain—misery and pain?'
'Grace, for pity's sake, for my sake,' said Tom hoarsely, 'try to forget.
For you the horror is over.'
'For me, but for the others, for the world! Did He make it? Did He
give it gentle and good things to triumph over? And what will He do
with it by-and-by? Is it to go on for ever and ever and ever?'
'Don't think of it; don't think of it, Grace.'
'I can't help myself,' she sobbed. 'It is—now, at this very moment
while we are speaking—the misery, and the cruelty, and the
restlessness, and the despair. Hark!' starting up. 'Do you hear?'
'I hear the wild beasts howling, nothing else. Abiman and Purtab are
keeping the camp-fires alight. Everything is safe. Oh! my dear! don't
look so! you frighten me!'
She tried to smile! 'I am so sorry,' she said gently. 'I will try—yes—I
will try to put it all away. But I think you must let me go, Tom. You
are looking for the Grace you once knew. You will not find her; she
has gone. The horror has touched her, and she can never—never—
be the same again.'
'Grace, you will break my heart. As you are, love, as you are, with
the sorrow in your eyes and the anguish in your soul, you are more,
ten thousand times more, to me than even then in all your dainty
pride and sweetness. I loved you, God knows I loved you—now—'
he threw himself down on his knees by her side, 'now—I adore you.'
'My poor boy! My poor boy!' she murmured, touching his face
tenderly, with her long white fingers.
'Grace,' he whispered. 'Do you care for me a little?'
'I care for you more than a little, Tom. I love you. I have loved you
from the first day we met.'
'Loved me! Oh! Grace; oh! my darling! is it true?'
'Hush, dear!' she said softly. 'You must keep quiet. If we speak too
loud we shall awake Kit. Poor little Kit! He has suffered so much. And
this sleep is restoring him.' Her voice was so quiet that it sent a chill
to his heart. There was no passion in it, no trouble, not even the
agitation, the sweet tremulous consciousness of a woman happy in
loving.
There surged up in his throat a sob of uncontrollable anguish. 'I
can't even think of Kit,' he said. 'I can only think of you—you. Say it
again, Grace—it is the dearest, sweetest sound in all the world.
Whisper it as low as you like and I shall hear it. If I were on earth
and you were in heaven, above the stars, myriads and myriads of
miles away, still I should hear it. Are you smiling, darling? I can smile
too now. But even you don't know everything. I will tell you some
day. Say, I love you.'
'I love you, Tom; I love you.' She was still touching his face and hair,
still gazing into his face with a tenderness that almost slew him, it
was so strangely quiet. 'I did not mean to tell you,' she went on, 'but
the time is so short. To-morrow perhaps I shall be somewhere else.'
'Grace,' he cried passionately. 'Do you wish to kill me?'
'No dear, I wish to live, and I think I shall live a little while longer. I
have seen you, I must see mother and father and the girls, and poor
little Lucy, and Kit's mother, and the others. I didn't mean that I
should die, but I may not be here. Didn't Kit tell you? I wander away
sometimes. He used to tell me about it when I came back. "You
have been somewhere else, dearest Grace." I can hear his little voice
now. That was before Rungya left us. Afterwards, I remembered
everything till I fell asleep and you found me.'
'Ah! but it was natural then. You were in such trouble. It is a wonder
to me that you lived through it at all. But that is over!'
'Yes,' said Grace, closing her eyes, 'all over! all over!'
He watched her, his heart beating painfully. She lay quite still, and,
hoping she was asleep, he stole to the door and lifted the chick, for
in another hour they would have to start. He looked out, with a
dazed feeling in his mind, at the sleeping camp and the fires that
were burning brightly. He listened to the monotonous jabber of the
watchmen, and saw how the solemn, silvery light, that would
presently change the dark jungle world into an enchanted region,
was beginning to dawn in the sky. Then he returned to Grace, whom
he found with wide-open eyes and smiling lips. 'Is that you, Dad?'
she said.
'Yes, dear,' he answered.
'Call the girls,' she cried. 'They said they would start early. The river
is so lovely in the morning. Is the boat ready, Dad?'
'Yes, dear. It is moored under the willows. I will come for you
directly.'
He took up Kit in his arms, and carried him out to Bâl Narîn. Tears
were in his eyes, and the beating of his heart nearly choked him.
Grace did not know him. She was 'somewhere else.'
CHAPTER XLIII
A STRANGE JOURNEY
Afterwards Tom Gregory looked back upon this journey as one of the
strangest experiences of his strange and chequered life. As regards
outward events there is little to record. Bâl Narîn knew every step of
the way. The soldiers, servants, camp-followers, and coolies, of
whom the cavalcade consisted, were so well up in their duties, and
so hopeful of large reward from the rajah, that they worked with all
the regularity and much more than the intelligence of machines.
Even the heavens seemed to smile upon the intrepid travellers, for
there could be no doubt that the air was less pestilential than is
usual at this season, while there were none of those sweeping
storms of rain that, in late summer and early autumn, will
sometimes make the roads of the Terai impassable.
They travelled quietly, so as not to fatigue Grace and Kit, and it took
them three days to work across the jungle from the robbers' path,
where Bâl Narîn had found the first traces of the fugitives, to the
Maharajah's Road.
This, of course, was the most difficult and dangerous part of the
journey, but they accomplished it safely. There was no talk of fever
now, no grumbling about the denseness of the jungle and the
fatigue of the way. Bâl Narîn issued the orders for each day, and
they were obeyed with joyful alacrity. It would almost seem as if the
gladness that had taken possession of the camp since Grace and Kit
were found had given it strength and tone. But for all this, and in
spite of the kind and gracious face he showed to his followers, the
young rajah carried about with him an aching heart. His hope and
dream had not been fulfilled. He had saved his love from the last
extremity; but for what had he saved her? Sometimes when he saw
the wandering horror in her eyes, when he listened to the broken
words of pain, which for his sake she tried to repress, when, with a
trouble which almost unmanned him, he realised that so it must be
as long as she lived, he would say to himself ruefully, that for her it
would have been better if in the trance in which he found her in the
hut, her gentle spirit had winged its flight from earth.
But these were his worst moments. The best times were when, as
Kit expressed it, Grace was 'somewhere else.' Then, but for the
curious expression of her eyes, the haunting pain that seemed
always to be lying in wait for her, she was so quiet and peaceful, so
much the Grace of the dear old days, that he could venture to hope
for her restoration to health of body and peace of mind.
He would lengthen out these times of mental aberration. When she
called to him by some name out of the past, he would answer to it.
Patiently he would work himself into the spirit of her dream, so that
he might live and act in it. With an ingenuity born of love, he would
keep out of her sight, as much as possible, everything that would
remind her of the present. Kit was not allowed to come near her
while the dream lasted. The servants were kept in the background.
Of everything strange that she saw about her, there would be some
ingenious explanation. Thus the meal under the shadow of a tree
was a picnic; and the jungle was an English wood, and the tent was
a cottage in which they had taken shelter from heat or storm, he
and she together, and the others—Lady Elton and Mrs. Gregory, and
Lady Winter and the fine Sir Reginald, and the girls—these were all
behind them and would presently come up. So in the hours of
tranquillity, which his love made for her, she gained marvellously in
health and strength; but Tom had an uneasy feeling that the spectre
of pain and horror which she carried about with her was not
destroyed, and that some day it would assert its presence
dangerously. The fact was, that Grace lacked the robust
individualism which enables the majority of people, and especially of
women, to exult over their own exceptional good fortune. She could
not feel herself a favourite of heaven; she could not, as she would
say pathetically, be grateful. That thought of the others, the ill-doers
as well as those who had suffered wrong, haunted her perpetually.
She saw them in her dreams. They seemed to be holding out their
hands to her. Whenever she was not wandering in the past, her
heart was full of a new and incomprehensible anguish.
A little diversion, which had a beneficial effect upon her mind, was
created by their meeting with Hoosanee. It was in a great sâal-
forest, when they were travelling pleasantly along an easy road,
under a fine canopy made by overarching trees, that the rajah's
faithful servant, who had made up his mind that no such fugitives as
those he was seeking could have crossed Sisagarhi, came up with
them.
He came in late in the evening, when the cavalcade had halted as it
did habitually between sunset and moonrise. The blow on the
hillside had done for him what his master had hoped from it. The
fever that had begun to work in his blood had gone, and his power
and energy had returned. The meeting between him and the rajah
was rather that of intimate friends than of master and servant.
When Hoosanee heard that the object of the expedition had been
fulfilled, that the fair and gracious maiden whom they had travelled
so far, and on his part so hopelessly, to seek was actually in camp,
he cried like a child. 'Master! Master!' he sobbed, the tears rolling
down his face. 'Who will dare to tell me now that the gods do not
fight on our side? Ah! if some miracle would take us straight to the
gates of our own town! How proudly we shall enter! It will be better
even than the night when first the Rajah Sahib passed through our
streets and the people saluted him as Rama, their prince and hero
——'
'That remains to be proved, Hoosanee,' said Tom, smiling.
'Remember that I have offended the people of Gumilcund grievously.
I doubt whether they will accept me as their rajah now. But I am
sure that, for the love of those who have gone, they will admit me
for a time. And I have been mindful of their interests while I was
away. Is it not strange, Hoosanee,' he went on dreamily, 'now I have
fulfilled my task the love of my people and my work has come back
to me? The voice that was silent so long spoke to me again last
night. I am one of you, my friend, as I was before. You are so near
to me that you will understand this. But we must not be surprised if
the others do not.'
'They will: they will. Chunder Singh knows. Chunder Singh is the
friend of his Excellency. There is no fear,' said Hoosanee joyfully.
Then he left his master and presented himself at the door of the tent
where Grace was resting. Kit was just outside. He saw him and gave
a joyful cry of recognition. Grace heard it and started up. 'Who has
come? What has happened?' she cried.
'Oh!' said Kit, rushing in, 'it's Tom's bearer. It's Hoosanee. They did
not kill him after all. Hooray! Hooray! Three cheers! Grace! Grace!
mayn't he come in?'
'Yes! Yes; bring him in,' said Grace joyfully. So Kit set the curtain
aside, and Hoosanee, whose dark face was glowing with happiness,
came in, and stood with bowed head and hands crossed reverently
before the lady of his dreams. As for Grace, she held out both her
hands and burst into tears.
'My gracious lady should laugh: she should not weep,' he said,
bending low over her hands.
'But it is for joy not for sadness. My brave Hoosanee, I never
thought to see you alive again. How splendidly you stood your
ground that awful night, and how nobly you pleaded for me! And did
you take care of the others? Did you carry them to Gumilcund
safely?'
'Missy Sahib,' said Hoosanee, a smile breaking over his face, 'it was
not so easy when you had gone. The ladies cried and sometimes
they were unreasonable and doubted me, thinking that, as I had
given you up, so I would give them up; and the storm beat upon us
angrily, and it was with difficulty we dragged ourselves along. But on
the second night we entered the gates of our city and one ran to tell
our rajah and he met us.'
'And they were safe and well—Lucy and Kit's mother, and the baby
and the other Mem Sahib?'
'They were safe. The rajah gave them lodging in his palace. But we
did not see them again, for that very night we departed for the fort.'
'The fort? Dost Ali Khan's fort?' said Grace shuddering. 'That was
where the wicked Soubahdar took me. But how did you know,
Hoosanee?'
'It had been told to one of my lord's servants that we should find
Missy Sahib there. Dost Ali Khan thought to buy the favour of my
master by giving her up.'
'But I was not there, Hoosanee.'
'Let us give thanks to the Supreme Spirit!' said the Indian, bowing
low.
Grace gazed at him, speechless with wonder.
'The fort has gone,' he went on solemnly. 'Like a wild beast in its lair
Dost Ali Khan was destroyed. The day after Missy Sahib was put out
the English came up, and they made a mine secretly and the fort
was blown to pieces.'
'With everyone within,' said Grace, whose eyes were distended with
horror.
'My master and my master's servants escaped. Some few of the
defenders may have left by the secret passage. All the others
perished.'
'There was an English woman there,' said Grace.
'The woman who called herself the White Ranee, and to whom Dost
Ali Khan the pretended ruler of the country did homage, was within
the fort. She was slain,' said Hoosanee quietly.
'Slain!' echoed Grace.
'It is true, Missy Sahib. The rajah himself brought her dead out of
the ruins. I saw her in his arms. He made a fire in the room where
they had imprisoned him, and her body was consumed. Then he and
I went out to meet the English.'
While Hoosanee was speaking, Grace had covered her face with her
hands. When she looked up she was as pale as death. 'Dead!' she
murmured, 'Vivien dead! Is it true? Then God have mercy upon her!'
She paused. Hoosanee did not speak, and after a few moments she
went on, in a stifled voice, as if she were speaking to herself: 'I had
been thinking of her, wondering how it would end. But it is best so—
much best! Hoosanee,' suddenly, 'you must tell no one. Remember!
It is a secret between you and me and the rajah.'
'I will remember, Missy Sahib.'
'Let them think that she was taken prisoner,' went on Grace. 'It may
have been so. Yes: that is the true explanation. I wonder I did not
think of it before—and the terror and horror shook her reason. Poor
Vivien! I am sorry I had hard thoughts of her. She was much too
beautiful to be wicked. It was madness, Hoosanee. If she had not
been mad she would never have treated me so. I might have known
it at once. And you say she is dead?'
'She is dead, Missy Sahib.'
'It was best. To have come to herself here would have been terrible.
But I cannot think of it any more. Thank you for telling me, my good
Hoosanee. You have just come in?'
'I rode into camp an hour ago, Missy Sahib.'
'You must want rest. I am selfish to keep you up so long. Good-
night! I will see you again to-morrow.'
'May the sleep of my gracious lady be sweet, and may the gods
preserve her from evil!' said Hoosanee fervently.
He went out, to find the rajah waiting for him with eager questions.
Then Bâl Narîn joined them. A runner had come out in search of the
rajah. He brought intelligence of a great and notable Ghoorka
victory, which had resulted in the complete pacification of the district
between the Nepaul frontier and the Kingdom of Oude. Gambier
Singh was triumphant. He sent word that the rajah must join him in
his camp near Janhpore, and that he would tell off a detachment to
escort him to Gumilcund, as a part of the Doab, which he would
have to cross on his journey, was said to be still in an unsettled
condition.
When questioned about the state of the country generally, the
runner reported that Delhi was supposed to have been taken by
assault a few days since; but that Lucknow was still in the hands of
the mutineers.
This was joyful news to the rajah. 'If Delhi is taken the worst is over,'
he said to his servants. 'And our Gumilcund men will be in it. If we
reach our city safely, I will put myself at the head of another little
army and join the forces that will be marching to Lucknow. What do
you say, Billy? Will you join me?'
'I will go to the ends of the earth with his Excellency,' said Bâl Narîn.
'But let him have a care!'
'Of what, Billy?'
'Of the jealousy of the gods, Excellency.'
'You think I am too prosperous, Billy? Don't alarm yourself. I shall
have my knock-down presently.'
'It is useless to speak of such things,' said Hoosanee. 'The Rajah
Sahib, as we know, has risked his life in two dangerous enterprises.
It is fitting now that he remains with his people in Gumilcund.'
'Time enough to discuss our further movements when we have
reached that haven of rest,' said Tom, dismissing them with a wave
of his hand.
And so, when the moon rose that night, they went on together
joyfully. One more halt in the Terai, and a short day's march through
the forest brought them to the borders of the dominions of the
Maharajah of Nepaul, when they entered upon the vast agricultural
plains of Upper India, held then by the British and Ghoorka armies.
Concerning this part of the journey, which, under any other
circumstances, would have been monotonous, there is very little to
record. The rajah's diary, to which he returned about this time, deals
more with feelings and states of mind than with events. I gather
from it that, as the days went by, his deep interest in the social and
political condition of the people amongst whom his lot had been cast
revived. He was impatient, for his own sake as well as for that of his
friends, to be in Gumilcund again. He took a more wholesome and a
larger view of life. Away from the pestilential swamps of the fever-
haunted jungle, and under the wide benignant sky, he could forget
the wild agony of despair that for so many days had bound him in
prison; he could believe that it was not madness, but a sound
philosophy, which caused men everywhere to expect and to work for
the redemption of humanity.
Here and there he speaks of Grace, but only briefly. 'My darling is
better,' he writes on one occasion. 'I think Hoosanee is doing her
good. He understands how to make her comfortable. I really think
she is at home in her tent.' And again, 'There is something on her
mind still. If she could tell it, the look of haunting terror, which goes
to my very soul, might leave her eyes. But I dare not urge her.' And
yet again, 'A woman should be with her; one she has known and
loved. Thank God she will find friends at Gumilcund! Perhaps her
mother would come if I sent for her. She will not be happy until she
has told what is on her mind. Will she then? God help my darling
and send her rest and peace!' From Bâl Narîn, who would not go
back to his native valley until he had seen his friends at the end of
their journey, I learn that the young rajah, who travelled in semi-
Oriental dress, but who did not now disguise from anyone that he
was of European origin, won hearts wherever he went by his grace
and dignity. To this day most of these people believe that there was
something supernatural about him. At the villages, when there was
difficulty about the supplies of food and firing, he had only to come
forward and speak and his orders were obeyed without delay. To
himself his power over the native mind, which he could not help
seeing and acknowledging, was a mystery. I, who look at this part of
his history in the light not only of what went before but of what
followed, can find an explanation. In him the indomitable pluck, the
perseverance, the rectitude, and stern sense of justice, which have
enabled a Western people to conquer and hold dominion in the East,
were combined with the softer, more graceful and endearing
qualities of the race with which he was allied, although at that time
he did not know it, no less by birth than by circumstances. Gracious
as well as great, sympathetic as well as strong, feeling at every point
the people with whom he came in contact, tolerant in them of the
weaknesses, whose germs, covered but not destroyed by his
Western training, he found in himself, yet, rising above them by his
proud indifference to selfish considerations, his quickness to execute
what his brain had devised; and, more than all, by his keen spiritual
insight, Thomas Gregory has always seemed to me to be in himself a
living parable. So in my fanciful moments I have imagined may
society be, when the two great branches of humanity's noblest
family, which have been separated so long, will consent not only to
meet, but to meet on the same ground; when they will take one
from the other as brothers should; when they will sit down together
at the rich feast of stored-up experience wrought out painfully on
the opposite sides of dividing oceans; when they will realise that one
requires the other, and that only from sympathy and mutual
concession can spring the union, out of which, as some of us hope,
a perfectness such as the world has never known will grow.
But this is in the future still; and our present business is with the
rajah on his march to Gumilcund. They made a slight detour to visit
Gambier Singh in his camp near Janhpore; and I am told that the
greeting they received from that magnificent young officer was of
the warmest. He was highly elated with his own success, concerning
which he had much to say to his friend, while his delight and
admiring sympathy over the happy accomplishment of the feat,
which when they met before he had judged to be impossible, were
inexhaustible. During the few hours they spent together in the
young Captain's tent Tom had to give over and over again his
account of the various incidents of their journey. Then Bâl Narîn was
called in to receive his meed of praise and substantial reward, which
he did modestly, asserting that he was but an instrument in the
hands of the gods and demons, who were bent upon honouring the
Rajah Sahib. Finally, having hinted at his wish to be thus
distinguished, Gambier Singh was introduced to Grace, who thanked
him in graceful and touching words for the assistance he had
rendered to her friends in their search. It happened to be one of her
best days. She was conscious of everything that went on around her,
and the hope of being in Gumilcund soon, of seeing her friends, and
gladdening their hearts with the news of her deliverance, although it
could not lift from her face the shadow that rested there continually,
gave to her an expression of tremulous anticipation that was
curiously pathetic. This, with her delicacy of form, her low voice and
gentle manner, and the white purity of her perfect face, made an
undying impression on the mind of the chivalrous young soldier.
When, accompanied by his friend the rajah, he left the English girl's
tent, his dark face was glowing with a new enthusiasm. 'A few days
ago, my brother,' he said, grasping Tom's hand, 'I could not
understand you. Now it is clear to me. She is a fair and noble
woman—one for whom a true man would willingly lay down his life.
That I have been able to help you to save her will be a joyful
memory to me as long as I live.'
Later he said, meditatively, 'Is she a type? Are there many like her in
England?'
'There are many as beautiful, and true, and courageous,' answered
Tom. 'Although to me, naturally, she stands alone.'
'Then I can understand your greatness,' said Gambier Singh.
'You must visit us and see our women at home,' answered Tom with
a smile.
CHAPTER XLIV
MORE FUGITIVES IN GUMILCUND
They could not spend more than a day and a night in Gambier
Singh's hospitable camp. Moreover, the gallant little Ghoorka army
had work to do. It had been reinforced by English officers and
troops, and it was bound on an expedition south to cut off the
retreat of a body of rebels who, having escaped the swords and
guns of Havelock's Highlanders, were rushing up to hide themselves
in the mountains. But Gambier Singh, with the full consent of his
fellow officers, both British and Nepaulese, would not let his friends
depart unattended. An escort, sufficiently strong to make them
respected both by insurgent villagers and fugitive sepoys, was told
off to protect them on their further journey, and he added to their
travelling stores such comforts as he could command.
Both parties, the English rajah, with his Nepaulese escort, and the
Ghoorka army, started with light hearts, for there could be no doubt
now that the tide of affairs in the peninsula had changed for the
better. Delhi was taken by assault; the news was in every mouth.
The King of Delhi was a captive; his army was scattered and
destroyed; and although, while Oude was in insurrection, and
Lucknow was in the hands of the rebels, and a vast army reinforced
by the mutinous contingent from Gwalior still held the field, the
mutiny could not be said to be crushed, there was good hope now of
a successful issue to the efforts which had been made to extinguish
it.
With the intelligence from Delhi, which was brought by swift runners
to the Ghoorka camp, Tom had the satisfaction of receiving a good
account of his Gumilcund levies. They were specially mentioned as
having distinguished themselves in the assault. What he did not
know then, but what he heard later, was that these men of
Gumilcund had earned the praise even of the heroic Nicholson. On
the day after the assault, when the gallant English soldiers, who had
fought like lions and shed their blood like heroes, fell prone to the
temptation thrown in their way by their enemies, and lay about,
stupid as sheep, in the streets and courts of the city they had so
brilliantly won, it was a band of Gumilcund men, who, by their
steadfastness and intrepidity, prevented the day of dishonour from
being, to many of them, a day of disaster.
This the rajah heard at Gumilcund, whither, as there is nothing in his
further journey to deserve a special record, we must now return.
The English ladies in the palace had settled down, as we shall
remember, into a peaceful and well-cared-for, if somewhat
monotonous, life. They never went out into the streets of the city.
This was by the advice of Chunder Singh and Lutfullah, who feared
that the people, looking upon them as, in some sort, responsible for
the loss of their rajah, might show signs of hostility if they appeared
amongst them. As for those grave personages themselves, they had
overcome their first feelings of doubt and suspicion.
By the time of which I am speaking the rajah's message from the
village in the Doab, where he halted to rescue the English prisoners,
and received the intelligence which sent him to Azimgurh and
Nepaul, had arrived. It had been immediately obeyed. Before Grace
and Kit were found Mrs. Lyster shared the hospitality of the English
rajah's palace, and the two young officers, who had so narrowly
escaped an ignominious death, were resting and recruiting their
strength in the Resident's comfortable house.
This message had brought hope back to the city. Their rajah had not
completely deserted them. He sent word that he would return, that
wherever he went he was mindful chiefly of their interests, that he
would die rather than betray them; and they believed him. Over the
common people, in fact, to whom the contents of this letter was
made known, his influence was rather strengthened than weakened
by what had taken place. His mysterious departure, his extraordinary
escape out of the hands of Dost Ali Khan the deadly enemy of
Gumilcund, with the destruction of the fort, from which the city and
State had so often been threatened, confirmed their belief that the
gods were in league with their rajah, and that, while he continued to
rule over them, peace and prosperity were assured to the State.
And in fact this small principality was, at the time of which I am
writing, like one of those islands in the Southern Seas which awful
coral reefs guard from the onslaught of stormy waves. To her very
doors the tempest raged. From east and west, from north and south,
the posts, which had again begun to run, brought news of mutinous
armies in possession of the country, of burning villages and sacked
cities, of robber-tribes pursuing unchecked their career of violence,
and of peasants fleeing from their unreaped fields. She remained
untouched—a fortress and a refuge.
In the palace things were not so dull as they had been. Chunder
Singh and Lutfullah paid daily visits to the ladies, to assure
themselves that they wanted for nothing. The message from the
rajah and the arrival of Mrs. Lyster raised their drooping spirits. Mrs.
Durant began to hope that she might one day see her darling Kit
again, and Lucy was better able to excuse herself for what she still
looked upon as her own cowardly desertion of her cousin and friend.
As for Mrs. Lyster, I am afraid it would take more space than I have
at my command to do anything like justice to her feelings. When,
after her long and toilsome journey, she was carried within the
precincts of the palace, and her litter being set down in the cool
marble court of the quarter allotted to the European ladies, she
found herself surrounded with gentle and sympathetic faces, she
was as one in a dream. Long after, as she has told me since, it
abode in her mind like a picture in a vision. There were little Lucy,
with her pure white skin and golden hair and pathetic eyes, from
which the dream of horror had not yet passed away; and the pale-
faced mother eager—so eager—for news, yet not venturing to ask a
question until the haggard, wild-eyed visitor had been refreshed and
comforted; and Aglaia, like a child-angel with love and wonder in her
face, and close to her the dusky-faced Sumbaten, pouring out
broken words of welcome and offers of assistance; and little Dick,
rosy and sweet, at sight of whom the poor fugitive covered her face
with her hands and wept. Her baby had been shot—her soft
innocent little darling—shot, in the arms of its father, who had torn it
from the ayah to protect it with his own body. And then he had
fallen too, and when, cold and still as lifeless stone, she leant over
them to staunch their life-blood, he whispered to her hoarsely, 'For
the sake of our children in England, escape!'
She had escaped—oh, God! she had escaped! But was not life far
bitterer than death?
They knew how it was with her. Everyone of them had gone through
her hour of worse than martyrdom, so they waited silently till she
looked up again and made a pathetic effort to smile and thank them;
and then Aglaia, who, having been the first comer, continued to do
the honours of the palace, took her by the hand, and Aglaia's ayah
followed, and she was given clear water and fresh garments, and
when she was ready she was brought out again to the rajah's
summer-house, where an English tea, with tinned meats and
wheaten bread, and luscious Eastern fruits, was spread out.
It was then, as she has told me, that her perplexity began. She was
asked a number of questions which she could not answer. Aglaia
stood up before her, and besought earnestly to be told where Daddy
Tom was, and why he did not come back, and when, thinking
naturally the poor child was asking for one of the dead, she said that
she had not seen him, Lucy interposed quickly: 'Oh! she means the
rajah; don't you know? He sent you here.'
'The rajah! Daddy Tom!' echoed Mrs. Lyster.
'Of course you know he is an Englishman,' said Lucy.
'It was no Englishman saved us,' said Mrs. Lyster, shaking her head.
'Ask the others!'
'Oh! but it was; it was Tom. I think his second English name is
Gregory. It's a funny story. Grace told me part of it,' said Lucy, 'and I
heard the rest here. Surely he told you about Grace——'
'And about Kit, my sweet Kit, my little hero!' said Mrs. Durant,
weeping.
'Grace! Kit! I don't understand. I think indeed we must be playing at
cross-purposes. God knows it would give me the truest happiness to
relieve your anxieties: you who have received me so kindly. But what
can I tell you but the truth? We were saved by an Indian prince, a
young man. He came to see us in the headman's hut, late at night,
after he had killed twenty of our captors with his own hand. He told
us he was the rajah of this place, and he would send us here with
soldiers of his own. But, Tom—Thomas Gregory! what do you mean?'
cried Mrs. Lyster, in great agitation. 'I knew an Englishman of that
name once.'
'But you don't, you can't, mean to say that you know nothing more!'
said Lucy. 'Think, for heaven's sake! Try your hardest to remember.'
'Try to remember? Do you think I could forget? In the depths of our
despair, I and those two poor boys, who were dying under my eyes;
not knowing what fresh horrors each fresh day might have in store
for us; living on and praying to a God who, we still believed, was a
God of Mercy, to let us die swiftly, and our pains and troubles end;
all at once, in a moment, at dead of night, dragged out to what we
thought must be the swift and sudden death we had prayed for; and
then to find ourselves safe, our bonds loosened, our enemies gone,
kind and gracious friends about us, with words of hope which have
been fully—fully redeemed upon their lips! Forget! we should be
monsters of ingratitude if we forgot. If I could ever return it, ever
show—but that would be impossible,' cried Mrs. Lyster wildly.
'Yes, impossible,' said the ladies together. And Lucy added softly,
'Tom has been our good angel. But it was for Grace's sake. We must
not forget that. He sent for us because of her. Do you know, all of
you, she might have escaped alone, long before, and we, God only
knows where we should have been! He was searching for Grace
when he rescued you, Mrs. Lyster; he is searching for her still. Most
likely she is dead, and then he will die too!'
'Oh! Lucy! Lucy! Don't talk so wildly!' said Mrs. Durant. 'Look at
Aglaia and think of me! You are frightening Mrs. Lyster.'
'I am not frightened,' said the poor lady, 'only bewildered. My
Thomas Gregory was such an interesting boy. At least, we thought
him so at first. Then some one said he was more than half a native.
There was a curious story about him,' she went on gropingly. 'He
was going out, they said, to inherit the wealth of an Indian rajah.
Dear! how strangely things come round. If'—with a little laugh—'I
had only known he was Thomas Gregory——'
'Was he going on with his search?' said Lucy.
'Yes; and now I think of it, I must have given him a clue. His servant
questioned me!'
'Hoosanee, our good Hoosanee!' cried Lucy, clapping her hands.
'He struck me as being rather artful,' said Mrs. Lyster.
'So he is, but it is in his master's service,' said Lucy joyously.
'Hoosanee is a man of resource. I am sure they are safe now.'
'God grant it!' said poor Mrs. Durant, breaking into tears and sobs.
'If he were not such a darling—much too good for this world—I
might hope too! Oh! Kit, my poor Kit, my pretty Kit, I can see your
brave little face now as you went away! How I kept still I don't
know. I was paralysed.'
'If Grace had been paralysed, we should none of us have been here
to tell the tale,' said Lucy, with a sort of disdain, which was as much
for herself as for these others, on her pale face.
'How she found strength to do it I can't imagine,' said little Dick's
mother. 'But for baby——'
'Oh!' interposed Lucy, 'we all had our own reasons, of course. As a
fact, I believe we couldn't have done any differently!'
'It is all very mysterious,' said Dick's mother; 'but I don't see why
you should be so sardonic about it, Lucy. We ought to be thankful
that our lives are spared. I am sure I am, both for myself and dear
little baby.'
'Don't! Don't!' cried Lucy passionately. 'You hurt me! Thankful! How
can I be thankful? Till Grace and Kit are here beside me, I shall not
be thankful. I know I am wicked; but I can't help myself. It's in me.'
And then she turned away, and gripped Aglaia by the arm. 'Come!'
she said, 'you won't reason with me or try to make me good. Let us
find Sumbaten, and see what she is doing for Mrs. Lyster!'
They looked after her, as with a defiant step she went away along
the avenue, and Mrs. Durant sighed deeply, while Dick's mother
shook her head, and said that Lucy's temper did not improve. It was
a pity they could not see her more subdued and humbled. As for
Mrs. Lyster, she sat very silent. She was gazing out into the soft rose
lilac of the narrowing heavens, and thinking of the young fellow who
had been her companion on that delightful voyage, that seemed now
so long ago—the young fellow whom she had liked and admired
until a certain strange day, when he mystified her and others by
putting on an Oriental robe, and assuming, with such marvellous
perfection, the speech and manners of an Oriental grandee.
CHAPTER XLV
NEWS OF MEERUT—GENERAL ELTON FINDS A NEW SPHERE
The message from the rajah and Mrs. Lyster's arrival did, as I have
said, revive the drooping spirits of the ladies in Gumilcund; but many
weary days and nights were destined to go by before they could
receive certain news of their friends. In the meantime the posts,
which ran now with tolerable regularity, brought them a variety of
intelligence—some of it depressing; but, for the most part, tending
to hope. That, though the North-West had failed in preparedness for
the crisis, the gallant rulers of the Punjaub had not only held their
own, but were pouring down reinforcements to the army before
Delhi, while from Bombay, Calcutta and Allahabad men and
munitions of war were being marched up country, Chunder Singh
told them with exultation. Delhi, he was sure, would not long hold
out, and then, as he too sanguinely believed, the insurrection would
be at an end.
They received private intelligence too. Strange and pathetic, as some
of us will remember very well, were the letters exchanged between
friends and relatives in those strange days. You would mourn a dear
friend as dead, and then, all of a sudden, one wonderful morning
you would see a letter in his well-known handwriting; and when,
with beating heart, feeling as if a missive had come to you from the
grave, you would tear it open, you would find that your friend had
given up you as lost, and was writing to you joyfully as one brought
back from the jaws of death. These were the bright spots—the red-
letter days—in that time of anguish. Of those other letters which
brought no joy, only a fearful confirmation of our worst fears—the
letters which told us of the tender hunted to death—of the fair and
fragile giving way under the awful strain of horror, and sleeping, as
we fondly believed, in the bosom of their God—of the beautiful, the
strong, the noble cut off in the flower of their youth and the
plenitude of their service—yes, of these, too, we carry about with us
memories, and the bitterness of those memories will never fade until
we meet our beloved on the further shore. Of news such as these
there is happily no question here. Mrs. Durant heard of her husband.
He had escaped from Nowgong by the skin of his teeth, having been
surrounded and actually imprisoned for a season by a body of his
own men who, though pledged to the mutineers, were unwilling to
injure him personally. Mrs. Lyster knew of her own the very worst.
Little Dick's father had been summoned to Allahabad shortly before
the outbreak at Nowgong, and joyful news it was to him that his
wife and son were safe at loyal Gumilcund. Lucy was encouraged by
letters from Meerut, and she sent back such encouragement as she
could. Tom—they would know who Tom was—had left everything
and run the risk of rebellion in his wonderful little State, which Lucy
remarked parenthetically was like the Garden of Eden before the
Fall, just to search for Grace and Kit. He had not come back; but he
had been heard of, and it was the belief of everyone that he would
succeed, so she begged her uncle, and aunt, and cousins to keep up
their spirits and to hope for the best.
They smiled when they read the fly-away letter. It was like herself;
but it was not very satisfactory to them. And indeed the family were
in miserable case just then. General Elton, who had barely recovered
from the effects of his wound, was about again; and it may be that
the bolder counsels which began from this time to prevail in Meerut
were due in large measure to his advice and assistance. But he
himself was, if that were possible, a greater anxiety to his friends
than when he had been lying at the point of death, for then they at
least knew the worst. Now his restlessness and irritability were such
that they could never for a single instant be sure of him.
Accustomed as he had been to take a large share in the conduct of
affairs, his personal inactivity galled him. He had no civil authority,
and the collapse of the magnificent army with which for so many
years it had been his pride to be connected, had deprived him, at a
stroke, of his military occupation. Meanwhile the state of anarchy,
into which the province was falling, cut him to the soul, the more so
that he felt convinced something might be done to check it.
With the Asiatic nothing goes so far as audacity, a quality which he
cannot understand, and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, does
not believe in. Where he sees unflinching boldness, he suspects
hidden strength, and as often as not he will throw down his arms
rather than have them forced from him. So the General was never
tired of preaching, but for some time no one would listen to him.
Then there came a change. From the hills, where, when the storm
broke, he had been enjoying his well-earned holiday, the gallant
collector, Dunlop, came down. He was armed with the authority of a
magistrate over the districts surrounding Meerut, and, to the
surprise of everyone, he asserted his determination of exercising it
without delay. He would march out alone if no one cared to join him,
and it was his belief that the terror of the English name, reinforced
by the outcries of the unfortunate people, whose lands had been
ravaged by a brutal soldiery, would carry him along.
Dunlop was one of those Englishmen who believed in audacity.
But if a few volunteers amongst those whom the breaking up of the
old order had deprived of occupation would put themselves under
his orders, there could be no doubt that the pacification of the
country would be more easily and swiftly accomplished.
We may imagine, but it would be very difficult to describe, the effect
of this announcement on the fiery soul of the old General. As a war-
horse that scents the battle-field afar off; as a Moslem soldier, who
sees the pearly gates of his Paradise slowly opening like a flower
across the clouds and thunder of tumultuous war, so he felt when, to
the deep dismay of his family, he went up to Dunlop and offered him
his sword. Numbers followed his example, but of the brilliant and
successful campaign in which they took part there is no need to
write here. It has its place in history.
Twice the seasoned old soldier rode out with the gallant little corps,
called the Khakee Ressalah, on account of its dust-coloured uniform,
and twice he returned to his trembling wife and children, safe, but
triumphant. As for Trixy, though no less anxious than her sisters, she
did not once bid her father stay. I rather think she would have liked
to march with them. 'One of us ought to have been a boy,' she said
to her mother one day. 'Women have far the worst of it—sitting at
home and watching and weeping—it is very hard work and rather
humiliating.'
'Hush! Trixy; you don't know what you are saying,' said Lady Elton.
And then the wild look that they all dreaded to see came over her
face, and she cried out piteously, 'Yes, child, you are right. I have
too many daughters, and the world is cruel to women. If a man dies,
he dies fighting. If a woman dies——'
'Darling, you must not,' broke in Trixy vehemently. 'I am a little idiot.
Forgive me! And do you know—listen, dearest, and don't look so—do
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Foundations of Astronomy 13th Edition Seeds Solutions Manual

  • 1. Foundations of Astronomy 13th Edition Seeds Solutions Manual download pdf https://testbankdeal.com/product/foundations-of-astronomy-13th-edition- seeds-solutions-manual/ Visit testbankdeal.com to explore and download the complete collection of test banks or solution manuals!
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  • 5. C H A P T E R 6 LIGHT AND TELESCOPES GUIDEPOST In previous chapters of this book, you viewed the sky the way the first astronomers did, with the unaided eye. Then, in Chapter 4 , you got a glimpse through Galileo’s small telescope that revealed amazing things about the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus. Now you can consider the telescopes, instruments, and techniques of modern astronomers. Telescopes gather and focus light, so you need to study what light is, and how it behaves, on your way to understanding how telescopes work. You will learn about telescopes that capture invisible types of light such as radio waves and X-rays. These enable astronomers to reach a more complete understanding of the Universe. This chapter will help you answer these five important questions: ► What is light? ► How do telescopes work? ► What are the powers and limitations of telescopes? ► What kind of instruments do astronomers use to record and analyze light gathered by telescopes? ► Why are some telescopes located in space? 6-1 RADIATION: INFORMATION FROM SPACE What is light? Visual light is the visible form of electromagnetic radiation , which is an electric and magnetic disturbance that transports energy at the speed of light c . The wavelength (λ) of light, or the distance between the peaks of a wave, is usually measured in nanometers (nm) (10 × 9 m) or angstroms (Å) (10 × 10 m) . The wavelength band of visual light is from 400 nm to 700 nm (4000 to 7000 Å). Frequency (v) is the number of waves that pass a stationary point in 1 second. The frequency of an electromagnetic wave equals the speed of light c divided by the wave’s wavelength λ. A photon is a packet of light waves that can act as a particle or as a wave. The energy carried by a photon is proportional to its frequency and inversely proportional to its wavelength. A spectrum is a display of light that is viewed or recorded after being sorted in order of wavelength or frequency. The complete electromagnetic spectrum includes gamma-rays , X-rays , ultraviolet (UV) radiation, visible light, infrared (IR) radiation, microwaves , and radio waves . Gamma-rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet radiation have shorter wavelengths and higher frequencies and carry more energy per photon than visible light. Infrared, microwave, and radio waves have longer wavelengths and lower frequencies and carry less energy per photon than visible light.
  • 6. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e Earth’s atmosphere is transparent in some atmospheric windows : visible light, shorter-wavelength infrared, and short-wavelength radio. 6-2 TELESCOPES How do telescopes work? Refracting telescopes use a primary lens to bend and focus the light into an image. Reflecting telescopes use a primary mirror to focus the light. The image produced by the telescope’s primary lens or mirror can be magnified by an eyepiece . Lenses and mirrors with short focal lengths must be strongly curved and are more expensive to grind to an accurate shape. Because of chromatic aberration , refracting telescopes cannot bring all colors to the same focus, resulting in color fringes around the images. An achromatic lens partially corrects for this, but such lenses are expensive and cannot be made much larger than about 1 m (40 in.) in diameter. Reflecting telescopes are easier to build and less expensive than refracting telescopes of the same diameter. Also, reflecting telescopes do not suffer from chromatic aberration. Most large optical telescopes and all radio telescopes are reflecting telescopes. What are the powers and limitations of telescopes? Light-gathering power refers to the ability of a telescope to collect light. Resolving power refers to the ability of a telescope to reveal fine detail. Diffraction fringes in an image, caused by the interaction of light waves with the telescope’s apertures, limit the amount of detail that can be seen. Magnifying power is the ability of a telescope to make an object look bigger. This power is less important because it is not a property of the telescope itself; this power can be altered simply by changing the eyepiece. 6-3 OBSERVATORIES ON EARTH: OPTICAL AND RADIO Astronomers build optical observatories on remote, high mountains for two reasons: (1) Turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere blurs the image of an astronomical object, a phenomenon that astronomers refer to as seeing . The air on top of a mountain is relatively steady, and the seeing is better. (2) Observatories are located far from cities to avoid light pollution . Astronomers also build radio telescopes remotely but more for the reason of avoiding interference from human- produced radio noise. In a reflecting telescope, light first comes to a focus at the prime focus , but a secondary mirror can direct light to other locations such as the Cassegrain focus . The Newtonian focus and Schmidt-Cassegrain focus are other focus locations used in some smaller telescopes. Because Earth rotates, telescopes must have a sidereal drive to remain pointed at celestial objects. An equatorial mount with a polar axis is the simplest way to accomplish this. An alt-azimuth
  • 7. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e mount can support a more massive telescope but requires computer control to compensate for Earth’s rotation. Very large telescopes can be built with active optics to control the mirror’s optical shape. These telescopes usually have either one large, thin, flexible mirror or a mirror broken into many small segments. Advantages include mirrors that weigh less, are easier to support, and cool faster at nightfall. A major disadvantage is that the optical shape needs to be adjusted gradually and continuously to maintain a good focus. 6-4 AIRBORNE AND SPACE OBSERVATORIES Why must some telescopes be located in space? The turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere distorts and blurs images. Telescopes in orbit are above this seeing distortion and are limited only by diffraction in their optics. Earth’s atmosphere absorbs gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, far-infrared, and microwave light. To observe at these wavelengths, telescopes must be located at high altitudes or in space. 6-5 ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES What kind of instruments do astronomers use to record and analyze light gathered by telescopes? Astronomers in the past used photographic plates to record images at the telescope and photometers to precisely measure the brightness of celestial objects. Modern electronic systems such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and other types of array detectors have replaced both photographic plates and photometers in most applications. Electronic detectors have the advantage that data from them are automatically digitized in numerical format and can be easily recorded and manipulated. Astronomical images in digital form can be computer-enhanced to produce representational-color images , sometimes called false-color images , which bring out subtle details. Spectrographs using prisms or a grating spread light out according to wavelength to form a spectrum, revealing hundreds of spectral lines produced by atoms and molecules in the object being studied. A comparison spectrum that contains lines of known wavelengths allows astronomers to measure the precise wavelengths of individual spectral lines produced by an astronomical object. Adaptive optics techniques involve measuring seeing distortions caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere, then partially canceling out those distortions by rapidly altering some of the telescope’s optical components. In some facilities a powerful laser beam is used to produce an artificial laser guide star high in Earth’s atmosphere that can be monitored by an adaptive optics system.
  • 8. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e Interferometry refers to the technique of connecting two or more separate telescopes to act as a single large telescope that has a resolution equivalent to that of a single telescope with a diameter that is as large as the separation between the individual telescopes. The first working interferometers were composed of multiple radio telescopes. 6-6 NON-ELECTROMAGNETIC ASTRONOMY Cosmic rays are not electromagnetic radiation; they are subatomic particles such as electrons and protons traveling at nearly the speed of light, arriving from mostly unknown cosmic sources. CHAPTER OUTLINE 6-1 Radiation: Information from Space Light as Waves and Particles The Electromagnetic Spectrum Doing Science: What would you see if your eyes were sensitive only to radio wavelengths? 6-2 Telescopes Two Ways to Do It: Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes The Powers and Limitations of Telescopes How Do We Know? 6-1: Resolution and Precision 6-3 Observatories on Earth: Optical and Radio Modern Optical Telescopes Concept Page: Modern Optical Telescopes Modern Radio Telescopes Doing Science: Why do astronomers build optical observatories at the tops of mountains? 6-4 Airborne and Space Observatories Airborne Telescopes Space Telescopes High-Energy Astronomy 6-5 Astronomical Instruments and Techniques Cameras and Photometers Spectrographs Adaptive Optics Interferometry 6-6 Non-Electromagnetic Astronomy Particle Astronomy Gravity Wave Astronomy What Are We? Curious
  • 9. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e KEY TERMS achromatic lenses active optics adaptive optics alt-azimuth mount angstroms (Å) array detectors atmospheric windows Cassegrain focus charge-coupled devices (CCDs) chromatic aberration comparison spectrum cosmic rays diffraction fringes digitized electromagnetic radiation equatorial mount eyepiece false-color images focal length frequency (ν) gamma-rays grating infrared (IR) interferometry laser guide star light pollution light-gathering power magnifying power microwaves nanometers (nm) Newtonian focus optical telescopes photographic plate photometers photon polar axis primary lens primary mirror prime focus radio telescopes radio waves reflecting telescopes refracting telescopes representational-color images resolving power Schmidt-Cassegrain focus secondary mirror seeing sidereal drive spectral lines spectrograph spectrum ultraviolet (UV) wavelength (λ) X-rays RESOURCES AND TIPS Here we give the most useful interactive figures from the publisher of our text on chapter topics. Refractors and Reflectors http://www.cengage.com/physics/book_content/143905035X_Seeds/active_figures/13/index.html Resolution and Telescopes http://www.cengage.com/physics/book_content/143905035X_Seeds/active_figures/14/index.html
  • 10. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e Videos Excellent video of a talk (What's the next window into our universe?) given by astronomer Andrew Connolly detailing the large amounts of data being collected about our universe, recording the constant changes over time. http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_connolly_what_s_the_next_window_into_our_universe Many observatories have home pages and a little web searching will find many of them. The links provided below are representative of home pages of observatories. Most of these contain pictures that can be downloaded for classroom use. Hubble Space Telescope: http://www.stsci.edu/ National Optical Astronomy Observatory: http://www.noao.edu/ National Radio Astronomy Observatory: http://www.nrao.edu/ Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/homepage/ Anglo-Australian Observatory: http://www.aao.gov.au/ Arecibo Observatory: http://www.naic.edu/index_scientific.php Spectroscopy page with links to other topics: http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/Outreach/Edu/Spectra/spec.html Related smart phone apps (free): HubbleSite (iPhone) – Hubble images, facts, and scientific discoveries Hubble Space Telescope (Android) - Photos, videos, and information about the Universe Refractor Telescope - Updates, news, information, videos, photos, events and deals. Telescope Flashlight - Red astronomy flashlight for the amateur astronomer and telescope user ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Yes, light includes radio waves because they are made of varying electric and magnetic fields and travel at the speed of light. 2. One would not plot sound waves because they are not electromagnetic waves, i.e., sound waves are not made of varying electric and magnetic fields. Instead, sound waves are variations in air pressure. Similarly, a wave on the surface of a pond would not be plotted either. 3. If the frequency increases, the number of waves passing by you increases and the wavelength decreases. If the wavelength decreases, then the energy of the photon increases. 4. UV has shorter wavelengths and higher energy than IR waves. 5. Red light has lower energy, lower frequency, and longer wavelengths than blue light. 6. One would choose a reflector or mirror telescope because the refractor (lens) telescope: a. would require large objective lenses, which are very expensive to build b. is more difficult to build than a large mirror c. objective lens would be difficult to support, i.e., only around its edges, not the entire back like a telescope mirror d. objective lens would not hold its shape well because it would be supported only around its perimeter e. objective lens cannot be completely corrected for chromatic aberration.
  • 11. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e 7. Nocturnal animals usually have large pupils which let more light into their eyes. The larger the pupil (entrance aperture) the greater the amount of light that reaches the retina (detector), and the easier it is to detect the object. Telescopes with large objectives (entrance apertures) gather more light and will, therefore, increase the amount of light that reaches the detector. 8. No, I could not see. 9. The atmosphere doesn't affect radio signals from celestial sources; therefore, it isn't necessary to get above the atmosphere. Secondly, radio telescopes are affected by radio noise from various human- made sources. The best way to avoid this noise is to hide the telescopes in isolated valleys. On the other hand, visible light is affected by the atmosphere, resulting in blurring and absorption. Thus, for visible light a mountain top is better in order to see through a smaller thickness of the atmosphere. 10. There would not be any real advantage to building radio telescopes on the tops of mountains and, in fact, they would be less shielded from radio noise from various human-made sources. 11. A thin mirror will weigh less and require a less sturdy or expensive mount. The thin mirror may, however, bend as the telescope points in different directions. However, telescope mirrors made of very thin glass can have their shape controlled by computer-controlled actuators supporting the back of the mirror. In fact, adaptive optics uses computers to control the shape of a mirror so that distortions in the image of an object caused by Earth's atmosphere can be corrected before the light reaches the detector. 12. One should state the diameter of the primary lens/mirror and the optical quality and give a few examples of what this means for that telescope. 13. For the same size dish and mirror, a radio telescope has worse resolving power than an optical telescope. This occurs because diffraction is worse for longer wavelength radio waves than for the shorter wavelength optical light. 14. The moon’s lack of atmosphere means that no radiation would be absorbed or scattered by it. Therefore all wavelengths of light could be observed with lunar-based telescopes (gamma ray through radio). Without atmospheric turbulence, there would be no image blur due to seeing. Further, we wouldn’t have to worry about how the changes in the atmosphere affect data. We could observe continually because there would never be any clouds. We could even observe during the day. Without an atmosphere, sunlight isn’t scattered around, and the sky is dark, even if the sun is above the horizon. We also wouldn’t have to worry about light pollution because there would be few lights on the moon, and there is no atmosphere to scatter the small amount of artificial light that might be used. 15. Telescopes observing in the infrared must be cooled because at ordinary temperatures the mirror and detector parts of the telescope emit significant thermal radiation at the very wavelengths at which one wishes to observe. Cooling reduces this emission. To understand this imaging, imagine observing at visual wavelengths with a mirror telescope that glows! 16. The false colors are usually used to represent variations in intensity. This technique allows us to visualize the structure of fainter details. 17. An example would be the hot, thin gas in clusters of galaxies.
  • 12. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e 18. Exploding stars make mostly gamma-rays and X-rays, so I would observe these wavelengths. 19. A glass prism actually separates light into its different wavelengths or colors via the same process that happens to create chromatic aberration in a glass lens. In the first case it is desirable, in the second it is not. 20. A spectrograph is an instrument that uses prisms or gratings to spread out light according to wavelength to form a spectrum. 21. Active optics are computer-driven thrusters that control the shape of a very thin or segmented mirror to account for changes in shape as the mirror sags under its own weight. Adaptive optics uses high-speed computers to monitor atmospheric distortion of an image produced by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere and rapidly alter the optical components to correct the telescope image and remove the distortion. 22. The long wavelength of radio waves makes diffraction, and therefore the resolving power, much worse than for a visual light telescope. The solution to this problem is a larger dish, which gives better resolving power. A more modern solution consists of many dishes hooked together to simulate a dish the same size as the separation of the dishes. 23. No, cosmic rays are subatomic particles traveling near the speed of light. 24. An electron or photon. 25. How Do We Know? – The resolution of an astronomical telescope is a measure of the ability of the telescope to see fine detail. The ability to see fine detail can allow astronomers to distinguish objects and see structure on very small scales. Thus when measuring distance and lengths this can greatly improve the precision of those measurements. ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. It is likely that humans have evolved so that their eyes respond best to the wavelengths of light that can penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. 2. Astronomers don’t care for brightly glowing clouds, bright moonlit nights, and twinkling stars because those conditions are not suitable for observing the night sky. Bright clouds and a full moon create what astronomers call a bright (or noisy) background which makes stars or other dark objects in the night sky appear fainter and thus harder to observe. Twinkling stars indicate a turbulent atmosphere which degrades the “seeing” and reduces the resolution of observations as well as making objects fainter. 3. I would apply to use an optical telescope with a CCD camera attached to produce digitized images of the lunar disk. I would be observing the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because the Moon is a relatively bright object in the night sky, so I could use a relatively small diameter telescope to achieve sufficient light gathering power. To resolve a feature on the Moon that is ~1/1000 of the Moon’s angular diameter, I would need a resolving power of ~1.9 arc seconds, which requires a telescope with a primary diameter of at least 2.5 in (6.4 cm). I would use a reflecting telescope to avoid the chromatic aberration issues associated with a refractive telescope. A ground-based on a mountain or airborne telescope would be sufficient for collecting the images, but a space-based telescope might
  • 13. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e be unable to collect an image of the entire lunar disk simultaneously. Active optics on such a small telescope would probably not be necessary, but adaptive optics (to help deal with atmospheric turbulence) might be useful for a ground-based telescope. A laser guide star, a spectrograph, or an interferometer would be unnecessary for collecting lunar images in the visible wavelengths. I would not be concerned about cosmic rays because they should be filtered out by the Earth’s atmosphere or simply pass through the instrument. 4. No, it is not good seeing as the celestial objects (stars) are blurry. If the telescope was equipped with adaptive optics, I would turn that system on and continue observing. However, if adaptive optics were not available, I might consider postponing the start of my observing campaign to later in the night (when atmospheric turbulence might die down) or to a later date because the viewing is poor enough that I may not be able to resolve the celestial objects of interest. ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS 1. About 1.4 2. 3 m 3. The frequency of the FM radio station is ν=102.2 megahertz (or 102.2 million waves per second) with a wavelength of ~3 m. 4. The 700-nm wavelength photon has less energy than the 400-nm wavelength photon. These wavelengths are associated with red (700 nm) and violet (400 nm) ends of the visible spectrum. Violet is associated with higher energy and has ~2 times as much energy as red. 5. The 10-m telescope has a light gathering power that is 278 times greater than that of the 0.6-m telescope. 6. The 10-m Keck telescope has a light gathering power that is 1.6 million times greater than the human eye. 7. Telescope A (152 cm) gathers ~1452 times more light than telescope B (4 cm). 8. The resolving power of Telescope A is ~0.07 arc seconds, while the resolving power of Telescope B is ~3 arc seconds. This means that Telescope A can resolve two points that are 0.07 arc seconds apart, which is better resolving power than Telescope B that can only resolve two points that are 3 arc seconds apart. 9. The 60-in (152 cm) telescope can resolve blue light better than red light. I know this because resolving power is proportional to the wavelength, so shorter wavelengths (i.e., blue at ~475 nm) can resolve smaller angular diameters than longer wavelengths (i.e., red at 700 nm). 10. 0.43 arc seconds; two points of light well separated from each other 11. No, his resolving power should have been about 5.65 arc seconds at best. 12. The 5-m telescope has a resolving power of 0.0226 arc seconds, and the Hubble Space Telescope has a resolving power of 0.05 arc seconds. However, Earth's atmosphere affects the seeing for the 5-meter telescope and limits the resolving power to about 0.5 arc seconds. The HST is not affected by seeing distortion due to the atmosphere.
  • 14. Seeds’ FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Instructors Manual 13e 13. 0.013 m (1.3 cm or about 0.5 in.) 14. Diameter = 1.16 m, the focal length of the eyepiece must be 1/250th the focal length of the telescope. You couldn't test the telescope by observing stars from Earth because of “seeing” effects of Earth’s atmosphere which would blur the image too much. 15. About 50 cm (From 400 km above, a human is about 0.25 seconds of arc from shoulder to shoulder.) ANSWERS TO LEARNING TO LOOK 1. The wavelength is ~6 mm. 2. There are two windows located in the visible and radio wave bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. 3. It is a reflecting telescope because it contains three mirrors. 4. The resolving power increased in the right image of Figure 6-25a because smaller celestial objects can be seen in the right image. 5. Figure 6-23b shows intensity of radio radiation at just one wavelength, which indicates the strength of the radio waves as viewed from Earth. I would have selected this false-color pattern as it is conventional to use reds to indicate “highs” and blues to indicate “lows” and so this depiction is easy to interpret. 6. Motions in the Earth’s atmosphere cause the blurring or bad seeing. Adaptive optics changes the mirror shape or optical path to compensate for the blurring. 7. The angular sizes of the stars in the photo are much smaller than the resolving power of the telescope. Consequently, the size of the star’s image in the photo is simply related to its relative brightness, with the brightest stars having the largest diameters. 8. Images from radio telescopes and from x-ray, infrared, or ultraviolet space telescopes are at wavelengths not visible to the human eye, and are therefore displayed in false color. False color images can also be used for visible wavelengths, since they use different colors to represent different levels of intensity, which can help to bring out otherwise invisible details. ANSWERS TO DOING SCIENCE 1. Would you be in the dark if your eyes were sensitive only to X-ray wavelengths? You would be in the dark and unable to see anything because there are almost no X-rays at Earth’s surface. And because the Earth’s atmosphere blocks X-rays, even when you looked up at the sky, you would not see anything. 2. Freedom from radio interference is important, for example in a shielded valley or sparsely populated region like the New Mexico desert for the VLA. If the telescope is an array of dishes, a flat plain like the VLA location is good. A dry location enables observation at wavelengths absorbed by water vapor. Arecibo actually uses the shape of a valley to help support a large dish.
  • 15. Discovering Diverse Content Through Random Scribd Documents
  • 16. ground, where they might rest, when Rungya bethought him of the clearing into which they turned. A holy man, a Brahmin, who had passed through his life's different stages, and who was preparing himself in solitude and meditation for his eternal rest, lived there once. Rungya had visited him when his own life was lusty within him, and had kissed his feet reverently as a spiritual teacher. It could not be that the holy man was alive still; but his hut, which even the savage tribes of the jungle would respect, might be standing, and it, for a few days, would afford them shelter. Before they reached it Kit began to mend; but Rungya was stricken down. For two days Grace tended him as if she had been his daughter. On the third day he died; and then began that awful struggle between the heroic girl and the wild things of the wilderness, which had nearly reached its limit when Bâl Narîn found her. How long it lasted she could not tell— neither could Kit. When it began they had water and rice, and faggots for firing; when it ended their little stock was exhausted. She dared not leave the hut so much as to cut a stick of wood or fill her brass lota with water at the pool. It was like a horrible siege. The wild things without; she and her dead and dying within. Slowly and painfully her mind travelled on. She remembered the determined attitude of the three great birds, and her own wild tempest of passion. She remembered vividly the ping of the shikari's bullet, and the fall of her enemies, and his friendly address. After that came a terror which she only dimly recalled, and which was followed by a blank—a peaceful falling away into forgetfulness. That she had been taken from her dangerous position, and that she had heard Kit laughing and talking beside her was all she knew for certain. The effort of thinking was great, and she fell into another brief sleep. When she awoke the day had begun to decline, and the camp was astir. Grace was stronger. Her mind worked fitfully. She was like one who is in search of something, and who has a clue which makes him believe that he will not be long in ignorance.
  • 17. Suddenly, like a flash of light in midwinter darkness, there rose before her a scene out of the past—a little room, with bare mud walls and costly furniture: in its midst an Englishwoman, dressed in Oriental robes, and lovely as a vision, with soft eyes and dimpled cheeks, and a little voice like rippling waves on a pebbly shore. She —Grace—is standing before her. Her hands are bound; her face is stained; her garments are dirty and ragged. How vividly she feels the contrast between them! The lady in Oriental robes feels it too. She laughs—not brutally, as one who exults over a fallen enemy; but with gushing gladness like a child. 'Dearest Grace!' she says, 'this is shocking! What has come to you; and where, in the name of Heaven, is your rajah?' There is no answer. Grace cannot speak. The little rippling voice goes on: 'I think he is here, dear; but we cannot let him see you. You are so beautiful. You would turn his brain.' Silence again, and then: 'Won't you speak to me, you serious young person? Am I too frivolous for your taste? Well! but never mind. I mean to give you your liberty, now at once! Such fun! While Tom is in the fort expecting to see you! A friend of your father's, one of his favourite Soubahdars, will take care of you, and no doubt you will reach the English lines in safety'—and then there rises before her suddenly the wicked face with its sinister smile—— In a moment—in less than a moment—it sprang before her. She had no force to go further. There was something to be remembered still; something horrible; something that she would have to think out and tell before she had peace. But this for the moment was enough. It was the cry of her heart, the strong rapture of conviction, which, through all the shame and agony of those awful moments, had been present with her, that she remembered now. 'Tom is looking for us! Tom will find us!' Tom, then, had traced them into the jungle. Tom had sent the shikari to slay the birds. Tom had taken them into his keeping and was transporting them to a place of safety. There had been war between him and the White Ranee and he had conquered.
  • 18. Weary and spent with this strange flight of memory, she sank back and closed her eyes. But she could not rest any longer. An impulse, dead for all these terrible days, but so much a part of herself that even now she could not imagine how it had ever slept, was rising up within her. Once more she opened her eyes, and this time they fell on a mirror which an officious servant had placed near her. She propped it up in front of her, and gazed at herself, and a blush of maidenly shame tinged her pale face. Was she Grace—Grace who had been so proud and dainty? Ah! but she had forgotten Grace. Grace must have lived long ago in some other world. Grace was a memory—a dream—it was this haggard woman, with the ragged robe and tangled hair, who was the reality. But could not Grace come back again? With a swelling heart she looked round her. Some one had thought of this too. Everything she could want, clear water and English soap, and fresh and lovely garments were in the tent. If only she had the strength, she could, in a few minutes, make herself fit to be seen. Slowly and painfully she rose from her couch. How weak she was! Could it be she, her very self, who only yesterday had withstood the wild beasts and birds of the jungle? When she was on her feet she staggered and nearly fell; but she would not give up till she had washed the stains of travel away and put on the robe of pale blue and snowy white, which was lying ready for her. Then, once more, she looked into the mirror. Very white and haggard was the face that gazed upon her, and the eyes—oh! what was it? What was it? She dared not look into them. There was some awful tale; some picture of horror that would not fade, behind their half-dropped lids; something that was not Grace—that never would be. And yet she was happier, more tranquil, than she had been. The fresh water and the fair garments had helped her to dream that she was herself once more. She was ready to meet her deliverer.
  • 19. CHAPTER XLII 'DOES PEACE RETURN?' She saw Kit's face first. He had been sleeping too—close to Bâl Narîn, whose large, kind presence had, from the first, inspired him with confidence, and now he had awoke, and his new friend, who was one of the most versatile of men, being as well able to nurse a child as to snare an elephant or to kill a tiger, had taken pleasure in washing from his face and hands the stains of travel, and combing out his long golden curls, and dressing him in smart new garments. So when Kit stole in softly to see if his dearest Grace was awake, he almost startled her by his beauty. It was the little fine gentleman of Nowgong, before the revolt, the adored of English burra sahib-log and native servants—who had come back. Kit was surprised too. He stopped short just inside the tent and broke into a little laugh. 'Who made you so pretty, dearest Grace?' he said. 'Was it Tom? Billy dressed me.' 'And who is Billy?' asked Grace. 'Oh! don't you know Billy. He's the shikari that killed the birds. He's told me all about it, and how he found us. But I must go and find Tom.' 'No, no—come here first!' said Grace softly. 'Is it quite—quite—true, Kit? Isn't it a dream?' 'You can pinch me if you like,' said the little fellow. 'I don't mind. Do you think I look nice?' 'You look lovely, darling. I never saw anything so strange. Somebody we know has thought of everything, Kit. To think that we should find new dresses in the jungle!' 'It's Tom, I know,' said Kit with conviction. 'He's a big man here, like Dost Ali Khan, only bigger. The fellows call him the rajah. But, I say, you mustn't keep me, dearest Grace. I promised to let him know the very minute you were awake. I looked in twice and you were asleep.'
  • 20. He gave her a hug, and ran out; but looked back to say, with a little nod, 'They're getting dinner ready, such a jolly one! Can't you smell the cooking? Tom knows how to do it, I can tell you.' Yes: Tom certainly knew how to do it; this Grace said to herself with a smile. But there was a tremor at her heart all the same. What was she to say to him? How could she make him understand her passionate gratitude? While she was thinking he stood at the door, for Kit had found him close by. 'May I come in?' he said, raising the chick. 'Oh yes—yes; come in,' said Grace, half rising from her couch. 'I wanted to see you; I wanted to thank you.' 'And that is just what I can't let you do,' said Tom, as quietly as he could for the furious beating of his heart. 'Are you comfortable?' he went on, looking round. 'Have my people done all they can for you? If you will deign to come with me to Gumilcund, we can do much better; but here——' 'Oh,' cried Grace, with a little agitated laugh; 'but it is just this that is the wonder. It is like a miracle. How did you—how could you have done it?' 'It is my best—I think it is my best,' stammered Tom. 'I wish I could have brought some one who knew you better—your mother, or one of your sisters; but the way was so rough. I was afraid of their breaking down. Is there anything else? Am I tiring you? Had you rather not see me until you are stronger? I would—would die to give you comfort or relief.' 'I know you would,' said Grace simply. 'Oh! thank you,' said the poor fellow in a broken voice. 'It is infinitely good of you to say so; and indeed—indeed it is the simple truth. But'—trying to smile—'dying isn't of much use, is it? If you had died, you couldn't have saved Kit, and, if I had died, I should never have found you. You are sure you have everything you want?' he added, looking round with a sort of piteousness in his face. 'I know very
  • 21. little, you know, about what ladies want; but if there is anything— these Indians are wonderful people——' 'No, no; there is nothing,' said Grace. 'Wonderful! They are marvellous; they can almost create. I shall never forget what Hoosanee was to us—' she was speaking rapidly and in little broken sentences—she wanted to put him at his ease; but she felt so strange herself. 'Where is he?' she went on. 'In Gumilcund, I suppose?' 'Ah! poor Hoosanee!' said Tom, smiling freely now. 'He wouldn't be left, Grace. He fell in love with you, like everyone else; wanted to start off at once and find you alone; but of course, I couldn't allow that, so he came with me. I owe it to his love and devotion that I am here now.' 'Then he is in the camp. Poor brave Hoosanee! I should like to see him.' 'But I am sorry to say he is not in the camp. I sent him off to the mountains three days ago, to search for you there. I hope he will join us presently.' 'And have you been looking for me ever since I was taken away?' said Grace. 'I should have looked for you till my hair was grey and my limbs were withered, Grace. I have found you much sooner than I thought.' 'It may not be so long as I think,' she murmured. 'To-day it seems to me that ages—eternities—have gone over my head since the night I was carried away. This morning I was trying to think back and—I could not—' There came a pitiful agonised consciousness into her face that frightened Tom. 'Don't,' he said beseechingly. 'There is no need. Put all those dreadful memories away! Let us go back, both of us, to the dear old days. Do you remember, Grace, our gardens that nearly
  • 22. touched, and the little wicket-gate, and the river? What a plague I must have been to you sometimes!' 'I think you were pretty tiresome,' said Grace, smiling. 'Ah! but the girls were tiresome too. Trixy and Maud—how they used to tease me! And the General was just as bad. I can feel the grip of his hand on my shoulder now—that night he found me, what he would have called philandering in his compound.' 'Father was very downright,' said Grace. 'But he liked you, Tom. I don't think there was anyone he liked better. Dearest father! I am afraid he must have been dreadfully miserable about me. Ah! how often—how often—I have wished for him—his stern look and his strong voice—I believe he could have frightened away any number of them.' 'He fought fifty—single handed,' said Tom. 'Bertie Liston came to Gumilcund and told me about it. They had laid an ambush for him— his own regiment—they nearly had him; but his audacity and resource carried the day. Some came over to his side—— 'He came out of it safely?' cried Grace. 'With only a slight wound, and he is better. When Bertie came to me he was nearly well. I sent word that I hoped to find you. They are all safe at Meerut. Our little Trixy is quite a heroine, at least Bertie thinks so. She got hold of a revolver and fired at one of the wretches who were trying to get in——' 'And mother?' broke in Grace. 'Is she well? Ah! what would I not give just to see her for a moment! Mother's dear, kind face! It is the sweetest face in all the world.' She broke down and covered her face with her hands, and tears, that seemed to heal her pain, came stealing down her pale cheeks. Then Tom stole away, for he felt that she would prefer to be alone. In a few moments he sent in Kit and Bâl Narîn. Billy was radiant in fresh white linen, and Kit had so happy a face that Grace could not help smiling at him.
  • 23. 'Billy won't let anyone wait upon you but himself, dearest Grace,' he said, 'and Tom says dinner is ready, and the sun's gone down, and it's very nice by the camp fire. Will you come out, or shall they bring yours here?' 'I will come out, Kit,' said Grace. And then came the joyful buzz of the camp, and the glowing evening light on the jungle, and the spread table, to which the rajah led her, his servants and camp followers bending down humbly, with their faces to the ground, and again she felt as if she were moving in a dream. Though she was only able to take a very little of what had been provided for her, Grace felt stronger when she had eaten. Leaning on Tom's arm, and with Kit clinging to her hand, she was able to move about the camp. She made the acquaintance of Purtab, who had slain the serpent, and, using Bâl Narîn as an interpreter, he and Abiman congratulated her upon her escape, and expressed their conviction that she was favoured of the gods. So long as she was talking and moving she was at peace. But when she was alone the horror came again. They were not to start until moon-rise. Tom left her in her tent to rest. Kit went to sleep on a cushion by her side. Silence fell upon the camp, and in the darkness and solitude her nameless dread took form. There she lay, with hands cramped together and staring eyeballs, while vision after vision, full of horror, swept by. Was it she, her very self—this Grace who was not of heroic mould, to whom all these things had happened? Was she dreaming hideously, or were they true? Oh! God, were they true? She had suffered, but it was not that alone. She had heard what curdled her blood in her veins, and made her feel that the gentle, innocent gaiety of the past was a sin. Women and little children tortured to death, men blown away from guns, inhuman crimes, inhuman vengeance, hell gaping its mouth to devour, and heaven, the dear heaven, of which, in the days of her childhood, she had dreamed, passing away as visions pass in the lurid light of a world in flames. She shuddered as she lay. This was terrible. She ought to be so thankful. Ah! and she was thankful; but it was to man, not God.
  • 24. Once she opened her lips, and the cry, old as humanity, the 'Our Father,' that will instinctively break from the heart of Earth's children when they realise their weakness and the strength of the forces set in array against them, rose on a wave of anguish from her soul. But in the next instant the cry was withdrawn. Father! There was no Father, only a blind power that hurled the world-atoms, which for once in the measureless ages have shaped themselves into sentient lives, from steep to steep of a dead eternity. Awful, unutterable, sorrow piercing her heart, like barbed arrows, each of which leaves its sting in the wound, looking out pitifully from a myriad of eyes, making life impossible and death the only refuge to be hoped for! In the darkness Kit awoke and heard her laboured breathing. He groped for her hand, and, finding it cold, was frightened and stole out to awake Tom. He came in, lighted the lamps, and knelt down beside her. 'You are with friends,' he whispered, when he had made her drink a few drops of Bâl Narîn's cordial. 'You must have courage for a little while.' 'I will try,' she said plaintively. 'I should like to see them once more.' 'You will see them once more, and many times. When all this tangle is over, we must go back to England.' 'England!' murmured Grace. 'Ah! they are good there. One can believe, but,' shuddering, 'one cannot forget. I suppose we have to go out of life for that.' 'Grace, if you love us, if you love them, do not, for heaven's sake, speak so!' She raised her heavy eyes and looked at him. 'Poor boy!' she said softly. 'I am troubling him. And when he has done so much for me—all that way through the thicket! But the others, ah! Tom, the others!—there was no God to save them.' 'My dearest, in heaven's name, I beseech you, put these thoughts away! There was a God. There is a God. Death opens the way into
  • 25. His kingdom.' 'I used to think so,' said Grace dreamily. 'That was long ago, before I knew, when I thought the world was good.' 'And so it is, Grace; so it is! Give yourself time, dearest, and you will come back to the old thoughts. You will know that the horror which it has pleased God to let you look upon is the exception, not the rule. It is like the tempest which comes and goes, and does its awful work. Peace returns afterwards.' 'Does peace return?' cried the girl, fixing her agonised eyes upon her companion's face; 'and if it does, is it a true peace? This is no dead storm, like a storm of winds and waves. It is a storm of human souls. The passion, the cruelty, the restlessness, the awful, awful, unquenchable thirst, are alive. Oh! I have seen them again and again. It is like the look in the eyes of the wild creatures, misery and pain—misery and pain.' Her voice dropped. Into her face came a look of horror as if some vision long driven back were forcing itself upon her. 'How did it come?' she whispered. 'Where does it go? It must be somewhere, even when there is peace. Is it below us, ready, like the wild beasts, to spring at our throats, or does it go away? When we open our eyes there, shall we see it, misery and pain—misery and pain?' 'Grace, for pity's sake, for my sake,' said Tom hoarsely, 'try to forget. For you the horror is over.' 'For me, but for the others, for the world! Did He make it? Did He give it gentle and good things to triumph over? And what will He do with it by-and-by? Is it to go on for ever and ever and ever?' 'Don't think of it; don't think of it, Grace.' 'I can't help myself,' she sobbed. 'It is—now, at this very moment while we are speaking—the misery, and the cruelty, and the restlessness, and the despair. Hark!' starting up. 'Do you hear?' 'I hear the wild beasts howling, nothing else. Abiman and Purtab are keeping the camp-fires alight. Everything is safe. Oh! my dear! don't
  • 26. look so! you frighten me!' She tried to smile! 'I am so sorry,' she said gently. 'I will try—yes—I will try to put it all away. But I think you must let me go, Tom. You are looking for the Grace you once knew. You will not find her; she has gone. The horror has touched her, and she can never—never— be the same again.' 'Grace, you will break my heart. As you are, love, as you are, with the sorrow in your eyes and the anguish in your soul, you are more, ten thousand times more, to me than even then in all your dainty pride and sweetness. I loved you, God knows I loved you—now—' he threw himself down on his knees by her side, 'now—I adore you.' 'My poor boy! My poor boy!' she murmured, touching his face tenderly, with her long white fingers. 'Grace,' he whispered. 'Do you care for me a little?' 'I care for you more than a little, Tom. I love you. I have loved you from the first day we met.' 'Loved me! Oh! Grace; oh! my darling! is it true?' 'Hush, dear!' she said softly. 'You must keep quiet. If we speak too loud we shall awake Kit. Poor little Kit! He has suffered so much. And this sleep is restoring him.' Her voice was so quiet that it sent a chill to his heart. There was no passion in it, no trouble, not even the agitation, the sweet tremulous consciousness of a woman happy in loving. There surged up in his throat a sob of uncontrollable anguish. 'I can't even think of Kit,' he said. 'I can only think of you—you. Say it again, Grace—it is the dearest, sweetest sound in all the world. Whisper it as low as you like and I shall hear it. If I were on earth and you were in heaven, above the stars, myriads and myriads of miles away, still I should hear it. Are you smiling, darling? I can smile too now. But even you don't know everything. I will tell you some day. Say, I love you.'
  • 27. 'I love you, Tom; I love you.' She was still touching his face and hair, still gazing into his face with a tenderness that almost slew him, it was so strangely quiet. 'I did not mean to tell you,' she went on, 'but the time is so short. To-morrow perhaps I shall be somewhere else.' 'Grace,' he cried passionately. 'Do you wish to kill me?' 'No dear, I wish to live, and I think I shall live a little while longer. I have seen you, I must see mother and father and the girls, and poor little Lucy, and Kit's mother, and the others. I didn't mean that I should die, but I may not be here. Didn't Kit tell you? I wander away sometimes. He used to tell me about it when I came back. "You have been somewhere else, dearest Grace." I can hear his little voice now. That was before Rungya left us. Afterwards, I remembered everything till I fell asleep and you found me.' 'Ah! but it was natural then. You were in such trouble. It is a wonder to me that you lived through it at all. But that is over!' 'Yes,' said Grace, closing her eyes, 'all over! all over!' He watched her, his heart beating painfully. She lay quite still, and, hoping she was asleep, he stole to the door and lifted the chick, for in another hour they would have to start. He looked out, with a dazed feeling in his mind, at the sleeping camp and the fires that were burning brightly. He listened to the monotonous jabber of the watchmen, and saw how the solemn, silvery light, that would presently change the dark jungle world into an enchanted region, was beginning to dawn in the sky. Then he returned to Grace, whom he found with wide-open eyes and smiling lips. 'Is that you, Dad?' she said. 'Yes, dear,' he answered. 'Call the girls,' she cried. 'They said they would start early. The river is so lovely in the morning. Is the boat ready, Dad?' 'Yes, dear. It is moored under the willows. I will come for you directly.'
  • 28. He took up Kit in his arms, and carried him out to Bâl Narîn. Tears were in his eyes, and the beating of his heart nearly choked him. Grace did not know him. She was 'somewhere else.' CHAPTER XLIII A STRANGE JOURNEY Afterwards Tom Gregory looked back upon this journey as one of the strangest experiences of his strange and chequered life. As regards outward events there is little to record. Bâl Narîn knew every step of the way. The soldiers, servants, camp-followers, and coolies, of whom the cavalcade consisted, were so well up in their duties, and so hopeful of large reward from the rajah, that they worked with all the regularity and much more than the intelligence of machines. Even the heavens seemed to smile upon the intrepid travellers, for there could be no doubt that the air was less pestilential than is usual at this season, while there were none of those sweeping storms of rain that, in late summer and early autumn, will sometimes make the roads of the Terai impassable. They travelled quietly, so as not to fatigue Grace and Kit, and it took them three days to work across the jungle from the robbers' path, where Bâl Narîn had found the first traces of the fugitives, to the Maharajah's Road. This, of course, was the most difficult and dangerous part of the journey, but they accomplished it safely. There was no talk of fever now, no grumbling about the denseness of the jungle and the fatigue of the way. Bâl Narîn issued the orders for each day, and they were obeyed with joyful alacrity. It would almost seem as if the gladness that had taken possession of the camp since Grace and Kit were found had given it strength and tone. But for all this, and in spite of the kind and gracious face he showed to his followers, the
  • 29. young rajah carried about with him an aching heart. His hope and dream had not been fulfilled. He had saved his love from the last extremity; but for what had he saved her? Sometimes when he saw the wandering horror in her eyes, when he listened to the broken words of pain, which for his sake she tried to repress, when, with a trouble which almost unmanned him, he realised that so it must be as long as she lived, he would say to himself ruefully, that for her it would have been better if in the trance in which he found her in the hut, her gentle spirit had winged its flight from earth. But these were his worst moments. The best times were when, as Kit expressed it, Grace was 'somewhere else.' Then, but for the curious expression of her eyes, the haunting pain that seemed always to be lying in wait for her, she was so quiet and peaceful, so much the Grace of the dear old days, that he could venture to hope for her restoration to health of body and peace of mind. He would lengthen out these times of mental aberration. When she called to him by some name out of the past, he would answer to it. Patiently he would work himself into the spirit of her dream, so that he might live and act in it. With an ingenuity born of love, he would keep out of her sight, as much as possible, everything that would remind her of the present. Kit was not allowed to come near her while the dream lasted. The servants were kept in the background. Of everything strange that she saw about her, there would be some ingenious explanation. Thus the meal under the shadow of a tree was a picnic; and the jungle was an English wood, and the tent was a cottage in which they had taken shelter from heat or storm, he and she together, and the others—Lady Elton and Mrs. Gregory, and Lady Winter and the fine Sir Reginald, and the girls—these were all behind them and would presently come up. So in the hours of tranquillity, which his love made for her, she gained marvellously in health and strength; but Tom had an uneasy feeling that the spectre of pain and horror which she carried about with her was not destroyed, and that some day it would assert its presence dangerously. The fact was, that Grace lacked the robust individualism which enables the majority of people, and especially of
  • 30. women, to exult over their own exceptional good fortune. She could not feel herself a favourite of heaven; she could not, as she would say pathetically, be grateful. That thought of the others, the ill-doers as well as those who had suffered wrong, haunted her perpetually. She saw them in her dreams. They seemed to be holding out their hands to her. Whenever she was not wandering in the past, her heart was full of a new and incomprehensible anguish. A little diversion, which had a beneficial effect upon her mind, was created by their meeting with Hoosanee. It was in a great sâal- forest, when they were travelling pleasantly along an easy road, under a fine canopy made by overarching trees, that the rajah's faithful servant, who had made up his mind that no such fugitives as those he was seeking could have crossed Sisagarhi, came up with them. He came in late in the evening, when the cavalcade had halted as it did habitually between sunset and moonrise. The blow on the hillside had done for him what his master had hoped from it. The fever that had begun to work in his blood had gone, and his power and energy had returned. The meeting between him and the rajah was rather that of intimate friends than of master and servant. When Hoosanee heard that the object of the expedition had been fulfilled, that the fair and gracious maiden whom they had travelled so far, and on his part so hopelessly, to seek was actually in camp, he cried like a child. 'Master! Master!' he sobbed, the tears rolling down his face. 'Who will dare to tell me now that the gods do not fight on our side? Ah! if some miracle would take us straight to the gates of our own town! How proudly we shall enter! It will be better even than the night when first the Rajah Sahib passed through our streets and the people saluted him as Rama, their prince and hero ——' 'That remains to be proved, Hoosanee,' said Tom, smiling. 'Remember that I have offended the people of Gumilcund grievously. I doubt whether they will accept me as their rajah now. But I am sure that, for the love of those who have gone, they will admit me
  • 31. for a time. And I have been mindful of their interests while I was away. Is it not strange, Hoosanee,' he went on dreamily, 'now I have fulfilled my task the love of my people and my work has come back to me? The voice that was silent so long spoke to me again last night. I am one of you, my friend, as I was before. You are so near to me that you will understand this. But we must not be surprised if the others do not.' 'They will: they will. Chunder Singh knows. Chunder Singh is the friend of his Excellency. There is no fear,' said Hoosanee joyfully. Then he left his master and presented himself at the door of the tent where Grace was resting. Kit was just outside. He saw him and gave a joyful cry of recognition. Grace heard it and started up. 'Who has come? What has happened?' she cried. 'Oh!' said Kit, rushing in, 'it's Tom's bearer. It's Hoosanee. They did not kill him after all. Hooray! Hooray! Three cheers! Grace! Grace! mayn't he come in?' 'Yes! Yes; bring him in,' said Grace joyfully. So Kit set the curtain aside, and Hoosanee, whose dark face was glowing with happiness, came in, and stood with bowed head and hands crossed reverently before the lady of his dreams. As for Grace, she held out both her hands and burst into tears. 'My gracious lady should laugh: she should not weep,' he said, bending low over her hands. 'But it is for joy not for sadness. My brave Hoosanee, I never thought to see you alive again. How splendidly you stood your ground that awful night, and how nobly you pleaded for me! And did you take care of the others? Did you carry them to Gumilcund safely?' 'Missy Sahib,' said Hoosanee, a smile breaking over his face, 'it was not so easy when you had gone. The ladies cried and sometimes they were unreasonable and doubted me, thinking that, as I had given you up, so I would give them up; and the storm beat upon us angrily, and it was with difficulty we dragged ourselves along. But on
  • 32. the second night we entered the gates of our city and one ran to tell our rajah and he met us.' 'And they were safe and well—Lucy and Kit's mother, and the baby and the other Mem Sahib?' 'They were safe. The rajah gave them lodging in his palace. But we did not see them again, for that very night we departed for the fort.' 'The fort? Dost Ali Khan's fort?' said Grace shuddering. 'That was where the wicked Soubahdar took me. But how did you know, Hoosanee?' 'It had been told to one of my lord's servants that we should find Missy Sahib there. Dost Ali Khan thought to buy the favour of my master by giving her up.' 'But I was not there, Hoosanee.' 'Let us give thanks to the Supreme Spirit!' said the Indian, bowing low. Grace gazed at him, speechless with wonder. 'The fort has gone,' he went on solemnly. 'Like a wild beast in its lair Dost Ali Khan was destroyed. The day after Missy Sahib was put out the English came up, and they made a mine secretly and the fort was blown to pieces.' 'With everyone within,' said Grace, whose eyes were distended with horror. 'My master and my master's servants escaped. Some few of the defenders may have left by the secret passage. All the others perished.' 'There was an English woman there,' said Grace. 'The woman who called herself the White Ranee, and to whom Dost Ali Khan the pretended ruler of the country did homage, was within the fort. She was slain,' said Hoosanee quietly. 'Slain!' echoed Grace.
  • 33. 'It is true, Missy Sahib. The rajah himself brought her dead out of the ruins. I saw her in his arms. He made a fire in the room where they had imprisoned him, and her body was consumed. Then he and I went out to meet the English.' While Hoosanee was speaking, Grace had covered her face with her hands. When she looked up she was as pale as death. 'Dead!' she murmured, 'Vivien dead! Is it true? Then God have mercy upon her!' She paused. Hoosanee did not speak, and after a few moments she went on, in a stifled voice, as if she were speaking to herself: 'I had been thinking of her, wondering how it would end. But it is best so— much best! Hoosanee,' suddenly, 'you must tell no one. Remember! It is a secret between you and me and the rajah.' 'I will remember, Missy Sahib.' 'Let them think that she was taken prisoner,' went on Grace. 'It may have been so. Yes: that is the true explanation. I wonder I did not think of it before—and the terror and horror shook her reason. Poor Vivien! I am sorry I had hard thoughts of her. She was much too beautiful to be wicked. It was madness, Hoosanee. If she had not been mad she would never have treated me so. I might have known it at once. And you say she is dead?' 'She is dead, Missy Sahib.' 'It was best. To have come to herself here would have been terrible. But I cannot think of it any more. Thank you for telling me, my good Hoosanee. You have just come in?' 'I rode into camp an hour ago, Missy Sahib.' 'You must want rest. I am selfish to keep you up so long. Good- night! I will see you again to-morrow.' 'May the sleep of my gracious lady be sweet, and may the gods preserve her from evil!' said Hoosanee fervently. He went out, to find the rajah waiting for him with eager questions. Then Bâl Narîn joined them. A runner had come out in search of the
  • 34. rajah. He brought intelligence of a great and notable Ghoorka victory, which had resulted in the complete pacification of the district between the Nepaul frontier and the Kingdom of Oude. Gambier Singh was triumphant. He sent word that the rajah must join him in his camp near Janhpore, and that he would tell off a detachment to escort him to Gumilcund, as a part of the Doab, which he would have to cross on his journey, was said to be still in an unsettled condition. When questioned about the state of the country generally, the runner reported that Delhi was supposed to have been taken by assault a few days since; but that Lucknow was still in the hands of the mutineers. This was joyful news to the rajah. 'If Delhi is taken the worst is over,' he said to his servants. 'And our Gumilcund men will be in it. If we reach our city safely, I will put myself at the head of another little army and join the forces that will be marching to Lucknow. What do you say, Billy? Will you join me?' 'I will go to the ends of the earth with his Excellency,' said Bâl Narîn. 'But let him have a care!' 'Of what, Billy?' 'Of the jealousy of the gods, Excellency.' 'You think I am too prosperous, Billy? Don't alarm yourself. I shall have my knock-down presently.' 'It is useless to speak of such things,' said Hoosanee. 'The Rajah Sahib, as we know, has risked his life in two dangerous enterprises. It is fitting now that he remains with his people in Gumilcund.' 'Time enough to discuss our further movements when we have reached that haven of rest,' said Tom, dismissing them with a wave of his hand.
  • 35. And so, when the moon rose that night, they went on together joyfully. One more halt in the Terai, and a short day's march through the forest brought them to the borders of the dominions of the Maharajah of Nepaul, when they entered upon the vast agricultural plains of Upper India, held then by the British and Ghoorka armies. Concerning this part of the journey, which, under any other circumstances, would have been monotonous, there is very little to record. The rajah's diary, to which he returned about this time, deals more with feelings and states of mind than with events. I gather from it that, as the days went by, his deep interest in the social and political condition of the people amongst whom his lot had been cast revived. He was impatient, for his own sake as well as for that of his friends, to be in Gumilcund again. He took a more wholesome and a larger view of life. Away from the pestilential swamps of the fever- haunted jungle, and under the wide benignant sky, he could forget the wild agony of despair that for so many days had bound him in prison; he could believe that it was not madness, but a sound philosophy, which caused men everywhere to expect and to work for the redemption of humanity. Here and there he speaks of Grace, but only briefly. 'My darling is better,' he writes on one occasion. 'I think Hoosanee is doing her good. He understands how to make her comfortable. I really think she is at home in her tent.' And again, 'There is something on her mind still. If she could tell it, the look of haunting terror, which goes to my very soul, might leave her eyes. But I dare not urge her.' And yet again, 'A woman should be with her; one she has known and loved. Thank God she will find friends at Gumilcund! Perhaps her mother would come if I sent for her. She will not be happy until she has told what is on her mind. Will she then? God help my darling and send her rest and peace!' From Bâl Narîn, who would not go back to his native valley until he had seen his friends at the end of their journey, I learn that the young rajah, who travelled in semi- Oriental dress, but who did not now disguise from anyone that he was of European origin, won hearts wherever he went by his grace and dignity. To this day most of these people believe that there was
  • 36. something supernatural about him. At the villages, when there was difficulty about the supplies of food and firing, he had only to come forward and speak and his orders were obeyed without delay. To himself his power over the native mind, which he could not help seeing and acknowledging, was a mystery. I, who look at this part of his history in the light not only of what went before but of what followed, can find an explanation. In him the indomitable pluck, the perseverance, the rectitude, and stern sense of justice, which have enabled a Western people to conquer and hold dominion in the East, were combined with the softer, more graceful and endearing qualities of the race with which he was allied, although at that time he did not know it, no less by birth than by circumstances. Gracious as well as great, sympathetic as well as strong, feeling at every point the people with whom he came in contact, tolerant in them of the weaknesses, whose germs, covered but not destroyed by his Western training, he found in himself, yet, rising above them by his proud indifference to selfish considerations, his quickness to execute what his brain had devised; and, more than all, by his keen spiritual insight, Thomas Gregory has always seemed to me to be in himself a living parable. So in my fanciful moments I have imagined may society be, when the two great branches of humanity's noblest family, which have been separated so long, will consent not only to meet, but to meet on the same ground; when they will take one from the other as brothers should; when they will sit down together at the rich feast of stored-up experience wrought out painfully on the opposite sides of dividing oceans; when they will realise that one requires the other, and that only from sympathy and mutual concession can spring the union, out of which, as some of us hope, a perfectness such as the world has never known will grow. But this is in the future still; and our present business is with the rajah on his march to Gumilcund. They made a slight detour to visit Gambier Singh in his camp near Janhpore; and I am told that the greeting they received from that magnificent young officer was of the warmest. He was highly elated with his own success, concerning which he had much to say to his friend, while his delight and
  • 37. admiring sympathy over the happy accomplishment of the feat, which when they met before he had judged to be impossible, were inexhaustible. During the few hours they spent together in the young Captain's tent Tom had to give over and over again his account of the various incidents of their journey. Then Bâl Narîn was called in to receive his meed of praise and substantial reward, which he did modestly, asserting that he was but an instrument in the hands of the gods and demons, who were bent upon honouring the Rajah Sahib. Finally, having hinted at his wish to be thus distinguished, Gambier Singh was introduced to Grace, who thanked him in graceful and touching words for the assistance he had rendered to her friends in their search. It happened to be one of her best days. She was conscious of everything that went on around her, and the hope of being in Gumilcund soon, of seeing her friends, and gladdening their hearts with the news of her deliverance, although it could not lift from her face the shadow that rested there continually, gave to her an expression of tremulous anticipation that was curiously pathetic. This, with her delicacy of form, her low voice and gentle manner, and the white purity of her perfect face, made an undying impression on the mind of the chivalrous young soldier. When, accompanied by his friend the rajah, he left the English girl's tent, his dark face was glowing with a new enthusiasm. 'A few days ago, my brother,' he said, grasping Tom's hand, 'I could not understand you. Now it is clear to me. She is a fair and noble woman—one for whom a true man would willingly lay down his life. That I have been able to help you to save her will be a joyful memory to me as long as I live.' Later he said, meditatively, 'Is she a type? Are there many like her in England?' 'There are many as beautiful, and true, and courageous,' answered Tom. 'Although to me, naturally, she stands alone.' 'Then I can understand your greatness,' said Gambier Singh. 'You must visit us and see our women at home,' answered Tom with a smile.
  • 38. CHAPTER XLIV MORE FUGITIVES IN GUMILCUND They could not spend more than a day and a night in Gambier Singh's hospitable camp. Moreover, the gallant little Ghoorka army had work to do. It had been reinforced by English officers and troops, and it was bound on an expedition south to cut off the retreat of a body of rebels who, having escaped the swords and guns of Havelock's Highlanders, were rushing up to hide themselves in the mountains. But Gambier Singh, with the full consent of his fellow officers, both British and Nepaulese, would not let his friends depart unattended. An escort, sufficiently strong to make them respected both by insurgent villagers and fugitive sepoys, was told off to protect them on their further journey, and he added to their travelling stores such comforts as he could command. Both parties, the English rajah, with his Nepaulese escort, and the Ghoorka army, started with light hearts, for there could be no doubt now that the tide of affairs in the peninsula had changed for the better. Delhi was taken by assault; the news was in every mouth. The King of Delhi was a captive; his army was scattered and destroyed; and although, while Oude was in insurrection, and Lucknow was in the hands of the rebels, and a vast army reinforced by the mutinous contingent from Gwalior still held the field, the mutiny could not be said to be crushed, there was good hope now of a successful issue to the efforts which had been made to extinguish it. With the intelligence from Delhi, which was brought by swift runners to the Ghoorka camp, Tom had the satisfaction of receiving a good account of his Gumilcund levies. They were specially mentioned as having distinguished themselves in the assault. What he did not know then, but what he heard later, was that these men of Gumilcund had earned the praise even of the heroic Nicholson. On
  • 39. the day after the assault, when the gallant English soldiers, who had fought like lions and shed their blood like heroes, fell prone to the temptation thrown in their way by their enemies, and lay about, stupid as sheep, in the streets and courts of the city they had so brilliantly won, it was a band of Gumilcund men, who, by their steadfastness and intrepidity, prevented the day of dishonour from being, to many of them, a day of disaster. This the rajah heard at Gumilcund, whither, as there is nothing in his further journey to deserve a special record, we must now return. The English ladies in the palace had settled down, as we shall remember, into a peaceful and well-cared-for, if somewhat monotonous, life. They never went out into the streets of the city. This was by the advice of Chunder Singh and Lutfullah, who feared that the people, looking upon them as, in some sort, responsible for the loss of their rajah, might show signs of hostility if they appeared amongst them. As for those grave personages themselves, they had overcome their first feelings of doubt and suspicion. By the time of which I am speaking the rajah's message from the village in the Doab, where he halted to rescue the English prisoners, and received the intelligence which sent him to Azimgurh and Nepaul, had arrived. It had been immediately obeyed. Before Grace and Kit were found Mrs. Lyster shared the hospitality of the English rajah's palace, and the two young officers, who had so narrowly escaped an ignominious death, were resting and recruiting their strength in the Resident's comfortable house. This message had brought hope back to the city. Their rajah had not completely deserted them. He sent word that he would return, that wherever he went he was mindful chiefly of their interests, that he would die rather than betray them; and they believed him. Over the common people, in fact, to whom the contents of this letter was made known, his influence was rather strengthened than weakened by what had taken place. His mysterious departure, his extraordinary escape out of the hands of Dost Ali Khan the deadly enemy of Gumilcund, with the destruction of the fort, from which the city and
  • 40. State had so often been threatened, confirmed their belief that the gods were in league with their rajah, and that, while he continued to rule over them, peace and prosperity were assured to the State. And in fact this small principality was, at the time of which I am writing, like one of those islands in the Southern Seas which awful coral reefs guard from the onslaught of stormy waves. To her very doors the tempest raged. From east and west, from north and south, the posts, which had again begun to run, brought news of mutinous armies in possession of the country, of burning villages and sacked cities, of robber-tribes pursuing unchecked their career of violence, and of peasants fleeing from their unreaped fields. She remained untouched—a fortress and a refuge. In the palace things were not so dull as they had been. Chunder Singh and Lutfullah paid daily visits to the ladies, to assure themselves that they wanted for nothing. The message from the rajah and the arrival of Mrs. Lyster raised their drooping spirits. Mrs. Durant began to hope that she might one day see her darling Kit again, and Lucy was better able to excuse herself for what she still looked upon as her own cowardly desertion of her cousin and friend. As for Mrs. Lyster, I am afraid it would take more space than I have at my command to do anything like justice to her feelings. When, after her long and toilsome journey, she was carried within the precincts of the palace, and her litter being set down in the cool marble court of the quarter allotted to the European ladies, she found herself surrounded with gentle and sympathetic faces, she was as one in a dream. Long after, as she has told me since, it abode in her mind like a picture in a vision. There were little Lucy, with her pure white skin and golden hair and pathetic eyes, from which the dream of horror had not yet passed away; and the pale- faced mother eager—so eager—for news, yet not venturing to ask a question until the haggard, wild-eyed visitor had been refreshed and comforted; and Aglaia, like a child-angel with love and wonder in her face, and close to her the dusky-faced Sumbaten, pouring out broken words of welcome and offers of assistance; and little Dick,
  • 41. rosy and sweet, at sight of whom the poor fugitive covered her face with her hands and wept. Her baby had been shot—her soft innocent little darling—shot, in the arms of its father, who had torn it from the ayah to protect it with his own body. And then he had fallen too, and when, cold and still as lifeless stone, she leant over them to staunch their life-blood, he whispered to her hoarsely, 'For the sake of our children in England, escape!' She had escaped—oh, God! she had escaped! But was not life far bitterer than death? They knew how it was with her. Everyone of them had gone through her hour of worse than martyrdom, so they waited silently till she looked up again and made a pathetic effort to smile and thank them; and then Aglaia, who, having been the first comer, continued to do the honours of the palace, took her by the hand, and Aglaia's ayah followed, and she was given clear water and fresh garments, and when she was ready she was brought out again to the rajah's summer-house, where an English tea, with tinned meats and wheaten bread, and luscious Eastern fruits, was spread out. It was then, as she has told me, that her perplexity began. She was asked a number of questions which she could not answer. Aglaia stood up before her, and besought earnestly to be told where Daddy Tom was, and why he did not come back, and when, thinking naturally the poor child was asking for one of the dead, she said that she had not seen him, Lucy interposed quickly: 'Oh! she means the rajah; don't you know? He sent you here.' 'The rajah! Daddy Tom!' echoed Mrs. Lyster. 'Of course you know he is an Englishman,' said Lucy. 'It was no Englishman saved us,' said Mrs. Lyster, shaking her head. 'Ask the others!' 'Oh! but it was; it was Tom. I think his second English name is Gregory. It's a funny story. Grace told me part of it,' said Lucy, 'and I heard the rest here. Surely he told you about Grace——'
  • 42. 'And about Kit, my sweet Kit, my little hero!' said Mrs. Durant, weeping. 'Grace! Kit! I don't understand. I think indeed we must be playing at cross-purposes. God knows it would give me the truest happiness to relieve your anxieties: you who have received me so kindly. But what can I tell you but the truth? We were saved by an Indian prince, a young man. He came to see us in the headman's hut, late at night, after he had killed twenty of our captors with his own hand. He told us he was the rajah of this place, and he would send us here with soldiers of his own. But, Tom—Thomas Gregory! what do you mean?' cried Mrs. Lyster, in great agitation. 'I knew an Englishman of that name once.' 'But you don't, you can't, mean to say that you know nothing more!' said Lucy. 'Think, for heaven's sake! Try your hardest to remember.' 'Try to remember? Do you think I could forget? In the depths of our despair, I and those two poor boys, who were dying under my eyes; not knowing what fresh horrors each fresh day might have in store for us; living on and praying to a God who, we still believed, was a God of Mercy, to let us die swiftly, and our pains and troubles end; all at once, in a moment, at dead of night, dragged out to what we thought must be the swift and sudden death we had prayed for; and then to find ourselves safe, our bonds loosened, our enemies gone, kind and gracious friends about us, with words of hope which have been fully—fully redeemed upon their lips! Forget! we should be monsters of ingratitude if we forgot. If I could ever return it, ever show—but that would be impossible,' cried Mrs. Lyster wildly. 'Yes, impossible,' said the ladies together. And Lucy added softly, 'Tom has been our good angel. But it was for Grace's sake. We must not forget that. He sent for us because of her. Do you know, all of you, she might have escaped alone, long before, and we, God only knows where we should have been! He was searching for Grace when he rescued you, Mrs. Lyster; he is searching for her still. Most likely she is dead, and then he will die too!'
  • 43. 'Oh! Lucy! Lucy! Don't talk so wildly!' said Mrs. Durant. 'Look at Aglaia and think of me! You are frightening Mrs. Lyster.' 'I am not frightened,' said the poor lady, 'only bewildered. My Thomas Gregory was such an interesting boy. At least, we thought him so at first. Then some one said he was more than half a native. There was a curious story about him,' she went on gropingly. 'He was going out, they said, to inherit the wealth of an Indian rajah. Dear! how strangely things come round. If'—with a little laugh—'I had only known he was Thomas Gregory——' 'Was he going on with his search?' said Lucy. 'Yes; and now I think of it, I must have given him a clue. His servant questioned me!' 'Hoosanee, our good Hoosanee!' cried Lucy, clapping her hands. 'He struck me as being rather artful,' said Mrs. Lyster. 'So he is, but it is in his master's service,' said Lucy joyously. 'Hoosanee is a man of resource. I am sure they are safe now.' 'God grant it!' said poor Mrs. Durant, breaking into tears and sobs. 'If he were not such a darling—much too good for this world—I might hope too! Oh! Kit, my poor Kit, my pretty Kit, I can see your brave little face now as you went away! How I kept still I don't know. I was paralysed.' 'If Grace had been paralysed, we should none of us have been here to tell the tale,' said Lucy, with a sort of disdain, which was as much for herself as for these others, on her pale face. 'How she found strength to do it I can't imagine,' said little Dick's mother. 'But for baby——' 'Oh!' interposed Lucy, 'we all had our own reasons, of course. As a fact, I believe we couldn't have done any differently!' 'It is all very mysterious,' said Dick's mother; 'but I don't see why you should be so sardonic about it, Lucy. We ought to be thankful
  • 44. that our lives are spared. I am sure I am, both for myself and dear little baby.' 'Don't! Don't!' cried Lucy passionately. 'You hurt me! Thankful! How can I be thankful? Till Grace and Kit are here beside me, I shall not be thankful. I know I am wicked; but I can't help myself. It's in me.' And then she turned away, and gripped Aglaia by the arm. 'Come!' she said, 'you won't reason with me or try to make me good. Let us find Sumbaten, and see what she is doing for Mrs. Lyster!' They looked after her, as with a defiant step she went away along the avenue, and Mrs. Durant sighed deeply, while Dick's mother shook her head, and said that Lucy's temper did not improve. It was a pity they could not see her more subdued and humbled. As for Mrs. Lyster, she sat very silent. She was gazing out into the soft rose lilac of the narrowing heavens, and thinking of the young fellow who had been her companion on that delightful voyage, that seemed now so long ago—the young fellow whom she had liked and admired until a certain strange day, when he mystified her and others by putting on an Oriental robe, and assuming, with such marvellous perfection, the speech and manners of an Oriental grandee. CHAPTER XLV NEWS OF MEERUT—GENERAL ELTON FINDS A NEW SPHERE The message from the rajah and Mrs. Lyster's arrival did, as I have said, revive the drooping spirits of the ladies in Gumilcund; but many weary days and nights were destined to go by before they could receive certain news of their friends. In the meantime the posts, which ran now with tolerable regularity, brought them a variety of intelligence—some of it depressing; but, for the most part, tending to hope. That, though the North-West had failed in preparedness for the crisis, the gallant rulers of the Punjaub had not only held their
  • 45. own, but were pouring down reinforcements to the army before Delhi, while from Bombay, Calcutta and Allahabad men and munitions of war were being marched up country, Chunder Singh told them with exultation. Delhi, he was sure, would not long hold out, and then, as he too sanguinely believed, the insurrection would be at an end. They received private intelligence too. Strange and pathetic, as some of us will remember very well, were the letters exchanged between friends and relatives in those strange days. You would mourn a dear friend as dead, and then, all of a sudden, one wonderful morning you would see a letter in his well-known handwriting; and when, with beating heart, feeling as if a missive had come to you from the grave, you would tear it open, you would find that your friend had given up you as lost, and was writing to you joyfully as one brought back from the jaws of death. These were the bright spots—the red- letter days—in that time of anguish. Of those other letters which brought no joy, only a fearful confirmation of our worst fears—the letters which told us of the tender hunted to death—of the fair and fragile giving way under the awful strain of horror, and sleeping, as we fondly believed, in the bosom of their God—of the beautiful, the strong, the noble cut off in the flower of their youth and the plenitude of their service—yes, of these, too, we carry about with us memories, and the bitterness of those memories will never fade until we meet our beloved on the further shore. Of news such as these there is happily no question here. Mrs. Durant heard of her husband. He had escaped from Nowgong by the skin of his teeth, having been surrounded and actually imprisoned for a season by a body of his own men who, though pledged to the mutineers, were unwilling to injure him personally. Mrs. Lyster knew of her own the very worst. Little Dick's father had been summoned to Allahabad shortly before the outbreak at Nowgong, and joyful news it was to him that his wife and son were safe at loyal Gumilcund. Lucy was encouraged by letters from Meerut, and she sent back such encouragement as she could. Tom—they would know who Tom was—had left everything and run the risk of rebellion in his wonderful little State, which Lucy
  • 46. remarked parenthetically was like the Garden of Eden before the Fall, just to search for Grace and Kit. He had not come back; but he had been heard of, and it was the belief of everyone that he would succeed, so she begged her uncle, and aunt, and cousins to keep up their spirits and to hope for the best. They smiled when they read the fly-away letter. It was like herself; but it was not very satisfactory to them. And indeed the family were in miserable case just then. General Elton, who had barely recovered from the effects of his wound, was about again; and it may be that the bolder counsels which began from this time to prevail in Meerut were due in large measure to his advice and assistance. But he himself was, if that were possible, a greater anxiety to his friends than when he had been lying at the point of death, for then they at least knew the worst. Now his restlessness and irritability were such that they could never for a single instant be sure of him. Accustomed as he had been to take a large share in the conduct of affairs, his personal inactivity galled him. He had no civil authority, and the collapse of the magnificent army with which for so many years it had been his pride to be connected, had deprived him, at a stroke, of his military occupation. Meanwhile the state of anarchy, into which the province was falling, cut him to the soul, the more so that he felt convinced something might be done to check it. With the Asiatic nothing goes so far as audacity, a quality which he cannot understand, and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, does not believe in. Where he sees unflinching boldness, he suspects hidden strength, and as often as not he will throw down his arms rather than have them forced from him. So the General was never tired of preaching, but for some time no one would listen to him. Then there came a change. From the hills, where, when the storm broke, he had been enjoying his well-earned holiday, the gallant collector, Dunlop, came down. He was armed with the authority of a magistrate over the districts surrounding Meerut, and, to the surprise of everyone, he asserted his determination of exercising it without delay. He would march out alone if no one cared to join him,
  • 47. and it was his belief that the terror of the English name, reinforced by the outcries of the unfortunate people, whose lands had been ravaged by a brutal soldiery, would carry him along. Dunlop was one of those Englishmen who believed in audacity. But if a few volunteers amongst those whom the breaking up of the old order had deprived of occupation would put themselves under his orders, there could be no doubt that the pacification of the country would be more easily and swiftly accomplished. We may imagine, but it would be very difficult to describe, the effect of this announcement on the fiery soul of the old General. As a war- horse that scents the battle-field afar off; as a Moslem soldier, who sees the pearly gates of his Paradise slowly opening like a flower across the clouds and thunder of tumultuous war, so he felt when, to the deep dismay of his family, he went up to Dunlop and offered him his sword. Numbers followed his example, but of the brilliant and successful campaign in which they took part there is no need to write here. It has its place in history. Twice the seasoned old soldier rode out with the gallant little corps, called the Khakee Ressalah, on account of its dust-coloured uniform, and twice he returned to his trembling wife and children, safe, but triumphant. As for Trixy, though no less anxious than her sisters, she did not once bid her father stay. I rather think she would have liked to march with them. 'One of us ought to have been a boy,' she said to her mother one day. 'Women have far the worst of it—sitting at home and watching and weeping—it is very hard work and rather humiliating.' 'Hush! Trixy; you don't know what you are saying,' said Lady Elton. And then the wild look that they all dreaded to see came over her face, and she cried out piteously, 'Yes, child, you are right. I have too many daughters, and the world is cruel to women. If a man dies, he dies fighting. If a woman dies——' 'Darling, you must not,' broke in Trixy vehemently. 'I am a little idiot. Forgive me! And do you know—listen, dearest, and don't look so—do
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