Through the tunnel, into the street, into the care of Ahmed and Lal
Singh, then hurriedly to the house of Ramabai. The fact that they had
to proceed to Ramabai's was a severe blow to Bruce and the colonel.
They had expected all to be mounted the instant they came from the
tunnel, a swift unobstructed flight to the gate and freedom. But Ahmed
could not find his elephants. Too late he learned that the mahouts he
had secretly engaged had misunderstood his instructions and had
stationed themselves near the main entrance to the arena!
The cursing and railing against fate is a futile thing, never bearing
fruit: so Ramabai suggested his house till transportation could be
secured. They perfectly understood that they could not remain in the
house more than a few hours; for Umballa would surely send his men
everywhere, and quite possibly first of all to Ramabai's.
Still, Ramabai did not appear very much alarmed. There were secret
stairways in his house that not even Pundita knew; and at a pinch he
had a plan by which he could turn away investigation. Only in the
direst need, though, did he intend to execute this plan. He wanted his
friends out of Allaha without the shedding of any blood.
"Well," said Ahmed, angrily casting aside his disguise; "well, Ramabai,
this is the crisis. Will you strike?"
Lal Singh's wrinkled face lighted up with eagerness.
"We are ready, Ramabai," he said.
"We?" Ramabai paused in his pacing to gaze keenly into the eyes of
this old conspirator.
"Yes, we. For I, Lal Singh, propose to take my stand at your right
hand. I have not been idle. Everywhere your friends are evincing
impatience. Ah, I know. You wish for a bloodless rebellion; but that
can not be, not among our people. You have said that in their zeal
your followers, if they knew, would sweep the poor old king out of your
path. Listen. Shall we put him back on the throne, to perform some
other mad thing like this gift of his throne to the Colonel Sahib?"
Ramabai, watched intently by the two conspirators for the British Raj
and his white friends, paced back and forth, his hands behind his back,
his head bent. He was a Christian; he was not only a Christian, he was
a Hindu, and the shedding of blood was doubly abhorrent to his mind.
"I am being pulled by two horses," he said.
"Act quickly," advised Ahmed; "one way or the other. Umballa will
throw his men round the whole city and there will not be a space large
enough for a rat to crawl through. And he will fight like a rat this
time; mark me."
Ramabai paused suddenly in front of his wife and smiled down at her.