"Well, Doctor, the end is pretty near," he said; "it is clear we
cannot hold out many hours longer. We must look the matter in the
face now. We have agreed all along that when we could no longer
resist we would offer to surrender on the terms that our lives
should be spared, and that we should be given safe conduct down
the country, and that if those terms were refused we were to resist
to the end, and then blow up the house and all in it. I think the
time has come for raising the white flag."
"I think so," the Doctor said: "we have done everything men could
do. I have little hope that they will grant us terms of surrender;
for from the native servants who have deserted us they must have
a fair idea of our condition. What do you think, Bathurst?"
"I think it probable there are divisions among them," he replied;
"the Talookdars may have risen against us, but I do not think they
can have the same deadly enmity the Sepoys have shown. They must
be heartily sick of this prolonged siege, and they have lost large
numbers of their men. I should say they would be willing enough
to give terms, but probably they are overruled by the Sepoys, and
perhaps by orders from Nana Sahib. I know several of them personally,
and I think I could influence Por Sing, who is certainly the most
powerful of the Zemindars of this neighborhood, and is probably
looked upon as their natural leader; if you approve of it, Major,
I will go out in disguise, and endeavor to obtain an interview with
him.
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