I have brought him to you rather than to the
commander of the Sepoys, because your authority should be the greater;
it is you and the other Oude chiefs who have borne the weight of
this siege, and it is only right that it is you who should decide
the conditions of surrender. The Sepoys are not our masters, and
it is well they are not so; the Nana and the Oude chiefs have not
taken up arms to free themselves from the English Raj to be ruled
over by the men who have been the servants of the English."
"That is so," the Zemindar said, stroking his beard; "well, I will
talk with this person."
Rujub left the tent. "You do not know me, Por Sing?" Bathurst said,
stepping forward from the entrance where he had hitherto stood; "I
am the Sahib Bathurst."
"Is it so?" the Zemindar said, laying aside his pipe and rising to
his feet; "none could come to me whom I would rather see. You have
always proved yourself a just officer, and I have no complaint
against you. We have often broken bread together, and it has grieved
me to know that you were in yonder house. Do you come to me on your
own account, or from the sahib who commands?"
"I come on my own account," Bathurst said; "when I come as a messenger
from him, I must come openly. I. know you to be an honorable man,
and that I could say what I have to say to you and depart in safety.
I regard you as one who has been misled, and regret for your sake
that you should have been induced to take part with these mutineers
against us.
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