"
"I have received orders from Nana Sahib to send all prisoners down
to him," Por Sing said, in a hesitating voice.
"You will never send down prisoners from here," Bathurst replied
firmly. "You may attack us again, and after the loss of the lives
of scores more of your followers you may be successful, but you
will take no prisoners, for at the last moment we will blow the
house and all in it into the air. Besides, who made Nana Sahib your
master? He is not the lord of Oude; and though doubtless he dreams
of sovereignty, it is a rope, not a throne, that awaits him. Why
should you nobles of Oude obey the orders of this peasant boy, though
he was adopted by the Peishwa? The Peishwa himself was never your
lord, and why should you obey this traitor, this butcher, this
disgrace to India, when he orders you to hand over to him the
prisoners your sword has made?"
"That is true," Por Sing said gloomily; "but the Sepoys will not
agree to the terms."
"The Sepoys are not your masters," Bathurst said; "we do not surrender
to them, but to you. We place no confidence in their word, but we
have every faith in the honor of the nobles of Oude. If you and
your friends grant us the terms we ask, the Sepoys may clamor, but
they will not venture to do more. Neither they nor Nana Sahib dare
at this moment affront the people of Oude.
"There are Sepoys round Lucknow, but it is the men of Oude who
are really pressing the siege. If you are firm, they will not dare
to break with you on such a question as the lives of a score of
Europeans.
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