Fred tore it open. It was written by
Chunerbutty and couched in the most offensive terms. If within half an hour
Miss Daleham came willingly to the Rajah, her brother's life would be
spared and he would be given a safe conduct to Calcutta. But everyone else
in the bungalow would be put to death, including the white man reported to
have entered it during the night. If the girl did not surrender, her
brother would be killed with the rest and she herself taken by force.
Dermot acquainted the Mohammedan servants with the contents, to show them
that there was no hope for them, so that they would fight to the death. The
little boy was told that there was no answer, and Daleham gave him a few
copper coins; but the scared child dropped them as though they were red hot
and scampered back to the village as fast as his little legs would carry
him.
CHAPTER XX
THE GOD OF THE ELEPHANTS
At the end of the half hour a tempest of noise arose from the village;
tom-toms were beaten, conch-shells blown and vigorous cheering was
heard. Then from the huts long lines of coolies carrying weapons of
every sort, rifles, old muskets, spears, and swords streamed out and
encircled the bungalow at a distance. A little later the Rajah's twenty
horsemen rode out of the village on their raw-boned stallions, followed
by a hundred infantry soldiers who, Dermot observed, were now armed with
rifles in place of their former muskets.
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