Thursday, April 9, 2020

So, fearing that it would be dangerous to stay longer, the Wagentreibers left

From The Great Mutiny by Christopher Hibbert. Page 109. Amazing escapes in the midst of chaos.
The Wagentreibers were also by now on their way to Kurnaul. They had not waited for the Brigadier to order a general withdrawal from the Flagstaff Tower. As soon as the cart carrying the bodies of the officers killed at the Main Guard was driven up to the tower, Elizabeth Wagentreiber told her husband it was time to be off. Five miles out of Delhi on the Kurnaul road, concealed in a grove of tall, thick mango trees, was the house of the Nawab Zea-ood-deen Khan, a rich and influential landowner for whom George Wagentreiber had performed some service in the past. Here they stopped to ask for shelter. The Nawab was away; but his servants admitted them, promising to do what they could to help. The coachman was sent back towards Delhi with Wagentreiber's signet ring as a token of his good faith, to try to fetch money and food; and, while waiting for his return, Wagentreiber took his daughter and stepdaughter on to the roof of the house, leaving his dark-skinned wife in the large, untidy garden to deal with any sepoys who might come looking for them. Near the well in the garden was the chowkidar's hut; and by this Elizabeth Wagentreiber sat down to wait, pulling the back of her skirt over her head so that it looked like a chudder, telling the frightened chowkidar to light a fire and to bring out his cooking pots. The chowkidar kept muttering in agitated protest that for sheltering the Firinghis all the servants could be killed. But she silenced him by telling him that he would be well rewarded if all went well, and that if the sepoys came he was merely to say that there were no Firinghis in the house which they could search if they wished. 'The Sahib has loaded guns,' she added, 'and is watching from the roof. If you betray us he will shoot you first. I have only to raise my hand as a signal for him to fire and I will do so without hesitation if you do not obey me, so beware.'

Twice a group of sepoys came into the compound to ask the chowkidar if he had seen any of the Firinghis from Delhi. The chowkidar said he had seen some during the afternoon, but that they had all gone now. And, seeing him busily cooking and all the windows and doors of the house open, the sepoys turned away satisfied. But then the Nawab's gardener appeared. He had been to Delhi, he said, to get orders from his master. These orders were that no Europeans were to be sheltered in his house. So, fearing that it would be dangerous to stay longer, the Wagentreibers left, Elizabeth driving the carriage, George sitting on the box, his stepdaughter holding the baby and ready to hand up the loaded pistols should they be needed. The carriage rattled out of the gates in the bright moonlight and was soon 'tearing madly up the road to Kurnaul'.

It was to be a fearful journey. Chased for a time by a crowd of men with clubs and sticks, the Wagentreibers were then attacked by a gang of dacoits wielding spears and lathies and uttering 'weird and wild' screams like jackals. Wagentreiber shot two of these dacoits as the terrified horses dragged the carriage careering down the road and his wife struggled to prevent it from toppling over into the ditch. Farther down the road they were attacked by another gang of dacoits who rushed upon them with clubs and swords. One of them managed to jump on to the carriage and to cut Wagentreiber about the head before being shot dead; another brought his club down with tremendous force on Elizabeth's arm, but she held on to the reins, uttering not a sound. They then came up with the party of sepoys of the
Rebels and Fugitives • 109
110
38th Native Infantry which the Tytlers had already met. The sepoys called on them to stop. But not trusting them they rattled past until they saw ahead of them a band of Goojurs drawn up across the road; and, doubtful that they could force their way through, they decided to turn back and to throw themselves upon the mercy of the sepoys.

The havildar in command of the sepoys seemed friendly. He asked them what they were doing, pretending to be in ignorance of what had happened at Delhi and eventually promising to protect them from the Goojurs who had now caught up with them. The Goojurs seemed willing to leave the Wagentreibers alone; but at that moment the dacoits also appeared and their leader, taking the havildar aside, whispered something which 'turned the tide completely'. The sepoys were immediately called off by the havildar and told not to interfere.

Mrs Wagentreiber pleaded with them, begging them to remember that, as the daughter of the celebrated Colonel James Skinner whose memory was revered in native regiments - she was entitled to the protection of all true soldiers, or at least to an honourable death at their hands and not at those of 'such cowardly ruffians' as the dacoits, in whose direction she pointed disdainfully with her whip. At the mention of Skinner's name, the havildar's attitude changed again. He said that it was his regiment who had had the privilege of escorting the great man's remains to Delhi: he could not offer his daughter the protection of his men as an escort, but he would see that she got away safely from the dacoits.

So once more the carriage drove off, and the Wagentreibers were able to make their way to a chowki where a wizened old Brahmin promised them shelter and rest. As he led them through the village, two young men came up to ask him where he was taking them. The old man laughed and, pointing ahead, said that he was going to give them comfortable charpoys to lie on and that he hoped their sleep would be 'sound and long'. Understanding the words and their implication, Mrs Wagentreiber quickly turned the family back.

Returning to the chowki they found another old man who salaamed reverentially, taking off his turban and laying it at Mrs Wagentreiber's feet as a tribute due to one of the daughters of the great 'Sekunder Sahib'. He was, he said, the headman of one of'Sekunder's' villages: he would go with them on their way; no one would harm them while he was with them; but the people were very angry with her husband for having shot and killed one of their pursuers, so the Sahib must get inside the carriage with the girl and the baby while he himself would ride next to the Memsahib on the box. Soon after setting off they caught up with Brigadier Graves and a party of other Europeans who had escaped from Delhi, and with them they reached Kurnaul.

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