Part 6 (1/2)
”Hira Singh,” said he, ”each man's heart is his own Let each man keep his own When the ti shaed reat gate sla close on either side talked with hi, as plainly as if I heard the words, what he had said, and e had said, and what the outcome was to be I could see his lips uessed what he told them I never did knohat he told them But I have lived to see the fruit of what he did, and of what he made us do; and from that minute I have never faltered for a second in h
Be attentive, sahib, and learn what a h bahadur
CHAPTER III
Shall he who knows not false froine, sahib, in the huts that night there was noise as of bees about to swarhosts from hut to hut-not too openly, nor without sufficient evidence of stealth to keep the guards in good conceit of themselves, but freely for all that What the men of one hut said the men of the next hut kneithin five minutes, and so on, back and forth
I was careful to say nothing When men questioned me, ”Nay,” said I ”I aainst your wills?” They murmured at that, but silence is easier to keep than so? In the first place, sahib, because my mind was made at last With all my heart noith the oath of a Sikh and the truth of a Sikh I was Ranjoor Singh's man I believed him true, and I was ready to stand or fall by that belief, in the dark, in the teeth of death, against all odds, anywhere Therefore there was nothing I could say isdohts, they would lose all confidence in me, and then I should be of little use to the one h most needed was a silent servant ould watch and obey the first hint Just as I had watched him in battle and had herded the men for him to lead, so would I do now There should be deeds, not words, for the foundation of a new beginning
In the second place, sahib, I knew full well that if Gooja Singh or any of the others could have persuaded me to advance an opinion it would have been pounced on, and changed out of all recognition, yet named my opinion nevertheless This altered opinion they would presently adopt, yet calling it mine, and when the outcome of it should fail at last to please them they would blaood reasons, and the words I spoke that night could have been counted without aid of pen and paper
The long and short of it was thatfound theh, who otherwise took both sides as to everything-that above all and before all ere all true men, loyal to our friends, the British, and foes of every living Ger as the war should last The Ger in the war on their side, and we had thought deeply on the subject of their choice of friends Like and like ht for the British in '57, and my father died at Kandahar under Bobs bahadur On that main issue ere all one, and all asha death But dawn found alh, or in fact on any other point
Not long after dawn, cauan to let us feel the iron underlying their persuasion Once, toa question, I had told them of our labor in the bunkers on the shi+p that carried us from India I had boasted of the coal we piled on the fire-rooive information to the enemy-always, sahib-always! There is no exception
Said they to us now: ”We Gery to prosecution of this war Nearly all our able-bodied iments Every man must do his part, for we are a nation in arht for us ht”
”Work without pay?” said I
”Aye,” said they, ”ithout pay There is coal, for instance We understand that you Sikhs have proved yourselves adept at ith coal He who can labor in the bunkers of a shi+p can handle pick and shovel in the mines, and most of our miners have been called up Yet we need more coal than ever”
So, sahib So they turned ainst me And the men aroundlabor on the shi+p, now eyed h at the time they had enjoyed the boast and had added details of their own The Gerestion a in my own defense
”Who could have foreseen how they would use ainst us?” I demanded But they answered that any fool could have foreseen it, and that ood advice I kept that saying in ainst THEM when the day ca smiles that were meant to seem courteous, and with an air of confidence that was meant to appear considerate Doubtless a cat at enerous and unobtrusive They went to great trouble to prove themselves our wise counselors and disinterested friends
”We have explained to you,” said they, ”what hypocrites the British are,-what dust they have thrown in your eyes for rown rich at your expense, deliberately keeping India in ignorance and subjection, in poverty and vice, and divided against itself We have told you what German aims are on the other hand, and how successful our armies are on every front as the result of the consistence of those aims We have proved to you how half the world already takes our side-how the Turks fight for us, how Persia begins to join the Turks, how Afghanistan already moves, and how India is in rebellion Noouldn't you like to join our side-to throw the weight of Sikh honor and Sikh bravery into the scale with us? That would be better fun than working in the mines,” said they
”Are we offered that alternative?” I asked, but they did not answer that question They went away again and left us to our thoughts
And we talked all the rest of that day andat no decision When they asked h told us this would be, and he gave us orders what to do” When they asked ht they to obey hiainst your wills?” And when they asked me would I abide by their decision, ”Can the foot walk one way,” I answered, ”while the body walks another? Are we not one?” said I
”Then,” said they, ”you bid us consider this proposal to take part against our friends?”
”Nay,” said I, ”I aainst the British”
They thought on that for a while, and then surroundedspokesman for them all ”Then you counsel us,” said he, ”to choose the hard labor in the coal ”
”But what other course is there?” said he