Middletown transcript., 1891-06-04
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/ the garrison Of Sunda Gunge was
shaken suddenly by strange excite
ment. First, there became audible q
noise Of wild confusion in the encamp-
ment Of the Sepoys round the walls.
It grew-it gathered volume; it
swelled into tumult. Guns fired,
voices yelled sound was heard as
Of the stampede of innumerable feet.
Then, drowning every other sound ).
arose the loud hurrahing Of English
voices land this taken up by those
inside the garrison, became in few
minutes perfect tempest Of wild
cheering, ringing far and near.
Suddenly, Unexpectedly. relief had
come, The rebels were flying in all
directions: their camp was in the
hands of the English soldiers. The
siege'of Sunda Gunge was over.
/ Il Il is is act eur purpnse to dwell upon
the scene that followed. From that
tumult of wild Joy, of almost fierce
excitement, we turn away, and follow
St. George Vane.
As soon as the fact of the relief was
certain, he stepped out Of the crowd,
and made his way, alone and unper-
ceived, along the deserted passages,
to a certain room, which lay in the
rear of the walled buildings. II was
the very room from which the night
before slender, gray-draped figure
had stolen softly out.
just as be reached the door, and
was hesitating at the threshold, Mrs.
Jessop, who had been called out by
the noise of the cheering, was seen re-
turning in state of much excitement.
Vane accosted her eagerly, but in low
tones. F" Is she better 7 Can | see
her yet 2" he said.
"She is much better; she is dress-
ed and sitting up. But the noise
alarmed her. She does not know the
cause oft. Will you come, in and
tell her p
Vane followed her into the room.
In q large chair, next the window,
looking very white and weak, with a
bandage round her temples, where the
shot had grazed and stunned her, sat
Mary Sulland. As Vane entered she
looked around. He paused, and for
some seconds the two regarded each
other.
He had not seen her since, the
night before, ne had carried her
swooning to her room. He had
heard, with infinite relief, that the
wound was not serious and inquiring
| hourly at her door throughout the
night he had learned that the swoon
was passing of, and that with some
hours of rest there would be little to
be feared. Yet now, a. be stood be-
fore her, even the great event which
had just happened was less present to
bis mind than anxiety to satisfy him.
self, with his own eyes, that she was
safe. The shock which he had felt at
the moment when he had raised her
in his arms. and caught sight of her
white face in the moonlight, was with
him still. He had felt at that instant
a certainty that she was killed.
And, indeed, she had had a won
derful escape.
Every sportsman who has tried his
gun at sheet of blank paper knows
that it will sometimes happen that,
while the paper will. be spotted thick
with pellets, there will sometimes be
a space left free of shot, large enough,
perhaps, to have let the game escape,
however true the aim. It had so
happened here. Amid the storm of
shot only one had grazed her; the
rest had whistled past her without
harm. But where her slender figure
had so narrowly escaped. a man,
being of larger bulk, would inevitably
have been struck down. Mary Sui
land had, in fact, been slightly wound
ed where Vane would have been kill-
ed.
During the hours of night, while
he had wandered up and down out
side her door, too restless to seek for
sleep, he had thought of all these
things. He had thought Of. the girl
who had risked her life for his; he
had let his memory go back into the
past and call to mind all that he had
owed to Mary Sulland through the
years that he had known her how all
his noblest aspirations, dreams. ambi-
tions. had come from her, or had been
fostered and strengthened by her sym.
pathy and he had wondered how it
was that he himself had never realiz
ed, till now, what she had been to
him. And now, as he stood beside
her, as he looked at her again, he
wondered more and more.
The look of inquiry on her face re-
called him to himself.
"I am forgetting" he said. 81
am glad to be the first to bring you
the good news. see you guess it.
Yes, relief has come. The siege is
over"
She looked at him with eagerness.
One thought filled her mind-it fore
ed passage 70 her lips.
Then you will not have to go
again for water ?"
As the words escaped her she flush
ed red. Her action of the night be.
fore had hardly been her own-so
overmastering had been the impulse
which had hurried her aways And
now, like a woman, she was troubled
by doubt-what would he think of
herr Had she, in thrusting herself
between him and danger, forfeited his
esteem How could she expect that he
would understand?
He did understand, howeyer-at
least partly. He saw that she was
troubled, and he took the best course
possible to set her at her ease. He
meant to regard what she had done as
matter which, between themselves,
required no explanation. As for
others, they knew nothing. Except
that she had been slightly hurt by a