Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-09-06

1Ou arc OUT early, ne SAID. Pretty
faces should not be too closely yelled"
Would you have me break tho com
mand Of The gracious Mohammed by I'M
yelling in publicY' asked Margot. Though
the Fcringhccs oppress us, are we not to
be true TO Allah and the Koran?"
The scpoy, believing that no was speak
ing to Mohammcdan woman, said no
more on the subject, but turned to Maj
ferty:
"You are too late to enter Lucknow.
The gates were closed at midnight, for tho
Fcrringhees fear a strong force of ours is
on its way to root them out. That is so.
but we need no gate by which to enter.
There is better way"
Matfcrty, eager to learn the enemy'a
plans, asked with apparent indiffcronce:
"What other way have we to get into
the town save by the gate?''
"Come and will show you" answered
the sepoy, and he led them to where stood
the remains of house that had been
shelled by the garrison, occupying what
was known as the "postoflice.
Following close behind the sepoy, Mar
got and the disguised trooper found them
selves passing down aflight of rough stone
stairs and then into q tunnel, from which
the earth had been eXCavated. In various
places the ceiling was propped up with
beams, while along the whole of the pas
sage was laid thick train of powder.
With every sense strained to the utmost,
the two followed the sepoy, who carried a
lantern, until considerable distance had
been travcrscd, when they reached finally
cellar some 30 feet square. A ladder
slanted to its center and led to trapdoOr
which opened into the room above, where
the sound of voices could be distinctly
heard. The whole cellar was piled high
with barrels of powder, except the place
near the ladder. A single barrel of powder
stood there, and against it the sepoy neg
ligcily leaned.
Mafferty, to his great astonishment and
alarm, realized that the cellar was one
that he had seen before. for it ran beneath
the outpost from which the day before he
had started on his search for the missing
Margot
owe have every outpost of the Ferring-
hecs undermined" said tho scpoy, with il
laugh of satisfaction. "Thcy blow us from
guns, but we will blow them from their
own hOuSeSl'
Mafferty communicated his discovery to
Margot, VINO, in spite o. herself, uttered n
6tltlcd cry. The sepOy, with all his former
suspicion returned, without giving sign
beforehand of what he intended to do sud
denly caught hold of Margot's veil and
tore it from her face.
The trick was discovered, for Margot's
face had not been stained in any way, and
there before tho scpOy stood, as he plainly
saw, II "mom sahib!"
In a moment he drew the knife which
was in his belt and flung himself upon
Mafferty, who was taken by surprise and
thrown down on his back, with the scpoy's
knee planted on his chest. Mafferty man
aged tn get from beneath his assailant, and
in spite of bad wound he had received he
struggled might and main with the sepoy.
The trooper had even got above his foe,
when down from its position, disturbed by
the scutllc no doubt, came a heavy barrel.
1t struck Maffcrtys head, and releasing
his grasp of the sepoy the trooper lay
there unconscious.
The sepoy, getting from beneath his
still adversary, made toward MargOt, who
had meanwhile broken the lamp and was
holding the short candle end in her hand.
Ddth, DttlN. Sit CTltN. IOuCu Illt
but with finger and 1 will fling the can
die into the powder"
The scpoy saw that the candle was
within IL few inches of the barrel which
stood by the ladder, and, having no wish
to be destroyed at the hand of n woman,
he stood irrcsolutc. Margot saw her adj
vantage and acted upon it,
$50 up the ladder and open the trap
door!' she commanded, pointing to it
with her disengagcd hand. The scpoy re-
fused Margot held the candle right over
the powder.
eco and at once, orr
"Fatc is against me-" answered the Sc
poy. Sullcnly he went up the ladder and
flung the trapdoor open, to be Immediate
ly seized by one of the little garrison.
Down the ladder swarmcd several troop
ers, Lieutenant Walton leading the way.
To every ones surprise they found only
a white woman there, while upon the stone
flags lay Mafferty disguised as Hindoo.
Margot's strange tale was told and the
little garrison learned that Il woman's
courage had saved them. Margot was in
deed the luck of the garrison.
The entrance to the mine was promptly
destroyed, and the handful Of men con-
tinued to hold the outpost till the day
when all the British were withdrawn into
the rcsidcncy, to wait for the relief that
Havclock brought.
Giraud, honest fellow, before he was
shot as n traitor confessed that he had
planned the carrying off Of Margot and
the undermining of the outpost.
Long after, when the siege of Lucknow
was n thing of the past, MargOt and Lieu
tenant Walton were married, while Maj
ferty, in the barrack room, was given to
relating how the lieutenant insisted on his
being best man at the wedding and how
well everything went on that memorable
occasion. Charles j. Manford in Windsor
Magazine.