the conspirators to justice.  Setting to work with his accustomed readiness, and aided by one of his ressaldars,[2] Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk, of whose prowess on many a bloody field the story will in due course be told, Lumsden with characteristic alacrity undertook this intricate and dangerous duty.  His tracks covered, so to speak, by the unsuspicious bearing of a blunt soldier in command of a corps of rugged trans-border warriors, the unaccustomed role of a skilled detective was carried out with promptness and success.  In the course of a very few days some of the Guides had obtained conclusive proof regarding three matters:  that the Maharani was at the head of the movement, that her chief agent was the Sikh general Khan Singh, and that the Company’s troops had already been tampered with.

  [2] Ressaldar, a native commissioned officer of cavalry.

As the plot thickened it was discovered that a meeting of the conspirators, including fifty or sixty men of various regiments, was to take place on a certain night at a certain place.  Lumsden patiently awaited the event, intending with the Guides to surround and capture the conspirators red-handed.  But, on the night fixed for the meeting, a retainer of General Khan Singh came to visit one of the Guides, with whom he was on friendly terms, and in the course of conversation made it evident that his master was not easy in his mind, why not no one could say, and that he had half determined on flight.  The man of the Guides, leaving his friend in charge of a comrade, with commendable acumen hastened to Lumsden and told him the story.  That officer at once saw that the moment had come to strike, lest the prey escape.  He therefore immediately clapped the Sikh general’s retainer into the quarterguard, much to that individual’s astonishment, and promptly parading the Guides, hurried down to the city and surrounded Khan Singh’s house.

It was now past eleven o’clock, the house was in darkness and strongly barricaded all round; the city was that of a foreign power, and no police, or other, warrant did Lumsden hold.  But he was no man to stand on ceremony, or shirk responsibility, nor was he one for a moment to count on the personal risks he ran.  Finding the doors stouter than they expected, his men burst in a window, and headed by their intrepid officer dashed into the building.  There, overcoming promptly any show of resistance, they seized General Khan Singh, his munshi[3] and a confidential agent, together with a box of papers, and under close guard carried them back to the Guides’ camp.  In due course the prisoners were tried and conclusive evidence being furnished, and confirmed by the incriminating documents found in the box, General Khan Singh and his munshi were sentenced to be hanged.  This prompt dealing served at once to check rebellion in the vicinity of Lahore, and placed the Company’s troops beyond the schemes of conspirators.

  [3] Munshi, a secretary or clerk.