regret having given
them a foothold. Wherever their powers extend, the natives are far
better off than they were under the rule of their own princes. Were
the British masters, there would be no more wars, no more
jealousies, and no more intrigues; the peasants would till their
fields in peace, and the men who now take to soldiering would find
more peaceful modes of earning a living."

"But you do not think, surely, Harry,"--for after leaving Poona, he
had been told to call him so--"that the English can ever become
masters of India? They conquered the Carnatic, but even there they
were not safe from the forays of Hyder Ali. Mysore bars their way
farther north. Then there is the Nizam to be dealt with, and then
Berar and the Mahrattas; then comes Rajputana, and beyond are the
Sikhs, and the fierce chiefs of Scinde. It is true that the English
have beaten the peoples of lower Bengal, but these have always been
looked down upon, and despised as cowardly and effeminate, by the
fighting men of all India.

"Besides, how few are the white soldiers! They say, too, that the
French have promised Tippoo to send a big army, to help to drive
the English into the sea."

"The French have quite work enough, at home," Harry said. "It is
true that they have got into Egypt, but they are shut up there by
our fleets. Moreover, even were they to cross over into Arabia, how
could they march across a dry and almost waterless country, for a
thousand or two of miles? When they arrived in Scinde they would
find all the fighting men of the province, and the Sikhs, opposed
to them; and they would never be able to fight their way down to
Mysore. The thing is absurd."

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger,
from the Government House, with a request that Mr. Lindsay should
at once attend there. Harry's horse, which had been saddled in
readiness, was brought round; for it would have seemed strange for
a Mahratta, whose dress showed that he held a good position, to go
on foot. Sufder rode by his side, Soyera following on foot.

Dismounting at the Government House, he threw the reins to one of
the lads, who were waiting in readiness to hold the horses of
officers coming to see the Governor. On Harry mentioning his name,
the native doorkeeper said:

"I have orders for you to be taken, at once, to the Council
chamber, sahib, on your arrival here."

The Governor, with four members of the Council and Mr. Malet, were
seated