-and that--and that!"

Such are the frightful excesses of barbaric minds! every time this old
man said, "Take that," he flung some article near him at the head of
the undaunted Gahagan--his dagger, his sword, his carbine, his richly
ornamented pistols, his turban covered with jewels, worth a hundred
thousand crores of rupees--finally, his hookah, snake mouthpiece,
silver-bell, chillum and all--which went hissing over my head, and
flattening into a jelly the nose of the Grand Vizier.

"Yock muzzee! my nose is off;" said the old man, mildly. "Will you have
my life, O Holkar? it is thine likewise!" and no other word of complaint
escaped his lips.

Of all these missiles, though a pistol and carbine had gone off as the
ferocious Indian flung them at my head, and the naked scimitar fiercely
but unadroitly thrown, had lopped off the limbs of one or two of the
musnuds as they sat trembling on their omrahs, yet, strange to say, not
a single weapon had hurt me. When the hubbub ceased, and the unlucky
wretches who had been the victims of this fit of rage had been removed,
Holkar's good humor somewhat returned, and he allowed me to continue my
account of the fort; which I did, not taking the slightest notice of
his burst of impatience: as indeed it would have been the height of
impoliteness to have done for such accidents happened many times in the
day.

"It is well that the Bobbachy has returned," snuffled out the poor Grand
Vizier, after I had explained to the Council the extraordinary means of
defence possessed by the garrison. "Your star is bright, O Bahawder! for
this very night we had resolved upon an escalade of the fort, and we
had sworn to put every one of the infidel garrison to the edge of the
sword."

"But you have no battering train," said I.

"Bah! we have a couple of ninety-six pounders, quite sufficient to
blow the gates open; and then, hey for a charge!" said Loll Mahommed,
a general of cavalry, who was a rival of Bobbachy's, and contradicted,
therefore, every word I said. "In the name of Juggernaut, why wait for
the heavy artillery? Have we not swords? Have we not hearts? Mashallah!
Let cravens stay with Bobbachy, all true men will follow Loll Mahommed!
Allahhumdillah, Bismillah, Barikallah?"* and drawing his scimitar,
he waved it over his head, and shouted out his cry of battle. It was
repeated by many of the other omrahs; the sound of their cheers was
carried into the camp, and caught up by the men; the c