ha, the poet, with verses in his pocket composed to celebrate
the victory when it was won; and near him Hassan Askari, who had in his
pocket Bakht Khan's order for the construction of five hundred ladders,
so that the sepoys might escape over the walls if the English took the
city. All the notabilities of Delhi were there, and for hours the old
king sat, receiving petitions, hearing demands for redress from
merchants who had been plundered, listening to the Kotwal's reports of
the misdeeds of the young prince Abu Bakr, who was constantly
intoxicated and engaged in riotous disorder. Saligram, the banker,
complained that all his papers and chests had been rifled, and he was a
ruined man. A messenger came in and reported that the English were
constructing a new battery within half-a-mile of the walls. A poor old
man, who said he was the king's cousin, made an offering of two rupees
in aid of the holy cause. Another messenger entered with news that a
detachment of the Nimuch brigade had gone out to fight the English, who
had all run away. The king called him a liar; he had heard such news
before. And then, just as the darbar was closing, there entered one of
the king's attendants, and asked if the Lord of the World would
graciously condescend to receive a chief from the hill country, who had
entered the city at the head of three hundred well-mounted men.

"Who is he?" asked the king.

"Hazur, his true name no one knows; but his horsemen call him Asadullah,
and in truth he is a very lion in wrath and courage. He has done great
things among the Feringhis at Agra and Gwalior, and being at one time a
prisoner of the English he hates them with a bitter hatred. And now he
comes with three hundred brave men whom he has gathered, and craves
leave to present a nassar to the Pillar of State, and to offer his
services in the cause."

"We desire not to receive him," said the king. "Have we not soldiers
enough in Delhi to pay, without adding more? If the English cannot be
beaten with the forty thousand we now have, how shall three hundred help
us?"

This was mere querulousness, as every one in the hall knew. The king
dared not offend anybody at this critical moment in his affairs,
certainly not a chief who could command a body of troops. After bidding
the man wait, and keeping him waiting for a long time while he went
through the form of consulting his advisers, the king announced that he
would see this warrior whom men named the Li