began to admonish the ruffians. Seeing him unarmed, and respecting
his peaceful character, they let him pass in and vociferate, but paid
no regard to what he said.

The alarm had spread through the house and town, and many of the
chief officers of the Court were permitted to enter the room unarmed.
Roshun-od Dowlah, Sobhan Allee Khan, Fakeer Mahomed Khan, Nuzee Allee
Khan, (the Khasmahul's son-in-law,) and others of equal rank, all in
loud terms admonished the assailants, and demanded the surrender of
the children, but all were alike unheeded. The chief merchant of
Lucknow, Sa Gobind Lal, came in; and thinking that all affairs could
and ought to be settled in a business-like way, told the chief
officers to fix the sum to be given, and he would at once pledge
himself to the payment. All agreed to this, and Sobhan Allee Khan,
the Chief Secretary of the minister, set to work and drew up a long
and eloquent paper of conditions. On his beginning to read it, one of
the ruffians, who had one eye, rushed in, snatched it from his hand,
tore it to pieces, and threw the fragments into his chief's, Eesa
Meean's, face, saying, "that this fellow would write them all out of
their lives, as he was writing the people of Oude every day out of
their properties; that if they must die, it should not be by pen and
paper, but by swords and daggers in a fair fight; that all their
lives had been staked, and all should die or live together." He was
overpowered by the others, and other papers were drawn up by the
ready writer and consummate knave Sobhan Allee, but the one-eyed man
contrived to get hold of all, one after the other, and tear them up.

The minister was with the King when he first heard of the affair, and
he went off forthwith to the Resident, Mr. Ricketts, to say, that his
Majesty had in vain endeavoured to rescue the boys through his
principal civil officers, and had sent all his available troops, but
in vain; and now earnestly entreated the British Resident to
interpose and save their lives. The Resident consented to do so, on
condition that any arrangement he might find it necessary to make
should be binding on his Majesty and the minister. Aga Meer returned
to the King with this message, and his Majesty agreed to this
condition. The Resident then sent his head moonshie, Gholam Hossein,
to promise Eesa Meean, that the woman should be restored to him, and
any grievance he might have to complain of should be redressed, and
his pa