could be no doubt that Granthis and Mohammedans would unite in
resenting this betrayal. Hence, when the day of reckoning came, it was
all-important to have not only the moral, but the physical support of
the British secured, and it would be all the better if the agreement
could be announced as an accomplished fact before the need arose to put
it in practice. The Rajah had indeed confided his wishes to his most
trusted councillors, but it was highly probable that in case of a
popular rising these worthy gentlemen would find it more convenient, as
it would certainly be safer, to forget the exact nature of the charge
committed to them.

Adhering to his opinion that a personal interview between the Rajah and
the Resident would be the surest way of enlisting Colonel Antony's
sympathy for Kharrak Singh and his future, Gerrard now bent his efforts
towards bringing this about. The disputed boundary between Agpur and
Darwan afforded an excellent excuse for the Rajah to journey to his
frontier and meet Charteris, who would hold the brief for Darwan, and
if it could be so arranged that Colonel Antony should accidentally be
in the neighbourhood, the thing would be done. Gerrard wrote urging
his chief's presence with all the earnestness he could command,
suggesting that if he could not come himself, he should depute his
brother James to represent him. He then turned to the task of inducing
Partab Singh to undertake the journey--a difficult endeavour, since he
could not promise the desired interview at the end of it. A change had
come over the Rajah since the evening when he had bestowed his
confidence, and there was no doubt that he was failing. It seemed as
though his vigour of body and mind had given way when he had once
entrusted the care of his son to other hands, for Gerrard could
distinctly trace the progress of decay in the short time he had known
him, and the exertion of planning a move on such a large scale appeared
to be too much for his strength. Since it was not to be supposed that
this was a mere flying visit to the frontier, undertaken for a purpose,
it must have all the characteristics of a royal progress, court,
zenana, troops, elephants and guns, all accompanying their lord. The
trusted councillors looked unutterable things at all Gerrard's
suggestions, and military and civil officials combined to defeat all
his arrangements by means of the dead weight of their inertia. The
Rajah was willing to go, provid