preferred to
have gone direct to Simla, and it was only the intelligence that had
reached the Russians, that English troops were still in Ambala, that
probably caused him to stop half-way.

Prince Tchajawadse was also induced by this intelligence to abandon his
intended route via Ambala, and to proceed in a direct line through the
jungle. In this way he could confidently hope to reach Simla without a
battle, and, moreover, should it turn out that the garrison of Ambala
was not over strong, he might deliver a surprise attack upon the
English from the north. In time of peace Ambala was one of the larger
encampments, but now it was to be expected that the main body of the
troops stationed there had been ordered to Lahore.

The whole opulence of an Indian Court was unfolded at the Maharajah's
banquet. At the table covered with red velvet and luxuriously laid with
gold and silver plate, the Russian officers sat in gay-coloured ranks
with the chiefs of the Prince's retinue. The viands were excellent, and
champagne flowed in inexhaustible streams. The Russians required but
few invitations to drink, but the Mohammedan Indians were not in
this respect far behind them. It is true that the drinking of wine is
forbidden by the tenets of their religion; but in respect of champagne,
they understand how to evade this commandment by christening it by the
harmless name of "sparkling lemonade," a circumlocution which of course
did not in the slightest counteract its exhilarating effects. The
Indians who were less proof against the effects of alcohol were much
more quickly intoxicated than their new European friends; and under
the influence of the potent liquor universal fraternisation inevitably
resulted.

The Maharajah himself delivered a suggestive speech in praise of the
Russian victors who had at last come as the long-desired saviours of the
country from the British yoke. Of course he had to employ the accursed
English language, it being the only one that he understood besides his
own mother tongue; and Prince Tchajawadse had to translate his words
into Russian in order that they should be intelligible to all the
Russian heroes.

In spite of this somewhat troublesome procedure, however, his words
roused intense enthusiasm, and embracings and brotherly kisses were soon
the order of the day.

When the universal jollity had reached its height, two Bayaderes,
who belonged to the suite of the Maharajah of Sabathu, made their
appea