THE STORMING OF DELHI. 265 



Only after much pleading was he allowed to go 

 forth upon his dangerous errand. "This," writes 

 Hodson, "was successfully accomplished, at the 

 expense of vast fatigue and no trifling risk." He 

 and his fifty horsemen had to thread their way 

 through miles of ruinous tombs, palaces, and other 

 buildino's which marked the site of Old Delhi. 

 About a mile from Humayun's tomb the road passed 

 under the Old Fort, to which the king had first 

 fled for shelter, and which was still thronged with 

 numbers of his adherents. Not a shot, however, 

 was fired on the advancing troop. 



On reaching the noble gateway of the wide court, 

 wherein stood the dome-capped glory of the white 

 marble tomb, Hodson concealed his little party in 

 some old buildings hard by. Sending the faithful 

 Eajab Ali and another emissary to negotiate the 

 terms of surrender with the people inside, Hodson 

 himself awaited the issue from his post of observa- 

 tion near the gate. After two hours of the most 

 trying suspense he had ever known, his messengers 

 brought him word that the king would accept the 

 proff'ered terms if "Hodson Bahadur" would come 

 forth and repeat with his own lips the promise of the 

 Government for his safety. Thereupon Hodson 

 stepped forward and gave the needful assurance, 

 adding that any attempt at a rescue would be pun- 

 ished by the immediate death of the king. Erelong 

 the train of palkis conveying the royal prisoners 

 and their few attendants passed slowly out of the 

 gate closely guarded by Hodson and his sowars. 



The march back to Delhi then began by a longer 

 but less dangerous road, — the longest five miles, as 

 Hodson himself declared, that he had ever ridden. 



