half-lost cause.

Thus the train of revolt was laid with an almost fatal precision
throughout the province, and only required the smallest spark to set it
alight. At the head of the incendiary movement was the Maharani, the
wife of the late and mother of the present infant king. Some inkling of
the plot, as could hardly fail, came to the British Resident's ears, the
primary step contemplated being to seduce from their allegiance the
Company's troops quartered at Lahore.

It was at this stage that a summons reached Lumsden to march with all
despatch to Lahore, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. Here was
an opportunity of testing the value of a corps whose loyalty was above
question, and which from its composition could have no sympathy with the
movement. Consequently to Lumsden and his men was assigned the difficult
and unaccustomed duty of unravelling the plot and bringing the
conspirators to justice. Setting to work with his accustomed readiness,
and aided by one of his _ressaldars_,[2] Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk, of whose
prowess on many a bloody field the story will in due course be told,
Lumsden with characteristic alacrity undertook this intricate and
dangerous duty. His tracks covered, so to speak, by the unsuspicious
bearing of a blunt soldier in command of a corps of rugged trans-border
warriors, the unaccustomed rôle of a skilled detective was carried out
with promptness and success. In the course of a very few days some of
the Guides had obtained conclusive proof regarding three matters: that
the Maharani was at the head of the movement, that her chief agent was
the Sikh general Khan Singh, and that the Company's troops had already
been tampered with.

[2] _Ressaldar_, a native commissioned officer of cavalry.