The Star of India
Copyright© 2026 by Edward S. Ellis
Chapter 23: The Ruined Temple
The next minute the fugitives emerged from the jungle into what was once a cultivated field, but which was now covered with a species of short grass burned crisp by the sun. The ground was level, and favorable for pedestrianism.
Our friends could not have asked anything better, and they straightway gave their pursuers an exhibition of speed that must have astonished them.
Harkins was bearing to the right, but was recalled by a word from Luchman, and the three dashed for the other side of the plain, distant about an eighth of a mile.
What was to be done when the boundary should be reached was a serious question, but before attaining it an unexpected refuge presented itself.
India abounds with interesting ruins, temples and caves, which display an exquisite order of architecture of ancient times. In front of the runners appeared a ruined temple, and the guide called out that if they could reach that they would be safe.
The utmost effort was made, and Harkins and the surgeon were sure they never ran so fast in all their lives. Probably their pursuers believed the same, for they steadily dropped behind. Several fired while on the run, but that was practice in which they did not excel, and their shots went wild.
The structure, as seen from a distance, was simply a ruin. It had been a fine building centuries before, but was fallen to pieces so that naught beside the lower portion remained. Several walls, their tops jagged and uneven, rose to a height of twenty or thirty feet, and piles of masonry lay strewn around where they may have been tumbled by fanatic hands or by the elements. Dense shrubbery and a few twisted trees projected from the debris, and their roots, while helping to disintegrate, also helped to hold what was left in position.
The masonry was of a dull gray color, visible for a long way through the emerald vegetation, though a casual glance might well have caused a doubt as to whether it could be made available as a means of defense. In ancient times, the use of a species of sugar in the mortar gave it a degree of hardness which gradually became like that of stone itself.
But there was no time to think of that: it was all that was left to the fugitives, who continued to put forth their utmost efforts. They kept well together until quite near the refuge, when Luchman shot ahead with a swiftness that astonished the others. He bounded through the arched way that had once spanned the entrance as if he were shot from a catapult.
His companions were scarcely behind him, and they rushed in like a couple of contestants on the home-stretch, all quickly pausing, for they were doubtful of what remained beyond.
“Stop, sahibs,” shouted Luchman; “they must not come in!”
The native breathed no faster because of his exertion, but the two athletes were panting, though able to do far more had it been necessary. Checking themselves, they turned about to watch the movements of their enemies.
The latter had been thrown far behind, and were coming at a more leisurely gait. The fugitives viewed them through the overhanging branches of a gnarled tree, which grew off to one side from the arched gateway. They saw the Ghoojurs pause at a safe distance and engage in a discussion, most likely as to what course they should follow, in view of the new turn events had taken.
“They are debating whether to make a rush after us or to wait till they can bring up reenforcements,” ventured Harkins.
“I can understand the two sides to that question,” replied the doctor. “It will not take them long to get all the aid they can want, but the objection to that is that it will make the share of each so much the smaller, when they come to divide the spoil.”
Leaving his friends to keep watch, Luchman entered the fort of which they had taken possession, to learn its capabilities in the way of defense. He needed but a short time, and the result was more satisfactory than he expected.
The arched gate or doorway extended backward twenty feet, where it opened into a spacious apartment. The former was several yards in width and eight or ten feet high. The room measured about thirty feet square had a high ceiling and was dimly lit by several small circular windows, similar to those used to light the cells of prisoners. There were three at the rear, but none at the sides, and they, with the tunnel-like passage which admitted the fugitives, gave enough illumination for the occupants to see each other across the apartment.
The roof of this room had been the floor of the tower-like structure which is common to ancient Hindoo ruins. It appeared to be a foot in thickness, and was composed of great blocks of hard, gray stone, united by a cement, spread over and around a net work of massive beams, which rendered them as durable as the rock itself. The walls at the side were equally heavy, and, being joined by the same kind of sugary cement, they were powerful enough to resist for a long time the pounding of large cannon.
A small force could hold an immense one at bay, protected as was the garrison by such powerful defenses. The only question was as to how long a party could stand a siege.
In the case of our friends, this certainly could not be long, for they were not only without food and water, but lacked the means of getting any. All were hungry, and before long would be thirsty.
“We can hold them in check, sahibs, until night,” said Luchman, “but if we wait longer than that, they will have us fast.”
Though a score of brave men might recoil from an attempt to carry the place by storm, yet the Ghoojurs must have known that they had but to contain their souls in patience for only a brief while. The tempting fruit if left alone will fall to the ground in the fulness of time.