Arthur took a deep breath and set off across the riding ring, striding boldly towards the entrance to the headquarters building. His heart was beating fast and his mind raced, and he was aware of every detail around him, every sound and smell, as his senses acquired an extraordinary acuity that he had experienced only a handful of times before in his life. As they neared the sentries, the two men finally caught sight of them and stood up, grasping their muskets in both hands and making ready to challenge the two figures striding towards them. Then, as Arthur had hoped, they noticed his pale skin and officer’s shell jacket, and quickly stood to attention, grounding their muskets. He maintained his pace as he approached the entrance, as if he was just returning from some duty in the camp. As they passed between the sentries Arthur whipped out his pistol and called out, ‘Now!’

The sepoy suddenly lurched to the side, ramming the butt of his weapon into the side of the sentry’s head and felling him with an explosive grunt. Arthur swung his pistol at the other man’s head, but at the last moment the sentry detected the coming blow and scrambled back so that it brushed past his head harmlessly. Arthur was momentarily caught off balance and the sentry instinctively swung his musket butt towards him. Arthur felt a blow to his chest as the enemy musket caught him in the ribs, winding him.Then, before the shortage of air crippled him, he dropped his pistol and balled his right hand into a fist and punched it into the man’s face, driving his head back against the headquarters wall.

Arthur helped the sepoy to drag the sentries to some nearby shrubs and roll the unconscious men into the undergrowth, out of sight. Then he returned to the wavering glow beneath the lantern, drew his sword and beckoned to the men on the far side of the riding ring. A moment later the darkness was filled with swarming shadows as the sepoys swept forward.

Arthur strode inside the building, into the grand entrance hall lined with a dark wood wainscot above which hung various hunting trophies: the skins of tigers and the stuffed heads of boar and deer. A double doorway to the right opened on to a huge banqueting hall and to the left another opened on to an equally large space filled with tables and chairs with a bar at the far end. An officer sat in a chair sound asleep, head slumped back as he snored gutturally. Footsteps pounded across the wooden floorboards of the hall as the sepoys joined their commander. Arthur called the subadars of the companies to him and issued their orders.