१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE ERUPTION
mediately messengers were sent to Delhi, “ We will be
there on the 11th or the 12th, keep everything ready.”⁴
Sunday dawned on the 10th of May. The English
had so little information about the secret preparations of
1857, that they had no idea about the meetings of the
Sepoys at Meerut, much less of their communications with
other Sepoys. They began their day with the usual peace-
ful pursuits. Horse-carriages, cold appliances, fragrant
flowers, airing, music and singing, all was going on in
full swing. The servants in a few Englishmen’s houses
suddenly left their services, but this did not cause more
than a moment’s surprise. But here in the Sepoys’ camp
the point was being debated, whether there should be a
general massacre or not. The 20th regiment said that,
when the English were in church, they should rise with
the shout of “ Har, Har, Mahadev ! ” and massacre all
the English, civil and military, men and women, on the
way to Delhi. This plan was agreed upon at last. At
that time, the church bells began to toll in the air. The
Englishmen with their wives were strolling towards the
church. Meanwhile in the town of Meerut, thousands of
people, even from the villages, were gathering together with
old and broken weapons ! The citizens of Meerut also
prepared themselves for the country’s cause. Still the
English had not any serious information about this ! At
five o’clock, the bells were tolling for prayer— only it
was the last prayer of the Englishmen before they were
despatched to give an account of their sins ! There, in
the Sepoy lines, however, the air resounded to the fierce
shout “ Mâro Feringhikô ! ”—“ Kill the foreigner ! ”
At first hundreds of horsemen galloped towards the
prisons to free their compatriots. The jailors, also, being
members of the revolutionary party, left the prison and
joined their brethren, when they heard the cry, “ Mâro
4. Red Pamphlet.
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