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

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
was at Mian Mir. As the camp of Mian Mir was very
near Lahore, the Lahore fort was allowed to be garrisoned
purely by Sepoys. In the camp at Mian Mir, though the
Sepoys outnumbered the English soldiers by four to one,
the English officers had no suspicion about them until
the news from Meerut arrived, and when the news did
arrive they found it difficult to ascertain whether they were
or were not secretly in communication with the Meerut
Sepoys. At this time, the chief officer of the army of
Lahore was one Robert Montgomery. This Robert Mont-
gomery and Sir John Lawrence were both trained in the
school of Dalhousie. They were gifted with rare coolness
and courage and could preserve their presence of mind in
the midst of the most unexpected difficulties. It was
necessary to find out how far the spirit of national free-
dom had awakened among the Punjab Sepoys. A Brah-
min detective was employed to ascertain the state of mind
of the Sepoys. This Brahmin did the work of treachery
exceedingly well and reported to Montgomery, “ Sahib,
they are steeped in revolt—they are so far steeped in re-
volt”—and so saying he put his hand to his neck. This
account of the Brahmin removed the veil from the eyes of
Lawrence and Montgomery. They saw clearly that the
Revolution was well organised not only in northern India,
but that the fire was smouldering also in the Punjab, only
waiting for the right moment to burst into flames.
Thanking the premature rising at Meerut for having
enabled him to discover this terrible secret, Montgomery
immediately ordered the Sepoys to be disarmed. On the
13th of May, in the morning, a general parade was called
out at Mian Mir. To keep the Sepoys confident in their
sense of security, a grand ball was given to the English
residents. Before the Revolutionaries guessed the secret of
this apparent hunting after pleasure, in these conditions,
they were suddenly surrounded by English cavalry and
artillery. It was impossible for the Sepoys to see through
this deceit and, when the usual parade movements were
going on, the artillery were ordered to be in readiness to
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