1 THE WUZEEIiUT OF IIEERA STNG. 127
2 ensure its own safety, nnd to join its fellows when the
3 moment for the struggle arrived. Such was usually the state
4 of affairs in and about Lahore when any great crisis was
5 impending- ; and such was the case now when Jewahir Sing
6 was in the capital planning the destruction of Heera Sing
7 and his own elevation to the Wuzeerut.
8 On the first day of the month the Ranee Chunda, the mother
9 of Maharajh Dulleep Sing, according to custom, distributed
10 one hundred golden budkecs as charity in the name of her
11 son. On this occasion she was threatened and grossly abused
12 by the Pundit Jellah, and she complnined of this ill usage to her
13 brother Jewahir Sing. It now also come out that both
14 Heera Sine* and the Pundit had been in the habit of sending:
15 for the Ranee at night, and by threats of ill treatment
16 compelling her to allow of criminal intercourse with her.
17 Other disclosures were also made of facts too gross to be re-
18 peated here. It is enough to say that the Pundit had made
19 an attempt to poison the Ranee under the pretext of adminis-
20 tering to her medicine for a loathsome disease with which
21 she was afflicted.
22 When all these matters became known to Jewahir Sing
23 and the sirdars and soldiers, their rage against the Minister
24 and the Pundit knew no bounds ; but still they continued quietly
25 to arrange their plans of vengeance. Jewahir Sing's inten-
26 tion was the utter extermination of the Dogras, and in this
27 he was joined by most of the sirdars, while the troops
28 seemingly sought nothing further than the removal of the
29 Pundit Jellah. Day after day secret consultations were held,
30 but no determination was arrived at. At length the main
31 body of the army, impatient of further delay made an attempt
32 to enter the city during the night ; but in this design they
33 were thwarted by the vigilance of the guard which was in the
34 interest of the court. On hearing of the attempt Heera Sing
35 sent to enquire the object of their visit, and was told that