Chatar Singh's chief weakness was respect for cunning.
Having only a great bull's heart in him and ability to go forward and endure, he regarded cunning as very admirable; and so Gooja Singh had one daffadar to work on from the outset (although I did what I could to make trouble between them).
The remaining two non-commissioned officers were naiks--corporals, as you would say--Surath Singh and Mirath Singh, both rather recently promoted from the ranks and therefore likely to see both sides to a question (whereas a naik should rightly see but one).
Very early I had taken those two naiks in hand, showing them friendship, harping on the honor and pleasure of being daffadar and on the chance of quick promotion.
Given a British commanding officer--just one British officer--even a little young one--one would have been enough--it would have been hard to find better backing for him.

Even Gooja Singh would scarcely have failed a British leader.

But not only was the feeling still strong against Ranjoor Singh; there was another cloud in the sky.
Did the sahib ever lay his hands on loot?
No?
Ah! Love of that runs in the blood, and crops out generation after generation! Until the British came and overthrew our Sikh kingdom--and that was not long ago--loot was the staff of life of all Sikh armies.

In those days when an army needed pay there was a war.

Now, except for one month's pay that, as I have told, the Germans had given us, we had seen no money since the day when we surrendered in that Flanders trench; and what the Germans gave us Ranjoor Singh took away, in order to bribe the captain of a Turkish ship.