The Volcano
 

[ Pt. I
 

CHAPTER III

NANA   SAHIB   AND   LAKSHMI   BAI
 

Blow your trumpets loudly now, 0 Heralds of History^ for
soon there are to arrive on the scene two great heroes ! These
are two bright pearls in the necklace of Mother India. Now, when
dark night has overspread the horizon of the whole country,
these two alone are shinnig as luminous stars. They are fiery
AkaUs ready to avenge their country's unjust wrongs with
the last drop of their blood. They are two martyrs sacrificing
their lives for Country, Religion, and Freedom. They are two
witnesses, sword in hand, to prove that the blood of Hindusthan
that gave birth to ^hivaji is not yet dead. They are two noble
souls that could entertain in their hearts the grand and holy
ambition of Swaraj. They are two crusaders in the Holy War,
glorious even in their defeat. Therefore, 0 readers, stand up
in all awe and reverence, for the noble figures of Nana Sahib
Peshwa and the Queen of Jhansi are coming on the stage of
History !

We do not know which to describe more—the splendour of
the mountain tops of Matheran in the holy Maharashtra, or the
green, velvet-soft, grassy meadows adorning the feet of those
hills. In the lap of the graceful plateau below, almost overhung
by the sky-reaching peaks of the Matheran, there nestled a
tiny little village called Venu, heightening the beauty of the
already beautiful region. Among the old and respectable
families of Yenu, the family of Madhavarao Narayan Bhatt
was the most prominent. Madhavarao and his noble wife
Gangabai, though living in circumstances of domestic poverty,

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