Through Three Campaigns: A Story of Chitral, Tirah and Ashanti, Page 3

  Chapter 3: The First Fight.

  And yet, though he kept up a cheerful appearance, Lisle's heart wasoften very heavy. The sight of the British officers continuallyrecalled his father to his memory. But a short time back he hadbeen with him, and now he was gone for ever. At times it seemedalmost impossible that it could be so. He had been his constantcompanion when off duty; had devoted much time to helping himforward in his studies; had never, so far as he could remember,spoken a harsh word to him.

  It seemed like a dream, those last hours he had passed by hisfather's bedside. Many times he lay awake in the night, his facewet with tears. But with reveille he would be up, laughing andjoking with the soldiers, and raising a smile even on the face ofthe gravest.

  It had taken him but a very short time to make himself at home inthe regiment. The men sometimes looked at him with surprise, he wasso different from themselves. They bore their hardships well, butit was with stern faces and grim determination; while this youngsoldier made a joke of them.

  Sometimes he was questioned closely, but he always turned thequestions off with a laugh. He had learned the place where hissupposed cousin came from and, while sticking to this, he said thata good fairy must have presided over his birth; information thatwas much more gravely received than given, for the natives havetheir superstitions, and believe, as firmly as the inhabitants ofthese British islands did, two or three hundred years ago, in theexistence of supernatural beings, good and bad.

  "If you have been blessed by a fairy," one of the elder mensuggested, "doubtless you will go through this campaign withoutharm. They are very powerful, some of these good people, and canbestow long life as well as other gifts."

  "I don't know whether she will do that. She certainly gave me highspirits. I used to believe that what my mother said happened toher, the night after I was born, was not true, but only a dream.She solemnly declared that it was not, but I have always beenfamous for good spirits; and she may have been right, after all."

  There was nothing Lisle liked better than being on night picketduty. Other men shirked it, but to him there was somethingdelightful to stand there almost alone, rifle in hand, watching theexpanse of snow for a moving figure. There was a charm in the deadsilence. He liked to think quietly of the past and, somehow, hecould do so far better, while engaged on this duty, than when lyingawake in his little tent. The expanse and stillness calmed him, andagreed far more with his mood than the camp.

  His sight was keen, even when his thoughts were farthest away and,three times, he sent a bullet through a lurking Pathan who wascrawling up towards him, astonishing his comrades by the accuracyof his aim.

  "I suppose," he said, when congratulated upon the third occasion onwhich he had laid one of the enemy low, "that the good fairy musthave given me a quick eye, as well as good spirits."

  "It is indeed extraordinary that you, a young recruit, should notonly make out a man whom none of us saw; but that you should, eachtime, fetch him down at a distance of three or four hundred yards."

  "I used to practice with my father's rifle," he said. "He was veryfond of shikari, and I often went out with him. It needs a keenersight to put a bullet between the eyes of a tiger, than to hit alurking Pathan."

  So noted did he become for the accuracy of his aim that one of thenative officers asked him, privately, if he would like to be alwaysput on night duty.

  "I should like it every other night," he said. "By resting everyalternate night, and by snatching a couple of hours' sleep beforegoing on duty, when we arrive at the end of a day's march in goodtime, I can manage very well."

  "I will arrange that for you," the officer said. "Certainly, no onewould grudge you the duty."

  One night, when there had been but little opposition during theday, Lisle was posted on a hill where the picket consisted of tenmen; five of whom were on the crest, while the other five lay downin the snow. The day had been a hard one, and Lisle was lesswatchful than usual. It seemed to him that he had not closed hiseyes for a minute, as he leant on his rifle; but it must have beenmuch longer, for he suddenly started with a feeling that somethingwas wrong, and saw a number of dark figures advancing along thecrest towards him. He at once fired a shot, and fell back upon thenext sentry. Dropping behind rocks, they answered the fire whichthe enemy had already opened upon them.

  The whole picket quickly gathered and, for a time, checked theadvance of the enemy; but these were too numerous to be kept at adistance, and parties of them pressed forward on each flank.

  "We must retire till we can find better shelter," the sub-officerin command said. "We shall soon have reinforcements up from thecamp, when it is seen that we are seriously engaged. Fall back,men, steadily. Take advantage of every bit of cover, but keep aswell together as possible, without risk."

  Firing steadily, they made their way down the hill, and finallytook up a position among a clump of rocks. Two had been shot dead,and two others were wounded; and it was because these could not beleft behind that the stand was made. The two wounded men, thoughpartially disabled and unable to crawl, could still use theirrifles; and the little party kept up so hot a fire that, though theenemy were massed from twenty to thirty yards away, they could notbe brought to unite in a general attack; not even by the shouts andyells of their comrades behind, and a furious beating of tom-toms.

  Illustration: Lisle gives the alarm.

  The defenders were all lying down, each of them having chosen aposition where he could see through a crevice between the rocks.Lisle was lying next to the sergeant. Presently the latter gave anexclamation, fired his rifle, and shifted his position behind therock.

  "Mutteh Ghar," he said, "I have seen you bring down three of theskulking ruffians. Do you see those two there close together, aboutforty yards away? There is a man behind them who has just carriedoff two of my fingers.

  "Keep your eye on those rocks. Just above where they touch eachother there is an opening, through which you can see the snowbehind. That is where he fired from. Oblige me by putting a ball inhis head, when he raises it."

  A couple of minutes passed. Lisle was lying with his rifle on thespot. Presently the opening was obscured, and he fired at once.

  "Thank you!" the sergeant said. "You got him, sure enough. The headdid not disappear to one side or to the other, but went straightback. I fancy that you must have hit him between the eyes."

  Presently the enemy's fire became still more furious and, severaltimes, some of them rose and ran two paces forward, but only tofall prone under the defenders' fire.

  "I expect they see help coming up," Lisle said, "and are making alast effort to wipe us out before they arrive.

  "I think they will try a rush," he continued, in a louder voice;"see that your magazines are filled up, lads, and don't waste ashot if they come at us."

  A minute later there was a shrill and prolonged cry and, at once,twenty dark figures burst from their shelter and rushed forward.The defenders also sprang to their feet, and their rifles flashedout with a stream of fire. But the vacancies thus caused in theenemy's ranks were immediately filled.

  "Now with your bayonets," the sergeant shouted. "Keep in a closebody, and do you two wounded men cover us with a constant fire."

  Then, with a cheer, the six men and the sergeant rushed forward.Much as the Afridis feared the bayonet, confident in their strengththey withstood the charge. They had, fortunately, emptied theirrifles before rushing forward but, drawing their knives, theyfought fiercely. These, however, were no match for the bayonetsand, consequently, they suffered heavily.

  Three of the Pioneers received severe gashes. The group werebrought to a standstill, and they stood in a little circle whilethe attack continued. One sepoy was stabbed to the heart by afanatic, who rushed at his bayonet and, pushing himself along, felldead as he struck his fatal blow.

  Things were looking very bad. Scarce one had escaped without awound, and the sergeant had dropped, bleeding profusely; when, totheir delight, a volley burst from within fifty yards of them
and,in an instant, their assailants turned and bolted.

  After the sergeant had dropped, Lisle had somehow taken his place,cheering the men on and lending his aid to those most severelypressed. Once or twice he managed, after despatching an assailant,to slip a couple of cartridges into his rifle, and so added to theexecution. Indeed, it was in no small account due to his exertions,after the sergeant fell, that the resistance was maintained.

  A minute later, the active little Ghoorkhas rushed forward; andthose who first arrived passed the little knot of defenders with acheer, and set off in pursuit of the enemy. Presently, however, oneof their officers came up.

  "You have had a stiff fight, lads," he said, "and by the look ofthe ground round about, you must have defended yourselvesgallantly; for there are a dozen dead bodies lying near you, and Ican see many more, a little way up the hill. What have been yourlosses?"

  The sergeant raised himself on his elbow.

  "We had two killed, as we came down," he said, "and two otherswounded. I believe one has fallen here, and I think most of us arewounded with knife thrusts."

  "Well, you have done splendidly, sergeant. I will detach men tohelp to carry you and the wounded men down to the camp. The otherscan accompany them. We shall take up the work, now; but I am afraidwe sha'n't have any fighting, though we may shoot down a few asthey make off. I fancy, however, that the lesson you have given thebeggars has taken all fight out of them."

  When half down the hill, they met a party of the Pioneers comingout. The Ghoorkhas at once handed the wounded over to them, andstarted up the hill again. The sergeant had fainted from loss ofblood, and no questions were asked till the injured men were allplaced in little hospital tents, and their wounds attended to. Twoof them had bullet wounds, and three had received knife wounds onthe shoulder or arm. Only Lisle and one other escaped unhurt. Assoon as the wounds had been attended to all, except the sergeant,and two more seriously wounded than the others, were sent off totheir tents.

  One of these was Lisle's tent fellow. He said:

  "Mutteh Ghar, I don't know what to say to you. You seem but a lad,and a light-hearted one; but you have proved yourself the best ofus all. I was lying next to you, and I will swear that you broughtdown eight of them with your rifle, before they charged. Even whileI was fighting I always heard your voice, like a trumpet; and afterthe sergeant had fallen you seemed to take command, as if it wasyour right. You saved my life when you bayoneted two of the threewho were grappling with me, and you seemed to be everywhere."

  "I did what little I could," Lisle said. "I certainly did notintend to take the command, when the sergeant fell; but somehow Icould not help shouting and, as our circle had closed in so, Islipped out of my place and fought wherever the pressure wasgreatest."

  "There is no doubt," the soldier said seriously, "that yourmother's statement was a true one, and that a fairy did promise herto look after you. Out of the eleven of us, only one besidesyourself has escaped without a wound; and yet none of us exposedhimself more than you did. I shall not forget that I owe my life toyou. We must find some other name for you. You can't be called 'theboy' any longer."

  In the morning, one of the colonel's orderlies was told to fetchLisle.

  "The colonel wishes to see you, Mutteh Ghar."

  Lisle put on his uniform with some uneasiness. He was consciousthat, in the excitement of the fight of the night before, he hadfrequently shouted in English; and he feared that the sergeant hadreported this. However, he marched to the spot where the coloneland a group of officers were standing, and then stood at attention.

  "Mutteh Ghar," the colonel said, "the sergeant this morning madehis report; and he states that, though all his men behavedadmirably, you distinguished yourself in a singular manner. He saysthat before the final attack began you had killed eight or ten ofthe Pathans, that you were fighting beside him when he was wounded,and that you then seemed to take the command. Although lying on theground, he was able to see what was going on; and he says that butfor your cheers, and for the manner in which you went to theassistance of men hard pressed, he is convinced that the wholedetachment would have been killed before the Ghoorkhas arrived."

  "I had no idea of assuming the command, sir; but my tongue alwaysruns fast, and I dare say I did shout, almost unconsciously. Ithink the sergeant has made more of my doings than I deserved."

  "I don't think it likely. It is no small thing for so young asoldier to so distinguish himself. The sergeant will not be able toresume his duties for some time, and I therefore appoint you acorporal; and shall put your name in orders, today, for verydistinguished service. How long is it since you joined theregiment?"

  "A short time before we marched."

  "Well, you have done honour to the corps and, in the name of myselfand my officers, I thank you."

  Lisle saluted, and returned to the lines.

  "The colonel has made me a corporal," he answered, as the othersgathered round and questioned him.

  A cheer burst from them, for his tent companion, and the other menwho had returned, had all spoken in the highest terms of hisconduct. Lisle was quite confused by the heartiness of theirreception.

  "He is a wonderfully young fellow," the colonel said, as he leftthem. "The sergeant said that he was young, but really he lookslittle more than a boy. Curiously, his face reminds me of someone,though I cannot say whom; and yet, if he only joined a short timebefore we marched, it is not likely that I should have noticed himbefore."

  "It was the same thing with me, colonel," the major said. "I havenoticed him several times on the march and, while the rest of theregiment were plodding on in silence, he always seemed the centreof a merry group. I have often said, to myself, I wished we had afew more men in the regiment who could take the hardships they hadto undergo as lightly and as merrily as he does. His face has alsostruck me as being somehow familiar.

  "I was speaking to the sergeant about him, and he said that he wasthe most popular man in his company, and a general favourite. Histemperament is altogether different from that of the majority ofour soldiers, which is earnest and quiet."

  Two or three of the other officers also spoke of noticing thecheerful influence he seemed to have on the men.

  "I must have a talk with him," the colonel said, "after thecampaign is over, and find out something about it. It is quiteevident that his pluck is as great as his cheerfulness, and it iscertainly very extraordinary that a young and recently-joinedsoldier should have such an influence with men many years olderthan himself. If I am not mistaken, we shall find him in the ranksof the native officers, before long. Considering his age, and whathe has already done, he may well hope some day, if he escapes beingkilled, to be risaldar major of the regiment.

  "I should almost fancy that he must be the son of some native ofgood family, but without influence to secure him a post as officer;and that he has run away to endeavour to fight his way up to acommission."

  Henceforth Lisle stood in high regard among his comrades, and wasknown as the 'fighting boy' in the regiment. He himself was alwaysready to answer to any name by which he was addressed. He had nodesire to push himself forward to any prominence among them, or ofthinking himself any way above his comrades; but naturally he waspleased at finding himself generally liked. He had come to see thefighting, and take part in it, and had no thought of distinguishinghimself especially; as he intended to leave the regiment as soon asthe campaign was over, and carry out the plan which his father hadformed for him. He feared to excite the jealousy of his comradesand, though there were no signs of this, he felt that his promotioncaused some difference in the manner of other men towards him.

  This was so marked, indeed, that he could not help thinking thatthe men by whose side he had fought had reported to their comradesthat, in the heat of the fight, he had several times shouted inEnglish; and that there were general suspicions as to his identity.As long as this was not communicated to the officers it did notmatter; and indeed this was not likely for, if the feeling wasnoticed b
y the native officers, it would soon come to the ears ofGholam Singh, who would at once order the men to keep silenceconcerning it.

  Gradually his nickname changed, and he became known among thesepoys of the regiment as the "young sahib." He protested againstit, but in vain. It was not, however, without its advantages. Atthe end of a long march, the men who had brought in firewood alwayshanded him some. Men would offer to clean his rifle, cook hisdinner, and do other little offices for him. He would, however,never accept these kind offers.

  "Why do they call you sahib?" one of the English officers askedhim, when he heard him so addressed.

  "I do not know," he answered. "It is a silly joke of the men. Ihave protested against it, without success. If they chose to callme 'colonel,' I could not help it. I suppose it is because they seethat I am, like the white officers, always cheerful and goodtempered. There is certainly no other reason that I know of."

  "The regiment have taken to call Mutteh Ghar 'the young sahib,'"the officer reported, at mess that day. "I asked him about it, andhe says no doubt it is because he is, like us, always good temperedand cheerful."

  "He is certainly very unlike the others," the major said. "I haveno doubt the men consider it a great compliment, to him, to callhim so."

  "Do you know, colonel," one of the subalterns said, "the idea hasstruck me that he may be young Bullen, who may have joined theregiment surreptitiously, instead of going down to Calcutta."

  There was silence among the others.

  "It can hardly be that, Macdonald," the colonel said, "though it iscertainly curious that we seemed to feel that we knew his face,when he came up before us. The young scamp could never have playedsuch an audacious trick upon us."

  "I don't know, colonel," the major said, "he is just the sort oflad that would try such a scheme. I know I have twice seen himtalking with my butler; who was, as you know, Captain Bullen'sservant."

  "Well, it may possibly be so," the colonel said, "but at any rateit is only suspicion, and we had better leave the matter as itstands. If it is young Bullen, I don't know that he has done a badthing for himself. If he goes on as he has begun, his experiencewill go a long way towards getting him a commission; and he will bea great deal better off than if he were grinding up for two yearsin England. Such a strong recommendation as I could give him wouldbe of great value to him and, moreover, he has a claim on theground that his father was killed on service.

  "At any rate, we must take no action, whatever, at present. It isno slight thing he has done; that is, if it be he. Few of us wouldcare to go through this campaign as sepoys--their work is terriblyhard, poor fellows--to say nothing of the unpleasantness of havingto live among the natives. I certainly shall consider that he haswell earned a commission, if he comes through the campaign."

  "But he is too young for one," the major said.

  "I should not think it necessary to mention his age, inrecommending him," the colonel said. "We know that he is doing aman's work, manfully. He has earned, as you say, the general likingof the men; and is a deal better fitted for a commission than halfthe fellows they send out to us.

  "Well, we may all be mistaken, and he may only be a brave youngfellow of good ancestry; so we will think no more of it, atpresent, and we will wait to see how things turn out, beforeshowing any signs of our suspicions."

  Now, however, that the idea had been mooted, the officers, as theywent up and down the line, looked closer at Lisle than they hadhitherto done; and all agreed that, in spite of his uniform and hiscolour, he was Captain Bullen's son. Ignorant of their suspicions,Lisle carried out his work, as usual, as a sub-officer. He sharedthe shelter tents of the men, and performed his duties regularly.He still carried a rifle; and indeed, if this had not been the rulehe would not have accepted his promotion, as he preferred fightingwith a weapon to which he was accustomed.

  His work during the day was but little changed. When the regimentwas marching in a column, four abreast, he had his appointed placeby the side of it and, when they arrived in camp, it was part ofhis duty to see that the little tents were all pitched, rationsdistributed, kits handed over, and the men made as comfortable aspossible. No sub-officer was obeyed with greater alacrity and, whenhe returned from his picket in the early morning, he always foundhis ration ready cooked for him.

  It was impossible for him to help feeling pleased at these signs ofthe liking of the men, and he redoubled his efforts to cheer themon the line of march; and to aid any men who seemed unable to climbup through the snow, by carrying their rifles and ammunitionpouches for them. He had long since grown accustomed to carryingweights, and was able to keep up with the most seasoned marchers.

  On two or three occasions Gholam Singh was able to reportfavourably of his conduct, in thus relieving men of their arms. Thecolonel always took these communications in the ordinary way.

  "There is no doubt," he said, when the conversation turned on thesubject, "that Gholam Singh must have been an accessory to youngBullen's plot. I have been looking up the list of the deceasedsepoys, and I find that a recruit of the same name died, two daysbefore we marched. In some way young Bullen, if it is really theboy, contrived to take the dead man's place and name. This couldhave been very well done, without any of us knowing. None of uswere familiar with the dead man's appearance, and Gholam Singh, andsome of the other native officers, must have arranged that heshould take his place. If this has been the case I shall, ofcourse, be obliged to speak sharply to the risaldar major; but inreality I shall not be very angry with him, for he will certainlyhave done young Bullen a good turn."

  "I am sure it is Bullen," one of the officers said, "for when I cameup suddenly behind him, today, I heard him whistling an English tune.Of course, it may have been played by the band when we were in camp,but whistling is not a common Punjabi accomplishment, and I don'tknow that I ever heard native boys whistle before. He stopped directlyI came up, but I could make no mistake about the tune; for I hungbehind a little, and was amused at seeing the men marching by himtrying to keep step, while they were over their knees in snow. Icaught a grin on their faces at their failure, though they looked asgrave as usual when they saw me."

  "Well, we must let things go on as they are," the colonel said,"until we get to Chitral. Then we will have him up, and get to thebottom of the affair. If it turns out to be Bullen, he must at onceleave the ranks and join us again. I shall then have to ask for acommission for him, and give him temporary rank as juniorlieutenant, until an answer to my recommendation arrives. Even ifit is not Bullen, it may be--unlikely as it seems--some otherEnglishman; but in any case, we could not allow an Englishman to bein the ranks."

  "I don't think there is any doubt about it, colonel," the majorsaid. "I have had a good look at him, several times, and couldalmost swear to his identity, well as he is got up."

  Lisle pursued the regular course of his work, in happyunconsciousness that any suspicion as to his identity entered theminds of his officers. His spirits were now not forced; thefatiguing marches, the night pickets, and the pressure of his dutyso occupied his thoughts that he had little time to dwell upon hisloss. It was now three months since his father had died, and yet itseemed to him in the far distance, so much had happened since.Occasionally he thought with disgust that, when this was all over,he must return to England to the uncle he had never seen, andbecome a schoolboy, spending his days in study; and perhaps, in theend, fail to pass his examination. He would be a stranger amongststrangers. He could not expect that his uncle should feel anyparticular interest in a lad he had never before seen, and he drewpictures to himself of the long, friendless interval before, evenat the best, he could again don a uniform.

  But upon such thoughts he did not allow himself to dwell. It had tobe done, and he would, he supposed, get through it all right. Hemight find friends among the fellows at the same crammer's. At anyrate, three years would soon pass, and he must make the best of it.

  "I suppose the crammer will be in London," he said. "Everythingthere will be new to me
and, no doubt, I shall find it veryinteresting. They say that it is an immense place, to which eventhe biggest Indian city is but a mere trifle. It will be curious tosee everyone in dark clothes, with none of the gay colouring ofIndia.

  "Father often said that the pleasantest time of his life was theyears he spent in England, while he was cramming for his exam.There were theatres, and all sorts of other places of amusement. Hehad the best of companions and, after they had finished their work,they were at liberty to do pretty nearly whatever they liked.

  "I think I shall get my uncle to send me to the same crammer asfather went to, if he is still alive. I put down his address once,in my pocketbook, and shall be able to find it again when I getdown to Calcutta, and recover my traps.

  "Well, I need not worry myself by thinking of it, now. It will allcome some day, and I dare say I shall find it pleasant enough, whenI once get accustomed to it."

  Such thoughts often passed through his mind at night for, duringthe day, he had not a minute to himself. He was almost sure, now,that the men had discovered his identity, by the many little marksof kindness they had shown him, and by the manner in which hisfellow sub-officers always spoke to him with a certain air ofrespect. This, however, did not worry him. He felt certain thatthey would keep the secret; and at the end of the campaign he must,of course, disclose himself and obtain his discharge. Until then,no one would have time to think much of the matter, still less findany opportunity of reporting it to Colonel Kelly.

  He wondered how the colonel would take it, when he went up to saywho he was. He did not think he would be very seriously angry,though probably he would wig him sharply. At any rate he had notdone badly, and had brought no discredit to the regiment.

  He had unconsciously adopted the regimental belief that he was alucky man, and should get through the campaign unhurt. He wasparticularly anxious that he should do so as, were he confined inhospital for a few days, he would have no opportunity of renewinghis stain; in which case he would undoubtedly be detected. They hadadvanced so far now, however, that even if he were discovered, theycould hardly send him back before he got to Chitral. He might, ofcourse, be detained at Reshun, which would be a horrible nuisance.

  One night his camp mate said to him:

  "You ought to be with the officers, Bullen sahib. It is not rightfor you to be working as we do."

  "Why do you call me Bullen Sahib, Pertusal?"

  "Everyone knows it, sahib. Little by little we nave found you out.We had some suspicions from the first, but now we are sure of it.Only your father's son would have fought as you did on the hilland, when we came to look very closely at you, we all recognizedyou, in spite of your dye."

  "Then I wish I hadn't fought quite so hard, Pertusal, for I hadhoped that I had altogether escaped recognition. I thought that Icould have gone through the campaign without anyone suspecting whoI was."

  "We did not suspect at first, sahib. We quite took you for one ofourselves. No, the cheerfulness with which you bore your hardships,and your readiness to assist anyone, surprised us. You were sodifferent from us all that we could not help wondering who youwere; but I don't think any of us really suspected that you wereCaptain Bullen's son, till that fight. I know that when I was busyfighting, sorely pushed as we were, I wondered when I heard youshout in English; and I had heard you call out so often, when youwere playing cricket with the officers, that I recognized yourvoice at once.

  "Then the wonder that we felt about you ceased. It seemed for amoment impossible, for I had seen you go off with the sick convoy.Then it seemed to me that it was just the thing that CaptainBullen's son might be expected to do. You would naturally want tosee fighting, but I did wonder how you managed to come back and getenlisted into the regiment. I remember, now, that I wondered alittle the first night you joined. You were in uniform and, as arule, recruits don't go into uniform for some time after they havejoined. It was therefore remarkable that you should turn up inuniform, rifle and all."

  "It was the uniform of the original Mutteh Ghar," Lisle said. "Myservant had managed to get it; and the story that I was the man'scousin, and was therefore permitted to take his place, was naturalenough to pass."

  "But some of our officers must have helped you, sahib?"

  "Well, I won't say anything about that. I did manage to join in theway I wanted, and you and your comrade were both very kind to me."

  "That was natural enough, sahib. You were a young recruit, and weunderstood that you were put with us two old soldiers in order thatwe might teach you your duty. It was not long, however, before wefound that there was very little teaching necessary for, at the endof a week, you knew your work as well as any man in the regiment.We thought you a wonder, but we kept our thoughts to ourselves.

  "Now that we know who you are, all the regiment is proud that yourfather's son has come among us, and shared our lot down to thesmallest detail. I noticed that you were rather clumsy with yourcooking, but even in that respect you soon learned how thingsshould be done.

  "I suppose, sahib, we shall lose you at the end of the campaign?"

  "Yes; I shall have to start for England, at once; for in order togain a commission, I must study hard for two or three years. Ofcourse, I shall then have to declare myself to the officers, inorder to get my discharge. I am afraid that the colonel will bevery angry, but I cannot help that. I am quite sure, however, thathe will let me go, as soon as he knows who I am. It will be ratherfun to see the surprise of the officers."

  "I don't think the colonel will be angry, sahib. He might havebeen, if you had not done so well; but as it is, he cannot but bepleased that Captain Bullen's son should have so distinguishedhimself, even in the 32nd Pioneers, who have the reputation ofbeing one of the best fighting regiments in all India."

  "Well, I hope so, Pertusal. At any rate, I am extremely glad Icame. I have seen what fighting is, and that under the most severeconditions. I have proved to myself that I can bear hardshipswithout flinching; and I shall certainly be proud, all my life,that I have been one in the column for the relief of Chitral--thatis to say, if we are the first."

  "We shall be the first," the soldier said, positively. "It is hardwork enough getting our baggage over the passes; but it will beharder still for the Peshawar force, encumbered with such a trainas they will have to take with them.

  "Ah! Sahib, if only our food were so condensed that we could carrya supply for twelve days about us, what would we not be able to do?We could rout the fiercest tribe on the frontier, withoutdifficulty. We could march about fifteen or twenty miles a day, andmore than that, if necessary. We could do wonders, indeed."

  "I am afraid we shall never discover that," Lisle said. "The Germansoldiers do indeed carry condensed meat in sausages, and can takethree or four days' supplies with them; but we have not yetdiscovered anything like food of which men could carry twelve days'supply. We may some day be able to do it but, even if it weighedbut a pound a day, it would add heavily to the load to be carried."

  "No one would mind that," Pertusal said. "Think what a comfort itwould be, if we could make our breakfast before starting, eat alittle in the middle of the day, and be sure of supper directly wegot into camp; instead of having to wait hours and hours, andperhaps till the next morning, before the baggage train arrived. Iwould willingly carry double my present load, if I felt sure that Iwould gain that advantage. I know that the officers have tins ofcondensed milk, one of which can make more than a gallon; and thatthey carry cocoa, and other things, of which a little goes a longway. Now, if they could condense rice and ghee like that, we shouldbe able to carry all that is necessary with us for twelve days.Mutton we could always get on a campaign, for the enemy's flocksare at our disposal; and it must be a bare place, indeed, where wecould not find enough meat to keep us going. It is against ourreligion to eat beef, but few of us would hesitate to do so, on acampaign; and oxen are even more common than sheep.

  "It is very little baggage we should have to take with us, then.Twenty ponies would carry sufficie
nt for the regiment; and ifgovernment did but buy us good mules, we could always rely upongetting them into camp before dark. See what an advantage thatwould be! Ten men would do for the escort; whereas, at present, ahundred is not sufficient."

  "Well, I wish it could be so," Lisle said. "But although somearticles of food might be compressed, I don't think we should everbe able to compress rice or ghee. A handful of rice, when it isboiled, makes enough for a meal; and I don't imagine that it couldpossibly be condensed more than that."

  "Well, it is getting late, and we march at daylight. Fortunately wehave not to undress, but have only to turn in as we are."