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THE
DASH FOR KHARTOUM:
A TALE OF
THE NILE EXPEDITION.
BY
G. A. HENTY,
Author of "With Clive in India;" "True to the Old Flag;" "Bonnie Prince
Charlie;" "By Sheer Pluck;" "Facing Death;" "One of the 28th;" &c.
WITH TEN PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOSEPH NASH, R.I.
AND JOHN SCHÖNBERG.
LONDON:
BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED, 49 OLD BAILEY, E.C.
GLASGOW, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN.
MR. HENTY'S HISTORICAL TALES.
_Crown 8vo, Cloth elegant, Olivine edges. Each Book is beautifully
Illustrated._
THE CAT OF BUBASTES: A Story of Ancient Egypt. 5_s._
THE YOUNG CARTHAGINIAN: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. 6_s._
FOR THE TEMPLE: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. 6_s._
BERIC THE BRITON: A Story of the Roman Invasion. 6_s._
THE LION OF ST. MARK: A Story of Venice in the 14th Century. 6_s._
THE LION OF THE NORTH: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus. 6_s._
THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN: Or, The Days of King Alfred. 5_s._
IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. 6_s._
ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. 5_s._
BY PIKE AND DYKE: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. 6_s._
UNDER DRAKE'S FLAG: A Tale of the Spanish Main. 6_s._
ORANGE AND GREEN: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. 5_s._
BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. 6_s._
THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE: Or, With Peterborough in Spain. 5_s._
IN THE REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution. 5_s._
WITH WOLFE IN CANADA: Or, The Winning of a Continent. 6_s._
WITH CLIVE IN INDIA: Or, The Beginnings of an Empire. 6_s._
TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG: The American War of Independence. 6_s._
HELD FAST FOR ENGLAND: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. 5_s._
ONE OF THE 28TH: A Story of Waterloo. 5_s._
IN GREEK WATERS: A Story of the Grecian War. 6_s._
THROUGH THE FRAY: A Story of the Luddite Riots. 6_s._
BY SHEER PLUCK: A Tale of the Ashanti War. 5_s._
FOR NAME AND FAME: Or, Through Afghan Passes. 5_s._
WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA: A Story of the American Civil War. 6_s._
THE DASH FOR KHARTOUM: A Tale of the Nile Expedition. 6_s._
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST: A Story of Escape from Siberia. 5_s._
LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED; GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH.
PREFACE.
MY DEAR LADS,
The story of the Nile Expedition is so recent that no word of
introduction is necessary to the historical portion of the tale. The
moral, such as it is, of the story of the two lads brought up as
brothers is--Never act in haste, for repentance is sure to follow. In
this case great anxiety and unhappiness were caused through a lad acting
as he believed for the best, but without consulting those who had every
right to a voice in the matter. That all came right in the end in no way
affects this excellent rule, for all might have gone wrong. We are often
misled by a generous impulse, more often perhaps than by an evil one,
but the consequences may be just as serious in the one case as the
other. When in trouble you should always go freely to your best friends
and natural advisers, and lay the case fully before them. It may be
that, if the trouble has arisen from your own fault, you will have to
bear their temporary displeasure, but this is a small thing in
comparison with the permanent injury that may arise from acting on your
own impulse. In most cases, cowardice lies at the bottom of concealment,
and cowardice is of all vices the most contemptible; while the fear of
the displeasure of a parent has ruined many a boy's life. Therefore,
when you are in serious trouble always go to your best friend, your
father, and lay the case frankly and honestly before him; for you may
be sure that present displeasure and even punishment are but small
things in comparison with the trouble that may arise from trying to get
out of the difficulty in other ways.
Yours sincerely,
G. A. HENTY
CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
I. MIXED! 11
II. AT CHELTENHAM, 27
III. GONE, 47
IV. BACK AT SCHOOL, 65
V. ENLISTED, 84
VI. EGYPT, 97
VII. EL-TEB, 116
VIII. TAMANIEB, 134
IX. THE CAMEL CORPS, 144
X. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING, 165
XI. ABU KLEA, 183
XII. METEMMEH, 201
XIII. ABU KRU, 218
XIV. A SLAVE, 235
XV. BAD NEWS, 253
XVI. IN DISGUISE, 270
XVII. A RUNAWAY SLAVE, 288
XVIII. THE ZAREBA, 306
XIX. A LONG SEARCH, 325
XX. FOUND! 340
XXI. HOME! 359
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
"THE WOMAN PLACED HERSELF IN HIS WAY," 50
"EDGAR STRUCK HIM WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH," 102
"WITH A DESPERATE RUSH THEY REACHED THE SAILORS," 123
TOWING THE BOATS UP THE NILE, 163
AT THE WELLS OF GAKDUL, 184
"THE ARABS WITH WILD YELLS CHARGED UPON THE SQUARE," 196
"GOOD-BYE, LAD, AND GOD BLESS YOU!" 210
"A SHOT HAD PASSED THROUGH HER BOILER," 263
THE ARMY OF HICKS PASHA ON THE MARCH, 342
"IT IS RUPERT'S VOICE, BUT IT CANNOT BE RUPERT!" 357
* * * * *
Plan--Port of Suakim, 122
" Battle of El-teb, 29th Feb. 1884, "
" Battle of Abu Klea, 17th Jan. 1885, 138
" Battle of Tamai, 13th Mar. 1884, "
THE DASH FOR KHARTOUM: A TALE OF THE NILE EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER I
MIXED!
In a room in the married non-commissioned officers' quarters in the
cantonments at Agra, a young woman was sitting looking thoughtfully at
two infants, who lay sleeping together on the outside of a bed with a
shawl thrown lightly over them. Jane Humphreys had been married about a
year. She was the daughter of the regimental sergeant-major, and had
been a spoilt child. She was good looking, and had, so the wives and
daughters of the other non-commissioned officers said, laid herself out
to catch one of the young officers of the regiment, and was bitterly
disappointed at the failure of her efforts.
The report may have been untrue, for Jane Farran was by no means popular
with the other women, taking far too much upon herself, as they
considered, upon the strength of her father's rank, and giving herself
airs as if she were better than those around her. There were girls in
the regiment just as good looking as she was without any of her airs and
tempers. Why should she set herself up above the rest?
When, however, Sergeant-major Farran died suddenly of sunstroke after a
heavy field-day, whatever plans and hopes his daughter may have
entertained came to an end. Her name and that of her mother were put
down among the women to be sent, with the next batch of invalids, home
to England, and she suddenly accepted the offer of marriage of young
Sergeant Humphreys, whose advances she had previously treated with
scorn. They were married six weeks later, on the day before her mother
was to go down by train with a party of invalids to Calcutta. The
universal opinion of the women in the regiment was that the sergeant had
got a bad bargain.
"No man of spirit," one of them said, "would have taken up with a girl
who only accepted him because she could not do any better. She has got
her temper written in her face, and a nice time of it he is likely to
have."
It may have been true that Jane Humphreys had during her father's
lifetime had her ambitions, but she was a clever woman and adapted
herself to her circumstances. If, as the sergeant-major's daughter, she
had given herself airs, and had thrown herself in the way of the young
officers, and had been light and flighty in her manner, all this was
changed as soon as she was married, and even the most censorious were
obliged to admit that she made Sergeant Humphreys a better wife than
they had expected. His home was admirably kept, the gay dresses that had
been somewhat beyond her station were cut up and altered, and she
dressed neatly and quietly.
She was handy with her fingers, her things always fitted her well, and
she gained the approbation of the officers' wives, who had previously
looked upon her with some disfavour as a forward young person. She made
every effort to get on good terms with the wives of the other
non-commissioned officers, and succeeded at last in overcoming the
prejudice which, as Jane Farran, she had excited. There was no doubt
that she was a clever woman, and it was equally beyond doubt that she
completely managed her husband. She was much his superior in education,
and possessing far greater abilities could twist him round her little
finger, although she did it so cleverly that he never suspected that he
was the victim of such an operation.
A month previous to the opening of the story she had been confined of a
boy, and two days later Mrs. Clinton, the wife of the captain of her
husband's company, also became a mother. Before the week was over Mrs.
Clinton was taken dangerously ill, and as it was impossible for her to
nurse her child, the surgeon of the regiment recommended that it should
be given into the charge of the sergeant's wife, as she, being a strong
and healthy young woman, could very well nurse it as well as her own. It
was a month after this that Sergeant Humphreys, returning to his
quarters, found his wife sitting by the side of the bed on which the two
infants were asleep.
"They are as alike as two peas," he said as he looked at them. "I am
sure I wonder, Jane, that you know which is which!"
Mrs. Humphreys' answer did not seem to the point. "Captain Clinton is a
rich man, is he not, John?"
"Yes; they say he came into a grand estate two years ago when his father
died, and that like enough he will leave the regiment when it goes home
next year."
"Then one of those babies will be a rich man, and the other--" and she
stopped.
"The other will, I hope, be a non-commissioned officer in the 30th Foot
one of these days," the sergeant said. Jane looked up at her husband.
There was no touch of envy or discontent in his voice. She was about to
speak but checked herself.
"Which is yours, John?" she asked a moment later, returning to his first
remark.
"I am sure I could not tell," he said with a laugh. "Babies are mostly
pretty much alike, and as these two are just the same age, and just the
same size, and have both got gray eyes and light coloured hair--if you
can call it hair,--and no noses to speak of, I don't see a pin's point
of difference."
A month later a small party were assembled in Captain Clinton's
bungalow. Mrs. Humphreys was standing with a baby in each arm. Mrs.
Clinton was lying upon a sofa crying bitterly. Captain Clinton was
walking up and down the room, hot and angry. The surgeon of the regiment
was standing grave and sympathetic by Mrs. Clinton. Sergeant Humphreys
was in the attitude of attention by the door, with an anxious troubled
expression on his face.
"What in the world is to be done, doctor?" Captain Clinton asked. "I
never heard of such a thing, it is a most serious business."
"I can quite see that," the doctor replied. "When Mrs. Humphreys came to
me and asked me to break the news to you, I told her at once that it was
a terrible business. I own that I do not see that she is altogether to
blame, but it is a most unfortunate occurrence. As I have just told you,
she had, when she put the children to bed, put your child in one of her
baby's night-gowns, as it happened there were none of your child's
clean. In the morning she took them out and laid them on a rug on the
ground before beginning to wash and dress them. She went out to the
canteen to get something for her husband's breakfast, and when she
returned she could not remember the order in which she had taken them
out of bed and laid them down, and could not distinguish her own child
from yours."
"You must remember, Mrs. Humphreys," Captain Clinton broke in; "think it
over, woman. You must remember how you laid them down."
"Indeed, I do not, sir; I have been thinking all the morning. I had
nursed them two or three times during the night, and of course had
changed their position then. I never thought about their having the same
night-gowns on. If I had, of course I should have been more careful, for
I have said to my husband over and over again that it was only by their
clothes that I should know them apart, for if they had been twins they
could not be more alike.
"This is downright maddening!" Captain Clinton exclaimed, pacing up and
down the room. "And is there no mark nor anything by which they can be
recognized? Why, bless me, woman, surely you as a mother ought to know
your own child!"
Mrs. Humphreys shook her head. "I have nursed them both, sir, and which
is mine and which is yours I could not say to save my life."
"Well, put the children down on that sofa," Captain Clinton said, "and
take yourself off for the present; you have done mischief enough for a
lifetime. I will let you know what we decide upon later on."
"Well, doctor, what on earth is to be done?" he asked after the door had
closed upon the sergeant and his wife. "What do you think had best be
done, Lucy?"
But Mrs. Clinton, who was but just recovering from her illness, was too
prostrated by this terrible blow to be able to offer any suggestion.
"It is a terrible business indeed, Clinton," the doctor said, "and I
feel for you most deeply. Of course the possibility of such a thing
never entered my mind when I recommended you to let Mrs. Humphreys act
as its foster-mother. It seemed at the time quite a providential
circumstance that she too should be just confined, and in a position to
take to your baby. The only possible suggestion I can offer is that you
should for a time bring up both boys as your own. At present they are
certainly wonderfully alike, but it is probable that as they grow up you
will see in one or other of them a likeness to yourself or your wife,
and that the other will take after its own parents. Of course these
likenesses do not always exist, but in nine cases out of ten some
resemblance can be traced between a boy and one or other of his
parents."
"That certainly seems feasible," Captain Clinton said in a tone of
relief. "What do you say, dear? It is only bringing up the two children
for a time till we are able to be certain which is our own. The other
will have had the advantage of a good education and so on, and of course
it will be our business to give him a good start in life."
"It will be awful having the two children, and not knowing which is our
own."
"It will be very unpleasant," Captain Clinton said soothingly; "but, you
see, in time you will come to care for them both just as if they had
been twins."
"That will be almost as bad," Mrs. Clinton cried feebly. "And suppose
one gets to love the wrong one best?"
"We won't suppose that, dear; but if we love them both equally, we will,
when we find out which is ours, treat the other as an adopted child and
complete his education, and start him in life as if he were so.
Fortunately the expense will be nothing to us."
"But this woman has a right to one of them."
"She does not deserve to have one," Captain Clinton said angrily; "but
of course we must make some arrangement with her. She is bound to do her
best to repair the terrible mischief her carelessness has caused. Well,
doctor, we will think it over for an hour or two, but certainly your
suggestion seems by far the best for us to adopt."
"The hussy!" the doctor said as he walked away to his quarters. "I am
more than half inclined to believe that she has done it on purpose. I
never liked the jade before she married, though I own that she has
turned out better than I expected. But I always thought her a designing
and artful young woman, and gave her credit for plenty of brains, and
what could suit her purpose better than this change of children? She
would see that in the first place she would get her own boy well brought
up, and perhaps provided for, with all sorts of chances of making money
out of the affair. It may have been an accident, of course, but if so,
it was a wonderfully fortunate one for her."
Such was the opinion among the women of the regiment when the news
became known, and Jane Humphreys was speedily made aware of the fact by
the change in their manner towards her. They had, however, but small
opportunity for demonstrating their opinion, for Mrs. Humphreys remained
shut up as much as possible in her room, and the one or two women who
were inclined to take a favourable view of the matter and so called upon
her, reported that she was completely prostrated by the occurrence.
Among the officers and their families the greatest commiseration was
felt for Captain Clinton and his wife, and the matter was discussed at
tiffin that day with great animation.
"Don't you think, doctor, that a woman must know her own child?" a young
ensign asked.
"Not at all, Arbuthnot; that is to say, not if you mean that she would
know it by any sort of maternal instinct. There is no such thing. She
has no more means of telling her own infant out of a dozen others of
similar complexion, age, and appearance, than she would have of picking
out her own pocket-handkerchief out of a dozen others of similar pattern
if they were all unmarked."
"But a sheep can pick out his own lamb among a hundred, doctor, and I am
sure they are alike as so many peas. Surely that must be maternal
instinct?"
"Not in the smallest degree, Arbuthnot. The sheep and other animals
possess in a very high degree a sense which is comparatively rudimentary
in human beings. I mean, of course, the sense of smell. A sheep knows
her lamb, and a cow knows her calf, neither by the sense of hearing or
by that of sight. She recognizes it solely and wholly by her sense of
smell, just as a dog can track its master's footsteps out of a thousand
by the same sense. The two babies are as alike as twins; and I am not
surprised that, if they really got mixed, this woman should not be able
to detect one from the other."
"It is an awful thing for Clinton," the major said. "Here he has got a
splendid estate, and he will never be certain whether his own son or a
stranger is going to inherit it after him. It is enough to make a man go
out of his mind."
"I don't see that that would be likely to mend matters," the doctor said
dryly; "in fact it would lessen the one chance that exists of ever
setting the matter straight. As I have told him, though these children
are very much alike at present--and indeed most babies are--it is
probable that as they grow up there will no longer be any resemblance
whatever, and that his own child will develop a likeness either to him
or Mrs. Clinton, while the other child will resemble the sergeant or his
wife."
"We must hope it will be so," the major said, "though there are lots of
fellows who don't resemble in the least either of their parents. But
what is Clinton going to do about it?"
"He has not settled yet. His wife was in no condition to discuss the
matter, poor lady! My suggestion was that he should bring up both the
children as if they were his own, until one or other of them develops
this likeness that I was speaking of."
"I suppose that is the best thing they can do, doctor; but it will be an
awful business if, as they grow up, no likeness to anybody can be
detected in either of them."
"Well, major, although at present it does seem an awful thing, it won't
seem so bad at the end, say, of twenty years. They will naturally by
that time be as fond of one as the other. The boys, in fact, will be
like twins; and I suppose the property can be divided in some such way
as it would be were they really in that relation to each other."
"But, you see, doctor," one of the captains said, "Mrs. Humphreys has to
be considered to a certain extent too. It is hard on Mrs. Clinton; but
if she gets both boys she is certain at any rate that one of them is her
son, and Mrs. Humphreys will, by that arrangement, have to lose her
child altogether. That seems to me pretty rough on her."
"Well, she brought it on herself," the doctor replied. "The whole thing
has arisen from her carelessness."
"Do you think it was carelessness, doctor?" the major asked.
"That is a matter on which I will give no opinion, major. It is one upon
which one man can form a judgment as well as another. The thing may very
well have happened in the way she describes; and again it may be a very
cunningly devised plot on her part. It is evident she had everything to
gain by such an accident. She would get her child taken off her hands,
educated, and provided for. She would calculate no doubt that she would
be their nurse, and would expect, in return for giving up her claim to
one or other of them, some very distinct monetary advantages. I do not
at all say that the affair was not an accident. Upon the contrary, I
admit that it was an accident which might very well happen under the
circumstances. What I do say is, nothing could have turned out better
for her."
Just as tiffin was finished, Captain Clinton's soldier-servant came into
the mess-room with the request that Dr. Parker should go across to his
master's bungalow. "Well, doctor," Captain Clinton said as he entered,
"in the first place I want you to go up and see my wife, and give her a
sedative or something, for she is terribly upset over this affair; and
in the next place I want to tell you that we have agreed to take your
advice in the matter, and to bring up the two children as our own until
we can make out which of the two is our child; then I want your advice
as to whether they can be weaned without any damage to their health. My
wife is determined upon that point. They shall not be brought up by Mrs.
Humphreys. There is no other woman, is there, in the regiment with a
young baby?"
The doctor shook his head. "There are one or two with babies, but not
with babies young enough for her to take to these. It would certainly be
far better that they should have the natural nourishment, but I do not
say that they would necessarily suffer from being weaned. Still, you
see, Clinton, there is a question whether this woman will consent to
part with both the children."
"I quite see that, doctor, and of course I shall be ready to make any
money arrangements that will content her."
"I would see the husband, if I were you," the doctor said. "He is a
steady, well-conducted young fellow, and however this matter has come
about, I quite acquit him of having any share in it. I think you will
find it more easy to deal with him than his wife. Unfortunately, you
see, there is always a difficulty with adopted children. A father cannot
sell away his rights; he may agree to do so, but if he changes his mind
afterwards he can back out of his agreement. However he may bind himself
never to interfere with it, the fact remains that he has a legal right
to the custody of his child. And though Sergeant Humphreys might keep
any agreement he might make, the mother might give you no end of trouble
afterwards."
"I see all that, doctor, but of the two evils I think the one we propose
is the least. My wife says she could not bear to see this woman about
the children, and I have a good deal of the same feeling myself. At any
rate in her present state of health I wish to spare her all trouble and
anxiety as much as I can, and therefore it is better to buy this woman
off for the present, even though we may have to run the risk of trouble
with her afterwards. Anyhow, something must be done at once. The
children have both been squalling for the last hour, though I believe
that they have had some milk or something given to them. So I had better
send across for Humphreys, the sooner the matter is got over the
better."
The young sergeant presently appeared.
"Sit down, sergeant. I want to have a talk with you over this terribly
painful business. In one respect I quite understand that it is as
painful for you and Mrs. Humphreys as it is for us, but in other
respects you are much better off than I am. Not only do I not know
which is my child, but I do not know which is heir to my estate; which
is, as you will understand, a most serious matter."
"I can quite understand that, sir," the sergeant said quietly.
"The only plan that I can see," Captain Clinton went on, "is that for
the present I shall adopt both children, and shall bring them up as my
own. Probably in time one of them will grow up with some resemblance to
myself or Mrs. Clinton, and the other will show a likeness to you or
your wife. In that case I should propose to finish the education of your
boy, and then to provide for him by putting him into the army, or such
other profession as he may choose; for it would be very unfair after
bringing him up and educating him as my own to turn him adrift. Thus,
you see, in any case my adoption of him would be greatly to his benefit.
I can, of course, thoroughly understand that it will be very hard for
you and Mrs. Humphreys to give up your child. Very hard. And I am quite
ready to make any pecuniary arrangement with you and her that you may
think right. I may say that I do not think that it would be desirable
that Mrs. Humphreys should continue as their nurse. I want to consider
the boys as my own, and her presence would be constantly bringing up
unpleasant remembrances. In the second place I think that it would be
better for her that she should not act as their nurse. She would know
that one of them is her own, and the separation when it came would be
very much more painful than it would be at present. Of course I do not
expect an answer from you just at this moment. You will naturally wish
to talk it over with her, but I shall be glad if you will let us have an
answer as soon as you can, as it is necessary that we should obtain
another nurse without loss of time."
"What you say seems to me very fair, Captain Clinton," the sergeant
said. "I would give anything, sir, that this shouldn't have happened. I
would rather have shot myself first. I can answer for myself, sir, that
I accept your offer. Of course, I am sorry to lose the child; but a
baby is not much to a man till it gets to know him and begins to talk,
and it will be a satisfaction to know that he is in good hands, with a
far better look-out than I could have given him. I will see my wife,
sir, and let you know in half an hour."
"Do you think that she will consent, Humphreys?"
"I am sure she will," the sergeant said briefly, and then added, "There
is nothing else she could do," and saluting he went out of the room.
"He suspects his wife of having done it on purpose," Dr. Parker said,
speaking for the first time since the sergeant had entered the room. "I
don't say he knows it, but he suspects it. Did you notice how decidedly
he said that she would consent? And I fancy up to now she has had her
own way in everything."
"Well, what do they say?" Mrs. Humphreys asked as her husband entered
the door. He told her shortly the offer that had been made. She laughed
scornfully. "A likely thing that! So they are to have both children, and
I am not to be allowed even to see them; and they are to pick and choose
as to which they like to say is theirs, and we are to be shouldered out
of it altogether! It is just as bad for me not to know which is my boy
as it is for that woman; but they are to take the whole settlement of
things in their hands, my feelings to go for nothing. Of course you told
them that you would not let them do such a thing?"
"I did not tell them anything of the sort. I told them that I accepted
their proposal, and that I could answer for your accepting it too."
"Then you were never more wrong in your life, John Humphreys!" she said
angrily; "I won't consent to anything of the sort. Luck has thrown a
good thing in our hands, and I mean to make the most of it. We ought to
get enough out of this to make us comfortable for life if we work it
well. I did not think that you were such a soft!"
"Soft or not soft, it is going to be done as they propose," her husband
said doggedly. "It is burden enough as it is--we have lost our child.
Not that I care so very much about that; there will be time enough for
more, and children do not add to the comfort of close little quarters
like these. But whether we like it or not, we have lost the child. In
the next place we shall never hear the end of it in the regiment, and I
shall see if I cannot manage to get transferred to another. There will
be no standing the talk there will be."
"Let them talk!" his wife said scornfully. "What do we care about their
talk!"
"I care a great deal," he said. "And I tell you why, because I know what
they will say is true."
"What do you mean?" she asked quickly.
"I mean, Jane, that I know you mixed up those children on purpose."
"How dare you say so!" she exclaimed making a step forward as if she
would strike him.
"I will tell you why I say so. Because I went to the drawer this morning
before going to parade, and I saw some of Mrs. Clinton's baby's
night-gowns in it. Yes, I see they are all in the wash-tub now; but they
were there this morning, and when I heard you say you had put the child
into one of our baby's night-gowns because it had no clean ones of its
own, I knew that you were lying, and that you had done this on purpose."
The woman was silent a moment and then burst out, "You are a greater
fool than ever I thought you! I did tell a lie when I gave that reason
for putting the child into our baby's gown. When I took the two clean
ones out of the drawer I did not notice until I put them on that they
were both ours, and then I thought it was not worth while changing again
just as the child had got quiet and comfortable. Then when I found what
had happened in the morning, I had to make some excuse or other, and
that occurred to me as the best. When I came back I did put them all
into the wash-tub, clean and dirty, in case any one should come here to
see about them. What harm was there in that, I should like to know?"
"You have acknowledged you have told one lie over it; after that you may
say what you like, but you need not expect me to believe you."
"Well, why don't you go at once and tell them that you believe that I
changed the children on purpose?"
"Because in the first place I cannot prove it, and because in the second
case you are my wife, Jane. I took you for better or worse, and whatever
you have done it is not for me to round on you. Anyhow, I will do all I
can to set this matter straight, and the only way that I see it can be
set straight is by doing as Captain Clinton says--by letting him have
the two children until they grow up, and then see which of the two is
like them and which is like us. What do you want done? I suppose you
don't want to have the care of them both. I suppose you don't want to
get paid for letting them keep them both, and to have every man and
woman in the regiment asking the question, Who sold their child? What is
it you do want?"
"I want to go as their nurse."
"Well, then, you cannot do it. It is evident that Mrs. Clinton hates the
sight of you, and no wonder; and she won't have you at any price. You
had best be contented with what you have got."
"What have I got?" she asked sullenly.
"Well, you have got the trouble of the child off your hands, you have
got the knowledge that it will be well taken care of and provided for
and made a gentleman of. That ought to be a satisfaction to you anyhow."
"What is that when we might make a nice little fortune out of it?"
"I can see no way of making a fortune," he said, "unless you do know
which is which, and offer to tell them if they will pay you for it. In
which case, instead of making a fortune you would be likely to find
yourself inside a prison for years--and serve you right."
The woman was silent for some time, then she said, "Very well, then, I
will agree to their terms; but mind you, I will make money out of it
yet." And so Sergeant Humphreys went across to Captain Clinton's
bungalow and told him that his wife agreed to give up both children.
"It is by far the best thing for the little chap whichever he may be,
and you will be able to do a deal more for him than I ever could. My
wife did not quite see the matter at first, but she has come round to my
way of thinking. No, sir, we do not want to be paid," as Captain Clinton
was about to speak; "as long as I am fit for service we want nothing.
Some day, perhaps, when I get past service I may ask you to give me a
job as a lodge-keeper or some such post, where I can earn my living."
And so the matter was settled. One of the other officers' wives had
already lent her ayah to take care of the children until one could be
found for them.
The ready manner in which Sergeant Humphreys had done the only thing in
his power to obviate the effects of his wife's carelessness restored him
at once to the good opinion of his fellow sergeants and the men, as it
was generally allowed that he had done the right thing, and that no one
could do more. Opinion, however, was less favourable as to his wife. It
was soon evident to all who lived in the non-commissioned officers'
quarters that things were not going on well between Sergeant Humphreys
and his wife. There were frequent and violent quarrels. The sergeant was
often down at the canteen drinking more than was good for him.
One day Captain Clinton sent for him. "Sergeant, I am sorry to say that
I hear from the sergeant-major that you were drunk last night, and that
you have several times been the worse for liquor. It is not a formal
complaint, but I thought it better to talk to you. You have always been
a very steady man, and I should be sorry in the extreme if any thing
should happen which would cause you to be brought before the colonel. I
have no doubt this affair has troubled you greatly, and that it is
entirely owing to that that you have become unsettled. Try to pull
yourself round, man. You know that nobody attributes the slightest
shadow of blame to you in the matter."
"Thank you, sir. I was coming to see you if you hadn't sent for me, to
say that I wished to give up my stripes and return to the ranks. I know
I shall be degraded if I don't do it of my own free-will, and I would
rather go down than be sent down."
"But what will your wife do? It would be a great change to her,
Humphreys."
"My wife has made up her mind to go home, sir, and I think it is the
best thing she can do. She will never be comfortable in the regiment,
and to say the truth we are not comfortable together. She says that she
has friends in England she will go and stay with, and I think it is best
to let her go. I would rather cut my hand off than ask for any thing for
myself, but as I am sure that it is for the best that she should go, and
as I don't hear of any invalids or women going home at present, I should
be very much obliged if you would lend me twenty pounds. I have got
thirty laid by, and fifty will be enough to send her across by rail to
Bombay, pay her passage home, and leave her twenty pounds in hand when
she gets there. I will pay it off so much a month."
"You are welcome to twenty pounds without any talk of repayment,
Humphreys. But I wouldn't take any hasty step if I were you. If your
wife and you have had a quarrel she may change her mind in a day or two,
and think better of it."
"No, sir; I think we are pretty well agreed on the point that she had
best go home. People make mistakes sometimes, and I think we both made a
mistake when we got married. Anyhow, we have both agreed that it is
best to part for a time."
Accordingly three or four days later Mrs. Humphreys left Agra for
Bombay, and was seen no more in the regiment. Sergeant Humphreys gave up
his stripes and returned to the ranks, and for two years remained there.
After his wife had left him he gradually gave up the habit into which he
had fallen, and at the end of the two years again became a
non-commissioned officer. He was never heard to speak of his wife after
she left him, nor so far as his comrades knew did he ever receive a
letter from her. Soon after he had again got his stripes the regiment
returned to England, and a month later Captain Clinton sent in his
papers and retired from the service.