Captain Cooke had done his best, previous to the beginning of the
auction, to disarm opposition; by going about among the officers
who dropped in, with the intention of bidding, telling them
something of Stanley's capture, adventures, and escape; and saying
that the general had, himself, advised him to obtain an outfit by
buying a considerable portion of the young officer's kit.
"I have no doubt that he will put him on his staff," he said. "From
his knowledge of the country, and the fact that he speaks the
language well, he would be very useful and, as he has gone through
all this from serving as a volunteer, without pay, I hope you
fellows won't run up the prices, except for things that you really
want."
His story had the desired effect; and when Captain Cooke met
Stanley, he was able to tell him that he had bought for him the
greater portion of the kit, including everything that was
absolutely necessary.
"Are there any plain clothes?" Stanley asked, after thanking him
warmly for the trouble he had taken.
"No. Of course, he left everything of that sort at Calcutta. No one
in his senses would think of bringing mufti out with him,
especially to such a country as this."
"Then I shall have to go in uniform to the general's," Stanley
said, in a tone of consternation. "It seems to me that it would be
an awfully impudent thing, to go in staff uniform to dine with the
general, when I have no right whatever to wear it."
"Well, as the general advised you himself to buy the things, he
cannot blame you for wearing them; and I have not the least doubt
that he is going to offer you a staff appointment of some sort."
"I should like it very much, as long as the war lasted, Captain
Cooke; but I don't think that I should care about staying in the
army, permanently. You see, my uncle is working up a very good
business. He has been at it, now, seven or eight years; and he was
saying the last time that I was with him that, as soon as these
troubles were over, and trade began again, he should give me a
fourth share of it; and make it a third share, when I got to
twenty-one."
"Then you would be a great fool to give it up," Captain Cooke said,
heartily. "A man who has got a good business, out here, would have
an income as much as all the officers of a regiment, together. He
is his own master, and can retire when he likes, and enjoy his
money in England.
"Still, as trade is at a standstill at present, I think that it
would be wise of you to accept any offer that the general might
make to you. It might even be to your advantage, afterwards. To
have served on Campbell's staff will be an introduction to every
officers' mess in the country; and you may be sure that, not only
shall we hold Rangoon in future, but there will be a good many more
British stations between Assam and here than there now are; and it
would be a pull for you, even in the way of trade, to stand on a
good footing everywhere."
"I quite see that," Stanley agreed, "and if the general is good
enough to offer me an appointment, I shall certainly take it."
"You have almost a right to one, Brooke. In the Peninsula lots of
men got their commissions by serving for a time as volunteers; and
having been wounded at Ramoo, and being one of the few survivors of
that fight; and having gone through a captivity, at no small risk
of being put to death the first time that the king was out of
temper, your claim is a very strong one, indeed. Besides, there is
hardly a man here who speaks Burmese, and your services will be
very valuable.
"Here are fifty rupees," he went on, handing the money to Stanley.
"It is not much change out of five hundred; but I can assure you
that you have got the things at a bargain, for you would have had
to pay more than that for them, in England; and I fancy most of the
things are in very good condition, for Hitchcock only came out
about four months ago. Of course the clothes are nothing like new
but, at any rate, they are in a very much better state than those
of anyone who came here three months ago.
"I have ordered them all to be sent to my quarters where, of
course, you will take up your abode till something is settled about
you; which will probably be this evening. In that case, you will
have quarters allotted to you, tomorrow."
"Thank you very much. I shall devote the best portion of this
afternoon to trying to get rid of as much of this stain as I can,
at least off my face and hands. The rest does not matter, one way
or the other, and will wear off gradually; but I should like to get
my face decent."
"Well, you are rather an object, Stanley," he said. "It would not
matter so much about the colour, but all those tattoo marks are, to
say the least of it, singular. Of course they don't look so rum,
now, in that native undress; but when you get your uniform on, the
effect will be startling.
"We will have a chat with the doctor. He may have something in his
medicine chest that will at least soften them down a bit. Of
course, if they were real tattoo marks there would be nothing for
it; but as they are only dye, or paint of some sort, they must wear
themselves out before very long."
"I will try anything that he will give me. I don't care if it takes
the skin off."
On returning to the quarters of Captain Cooke, Stanley was
introduced to the other officers of the regiment; among them the
doctor, to whom he at once applied for some means of taking off the
dye.
"Have you asked the man you brought down with you?" the surgeon
said. "You say that he put it on, and he may know of something that
will take it off again."
"No; I have asked him, and he knows of nothing. He used some of the
dye stuffs of the country, but he said he never heard of anyone
wanting to take the dye out of things that had been coloured."
"If it were only cotton or cloth," the doctor said, "I have no
doubt a very strong solution of soda would take out the greater
portion of the dye; but the human skin won't stand boiling water.
However, I should say that if you have water as hot as you can bear
it, with plenty of soda and soap, it will do something for you. No
doubt, if you were to take a handful or two of very fine sand, it
would help a great deal; but if you use that, I should not put any
soda with the water, or you will practically take all the skin off,
and leave your face like a raw beef steak; which will be worse than
the stain and, indeed, in so hot a sun as we have, might be
dangerous, and bring on erysipelas. So you must be very careful;
and it will be far better for you to put up with being somewhat
singular in your appearance, for a bit, than to lay yourself up by
taking any strong measures to get rid of it."
After an hour spent in vigorous washing, and aided by several rubs
with very fine sand, Stanley succeeded, to his great satisfaction,
in almost getting rid of the tattoo marks on his face. The general
dye had faded a little, though not much; but that with which the
marks had been made was evidently of a less stable character, and
yielded to soap and friction.
Before he had concluded the work two trunks arrived and, finding
that his face was now beginning to smart a good deal, he abstained
for the time from further efforts; and turned to inspect his
purchases, with a good deal of interest. The uniforms consisted of
two undress suits; one with trousers, the other with breeches and
high boots, for riding. There was also a suit of mess jacket,
waistcoat, and trousers; three suits of white drill; half a dozen
white shirts for mess, and as many of thin flannel; and a good
stock of general underclothes, a pair of thick boots, and a light
pair for mess. There was also the sword, belt, and other
equipments; in fact, all the necessaries he would require for a
campaign.
Before beginning to dress, he began to free his hair from the wax
with which it had been plastered up. He had obtained from the
doctor some spirits of turpentine and, with the aid of this, he
found the task a less difficult one than he had expected and, the
regimental barber being sent for by Captain Cooke, his hair was
soon shortened to the ordinary length.
"You will do very well, now," the major said, as he went down into
the general room. "You have certainly succeeded a great deal better
than I thought you would. Of course you look very brown, but there
are a good many others nearly as dark as you are; for between the
rain showers the sun has tremendous power, and some of the men's
faces are almost skinned, while others have browned wonderfully. I
am sure that many of them are quite as dark as yours. So you will
pass muster very well."
Before beginning to wash and change, Stanley had given Meinik the
clothes he had carried down with him; and when he went out to take
a short look round before tiffin--for which the servants were
already laying the cloth--he found the man, now looking like a
respectable Burman, standing near the door. He walked slowly past
him, but the man did not move--not recognizing him, in the
slightest degree, in his present attire.
Then Stanley turned and faced him.
"So you don't know me, Meinik."
The Burman gave a start of surprise.
"Certainly I did not know you, my lord," he said. "Who could have
known you? Before you were a poor Burmese peasant, now you are an
English lord."
"Not a lord at all, Meinik. I am simply an English officer, and
dressed very much the same as I was when your people knocked me on
the head, at Ramoo."
"I know your voice," Meinik said; "but even now that I know it is
you, I hardly recognize your face. Of course, the tattoo marks made
a great difference, but that is not all."
"I think it is the hair that has made most difference, Meinik. You
see, it was all pulled off the brow and neck, before; and it will
be some time before it will grow naturally again. I had great
trouble to get it to lie down, even when it was wet; and it will
certainly have a tendency to stick up, for a long time.
"The dress has made a good deal of alteration in you, too."
"They are very good clothes," Meinik said. "I have never had such
good ones on before. I have had money enough to buy them; but
people would have asked where I got it from, and it never does to
make a show of being better off than one's neighbour. A man is sure
to be fleeced, if he does.
"What can I do for my lord?"
"Nothing, at present, Meinik. I am going to lunch with the officers
here, and to dine with the general, and sleep here. Tomorrow I
daresay I shall move into quarters of my own.
"You had better buy what you want, for today, in the market. I
don't know whether it is well supplied but, as we saw some of your
people about, there must be food to be obtained."
"They gave me plenty to eat when I came in," he said, "but I will
buy something for supper.
"No, I do not want money, I have plenty of lead left."
"You had better take a couple of rupees, anyhow. There are sure to
be some traders from India who have opened shops here, and they
won't care to take lead in payment. You must get some fresh muslin
for your turban; and you had better close it up at the top, this
time. It will go better with your clothes."
Meinik grinned.
"I shall look quite like a person of importance. I shall be taken
for, at least, the headman of a large village."
He took the two rupees and walked off towards the town, while
Stanley went in to luncheon. There were a good many remarks as to
his altered appearance.
"Do you know, Brooke," one of the young lieutenants said, "I did
not feel at all sure that Cooke was not humbugging us, when he
introduced you to us, and that you were not really a Burman who had
travelled, and had somehow learned to speak English extraordinarily
well."
"Clothes and soap and water make a wonderful difference," Stanley
laughed, "but I shall be a good many shades lighter, when the rest
of the dye wears off. At any rate, I can go about, now, without
anyone staring at me."
After tiffin, Stanley had to tell his story again, at a very much
greater length than before.
"You certainly have gone through some queer adventures," the major
said, when he had finished his relation; "and there is no doubt
that you have had wonderful luck. In the first place, if that
bullet had gone half an inch lower, you would not have been one of
the four white survivors of that ugly business at Ramoo; then you
were lucky that they did not chop off your head, either when they
first took you, or when they got you to Ava. Then again, it was
lucky that Bandoola sent a special message that he wanted you kept
as an interpreter for himself, and that the official in charge of
you turned out a decent fellow, and aided you to make your escape.
"As to your obtaining the services of the man you brought down with
you, I do not regard that as a question of luck. You saved the
man's life, by an act of the greatest bravery--one that not one man
in ten would perform, or try to perform, for the life of a total
stranger. I hope that I should have made the effort, had I been in
your place; but I say frankly that I am by no means sure that I
should have done so.
"The betting was a good twenty to one against its being done
successfully. If the brute had heard your footstep, it would have
been certain death and, even when you reached him, the chances were
strongly against your being able to strike a blow at the animal
that would, for a moment, disable him; and so give you time to
snatch up one of the guns--which might not, after all, have been
loaded.
"It was a wonderfully gallant action, lad. You did not tell us very
much about it yourself but, while you were getting the dye off, I
got hold of one of the traders here, who happened to be passing,
and who understood their language; and with his assistance I
questioned your fellow, and got all the particulars from him. I say
again, it was as plucky a thing as I have ever heard of."
A few minutes later an orderly came in with a note from the
general, asking the major and Captain Cooke also to dine with him
that evening. Stanley was very pleased that the two officers were
going with him, as it took away the feeling of shyness he felt, at
the thought of presenting himself in staff uniform at the
general's.
Sir Archibald Campbell put him at ease, at once, by the kindness
with which he received him. Stanley began to apologize for his
dress, but the general stopped him, at once.
"I intended, of course, that you should wear it, Mr. Brooke. I am
sure that you would not find a dress suit in the camp. However, we
will make matters all right, tomorrow. Judging from what you said
that, as you cannot join your uncle at present, you would be
willing to remain here, your name will appear in orders, tomorrow
morning, as being granted a commission in the 89th, pending the
arrival of confirmation from home; which of course, in such a case,
is a mere form. You will also appear in the orders as being
appointed my aide-de-camp, in place of Mr. Hitchcock, with extra
pay as interpreter.
"No, do not thank me. Having served as a volunteer, taken part in a
severe action, and having been wounded and imprisoned, you had
almost a right to a commission. After dinner, I hope that you will
give us all a full account of your adventures; it was but a very
slight sketch that I heard from you, this morning."
The general then introduced Stanley to the other members of his
staff.
"If you had seen him as I saw him, this morning," he said, with a
smile, "you certainly would not recognize him now. He was naked to
the waist, and had nothing on but the usual peasant attire of a
piece of black cloth, reaching to his knees. I knew, of course,
that the question of costume would soon be got over; but I own that
I did not think that I should be able to employ him, for some
little time. Not only was his stain a great deal darker than it is
now, but he was thickly tattooed up to the eyes, and one could
hardly be sending messages by an aide-de-camp so singular in
appearance; but I see that, somehow, he has entirely got rid of the
tattoo marks; and his skin is now very little, if at all, darker
than that of many of us, so that I shall be able to put him in
harness at once."
After dinner was over and cigars lighted, Stanley told his story as
before, passing over lightly the manner in which he had gained the
friendship of the Burman. When he had finished, however, Major
Pemberton said:
"With your permission, general, I will supplement the story a
little. Mr. Brooke has told me somewhat more than he has told you,
but I gained the whole facts from his guide's own lips."
"No, major, please," Stanley said colouring, even under his dye.
"The matter is not worth telling."
"You must permit us to be a judge of that, Mr. Brooke," the general
said, with a smile at the young fellow's interruption of his
superior officer.
"I beg your pardon, Major Pemberton," Stanley stammered in some
confusion. "Only--"
"Only you would rather that I did not tell about your struggle with
the leopard. I think it ought to be told, and I am pretty sure Sir
Archibald Campbell will agree with me," and Major Pemberton then
gave a full account of the adventure in the forest.
"Thank you, major. You were certainly quite right in telling the
story, for it is one that ought to be told and, if Mr. Brooke will
forgive my saying so, is one of those cases in which it is a
mistake for a man to try to hide his light under a bushel.
"You see, it cannot but make a difference in the estimation in
which we hold you. Most young fellows would, as you did, have
joined their countrymen when threatened by a greatly superior enemy
and, again, most would, if prisoners, have taken any opportunity
that offered to effect their escape. Therefore, in the brief
account that you gave me, this morning, it appeared to me that you
had behaved pluckily and shrewdly, and had well earned a
commission, especially as you have a knowledge of the language. You
simply told me that you had been able to render some service to the
Burman who travelled down with you, but such service might have
been merely that you assisted him when he was in want, bound up a
wound, or any other small matter.
"Now we find that you performed an act of singular courage, an act
that even the oldest shikaree would have reason to be proud of.
Such an act--performed, too, for a stranger, and that stranger an
enemy--would, of itself, give any man a title to the esteem and
regard of any among whom he might be thrown, and would lead them to
regard him in an entirely different light to that in which they
would otherwise have held him.
"I think that you will all agree with me, gentlemen."
"Certainly."
There was a chorus of assent from the circle of officers. His
narrative had, as the general said, shown that the young fellow was
possessed of coolness, steadiness, and pluck; but this feat was
altogether out of the common and, as performed by a mere lad,
seemed little short of marvellous.
"You will, of course, have Hitchcock's quarters," the quartermaster
general said to Stanley, as the party broke up. "It is a small
room, but it has the advantage of being water tight, which is more
than one can say of most of our quarters. It is a room in the upper
storey of the next house. I fancy the poor fellow's card is on the
door still. The commissariat offices are in the lower part of the
house, and they occupy all the other rooms upstairs; but we kept
this for one of the aides-de-camp, so that the general could send a
message at once, night or day."
"Of course I shall want a horse, sir."
"Yes, you must have a horse. I will think over what we can do for
you, in that way. There is no buying one here, unless a field
officer is killed, or dies.
"By the way, Hitchcock's horses are not sold, yet. They were not
put up, yesterday. I have no doubt that some arrangement can be
made about them, and the saddlery."
"That would be excellent, sir. As I told the general this morning,
I have some rubies and other stones. I have no idea what they are
worth. They were given me by those men I was with, in the forest.
They said that they were very difficult to dispose of, as the mines
are monopolies of government so, when my man Meinik proposed it,
they acceded at once to his request, and handed a number of them
over to me.
"I have not even looked at them. There may be someone, here, who
could tell me what they are worth."
"Yes, I have no doubt some of those Parsee merchants, who have
lately set up stores, could tell you. I should only take down two
or three stones to them, if I were you. If they are really
valuable, you might be robbed of them; but I am rather afraid that
you will not find that they are so. Brigand fellows will hardly
have been likely to give you anything very valuable."
"I don't think that they looked at them, themselves; they were the
proceeds of one day's attack on a number of merchants. They found
them concealed on them, and they were so well satisfied with the
loot they got, in merchandise that they could dispose of, that I
doubt whether they even opened the little packages of what they
considered the most dangerous goods to keep; for if they were
captured, and gems found upon them, it would be sufficient to
condemn them, at once."
"Do you speak Hindustani? If not, I will send one of the clerks
with you."
"Yes, sir; and three or four other of the Indian languages."
"Ah! Then you can manage for yourself.
"When you have seen one of these Parsees, come round to my office.
I shall have seen the paymaster by that time, and have talked over
with him how we can arrange about the horses. I should think that
the best way would be to have a committee of three officers to
value them, and the saddlery; and then you might authorize him to
receive your extra pay as interpreter, and to place it to
Hitchcock's account. You will find your own staff pay more than
ample, here; as there are no expenses, whatever, except your share
of the mess."
"Thank you very much, indeed, Colonel."
In the morning, Stanley took one of the little parcels from the bag
and opened it. It contained thirty stones, of which twenty were
rubies, six sapphires, and four emeralds. They seemed to him of a
good size but, as they were in the rough state, he had no idea what
size they would be, when cut.
There were three of the Parsee merchants. The first he went to
said, at once, that he did not deal in gems. The next he called on
examined the stones carefully.
"It is impossible to say, for certain," he said, "how much they are
worth until they are cut, for there may be flaws in them that
cannot be detected. Now, if I were to buy them like this, I could
not give more than a hundred rupees each. If they are all flawless,
they would be worth much more; but it would be a pure speculation,
and I will not go beyond that sum."
Stanley then visited the third store. The trader here inspected
them a little more carefully than the last had done, examined them
with a magnifying glass, held them up to the light; then he weighed
each stone and jotted down some figures. At last, he said:
"The stones are worth five thousand rupees. If they are flawless,
they would be worth double that. I will give you five thousand
myself or, if you like, I will send them to a friend of mine, at
Madras. He is one of the best judges of gems in India. He shall say
what he will give for them, and you shall pay me five percent
commission. He is an honest trader; you can ask any of the officers
from Madras."
"I will accept that offer, if you will make me an advance of
fifteen hundred rupees upon them; and will pay you, at the rate of
ten percent per annum, interest till you receive the money for
them."
The Parsee again took the gems, and examined them carefully.
"Do you agree to take the jeweller's offer, whatever it is?"
"Yes; that is to say, if it is over the five thousand. If it is
under the five thousand, I will sell them to you at that sum."
"I agree to that," the man said. "But do not fear; if the two
largest stones are without a flaw, they alone are worth five
thousand."
"Let us draw up the agreement, at once," Stanley said.
And, accordingly, the terms were drawn up, in Hindustani, and were
signed by both parties. The Parsee then went to a safe, unlocked
it, and counted out the rupees, to the value of 150 pounds. These
he placed in a bag, and handed them to Stanley who, delighted at
the sum that he had obtained for but a small portion of the gems,
went to the quartermaster general's office.
"We have just finished your business," Colonel Adair said, as he
entered. "Major Moultrie, the paymaster, Colonel Watt, and myself
have examined the horses. I know that Hitchcock paid sixty pounds
apiece for them, at Calcutta. They are both Arabs, and good ones,
and were not dear at the money. Our opinion is that, if they were
put up to auction here, they would fetch 40 pounds apiece; and that
the saddle and bridle, holsters, and accoutrements would fetch
another 20 pounds. There are also a pair of well-finished pistols
in the holsters. They were overlooked, or they would have been put
up in the sale yesterday. They value them at 8 pounds the brace; in
all, 108 pounds.
"Will that suit you? The major will, as I proposed, stop the money
from your pay as a first-class interpreter--that is, two hundred
and fifty rupees a month--so that, in four months and a half, you
will have cleared it off."
"I am very much obliged to you, Colonel; but I have just received
an advance of fifteen hundred rupees, on some of my gems which the
Parsee is going to send to a jeweller, of the name of Burragee, at
Madras."
"I congratulate you, for I hardly hoped that they would turn out to
be worth so much. Burragee is a first-rate man, and you can rely
upon getting a fair price from him. Well, that obviates all
difficulty.
"By the way, I should recommend you to get a light bedstead and
bed, and a couple of blankets, at one of the Parsee stores. Of
course, you did not think of it, yesterday, or you might have
bought Hitchcock's. However, I noticed in one of the Parsees' shops
a number of light bamboo bedsteads; which are the coolest and best
in a climate like this. If you lay a couple of blankets on the
bamboos, you will find that you don't want a mattress."
"I don't know what my duties are, sir, or whether the general will
be wanting me."
"He will not want you, today. Anyhow, he will know that you will be
making your arrangements, and moving into your quarters.
"By the way, Hitchcock brought a syce with him. You must have a man
for your horses, and I have no doubt he will be glad to stay on
with you."
Two hours later Stanley was installed in his quarters--a room some
twelve feet long by eight wide. A bed stood in one corner. There
was a table for writing on, two light bamboo chairs, and an Indian
lounging chair. In the corner was a small bamboo table, on which
was a large brass basin; while a great earthenware jar for water
stood beside it, and a piece of Indian matting covered the floor.
He learned that the staff messed together, in a large room in the
next house; and that he would there get a cup of coffee and a
biscuit, at six in the morning, breakfast at half-past eight, lunch
and dinner; so that he would not have to do any cooking, whatever,
for himself. He had given Meinik a small sum to lay out in cooking
pots and necessaries for his own use.
The syce had gladly entered his employ. Stanley had inspected the
horses which, although light to the eye, would be well capable of
bearing his weight through a long day's work. They were picketed,
with those of the general and staff, in a line behind the house
devoted to the headquarters. After lunch he went into the
general's, and reported himself as ready for duty.
"I shall not want you this afternoon, Mr. Brooke. Here is a plan
showing the position of the different corps. You had better get it
by heart. When it gets cooler, this afternoon, I should advise you
to ride out and examine the position and the roads; so that even at
night you can, if necessary, carry a message to any of the
regiments. The Burmese are constantly creeping up and stabbing our
sentries, and sometimes they attack in considerable force. When
anything like heavy firing begins, it will be your duty to find out
at once what is going on; and bring me word, as it may be necessary
to send up reinforcements.
"In the morning it will be your duty to examine any prisoners who
have been taken during the night, and also natives who have made
their way into the town; in order to ascertain whether any date has
been fixed for their next attack, and what forces are likely to
take part in it. You can make your man useful at this work.
"By the way, I will tell Colonel Adair to put him down on the list
of the quartermaster's native followers. He need not do anything
else but this. But it is likely that the natives will speak more
freely to him than they would to a white officer, and he may as
well be earning thirty rupees a month, and drawing rations, as
hanging about all day, doing nothing."
Thanking the general, Stanley took the plan and, going back to his
quarters, studied it attentively. He told Meinik of the arrangement
that had been made for him, with which the Burman was much pleased.
Thirty rupees a month seemed a large sum to him, and he was glad
that he should not be costing Stanley money for his food.
Three hours later one of his horses was brought round, and he
started on his ride through the camp. There were two roads leading
through the town to the great pagoda. Both were thickly bordered by
religious houses and pagodas--the latter, for the most part, being
in a state of dilapidation. Houses and pagodas alike had been
turned into quarters for the troops, and had been invaluable during
the wet season.
The terrace of the great pagoda was occupied by the 89th Regiment
and the Madras Artillery. This was the most advanced position, and
was the key of the defence. Leaving his horse in charge of his
syce, at the foot of the pagoda hill, Stanley went up to the
terrace and soon entered into conversation with some of the British
officers; who at once recognized him as having been, that morning,
put in orders as the general's aide-de-camp. As he was unknown to
everyone, and no ship had come in for some days, there was
naturally much curiosity felt as to who the stranger was who had
been appointed to a commission, and to the coveted post of
aide-de-camp, in one day.
After chatting for two or three minutes, they conducted Stanley to
the colonel's quarters, a small building at the foot of the pagoda.
"This is Mr. Brooke, Colonel, the gentleman who was gazetted to us,
this morning."
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Brooke; but I should be more glad,
still, if you had been coming to join, for we have lost several
officers from sickness, and there are others unfit for duty. When
did you arrive?"
"I arrived only yesterday morning, sir. I came here in disguise,
having made my way down from Ava."
"Oh, indeed! We heard a report that a white man had arrived, in
disguise, at the lines of the 45th Native Infantry; but we have had
no particulars, beyond that."
"I was captured at Ramoo, sir, while I was acting as an officer of
the native levy. Fortunately I was stunned by the graze of a musket
ball and, being supposed dead, was not killed; as were all the
other officers who fell into the hands of the Burmese. Their fury
had abated by the time I came to myself, and I was carried up to
Ava with some twenty sepoy prisoners. After a time I made my escape
from prison, and took to the forest; where I remained some weeks,
till the search for me had abated somewhat. Then I made my way down
the country, for the most part in a fishing boat, journeying only
at night, and so succeeded in getting in here. Fortunately I speak
the Mug dialect, which is very closely akin to the Burmese."
"Well," the colonel said, "I hope that you will consider the
regiment your home; though I suppose that, until the campaign is at
an end, you will only be able to pay us an occasional visit. You
are lucky in getting the staff appointment. No doubt your being
able to talk Burmese has a great deal to do with it."
"Everything, I think, sir. The general had no one on his staff who
could speak the language and, unless he happened to have with him
one of the very few men here who can do so, often had to wait some
time before a prisoner could be questioned."
He remained chatting for half an hour, and then rode back to the
town; taking the other road to that which he had before traversed.