Begumbagh | Page 3

was, means a wonderful deal more
respecting the weather than any number of degrees on a thermometer, I
can tell you; but I looked round at him, and he knew what it meant, and,
slipping out, he goes up to the elephant. "Carry your trunk, sir," he says;
and taking gently hold of the great beast's soft nose, he laid it upon his
shoulder, and marched on like that, with the men roaring with laughter.
"Pulla-wulla. Ma-pa-na," shouted the nigger who was driving, or
something that sounded like it, for of all the rum lingoes ever spoke,
theirs is about the rummest, and always put me in mind of the fal-lal-la
or tol-de-rol chorus of a song.
"All right. I'll take care!" sings out Harry; and on he marched, with the
great soft-footed beast lifting its round pads and putting them down
gently so as not to hurt Harry; and, trifling as that act was, it meant a
great deal, as you'll see if you read on, while just then it got our poor
fellows over the last half-mile without one falling out; and then the halt
was called; men wheeled into line; we were dismissed; and soon after
we were lounging about, under such shade as we could manage to get
in the thin tope of trees.

VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWO.
That's a pretty busy time, that first half-hour after a halt: what with the
niggers setting up a few tents, and getting a fire lighted, and fetching
water; but in spite of our being tired, we soon had things right. There
was the colonel's tent, Colonel Maine's--a little stout man, that we all
used to laugh at, because he was such a little, round, good-tempered
chap, who never troubled about anything, for we hadn't learned then
what was lying asleep in his brave little body, waiting to be brought out.
Then there was the mess tent for the officers, and the hospital tent for
those on the sick-list, beside our bell tents, that we shouldn't have set

up at all, only to act as sun-shades. But, of course, the principal tent
was the colonel's.
Well, there they were, the colonel and his lady, Mrs Maine--a nice,
kindly-spoken, youngish woman: twenty years younger than he, she
was; but, for all that, a happier couple never breathed; and they two
used to seem as if the regiment, and India, and all the natives were
made on purpose to fall down and worship the two little golden idols
they'd set up--a little girl and a little boy, you know. Cock Robin and
Jenny Wren, we chaps used to call them, though Jenny Wren was about
a year and a half the oldest. And I believe it was from living in France a
bit, that the colonel's wife had got the notion of dressing them so; but it
would have done your heart good to see those two children--the boy
with his little red tunic and his sword, and the girl with her red jacket
and belt, and a little canteen of wine and water, and a tiny tin mug; and
them little things driving the old black ayah half-wild with the way they
used to dodge away from her to get amongst the men, who took no end
of delight in bamboozling the fat old woman when she was hunting for
them; sending them here, and there, and everywhere, till she'd turn
round and make signs with her hands, and spit on the ground, which
was her way of cursing us. For I must say that we English were very,
very careless about what we did or said to the natives. Officers and men,
all alike, seemed to look upon them as something very little better than
beasts, and talked to them as if they had no feelings at all, little thinking
what fierce masters the trampled slaves could turn out, if ever they had
their day--the day that the old proverb says is sure to come for every
dog; and there was not a soul among us then that had the least bit of
suspicion that the dog--by which, you know, I mean the Indian
generally--was going mad, and sharpening those teeth of his ready to
bite.
Well, as a matter of course, there were other people in our regiment that
I ought to mention: Captain Dyer I did name; but there was a lieutenant,
a very good-looking young fellow, who was a great favourite with Mrs
Colonel Maine; and he dined a deal with them at all times, besides
being a great chum of Captain Dyer's--they two shooting together, and
being like brothers, though there was a something in Lieutenant Leigh

that I never seemed to take to. Then there was the doctor--a Welshman
he was, and he used to