In Times of Peril | Page 4

among the troops. A
ridiculous rumor has circulated among them that the new cartridges

have been greased with pig's fat, in order that the caste of all who put it
to their lips might be destroyed. To-day I have received news from
Calcutta that the Nineteenth native regiment at Berhampore has
behaved in a grossly mutinous manner, and that it is feared the
regiments at Barrackpore and Dumdum will follow their example. The
affair has been suppressed, but there is an uneasy feeling abroad, and
all the troops in Bengal proper appear tainted with paltry disaffection.
We have no reason for believing that the spirit has spread to the
northwest, and are convinced that as far as our own regiment is
concerned they can be relied on; but the affair, taken in connection with
the previous rumors, is very strange, and I fear that there are lots of
trouble ahead. I wish now that I had not had the girls out for another
year; but I could not foresee this, and, indeed, until this morning,
although there has been a good deal of talk, we all hoped it would have
passed off without anything coming of it. One hopes still that it will
spread no further; but should it do so, it is impossible to say what may
happen. All we have to do is to be watchful, and to avoid with care
anything that can offend the men's prejudices. We must explain to the
native officers the folly of the greased cartridge story, and tell them to
reassure the men. You don't see anything else to do, Dunlop?"
"No, major; I trust that the regiment is to be depended upon; it has
always been well treated and the men have seemed attached to us all.
We will do our best to reassure them; but if there is any insubordination,
I hope that the colonel will give the men a lesson which will put an end
to the nonsense in the bud."
"Of course you will stay to tiffin?" the major said, as the kitmagar, or
head servant, announced that tiffin was ready.
"Many thanks, major, but we promised to tiff with Bullen, and he
would be mad if we did not turn up. How are you thinking of going
to-morrow? I intend to drive over, and send my horse on; so I can give
one of your boys a lift in my buggy."
"Thank you," the major said, "that would suit us exactly. I shall drive in
my dog-cart, which will carry four of us; and if you will take Dick, that
will make it all right."

"What time do we start?"
"We are to be there by seven; we set it so late to give the ladies time to
breakfast comfortably before starting. I will call here at half-past six for
Dick; it will be all in my way. Good-morning."
Two minutes later the girls, Ned, and Dick came into the dining-room,
and the party sat down to luncheon--a meal always called tiffin in India.
It is a great mistake to suppose that people in India cannot eat because
of the heat; in the extreme heat of summer their appetites do, no doubt,
fall off; but at other times, they not only eat, but eat more largely than
is good for them; and a good deal of the liver complaint which is the
pest of India is in no small degree due to the fact that, the appetite
being unnaturally stimulated by hot and piquant food, people eat more
than in such a climate as this can be properly digested. The meal
consisted of curries, with which were handed round chutney and
Bombay ducks--a little fish about the size of a smelt, cut open, dried,
and smoked with assafoetida, giving it an intolerably nasty taste to
strangers, but one which Anglo-Indians become accustomed to and
like--no one knows why they are called Bombay ducks--cutlets,
plantains sliced and fried, pomegranates, and watermelons. They were
waited upon by two servants, both dressed entirely in white, but
wearing red turbans, very broad and shallow. These turbans denoted the
particular tribe and sect to which their wearers belonged. The castes in
India are almost innumerable, and each has a turban of a peculiar color
or shape, and by these they can be at once distinguished by a resident.
On their foreheads were lines and spots of a yellowish white paint,
indicating also their caste, and the peculiar divinity to whose worship
they were specially devoted. On their feet they wore slippers, and were
as noiseless as cats in all their movements. There are no better or more
pleasant waiters in the world than the natives of Hindostan.
Early as the hour named for the start would appear in England, it was
by no means