ave men, or good men among
us, but out of them all how many would have done these two things for
'his neighbour'? How many respectable men would at this moment condemn
them both?"

What Henry Lawrence and his noble wife thought of the Kossuth
enterprise was expressed in a letter from the latter some months later.
"You can hardly believe," she wrote, "the interest and anxiety with
which we watched the result of your projected deed of chivalry. . . .
When I read of your plan my first thought was about your mother,
mingled with the feeling that I should not grudge my own son in such a
cause."

After having performed his mission, Nicholson made his way to London,
where he found his mother awaiting him at Sir James Hogg's town house.
It was now the month of April. The rest of the year he spent in
sight-seeing, visiting his old home at Lisburn, and looking up various
relatives in Ireland and England. He found time, however, to make a
journey to St. Petersburg, where he was much impressed by a grand
review of troops by the Tsar. This opportunity to study the Russian
military system gave him considerable satisfaction, as he had already
devoted some attention to the French and Prussian armies. But what
struck him most was a recent Prussian invention, the needle-gun, which
he saw would be the arm of the future. In strong terms he urged the
importance of introducing this weapon in place of the old-fashioned
muskets then in use, but his counsel was unheeded.

At the end of 1851 Nicholson bade good-bye to his mother, and set off
on his return journey to India. His friend, Herbert Edwardes, had
preceded him thither some months earlier, taking with him his
newly-wedded wife. To Nicholson Edwardes had said before he left, "If
your heart meets one worthy of it, return not alone," but the advice
was not followed. Nicholson, with all the fascination which his
personality exerted over women, gave no indication of being susceptible
to the grand passion, and he went forth to take up the great task that
lay before him single-handed.

CHAPTER VI.

THE MASTER OF BANNU.

On reporting himself at his old station at Lahore, Nicholson was not
left waiting long for a fresh appointment. Reynell Taylor, who had
been in charge of the Bannu district, had applied to be relieved, and
Sir Henry Lawrence, now Chief Commissioner for the Punjaub, offered the
post to Nicholson. The latter accepted, and in May of 1852 entered
upon his d