rdil.

"'Tis that they are pleased to see Hodson Sahib. He was our commander
when Lumsden Sahib went over the black water, and we love him. Wah! he
is a fighter. See him with the sword: there is no match for him. It is
good to see him again."

And then came an opportunity for these hardy warriors to show the stuff
of which they were made. Even as they approached the Ridge a
staff-officer galloped to meet them, and accosting Captain Daly asked
how soon he could be ready for action.

"In half-an-hour," replied the gallant captain.

It happened that since early morning parties of horse and foot had
sallied from Delhi to attack the advanced posts of the British. Since
attack is ever the best defence, General Barnard ordered his men to move
out and drive back the enemy. The Guides went forward at the trumpet
call with irresistible dash, and were soon engaged hand to hand with the
vastly superior numbers of the mutineers. They carried all before them,
but at a heavy price. Lieutenant Battye was shot through the body, and
died murmuring "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." Lieutenant Hawes
was clipped across the face with a sword, Lieutenant Kennedy was wounded
in the arm; and Captain Daly himself, after having his horse killed
under him, was struck in the leg by a spent bullet. Many of the men were
killed or wounded. But to be in the thick of a fight was as wine to the
Guides. Every man burned to uphold the honour of the corps, and though
they were saddened by the loss of so many officers and men before they
had even pitched their tents, they were conscious of having borne
themselves as their loved commander Lumsden Sahib would have wished them
to do, and were content.

CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH

Some Lathi-wallahs and a Camel

One afternoon, about ten days after the arrival of the Guides, an
orderly came to Captain Daly's tent, where the captain was sitting on a
camp-stool at the door, drinking a cup of tea with Lieutenant Kennedy.

"The general's compliments, sir," said the orderly, saluting, "and will
you kindly step over to his tent for a minute or two?"

"Immediately," said Captain Daly. "Orders for to-morrow, I suppose," he
added to Kennedy, as he got up to go.

When he entered General Barnard's tent, the general handed him a letter,
saying--

"What do you make of that, Daly?"

Daly took the letter, and read, in a sloping angular hand, as follows--

"DEAR GENERAL BARNARD--

"My father