later, the rest of the force moved down to the coast.
Lisle and Hallett were carried down in hammocks, for both were
completely worn out by the hardships of the campaign and, as there
was no limit to the numbers of carriers that could be obtained,
they gladly acquiesced in the decision of the medical officer that
they ought to be carried. Both, indeed, had the seeds of fever in
their system and, when they arrived at Cape Coast, were laid up
with a sharp attack. As a result they were, like the great portion
of the officers who had gone through the campaign, invalided home.

A day after his arrival in London, Lisle was visited by his friend
Colonel Houghton, at whose house he had spent most of his leave
when he was last in England.

"I saw your name in the paper, yesterday, as among the returned
invalids; and thought that I should find you in the hotel where you
stayed before."

"I wrote yesterday afternoon to you, sir."

"Ah! Of course, I have not got that letter. And now, how are you?"

"I am a little shaky, sir, but the voyage has done wonders for me.
I have no doubt that I shall soon be myself, again."

"You have not seen the last gazette, I suppose?"

"No, sir."

"Well, there was a list of promotions, and I am happy to say that
you have got the D.S.O. for your services. I dare say you know that
you succeeded to your company, just six months ago?"

"No, I did not know that. I knew that I stood high among the
lieutenants, and expected to get it before long; but I am proud,
indeed, of the D.S.O."

"To have won the V.C. and the D.S.O. is to attain the two greatest
distinctions a soldier can wear.

"Now, you had better come down with me to my place in the country;
the air of London is not the best, for a man who has been suffering
from African fever."

"I certainly want bracing air, and I shall be only too glad to go
home with you; for I feel it is more my home than any other in
England."

As soon as Lisle began to recover a little, Colonel Houghton
introduced him to his neighbours, who made a good deal of the young
soldier. Five years had elapsed, since he had started with the
Pioneers for Chitral, and he was twenty-one.

Soon after he went to the colonel's, he was speaking to him of his
friend and constant companion in the late campaign; and the colonel
at once invited Hallett down. Hallett accepted the invitation, and
soon joined them. He had pretty well recovered, and the campaign
had knocked all h