d she not
heard before of this regiment and that regiment from the letters of
Guy? Windham seemed to have been in many of the places mentioned in
those letters. This was natural, as he belonged to the army which had
taken Delhi. But in addition to this there was another wonder--there
were those hill stations in which she had lived, of which Windham
spoke so familiarly. Of course--she thought after due
reflection--every British officer in the north of India must be
familiar with places which are their common resort; but it affected
her strangely at first; for hearing him speak of them was like
hearing one speak of home.

Another theme of conversation was found in his eventful voyage from
India. He told her about the outbreak of the flames, the alarm of the
passengers, the coward mob of panic-stricken wretches, who had lost
all manliness and all human feeling in their abject fear. Then he
described the tall form of Obed Chute as it towered above the crowd.
Obed, according to Windham's account, when he first saw him, had two
men by their collars in one hand, while in the other he held his
revolver. His voice with its shrill accent rang out like a trumpet
peal as he threatened to blow out the brains of any man who dared to
touch a boat, or to go off the quarter-deck. While he threatened he
also taunted them. "_You_ Britishers!" he cried. "If you are--which I
doubt--then I'm ashamed of the mother country."

Now it happened that Obed Chute had already given to Zillah a full
description of his first view of Windham, on that same occasion. As
he stood with his revolver, he saw Windham, he said--pale, stern,
self-possessed, but active, with a line of passengers formed, who
were busy passing buckets along, and he was just detailing half a
dozen to relieve the sailors at the pumps. "That man," concluded Obed
Chute, "had already got to work, while I was indulging in a
'spread-eagle.'"

Windham, however, said nothing of himself, so that Zillah might have
supposed, for all that he said, that he himself was one of that
panic-stricken stricken crowd whom Obed Chute had reviled and
threatened.

Nor was this all. These rides were repeated every day. Obed Chute
declared that this was the best thing for her in the world, and that
she must go out as often as was possible. Zillah made no objection.
So the pleasure was renewed from day to day. But Windham could speak
of other things than battle, and murder, and sudden death. He was
dee