e boy of his dread
"Grandfather," whom he would have loved to have loved had he been
given the chance.

The big man was even more strangely attired than those others who
clumped and clattered about the lower part of the camp.

Fancy a great big strong man with long curls, a lace collar, and a
velvet coat--like a kid going to a party!

The velvet coat had the strangest sleeves, too--made to button to the
elbow and full of slits that seemed to have been mended underneath
with blue silk. There was a regular pattern of these silk-mended slits
about the body of the coat, too, and funny silk-covered buttons.

On his head the man had a great floppy felt hat with a huge feather--a
hat very like one that Dearest wore, only bigger.

One of his long curls was tied with a bow of ribbon--like young
Lucille wore--and the boy felt quite uncomfortable as he noted it. A
grown man--the silly ass! And, yes! he had actually got lace round the
bottoms of his quaint baggy knickerbockers--as well as lace cuffs!

The boy could see it, where one of the great boots had sagged down
below the knee.

Extraordinary boots they were, too. Nothing like "Grumper's"
riding-boots. They were yellowish in colour, and dull, not nicely
polished, and although the square-toed, ugly foot part looked solid as
a house, the legs were more like wrinkled leather stockings, and so
long that the pulled-up one came nearly to the hip.

Spurs had made black marks on the yellow ankles, and saddle and
stirrup-leather had rubbed the legs....

And a sash! Whoever heard of a grown-up wearing a sash? It was a great
blue silk thing, wound round once or twice, and tied with a great bow,
the ends of which hung down in front.

Of all the Pip-squeaks!

And yet the big man's face was not that of a Pip-squeak--far from it.
It was very like Grumper's in fact.

The boy liked the face. It was strong and fierce, thin and
clean-cut--marred only, in his estimation, by the funny little tuft of
hair on the lower lip. He liked the wavy, rough, up-turned moustache,
but not that silly tuft. How nice he would look with his hair cut, his
lower lip shaved, and his ridiculous silks, velvet, and lace exchanged
for a tweed shooting-suit or cricketing-flannels! How Grumper, Father,
Major Decies, and even Khodadad Khan and the sepoys would have laughed
at the get-up. Nay, they would have blushed for the fellow--a Sahib, a
gentleman--to tog himself up so!

The boy also liked the man's vo