appily for me the doctors declared I was in a state of high
fever, and I so remained for a fortnight. As soon as I got better I was
sent down the country, and I at once sent in my papers and went home. No
doubt the affair was talked of, and there were whispers as to the real
cause of my illness. My father was terribly angry when I returned home
and told him the truth of the matter. That his son should be a coward
was naturally an awful blow to him. Home was too unhappy to be endured,
and when an uncle of mine, who was a director on the Company's Board,
offered me a berth in the Civil Service, I thankfully accepted it,
believing that in that capacity I need never hear a gun fired again.

"You will understand, then, the anxiety I am feeling owing to these
rumors of disaffection among the Sepoys, and the possibility of anything
like a general mutiny.

"It is not of being killed that I have any fear; upon the contrary, I
have suffered so much in the last eight years from the consciousness
that the reason why I left the army was widely known, that I should
welcome death, if it came to me noiselessly; but the thought that if
there is trouble I shall assuredly not be able to play my part like a
man fills me with absolute horror, and now more than ever.

"So you will understand now why the picture I saw, in which I was
fighting in the middle of the Sepoys, is to me not only improbable, but
simply impossible. It is a horrible story to have to tell. This is the
first time I have opened my lips on the subject since I spoke to my
father, but I know that you, both as a friend and a doctor, will pity
rather than blame me."

CHAPTER X.

As Bathurst brought his story to its conclusion the Doctor rose and
placed his hand kindly on his shoulder.

"I certainly should not think of blaming you, Bathurst. What you tell
me is indeed a terrible misfortune, situated as we may be soon, though
I trust and believe that all this talk about the Sepoys is moonshine.
I own that I am surprised at your story, for I should have said from
my knowledge of you that though, as I could perceive, of a nervous
temperament, you were likely to be cool and collected in danger. But
certainly your failing is no fault of your own."

"That is but a small consolation to me, Doctor. Men do not ask why
and wherefore--they simply point the finger of scorn at a coward. The
misfortune is that I am here. I might have lived a hundred lives in
England and never o