"

"I sha'n't be sorry for that, Harry; certainly not as long as I am
out here. In the first place, he is really a very handy fellow, and
ready to make himself useful, in any way; then there is no doubt
that he is greatly attached to me, and would go through fire and
water for me. A man of that sort is invaluable to anyone knocking
about as I shall be, when the war is over and I take up trading
again. His only fault is that he is really too anxious to do things
for me. Of course, when I am on duty there is nothing much he can
do; but if I am sitting in a room, he will squat for hours in the
corner and watch me. If my cheroot gets low, there he is with a
fresh one and a light, in a moment. If I drop my handkerchief, or a
pen, there he is with it, before I have time to stoop. Sometimes I
have really to invent errands to send him on, so as to give him
something to do for me. I own that I have not contemplated what
position he would occupy, if I go trading; but I quite recognize
that he will go with me, and that he would become a portion of my
establishment, even if that establishment consisted only of
himself.

"Will you be ready to start at four in the morning? The sun is
tremendously hot now, on the days between the rain; at any rate, it
will be much better for you, till you get your strength, to travel
in the cool of the morning, or in the evening."

"I shall be ready. I will be round here, with my servant, by that
hour. By the way, what shall I bring with me?"

"Nothing at all. I shall take a couple of chickens, and some bread
and coffee and sugar, and a bottle of brandy for emergencies; but
we shall have no difficulty in getting food in the villages. The
troopers will only carry their day's rations with them. After that
I always act as mess caterer, and charge expenses when I get back
here."

Accordingly, the next morning they started at four o'clock. Stanley
insisted that Harry should ride his second horse, for the present;
as his own, having been six weeks without exercise, and fed very
much better than it had been accustomed to, was in much too high
spirits to be pleasant for an invalid. Meinik, therefore, took
Harry's; and the latter rode beside his cousin, whose horse had had
abundant exercise, and was well content to canter quietly along by
the side of his companion.

By the end of ten days, Harry had picked up some of his strength.
They now reached a village which Stanley decided to use as his
headqua