at, when they come out for company
drill, they are not quite at sea."

Half an hour later, Harry was at work under the instructions of a
native officer. By the time he had finished, a tent had been
erected for him; and he was glad to find a bath ready, for it was
much warmer down in Bombay than above the Ghauts, and it had been
hot work drilling. The adjutant had chosen a Mahratta servant, and
the man's surprise, when the newly-joined officer addressed him in
his own language, was great.

As Mr. Malet had told him that, except when on duty, the officers
generally wore civilian clothes, he had purchased several white
suits, consisting of jacket and trousers, as these were kept in
stock by a Parsee tailor; and he put on one of these, with a white
shirt, after he had finished his bath. He had scarcely done so when
a bugle sounded.

"That is the call for tiffin, sahib," Abdool said.

"Do the officers go in uniform?"

"No, sahib, not to this meal."

Just at this moment, the adjutant came in.

"Come along, Lindsay," he said. "I thought I would come round for
you. It is rather trying going into a room full of strangers."

There were some twelve officers gathered in the mess tent, and the
adjutant introduced Harry to them, singly. They were all curious to
see him, having heard from the colonel--who had summoned them to
the tent, a quarter of an hour before the bugle sounded--some
particulars of his life; and how he had been at once appointed to
be lieutenant, without going through the usual term as a cadet, as
a reward for important services.

Their first impression of him was a favourable one. He was now nearly
six feet in height, with a powerful and well-knit frame. His face was
pleasant and good tempered and, although the features were still boyish,
there was an expression of restraint and determination that had been
acquired from the circumstances in which he had been placed.

He had seen the barbarous splendour of the entertainments at the
Peishwa's court, but nothing like the well-ordered table now before
him; with its snow-white cloth, its bright silver, and perfect
appointments.

When the meal was over, the colonel said:

"As duty is over for the day, I think it would be most interesting
if Mr. Lindsay would give us an account of his life, and
adventures. As you are all here, it would save him the trouble of
going over his story, again and again; for you are all, I am sure,
like myself, anxious to know